Luau Torches - Part one

I recently downloaded a free pattern called "Luau Torches".  It looks like it was originally a mystery quilt pattern, but it was offered free as a complete download.  It looked like just the right pattern for a quilt retreat project.  I missed out on several quilt retreats in the last year due to hip issues, hip surgery, and personal travel.  But, this time, I was able to secure a spot and put it on my calendar.

I printed off a couple of sheets of the pattern in black and white and colored them in with colored pencils.  It was no surprise to me that I selected green, turquoise and navy for my colors.   I also decided not to add the borders so that the quilt was the smaller size that our charity group likes to donate.

To make things smoother at the retreat, I precut all of the pieces and placed them in a project box. 

Can't wait for the retreat to sew this up!

Kangaroo and Joey Sewing machine cabinet

It took a while to get the sewing machine cabinet delivered, but it finally arrived at the dealer in flat fold boxes.  We picked it up, removed all the pieces from the boxes and carried them all upstairs.  No need to go the gym that day!

The assembly instructions from Arrow were very complete, with tons of drawings and tips.  They also have a YouTube video on how to install the hydraulic lift mechanism and another one on how to assemble the cabinet.  I was very impressed that they had a woman doing the assembly in the video; that appealed to my sensibility that women can be engineers (like me) and can put things together (like many of you). I love getting out my tools and doing things like this.  Here is the link to the assembly video: assembling the Kangaroo cabinet.  

I did run into a few snags along the way and asked my husband to come up and help me figure things out and hold the heavier parts when two people were needed.  He graciously volunteered to keep helping me.  After 2 days and a few sore hands and bodies, we gave up and called the shop.  Turns out, there were some manufacturing issues that  needed to be fixed before we could complete the assembly.  Our local shop decided to come to the house and complete the assembly for us to make things right.  Gotta love that customer service from the local shop.

In the meantime, we assembled the Joey cabinet.  Again, the instructions were detailed and easy to follow. 

Here is the completed set-up.  It's huge and I love it.

Sheer Class with Kathie Kerler - part two and final - Beach

I wrote a post a little while ago about taking the class with Kathie Kerler on working with sheers.  I did decide to add more quilting after letting it sit for a few weeks.

A few years ago, I quilted a fish themed quilt for my husband.  One of the motifs that I quilted was a large circle with small circles inside of it.  That seemed to fit this quilt too, so I put a few of these on this quilt.  Then, I added horizontal stitches between all of the large circles.  I liked it!  It was faced, and ended up 24" W x 26" H.  I'm calling it "Beach".

I hope you like it!

New Machine and New Layout in the Studio

I couldn't resist the sales events from the local Bernina dealers during late February and March.  Knowing that one of my machines was nearing the end of its life, I jumped on the deals and bought a new Bernina 770 QE Pro along with the embroidery module.  

The machine was so big that it didn't fit into my sewing cabinet.  So, I also had to buy a new sewing cabinet.  I bought the Arrow Kangaroo and Joey combination.  

All of this meant big changes in my studio layout.  My sister came down for a visit and helped me lay out the space and shop for the cabinet.  I'm getting used to the new layout and think that I'm going to love being able to see my design wall and have the ironing board in front of a window.  

I sold my old cabinet, my featherweight machine, and my traveling table to help offset the cost of the new cabinet.  I also plan to sell my Bernina 440 and all of its components.  Now, I just need to learn how to use my new machine and the embroidery module.  I guess that its always good to learn new things, especially at my age.  And this should be my last new machine and cabinet; so why not!

CCQ Challenge - 2026 - Red, White, Blue and Gold - Part Three - Patriotic Lady

This is a continuation of two previous posts about the making of the CCQ challenge piece, the Patriotic Lady.

I made the face, neck and hair with 4 shades of skin tone and selected black and gold for her hair.  After I finished it, I attached it all to the background with a tiny zig zag stitch.

The final item that I needed was the star wand.  I remembered that I had a 1/4" bias tape maker and 1/4" double sided fusible.  I found a nice shade of gold and made it and attached it to the top.  This was also added with a zig zag stitch.

I quilted the top in spirals and stars with gold colored thread.  AND I used my new BSR and Bernina 770 to do the quilting.  I love the new machine and especially the laser light that lets you see exactly where the needle is going to stitch.   I quilted the body with thread to match the clothes, face, and hair. 

 When that was all done, I hand stitched on the embroidered star at the top of the wand.  It was bound with blue striped fabric.

She's 24" W x 39" L.

I hope you like it!

Finishing a friend's inherited UFO projects

One of my quilting friends recently lost her sister, who was an avid quilter and made hundreds of quilts for charity.  The family went through her quilting room and found a ton of unfinished projects.  So, my friend  put the projects into baggies and has been handing them out to some of us to finish and donate to charity.

I picked up 2 of them.  The first one was made entirely of Fairy Frost, a line of shimmery fabric that was popular a few years ago.  I added 2 large borders to make it the 50" x 60" size that they used for donated quilts.  Unfortunately, I forgot to take a picture before I passed it along.

The second one was so close to being finished.  There were 20 12" blocks all done and the backing was sewn together.  All it needed was to have some sashing cut and then sew it all together.  I decided to use only 16 of the 12" blocks to keep the quilt a reasonable size.  It ended up being 58" x 58".  Here is the completed top:

My friend and her family will quilt these tops and I may get them back to finish up the binding.  And I hope whomever gets these quilts likes them!

CCQ challenge 2026 - Red, White, Blue and Gold - Part One

Clark County Quilters (CCQ) issued a challenge for 2026 to celebrate both the 50th year of the guild and the 250th anniversary of the USA.  The piece had to be done in red, white and blue with stars and stripes, plus gold.  It couldn't be wider than 24", and the length was not limited.  I immediately thought about doing a lady with striped bottoms, star sunglasses, and lots of glitz.  Here are my sketches of ideas:

I found a picture in my sketch book and used that to draw my design to scale.  In order to get the face the right size, I took a picture of it and resized it in Photoshop.  I also posterized it so that I would have the 4 values that I needed to make the face realistic.  Here is the sketch and face to scale.

I started working on the pants first (shown above and detail below).  I knew that I wanted them to be red and white striped, and I used my chop and drop method to make them.  (Actually, I forgot the first step and didn't add the blobs of fabric before adding all the trim!).  I think they turned out very cute.

The next thing that I made was the top and sleeves.  I used 3 shades of blue blobs and trims to give it some kind of shading.  I also added gold thread to add that spark of shiny gold.

I hope you like it so far!