Bunny Pillows

 A few years ago I saw a post on Pinterest

where someone had made pillows from dish towels.

Every since seeing that post, I have made a bunch

of pillows from dish towels for Christmas and other holidays.

Last year I bought some Easter dish towels, but never made the pillows.

They are done and ready for Easter to arrive!

 

 

 

I find that Home Goods often has the best selection

for dish towels that would make cute pillows.

These are all embroidered and so sweet.

 

 

 

 

This one I cut off center

(I was distracted!),

but it's still cute.

 

 

 

 

The rickrack is the bottom of the dish towel,

which would put the design too close to the bottom of the pillow.

I cut some from the upper part of the dish towel and

stitch it to the bottom.

 

 

 

 

I use the coordinating towel for the back.

There's plenty of fabric to put a hidden zipper in the back

and then the binding is from my stash.

All I need now are the pillow forms!

 

Happy Quilting!

 

 

Gridster Pumpkin Patch Top Finished

 I've mentioned before that I belong to a Quilting Bee

made up of 12 women from around the country.

Each month one of us is Queen Bee.

Last year my month was November and

I asked the other bee mates to make a pumpkin block

I had altered a bit using a pattern 

by Dodi Poulson for Landauer Publishers.

It was a free pattern, but I asked permission to use it for this.

Well, my bee mates outdid themselves with their blocks.

I asked them to have fun making the pumpkins

and they came up with some beauties!

Over the last few days I free motion stitched the stems onto 

each block, trimmed them down and played with sashing fabrics.

The top is now completed and I could not be happier with it.

 

 

 

Look at this pumpkin patch!

Aren't they all so fun?

 

 

 

 

My original plan was to use a bright fall leaves fabric

for the sashing and borders,

but it really took away from the pumpkins.

This fabric has been in my stash since before I had

a stash... before I started quilting in 2002!

I was going to make a tablecloth with it and never did.

 

 

 

 

 

The creativeness of my bee mates just amazed me.

The quilt was going to have more blocks,

but this is large enough!

I have three more blocks that I made

and will use those for something else.

 

 

 

 

 

Backing fabric has been ordered and once it's here

I'll send it off to be quilted.

 

 

 

 

 

These vines were fun to sew!

 

Fall is not my favorite season,

but it will be much prettier now that I have this quilt to use.

 

I'm linking to "Confessions of a Fabric Addict" today.

 

 

Happy Quilting!

Two Picnic Quilts

 Back in the fall I was playing around with some fabrics that

had been in my stash for a while.

I wasn't sure what I wanted to make, so I began

cutting and sewing half square triangles.

After playing with the two different colorways on my design wall,

I came up with these two quilts.

They are now quilted and ready for warmer weather and picnics!

 

 

 

You know this one is my favorite because of the turquoise!

 

 

 

 

The colors in the quilt below are washed out in the photo.

The greens are much brighter in person.

 

 

 

 

 

It's amazing how many design layouts one can do with a bunch

of half square triangles!

 

 

 

 

 

The backing fabric I used has been hanging out in my stash

for quite some time, too.

It's fun for the backing on two picnic quilts!!

 

 

 

 

 

These are my first two finishes for 2023.

Hopefully there will be many more!

 

Happy Quilting!

Scrap Quilt top from Pineapple Fabrics is Finished

 I have been feeling under the weather and have had no energy,

but after a couple of days on an antibiotic,

the desire to sew has returned.

 

The blocks I started making with the scraps from my

Pineapple quilt are all sewn together

and borders have been added.

 

 

 

 

 

These colors just make my heart sing. 

They remind me of the ocean... sea glass... water of many types.

 

 

 

There is more blue in this border fabric than the photo shows.

And the quilt is even.  (I had to stand on a stool to get the whole thing

in the photo.)

 

 

 

 

 

I was thinking it would be a baby quilt, but it's too big.

Once it's quilted, it will tell me where it's supposed to live.

 

 

In addition to finishing this top, I've added some birds to my flock.

 

 

 

 

 

These go together so quickly and are so fun to make.

They are a Block Lotto pattern that is free on line.

 

 

I'm not sure how many I'll make, but I will keep adding to 

the flock until I sense that I have enough.

 

 

Happy Quilting!

