Quiltmaker's 100 Blocks, Volume 6, plus some Vintage Sewing Shopping!!!

I've received my advance copies of Quiltmaker's 100 Blocks, Volume 6 this week & all I can say is WOW! It's a stunner!  These just keep getting better and better.  Be sure to stop by my blog on November 8th for the blog tour.  I will be giving away a copy of this, plus some other goodies, too.

It's been awhile since I last shared my vintage shopping finds with you.  Here's a few of my latest:

 Angel Button Dolly!

The third button dolly to be added to my collection.  My youngest, Trent, calls this one a "butterfly angel".  She's so happy to be part of the family!

 Iron Lamp

If you haven't seen my iron lamp before, here it is!  If you have, then here's the cute new shade I found for it. It's adorable!  Everyone should have an iron lamp.  

 Classic American Quilts

This book is HUGE!  I don't know where to keep it.  It's a really wonderful picture book of quilts.  Each page features a different quilt, and the photos are so large, you can really see all the details.  It's a wonderful book.

The Sewing Machine Salt and Pepper Shaker

The machine part lifts off the cabinet and the machine is the salt, the cabinet is the pepper!  How cute is that?

Dreamy Little Basket of Thread

My husband brought me home this little basket of thread.  What a treasure.  I'm so lucky to have a man who shops for me.  

Until next time...please visit the Curlicue Creations Shop...and have a super day!

Get Creative!

Jennifer Schifano Thomas

Strippy Flowers Quilt Block Pattern

Just added to the Curlicue Creations Shop today - the Strippy Flowers Quilt Block Pattern.  So chic, and it's only $3.00.

This easy to use pattern shows you how to sew a 12" finished size Strippy Flowers Quilt Block, using the simple fusible applique method.

Here are a few of the blocks I've sewn so far.

These are fun!

And addictive!

And a great way to make an Autumn Quilt that actually has a few flowers in it.  Here in North Carolina we have a lot of fall blooming flowers.

Also available in the shop is the complete pattern to make the Strippy Flowers Quilt.  I'm making one of these right now & loving every minute of it.

Until next time...have a super day!

Get Creative!

Jennifer Schifano Thomas

Outer Banks Bunny Quilt ~ Ready for Quilting!

 Outer Banks Bunny Quilt

Finally!  I got the quilt sandwich all basted together for the Outer Banks Bunny Quilt.  This is so, so cute!

It's all done in needle turn applique.  The blocks are large, 16".  Too bad it was so windy today, and I couldn't get a better picture.

 Outer Banks Bunny Block

If you've ever visited the Outer Banks of North Carolina, you've likely seen the bunnies.  There are a lot of them, and they seem to be everywhere.

 Crabby Crab Block

The first appearance of the Crabby Crab design.  I have a potholder pattern featuring Crabby Crab available in the Curlicue Creations Shop, also, if you're sweet on this little guy.

Bubbles, the Fish Block

This one was a lot of fun to sew, with his cute little fishy eye and all the leaves sewn from different fabrics.

Turtle Love Block

Do you love turtles?  We do at my house.  My boys had a teeny-tiny little baby Eastern Box Turtle in the house for a couple of weeks recently.  I let them keep her until she escaped from the habitat they built for it.  Then she went back outside to the 100 Acre Woods.

Quiltmaker's 100 Blocks, Volume 6

Coming soon!  Quiltmaker's 100 Blocks, Volume 6, chock full of 100 more picture perfect blocks, including one of mine.  :)   Mark yer calendars!  I will be participating in the blog tour on November 8th & there will be giveaways!  Be sure to stop by my blog and comment on November 8th for a chance to win a copy of this upcoming issue and some goodies from my shop, too!

Until next time...have a super day!

Get Creative!

Jennifer Schifano Thomas

Quilt Backings for Fun - Mulberry Square

The Mulberry Square quilt is coming right along.  It's a large quilt, 95" x 95", so for the backing I could choose to purchase yardage of 120" wide backing fabric, or purchase a large quantity of  regular size fabric and seam it all together, or get artsy and piece a backing out of what I already have in my stash.

