A to Z Quilt Challenge: A = Amish Quilt

For the month of April, I have taken up Frédérique's Quilting Patchwork and Applique challenge to blog daily (except Sundays) on a quilt topic related to a letter of the alphabet.  

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Amish Quilt and Cake

Just recently found this cake recipe here.

In the summer of 2001 when I learned that quilting was still "a big thing", the style of Amish Quilts were a big attraction.  I went to my first quilt exhibit in December of 2001, a month before I started actually putting fabric and thread together myself.  

Fortunately one section of that exhibit was entitled "Ecstatic Geometrics" and contained a few antique (pre-1920) Amish quilts as well as some Mennonite quilts that were of a similar style. 

I've only made two quilts in the Amish style, one is a wall hanging for my home, made using the strip set method and machine quilted in 2006.  The other was a doll quilt for my Aunt who collects dolls.  Her quilt was started from the leftover strip sets from the wall hanging and was hand quilted in 2010.  

The same year I made the wall hanging, I also made a couple of pillow covers for my couch to coordinate with it.  

I continue to be inspired by the Amish quilt esthetic as my quilt library would attest.

I also have a pattern and solids stashed for another Amish quilt (a sampler) that I look forward to making up in the future.  

Photo Courtesy of Connecting Threads

Pattern available for download from Connecting Threads.

Check out the beautiful quilting on this  finished version.

Another great Amish Sampler Quilt design can be found here. 

Cross Stitch fan?  You'll love this one!

Do you like Amish style quilts?  Is there an antique or contemporary one that has inspired you?

Quilters Accountability 12/15/10

FINALLY SOME FINISHES!!!

It has taken far longer than I had expected but I finally got some finishes on the board!  When I pledged nine projects for Finn's Year-End Challenge in October, I did it thinking that the two doll quilts I have been struggling with for weeks -- no months -- would have been finished by the end of October at the latest.  Now that they are finished I am hoping that momentum will kick in for the rest of the projects I want to do.  Most of them just need quilting.  I may not complete nine but I am still hopeful (with sixteen more days left?!?!) that I can get pretty close.

Last Week's Goals:

1. Finish the quilting on the Amish Doll Quilt.  Done!
2. Make the blue and white doll quilt top. Done!
3. Work steadily on the DWR top. O.k., did not get to this one.
4. Layer #2, the Christmas Tree skirt, the Schnibble top and the Crumb top for quilting. The first two are DONE, the other two - nope.

I am glad to say the Amish Doll quilt (now called "Amish Furrows and Flowers") finally, finally, FIN-AL-LY got finished. It is a little more than 18 inches square. The applique is still rough but I am happy with it. 


Finished quilt before washing off the markings.

It took until almost near the end for me to get into “flow” on this one and have “momentum” finally kick in. What is flow and momentum you say? You can read about them here and here respectively but to put it simply, it’s the point in working on a project when the work just seems to happen and move smoothly and before you know it you’ve reached a milestone and STILL want to do more and keep working until you reach the end which you are now hungering for. 

I finished up the last of the stitching on Sunday night while watching “Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark” and then the season premiere of “Leverage”.  On Monday, I decided that since this has been a mostly hand worked piece, I should finish it the same way.  Usually,  I put my bindings on completely by machine but for this one I sewed it on with the machine (to help secure the hand quilted edges) and finished it by hand.  Today I put it in with the laundry to wash out the markings.

And here it is with its "mother", the Trip Around The World quilt I made in 2006 (and blogged about here).  It was the leftover pieced strips and fabrics from that project that provided the start for this little project.  I've always said that  I see my quilting as an "independent art study" and with this one done, I have finished the semester on "Hand Work" that started back in the summer with the Applique and Hand Quilting classes.

And here is the little blue & white quilt (now called "Gathering A Garden In a Twister" after the fabric line and block used).  I ended up "pillow turning" the backing and doing a piped edge.  I wanted to use the dark blue leafy fabric for binding but thought it would be a little strong as a regular binding on a square edge quilt. 

I used Susan Cleveland's "Piping Hot Binding" Kit (that included the cording for the piping and a tool to trim it). 

