Halloween Twister Quilt part 1

Remember that I said that I found one or two Halloween quilts to to? Well, this is the second one.  It is called Twister Jack.  It is really cute.  The only problem was that it wasn't the right size.  It took a lot more tweaking than I initially thought, but I think I finally got it to work.

Here is what I did.  First I wanted it square, the pattern called for 13 X 14 rows. No problem, I took off the top row.  Next I wanted it to measure 36" square.  The pattern said the sizes were 24" X 26" or 14" X 15".  Each size depended on which size twister you used.  I had an even larger twister than the ones for either of the sizes in the pattern.  The only problem was that it was going to make it too big.  After a lot of thought and the help on the owner of my favorite quilt store (Suzzie's Quilt Shop), we figured that if I take a row off of all four sides and the quilt would be the perfect size.

Now comes the fun part.  Buying the fabric!   I have fallen in love with batik fabrics.  If you haven't sewn with them give them a try.  I didn't see the fascination a first but after using some batik fabrics, I don't want any other fabrics in my quilts.  These are the fabrics I picked out for this quilt.

 

Golf Tip

My husband took me to the driving range.  I told him I wanted to be able to get more distance our of my clubs.  He told me to stick out my rear end all the way through the shot.  It worked.  I worked at it on the range and 75% of the shots were really good. So I decided to take it out onto the course the next time I played.

I was only able to play 9 holes on Wednesday so I took my new swing thought onto the course.  I felt pretty good about my ball striking.  Shot a 52 which is not that good but not that bad either.

Friday I played a full 18 holes and used my new swing thought.  I shot an even 100.  Missed a 2 1/2 foot putt on 18 to break 100.  I have never broken 100 on my home course, Piedmont.  I have shot 100 several times and a 99 combined 2 nine hole scores.  I have broken 100 at other courses just not at Piedmont.  Still looking to break 100 this year.  I have match play next week, maybe I can break it then.

Starting Halloween Block of the Month

So, I am getting addicted to Block of the Month. I have started my second Block of the Month, and the theme is Holloween.

Halloween is not my favorite holiday, not to say that I don't like Halloween.  I do like Halloween, I just don't get into all the decorations.  Usually I try to find something that I can use for both Halloween and Thanksgiving. Well, this year I found so many cute quilts for Halloween that I had to try one (or two).

Sew Spooky is a Block of the Month Halloween quilt. I bought it from Keepsake Quilting.  When I got my first month, it came with large fabric kit and accessory kit along with the first months directions. So I dug right in.

I followed the cutting directions and had the bare bones block finished in no time.  Then came the embellishments.  I cut out the applique pieces as well as the accessories.  I followed the instructions and the block started to look really cool.  Can't wait for second month.

Christmas In July at Suzzies Quilt shop

Christmas in July at Suzzie's Quilt Shop in Manassas, VA was so much fun.  It really got you into the Christmas spirit and got you ready to start making those holiday quilts.  She even had a chocolate fountain going along with the Christmas music and all of the wonderful holiday fabrics.  I came away with some wonderful ideas.  Not everything I bought had to do with the holidays but I did find some exciting things.

This is going to hang in my newly decorated family room.

These are some fun patterns I found.

This is a panel that I want to embellish and make a quilt for one of my granddaughters who loves lambs.

 

Getting Started with Free Motion Quilting

Sewing a quilt top together is only part of making a quilt. Some people send their quilt tops to other people to turn them into quilts. I prefer to finish the quilts myself.

When I first looked into how to quilt a pieced quilt top I couldn't figure out where to start. So I asked a friend that I knew quilted a lot. She said there was nothing to it and just do it.  I could not understand what she meant. I was no closer to figuring out how to quilt a pieced top than I was before.

I came across a website called Craftsy. Wow, this website is great. I took a course called Machine Quilting with Wendy Butler Berns. I learned a whole lot from that class, like how to drop the feed dogs and which foot to use. Now I'm hooked on Craftsy classes.

As good as online classes are, a real class.  So, I looked online to find a quilt store in my area.  The computer said there was a quilt store in Manassas, Virginia.  I live fairly close to Manassas and couldn't believe my luck. Yes I was skeptical that the store would actually be there.  I headed out and sure enough there was Suzzie's Quilt Shop.  I headed inside a found a very friendly staff, wonderful selection of fabrics and classes. I hit the jackpot. I signed up for a free motion quilting class and was really excited when I left.

