A Big Thank You!

My Big Thank You goes out to all who made Project Quilting happen!  To all the participants, the sponsors, the judges, and especially the organizer and creator of Project Quilting, Kim.  Also the general public for viewing and voting! And last but not least , my  friends and family who supported me through hours of crazy quilting ideas and creations which resulted in wonderful final projects for the contest. 

Project Quilting gave me permission to create... What I mean by this, is that I didn't have to follow a pattern.  I would come up with an idea and just start drafting it out on paper or in my head and just go with it!  Sometimes I would have to cut and sew and then rip it out, but I tried new things and really created the ideas that were spinning around in my head!  An extra bonus for me was that I watched a lot less TV at night.  I quilt customer's quilts all day and my only free time are my evenings.  Thanks to project quilting for filling my evenings with creative thinking! 

I am very please to have placed third in the contest!  Makes me smile!  Kim created a wonderful mosaic of my projects.

Watch for an April post which will include the photo directions for making a quilted tote bag from a small quilted piece like a baby quilt or quilted wall hanging.  Learn how to make it in April and do it in May for May for Me!

Do you have a small quilt you would like to make into a quilted tote bag?  Join us for the May for Me celebration!

My Little Sweetheart Box

Challenge 3 for Project Quilting

Marcia Wachuta - Marcia's Crafty Sewing & Quilting www.craftysewing.com
Boscobel, Wisconsin

Measures 5 1/2 inches across by 5 1/2 inches deep.

I designed the crazee patch paper pieced heart for a heart quilt we made for a Breast Cancer fundraiser a couple years ago. When you said Valentine - that was it! I had to use my paper pieced heart! I started combining blues and greens and then added the oranges and printed butterfly fabric. I decided I wanted to make a 3 D quilted box . 

I took pictures of the whole process. See my blog posts at www.craftysewing.com

My little Sweetheart Box can be used as a catch all for just about anything from a plant to sewing supplies to a Kleenex box.

What a fun challenge!

Vote starting Sunday Feb 13th at Project Quilting.

Project Quilting Season 2 Challenge Two -- I Chose the Border Fabric and started to Quilt

Just a peek at the corner of the Name of a Place Quilt after the first part of the quilting.

First I cut the background fabric into a rectangle - about 17" X 24".
Then laid out some fabrics along the sides. I liked the soft blueish fabric the best. Works perfect for the border fabric. Cut the border fabric 3" wide. Stitched the borders on all four sides. Makes the quilt top approximately 22" X 29".

Quilted wavy lines horizontally with a cream thread. See the next pictures to see how it started. I used a double thickness of poly batting. Makes it really fluffy!

Started at the top and waved across the quilt.

Stitched the sides of the quilt top down tight, so it would stay in place nicely while waving across the quilt.

What's the name of the place? Not yet, next blog.... later today!

More photos of this and other projects at
Photo Gallery and Flicker

Information - Project Quilting

Veiw of my container garden and my fabric cover for my tomato planter

Lengthwise view from both ends of the deck.. This is on the south side of our home. Sunny all day!!


Of course I had to add fabric to my container garden! Wanted to make it look like a quilt!!!

I am really having fun with my little garden!!!

Black & White EXTRA Wide Backing Fabric (108" wide)

Black & White EXTRA Wide Backing Fabric (108" wide) 100 % cotton. Email or call to place your order for the Black or the White backing fabric. You can use it on the back of a quilt as it is 108" inches wide. You can use it to piece a beautiful black and white quilt top. Or have it quilted with one fabric on each side --- makes a wonderful comforter/bedspread! You can make a king sized comforter 108" by 120"! Only $12.00 a yard!!! Call or email Marcia 1-608-872-2374 or Marcia@craftysewing.com

Mini Quilts photo on another website!

Quilting Designs Website requested to use one of my Mini Quilts photos on their Home Page of their Website!! So cool! It says photo courtesy of Marcia at www.craftysewing.com.

See the Mini Quilt page on my website for ordering information for the Mini Quilts. Yes they are cheaper by the dozen!

Inspired by Color

A few months ago I was contacted by the lovely Sonu Mathew, who is a Senior Interior Designer for Benjamin Moore & Co. She also is the host of Benjamin Moore's Living in Color with Sonu, a wonderful blog full of color inspiration. Sonu wanted to know if my little Abstract No.5, (pictured below) which I created about a year and a half ago as part of a small series, could be included in a future post featuring quilts as color inspiration. (Absolutely!)


Today the post ran and I am really delighted to find my work included in a post also featuring the work of Jan Myers-Newberry and Denyse Schmidt, both genuine rock stars in the quilt world! (Geez Louise, I sound like a silly groupie !)

Please be sure to check out Sonu's great blog and quilt inspired post here.

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A big Thank You for all the great comments in regards to my current work in progress, (see post below) and the struggle to overcome the critical voice of the perfectionist, (something apparently many of us share). This piece is so personal to me, (not in terms of private, but in terms of a journey) and I am truly grateful for everyones encouragement and support. I will be sure to share the final results once I finish. xo

Another Photo Quilt

A short time ago I posted about photo/memory quilts. I would like to share a personal project I completed for my Mom. She gave them as gifts to the Aunts and Uncles (my Late Father's brothers and sisters). The quilted wall hangings were made from a photo T-shirt from a family reunion from about 15 years ago in Bemidji, MN. We made them in several color themes. At my Mom's 75th Birthday she shared them with all of my Dad's brothers and sisters (my aunts and uncles). To see more photos check out the media gallery, under Memory Quilts.

This is a wonderful way to preserve a T-shirt from a special event. It doesn't have to be a photo t-shirt. It can just be a favorite T-shirt.

A photo quilt

I am catching up on some posting and want to take the next couple of weeks to highlight some of quilted projects and quilts that I have worked on over this year. I don't have the capacity to post about every quilt I work on, therefore I aim to post things that I think might inspire your own creativity, like today's post!

This quilted wall hanging was a creative way to cherish and preserve memories using fabric photos! This was made by Thankful Sanftlefben. Thankful's daughter asked her to make this special memory wall hanging her in-law's anniversary celebration. She used dark and medium fabrics to create a shadow effect on the fabric which essentially framed each photo. The rose fabric was framed as one of the pictures to represent the roses from their wedding. I quilted on each frame with wiggle/squiggle lines and then the background with meandering leaves and swirls. I used three different thread colors to match each fabric. Using a double poly-batting makes the photos puff and not sag as there is no quilting on the photo (just on the frames). This way they stay smooth. For more pictures check out the Memory and T-shirt Quilts on the media gallery.

"Don't Fence Me In" quilt on the front page of local paper

Our local newspaper, the Boscobel Dial, recently published a front page article about Linda Halpin's quilt patterns being published in the Quiltmaker Magazine (see previous post). Click on the image in order to read the article. I was so pleased with the article, and it makes me smile to be mentioned for my quilting work, which I just love to do! This rail fence quilt, which is a variation of the traditional rail fence design, was quilted with leaves and swirls that vine across the fence line.

Twitter

My daughter is helping me get connected to the online quilting communities, and therefore for those of you who are technologically advanced (I am working on it!:) you can now follow me on Twitter!!