 

Edited To Add:

 

 

According to her instructions, in order to use the piping around the edge I had to have curved corners so I decided to create a wavy edge all around.  I like that it softened the look of the quilt even further.  It is a little more than 22 inches square and completes the two credit course in miniature quilts. :)

I am glad this one is also done but I think the fabrics blend too much to be really effective using this “Twister” block design. I think my original pattern choice, the blended nine-patch would have probably worked a little  better with these fabrics.  But I love, love, love how quickly and easily it went together.  Since I couldn’t get more of the fabric that I would have needed to complete the nine-patch design this will more than suffice.  

I am also glad I finally got a chance to do one of these types of quilts and look forward to doing another one.  I still have to do some light quilting on this one to finish it up:  I'll just stitch in the ditch around the narrow green border and the outside outline of the Twister blocks and tack stitch the center of each pinwheel.  Once that is done, I can email Finn to post two finishes for my pledge tally.

And last but not least the Tree Skirt is layered.  I was lucky -- back in March Connecting Threads had a big batting sale and I had purchased a couple of Hobbs crib size fusible batts for use with wall quilt projects.  I was able to layer both the blue & white quilt and the tree skirt with one package.

This Week's Goals:

1. Do the quilting on the blue & white quilt and mail off both doll quilts.
2. Quilt the Tree Skirt (and decorate the tree purchased on Sunday!)
3. Layer the Schnibble and Crumb quilts and quilt them.
4. Start quilting the Brrr Park! quilt (already layered from last year).

As I said at the start, I don't know how many projects I will complete for the Year-End Challenge.  Last week I saw a post for Myra's PHD (Projects Half Done) Challenge for January - June of 2011 (and I see that Finn has signed up this week!).  I've already made a list because even if by some lucky chance I get my pledged projects done before year-end, I've still got another stack that needs to be worked on!  

Myra has asked  that if you join the challenge, you start off with a post with pictures of your pledged projects so I am going to try and gather those up this week and then submit my name for inclusion.  I am also picking up on another goal that someone mentioned on their blog:  to try to finish next year with no PHD's/UFO's which at this moment is doable.  But to finish with no HSY's (pronounced "Hussies" and stands for Haven't Started Yet) is a whole 'nother story!

So keeping hope alive, head on over to Bari's to see what everyone else has in store for the remaining weeks of 2010.

Quilters Accountability 12/8/10

It's been another busy week with slow progress but progress none the less.

Last Week's Goals:

1. Finish the quilting on the Amish Doll Quilt (she said, fingers crossed!). Not finished but significant progress made.
2. Make the blue and white doll quilt top. Nope, didn't have time but I expect to get to it this week.
3. Finish the DWR top. No, but I did get to lay out the blocks and check the applique layout.
4. Layer #2, #3, the Christmas Tree skirt and the Crumb top for quilting (while my table is till clear!) Another nope but will get to that this week for sure.

 I was "talking" to (actually emailing) another quilter and we commiserated over the fact that we often feel we don't get much done but when we look up at the end of the year (or maybe even a year or two later) only then do we realize just how much we do or have accomplished.

Case in point, I saw a blog post about Myra's 2011 PHD (Projects Half Done) Challenge and began to think that maybe I should hedge my bets about this year and start making my list for NEXT year. But then I also decided to look BACK at my goal list for this year. And what I found reassured me: of the eleven projects I had listed at the end of 2009, I had already completed six BEFORE the challenge. In addition, I had the goal of trying new ways to quilt my quilts, one of which was to try hand quilting. Well that too has been done. So while I STILL want to get some (o.k., all!) of the things on my Y/E list done, I am not going to fall apart if I don't. Over all, it's already been a very good year!

But back to the task at hand. The good news this week was that I finished the library reshelving ahead of schedule, getting it all done on Monday and now this should free me until after the New Year when the school will get the cataloguing software for all the new books and I can go back in and help tag and shelve those. Finishing early would have been even sweeter if I could have looked forward to having the rest of the week to myself but a cousin's babysitting request for yesterday and an appointment today nixed that. However, tomorrow and Friday are (so far, fingers crossed yet again) looking good for a two day quilt-a-thon!

