Mindless Sewing

With Christmas and family celebrations,

I had not been in my Hidey Hole for a while.

I needed something quick and mindless to work on for

short snippets of time.

Out of the cabinet came a charm pack

and left over polka dot squares

and the making of half square triangles began.

This little baby quilt came together in no time.

 

There was little thought of where the pieces would be placed.

Just sew and sew.

 

I think I have something that will work for the backing,

so I hope to get this quilted and done quickly.

Mindless sewing is the best!

Happy Quilting!

Christmas Stitching

Merry Christmas

one day late!

Or, should I say,

Happy Boxing Day?

Anyway,

I hope your day was just as you wanted it to be yesterday.

My family and I enjoyed a very leisurely day...

late breakfast,

opened the couple of gifts we had,

talked and talked,

and then spent the afternoon watching 

Christmas movies.

While we were watching movies,

I was sewing binding to the back of my

Plaidish quilt.

This was quilted last week and was waiting

to be trimmed and have the binding added.

 For some reason, I am into very simple quilting

these days.

Just straight lines with my walking foot.

 

I love the serendipity of this whale.

You'd think I fussy cut this guy,

but I didn't!

 

This quilt was made from all scraps...

something that hasn't happened in a long time.

It will be put away for a donation when needed.

Happy Quilting!

Old Tablecloth Made New

Years ago my mom,

who was not a quilter per say,

made my siblings and I log cabin tablecloths for Christmas.

It had to be at least 25 years ago.

She did a beautiful job making these tablecloths.

Since she was not a quilter,

she didn't put a backing on these or quilt them.

They were just the blocks, sewn together and hemmed.

I loved mine and used it every year.

After a while, the seams frayed and began to come apart.

I put it with my Christmas things,

but hadn't used it in years because it was coming apart.

This year I pulled it out,

fixed the seams,

found a backing and quilted it.

The tablecloth is repaired and ready for use again.

The fabrics she used are so pretty and festive.

The border is actually a dark green and not black.

There was another border, but that had to be removed.

I was able to use some of it for the binding.

 

I think she may have used the "Quilt in a Day"

method by Eleanor Burns to make these blocks.

 

I was able to use a new border template to quilt the border.

 

It is a little wavy and wonky because of use and the seams

that needed repairing, but I'm pleased with the results.

 

It's stabilized and reinforced and should

last another 25 years now!

This is a funny napkin from a Christmas party.

What did you ask Santa for this year?

 

Merry Christmas!

Ocean Waves Finished

As I started typing this post,

I realized that I had not named this quilt

I've made for my daughter and son-in-law.

It's the colors of the ocean and looks like waves,

so it will be called

"Ocean Waves".

Ocean Waves is finished!

This pattern is "Canyon Dance"

and this is the fourth or fifth quilt I've made with this pattern.

I love it!

 

(It is square... the photo is wonky!)

My daughter loves these colors,

as do I. It was fun playing with all of these batiks.

 

I started not to use this photo,

but it's like the sun shining on the water.

It's a queen size quilt, so it's a bit difficult to photograph.

 

Nothing to match but the block corners on this one.

And the curves are easy.... honestly!!

 

The backing is from my stash and leftovers from the quilt!

I hope to have one more finish for 2019,

but this may be it.

Not a bad way to finish the year if it is!

Happy Quilting All!

2019 VCU Ormanents

For those who may not know,

my oldest daughter, Doodlebug, has Down Syndrome.

She's 33 years old and LOVES, LOVES, LOVES VCU basketball.

(VCU is our local college team. My husband and younger daughter are grads.)

Doodlebug has gotten to know the basketball coaches and staff over the years

and each year she and I make ornaments for them.

It's a challenge to find ornaments that she can make, or at least

help me make. We've been doing this for 10 years, so there is quite a collection!

This years ornaments were so much fun to make!

It went together quickly and turned out so cute.

I saw the idea on Pinterest and knew they would be cute

in black and gold.

 

My daughter had a blast making them and can't wait to hand them out

to everyone who receives one.

 

People have told her they wait for their new ornament every year.

In fact, a staff member, who is a good friend,

moved this past year and asked if he could still get an ornament.

:)

Merry Christmas!

Poinsettia Pillow Finish

I love Poinsettias.

I love Pillows.

When I saw this Bucilla kit for a poinsettia pillow,

I was sold.

The kit called for the panel to be sewn to a

piece of 10" felt to make the pillow.

Who makes just a 10" pillow?

I added fabric and a zipper back, bound it

 and it's finished.

It was more difficult finding a fabric that would go with the poinsettia

than I thought it would be,

and I am super pleased with what I found.

This fabric is from "Splendid" by Robin Pickens for Moda.

 

This kit went together very quickly

and is a newer kit by Bucilla.

 I do need to get a larger pillow form.

I'm using what I had on hand for the photos.

 

This is a better photo of the gorgeous fabric.

Guess who might have ordered a fat quarter bundle of this line??

I have two tree skirts to make in the upcoming year!

 

 

Noel hopped on here to say Merry Christmas!

Happy Quilting!

Finished Twisted Tote

I have a friend, Dottie, who makes the most

beautiful bags.

I call her the Bag Lady!

She will find the neatest patterns and before I know it,

she's made three or seven of the bags.

She has inspired me to make bags that I would not have

ordinarily made.

The Twisted Tote is one of the gorgeous bags she's made.

When I saw hers, I had to get the pattern and make one for myself.

The fabrics were selected and the cutting began.

The front and back were made and quilted.

I just love this new Kaffe print!

After a few days of sewing on and off,

my bag is finished!

