Sharon benefits from this practice, however, on her Log Cabin quilt!
Karen, Ye Merrie Quilter
Sunday, March 1, 2009
February & March Projects
I finished the Clowning Around quilt, a one block wonder quilt! I used the this quilt as an opportunity to practice and develop a new quilting pattern. By the end of it, I found a great series of motifs were possible borrowing a couple ideas from another blog I visit.
Karen, Ye Merrie Quilter
Karen, Ye Merrie Quilter
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
Be Vewy, Vewy Quiet!!
Long time, no see!
This quilt, which I call Clowning Around, is a King size one-block wonder made from clown fish fabric. I created waves around the outside with Drunkards Path blocks. It was a challenge doing the math and trying to get the borders to match the length and width of the top. I have it on the racks now, but no real clear idea how I'm going to quilt it.
Yes, it's been very quiet out here in Ye Merrie Land! Not much work partly due to the INSANE weather we've been experiencing and the holidays, so I've been focusing on some personal projects--only a couple of them quilting-related.
This quilt, which I call Clowning Around, is a King size one-block wonder made from clown fish fabric. I created waves around the outside with Drunkards Path blocks. It was a challenge doing the math and trying to get the borders to match the length and width of the top. I have it on the racks now, but no real clear idea how I'm going to quilt it. I also have a quilt top sitting on the sidelines, just received from Sharon...which means I need to get inspiration on Clowning pretty quick so I can finish that up and get to hers!
Enjoy!
Karen, Ye Merrie Quilter
Saturday, November 22, 2008
And then it was November!
The temperatures have dropped into the low 50s, the winter rains and winds have returned to the coast, and it's getting dark before dinnertime. It must be nearing winter!
The end of October had a couple projects for me. The Moonlight Quilters' Guild asked me to quilt two items. First was the President's Quilt, a gift that is given each year to the person who holds the presidency. This year it was Marilynn, who is all about bright colors and contrast! 
I created a custom design to fill the area with a motif that resembles sun rays and icicles, which was quilted in varigated threads to match the "hot" and "cold" areas.
Next was the guild's Christmas quilt, which was a group effort by all the members of the guild. I found a poinsettia motif as part of a more complicated design, 
and modified it to be more of a free-form pattern. It was a lot of fun!
Now on the racks is an Amish style sampler quilt for Michele, which is going to have feathered cables around the borders, and echo quilting throughout most of the middle of the quilt.
Karen
Ye Merrie Quilter
The end of October had a couple projects for me. The Moonlight Quilters' Guild asked me to quilt two items. First was the President's Quilt, a gift that is given each year to the person who holds the presidency. This year it was Marilynn, who is all about bright colors and contrast! 
I created a custom design to fill the area with a motif that resembles sun rays and icicles, which was quilted in varigated threads to match the "hot" and "cold" areas.
Next was the guild's Christmas quilt, which was a group effort by all the members of the guild. I found a poinsettia motif as part of a more complicated design, 
and modified it to be more of a free-form pattern. It was a lot of fun!
Now on the racks is an Amish style sampler quilt for Michele, which is going to have feathered cables around the borders, and echo quilting throughout most of the middle of the quilt.Karen
Ye Merrie Quilter
Tuesday, October 14, 2008
The Quiet Month of October
I don't know if it's the uncertainty of the economy or if it was the beginning of the school year, or if it was a series of quilt shows that kept people busy with other things than visiting this local long armer, but I really only worked on one quilt this month, something for myself. This quilt is one that I got blocks in a friendship block exchange throughout 2007 from some online friends. I put them together to make a King size top, and have named it Mountains of Friends.
I heavily quilted the green border with "pine needles" and covered the rest of it with an all-over birch leaf motif. Hopefully business will pick up in November. If you have something to work on, please drop me a note and I'll see if I can help you!
Karen, Ye Merrie Quilter
Wednesday, September 3, 2008
Donna's Elements Quilt finished!
Here is Donna's Elements quilt. I enjoyed quilting arches from corner to corner, filling in erratic lighting strikes, and windy swirls in the rainy border. 
I also have the opportunity to quilt something for myself, Addie's 9-Patch, named for my great-aunt who was a quilter. She passed away in 1962, several years before I was born, but I hope she would appreciate this tribute to her memory.Enjoy!
Karen
Ye Merrie Quilter
Friday, August 29, 2008
End of August 2008
Here are a few photos of the things I was finishing up this month. I'm not doing a LOT of work lately, but I feel like I'm always busy! Why is that?
Donna gave me this quilt to do, and I had to think about it for a while to decide what I was going to do. Finally it became clear that I needed to do something feathery. So I decided that random feathers would be just the thing!
I did a nice feather all around the green border using a varigated green thread that perfectly blended with the fabric...so well, in fact, it was hard to get a photo to turn out!