I am glad to say I have FINALLY been able to make some significant progress on the hand quilting of the Amish Doll Quilt.

The Dritz needles are working. It's still not easy but a few more full rows and the outer edges and it will be done. The new needles have also prompted me to dig out another long lingering WISP (Work In Slow Progress) - although this one will NOT be part of the Y/E Challenge!  Back in 2005, I had started a hand quilted, reversible quilt-as-you-go project that had appeared in the July/August 1998 issue of Quilters Newsletter (#304).

At the time it seemed simple enough: make the squares, fill them with squares of batting, top/quilt stitch the blocks and then whipstitch them together into a top. The idea was for this to be a portable and TV viewing project. However, I found it really difficult to quilt these blocks first with regular quilting needles and then trying longer, more flexible straw needles (and hence why there are only two finished in five years!). Part of the problem in my opinion was that the batting I started with, Warm & White, was too thick for hand quilting (an opinion later corroborated by Roxanne McElroy when I read her book "That Perfect Stitch"). But even when I found another, lighter, white cotton batting (Fairfield's Soft Touch) earlier this year, I found it hard to needle with the needles I had. But I think the Dritz needle I am currently using will also work with this old project and I look forward to getting back to this one after the Doll quilt project is done.

I also got to layout some of the blocks for the Double Wedding Ring quilt top.

I was concerned because AFTER I had completed most of the applique, I realized that I had oriented the motifs wrong: in the pattern, the block centers are laid out on point but when I did the applique I had applied the appliques to the centers as if they would be laid out on the square. I was scared that it would adversely affect the layout. But as far as I can see, while it won't look exactly like the pattern (which is not a concern for me) I don't think it ruins it. I did get arcs and melons attached to one center and finding out just how tricky it will be, I now know that putting this one together is going to take a lot of slow, steady work. It will get done but probably not until right up to deadline and might not get quilted this year as hoped.

This Week's Goals:

1. Finish the quilting on the Amish Doll Quilt.
2. Make the blue and white doll quilt top.
3. Work steadily on the DWR top.
4. Layer #2, the Christmas Tree skirt, the Schnibble top and the Crumb top for quilting.

This makes the list pretty much like last week. Head on over to Bari's to see what everyone else will be moving on to for the next week. As always, Happy Quilting!!

Quilters Accountability 11/10/10

 Last Week's Goals:

1. Complete the applique leaves on the Amish Doll Quilt.  Start and finish the quilting.  Applique is finally finished!  Quilt is layered and on the frame and the hand quilting can start tomorrow!
2. Make one block for the Sage Sampler (to be done each week until all six are done).  Done, I technically got two done, one pieced and one a cut-out from a coordinating panel.
3. Piece the Christmas Tree skirt.  Done, needs to be layered and quilted.
4. Catch up on all the Quilt Whisperer class notes and assignments. I downloaded the last of the notes.  Since the class ended last weekend, I am on my own to read and learn from them. 
5. Quilt the "Scratch" top.  Nope and on hold since I've got to start back on my DWR blocks to take with me on Thanksgving.

It was a busy week.  I never thought I'd get the applique work done!  Part of it was just the slog toward a finish and part of it was that I started volunteering at the beginning of the month in the library at DS2's middle school.  The library completed a year long renovation over the summer and I am helping re-shelve all the books.  Since they weren't put away in order, it means sorting everything down to the last decimal!  

With the applique done and on the frame and I've got the next two days for a mini quilt-a-thon (the kids are off from school tomorrow for Veteran's Day and I don't normally go in to the library on Friday ).  And I'll need those days since I've got an appointment to go to on Saturday and I have plans to go to a quilt show on Sunday.

I got everything else I wanted to get done except for reviewing the quilting class notes and well, quilting!  But if I can get past this last phase of hand work, I'll be ready to re-focus my head back to machine work. 

Sampler Blocks

Christmas Tree Skirt: "Happy Holidays" by Atkinson Designs.  The green fabric will be backing and binding.