The "twisted" part of the name comes from the pieces
in the squares on point that are three dimensional... twisted... before
they are stitched in place.
The contrast between the fabrics does not come through in the photo.

The inside uses another new Kaffe print,

along with this fun stripe.

I had fun sewing around the flowers to quilt it.

I'm ready for the beach!

Happy Quilting!

Santa Has Arrived...

at least in quilt form!

A few weeks ago I saw this Santa panel on someone's blog.

(I'm so sorry, but I couldn't find the blog again to give credit.)

***Edit***

Julie from Julie's Quilts and Costumes reached out and thought
maybe I had seen the panel on her blog.
This is where I found my inspiration for this little quilt.
Thanks, Julie!

I searched the internet and found the same panel and ordered it.

This is the second panel I've quilted this fall!

My husband is a Coke person and loves the old Coke advertising.

This little quilt is for him.

I didn't add any borders to the panel, 

but just quilted it and trimmed it.

This old Santa is super cute

and was fun to quilt.

Feathers were quilted around the edge,

it was bound and is not hanging in our family room.

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

I'm linking to Design Wall Monday today.

Happy Quilting!

I Like Where This is Headed!

A few weeks ago I showed a photo of a fabric pull I had done

to begin a new quilt.

Those who have been reading my blog for while know

how much I LOVE Kaffe and Polka Dots!

This is a bit of the Kaffe I started with for this new quilt.

Now, first, I need to show a photo of the pattern I'm using.

No offense to the pattern designer,

but if I had seen the photo of the pattern first,

I wouldn't have given it the time of day.

This is not me.

Dark and kind of drab.

What caught the eye of my friend and I

was a quilt made from this pattern in Kaffe and polka dots.

We knew we had to make that version!

The fun began....

I have a TON of Kaffe and loved pulling it out

to made the blocks for this quilt.

The quilt we saw used just 8 Kaffe prints,

but we went scrappy.

Between the two of us,

we had enough prints to use only a couple twice.

Making the blocks required the use of the

Spider Web ruler by Creative Grids.

The Kaffe pieces were cut into triangles

and the polka dots were cut into kite shaped pieces,

both using the ruler.

Here is one block of the quilt.

I did put all of the pieces on my design wall

to distribute the colors and not have

like colors together before seweing

the blocks together.

Now that the blocks are sewn together,

borders will be added.

These blocks are really brightening my Hidey Hole

on these gloomy days!

Today I'm linking to Design Wall Monday
and Monday Making.

Happy Quilting!

Kris Kringle is Finished!

This is amazing!

I actually started a Christmas quilt this fall

AND

Finished it in time for Christmas!

Usually I start the quilt

and it's finished the next year.

This quilt was from a kit I purchased last year

at a local quilt shop.

The designer is local as well.

It was a fun quilt to make, especially the santa's.

The pattern is called

"Santa's Forest"

by Christine Quilts.

 

For some reason I am wanting to do

minimal machine quilting these days.

I just quilted the gray triangles and did a little

detail on each santa.

This is a soft and cuddley quilt since there

isn't a lot of quilting on it.

 

I think this quilt will be gifted to someone else this year.

I have a number of Christmas quilts,

but really wanted to make this one.

It's the best of both worlds...

I get to make the quilt

and someone else can enjoy it.

Happy Quilting!

Plaidish Finished Top

This past week I had a few minutes here and there

and was able to get my Plaid-ish blocks sewn into a top.

I must say that I am much happier with this top

now that the blocks are all sewn together.

Scrappy quilts are not my thing,

but I decided I needed to do something

with my bags of scraps,

even if it's only making one quilt.

 

Who knows....

now that this top is finished,

and I like it, maybe another scrappy quilt

will be in my future.

 

Hopefully this will be basted and quilted soon.

I'm linking to Design Wall Monday today.

Happy Quilting!

To The Moon and Back

My oldest daughter and I love the saying

"Love you to the moon and back".

Last year I was in a quilt shop near Charleston, SC

and saw this kit using a panel with this saying.

I'm not one to use panels,

but I thought this was so cute.

This past week I decided it was time to get this finished.

It went together so quickly!

Everything needed to finish this quilt was in the kit.

 I just love the outer border fabric.

Polka Dots!!

 

This panel was such a nice one to use.

It was not wonky at all

and went together with the borders so easily.

 

Flannel was included for the backing.

It's being washed as I type and will given to E

when it comes out of the dryer.

Quick and mindless finishes are fun!

Happy Quilting!

Canyon Dance Top is Finished...

... and it's ready for the quilter.

This quilt is for my daughter and son-in-law.

They will be here for Christmas and I think I'm

going to have it finished by then!!

I just love this pattern.

This is the fourth quilt I've made from it

and this is the largest... queen size.

 

The backing is pieced and needs to be ironed.

I'm hoping to drop it off tomorrow for quilting.

This morning and friend is coming over to play.

We saw a quilt at a quilt show we went to in September

and both really want to make it.

I pulled a lot of my Kaffe fabrics from waaaay back

in my cabinet and began cutting yesterday.

Some of these fabrics have been in there for a long while.

 

Hopefully this pile will become something fun very soon!

As I was cutting the 8" strips I need for this new quilt,

I cut the scraps into usable strips instead of throwing them into my

scrap bags.  Maybe these will be made into something else soon??

Another Bucilla kit was started, too.

This is a new ornament kit and is rather fussy to make.

Both sides are the same, so there are a lot of pieces to stitch 

for one ornament.

This one was already gifted.

It went onto a bridal shower gift.

There are five more to make... all different.

I'm linking to Design Wall Monday today.

Happy Quilting!!