 

More Squirrel Blocks Made

 My Pineapple Quilt has been mailed off to

Rebecca Grace and I cannot wait to see what

she does from her end.  She really works magic on my quilts.

While straightening my Hidey Hole the other day,

I began to put away the scraps from this quilt

and they said "NO WAY!".

Of course, I had to listen.

 

 

 

This is where I am today.

I may add sashing in between the big blocks,

but I'll decide once all of the pieces are made.

 

 

 

 

 

I see a HST's that need to be moved! 

Playing with these scraps just makes me smile.

 

 

 

 

The last of the nine patches are laid out and ready to sew. 

This may end up being a baby quilt.... 

a big baby quilt, though.

A niece is due in April and this quilt could be

used for a boy or girl, in my opinion.

In the evenings, I've been doing a little

needle-turn applique.

It's been a while since I've done any of this

and the rust needed to be knocked off, for sure.

Here is the first block.

The pattern has that purple petal hanging down like that,

but I'm not sure it's going to stay like it is.

This pattern is called Fields of Flora

and can be found here.

 

 

Happy Quilting! 

Distraction!

 This is what I get for trying to clean my Hidey Hole!

 

 

 

These scraps would not let me put them away!

So.... another quilt was started instead of cleaning.

Distractions can be fun!

 

 

 

In addition,

the January blocks for the Gridster Queen Bee were made

and mailed off to her.

This Bear Paw quilt is going to be fun!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Happy Quilting!

Good-bye 2022

 Here we are at the end of another year.

This year was full of many wonderful things....

the birth of our grandson,

being able to watch our granddaughter grow

into a spunky 2 year old,

being able to see our younger daughter and son-in-law much more frequently, 

going on adventures with Doodlebug and my husband,

the return of travel, 

doing some projects around the house

and quilting.

There hasn't been as much quilting as there has been in the past,

but some nice things came out of my hidey hole.

While I am thinking of what will get done in 2023,

I've looked back at 2022 and am pleased with what I have

been able to accomplish.

May 2023 bring you many joys, much peace, good health, fun adventures

and many hours working with cloth and thread.

Happy New Year!

Pineapple Quilt Top is Finished

 I did not expect to finish this quilt top before the end of 2022,

but here we are!!

I spent a good part of yesterday in my Hidey Hole and came out with this

finished top and I love it.

 

Two years ago I made a few blocks and thought I would

make a wall hanging or small throw.

My husband saw it and said it would look great on our bed.

From then on I've said this is the quilt he is making me make.

:D

 

 

 

Half of the rows had been sewn together a while ago

and the other half were hanging out on my design wall.

Yesterday I just sewed and listened to my book and got it finished.

 

 

 

I was going to add a border to the quilt,

but it doesn't need one.

It's large enough without it and, visually,

the quilt is good without one.

 

 

 

This quilt was a couple of years in the making,

with it not seeing any action for large chunks of time.

I finished the rest of the blocks at quilt camp in November.

 

 

This will be sent off to Rebecca Grace to quilt

and will then grace the bed.

The fabric on the pillows will be used for binding

and I may make some pillows with it.

In addition to this fabric, I'd add some lighter blue or aqua pillows.

Not a bad way to finish 2022!!

 

I'm linking to Design Wall Monday.

Happy Quilting!

The Stockings Were Hung....

 ....and the rest of the house was decorated, too.

 

We moved into our current home in the spring of 2021,

but with my mom's death in late October last year,

I didn't decorate for Christmas at all.

I put a tiny tree up and that was it.

 

Our old house was very big and I had a LOT

of decorations for that house.

I moved a lot of them, but wasn't sure how they would all

fit into this house.

This year I was excited to decorate and am

happy to see that a lot of my Christmas treasures

fit into this house nicely.

 

 

 

 

 

We had a mantle added to our fireplace this year and it looks

great with all of our Bucilla stockings hanging from it.

 

 

 

 

 

This little nook is in my kitchen.

 

 

 

 

My quilt cabinet is quite festive with some

of my vintage treasures decorating it.

 

 

 

 

 

Years ago I found a woman who makes Santas from old quilts

and chenille blankets.  I've collected a number of them

over the years and love getting them out each year.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

My parents started buying me a Frykman Santa for Christmas years ago,

so I have a nice collection of these.

They look great on the dining room table with a vintage tablecloth.