Another little diversion this week happened while finishing up the applique:  I remembered that I had planned yet another doll quilt for this same aunt.  Back in 2006 or 2007, we had a conversation and she told me her favorite colors were blue and white.  Shortly after that I came across a fat quarter fabric sampler in the perfect colors in a Connecting Threads catalog.  Back then, they still sold other manufacturers fabrics.  The fabric line was called "The Gathering Garden" by Debbie Beaves for RJR Fabrics and I wanted to make a nice garden-themed quilt.  When I dug out the sampler set, I found that back then I had worked up a quilt design based on a pattern called "It's A Snap".  Unfortuately, after cutting out half of it, I realized that my cutting calculations were not correct and I didn't have enough of the large blue rose floral fabric for all the outer setting triangles (see: measure twice, cut once!).  

The good news is I've got another quick design in mind to use and combined with the fabric I have left and some more fabric I was able to order from an internet vendor who is still selling the line (and on sale!) I can still try to add this quick project to my year-end list.  Finn, who is hosting the Year-End Challenge recently blogged that some participants are adding "X-tra" projects to their lists (projects in addition to the UFO finishes they pledged) so this can count as a bonus project for me.

This Week's Goals:

1. (Finally) Start and finish the quilting on the Amish Doll Quilt.
2. Make one block for the Sage Sampler.
3. When the fabric comes, make the "Blue & White" Doll quilt top. 
4. Do machine applique of DWR blocks in prep for Thanksgiving trip.

We will be going back down to North Carolina to my mother-in-law's for Thanksgiving.  When she lived up here, she, a friend of hers and I would get together to quilt.  She says she has some quilts she wants to make for Christmas gifts so the plan is for us to work on our projects over the long weekend.  I want to take my Double Wedding Ring blocks down and put the top together.  I finished all the pieced arcs last summer and need to add applique to some centers (by machine this time) and then cut the centers and the melons so they can be sewn to the arcs.  This is one of my UFO Challenge List projects so it would be good to move it along. 

Please Note!  

On my sidebar is a link to the blog tour for Quiltmaker's newest special issue  "100 Blocks, Vol 2".

 
The magazine is filled with blocks designed by many popular designers (all you Judy Laquidara fans--she's in there!).  The magazine will be in stores on November 16 but if you check out the designer's blogs on the tour, you might win a copy -- like me!!  I  found out yesterday that I won a copy from Rebecca LoGiudice of Willow Hill Quilts.  Seems like my luck has been good lately since I also won a copy of the Fall/Winter 2010 American Patchwork & Quilting Quilt Sampler from Jill at Cre8fmom Quilts at the end of last month.  That one was my very first blog giveaway win.  With luck like this, maybe I'd better play the Lotto too!

Now get even more lucky and check in at Bari's and see what other quilters are getting done this week!

Quilters Accountability 11/3/10

Subtitle:  Reality Check!

Well, at least I expected it.  Despite thinking I'd have a number of opportunities to get to all my projects, reality was that most of the non-quilty things I had planned this past week took more time or energy than expected so when I had down time (aka hobby time), I was sometimes too tired to get any quilt work done.  On the up side, there has been some progress made and I've learned over the last few years that any progress, even baby steps, gets you that much closer to the finish.  And with progress, has come knowledge and that has kept me going.

Last Week's Goals:

1. Complete the applique on the Amish Doll Quilt.  If accomplished start (and finish?) the quilting. Did get all the flowers done and all the leaves cut out. 
2. If doll quilt gets done before next Friday, post to Amy's Fall Blogger's Quilt Festival. Nope won't make this in time. So taking this off the list.
3. Complete the remaining six blocks for the Sage Sampler.  Decide on the layout and whether it needs/there is room for sashing. Didn't get to this one at all and I've decided to make this a little easier on myself, so see revised goals for this week. 
4. Cut out the Christmas Tree skirt.  Done!
5. Complete assignments for the Quilt Whisperer class. Didn't get to this and have to pick up this week's notes and assignments as well.

I was a little disappointed in not getting the doll quilt finished, I have enjoyed all the hand work but am anxious to get back to machine piecing and quilting.  But I have also learned a lot about it as I've progressed though this project.  I now realize that this was too small a project for me to do needle-turn given my current hand work skill level. 

