Scrappy Baby Quilt Finish

Scrappy quilts are not my favorite,

but I am very pleased with how this quilt turned out.

We are seeing a population explosion around us,

so baby quilts are in big demand.

This will go to one of the precious new ones

entering the world soon.

This was made with a lot of my 2 1/2" squares.

There is a twin to this quilt (not quilted yet),

but they hardly made a dent in my bag of squares.

Even with the occasional pink square and flowers,

this could be given to a boy or girl,

don't you think?

 

It took a while to find the outer border fabric...

the blue really pulls it all together.

 

This was made with scraps and stash,

except for the blue border.

Even the binding was leftover from two previous quilts.

There was just enough for this one.

My goddaughter loves Halloween

and while shopping with her mother the other day,

her mom found this panel.

This guy glows in the dark!

(My quilts always look crooked in photos!)

 

I'm not into Halloween,

but this guy is pretty cute.

And especially appropriate for a nurse and a physical therapist. 

:D

Happy Quilting!

Something New...

I'm going to be doing something new...

new to me anyway.

I haven't hand quilted anything significant in years,

or ever, actually.

Little things here and there have been hand quilted,

but not a whole quilt.

I am so intimidated by this project,

but I need to put my big girl pants on and do it!

It's been sitting here for way too many years,

waiting to be finished.

It's a quilt top that my great-grandmother, Lou Etta Kemmeter, hand pieced many years ago.

It's all basted and ready for the quilting to begin.

The fabrics in this top are so soft from wear and washing.

 

I can't help but wonder when she pieced this top?

What did the clothes look like?

And who wore them?

Were any of them my grandmother's?

And how long did it take her to piece this top?

I'm trying not to worry about what my stitches will look like

as I work on this quilt.

As someone said, my great-grandmother would be thrilled that

it's being finished.

Happy Quilting!

Hand and otherwise.

:)

Amish Style Table Runner

In my quilt group on Saturday,

we were asked to talk about what inspires us in quilting.

I hadn't really thought about that before we were asked.

As I was thinking, I couldn't come up with one main inspiration.

Everything inspires my quilting...

I am inspired by reading blogs, reading magazines,

going to quilt shops, looking at nature,

see peoples outfits and color combinations,

tile floors, the ocean,

etc.

Life inspires my quilts.

I will make quilts of my own design

and I will buy kits

and see an idea but make it with my choice of fabrics.
and I will do a combination of all of the above.

I use brights and bold fabrics,
batiks,

reproduction fabrics,

solids and prints...

I love it all!

Maybe this is why I can't shut my brain down when it comes

to quilting.

Ideas are constantly going through my mind

and I want to make them all!

My latest quilt is an Amish style table runner.

My mom is going to a wedding next month

and asked if I would make a table runner as part of her gift.

We found out the bride and groom like simple, Amish style things,

so the thoughts and plans began.

It is dark and dreary here today,
so the photos are very dark.

This photo makes the colors brighter than they are in person.
I enjoyed the mindless sewing while making this table runner.
It is quilted with straight lines through the black squares
and feathers around the border.

It will be delivered to my mom today...
finished ahead of schedule.

Happy Quilting!

Ipad case

 I have thought about making a padded Ipad case for some time,

but have not been really motivated until now.

We will be doing some traveling soon and I wanted

my Ipad to be a little more protected.

 I found this tutorial online for a case

and changed a few things to make it more to my liking.

After a bit of time quilting the fabric,

cutting the pieces and sewing them together,

this is what I have.

My Ipad is in a protective case, but there have been times when

I've wanted more padding around it.

I used two layers of batting to give it some extra poofiness.

This went together fairly quickly once everything was quilted and cut.

The inside has a little extra room.

The zippered pocket will hold the charger, ear buds and a few other little things.


Along with the Ipad case,
I made a little zipper pouch, following this tutorial.

I made mine a bit bigger than the tutorial
and added binding instead of turning it inside out.

 This little pouch was so much fun to make and
went together very quickly.
These would make great little gifts for Christmas.

Now everything will be protected and in it's own compartment.

Happy Quilting!

Amanda's Christmas tree skirt

One of my daughters' best friends is getting married next month

and she asked if I would make a tree skirt as her wedding gift.

Any excuse to make a quilt is good with me!

Except for the label,

which will be sewn in tonight,

this tree skirt is finished!

I'm not sure how many tree skirts I've made for

wedding gifts,

but this is one of my favorites.

 

It went together quickly and uses so many different fabrics.

 

Christmas fabrics are some of my favorites...

especially those with metallic gold in the design.

 

The pinwheels add some whimsy to the design.

 

Thanks to Mary at NeedledMom for the design.

This will go in the mail in the next few days and will be

ready for the October wedding.

Happy Quilting!

Another Christmas Tree Skirt...

