Aura Quilt Update

Here's a quick peek at the progress on my Aura quilt.  I found a few minutes for stitching hexies yesterday evening.   I am getting soooo close to the right edge of this quilt.

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

Get Creative!

Jennifer Schifano Thomas

Tin Punch Quilt Decor

Isn't this just so cute and country?  It's a little tin punched quilt picture.  My husband found this while out vintage shopping this week.  I love it.  Now I just need to find somewhere to put it!  Do you decorate your sewing area with sewing themed finds like this one?  It is fun to collect these little treasures.  

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

Get Creative!

Jennifer Schifano Thomas

Violet Posies Quilt

Today I'm going to show my Violet Posies quilt.  This quilt appears in the September/October 2015 issue of McCall's Quilting.  To get this look, I used batik fabric from the Tonga Reef collection by Timeless Treasures.  I used the Warm Company's Soft Soft High Loft batting, and quilted with King Tut Signet Ring variegated thread.  Such a lovely color thread in soft purples and lavenders.

Here's a close-up of the Violet Posies applique block.  I used the fusible applique method for my block, but you could also sew this with a traditional needle-turn applique for equally lovely results.  

To read more about the making of the Violet Posies quilt, join me tomorrow as I guest blog for McCall's on the McCall's Quilting Blog.  See you there!

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

Get Creative!

Jennifer Schifano Thomas

Quilting the Super Scrappy Double Irish Chain

Today I returned to quilting my Super Scrappy Double Irish Chain quilt, mostly because I need to get it off the frame and work on quilting another quilt - one that has a deadline.  It's just been sitting on the frame, half-quilted for a while, so my first step was the trusty lint roller.  I love my lint roller.  I use it every day - on my ironing board, on my cutting mat, on my design wall.  It's just amazing what it picks up.  My house is dusty!

I continued on with my quilting plan, stitching smoky swirls in the black and blue borders.

Super skinny stripes in the yellow border.

I made it to the lower edge!  That's a lot of up and down stripes - "Ouch!" says my back.

This close up doesn't look like much.  Just a mixed up jumble of squares.

But take a step or two back...

...and you can see the pattern.  This was a fun quilt to sew.  I loved mixing and matching my scraps to create this look.  So scrappy, and a little bit modern.  Just the lower blue and black borders to quilt tonight and I'll add it to the stack of quilts that need binding.  

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

Get Creative!

Jennifer Schifano Thomas

Try Something New Today!

Are you ready for a new project?  Something new, something different?  I've just added a variety of project books and magazines to the Curlicue Creations Shop.  Are you itchin' to get stitchin'?  Here's what's new:

Weekend Log Cabin Quilts

Weekend Log Cabin Quilts for People Who Don't Have Time to Quilt, by Marti Michell. This quilting how-to book has a panorama of log cabin quilting projects and instructions. This book is divided into different quilt projects, including Traditional Log Cabin Quilt, Quilt As You Go, many different variations on the log cabin design, and quilt finishing directions. Includes full color photos and instructions for complete projects, plus well drawn black and white diagrams. 

44 pages. Vintage 1991. Softcover. The book is in excellent condition.

 The Big Book of Crazy Quilt Stitches

The Big Book of Crazy Quilt Stitches. This quilting how-to book has a panorama of quilting projects and embroidery stitches. This book is divided into different chapters, including The Paper Pieced Block, The Embroidered Block, The Embroidery Stitches, The Projects, Special Bonus - Silk Ribbon Embroidery, and Finishing Techniques. Includes full color photos and instructions for complete projects, plus well drawn black and white diagrams. 

20 pages. Copyright 1999. Softcover. The book is in good condition.

 For the Love of Cross Stitch, Volume 8, Number 4

For the Love of Cross Stitch Magazine, Volume 8, Number 4. Copyright 1996. Used, but very good condition. 29 pages. 

This beautiful issue includes 22 projects, Fisherman's Friends, Cutie Pie Baby Set, Timeless Teapots, United in Love and more. 

 American Patchwork and Quilting, December 2013

American Patchwork and Quilting Magazine, December 2013, Issue 125. Used, but excellent condition. 128 pages. 

This beautiful issue includes Spend Smarter, Use It Better, Make the Most of the Fabric You Have, Gifts Galore 25 Ideas for Gifts to Give & Ways to Wrap 'em, Have No-Fear Machine Quilting with Angela Walters and more. 

Quilt Designs in Cross Stitch

Quilt Designs in Cross Stitch, by the Vanessa Ann Collection, Am American Sampler. This beautiful cross stitch book has a panorama of stitching projects. This book is divided into different chapters, including The Sampler of Quilts, The Neighborhood, Three Maids A-Sailing, A Rabbit in the Garden, Bouquets and Baskets, A Shooting Star, The Quilter's Prize, The Barnyard, The Princess and the Pea, The Quilter, Diamonds in a Dozen Colors, The Three Bears, and Annie's Closet. Includes full color photos and instructions for complete projects, plus a handy instructions and suppliers section. 

143 pages. Vintage 1989. Hardcover. The book is in excellent condition.

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

Get Creative!

Jennifer Schifano Thomas

Quilting in the Blue Ridge

Two more quilt blocks on the McDowell County, North Carolina quilt trail.  This one is in Marion, NC.  I believe it is on an assisted living center.

This one is lovely, too.  Also in Marion.  Sorry, I do not know which building this is.

I brought along my 1940 Featherweight for a little evening stitching.  After all, I don't have 25 sewing machines for nothing!  Ha!ha!

It was crowded on the little kitchen table, but the lighting was good.  I sewed some small pinwheel blocks for an upcoming project.

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

Get Creative!

Jennifer Schifano Thomas

The McDowell County Quilt Trail

Earlier this week, I visited the Blue Ridge Mountains in the western part of my state, North Carolina.  We have a "mountain shack" in Marion, NC.  The The McDowell Country Quilt Trail has blocks all over the city and countryside.  Here are just a few of them.  I'll show more as I go through my photos throughout the week.

I'm not sure what building this is, but isn't the block lovely?  A colorful Dresden Plate block with a pretty little border around the edge.

Bruce's Fabulous Foods in downtown Marion boasts a three dimensional looking nine patch star block.

Birds in the Air flying across this barn in the mountain countryside.

Until next time...please visit the Curlicue Creations Shop...and have a fabulous Fourth of July!

Get Creative!

Jennifer Schifano Thomas