The applique looks very rough.  It is much harder to get a smooth line on such small pieces and I can now really appreciate all the extra leeway you have on bigger items.  If I were to work this small again, I'd have to consider methods for preparing my pieces (freezer paper, english paper pieceing, starch and press) to get better edges.  But I still like it and think the rough look will suit it when it is displayed with the dolls -- it will look like either a kid or the dolls themselves made it!

So rather than this being a set back, I am even more focused on getting this finished and off the WIP list.  I have also lined up ideas for a lot of future applique projects.   I got the first block of the Jan Patek "House & Garden" BOM I signed up for.  I'm saving that to try working on it in the car since we are expecting to drive down to North Carolina for Thanksgiving.  I also plan to substitute a few blocks in that project and have to review the options I lined up for it while waiting for the series to start.

If any of you are interested in applique, the Canadian quilt designers of The Rabbit Factory have started a new, free pattern series of four seasonal wall hangings which can be picked up monthly from their website here (scroll down to the bottom of the page to download the .zip file).   I found one of their designs in a 1999 issue of McCall's Quilting and look forward to getting a couple of their patterns.

This Week's Goals:

1. Complete the applique leaves on the Amish Doll Quilt.  Start and finish the quilting.
2. Make one block for the Sage Sampler (to be done each week until all six are done).
3. Piece the Christmas Tree skirt.  
4. Catch up on all the Quilt Whisperer class notes and assignments. 
5. Quilt the "Scratch" top.  

 I am also a little disappointed not to have something for the Bloggers Quilt Festival, but I've already been enjoying the entries by the bloggers who are in my Google Reader feed.  So I am looking forward to surfing through the entries over the next few weeks and seeing what is out there.  I was actually able to look at all 600+ entries made in the spring and found a lot of great new blogs as a result.

With the Quilt Whisperer class almost done, I am looking forward to quilting all the quilt tops I have laying about and getting them done for the Year-End Challenge.  My (as usual, ambitious) plans are to try to get to one each week.  The "Scratch" top is a wall hanging so I hope it will only be a one or two day quilt job. 

If anyone is struggling with motivation for finishing up (or getting rid of) your UFOs, Pat Sloan is issuing weekly "UFO Busting" tips on her blog from now until Thanksgiving Day and has a support forum that you can also participate in.

So join me back at Bari's to see what everyone else accomplished on their list this week!

Handwork Updates

In my last post, I was working on a lot of hand work projects for two classes I took at Quilt University.  As of last Monday, all the class projects and one additional block had been finished. 

 

On the left is the Hand Quilting piece from Nancy Chong's Hand Quilting Class, on the right were the two class blocks from her Hand Applique class.  The little center block is part of a sampler project I've wanted to do for a while (more on that later).  For now, the large applique blocks are orphans. 

 

Update:  The Pink Hawaiian Applique block was used to make a journal cover in 2013 and can be seen in this post.   

 

But now that my eyes have been opened to the pleasures of doing hand work, I've been looking at a lot of potential applique projects and the ideas are piling up.  So far, I've got preliminary plans for the wreath block to become the center of a medallion quilt but both could also eventually wind up in samplers.  On Friday, the Hand Quilting piece became this (rather large) bed pillow cover:

I'll be washing it with the laundry tomorrow to take out all the stencil markings and I've still got to make a pillow insert by serging some squares of muslin together and stuffing it with batting scraps.  I was glad to find a good outer ruffle fabric -- it will go with a number of the quilts I've already made for my bed and another one I hope to finish by year's end.  I love the double ruffle but next time I make one I will make two single (hemmed) layers rather than folding each layer together to create the finished edges.  Those four layers of fabric were a devil to ruffle (too thick to do on the serger) although they do form a nice firm edge around the pillow.

The little green and white Hawaiian applique block will be added to other blocks as part of a "framed sampler" project that I started waaayyy back in 2004 (I think?).  

