Summer 2010

Here are a few things I've been working on this summer. I finally got a quilt done for myself. This is a pattern called Scrappy Pineapple Blossom, which I did as part of an online swap with friends.


This is a quilt that I finished up for Donna. The theme fabric was used for the Western Washington Quilt Shop Hop two years ago.



Yesterday, I finished this quilt for a new customer, Brenda. This Courthouse Steps quilt was made for her son who is headed off to college soon. This should keep him plenty warm for years to come!


Recently I started quilting up a bunch of tops for a charity called American Hero Quilts. These are donated to the wounded soldiers at Madigan Army hospital in the Seattle area.

Karen, Ye Merrie Quilter

End of June 2010

A few last quilts for June

Clara's blue beauty - A lovely quilt that was finished with a loose free-hand all-over flower pattern.

Border on Clara's quilt. She asked for a special pattern to highlight the otherwise plain area, and I came across this one that looked somewhat like half-fleur de lis motifs morphed into each other. Hard to describe, but really quite stunning when it's quilted onto a border.

Lauri's doggie table runner. I created a dog bone motif for the long borders and then free-motion quilted various loopy motifs across the center blocks and the side panels. I'm really quite happy with the results!

More to come!

Karen,

Ye Merrie Quilter

June 2010

It was brought to my attention that this page hasn't been updated in a while...let me remedy that!


Here are a few things that I have been working on for the past few months.

Recently, I volunteered to quilt up a couple of charity quilts for my quilt guild. It is my understanding that these comfort quilts will be given to foster children who are graduating from High School this month. This bright and colorful version was made of scraps donated to the guild in a Jacob's Ladder pattern.

This one also was made in the Jacob's Ladder pattern using a more masculine colorway of browns and blues. The guild provided batting and backing fabric for the two quilts, but this didn't match the provided fabric at all. I donated five yards or so of fabric to better coordinate with the colors on the top.


This quilt was made from a collection of donated southwest fabrics and was put together in an Irish Chain variation. I was really happy with the way the flower bud pattern turned out.

This purse was made for a friend's mom for Christmas--this was a complete commission from stitching the purse together to quilting and finishing. While this is not normally something I would do, I decided that it was a small enough project that it could be finished quickly.

This quilt was made for my mother-in-law for Christmas. You may notice some similarities between this and the purse--the purse was made from leftover fabrics from this project. Since they both loved the same colors, it was an ideal situation to build them both using the same fabrics.

A customer's first quilt! The proud owner of this quilt had never before made a quilt and I was happy to be able to finish it for her so she would have a completed project to show her friends and family.


One of my most difficult jobs was this Fractal Quilt. A mathmetician friend designed this for his wife to make and asked that I quilt a Fractal Curve on it. After some research, I found this pattern and was able to convert it into a quilt pattern for them. The high loft batting she provided made it a fluffy, snuggly lap quilt for them...presumably to watch "NUMB3RS".

And finally, at least for this update, this "throwing star" quilt by Linda. For her, all she sees are the black rectangles. I see the stars jumping out at me...what do you see first?


Karen, the Merrie Quilter

Finished up Michele's table runner. I used the same "Dr. Seuss Feathers" design, but tried to modify it just a little to make it look somewhat like fireworks. It looks fun and festive!

Next up: Donovan's Boot Camp graduation quilt!

Blue and Yellow Sampler

Finished the quilt for Miss Kitty! Things went together quite well--no snags, no tension problems...awesome!

I did a type of Dr. Seuss feathers over the whole surface.

Three more projects are waiting in the wings, but I also have a quilt in transit that has ASAP status. Considering it's a gift for a Marine graduating from boot camp, I'm happy to accommodate! Hoo-yah!

Karen, Ye Merrie Quilter

Long time, no post

Worked on only two pieces these past few weeks--

Blue Christmas quilt for Donna. This took extra long because of ordering delays from the thread supplier. I needed a varigated blue thread for the top (black for the back) that I couldn't find in the local shops--out of desperation to get started, I was willing to pay retail, but there was nothing available locally. I then went to my online wholesaler and had to wait (I think they were away at a show). Then I had some tension problems with the machine (operator error), so I had to spend about a week picking out bad stitches. Frustrating and time consuming... but the end result was very satisfying!

Next up is a blue and yellow sampler from Miss Kathy. I think the best thread for the job is the same one I used for the Blue Christmas, but I may need a light blue or medium grey for the back. I will probably get started on this tomorrow. It wants Dr. Seuss feathers! Or maybe swirlies...

Happy quilting!

Karen, Ye Merrie Quilter

A hot, lazy, crazy summer

The weather has been ridiculously hot these past few days, which is making work difficult to do. No air conditioning in the work room upstairs means it's hot-hot-hot by the frame.


Here's a couple of projects I've been working on for Summer!

Miss Kathy sent along several quilt tops for me to work on. The first of the group is the Noah's Ark quilt. I carefully quilted around the animals and boats, and echoed the branches around the border.

Next was Sharon's Chains Table Topper. This one gave me some heartburn--at first I tried a Celtic pattern, but it was not working for the quilt. I carefully picked out my stitches and started again with a new pattern that I'm much happier with. I hope she does, too!

Coming up is a Christmas quilt for Donna, which is a large throw with some non-traditional Christmas colors in it. It's scrappy and joyful--perfect for the season...which now I'm looking forward to after several days of HOT weather. Then a couple more quilts for Miss Kathy.

Stay cool!

Karen, the Merrie Quilter