UFOs Turn into New Quilts

Sheets from the thrift store turned into quilt backs. And what's on the other side?

This is the Americana Snowball quilt. For nearly a year I swapped snowballs in red,white and blue fabrics of an americana theme. This is lap quilt size and will make a good camping quilt, I think. I can see me in a lawn chair next to the campfire with a grandkid on my lap. The air is chilly and we snuggle under the quilt until it is time to roast marshmallows, make s'mores and the quilt turns sticky.

Stars say Americana to me. So, I free motion quilted some stars on my little ol' sewing machine. Some are pretty wonky...but it's all made by me. Now, if I could just get around to labeling these things.

Next up is another quilt made of blocks swapped monthly. These were made of 30s reproduction fabrics and WOW (white on white). This is a full sized quilt. I love the 30s fabrics. They remind me of my grandma and her quilts. Staying on the farm in the summer with grandma was one of the more pleasant experiences of my childhood. She always had a craft for me to work on and taught me to sew and embroider. I miss the crotchety old lady.

And this is a close up of the kind of plain quilting I did on it. Quilting is sure a lot easier with a walking foot. And walk I did. A couple of things I learned while quilting this one was 1) always watch your back (if you don't you might find puckers later) and 2) sometimes it's good to be under a little pressure. (I fiddled around wondering why the thread kept bunching up on back of the quilt, why the bobbin thread kept knotting, why, oh why. After about half an hour of frustration I figured out I needed to put the pressure foot down. Sheesh!)