Dr. Seuss' Lorax Quilt

I need to get a copy of Dr Seuss' Lorax book. I am a big fan of Dr Seuss. Green Eggs and Ham is one of my favorites. Read it often to my grandchildren. Many others come to mind, but not the Lorax.

This quilt is made using a panel and coordinating fabric that came out last year about this time. Elisa, Lorena, my soon to be daughter-in-law, Martha, and I went shopping the day after Thanksgiving in southern California. Of course we had to attack a couple of the quilt shops down there. Hanging in the last one we went to was a sample of this quilt. Martha saw it and told us it was Dan's favorite Dr. Seuss book. Well we had to but the fabric.

I came home and looked up the pattern on the manufacturer's website and started cutting. Hoped to get it done for his Christmas, but that didn't happen. His birthday in in April, so that was our next goal. The top was pieced by me then over to Elisa it went to be quilted on her long arm machine.

Done and mailed in time for him to open before he went to the mountains for his birthday. He was totally surprised. Martha said he was really pleased and amazed at it.

It did turn out pretty good.


I'm sure it will wind up being a baby quilt sometime down the road. We were happy to provide it early. This way Dan can use it to curl up in to read his favorite book.

Keep on Quilting

Witch hat for Elisa

When I got out my many boxes of Halloween decorations, I found I had two witch hats that I had used in the past as costumes. I decided to decorate them instead this year. This is mine:

This is Elisa's [I like hers better]:

Simple and easy to do. Just a little ribbon and some flowers and leaves from fall silk flowers. I did not glue anything down; I just pinned the flowers and ribbon to keep them from moving. The leaves are just stuck in and around. I did stuff the hat with crepe paper to give it substance. The second hat's flower is black and probably doesn't show up as well as the top hat, but it is really cool looking.

As long as I am posting, I will post pictures of some of my other Halloween decorations I have up and around our house.

The quilt above and the close up of the two below this is the quilt made from the blocks received from my quilt block exchange through www.quiltingboard.com plus extras that Elisa and I exchanged with each other. I struggled to get all the blocks to fit in together. After all was said and done and the quilt was quilted (thank you, Elisa), I love it. I wish I could keep it up all year long. It is probably my favorite quilt.

The scarecrow above has been posted on this blog before. It is another of my favorites. Let's face it, Halloween is my favorite holiday. I love the colors associated and the characters, too. This was an easy quilt to do. I had in my stash from way back who knows when a panel of a scarecrow. It was made to be a door panel, but I did not like what it was designed to be. I cut the scarecrow and the pumpkins out and appliqued them onto a great plaid fabric, added a couple of borders and look what I got. I think it is great. It really complements the block exchange quilt, too. Thanks to my dear husband for hanging them together here.

The above quilt is one I made when I had my shop. Moda had put out this great line. We were carrying the whole line along with charm packs and layer cakes. To help highlight the line, I put this together out of one of the packages of charm packs. I loved it then and even more now, as it brings back wonderful memories of my quilt shop. How I miss it and all the people that shopped there.

 At the quilt shop, Cindy Brock and I hosted an evening class on how to make fabric pumpkins. This is the one I made. I love the fabric I chose to use. It is Halloween but not a traditional Halloween.

 This quilt hanging over our loveseat is a quilt top I purchased on e-Bay for less than $30. I has a lot of traditional Halloween fabrics. I put the border on it and quilted it. I should have taken a picture of the back. The fabric is so cute that I often turn the quilt over and show that side instead.

 This little quilt is a wall decoration Elisa made for me two Halloweens ago. She knows how much I love Halloween and whipped it up. It is one of my favorites. I keep it up all year around. During non-Halloween times it hangs in my quilting studio. I love it.

 This quilt was made several years ago for my sister. I loved it so much that I have never mailed it to her. Plus I don't know if she would take offense to it. It says "Things just haven't been the same since the house fell on my sister." Tee hee.

 I belong to Sacramento's River City Quilt Guild. A few years ago I participated in a challenge quilt project. This is what I came up with.

 Spider webs seem to be a theme for me. I HATE spiders, except to decorate at Halloween time. This is a huge plate glass window that is in my dining area. It overlooks a wooded area behind our house where a lot of critters, both large and small, live. It seemed an appropriate place to hang it.

When my kids were little, I made these pumpkins. My kids are now in their late 30s and early 40s, so the pumpkins are holding up quite well. Especially considering the boys thought they were inside balls they could throw around. I guess because they only come out a few weeks every year, the wear and tear on them doesn't show too much. The only part that is starting to fray are the stems. I made them out of green felt. They still make for a cute fall display.

I have more stuff outside but I figured this was enough to show you how much I love Halloween. Have a great and spooky holiday.

Keep on Quilting



Quick Halloween Wall Quilt

In case you have not been able tell from past posts, I LOVE anything Halloween, except skeletons. As I was going through my panel drawer (everyone should have a panel* drawer), I found this cute panel and some coordinating fabric that I purchased at a quilt show more than a year ago - maybe even two years. I thought "cute, easy to make, I will do it." So that is how I spent yesterday. There is a little piecing where the green and black and the orange and black strips are. Sewed all the pieces together. Sewed on the 2 1/2" border. Then I even quilted it by quilting around the different aspects of the quilt. Other than the binding, it is all done and will be a present to my granddaughter in Simi Valley to hang for Halloween.

All in all it was fun to do and gave me a great sense of accomplishment.

* Panel drawer = a drawer full of panels. I buy panels all the time. People call the quilts you make with them "cheater" quilts. I like them, especially cute ones that are geared towards little boys or girls. They make into fun quilts that kids love. Kids don't care if they have a panel or not. Parents of kids, unless they are quilters themselves, don't know you did not spend hours working on them.

Develop your own panel drawer, box, cubbies, or whatever. You will love having them on hand.

Keep on Quilting