Author Archives: heARTs Creations

Two Weeks – Week One!

Posted on October 12, 2019 by heARTs Creations

Whew! I’ve been gone for the last two weeks. The first week I went to a sew-in with some great gals, came home on a Saturday, and left on Sunday for a week vacation with hubby! Some careful planning made it doable and it was all totally worth it!

First, the Sew-In. A good friend planned this time for us at the same place where I have the Quilt & Sew-Ins – at the Meadowbrook Inn in Blowing Rock. This place is like a second home to me so I was thrilled that we gathered there. How convenient it was that my sleeping room was just around the corner from the sewing room! There were only six of us so it made it very intimate.

Debbie had the first finished project. This is such a cute mini.

Another Debbie creation. This pic does not do this beautiful log cabin justice. The fabrics were just glorious!

Pam’s wine fabric casserole carrier sure is classy!

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Yes, Debbie was quite productive. This flimsly was mostly done before the retreat – a few more seams and border – colorful and fun!

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Pam made this bag using a preprinted batting and precut strips. I love the way the strips meet on the sides. Maybe, just maybe, I’ll be getting some of this batting.

Love this scrappy block pattern that Sue was working with. The block is rather time consuming and she made several. This is going to be one beautiful quilt!

Three table toppers! Sheranna tackled the 10 minute table toppers – one Christmas, one St. Pattrick’s Day and one very elegant and formal. Full disclosure – they take a bit more than ten minutes!

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And yes, I did sew. I worked on blocks using some of my batik stash for a quilt called “Katsura” from Modern Quilts Illustrated.

I also put together a pile of nine patches with a pile more to go. I’m going to split each block but have not decided which method to use yet – something different from the most used split nine patch.

I also managed to complete a flimsy for Hospice. This will be a 2020 contribution. How nice to have a bit of a head start!

It was a great week! Along with sewing I enjoyed talking, laughing, swimming, walking, dining at a few fine restaurants and lots more laughing. Now back to reality…

Baby Strings

Posted on September 29, 2019 by heARTs Creations

In May I worked on a string quilt while at a retreat. The leftovers have now been put to good use. Originally, this was the layout:

I decided, however, to change the layout and I like this much better.

The string sections are quilted with a loop pattern and the white sections are done with straight lines.

Another finish feels really good, but I don’t want to just add it to my pile of finished quilts. It’s too small for a Hospice quilt, so I will be donating it to my guild because they give quilts to the hospital. I’d love this to go home with new parents and their precious little one, or a baby in need of extra TLC.

And here’s my September wrap-up. Much of my time has been spent sorting through stuff some reorganization. Sewing has definitely taken a back seat. I enjoy sewing more when all is in order!

Sept WIPS

Linking up with: Oh Scrap! Monday Making

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Posted in block pattern, charity quilts, Color, Projects, Quilting, Scraps and tagged Charity, Color, projects, Scraps. Bookmark the permalink.

Aiming for Accuracy

Posted on September 19, 2019 by heARTs Creations

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That’s the name of a pattern from Craftsy several years ago. I fell in love with it and it being a free pattern, it made my decision to do this quilt a lot easier. I immediately ordered the fabric, Bobbins & Bits batik. Interestingly enough, this fabric also was in a non-batik and yes, I originally ordered the wrong one. Thankfully that mistake was easily corrected.

The fabric is bold and fun with graphics of buttons and scissors. I did all the cutting and began to put several blocks together when I did my artist in residency at Wild Acres about three years ago. When I brought the project home, it sat, and sat, and sat. Finally I put what was done on the design wall and was motivated to get this baby done! My aim at accuracy was a bit off in places, but overall I’m good with the results.

There is an excellent long arm quilter in South Carolina that I met last year and I gave her the flimsy in May. She travels a lot and I was willing to wait because I knew she would do a great job. And a great job she did! The red thread on the back fabric is quite bold! And as an extra bonus she squares and trims the finished quilt!! I machine sewed the binding on as soon as I got it home. Usually I completely machine sew on my bindings, but this one begged for me to hand sew the one side. For a week I dog sat at my son’s house so I had the perfect project to keep me busy!

This for me is more than just another completed quilt. It was a quilt in my must do because I truly love it quilty bucket list. It’s done! And hung! I love it! YIPPEE!!!

Linking up with: Moving it Forward Monday, NTT

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Posted in block pattern, Color, Fabric, Pattern, Projects, Quilt Setting, Quilting and tagged Color, Patterns, Quilting. Bookmark the permalink.

I Got Mail & a Finish!

Posted on September 16, 2019 by heARTs Creations

Recently the best box of goodies showed up at my doorstep. A reader from Kansas contacted me. Her mother, who was an avid quilter, passed away. Just like most quilters, it was no surprise that she had WIPS in her stash that her daughter now wanted to pass on to the Hospice ministry. And WOW! First, was this hand pieced, hand quilted piece. I needed to take it apart a bit to make it into a square, but because she used Georgia Bonesteel’s laptop quilting method, it was easy. I took it apart, rearranged some blocks, sewed it back together, put on a binding and look! A finished Hospice quilt! What a wonderful and loving way to honor the memory of her mother. This finish will be passed on to Hospice this November and shortly thereafter will bring warmth, joy and love to someone in need.

