Erin Underwood Quilts

As I am always trying to find more space around here, I spent a day “cleaning up” again… Moving boxes and emptying shelves and rearranging furniture all in a effort to fit in my studio.

I found lots of interesting stuff in the process… This was one of my early attempts at cross-stitch. It was one of the premarked K-mart kits I bought when I was pregnant with my first child. This is a far as I’ve gotten or will ever get. There were 9 blocks total – now all stained with age. They hit the trash.

White Stars on a blue background! Extras left over from one of my very first block exchanges. I used several in a quilt that has long since been given away. These somehow didn’t make it into anything – but I’m keeping them any way. They will come in handy with my Anatomy of an Exchange lecture.

An attempt at a minature ala George Siciliano.  – never gonna happen…. way over my head. The fabric went back into my stash and the 1 and a half blocks I started hit the trash.

A summer spread that I believe was my fathers – stained and ratty. I think my great-grandmother made it. Its missing parts and has lots of broken stitches. I think at one time I planned to fix it. And no, it did not hit the trash but I’m feeling pretty realistic about what is actually achievable for me lately – so it went into the linen closet… should be comfortably lost in there for years….

Projects I was gonna finish one day – found a few blocks that will make good potholders – don’t really know what to do with the rest – still contemplating their future since none of the projects have potential to be masterpieces.  But I have to admit that at this time, I can’t remember where I put them.

2″ square collection! I was going to make a watercolor quilt. I saved these because you never know… I may actually use them one day.

Worthless binding – all cut single fold. Not even wide enough strips to fall into my “save” pile – trash. And they were sitting on top of some pre-fused applique that is so old its never going to stick to any thing. I saved the hoops.

So after all this glorious purging and cleaning and rearranging, I found a place for everything and then heading out to my guild meeting. Guess what – someone brought in a boat load of free stuff. I resisted as long as I could but, yes, I am sad to say, I brought stuff home.

I just don’t understand why nobody wanted the tulle and silk ribbons – really, that’s valuable stuff!

I have very little room to maneuver in my studio. If I want to quilt on the long-arm,  I have to pull it away from the wall and squish everything else in the room. So when its time to quilt, I tend to gang things up. In the queue this turn, are two T-shirt quilts, 7 placemats, one full size quilt, a small wall hanging and a spiderweb.

I thought the placemats were coming along nicely. Love the texture on the black set.

Try to ignore the threads and junk all over the black – its Kona cotton and black is a big, big lint magnet!

Same placemat with a light background. Got to open a luscious new spool of yellow thread for this one. Daisies seemed the perfect background for this light and lint-free version.

I easily filled up the backing fabric that all these placemats were set on. So I took it all off the long-arm and loaded another backing fabric and the first T-shirt quilt. After finishing that one, I am contemplating what to put on the bottom half of the backing and take a moment to trim up the placemats. I’m thinking these have turned out really well …

until I took a closer look…

Totally missed a big section to quilt – and yes, its trimmed – auggghhh! So I guess I’ll have to do this on the regular ol’ sewing machine – sometime, eventually… its not like I don’t have three more… I’ll get to it … soon…

After all, I’ve still got another t-shirt quilt, regular quilt, small wall hanging and that spiderweb thingy…. And then there’s all that binding… yep, I’ll get to it soon…

Mid-appalachian Quilters, that is. This is a great opportunity for all you quilters out there. It is an annual event – every July  – at Mount St. Mary College in Emmittsburg, Maryland. Twenty-five teachers come and offer an array of workshops from machine and hand quilting,  machine piecing, fabric painting and dying, wool work, applique, wearable items, cool piecing techniques, new tools and gadgets to speed things along, as well as just doing your own thing in studio. This unique retreat is put together by a group of volunteers every year, is very well organized and I am honored to be heading out there for my fourth year of teaching this weekend.

First up on Friday is Chevron Garden. It used the Creative Grids 45-degree Diamond Dimensions Ruler and some 2-1/2″ strips!

