Nativity quilt

Quilts made in 2015 … and what I’m working on!

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Thought I’d do a little recap on quilts I’ve made in 2015. This year I finished five quilts. That is one more than last year. I counted the paper-pieced Nativity Quilt as one of the “finished” quilts even though it was a group project. We all clocked lots of hours on this one. It was such a privilege getting to work on such a lovely project and we finished it in ten weeks. So … two of the quilts were given to charities, two were gifts, and I kept the 2014 Texas Row by Row quilt.

I started piecing several quilts in 2015 that will be finished in 2016 … a mystery quilt … it is the Fat Quarter Shop’s Designer Mystery Quilt. And then I have a couple of rows finished on my 2015 Row by Row. The theme for the rows in 2015 was water. This year my rows are not exclusively from Texas. My friend, Michele, picked up two awesome rows for me from quilt shops in Louisiana. Can’t wait to get this one finished.

I am looking forward to see what adventures in quilting await in 2016! Stay tuned!

Nativity quilt … the rest of the story!

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The quilt sold at live auction!
Our Nativity quilt was one of the items featured in the live auction at St. Martha’s Fall Festival on Saturday. It was a wonderful event for the whole family filled with fun, food, games for the kids, craft booths and fellowship! And yep … this is my final post about the Nativity quilt!

The live auction started at 7 pm. For a few ladies who stood off to one side closest to our quilt, you could cut the tension with a heavy-duty rotary cutter! After a full day of working our craft booth, several of Martha’s Quilters were in attendance for the live auction. Finally, our quilt came up for bidding. Our demeanor turned anxious as our quilt was finally brought forward. The minimum bid was $1,000. I held my breath. Would anyone in the crowd even bid on such an expensive item? Five long seconds passed. Finally, a lady raised her hand in the front row. Then a lady on the second row raised her hand. They battled back and forth and when the dust settled … our Nativity quilt … the one seven ladies worked on for three months … 843 fabric pieces and over 250 collective hours … the same quilt I had dreams about … what if we didn’t get it finished in time kinda dreams … the auctioneer announced “sold” … for $2,200! A very happy ending to a long journey.

Nativity paper-pieced quilt – part eight – Sally machine quilts!

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Sally took a turn at machine quilting this past week and we are loving her results! Lots of detailing in different areas like giving the sheep and dog texture, detailing on the kings, manager, fencing, donkey and cow. Did you notice our cow actually has a nose? I’m sure I missed pointing out some of the areas she worked on. My eyes were glazed over on Wednesday in admiration of her work! I didn’t get a tally on the hours Sally spent quilting, but she still has it for a few more days.

I also included a photo of Noreen’s sky quilting that I believe I left out a couple of weeks ago. Stunning!

Many thanks to the lovely Maria who spent several tedious hours this week “hiding” the threads! It is a thankless job but it has to be done!

Clara will get the quilt next week for the final round of quilting. Also completed this week … the binding is made and ready to be sewed on when the machine quilting is finished. The sleeve for the back of the quilt is also made so the finished quilt can be hung. Finally, the quilt label has been planned, Sally will embroidery, and we are nearing completion on an amazing project that has been a labor of love.

Our Nativity quilt will be auctioned on Saturday, October 3, at St. Martha’s Fall Festival.

Nativity paper-pieced quilt – part six – A basting we will go!

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Our paper-pieced Nativity quilt entered a new phase this week … basting! For non-quilters out there … a quilt isn’t a quilt until the quilt top is sandwiched and secured with batting (the fluffy stuff) and a fabric backing. After basting is complete, the machine quilting part will take several weeks, so you might not see a Nativity quilt post for a short spell.

Noreen, our fearless leader, encouraged her mighty paper-piece team to watch a couple of Sharon Schamber’s videos on YouTube a few days before we were to baste our quilt. Sharon was a guest speaker at a recent Kingwood Area Quilt Guild meeting and also held a workshop. Noreen and Sally attended the class given by Sharon and were impressed. We were going to use her technique to baste our Nativity quilt. The first video is eight minutes and the second video is a little longer. Sharon showcases a herringbone stitch basting technique and shares basic tips. Our huge quilt was perfect for Schamber’s technique. It only took a few hours and we were done!

For the next few weeks, the quilt will travel from house-to-house for machine quilting. First stop … Noreen’s house.