Pants to Quilts

After cutting up two boxes of colored jeans that

didn't sell at my brother and sister-in-laws store,

I began to play with the circles and a charm pack of

"Poems from Pebbles" fabric 

someone had given to me.

I wondered what I would use this bright, bright charm pack for

and think they play pretty nicely with these colored jean circles.

I did not add any batting under the charm packs and wish I had now.

This will make a nice picnic blanket or play mat,

but it could use a bit more weight.

 

The next two rows are started.

As I said the other day....

this won't be a "pretty" quilt, but it will be functional.

Happy Quilting!

More "Snowed In" work...

We are still snowed in at my house,

but the man who plows our driveway is on his way here.

In addition to being snowed in,

our internet was out yesterday!

Thankfully it's working again.

Thankfully I have LOTS to keep me busy!

A while ago, my brother and sister-in-law,

who own several Plato's Closet stores,

gave me two boxes of colored jeans that did not sell.

They asked if I could do something with them.

Of course!! I'm a quilter!

I sat and cut the zippers and waistbands out of the pants

the night before last.

Yesterday morning,

I pulled out my Accuquilt Go! cutter,

three dies and went to town.

The pile of trimmed pants ready to cut.

 

Large circles were cut from each pair.

The parts that were left were cut into bars and HST's.

 

I have a plan for the circle and am pondering what to do with the 

other two shapes.

These will not be "pretty" quilts, but utility quilts.

They will be great to keep in the car for picnics, ball games and the like.

 On a prettier note,

I decided to pull out another Bucilla kit and get going on the February finish.

These little cuties are ornaments.

There are three sets of different ornaments in this kit.

 

 

It's kind of appropriate to be working on these while I am 

snowed in, right?

I tell you... these are addictive!

Happy Quilting!!

Snowy Finish

We are in the middle of a big snowstorm here in Virginia,

along with the rest of the East Coast,

so I am home... sewing!

And I have my first quilty finish for 2016!

I have been working on the quilting for several days.

These pictures were taken with the quilt on my ironing board.

 

These blocks were made with the

Friendship Star design

and a wool applique block in the center.

 

The wool applique patterns are from

Primitive Gatherings.

Twelve blocks were made in all and I decided to

divide them into three quilts....

One for me... two for friends.

January has been an odd month,

but I finally have a finish!

Happy  Quilting

and

Stay warm!!

Bucilla Kit for January

Yay!

I met one goal for this month!

There are a lot of Bucilla felt kits in my cabinet,

just waiting to be finished.

So I decided one goal for this year would be to finish

one kit per month.

January's is finished!

The Advent Calendar Tree

This kit went together very quickly and would be a great kit to try 

for the first time. 

It will be ready to be pulled out on 

December 1st to mark the 

coming season!

Happy Quilting!

Finished Quilt Top

Don't you hate it when you are

soooo close to finishing something

and you have to leave or put it aside with just

that little bit to go?

Yesterday I was sewing the borders onto this

quilt and had the last two ready to go,

but I ran out of time!

Off I went.

So this morning I finished sewing the last two seams,

pressed it and it's finished!

This was made entirely from 8 shirts of a dear friend at church

who died last year. I'm making this for his wife, who is also

a dear friend.

I have more of the solid red inner border shirt to use as the binding.

I also have the shirt backs to use on the backing.

This top goes together so easily.

Nine patches and Snowball blocks.

 

It's funny how the three plaids are the same fabric

but in different colors.

 

Piecing the back is my least favorite part of quilting,

but it will be nice to use the rest of the shirts to finish this quilt.

The pattern for this quilt can be found here.

Happy Friday!

Shirt Quilt Blocks

Progress is being made on the

Shirt quilt for the widow of a dear friend.

Working with shirts that have been worn and laundered

over and over is so peaceful and calming to me.

The fabric is so soft and cuddly.

Using these shirts has brought back memories I have

of the wonderful man who wore them.

 I am using this pattern to make this quilt.  

I've made it once before and love how it looks with the recycled shirts.

His wife gave me 8 shirts... just the right number for this design.

I'll use the 8th shirt for the inner border and binding.

It's solid red!

 

Snowballs ready for stitching.

I've added a few more ornaments to the 

Advent Calendar Tree.

These things are addictive!

Happy Quilting!

New project

Last year a dear friend from church died somewhat unexpectedly.

After things calmed down a bit with his wife,

I offered to make her a quilt from some of his shirts.

After some time, I was able to collect the shirts from her

and yesterday I began cutting them apart.

This man was a wonderful person....

he would literally have given anyone the shirt off of his back.

To be able to create something for his loving wife from his shirts

means a lot to me.

The shirt pieces are pressed and ready to cut into strips and blocks

and will make a great quilt.

 

Hopefully I will have some blocks to show in a day or two!