There is a wedding next month.

Next month is October!

I thought I had lots of time to get this

Christmas Tree skirt made,

but it's only a few short weeks away.

Boy, has time gotten away from me!

Out came the Christmas fabrics,

the cutting was done

and the sewing began.

The top is not finished,

but four blocks sections are sewn together so far.

 

Mary at Needledmom is making a Christmas Tree skirt

and I loved her design.
I am always looking for new designs for tree skirts...

it's my "signature" wedding gift, when appropriate.

 

I don't think I will cut mine into a circle,

but will angle the corners and make it octagonal.

Hopefully it will be finished by the end of the weekend!

Happy Quilting!

Finished socks

The calendar says September

but outside still says summer...

thank goodness!

I am a summer girl!

I know cold weather is coming and if it arrives

as quickly as September did,

it will be here tomorrow. :(

Anyway,

cold weather requires warm socks

and I finished a pair yesterday!

These are some fun socks!

Someone asked if they glow in the dark,

but I haven't tested them yet.  :D

The photo above is the true color of the yarn,

but I love the design and it shows really well in the photo below.

The pattern is "Echo Beach Sock"...a fun pattern to knit.

 

I started another pair with some yarn my sister gave to me.

This yarn is Ty-Dy Socks Skinny Stripes.

The pattern is called "Overkill-Socks"

and is going quickly.

Please visit Judy at Patchwork Times to see what others are knitting.

Happy Friday!

Friendship Star Quilt Finish

Last year I made 12 wool applique basket pieces

and set them in the middle of the Friendship Star blocks.

My intention was to make one big quilt with these blocks for a 

Christmas quilt.

The more I looked at these blocks, the more I thought I didn't want a huge

quilt made with them.

Instead, I would make three smaller wall-hanging size quilts.

Well, the third one is finally finished.

The first two were finished in the beginning of the year

 and one has been gifted.

The other is staying here, at least for now.

This one will be gifted, too.

Doing wool applique is so relaxing to me.

 

There are no seams to turn...

 

the wool feels so good in my hands...

 

The colors are so deep and rich...

 

and I love it when paired with cotton fabrics.

All this quilt needs is a label and it will be sent to 

the person for whom it was made.

One more thing checked off of my "to be quilted" list.

Yay!!

Happy September!

Borders Added

First, I need to apologize for the not so great photos of these quilts.

I was in a hurry and needed to get the photos taken before

leaving for an appointment.

The borders have been added to the scrappy baby quilts

after many fabrics were auditioned.

Sometimes the scrappy quilts are the most difficult to find border fabrics,

in my opinion.

The same fabrics were used,

but the blue border is 1" wider on this quilt.

The borders really pull out the yellows and blues of the quilts,

which makes them more unisex.

This quilt has a narrower blue border

and I think I like it better.

It's difficult to see the difference in these photos,

but the extra inch really makes the quilt seem huge.

I'll be trimming the first border down before I quilt it.

Add these to the "to be quilted pile"!

Please visit Patchwork Times to see what others are creating.

Happy Quilting!

Nine Patch Finish

Back in June I began teaching three friends to quilt.

Between vacations, work schedules and taking care

of grandchildren,

the lessons have been very sporadic.

We are nearing the end though

and should have finished quilts very soon!

This is the one I have been making as an example.

 The fabric and colors in this quilt are so calm and soothing to me.

  

I used straight line quilting with my walking foot 

because I had the ladies quilt theirs this way.

I love making nine patches...

no thoughts,

no pressure to match points,

just sew and relax.

 

 The backing was pieced with left-over fabric

and a piece from my stash.

This will go in my pile of baby quilts,

waiting for a baby.

I've delivered two baby quilts this week!

More will be delivered in the next months,

but I don't know what quilts will be needed...

boy or girl.

Either way, I'll be ready.

Happy Quilting!

Sew Together Bag #3

Don't ever make one of these bags!

I'm warning you...

if you make one, you will be making a dozen.

You will want to make one for every person you know.

Okay... maybe not the men you know,

but every woman you know.

A while ago I made two of the Sew Together Bags

and gave both of those to friends.

I wanted one for myself, though,

so pulled the fabrics and finished this last night.

The possibilities for the outside of these bags are endless.

I had wanted to try the straight line quilting with different threads

and this was the perfect project for it.

It's hard to see the different threads in the photo,

but I used a metallic thread, lime green, aqua, teal and turquoise.

(Thanks, Lara! She gave me the idea for this type of quilting.)

The inside fabrics of this one blend more than the other two I made.

 

Don't be intimidated by the zippers.

Here is a wonderful tutorial for making this bag.

It is loaded with photos and great directions.

I already have the fabric pulled for the next bag.

Christmas isn't too far away!

If you take the plunge,

don't say I didn't warn you!

:D

Happy Quilting!