A Quick Table Topper

A couple of weeks ago a

friend gave me a charm pack.

A few days after that I needed something

mindless to do,

so I decided to use the charm pack

in a Cathedral Window table topper.

I cut some yardage into 5" squares for the 

"window panes"

and laid out the charm squares for the background.

After a couple hours of sewing,

I had this...

I didn't have enough charm squares to make it 

symetrical,

but I like it anyway.

A friend saw it over the weekend and loved it.

It is now on her kitchen table!

Mindless sewing is the best!

Here is the link to the Tutorial
in case you are interested in making one!

I'm linking to Design Wall Monday

at Small Quilts and Doll Quilts.

Happy Quilting!

Turquoise and Gray

Back in August I started working on this quilt

using the

Quick Curve Ruler

and the Metro Rings pattern.

For a while I had been collecting turquoise/aqua/teal fabrics,

along with various shades of gray

for this quilt.

I love how they look together.

In August I had 16 blocks finished and debated

on stopping there and making a baby quilt.

The other day I decided I want this quilt to be bigger.

I don't know how much bigger, but bigger at this point.

Out came the bin of fabrics and the piecing began.

Using this ruler speeds the cutting process up tremendously

and it's used for almost every aspect in making this block.

It has taken me a while to get used to cutting with it

and I finally have it figured out...

I think!!

 

 

The only problem I have is with the accuracy of where the

curved pieces end up in the block....

how far they are from the straight edge.

I'm not sure if it's from the pressing,

which distorts things a bit,

or if it's my piecing,

or a combination of the two!

 

I have learned from one of my quilt group buddies to

not point out my mistakes,

so I won't.

And once it's all together,

they aren't that noticeable anyway! 

There are 14 more blocks needed for the size I'm thinking of,

so block construction will continue.

Happy Quilting!

Lucky Day!

On Saturday I had my

History of Quilting group meeting

and just love getting together with these women.

I come away with so many ideas and thoughts from

this talented group.

They are such a life-giving, positive group.... such a blessing to me.

Well....

Saturday was my lucky day!

Last year we all made a quilt block

that was representative of a book that we read of our choosing.

When all of the blocks were collected,

they were made into a quilt.

We, as a group, decided to raffle this quilt off

and the proceeds would be donated to the local

organization that supports women and children

who are victims of domestic violence.

The drawing was on Saturday and

Guess Who Won!!

YES!!
I WON this gorgeous quilt!

We were given fabric to use for our blocks

so they would cooridinate.

Each of us read a book of our choosing,

did a "book report" on the book,

and made a block that represented the book for us.

 

See what I mean about the talent in this group?

These blocks are beautiful.

I'm not sure where I will display this quilt,

but it will find a special place in my home.

I'm linking up to Design Wall Monday at

Small Quilts and Doll Quilts.

Happy Quilting!

Finished Pillows

I love making pillows.

I haven't made many,

but making pillows is like making a mini quilt.

My niece asked me to make her a tuffet

and from the extra fabric,

these pillows were made.

 This pattern is "Strip Stars" from

"Angles With Ease 2"

by Heather Peterson.

A placket was made on the back to hide the zipper.

These, along with the tuffet,

are ready to send to my niece. 

I might have to add some more pillows to my

list of things to do!

Happy Quilting!

Piecing and Knitting

Modern technology is wonderful, isn't it?

I've been gone for almost three weeks,

but because I could write posts and schedule their postings in advance,

it seemed like I was right here in my Hidey Hole the entire time.

My husband, oldest daughter and I took a wonderful trip

to Europe and cruised along the western coast of

France, Spain and Portugal.

We also visited the Canary Islands and spent a little time in Morocco.

The sights were just beautiful and the memories are great.

Now it's back to reality!

While I was gone I did a little knitting.

Knitting hasn't been on my list of things to do lately,

but it's such a portable project for a trip where

space is a premium.

This pair of socks was made while

relaxing on the ship

and during the hours of flying.

I love how the yarn pooled for these.

 

I also decided to try my hand at knitting mittens.

This is attempt #3.

I'm not thrilled with it and learned some things,

but they will be warm.

The thumb is made with the "Afterthought" method.

Next time I make mittens, I'd like to try the gusset method.

Since I've been home I've done a little playing in my Hidey Hole.

A few weeks ago I posted about the tuffet

I made for my niece.

I decided that with some of the extra fabric,

I would make two pillows to coordinate with the tuffet.

My niece isn't much into quilts,

but something simple would work.

 

This pattern is from the book called

"Angles With Ease 2"

and was so easy to make!

I'll get these quilted and made into pillows

and then send them to her for her new home.

My mind is overflowing with thoughts and ideas of

projects I'd like to make this fall.

We shall see where I am lead!

Thank you to all who commented on my blog posts while

I was gone! They were so fun to read when I returned home.

Happy Quilting!

More Bible Book Blocks

I realized that I have not posted about my new set of

Bible Book Blocks.

This year the History of Quilting group I belong to has been making

blocks that represent each book of the 

Old Testament.

We could chose any colorway we wanted

and use other block designs if we felt so moved.

I had a box of red fabrics I had collected to make

the first "It Takes 2" and didn't get too far into that process.

I am loving these blocks made with the red fabrics, though.

Here are the blocks for September.

There isn't a lot of contrast in the 5th block,

but for now it's staying as is.

 I love putting all of the blocks together on my

Design Wall.

When I'm ready to make the quilt top,

I'll decide on fabric for sashing and cornerstones.

Right now, nothing is coming to me 

except navy or dark blue.

We shall see!

There are a lot of different red fabrics in these blocks!

For the most part, these blocks have been fun to make.

Some were a little frustrating,

but thankfully not many.

 

Four more to go with the Old Testament Blocks.

I don't know if I have enough background fabric to make

the New Testament blocks.

The quilt may stop here.

Happy Quilting!

Pumpkin Finishes

I love Pumpkin!

Pumpkin pie, Pumpkin bread, Pumpkin cookies,

Pumpkin roasted with some onion and mushrooms,

Pumpkin Ravioli, Pumpkin cake,

Pumpkin anything (except ice cream).

When I saw this quilt with pumpkins,

I knew I would be making one.

Instead of one large quilt,

I made four smaller wall hangings.

I didn't make any of the pumpkins with 

2 1/2" squares as the pattern called for,

but love the striped pumpkins.

The wonderful thing about these pumpkin quilts

is they were all made from my stash.

 I didn't have to buy a thing!

 

They are ready for gifting

and celebrating fall.

After all of this talk about pumpkins,

I might have to go make some pumpkin muffins...

or scones...

or..... 

Happy Quilting!

Frustration....

I have another finish today

that almost wasn't a finish....

several times. 

Several times I almost threw this little quilt in the trash.

It has been one of the most frustrating things to make.

In the amount of time it took me to make this little quilt,

I could have made a queen size bed quilt.

It was started over a year ago.

I'd work on it, get frustrated, put it aside,

work on it, etc.

The strips of color were not the difficult part to make,

but, boy, do they have stretch!

The edge of the color strips are all bias and it was really hard

to get them all the same length.

I swear I used a can of spray starch on this little quilt!

I finally decided to finish it no matter how wonky it ended up being.

And it is wonky!

This quilt is 18" x 18".

I would say 18" square, except it isn't square.

:D

These little pieces of color are 1/2" wide finished.

No matter how much I starched, stretched, pinned and pulled,

I could not get it straight.

Oh well... lesson learned.

It's finished and the pile is gone from my Hidey Hole.

Onward and Upward!

If everything was easy,

where is the challenge?

Happy Quilting!