Waiting for Halloween

I received an email asking about the pattern for the applique in the latest quilt I finished - "Waiting for Halloween." I am sorry I forgot to tell you where the pattern came from on that blog posting.

I used a pattern from the book pictured below "Two-Hour Mini Quilt Projects" by McKenzie Kate c. 1997 and made changes to to it for my quilt block. I enlarged it joined the motifs together without the spaces and added front legs to the cat and eliminated the heart. The pattern in the book showed the design fused onto the lid of a wooden box.

The book is packed full of easy applique designs by several designers and the design I used was by Rebecca Carter. I have used quite a few of the applique designs from this book at different times since I purchased it but I don't always use the design the same way the designers did. I may use it as a jumping off point for another design or change it to fit what I want to do at the time.

The quilt I am going to show you today is another one I made a few years ago. It is called "Color Play" an original design made in 2004. My goal for this quilt was to do a color wheel and had fun finding the various colors for my small Mariner's compass blocks. It is machine pieced and hand quilted and to finish it I put small Prairie Points around the outside of the quilt. I hang it using one straight pin and have the yellow points at the top of the quilt like you see other color wheels displayed. I used the Electric Quilt computer program to design the small compass blocks and the setting. Love that program!!! I use it in almost every quilt I make some way or other. http://www.electricquilt.com/

It took a little math to get the space divided up equally for the Prairie Points and get them inserted between the front and backing euqally spaced but did finally get them to fit the way I wanted. This quilt received a first place ribbon for hand quilted miniature at the 2004 State Fair.

Today I have really not gotten anything done but cook and catching up on some paper work. I did manage to get to a quilt shop yesterday to purchase enough coordinating fabric for the purse I want to make but still need to get it washed. I wash all my fabric before I use it - have had one real big mess and never want to repeat that problem!

Went to Husker Harvest Days (Really, really big farm show) yesterday in Grand Island with John and Peter so after we left the grounds I had a chance to pick up the fabric I needed before we had supper with my sister-in-law's family.

Lynn