There’s not a bit a fabric wasted as the applique in the borders is created using the ends of the strip sets.

Machine Quilting is my bread-and-butter class and I am so excited to be bringing it to MAQ for Saturday’s class. Lots of topics are addressed – basting a quilt, different types of batting, thread and needles, resources…. We start out with a simple meander stitch and finish the day with feathers!

Sunday’s class is the classic Cathedral Windows. All done by machine, this clever adaptation of the Cathedral Windows technique enables the quilter to hurry up and get ér done!

Hope to see you there – if not this year, then maybe the next!

Just got this beauty back from the Mason Dixon Quilt Professionals Network Challenge/Exhibit. Reflections of My Life – it highlights all the things that bring me joy – my children, hubby, cats, dogs, chickens and, of course, quilting. Shadow Trapunto and extensive hand beading. Lots of bridal sheers, not much cotton.

I’ve been working and working on these two-toned dresdens.

I am making lots and lots of them. So many that I apparently can’t count. I kept cutting and cutting rectangles… so many  that I had to go buy more gray fabric. And here are the “extras”.  Do you ever have those mathematically challenged days? Well… this was a week… at least!

After I figured out that I only had to sew half of what I cut out, I thought this process was going to be a bit faster. But reality can be deceiving – sort of like math. I currently have sewn all the appropriate rectangles together. Here are some of them waiting to be cut into wedges with my Creative Grids 15-degree Triangle Ruler.

Here is a pile of wedges that have been sewn on the both the top and bottom edges because these are going to be double pointed dresdens. This is just one of many piles that keep growing around here.

The process of turning – it takes a pointy thing, a straight pin, lots of finger pressing and good movies on TV to get this job done. Good thing we’ve got Netflix!

Here’s a pile waiting to be officially pressed into shape. I am planning on sewing them together in circles, not just blocks so I need 24 two-toned dresdens for each circle. I think there are enough here for three circles.

And since I always need immediate gratification to keep moving – here’s the first circle!

I think it has enough WOW factor to keep me going for a while…

Another clever yet affordable Cut Loose Press Pattern! This little darlin’ uses the 45-degree Diamond Dimensions Ruler to strip piece all those wonderful diamonds. It comes together very quickly and NO points to match!

It’s available here in my store or at your local quilt shop. Remember, its new so if you don’t see it in there, just ask about it. Shop owners are always happy to hear about new things!

Missed Quilt Market but this little darling was there – debuting in the Cut Loose Press corner of Checker! Hope it enjoyed its first time away from home! And did you notice the heirloom silver goblets – they are just tarnished enough to look really good with the yellow and grays! Looks like that’s a good enough reason not to polish them!

Dining Dresdens

And yes, it uses the Creative Grids 15-degree Triangle Ruler but the best thing about it is – Its quilt-as-you-go and reversible! You can do spring on one side and fall on the other! That is pattern #19 I’ve made for the ruler so far – one is still in the works and don’t forget this one – its Free!

Totebag

This is my Kaleidoscope Star pattern using striped fabrics. It has been hanging around for  months, maybe even a year, waiting to be quilted so today it was! It uses the Creative Grids 45-degree Diamond Dimensions Ruler.

Straight lines in a sea of pebbles! Really more like river rocks though…the bigger they are the less time it takes to quilt fill the space. Glad this one is finished. But alas, it can’t come off the frame yet as I tend to gang up quilts on one backing and there are still a few more to go on this one before its done.

Time to get stitchin’ again!

Got the quilt quilted and bound. Found some really cool beads and now I will spend the day with thread and needle putting the two together – It is days like this that I am grateful for cable TV!

I love to add beads to my quilts. Although can be tedious, the beads add just the right touch to create the elusive WOW Factor.

Sometimes it is to just to add a little sparkle to the quilt …

But more often, I find I am creating fringe and edging treatments.

Wonder how it will turn out today…