Author: bramangirlsquilt

My sister, Nancy, and I took two classes fromEmily Taylor this summer. Both of us had met her at the Houston Quilt Festival a few years ago and we have bought many of her patterns and made the quilts. But this was our first opportunity to take her class.

This is my first experience making the quilt with one of Emily’s foundation panel patterns. These patterns are printed on muslin. So not only do you collage the flowers, but also the background.

As you can see from this photo I skipped around quite a bit while working on this one, flowers, leaves and background.

The collage was started in Georgia, but not completed until I was back in Michigan. Next step, adding batting and backing.

Once I had the collage finished, I put the quilt sandwich together and loaded it on my HandiQuilter Simple Sixteen.

But before I even started quilting I decided to move it to my other quilting machine.

I started quilting on my HandiQuilter Sweet Sixteen. Lots of thread changes.

I did lots of stitching on this quilt and it is quite stiff. Perfect for a wallhanging.

Nancy and I both worked on roosters on our second day of class. I will add a rooster post next.

I found this quilt pattern this summer at my local quilt shop, Seven Sisters Quilt Shop. Had to buy it quick, even though I had three other projects already going at the time. In fact, you can see the pattern in a photo on another post while I was working on chickens.

Lots of three inch blocks cut and and a few half square triangles. I’m ready to put it together.

I had hoped to get this quilt completed before we got to the Upper Peninsula. Notice the tower in the background of the photo above, we are actually on the Mackinaw Bridge and I still have over a foot to sew. As it turned out, there was a backup at the toll booth on the north side of the bridge and I got the quilt finished just in time.

Now to find places to photograph in the U.P.

First stop was at a rest area on US 2 with Lake Michigan in the background. First photo I had it upside down.😂😂

Bond Falls was an amazing background for more photos

Our last stop as we head south was the rest stop on the west side of the Mackinaw Bridge. My husband may have thought I was crazy hauling this quilt all over the U.P. and taking photos, but he participated and obviously used it to stay warm.

It’s now boxed up and ready to head back north as a gift to friends that are life long residents of Michigan’s Upper Peninsula.

My quilt, Hen House, has been a very popular post. I’m always looking for another chicken quilt to make. While on a bus trip quilt shop hop I got to see Lori Holt’s pattern “Chicken Salad.” This was the perfect pattern, I’d just have to use my kind of fabrics. But there it sat, waiting it’s turn to be made.

The inspiration to get started on these chicks came when my sister and I went to our local county fair to watch her grandson, Rory, show his hen.

I cut out my first hen and started trying out background fabrics.

Once I picked the background, picking out which fabrics to use for the chickens was easy.

Next step I did a blanket stitch around each piece of the appliquéd hen, and maybe a chick or two.

The little checks needed hand embroidered legs. Since I was on pick up duty for my grandson after cross country practice I worked on them in the car.

Even though I didn’t use the flowery Kaffe for the background, I did use it for the sashing. Then a border of lots of different Kaffe

Now on to quilting.

I always enjoy watching TV while stitching, today it was Monarch of the Glen.

Quilted and button eyes finally on. The chicken are blind no more. I hung it on the barn for photos, but I really want to take it to a chicken coop for more pics.

I live in rural Michigan. At my local quilt show, Seven Sisters Quilt Shop they have a Deer Hunter’s widow sale at the beginning of firearm deer season. Since I’m a hunter, I don’t get to the store first thing in the morning. But it’s a sale I don’t want to miss. They always have tasty food, interesting demos and good sales. This year I saw the flannel Christmas panel on display, asked where they were in the store only to find out it was the last one. Needless to say I didn’t put it down. I thought it would be a quick to make Christmas quilt. But I was wrong.

When I cut it apart I quickly realized that each block was now going to be a different size. I was going to have to come up with lots of different blocks to fit together.

I started it Thanksgiving weekend while we were at the lake house. I hung up a few of the blocks on the idea wall and made a few different blocks to fill in beside the blocks from the panel. Friendship star and flying geese were the first two blocks I pieced.

Top complete and ready to make the quilt sandwich. I got cuddle fabrics wide enough for the backing at Delphines Quilt Shop in Gaylord.

On the Simply Sixteen, I’m free motion quilting. No pattern, just fun quilting

Putting on the binding, just a couple of inches short. But isn’t the backing beautiful?

Perfect place to take photos, in the Christmas tree field.

This girl plans on taking it home. Flannel, batting and cuddle. Sounds like the perfect quilt to snuggle up in and watch Hallmark channel.

Such a wonderful gift to me. All the Christmas gifts are done. There will be no late night sewing on Christmas Eve.