 I had always wanted to try to make a paper-cut style applique block for this piece but at the time I was only doing machine applique and was not sure I could get it done.  When I realized this style of applique was also covered in the Hand Applique class, I was elated to think I might get this one done and made sure to pick a design and baste and stitch it up along with the larger class project.  The blocks for this sampler will finish at 3" (I've still got to trim the background of the applique block down) and will be pieced, paper-pieced and (now) hand appliqued.  The very wonky Nosegay block on the lower left may or may not stay -- I like the fabrics but the piecing is pretty bad.  On the paper in the lower right corner is a list of the other potential blocks I want to make for this such as Churn Dash, Card Trick and Goose Chase/Dutchman's Puzzle.  I would love to get this one finally finished before the end of the year and cross it off the WISP list.

 

Update:  That also didn't happen until 2013 and you can see the finished sampler in this post.

As noted in the previous post, all this hand work focus was also supposed to help get me back to this project:

This was a doll quilt I started in 2007 for my aunt who collects dolls and will be the second one I've made for her.  The center strips were leftovers from the Amish "Trip Around the World" quilt I made back in 2006 which I talked about in my "Bucket List" post.  The applique design is from the "Pineapple Welcome" quilt in the "The Scrap Savers Solution Book" book by Connie Kaufman, reduced in size by 50%.  Unfortunately, I had completed most of the previous hand work projects while listening to the NY Yankees play in the American League championships (even though I am officially a life-long NY Mets fan) but now that they have been eliminated, I've got to find something else to listen to while stitching.  Fortunately, there are always my favorites -- podcasts.  This afternoon I will listen to Pat Sloan's show and I know that Sandy at Quilting For The Rest of Us has a new episode I also need to catch up on so that should keep me busy.  

Both this and the sampler project are part of the nine (!) project commitment I've made for Finn's "Year End Challenge" this year (button on the side bar).  I didn't do so great last year but I hope my "Spring Finish" productivity will be repeated for this one. And if I can get it finished by the end of the week, I am hoping that this will be my "Fall Blogger's Quilt Festival" entry (button also on the side bar) since I missed posting in the last one.

That's all for now but hopefully more to come later this week.  Happy Quilting!

My Quilting Bucket List

I love that all quilters tend to do and think about the same things even when we don't know each other. Last year, I read posts by Pam at the "Knitnoid" blog (note: the link is for her old blog on Blogger, her new blog is on Wordpress) and Jen at "A Quilting Jewel" about what quilts or techniques they have on that "list of quilts I want to/always wanted to make".  Most of the quilts on their lists were also on mine.  Now, we are not talking about the "latest love" projects -- these are the quilts you feel you must make to "really be considered a quilter".  

Of course, as we progress as quilters, things get added to the list as we become more confident about what we actually can accomplish.  After reading those posts I did a quick review of the quilts I've said I wanted to make since I started quilting and was surprised to find that many have already been done.  So here is a pictorial review of the Bucket List items I've already accomplished:

Irish Chain

This quilt is Eleanor Burn's "Quilt In A Day" version called "Bits 'N Pieces".  I finished this in 2008 and it was also the first bed sized quilt I completed.  

Edited to add:  you can see the first one I attempted here.

I've always been attracted to the Irish Chain design and have seen many variations involving using two to four different blocks (one version called for some of the squares to be appliqued on!) to achieve the chain design.  I was attracted to this particular version because it only required one block (!) and the block was completely strip pieced which made them easy to construct.  

I really like this design and hope to make another one in a three color format with a seminole border, a design I saw in an old issue of QUILT Magazine.

Amish Quilt and Trip Around the World 

Sorry For Picture Quality:  For Some Reason This Picture Got Stretched Out in the Upload

Like many people, Amish quilts astounded me when I first heard about/saw them.  They seemed so simple yet were so graphic.  Also one of the things I've learned about my own quilt color preferences:  since I started quilting I've always been attracted to "shaded" color tones (colors mixed with black) so the darker palettes of Amish quilts also were a big draw for me.  My first in depth introduction to Amish quilts was Rachel Pellman's book "The World of Amish Quilts".  The "Trip Around The World" quilts in that book (especially the cover quilt) were beautiful in the way the colors in some of them radiated. 

Another reason I began quilting was when watching the old "Simply Quilts" episodes on HGTV, I learned from the beginning that there were shortcuts galore to achieving many "old-time" block patterns and I was always fascinated by that.  When I realized that "Trip" quilts could be strip pieced, it immediately became one of the must do's.  I also love when one project can check off two things on the Bucket List.  This was made in 2006.

