My Quilt Parade

This is my second Y2K 2000 Charm Quilt top.  I started this top in 2006 and hope to complete it by the end of the year. It seems only yesterday that we were at once excited and anxious about the new millennium.  To celebrate this once-in-a-lifetime event, many quilters wanted to create a Y2K quilt with 2000 different squares (“charms”) of fabric.  There were many swapping groups.  I participated in several and was able to collect enough charms to make THREE quilts, each with 2000 squares!  So, here we are many years later, and I’ve barely finished piecing the second top.  Hopefully, I can get it quilted before the end of the next decade! And, yes, I still have 80 more “squishes” stored away, each with 25 charms, waiting to be finished into a quilt! UPDATE 12/31/20 :  I finally completed this second Y2K Millennium Quilt and posted about it  here . This ends the 2010 Quilt Parade with 27 quilt projects, including 11 sales and 8 cha...

At the beginning of September, I joined Beth at Love Laugh Quilt for her Striped Quilt Challenge.  I really believed that I would not have a problem … at least starting a project and even believed that I would surely finish one before the challenge ended.  At the time, I knew I had some striped fabric, but I happily envisioned myself going to the fabric store to add to my stash!  Well, that didn’t happen.  And, my limited stash gave me no vision and no plan.  But, when I saw Beth’s quilt, I was inspired to make pinwheels. Isn’t it beautiful?! It took me about a week, but I did manage to get this small quilt top finished; it measures 45” x 47” and is a lap size.  I’m pretty happy with it, especially since I had a limited stash to work with.  I do like how the stripes make the pinwheels look like they’re moving.  Not so much in the picture, but in person they almost make you dizzy if you stare at them too long. SEPTEMBER 2010 UPDATE:...

In August, I joined Karrie Lyne over at Freckled Whimsy for her Charm Pack Quilt Along.  I love a quilt-along, and I also love the 12 Days of Christmas by Kate Spain for Moda. It took me a while, but I managed to sew all the rows and finally finished the center of the top.  I still need to sew on the borders.  Maybe I’ll finish it before the end of the month. SEPTEMBER 2010 UPDATE:   I never finished this project and decided to sell it on Etsy.  It sold in January 2012: This beautiful quilt top is made with four charm packs of Moda's 12 Days of Christmas by Kate Spain and solid white KONA fabric.  I love this fabric design and it is very hard to find and may no longer be available.  It measures 60-1/2" x 60-1/2” without borders.  Also included are 2 yards of Amy Suther "Sparkle All the Way" by Robert Kaufman fabric for the outside border and 13 leftover charms.

Hallelujah! My “quilt of errors” is FINALLY finished!  Well, at least the top is finished … I am so happy to finally get it done.  I’m also happy to report that I used up all my patriotic strips/scraps on this top.  Read about my progress here . I really like the border with the delectable mountain blocks and needed to improvise because I didn’t have a pattern.  The blocks were not so easy to make and are definitely not perfect. The top is much bigger than I anticipated, finishing at 85” square.  I’m sure this will nicely cover a queen-size bed.  There are nine blocks with 16 units each, and each block measures 26-1/2 inches.  Can you believe I was originally going to make it with 12 blocks?!  Anyway, making this quilt top was definitely a learning experience. August 2010 UPDATE:  Sold on eBay in 2011 for $90

Rita’s Quilt of Valor In March 2010, I visited with my friend Mary and her quilting group, The Atherton Quilters.  I had so much fun that day and everyone was so friendly that I joined the group! Here they are with the Quilts of Valor they made at their January retreat: The Quilts of Valor were taken to Sew Vac in Long Beach where they’ll be quilted by a volunteer longarm quilter and finished into a beautiful quilt for a veteran or service member. Even though I wasn’t part of the group for their January retreat, I wanted to make my own QOV, which I’ll be sending to Sew Vac. Every Thursday afternoon, volunteers meet at the store to cut, sew, and press QOVs.  During Disney’s 2010 “Give A Day, Get A Disney Day” program, volunteers received one free admission ticket to Disneyland.  How awesome was that!  Unfortunately, all good things must come to an end, and free Disney tickets are no longer available.  But Sew Vac continues its good work! July 2010...

I just completed my fourth quilt for the Downy Touch of Comfort Quilts For Kids project.  Three are from requested kits and the fourth is from my fabric stash.  And, for now, this completes my contribution to this worthwhile program.  I’ll continue to make quilts for kids through Project Linus, which keeps my donations locally; and, I can also deliver my finished quilts to one of my neighbors who helps coordinate the local chapter … no shipping costs! The Touch of Comfort project was so much fun, and the quilts were fast and easy.  It was always exciting to receive the kit in the mail to see what fun fabrics had been sent.  I do hope they reach their goal of 10,000 quilts before the end of the year. July 2010

I've wanted  to make a quilt for my son David for a while.  I had a collection of plaids and homespun fabric that I thought he might like, but I couldn’t decide on a pattern I thought he would like.  One day I was flipping through my old quilting magazines when I stumbled upon this plaid dorm quilt from a Fons & Porter magazine. Plaid Dorm Quilt from Fons & Porter I thought this dorm quilt would be perfect since he is now living in a dorm after recently transferring to Cal Berkeley.  I hope this quilt will bring him some warmth and comfort during the cool fall & winter seasons while he’s away from home. The quilt has 168 five-inch finished squares and has a 12 x 14 setting.  It has a soft flannel backing and measures 58” x 66”.  I used Warm & Natural batting and quilted it with a simple line design. I’m happy with how it turned out and hope David will treasure it forever! July 2010