Chris's minis pack some big personality!!!

I just finished two mini quilts for Chris who blogs over at Chrisknitssews.  She made this two beauties! The first is the feathered star - oh oh oh my!! This sweet lil charmer is 29x29 inches - so you know those HST's gotta be tiny!  I just adore this red and white little quilt.  If I weren't so afraid of piecing I might even try my own. But remember my last finish?  The HSTs were 18 in square!!  One of these days I'll try.   Until then, I"m am just so happy that I get to quilt the works of art that others create!

Hobbs 80/20 batting, Glide thread - 40 wt on top, 60 wt in the bobbin, Micro quilter for SITD  I really am sad this one is going back

Tools used on this one, Linda Hrcka's curves 8 on the white areas, 12 on the red.  No marking for the cross hatch.  I actually found that I couldn't mark as accurately as I wanted so I used the lines on the ruler instead, worked well for these small cross hatch areas.  I did use a stencil for the center feathers, I wanted them to be a bit more accurate than if I did them with the aid of a stencil.  That little feather round is the most used stencil I have, it's come in handy so many times.  I used a 2.5 in circle guide for the curly feathers in the border.  I seriously just need to purchase a circle template set.  Who doesn't like twirly curly feathers?  Kim Brunner has a get book and DVD set.  I adore this one.

Yep that seam ripper was one of the most used tools on the berry baskets :)

You can see how I marked the spins of the twirly feathers, they are C's that have the opening offset.  So much fun!

As if that cutie wasn't enough, she made this 24 inch square berries basket quilt. The colors, be still my beating heart!  Just love these colors.  Cross hatch areas were a little bigger, but still no marking on these.  This was the first mini I have ever quilted.  Boy there is just no place to hide.  On a quilt with 30 blocks you can hide a mistake or two (or five or more).  But on these, nope, you have to be right on.  I did a bit of ripping of stitches and then I just slowed down.  For me, the quilting of a mini is just a bit different than any quilt that has more than 12 blocks!  It was a great learning experience for me and I loved quilting these for Chris.  Chris thanks for letting me quilt for you!

Hobbs 80 / 20 batting Glide thread top and bottom, 40 wt on top, 60 wt on bottom 

At our January Quilt Guild mtg I signed up for a round robin quilt "thing". A number of people signed up, and we trade them every month until they get pretty big then every 2 months - we're doing 6 rounds.  I decided to go outside my comfort zone and join in the fun.  I had grand dreams of piecing this wonderful center, starting the year off right and  you know doing the piecing thing.  Well, I decided that I'm going to use a panel for the center.  I just LOVE LOVE LOVE it.  It's actually fabric that I purchased at our Guilds Garage Sale, see putting that stuff to use right!  Just take a look below?  Isn't that just made for a round robin quilt?  I think so!  No piecing this time, but I promise to make it on the next round.  I've got this.  Well if I don't I may be asking for some help :)

A little progress on Good Fortune, I'm a bit undecided on this one, anxious to get some borders on

Oh I don't think I've the proper introductions.  I'd like to introduce our newest family member Isaac.  Zaffle left us on Halloween last year and I thought for sure that I would wait at least another year. But no, the break during the holidays made me realize I need a furry friend.  Well here he is.  This little guy has been down in the quilting studio, but hard to tell if he likes it yet or not.  Zaffle always kept me company when I was quilting. I think Isaac is going to love being down there.

hmmm is he amused or no?? I think yes!

Isaac, my new baby!

Now that those minis are done, I get to start on a special project.   This one I get to do what every I want.  Oh you know there's some thread that's going down now.  I can't share until the reveal so I'll have to think of something to do for next week...hmmm maybe I'll get some piecing done....ya that's it!

Hope everyone has a great week and don't forget to check out the linky parties on the side bar, so much inspiration out there!