Fall Blogger's Quilt Festival

It is time once again for Amy's Fall Blogger's Quilt Festival. I decided to enter one of my quilts that reminds me of fall and winter (judging by the picture).

This is my Orange Crush Quilt made from a Bonnie Hunter Mystery. I was not crazy about the small half square triangles and some fabric I was using that seemed to stretch out of place very easily. I finished the quilt top and then let it sit for quite awhile before I quilted it.

If you look closely, you can see that I added piping before the final border.

Then I got the big idea to layer two layers of polyester batting together. Not the smartest thing to do when quilting using a domestic sewing machine. But the results were well worth the trouble. It is the softest, squishiest quilt that I have made.

And everywhere I go people compliment me on it.

I actually began making it for my son but he didn't care for the zebra print I put in it.

Too bad. Now it belongs to my husband. And he doesn't share very often.

It did go on the bed in the guest room for awhile. But mostly, it is used as a throw when he is watching TV.

Happy snipping, stitching, and quilting.

Quilt Festival On-line

 After feasting my eyes on the first dozen or so quilts in the Quilt Festival hosted by Amy, I have decided to participate.

I decided to showcase my header quilt "Orange Crush".

This quilt is a Bonnie Hunter Mystery Quilt.  This was the first mystery that I took part in.  It was fun taking part in the mystery. This was not my first quilt but it was the first quilt I made that had half square triangles in it. They were not the easiest for me me. But I survived.

As some of you know, I live in a small town without a quilt shop. In fact, we have a Wal-mart that is not even a supercenter. Therefore, I do not have instant access to fabric. When I made this quilt, I used scraps that had. But I ran out of black and white fabrics so I visited Wal-mart and purchased what black and white fabric they had. It was all okay except the gray and white checked.

That material was thinner and, oh my, how it stretched when I sewed it. (I then realized how important it was to purchase good fabric.) But as you can see, I worked with it and ended up with a stunning quilt. I gave it to my husband but you know how that goes. It is on display in my home all of the time, so it really still is mine.

And a mosaic.

I finished this quilt before we had snow but waited to photograph it because I was looking for the perfect setting. I actually sat down, wrapped it around me,  and "took in the view" for 10 or so minutes before going back into the house that day. Don't you just love the "stillness" of snow?

Glad you stopped by. Be sure to check out all of the other quilts in the Quilt Festival. And I hope you stop by to visit another day.

Happy snipping, stitching, and quilting.

Header Quilt

Thank you for all of the wonderful comments about the Orange Crush quilt in my header. I gave it to my husband and have been wanting it back ever since. (It really doesn't matter because it is laying over a chair right now. I don't think the quilt or my husband are going anywhere.) I do agree with all of you. Bonnie Hunter had a great pattern and a great idea of using orange. It is the high contrast of the black and white fabrics with the orange that is so eye catching.

I am planning to make another one this summer using black and white fabrics with another color.

Hot pink . . .  lime green. . .  red. . .  purple.

Hmmm! What do you think?

I guess I really need to photograph it again in a different setting to get rid of the winter in my blog. Boy, I wish I had a beautiful garden full of flowers. That would be a great spring setting. 

"Orange Crush" Quilt Finished

When I was young growing up, I sewed all of my clothes (after about 8th grade) out of necessity. I continued to sew until I got married and realized I could buy clothing at Wal-mart and other dept. stores at almost the cost that I could make them. I dabbled in making a couple of quilts. Did not have a clue about quilting on the sewing machine and started quilting them by hand. I think I had three quilt tops that I made, started to quilt, and then got my mom to finish for me. I still to this day get bored with quilting by hand. I think the process is too slow for me. I sometime think I have adult ADHD. But I guess most quilters do. Hmmm . . . that is how we get so much accomplished. Right ladies?

I then had children, went back to school to get my teacher's degree and license, and stayed too busy to do much sewing for years. I did take time to do crafts. Hence all of the Christmas decorations I have.

In 2008, I had a breather in life. I had just finished school (master's degree) and had time on my hands. I discovered blogs and found some wonderful quilting sites. It was then that I came across Bonnie Hunter at Quiltville. I checked in just in time for her "Orange Crush Mystery Quilt". I decided to make the quilt with her. And, even though I had sewed for years, it was a challenge. I decided to make the quilt in black and white with the orange accents. I finished the quilt top on time and then put it aside knowing I didn't want to quilt it by hand.

I decided that I would tackle machine quilting on my domestic sewing machine but I wanted to start on a wall hanging--something smaller. The "orange crush quilt" was forgotten and remembered and forgotten and remembered for well over a year. 

I told myself before Christmas that I would finish that quilt before I did anything else in the new year. So I quilted it after the first of the year and then put it down again.

A few days ago I picked the "Orange Crush" quilt up and added the binding. So now this beautiful quilt is finished and has been presented to my husband. 

I also let him know how hard it was to give up this quilt. For some reason I'm drawn to it. I thinks it's the colors.


Thanks, Bonnie for this mystery quilt. Wonderful pattern--wonderful idea in adding a punch of the color orange.

Edited to add: I linked this to Talented Tuesday @ My Frugal Family.