The little ornaments for my Advent Calendar tree are

slowly coming together.

For some reason the little snowflake stars are washed out in the photo.

 

I just love these little hearts and can see a string of them on my big tree.

What do you think?

Happy Quilting!!

Handwork

One of my goals for 2016 is to

make some of the Bucilla kits

I have collected over the past couple of years.

If I can make one a month, I'll go through what I have....

I think!

The first one I chose is the

Nordic Christmas Tree Advent Calendar.

The ornaments stitch up pretty quickly and are so cute!

Instead of using polyfil to stuff each ornament as the directions suggest,

I use batting. I have a lot of batting scraps and I like the look of the

batting padding better. If the piece needs more padding,

I use two pieces of batting.

This makes the project a little more portable, too.

It's easier to take a piece of batting along then a bag of polyfil.

 

It took me several evenings to stitch all of the sequins around the tree.

They sure sparkle!

 

The pattern suggests sewing sequins on the tree to hold

the ornaments, but I'm going to find little buttons to use instead.

I think they will be sturdier.

The buttons will be stitched on the white dots on the tree.

 

 

The star hasn't been sewn to the tree yet,

and the hangers for the ornaments will be added

once they are all finished.

The tree is has not had the backing or padding added yet,

but will soon.

Six ornaments done... only 18 more to go!

The only bad thing about stitching these kits is it 

takes away from my knitting.

I do still knit in the car or while waiting at appointments, etc,.

so I have a little progress to show on my next pair of socks.

 

 

This yarn is so reasonably priced and knits up nicely.

Happy Friday!

Happy Creating!

Gravity Top

The Gravity top is completed!

I've been sewing and ironing and sewing and ironing

and have more sewing and ironing to do!

The top still needs a good starching,

but it's together.

Section #5.

 

Section #6.

 

The completed top!

Woohoo!

I do have to say...

I'm liking it a lot more now that it's all together.

 It's still way out of my wheel house, 

but it's fun.

 

There are A LOT of colors in this quilt!

The backing fabric sections are cut and ready for ironing and

stitching. 

Hopefully this quilt will be at the LAQ at the end of the week.

Happy Quilting!

Gravity Sections

One goal this week is to get the

Gravity quilt sewn together

and ready to be quilted.

I have four of the six sections sewn together.

The angled seams have given me fits at times,

but I've only had to use my seam ripper twice.

(I know... I just jinxed myself!)

This quilt design is way out of my wheel house,

but something drew me to making it.

I have no idea where it will go once it's finished,

but it's been a fun quilt to make.

This quilt seems huge to me since

I haven't made a queen size quilt is quite some time.

Hopefully I will be showing you a completed top

at the end of the week.

Visit Patchwork Times to see other quilty creations.

Happy Quilting!

350 Blocks Project Final Count

This is the final month for the

350 Blocks Project.

December was a productive month in the sewing department,

so I have a few blocks to add to my total.

 

The Disappearing Four Patch baby quilt has 16 blocks.

 

There are nine paper pieced blocks in my Christmas pillow.

This makes a total of 25 blocks for December and

529 blocks made in 2015.

Happy Quilting!!

Happy New Year!

2016!!

When I was a child, I'd think about how old I would be in

certain years and think...

"Wow! When it's 2000 I'll be 40 years old!

THAT is old!"

Here I am... 55 at the start of 2016 and

first of all, I am thankful to be here,

second of all... I don't feel old at all.

What did I know when I was  young?

I am not one to make resolutions,

mainly because when I have, they have lasted

all of a day, or maybe a week. :)

This year

I do hope to be more aware...

more aware of what I do with my time,

more aware of what I do with my actions,

 more aware of the needs of others,

more aware of what my body and spirit need,

and more aware of what I can do to make life easier

for my family, for others and for me.

Happy 2016 everyone!

Yesterday I spent some time in my Hidey Hole

working on the last sections of the "Gravity" quilt.

These are taking much longer to make than I thought!

 

The picture isn't too exciting because the fabrics are different shades of gray,

but I have finished three of the sections needed.

Hopefully I will finish all of the sections today and begin to 

sew the whole quilt together.

This past week I did finish knitting a pair of socks.

I will put this pair in my "gift" pile to have ready when needed.

A while ago I knitted a pair of socks from some yarn

that I just loved. There was a fair amount left over,

so I decided to make a pair of ankle socks for my daughter with

the tiny feet.

 

 

One is done... one is in the making.

One thing I am going to try to do this year

is make some of the kits I have stashed here and there

in my Hidey Hole.

I have a number of Bucilla Christmas kits to make and pulled one

out last night.

While watching football, I stitched this part together.

It's the base of the tree for an Advent calendar.

Happy New Year and may you create to your hearts content in 2016!!