Sunrise Quilt Studio

Above are the quilts I have finished for Quilts of Hope. They'll be mailed out to Karen early in the week. These are the flannel kids quilts. I wanted to finish them quickly and after doing a panto the first one, I decided I needed to switch to a large meander in order to get them done quicker. The binding took longer than the quilting on these quilts. We're starting to see some fall colors here in mid-Missouri. The area I live in has lots of oak and cedar trees so we don't get the same colors as areas with large amounts of maple trees. I thought that we were going to get all brown colors this year, but it looks like we'll get some reds and golds yet - just not as vibrant as if we had maples. We do have one kaple tree in our front yard, but it hasn't peaked in color yet. I'll have to remember to get a photo of it this year. These photos are taken off the master bedroom deck that looks out over our backyard. The cottonwood trees are all but bare already. They tu...

Yesterday evening I worked on more tops for Quilts of Hope - quilts for the survivors of Ike. I used a pattern designed by Anita Grossman Solomon called Super-Sized 9 Patch. It's quick to cut and quick to sew. I made 4 of these tops in less than 2 hours. You can download this pattern from QuiltMaker.com I used only 2 different fabrics in each quilt instead of 3 like the pattern directs. All of these quilt tops are made of flannel and will have a flannel backing fabric. I love the speed in which these tops go together. What a great way to make a quilt for charity or a quick gift. These quilts are a good size for kids to cuddle under or to make a large baby quilt. This afternoon I'm working on organizing my basement. The storage area next to my studio is starting to creep in on my studio space and has to be contained before it gets out of control! Wish me luck! Susan

Here is the first of the quilts I'm sending to the victims of Hurricane Ike. It's a one-patch quilt made with 5" squares in shades of pink and cream. It's a twin-sized or large lap-sized quilt. I quilted it with a pantograph pattern from Cheryl Barnes' Dot-to-Dot Quilting book. Here's a shot of the back. Iused unbleached muslin for the backing and 6.6oz poly batting. The binding still needs to be attached at this point. I have 2 more tops ready for the machine that are smaller - kid-sized for cuddling. I hope to get to them later this weekend. Susan

Jerri's star quilt is finally finished! I spent yesterday stitching the binding to the front while the quilt was still on the machine. After all the debating on what to quilt on this top, the pattern I finally chose was one of my own. The pattern doesn't have a name yet - it is one I have been working on for a couple of weeks and have just gotten it to the point where I felt it was ready to use. I have 3 more quilt tops ready for the machine this week and I'll be trying out a different pattern on each one - all from the book I just purchased. All 3 quilts will be going to the people of the Texas gulf coast who sufferred through Hurricane Ike. If you would like to donate a quilt or 2, see Karen's blog on where to send them. There is a tremendous need for quilts for people who have been displaced and those who are sufferring from the damage of Ike. Susan

I've been contemplating the quilting design for Jeri's star quilt and couldn't make up my mind what to do with it. Once I had the quilt on the machine it didn't look the same and now I'm not so sure about the custom treatment. My inventory of pantos didn't spark my imagination, so I spent my Joann's coupon and bought a copy of Cheryl Barnes' "Quilting Dot-to-Dot". Ahhhh, now we're cooking! I've chosen 2 patterns I think will go well with the quilt and just have to chose between them. Hopefully I'll get some time tomorrow to quilt. Today was a busy day with appointments, so no time for quilting. Once I get this quilt done, I want to finish a quilt or 2 for the people affected by Ike. If you are interested in donating a quilt, check out Karen's blog for details. The people on the Texas coast need a lot of help and quilts. Please help out if you can. Susan

Here is the first step in remodeling my quilting studio. We bought a folding table and a student chair on wheels so I now have a place for my sewing machine! I'm so excited. No more running up and down the stairs to sew, press, quilt, etc. Everything can now be done in the studio. My youngest can also play with her playdough on the table instead of on the cloth cover of my ironing board :o Of course I still don't have finished walls, but I can work in comfort all in one room until we get to that point. My DH and I priced drywall and other options for the walls this afternoon. Drywall is still our number 1 choice at this moment, but I wanted to see if we could find something that I could handle by myself and yet still be cost effective. Drywall sheets are too heavy for me to lift on my own and hang on the walls. Hubby's job is too hectic these days for him to take any time off to hang drywall and I'm getting anxious to complete the studio, so I thought we should try to f...

Here is the quilt top I am working on now. It's a star quilt that my aunt pieced. I'm still debating on how to quilt it. Her instructions were to do "as you see fit". I'm leaning towards a custom treatment that will highlight the stars with something subtle in the background, piano keys in the outer border and perhaps some continuous curves in the sawtooth border. These photos are the embroidered pillowcases that I brought home from my mothers garage. The top 2 photos are of pillowcases my mother or her family embroidered. The last photo are cases that I embroidered as a teenager. Most of them are well worn, but a few are in exellent shape. I have 3 sets of 2 and the rest are singles having lost the mates to them due to wear years ago. Susan