Sharing A Few Kari's Creations

You may be wondering about now when I’m going to get around to my quilting! Let me invite you into my quilting studio and share with you what I’ve just finished and a few projects I'm working right now.

I just finished machine quilting a monster quilt known as Lick It, Stick It, Send It. The quilt is made up of 1-inch postage stamp squares sewn into two different blocks. In 2020, members of my stitch group -- Stitchers Etc. -- did a block swap for this quilt. Its great for block swap because its charm is in the variety of fabrics in the quilt. Swapping with other quilters is a great way to increase variety. The quilt was first made by three of our members – Suzie, Cheryl and Maria – who collaborated on their versions of Lick It as part of a Collaboration Challenge that we did through HQH when I was guild president in 2018-19. Members of Stitchers loved it so much that we soon collaborated on making blocks for each other. There are two different blocks in the quilt that are used to build a 16-inch block. After we completed the block swap,

a few of us continued swapping because we wanted to make king-size quilts. My quilt is a solid 110 inches by 110 inches, providing a very nice drop down the side of our tall bed. The problem is, though, it’s huge and heavy! I quilted it with swirls and flower petals on my mid-arm. There were many days when I had to wrestle with it because it’s so big. But, I’m very happy with the quilting and with the fast and simple flange binding that you can add on your sewing machine. This is now our summertime quilt, and my husband and I are enjoying the look and comfort of this huge quilt! I named it Maria Made Me Do It after Stitchers member Maria who got us all going in our block swap.

 

There are two other quilts that I am trying to finish up. One is an Irene Blanck’s Message in a Bottle applique quilt and the other is Jen Kingwell’s Green Tea and Sweet Beans. Both have presented a lot of challenges. Message in a Bottle is through Stitchin’ Heaven Block of the Month program. I have used their fabrics as well as mixing in a few of my own. Hand applique is always slow for me, and that’s where my challenge lies with that one. The Jen Kingwell design is challenging because … well, it’s a Jen Kingwell design! The directions are almost nil, though the quilt is beautiful. I would not recommend this quilt for beginners! Although I complain about the lack of full directions, the situation has stretched me by causing me to figure things out on my own. Maybe that was Jen’s intent! I’m making this quilt in those crazy ugly but beautiful Kaffe fabrics, so it has a brightness and beauty far different from the original.

 

One last quit I want to mention is by one of my very favorite designers, Lori Smith of From My Heart to Your Hands. I have made several of her quilts over the years. One of those not only ribboned at our local quilt show, but also was displays in a special exhibit at the Huntsville Museum of Art. Right now, I’m finishing up Lori’s quilt called Abby Lynn’s Button Bouquet. It’s a sweet little embroidery quilt done in ‘30s fabrics. It includes one my favorite things to do – embellish with buttons. I bought Lori’s kit so I could have her buttons, but I’ve also added my own ‘30s fabrics to the scrappy look and I’ve added rick rack and hand quilting. This one is coming along very nicely! It is very satisfying to hand quilt a quilt that is a throwback to a simpler time.

 

So, that’s four of my projects. But there are so much more!! I’m always dabbling into quilt projects, starting another before finishing what I’m working on. It’s a disease!! But a fun disease at that! I hope to introduce those to you as we go along in this blog. Stay tuned!

 

Hugs and Hope,

Kari