I decided to go the artsy route.  I tried this on the last quilt I made, and really enjoyed it.  I just free-form pieced the backing together, using a rough, log cabin method, and used fabrics from my quilt top, and fabrics that coordinated from my stash.  This is a great stash buster, if you think about it.  Use some of those beautiful fabrics that you already own, instead of heading out to the store to buy a big piece of one single fabric, that will ultimately have a little bit left over & get added to your stash.  Plus, it's fun!  Above, you can see what I have sewn so far for the backing of this quilt.

Here is a close up of the piecing in this quilt.  It's all marked for quilting, but you can't really see the marks in the photo.  I hope I can see them for the quilting.  I did not enjoy marking this quilt top & I don't think I'll do that again.  I'm much preferring the free form, free motion quilting, over the arduous, pencil eating, quilt top marking method.

Again, here is a pic of the top of the Mulberry Square quilt.  I just can't wait to see how it turns out when it's all finished.  This design was featured in the July/August 2002 issue of Quiltmaker magazine, issue #86.  It's about time I finished this quilt!

Until next time...please visit the Curlicue Creations Shop...and have a super day!

Get Creative!

Jennifer Schifano Thomas

Strippy Flowers Quilt - Stitching Right Along

 Strippy Flowers Quilt Pattern

I've been making good progress on my Strippy Flowers Quilt.  Above, you can see my original design idea for this quilt.  The fabrics I'm using are a little different, but the results are nice so far.

Here, you can see the outer strip borders coming together.  These were fast and fun to sew.  I just need to sew them to the long, vertical center strips and they will be ready.

I've also completed three of the flower blocks.  

This one.

And this one.

And this one.  I really like the way this one looks with the light flower on the dark background.

The flowers are all fusible appliqued and edged with a tiny zig-zag stitch.  To do the zig-zag stitching, I set my stitch width to 2, and my stitch length to 1.5.  I always start with the needle on the outer edge of the patch I want to outline, and I sew very slowly, using the needle-down feature.  I also stop with the needle down, on the outer edge of the patch, and lift the presser foot to pivot, often.  If I am sewing a very tight curve, I might pivot every 2 or 3 stitches.

If you want to make your very own Strippy Flowers quilt, the pattern is available in the Curlicue Creations Shop.  It is one of the featured items today.

Until next time...have a super day...and Get Creative!

Jennifer Schifano Thomas

Hand Quilting + Free Motion Quilting = It's All Good.

Good morning, Quilters!  As many of you know, I'm still working hard to improve my free-motion quilting, and it's coming along, too.  But I still enjoy the quiet rhythm of hand-quilting, also.  It does take time, but it's enjoyable time. 

Christmas Star Medallion

I finally finished the hand quilting on this quilt, Christmas Star Medallion, on Sunday, while watching the heartbreak of the Carolina Panthers losing to the Atlanta Falcons in the last 10 seconds of the game.  Sigh...there's always next year. 

 Quiltmaker Magazine featured a version of my design for this quilt waaaaay back in the March/April 2012, Issue #132.  Yep, that's how long I've been working on it.  

It's a foggy, wet, day outside here in North Carolina.  Not too good for outdoor photography, but I tried, anyway.  Here's a close up of one of the sunflowers I hand quilted.

I did a curvy vine all the way around the outside border.  This was fun to stitch. 

 Log Cabin Pumpkins

Now, on to the free-motion quilting.  Above is a photo of the Log Cabin Pumpkins by Suzanne's Art House that I've been working on at my quilt group.  Last night I started on the quilting for this.  

Since I've been working on improving my free motion quilting skills, I've discovered Leah Day's blog,  It's called The Free Motion Quilting Project .  She is a fantastic free-motion quilter who inspires confidence that you can successfully free motion quilt on a domestic machine.  She recently had an article in Quilter's Newsletter's August/September 2012 issue that had some great tips.  

I tried one of her ideas from the article; I left the feed-dogs up and changed my stitch length to zero.  After practicing for a while, I stitched this new swirly ribbon design onto my quilt top.  Using this new method really seemed to help with control, stitch length, and tension.  I had absolutely NO tension issues - very unusual for me.  I completed about 2/3 of the quilting on this table runner last evening.  I like the swirls - they're quite Halloween-y!  They remind me of curling smoke, ghosts, and even pumpkin vines.

Until next time...please visit the Curlicue Creations Shop...and have a super day!

Get Creative!

Jennifer Schifano Thomas