All that hand quilting – WOW!

There were a couple of block of the month kits with the blocks all made, needing to be sewn together, and the patterns given to us too. Another amazing treasure was the Sunbonnet Sue blocks and yes, hand done. There are even the cardboard templates included! A few blocks were complete and many, many pieces were prepped ready to applique.

The below quilt was also a block of the month – all put together.

And yes, another quilt all pieced. WOW – so much excellent work!

I was tickled to see this scrappy quilt. I can only image all the quilts that were made resulting in the scraps for this one.

Thank you to this most generous reader. Our group is honored to have your mother’s fine works and will endeavor to do you proud!

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Posted in Applique, block pattern, charity quilts, Projects, Quilting, Scraps, Stash and tagged Charity, Donation, Patterns, projects. Bookmark the permalink.

Sew-in Fun!

Posted on September 8, 2019 by heARTs Creations

Last week I had the good fortune to spend four days in South Carolina with a group of talented and fun quilters! Everyone brought their own projects and worked away all day and into the night. Mostly we had hot sunny days and were able to enjoy the outdoor pool.

These hat pin cushions were made and gifted to each of us by Judy. I absolutely love mine and am so thankful for her thoughtfulness and efforts.

Here’s Laurie with her very impressive bin full of 1 1/2″ solid scraps. She’s turning them into the now popular spinner blocks. What a great use of scraps!

Debbie lives nearby and is the one who introduced us to the Homeplace B&B that we were at. Thank you Debbie!

Studious Susan is carefully planning her next project. (Something I need to get better at)

Sandy really worked away consistently. She not only machine sewed but also worked on some English paper piecing.

This square in a square quilt tells Susan’s life story. The grits block was definitely a favorite!

Lots of trimming and squaring up. Sandra was another who sewed, sewed, sewed!

A log cabin quilt for a friend of Laurie’s who recently purchased a log cabin! She’ll add a border – what a wonderful and thoughtful gift.

Judy is cutely peeking out from behind her 30’s print quilt. I love the design this layout makes.

This is such an impressive paper pieced beach quilt! Lorel isn’t finished with it yet. She’s planning on adding on some amusement – shells? crabs? beach balls? Can’t wait to see the finished quilt!

Debbie brought her very impressive woven (from bed sheets) rug. Wow!!

Sandy finished this Frozen quilt top with a special little one in mind. How cute!

This minimal and very striking modern quilt was completed by Susan. I can’t wait to see this one quilted.

Five O’Clock Coffee Time!

Unfortunately, some did not get into the picture, including myself. There were eleven of us and I do believe a good time was had by all. Lucky me to be a part of this group of fun and talented ladies!

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Posted in Art, Color, Fabric, Modern Quilting, Quilting, Quilting Retreat, Scraps, Sew-in, Stash and tagged projects, Quilting. Bookmark the permalink.

All The Bits and Pieces

Posted on September 4, 2019 by heARTs Creations

There was a fair amount of flannel fabric left after piecing hubby’s cat quilt. The large pieces were used for the backing and there was still a fair amount of pieces left. Right then and there I cut them all up into 2 1/2″ strips and began to sew!

A patterned fleece is the backing, with no batting. Isn’t that backing jazzy?! Using the walking foot, I quilted using crossing wavy lines. Originally I was going to gift this quilt to someone, but it wasn’t quite large enough for the person in mind, so off to the pile of Hospice quilts it goes!

I call this one a double win!

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Posted in charity quilts, Color, Fabric, Hospice Quilts, Projects, Quilting and tagged Color, improv, projects, Quilting, Scraps. Bookmark the permalink.

Endless cutting and August Progress

Posted on September 1, 2019 by heARTs Creations

A blogger I follow, Quilt Diva Julie recently posted about a string quilt she was doing called Optic Strings, using prints and solids. I loved it and immediately knew what fabrics I would use from my stash! The prints I pulled are all the Tula Pink prints I had and matched them with coordinating solid shot cottons. It was a blast to pull and match!

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The cutting marathon began. The strips are 1 1/2″ wide by 10 1/2″+ long. There are 37 pairs of fabric and I cut two sets of each fabric with 4 print strips and 5 solid strips for each block. Whew!! It took me days because I cannot cut very much at once. The tennis elbow has improved, but I can’t push it. The blocks are all cut and clipped together – yippee! I do not have permission to post a pic of Julie’s blocks, but you can follow the link above to see them.

This past month I did manage to complete and prepare the backings for two quilts that are now at the long armers. I quilted and bound a scrappy flannel quilt that will be added to the Hospice quilt pile. I will share pics of these at a later date. And I made 8 Baby Tag Blankets. Because I am attending quilt retreats in September, October and mine in November, I have been very busy prepping so when I get there I can just sew!

August WIPS

How about you? Have you gotten to sew in August, or did end of summer activities take over? Either way, I hope you had fun!

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Posted in block pattern, charity quilts, Fabric, Hospice Quilts, Pattern, Projects, Quilting, Quilting Retreat and tagged Charity, Color, projects, Quilting. Bookmark the permalink.

heARTS Creations