The interior was done in a black (and sadly, this photo is pretty blurry), with dark blue on the back to blend in with the slate blue batik on the back.
She handed me a new quilt to work on, but it needs to be done this week for the quilt show next month--the Elements Round Robin that the quilt guild did. I worked on Sharon's before, as I mentioned, and this is her quilt top! It's beautiful! Very different from Sharon's, and will be a challenge to find quilting patterns to reflect the various elements, and to get it done this week!
Enjoy!
Karen,
Donna gave me this quilt to do, and I had to think about it for a while to decide what I was going to do. Finally it became clear that I needed to do something feathery. So I decided that random feathers would be just the thing!
I did a nice feather all around the green border using a varigated green thread that perfectly blended with the fabric...so well, in fact, it was hard to get a photo to turn out! 
The interior was done in a black (and sadly, this photo is pretty blurry), with dark blue on the back to blend in with the slate blue batik on the back.She was very happy with the work and is hoping that her Mom likes it!
She handed me a new quilt to work on, but it needs to be done this week for the quilt show next month--the Elements Round Robin that the quilt guild did. I worked on Sharon's before, as I mentioned, and this is her quilt top! It's beautiful! Very different from Sharon's, and will be a challenge to find quilting patterns to reflect the various elements, and to get it done this week!Enjoy!
Karen,
Ye Merrie Quilter
Monday, August 18, 2008
August Activities
August has been a quiet month. This has been a time of vacations, travel, visiting, and drinking home made lemonade and fanning yourself in the heat.
I did, however, work on this stunning One Block Wonder made by Donna. I called it "Frogs in a Blender"...though that's not entirely a palatable idea, is it? Simply "Frogs" will do, I suppose. Donna is always inspired by new designs, new patterns, and new techniques. She found this one at the local quilt shop, and of course, she immediately had to try it. She selected a beautiful fabric with bright colors and high contrast, which worked remarkably well in changing the colors from light to dark across the top of the quilt. She added borders to make it large enough for her bed.
The frogs inspired me to "draw" lily pads all over the top. Well, where else would frogs live? I hope you can see it in this photo--I was having trouble photographing the stitches on this very busy print.
I tried, for the first time, the new Green batting made from recycled plastic bottles. It not only is called "green" because it's recycled, but it actually IS green...a pale mint green. While it worked fairly well for quilting and I didn't seem to have any problems with the quilting part, I found it to be rather fussy and easily stretched while loading it up on the rollers. If I were unfolding it on the floor with a few helping hands, or using it for small projects, I would use it again. Probably not for something this large, however. I still prefer needlepunched cotton--it's a little more rugged and, because it's a natural fiber, will breathe well on a bed.
I love some of the details she added on the edges, such as this fan of repeats along the edge. There were also hexagons floating around the edges, much like lily pads in a lake. I visited a local lake to look at some lily pads to get a better idea how they would look, and included a few random flowers in the stitching, too.
The next on the docket is another giant one-block wonder with peacocks on it. This is screaming for some feathers, but I will have to plan the feather pattern for it to make sure it lines up and looks balanced. It's a lot more work, but it's totally worth it in the end!
I did, however, work on this stunning One Block Wonder made by Donna. I called it "Frogs in a Blender"...though that's not entirely a palatable idea, is it? Simply "Frogs" will do, I suppose. Donna is always inspired by new designs, new patterns, and new techniques. She found this one at the local quilt shop, and of course, she immediately had to try it. She selected a beautiful fabric with bright colors and high contrast, which worked remarkably well in changing the colors from light to dark across the top of the quilt. She added borders to make it large enough for her bed.
The frogs inspired me to "draw" lily pads all over the top. Well, where else would frogs live? I hope you can see it in this photo--I was having trouble photographing the stitches on this very busy print.I tried, for the first time, the new Green batting made from recycled plastic bottles. It not only is called "green" because it's recycled, but it actually IS green...a pale mint green. While it worked fairly well for quilting and I didn't seem to have any problems with the quilting part, I found it to be rather fussy and easily stretched while loading it up on the rollers. If I were unfolding it on the floor with a few helping hands, or using it for small projects, I would use it again. Probably not for something this large, however. I still prefer needlepunched cotton--it's a little more rugged and, because it's a natural fiber, will breathe well on a bed.
I love some of the details she added on the edges, such as this fan of repeats along the edge. There were also hexagons floating around the edges, much like lily pads in a lake. I visited a local lake to look at some lily pads to get a better idea how they would look, and included a few random flowers in the stitching, too.
The next on the docket is another giant one-block wonder with peacocks on it. This is screaming for some feathers, but I will have to plan the feather pattern for it to make sure it lines up and looks balanced. It's a lot more work, but it's totally worth it in the end!I have heard from another friend that she has another top ready to be delivered soon! Details to come!
Enjoy!
Karen
Ye Merrie Quilter
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
