Melinda Quilts etc
The three quilt shops in Marietta are having a small shop hop in a couple of weeks. Each of the shops will have a pattern related to tableware and each person who comes to the shop will be given a copy. Our pattern is for a table topper and each of us who work at the shop is making one. We all chose fabrics and different themes/seasons. Mine is a bright Christmas line and it was fun to make.
I got it quilted and bound and even put a label on it. Fun! I can’t wait to see the others.
Melinda
Only one more row before I can start putting the Christmas Row Quilt together. Of course the last row is the reindeer and it is by far the most complicated. I have started sewing the strips that will be sewn into the reindeer. Lots of baggies being filled.
Melinda
This is my first design wall of the year – not sure how I got off track but hopefully I am back. This is the Hexie BOM from The Hexie Blog for 2014. I have been undecided how I wanted to set them but decided yesterday to frame them with polka dots!
More framing to do and then decide if I want to set them side by side or should I add a small sashing of the background? Decisions, decisions, decisions.
Since Shop Hop started Saturday, I thought I would show my quilt. The theme of the hop is Sweet Sixteen so I designed a block that has sixteen half square triangles to make a sixteen inch block and there are sixteen blocks. Here is the finished quilt.
For more design walls, go to Patchwork Times here.
Melinda
Today on my design wall is a Shop Hop quilt waiting for binding.
There are 10 shops on the Shop Hop and if you spend $30 at each shop, you will be given a packet of 10 strips. Each strip is 2 1/2 x 21. I took all 100 strips and put them together in this quilt, along with a couple of yards of the bright floral fabric. At each shop, you will also get a copy of the pattern for their quilt.
Here is another quilt that will be at Shop Hop later this week. Cathy made this one.
I need to write up the pattern for this in time for the Shop Hop.
For more design walls, go to Patchwork Times.
Melinda
I finally finished the tumbler quilt for Shop Hop. It is made from the Noteworthy collection for Sweetwater. I used every fabric in the line.
Now to get it quilted. I decided it did not need a border so I will pick up backing today and hopefully get it done soon.
For more design wall inspiration, go to Patchwork Times.
Melinda
On my design wall today is the Shop Hop Quilt. I am using all the fabrics in the Homecoming line by Sweetwater. I still have five more rows to add.
The sun was out and very bright so you can see the sun spots on the quilt. I was really unhappy with it when I first started but as I add more rows, I am liking it better.
The other thing on my design wall is the first 10 months of Saturday Sampler. Only two more blocks to go.
For more design walls, go to Patchwork Times and check them all out.
Melinda
I have 5 rows of the tumbler quilt put together. There will be a total of 11 rows when it is complete – of course that is if my calculations were correct. Keep your fingers crossed. I finished the other shop hop quilt top so will now focus on this one.
I think it might need a border but will decide for sure when all the blocks are sewn together.
Melinda
I have made progress on both of my shop hop quilts. In front is the one using the strips from all ten shops. In the back is my tumbler quilt.
I hope to finish at least the bright quilt today – probably not the tumbler yet.
Melinda
Here is another of my many projects. Using the shop’s Accucut Studio, I cut tumblers out of all 40 fabrics in the Noteworthy line by Sweetwater. I designed a simple quilt in EQ7 and am getting ready to start piecing. The tumblers should go together easily since they have the corners cut out. I plan to use them as leaders/enders while I complete the other shop hop quilt.
I also got all the 50 blocks made for the other shop hop quilt. I need to get it arranged so I can sew them together. Here is the stack of them.
I think the bright flower print in the center will tie all the very different strips together. It is difficult to use such a variety of fabrics in one project but I think this will work OK. Especially with the flowers around the outside as a border.
Melinda
Shop Hop is coming up in about a month here in Atlanta. This year, each shop will be giving out 10 strips of fabric that are 2 1/2” x 22” or half a strip. There are 10 shops so if someone collects all the strips, they will have 100. Each shop is making a quilt from the strips and that is what I am working on today.
Here is the start. Since each strip is only about 20-22 inches long, there is not enough to go all the way around the focus fabric. I paired up the strips with similar colors and will make 50 of these blocks. Then I will sew them into pairs and finally into 5 rows of 5 blocks. That should get it to about 60 inches square before borders. So far, so good.
For more design walls, go to Patchwork Times.
Melinda
I have been talking about the shop hop quilts and finally took photos on Sunday. Here they are. First is the quilt made from the Reunion line. The pattern is Snap Shot from the book Happy Hour. We ran out of room to hang the quilts so this one got a ribbon around the top and put up next to a door. The name of this one is Lakewood High School – 50 years later.
Next is the quilt made from the line called A Stitch in Color. I made up this pattern. I call it Color, Color and More Color.
Last is a quilt that I actually made the center of several years ago with my sister in Las Vegas. After we made it, she developed a pattern called Lattice Patch. At the Tiny Stitches retreat in October, I put the borders on and finally got it quilted. It is called Moving Up the Food Pyramid. Did you know that the second level of the pyramid is fruit and vegetables? I thought it was the bottom but that is bread, cereal, rice and grains.