Log Cabin (Courthouse Steps Variation) and Miniature Quilts

Once again an old picture that got messed up in the Upload.

Although I like all the variations of Log Cabins and do hope to make a few, doing a log cabin was not a must do until I saw a quilt done in this "Courthouse Steps" Log Cabin variation.  I was intrigued about how the little lantern like shapes were formed and when I found out (careful placement of colors in adjacent log cabin blocks), I really wanted to make one.  

I finally did so after my mother died and I took possession of a Featherweight machine that had been her boyfriend's (a tailor) who had died two years before her (and unfortunately I never got to have a conversation with her before she died about why she had it since she did not sew).  I had always dreamed of creating a sewing themed display in my quilt space and I was able to do so when I got the machine.  When I put the display together, I immediately realized that the machine would look even better with a quilt displayed on it (the old iron belonged to my great-grandmother).  

After long debates about what would look good hanging on it when only about half the quilt would show, I saw an antique doll quilt made in this style hung from a shelf the way I planned to display a quilt from the machine.  BINGO!  When I measured the machine, I determined that I only needed a quilt about 12" square for this.  So this also became my first miniature quilt even though making one was not, per se, a must do for me.  This was made in 2006.

Strippy and Flying Geese Quilts

The details on this one were covered in this recent post so a picture here will have to be worth a thousand words!  This was another "two for one" on the Bucket List count down.

Bargello

Once again, sorry for picture quality, these are pictures of pictures taken BD, before digital 

This little project was made in 2004 as a gift for a friend.  It comes from Kim Ritter's "Quick Quilting" book.  I do hope to do a larger bargello project in the future and recently bought this book when Connecting Threads had a sale earlier this year.  But this gave me a nice taste of it and come to think of it, it was my first experience quilting clamshells.

Feathered Star

This was made in 2003.  I saw Marsha McClosky on "Simply Quilts" and she demonstrated the Radiant Star block.  It looked to me to be one of those blocks that looked a lot harder than it was to make.  

This is the "Joining Star" from her book "Feathered Star Quilts" a book that was really tough to get.  This was one of the easier blocks in the book (they are rated one, two and three stars for difficulty) and I was nervous about making it until putting it together.  Accurate cutting is the key -- if you cut right, the construction is a breeze.  

I originally made this to be a one-block wall hanging and hung it to go above a bookcase but then I wound up putting a chair where the bookcase was supposed to be so I added the bead fringe to fill in the blank space that was the difference in the heights of the two furniture pieces.  This was also a chance to try the "focus fabric color scheme" theory about choosing quilt colors, something that was a big concern for me back then.  All the colors in the center were picked out from the fabric in the prairie point border (and making those was also a first!).  

I hope to make a whole quilt of Feathered Stars and just this week purchased a set of Marti Michel's templates that were on sale at Keepsake Quilting (less than half price!) and also hope to get Marsha's new ruler in the future as well.

Still To Do......

So those are the Bucket List quilts I have done or at least "tasted".  But there are still some I haven't tackled (or at least finished) yet:

• Double Wedding Ring (in progress and blogged about here) 
  
  
  
• DONE! String Quilt (also in progress and blogged about in the same post as the DWR above) Finished two Bonnie Hunter quilts here and here.  
  
  
  
• DONE! Lone Star Quilt (I have fabric already purchased for two different versions and had considered doing one for the Liberated Amish Challenge but I don't think that will didn't happen.  Started Finished a one block wall hanging in 2022 2024 
  
  
  
• DONE!  Dresden Plate quilt (already have fabric for one to be done in Civil War Repros was completed in 2013) 

  

  
  
• A "complex" Applique Quilt (I've done a few simple appliques but a really complex one is still in the "dreaming of" stage)
• A Baltimore Album quilt (currently in the "collecting ideas and designs" stage)
• ....and the mother of them all -- to do a white whole cloth quilt to be quilted BY HAND!  I do have a quilt-as-you-go hand quilting project in process but and I think doing the wholecloth is still many years away was started in 2019.

So there you have it, my Bucket List.  So of course, I ask you, what's on your list?