Don't let the difficulties of the present moments overshadow the reality of God's promises. God's promises still stand. And God's promises are stronger than our failures.

Friday, August 22, 2008

Finished by Friday, Just Barely


More Winter Wonderland! Are you tired of these yet? These are the last two - I can hardly believe it. This one is called sledding and goes right in the middle of the quilt.



















In the Winter Wonderland quilt the embroidered blocks come in several different sizes. The largest one is the entire width of the quilt and goes at the top with the others scattered underneath it. This block I put off nearly until the last because it seemed so intimidating because of it's size. It actually didn't take as much time as I thought, though I did spend a couple of weeks on it. I know I'm going to love this quilt!


On Monday and Tuesday this week our quilt guild had Debbie Maddy here to do two workshops and a lecture/trunk show at the meeting. I took her class on Monday called Carpenter's Star. Debbie's claim to fame is the "no Y seams" method of piecing and she has showcased it on Simply Quilts as well in books and patterns. (There are no diamonds in this quilt - it's all half square triangles.) This quilt is supposed to be scrappy (8 fat quarters plus background and borders) but I wanted a two color quilt so this is what I ended up with. It is supposed to have a couple more borders on it but I'm waiting to do those after I measure the place it's going to hang. There may not be enough space for more borders. Right now this is about 52" square. The actual colors here are a deep burgundy, almost purple, and mustard. Debbie is a good teacher, very personable and laid back. She's not intimidating at all - just regular folks. Because she drove she was able to bring 5 or 6 suitcases of her quilts to show. She absolutely amazed me because she could tell you what fabric line she used for every one of them....I can never remember that stuff! If you get a chance to take a class her I would recommend that you do it. It's fun, no pressure and the top is fast. I only got through row 5 in class and put rows 6-8 and the background border on today. She also gave us a good tip on getting good points which I sort of expanded when I got home and it really helped me. It's one of those things you'd have to see to understand but I love it when I learn something that I can really use in one of the classes I take. I think I'd like to make this one in Christmas colors.




17 comments:

Twisted Fencepost said...

I love snowmen, I can't wait to see the finished project!
I've always wanted to learn to quilt, but never had the time.

Mama said...

oh, my goodness, I love the crispness of the red snowmen on white. I'm wondering if you'll do all the stitching in red?

Mama said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Salem Stitcher said...

I've been tempted by the snowman quilt. One of my quilting friends here is doing it all in blue. I love the two color carpenter star. I did one scrappy. I might have to do one two color now!

Calamity Jane's Cottage, Bonnie said...

Hi Marlene, your snowman quilt is going to be priceless. Are you hoping for this Christmas? I love to learn new things when it comes to sewing. Well it is Friday and I told you I would start posting on finished by Friday, it isn't happening this Friday.
Hugs,
Bonnie

elaine @ peace for the journey said...

Where do you find the time? I have some beautiful Amish quilts (I think I told you that). I'll have to think of a reason to post them sometime for your approval. Yes, do Christmas colors. Wouldn't that be warm and inviting to put on a wall or bed during the holidays?

peace~elaine

Teresa said...

OH my, that is a beautiful block. And it looks complicated, but then when I realize its all squares and hst's I can see where the complication would just be in making sure you got all the blocks pointing right and in the right order. It looks fantastic!

Your redwork is really coming along nicely and you are doing a great job on the stitiching. I can't wait to see the blocks all put together.

Osage Bluff Quilter said...

Your redwork is just beautiful! You do awesome work, and quick too.
Osagebluffquilter

Kentucky Bound said...

Snowmen are my favorites! Can't wait to see the end result of all your beautiful work!

Blessiings from the creek!

Rue said...

Those are wonderful Marlene! I can't wait to see it finished :)

hugs,
rue

JoAnn ( Scene Through My Eyes) said...

I love those snowmen - where did you get that pattern? I'd love to make it, I love embroidery. Thanks for the great blog.

Anonymous said...

Makes me wish for snow and hot chocolate!

I liked the post about Ms. Watson.

Sharon said...

Your stitcheries look wonderful. That'll be a great quilt! And I love that star! I always figured it could be done with h/s triangles, but hadn't tried yet. I'd love to see a multi-color version, but I love this one too. Good job on all!

Anonymous said...

Hi Marlene,

Those are lovely finishes -- good job! :)

Adrienne said...

Marlene - I just love to see every bit of this project when you share it. I can't wait to see it when it is finished! I wish I would sit down and make progress on some of my unfinished projects! Maybe this winter. Maybe not. ~Adrienne~

Ginger Patches said...

Oh how cute! I love those stitcheries! I want to do them...

busha2 said...

I enjoy reading your blog, you are a talented woman. I have been following the Winter Wonderland blocks you have been working on. I am very partial to snowmen and collect them. Would you be kind enough to tell me what book that was from. I would be very interested in that. Thank you in advance.