Here is the actual Shop Hop quilt. Each shop designed a basket block and then a quilt made from that block. Mary designed the block and quilt and I quilted it for her.
Isn’t it cute?
Off to help set up for the retreat that starts tomorrow.
Melinda
I just realized that I forgot to post a photo of my quilt yesterday. Here it is.
Now I am off to write the pattern for the quilt.
Melinda
I delivered my three quilts to Tiny Stitches yesterday for the shop hop. Here they are stacked on Bill’s chair right before they left home.
Once I got to the shop, I only took a photo of one of them. I will get the others while they are hanging. This one is called Color, Color and More Color. I still need to write the pattern for it. Remember that the center of the quilt is a panel, not pieced. Just the borders are pieced. I used orange Cuddle on the back and it turned out very cute and warm.
After delivering the quilts, and picking up my quilts from the Bulloch Hall show (thanks to Stella who actually picked them up and brought them to the shop), I came home and quilted the “official” shop hop quilt that Mary made. I will get photos of that one later in the week also. I finished it around midnight so had a long day!
Melinda
My design wall has a quilt for shop hop on it.
Busy, isn’t it! The center of the quilt is a single piece of fabric. I still need to finish the four patch border and add the outside border. Hopefully this week.
I went to the Atlanta Modern Quilt Guild meeting and took this block I made for a challenge we are doing.
We were given four fat quarters and could choose any solid background. We will be making 3 different blocks that can turn into a table runner or wall hanging. I didn’t think I liked the fabric much but it is growing on me.
For more design walls, go to Patchwork Times.
Melinda
I have something new on my design wall today. This is the border pieces for my second shop hop quilt made from the wonderful line called “Stitched in Color”.
I finished the Reunion quilt and it is in the “to be quilted” stack.
I had planned on using the plaid for the first border but it is so wonky that I don’t think it will work. Instead I will use it for the corner blocks and use the one on the right for the borders.
For more design walls, go to Patchwork Times and check them out.
Melinda
Here is the fabric I have for a quilt for Shop Hop. The top fabric is a preprinted piece. The bottom will be the borders and binding. The center fabric is so wonderful that we decided not to cut it. There will be one big center piece with borders around it. Here is my EQ7 drawing.
Simple but with such wonderful fabrics, I think it will work out well.
Since this is a shop quilt and the fabric is not mine, I am not adding it to my stash report. Of course that means I won’t be able to count it when completed either.
Melinda
I forgot a block when I showed the shop hop book a few days ago. Somehow I didn’t show the schoolhouse!
Here it is – I am also going to add it to the original post.
It is near the front of the book.
Melinda
You know how shop hops work – each shop in the quilt chooses a block and then each shop takes their version of each block and makes a quilt. Well this time, we decided to be more creative and turned our collection of blocks into a book – a very fat book.
The theme of the shop hop was a Parade of Homes and each shop choose a house to represent them. We decided to be a castle and because the royal wedding is coming up next month, we went with the whole royal theme. We decorated with photos of the happy couple and made a children’s book out of the blocks.
We started with our castle block as the cover of the book. The title is A House is a Home No Matter Where You Roam. In the little pocket on the castle is Kate, who is the star of the story.
When you open the book, you will find the first page has who made the book and other details. The next page starts the story. If you click on the book pages you can read the story about Kate and her travels through the kingdom.
The first stop is at a flower shop.
She then visits the schoolhouse.
Next she goes to a farm.
Then she goes to a gingerbread house,
and on to the haunted house.
She then goes to a bee keep,
Followed by bird houses.
She then goes to a light house,
a firehouse,
and lastly a bakery.
Each of the employees made a block – I made the bakery.
After the blocks were made, it needed to be turned into a book and that is where I came in. I added spines to each set of pages and sewed the pages together into sets of four. After all that was done, I managed to sew the book together. I was uncertain if I could sew through 24 layers of fabric but I pulled out the shop’s Pfaff sewing machine and it worked great.
Hope you enjoy seeing what we did with our blocks.
Melinda
I thought I would show our parade of aprons we made for the Shop Hop. Each of us used the Georgia fabric that is featured for the Shop Hop and made our own apron, using any pattern and trim we wanted. Here we go!
First is Carolyn
Beth
Barb
Connie
Debbie
Mindy
Stella
Tina
I forgot to get a photo of me and my apron – I will do that today. Our theme was a castle and we are celebrating the engagement of William and Kate. We all had hats and the aprons and are having a lot of fun.
Off to the last day of Shop Hop for another year!
Melinda
Here are a few of the quilts that I made and/or quilted that are hanging in the shop.
Easter egg table runner from several years ago.
Kaffe Magical Slice and Dice
Wacky Devine Nine
Moda Bake Shop quilt
Here are a couple more that I quilted for Cindy.
Red and White quilt
Embroidery quilt
Off to the shop soon for the third day of four.
Melinda