I bought the beer panel years ago at the Houston Quilt Show. This one is a surprise for my husband. I’m rather surprised he never saw it while I had in on the quilting machine. It has soft Cuddle fabric on the back. Now I can put away the quilt he usually covers up in, a hand quilted off-white quilt I made over 36 years ago. It’s getting pretty thin and I need to repair the binding.

This quilt ended up bigger than I planned, but a fun Buck and Squirrel for a special 18-month-old who needed a quilt that his Grandma Sue could snuggle up with him too. The appliquéd animals are flannel and Cuddle fabric on the back make it a heavier quilt. Hope it works like a weighted blanket for him.

I love this Anna Maria Horner fabric. Sure hope my grandson’s girlfriend does too. Just like the other quilts on this post, it has Cuddle fabric on the back.

I have to admit that I made a terrible mess when I made the quilt sandwich for these three quilts. Cuddle fabric does that. It also makes another mess when trimming off the excess and squaring up the quilt. But it quilts really easily and my grandkids (and the adults too) love it. We really use the quilts I make.

It’s amazing how much sewing I can get done when I’m at a quilt retreat. Just a few days of sewing, laughter, stories and a few bottles of wine.

Flannel bucks and squirrels on Moda Grunge fabric for the son of a hunter. Quilt top #1 complete.

Quilt top #2 is a surprise quilt for my husband. I bought the beer panel at the Houston Quilt Show at least three years ago. As usual I didn’t have a pattern. I did make disappearing nine patch blocks to fill in around the printed blocks. I’ll have to get one of my grandkids to help make the quilt sandwich so I can keep it a secret until Christmas.

I love, love, love this Anna Maria Horner fabric line. Another no pattern quilt. I cut 6 inch and 3 inch strips and started sewing them together.

I stopped at Friends Quilting Basket and got Cuddle Minky widebacks for all three.

Next step is getting them on to the quilting machine. Stay tuned

Perfect fall day in Michigan. I got three of my grandkids to play with quilts in the wild. Love seeing my quilts in the woods, by the pond and in our cornfield. My husband and I chose to live and work this farm. My sons and their families have also stayed near by. We are blessed.

My youngest granddaughter helping me photograph “Garden Party.”

This is a pattern from Emily Taylor of Collage Quilter. This was a sew along. We got a new pattern each week for 12 weeks. I chose to only make nine of them. It probably won’t surprise you that I didn’t keep up each week. Emily designed this pattern to quilt each block, then put the blocks together. In fact, Emily has a video on YouTube showing you how to join those quilted blocks to make the quilt. That being said, I didn’t make it that way. I wanted my backgrounds to be made from the same fabrics, then I’d quilt it after the top was done. So I started with the Ladybug on my silicone mat.

I tried out a bunch of different fabrics for backgrounds. Here’s one that I thought she blended into too much. With all the work of each collage, I wanted them to stand out.

I decided I’d just wait until I had made all the collages to decide on a background. After I’d get one done, I’d iron them together on the mat. Then I’d peel it off the mat a put it on a piece of parchment paper. Since I did not want the glue to dry out I put them in ziploc bags.

By the time I got the pansy done, I had picked a fabric for the background.

I loved the butterfly within the flowers, but I thought the butterfly needed to be outlined. Hmm. Maybe my indecision was why it was taking me so long to make this quilt.

Finally I decided each of the bugs would be in the middle of a churn dash block. Each of the flowers would be outlined and put on a solid block of the flowery fabrics I had found at my local quilt shop when in Gaylord, Delphines Quilt Shop.

Now to lay out the blocks. Then sew the blocks together and add borders. Ready to make the quilt sandwich.

Now to head for the Simply Sixteen and start quilting.

I cannot tell you how many times I changed thread colors, but it was a bunch. As I plan to use this quilt as a quilt I made sure to securely stitch each collage. I absolutely love the wings on the dragonfly.

Here’s just the top hanging on the clothesline at the lake. Same little helper.

The first time I saw this pattern was at Bonnie Hunter’s Quiltville Inn. Another quilter had it on the idea wall. When I got home I bought the downloadable pattern from The Quilt District. Then I started going through my fabrics.

I really liked putting these strip pieces of the blocks together. Instead of paper piecing, these were sewn to muslin, which will stay in the quilt top.

Now to decide what to use for the plain pieces of the blocks. This Tula Pink was an ombre with yellow to orange. I had to do some careful cutting to get the colors of each block that I wanted.

I finished quilting and was just about to start trimming off the excess. Look closely at the top right corner of this picture, you’ll see I failed to quilt one piece of the block. Back to the Sweet Sixteen.

Finally the binding.

Finished and hanging on the fence at the lake. I think this will be the perfect fall quilt to use while watching those football games.

After I had posted a picture of this quilt on Facebook a friend asked what I had used for backing. Here’s the shot I sent her, Surprise.