I went back 10 days later for the class. Boy did I learn a lot.  /when I left I had the confidence to actually quilt a quilt top that I pieced together.

I went home and quilted the Atlantic Flyway Quilt.

Weekend Golf

I had a tee time for Sunday with my husband. I don't normally play on the weekend unless my husband wants to play with me.  I usually play on the week days because I don't work.  I like to leave the weekend tee times for those who can only play on the weekend.

 So, all that said, I was asked to play on Saturday too at the last minute. If I didn't play with her she wouldn't get to play at all. So I told her I would play nine holes with her on Saturday.

Sunday came and I played 18 holes with my husband. We came into the clubhouse and sat down to have some lunch.  The club pro came up and said that he needed a woman to play in couples golf that afternoon.  He explained that a new member of the club wanted to play and he didn't have anyone to play with.  The other woman at the table had plans later that day so she couldn't play.  I reluctantly said I would play.  That meant that I was going to play 27 holes that day.  I have only one other time in my life played 27 holes.

I did survive my marathon golf weekend  better than I expected to.  Don't get me wrong, I was very tired Sunday night.

Aunt Grace first Place Block of the Month

I have really enjoyed the 1930 circa prints.  So I decided to make a throw using these prints. I found this Block of the Month pattern and decided to give it a try. It is called Aunt Grace First Place. I found it on Keepsake Quilting.

 

My first months kit came and I started to make the squares. It was pretty easy and straight forward, though a little smaller than what I am used to.  Never the less, I finished the four blocks with no trouble at all.

Patriotic Table Runner

Since tomorrow is fourth of July, I thought I would share my Patriotic table runner with you.

I bought two patriotic charm packs ( I bought two packs so I would be able to pick the ones I wanted to use and not have to use them all) from Keepsake Quilting not sure what I was going to do with them.

 

After rummaging through my templates I decided to use another one of Debbie Tucker's templates to make a patriotic table runner.

 This one is called Tucker Trimmer. The great thing about the template and it's directions is that it has a chart of any size squares. The chart tells you what size of fabric to start with, what the pieced block size is and the finished block size. So, since the fabric I bought was already cut into  5" squares, I looked at the chart for making the pieced combination units. The pieced block size ended up being 4" and the finished block size became 3 1/2" after seam alowance.

I made 32 blocks all with a light color for the big triangle.

I arranged them together so that four light triangles made up a diamond when pieced together maked 16  7 1/2" squares blocks. I laid out them out into 4 rows of 2 blocks.

Next I went to my new local quilt store. Suzzie's Quilt Shop and bought some fabric to use as borders, backing, and binding.

 I cut the red into 1 1/2" strips (2 at 28 1/2" and 2 at 16 1/2") and the blue into 2 1/2" strips (2 at 30 1/2" and 2 at 20 1/2"). next I  pieced the inner border sides first followed by top and bottom, then attached together the outer border (again sides first then top and bottom).

The top of the table runner is finished! Now it is time to quilt it. I used the flag print for the back of the runner top and I quilted it in red thread using a stipple pattern.

Piedmont's Member Guest Tournament

What a busy weekend. Saturday started out with a visit to Five Below looking for Fourth of July decorations to decorate the golf carts. Well, I didn't find much in the way of decorations at Five Below but thanks to one of the guests from my team our carts looked great.  She even brought a centerpiece for our dinner table. Thank you Linda.

After a full 18 hole practice round of golf we headed up to the driving range to "break the glass (tiles)." The game is so much fun and also hard.  There are four tiles hanging from poles about 10 to 15 yards in front of us and around 5 feet in the air. The object of the game is to for your four team members to break all four tiles by pitching golf balls at them in the shortest period of time. Once you break the tile in front of you then you can help your teammates break their tiles.

After every team had a chance to break the tiles we went inside for dinner. Then it was off the the practice green for a putting contest. The club had set up  a trick putting course with six holes. It was a lot of fun.

 On Sunday we were back up to the course early with breakfast and then a 9:00 shotgun start.  Even though our team was not one of the winning teams, we had a great time time together.  I actually played very well.