Tuesday, October 22, 2013

A Few Finished Quilts

Wednesday again! And I missed a few Wednesdays cause I was too busy sewing and kid-caring.

I finally finished the not-so-beautiful beauty called  Bear Grease! 
These Bear's Claw blocks came together when I was practicing half-square triangles and the fabric store didn't have anymore of the green chambray that I used. So I set them in a black and white chambray and I didn't really love it. So I pressed the top and put it away. Fast forward several months when I am ready to rent the long arm and I needed to quilt a top that I wasn't too attached to. The Bear's Paws were perfect. I could go to town FMQ on the long arm for the first time and I wasn't going to cry if it wasn't "perfect". 

It also happened that many things were happening in the weeks that I was finishing this quilt and my husband, who is the Bear medicine in our family, is always telling me to slap on some bear grease. In other words, stay protected and don't let it get to you. I sure needed bear grease this last month and so the cozy quilt Bear Grease was born.

It was long armed on a Gammill that I rented at a LQS a couple hours from home. My husband wanted leaves and berries on the quilting because that is what bears eat. I was pretty surprised at how good the quilting looks for being my first time. And it is a sweet family quilt that now lives on the couch.

Bear Grease back
I also finished a sweet baby star quilt for close friends that had their baby boy last week.

Vincent's Star Quilt

I finally launched my Etsy store Chona Homegrown . I sold my first quilt last week and already have one commissioned for December. It's nice to feel my quilting is appreciated by others!

I finished up the scrap baby quilt I have been working on. I sample FMQ the whole thing and tried some new things like feathers in the border. Yes it was difficult at first. It was eventually possible. I just hope I keep getting better with practice.


And for the WIP that I am working on today...

I decided to jump in and do a Swoon quilt. I have four of the nine blocks done and I am still deciding if I will piece it as the full 85" square bed quilt or only five blocks on a bed quilt so that I can use four of them for big Swoon couch pillows cause they would look so good in the living room and the couch is in a sad state.


I got a couple more Heather Ross baby hexie quilts in the works for SF Art Market and my Etsy store.

I have been wanting to do a New York Beauty for many years so I finally started piecing the points with scraps. This one is going to be awhile.
And as always, there are a stack of Peace Cranes by the machine ready to be pieced into my first Peace Crane bed quilt. This one is a keeper for Mateo. Gotta be.

That's my quilt story today. Thanks for stopping by my sewing room!



12 comments:

  1. Your paper pieced points of your New York Beauty are very inspiring. I've been wanting to start one for some time but just haven't done it. Very admirable work.

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  2. Love Bear Grease. You have some beautiful quilts!

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  3. Love the cranes! The fabric choices look like origami paper!

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  4. I think your Bear Grease quilt turned out fabulous! Love the earthy tones, quilting, and the back is awesome!

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    1. Thanks Renee! You're in Albuquerque. I'm in EspaƱola. Maybe we'll meet someday! Happy sewing! M

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  5. Love how that New York Beauty is coming along. It will be well worth the effort!

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  6. Way too much goodness to comment on -- the NY Beauty is stunning, the cranes are gorgeous, the bear grease and star quilt are tops... love love love!

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  7. Hey thanks everybody! Happy sewing...

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  8. I love your crane blocks! I hope to make one similar sometime soon!

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  9. What a fun stop on this Thursday of visiting quilt blogs. Enjoyed seeing your finished quilts and ones in progress. Congrats on your first sale and your ETSY store.

    I am visiting from Thursday Threads and would love to have you stop by and see my 1930's Fabrics and Quilts. Just click on the signature link below...hope to see you there.  Your comments are 'Sew' Welcomed!

    Sue CollectInTexas Gal

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  10. Love the name Bear Grease. Way to go on all your projects.

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  11. Your bear grease quilt is lovely. It deserves pride of place. But I do hate the word verification, and almost didn't comment because of it.

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