 

 

 

 

 

This skinny tree has a lot of the handmade ornaments on it

and is in the family room.

The grandchildren can't hurt the ornaments on this tree,

so it's where we spend most of our time.

 

 

I was thrilled that the big tree fits into the sun room

and looks nice in there.

There are colored lights on this tree,

which don't show up very well in the photo.

If you couldn't tell... I have a "thing" for ornaments!

 

I hope you all have a  Merry Christmas

filled with peace and joy.

Merry Christmas!!

 

This and That

 The past week or so I've been working on

bits and pieces as I get ready for Christmas.

The house is decorated,

we are going to bake this weekend

and I'm working on Christmas cards.

In between all of this,

I steal a few minutes here and there

in my Hidey Hole.

The second pillow for my son-in-law is finished.

Is it bad of me if I hope he doesn't like it??

😁

This pattern is called Diamond in Diamond and is

foundation paper pieced.

These are big pillows... 24" square.

I am really pleased with how this one came together.

One thing I am determined to finish by the end of January 

is the bed quilt I've been working on for almost 2 years.

I started it, thinking I would make a wall hanging,

but my husband really likes it and said it would

be a beautiful quilt for our bed.

I tease him now and say this is the quilt he's making me make.

 

 

 

This is half way finished.

All of the blocks are made, so now it's just a matter

of sewing them into rows with the sashing.

I used the pineapple ruler by Creative Grids

to make the blocks.

The one downside is all of the seams are pressed in the same direction.

If I sewed the blocks together without sashing,

there would have been a lot of bulk at each intersection

and where the blocks meet.

I do think the sashing helps calm the blocks down a bit

and am happy with how it looks.

 Small borders will be added once all of the blocks are sewn together.

 

 

 

 

 

I have a Cricut machine, but am not that proficient at using it, yet.

My daughters, granddaughter and I are having our baking

weekend this coming weekend, so I made us all shirts.

I do have to say... I am REALLY happy with how these turned out!

And last, but not least....

the December blocks for the Gridster Queen Bee

are done and in the mail.

This is a Block Lotto block and is free!

These birds are so stinking cute!

There may be some already made for my own quilt.

:)

That's it for now... back to writing out Christmas cards

and then I need to wrap some gifts.

Happy Quilting!

Second Pillow

 As I've mentioned in the previous post,
I'm making pillows for my son in law for Christmas,

per his request.

The first one was made with fabric weaving,

but for this second pillow I used

paper piecing.

I do not enjoy paper piecing at all.

It isn't the sewing part that I don't like.

I hate removing the paper after the blocks are sewn.

However, you can't beat the precision one gets

with paper piecing.

Since I'm making a pillow,

there aren't that many blocks to be made.

 

Here is what I have so far:

 

 

 

 

 

These blocks aren't sewn together yet,

but are laid out as they will be in the pillow.

This piece will measure roughly 16x22",

so I will need to add borders to make it 24" square.

 

 

 

 

 

This is such a striking pattern and was pretty easy to make.

(Assuming one likes paper piecing.)

The pattern is called Diamond in Diamond  by Saija Elina.

  

 

 

I might have to keep this pillow for myself!

:D

 

Happy Quilting!

Fabric Weaving Pillow

 A couple of posts back I showed some fabric weaving

I had tried.

It was for a pillow for my son in law.

Well, I learned a valuable lesson in my first attempt at

fabric weaving.

When pressing the woven piece to the interfacing under it,

do not iron it.... press it!

Once it was all ironed, the piece was distorted.

As I was ironing, I didn't realize that I was pushing

the strips and causing distortion.

The end result was off square by almost 2" in spots...

unacceptable to use for a pillow.

But Wait!

I looked at the piece and realized that the middle was

not distorted.  I could cut the middle out of the piece

and add borders and salvage some of the weaving.

Here is the result:

 

 

 

I had quilted the piece with a big spiral already,

so I quilted borders with some grid quilting

and added them with a "quilt as you go" technique.

 

The backing was added and then I bound the pillow.

 

 

 

These colors are more true and you can see the weaving better

in this photo.

 

It's a big pillow...24" square.  They like big pillows

at my daughter's house.

 

This one is finished and I've started the second one.

It is not being made with fabric weaving!

 That one will be shown soon.

 

 

Happy Quilting!