Blue Jay Quilt Studio: 40 Years a Quilter, Post 11

 Feeling like Spring! 

Thanks to Pat Sloan @quilterpatsloan, this little quilt came into existence! Pat did a mystery about 10 years ago called Meadow Breeze. She also had this gorgeous line of fabrics called "Arabella" to compliment this lovely design. The quilt Pat designed was much larger than this, but every so often I love doing little bitty quilts. I took her original pattern to the copy shop and reduced it by 50%. Here is a photo of Pat (on the left) with me when I showed it to her at a quilt show:

Good photo of Pat, but I think I was caught mid sentence! I was so excited to show it to her, that I don't think I quit talking for a minute to take a pic!! This little quilt is 18" square. Here are a few photos depicting size by coins placed on the quilt and one with a tape measure to give you an idea of the scale.

Notice the quarter on the penny on the center block above! All appliqué and quilting was done on my trusty Bernina machine. Those machines do the best buttonhole stitch. I bought Pat's Aurifil collection of matching threads to match the Arabella fabrics.

Here is one of the corners with a penny on it that really gives you a better idea of the small scale:

Here are the other three corners:

And one more with an up close look at the center block. I loved adding the beads to these little blocks to really dress them up!

Lastly, I put a label on the back of this little guy with the name of the mystery and asked Pat Sloan to autograph it since she was the designer! 

Thanks, Pat, for such a lovely mystery quilt and absolutely gorgeous fabrics! By the way, I still have enough of that fabric left to make a big quilt since I bought plenty and just used a tiny bit! Oh well, maybe on another day...

Blue Jay Quilt Studio: 40 Years a Quilter, Post 10

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

A few St. Patrick's Holiday little quilts for you!

This little quilt is a pattern from Bonnie Sullivan's All Through the Night pattern series called "Bertie's Year". I made all of them and just love the way they turned out. It is on a metal stand and I switch them out each month!

Above is another series little quilt from "Little Quilts Squared". This one is from their Calendar Series. When I made this one, my granddaughter was only about three and she loved playing with all my buttons. Like many quilters, I have scads of buttons that I have collected over the years and many handed down from my grandmother. My granddaughter picked out the buttons for the red flower centers on this little quilt. They add a little something extra to this flannel appliquéd little quilt! It is displayed and changed out monthly in our great room.

The last little quilt for this month is the March "Simple Circles Thru the Year" by Buttermilk Basin. It is wool appliquéd on a wool background circle. These little bitty round display projects are what made me fall in love with wool applique! I have done quite a bit since these little guys came into my studio each month! 

Well, since it is March and St. Patrick's Day, Spring cannot be far off! I am looking forward to Spring flowers! Enjoy the warmer weather right around the corner!

Blue Jay Quilt Studio: 40 Years a Quilter, Post 9

While having a day long "quilting" day at a friend's home, I was able to revisit this quilt and it brought back memories!

Another good friend at work and I made this quilt for our friend "Michele" when she turned 60! We had co-workers sign birthday greetings on appliquéd bones around the outside edge. It was such a fun project which we worked on as a surprise. My good friend that worked on it with me was a fabulous at hand appliqué and she did the beautiful center with the dog. Michele owned a cute little dog that looked just like the appliquéd dog! 

After we had the center figured out, we then went around to several co-workers and had them sign the bones around the outside! That was so much fun! Here are some of the messages on the appliquéd bones: 

There were a few other quilts made for both work friends and work fund raisers! I will share those along the way. Enjoy this "almost Spring" time!