Design Wall Monday

About once a year I take a couple of days

and cut out quilts.

I gather my fabric,

iron it all,

decide what quilts I'm making with the fabric

and cut away.

Then, when I have a bit of time to sew,

but don't feel like cutting

I pull one of my pre-cut quilts out to work on and 

just sew away.

Well,

I'm down to my last pre-cut quilt

from my cutting time about a year ago!

I started sewing the blocks over the weekend

and have half of them sewn together.

(I see that a few blocks need to be rearranged.

Photos are wonderful at showing what isn't working!)

It was so nice to pull the pieces out of the bin,

begin chain piecing and have a bunch sewn together

in no time.

This is half of the blocks for this quilt.

(Please excuse my crooked placement on the DW!)

What I'm trying to decide now is if I am going to make the

bed size quilt or divide it in two and make two smaller quilts

the size of the one above.

I don't need a bed size quilt at the moment

and

two of these would make lovely gifts that could be used as a 

wall hanging or table topper.

Plus....

I could machine quilt these smaller ones myself.

I think the decision has been made.

:)

Please visit Patchwork Times to see what others have on their

Design Walls.

Happy Quilting!

Knitting Needles Friday

There has been some clinking of the

Knitting Needles lately!

It's been a while since I picked up a pair,

but being in the car as much as I was last week

allowed for some knitting to be done.

I finished a pair of socks!

These were made with Kroy yarn and are 

So Soft!

A while ago I had started another pair, but had not done much on them.

One sock is done, waiting for the Afterthought Heel

and the other is well on it's way.

This yarn is BRIGHT....

and I love it!

I thought I had randomly started the second sock

so the stripes would fall together, but

that won't happen with this yarn.

It is all different...

These will give someone some

Happy Feet!

Please visit Patchwork Times to see what

others are knitting.

Happy Friday!

Santas are coming along!

I am closer to having a finished

Classic Santa Quilt!

The Sashing and Cornerstones have been added

and

I am so pleased with how the top looks.

The red sashing and gold cornerstones just add to the

richness of the wool.

Now I need to decide what to use for the

Outer Border.

I've auditioned some green fabrics and have not liked them.

I don't have the right color green in my stash, so....

A trip to the quilt shop may be in order.

DARN!!

:D

**Update**

I went to the quilt shop and brought home some
green fabric with red, gold and blue pin dots.
I thought this would be perfect for the outer border.
Well....
It wasn't.

I ended up using the same red fabric used for the sashing and
I am very pleased.

The borders are even and smooth.
I'm short and have trouble hanging the larger quilts on
the Design Wall.

This one is ready to be sent off to my
Long Arm Quilter!

WOOHOO!!

Have a great day

and 

Happy Quilting!

Santas on the Design Wall

This past week was spent at the

Beach!!

The weather was perfect and

being with my family was just wonderful.

While there,

I did some hand work.

(I threatened to take my sewing machine,

but there would have been a revolt!)

One thing I finished is the stitching on my

Classic Santas.

(Pattern by Sue Garman.)

I am so happy that I made these from wool.

The wool gives them such warmth and texture.

These two guys are my favorites~

I have to say... I've never seen a Santa with dark hair before.

I found the fabric for sashing....

a red paisley with blue, green and gold....

Each block needs to be trimmed down

and then the sashing and cornerstones will be added.

Once the top is assembled,

I'll give the name and origin of each Santa.

Please visit Patchwork Times to see

what others are creating.

Happy Quilting!

Six Spicy Spirals!

The Spicy Spirals are DONE!!

Six of them...

All quilted and bound and

ready to be gifted to my mom and my siblings.

(My sister is the only one who reads my blog...I think!)

These were FUN to make!

The store sample was not bound,

but was finished using the

"pillowcase" method.
(Sew around the edge, leaving a small opening
and turn the topper inside out.  Then stitch the opening closed.)

I knew I wanted to quilt and bind mine and am very pleased

that I did.

The most challenging part of making these was 

getting the binding around the points.

Some look great...

And some look.... okay.  :)

I love the red, white and blue.

Today I linked up with Link a Finish Friday
and Confessions of a Fabric Addict.

Happy Quilting!

More Table Runners...

... for the Fall Faire

at my church.

These are about 60" long...

Great for the Dining Room table.

They are made with Christmas fabric, but don't

Scream Christmas,
so can be used into January.

Happy Quilting!!

Design Wall Monday

Do you remember me starting this

last fall?

Don't worry... I almost forgot about it myself!

When I was at the AQS quilt show a few weeks ago,

the Primitive Gatherings booth was there

and I was reminded of this piece.

When I returned home,

out it came and it will be 

FINISHED soon!

I am doing a little hand quilting

to hold the top and backing together.

(I usually don't baste my hand quilted pieces with pins,

but it was easy and they were handy.)

The pattern suggests blanket stitching around the edge,

but I am going to bind mine with this piece of flannel.

I like the finished look of the binding.

Please Visit Patchwork Times to see what others are creating.

Happy Quilting!

Finished Shirt Top!

Shirt Top...

Kind of redundant, but it's a completed top!

(And I think I have the name for this quilt!)
:)

This quilt is made from

recycled 100% cotton

Men's shirts from a local thrift shop
and

I love it!!

I used 7 shirts in all,

following the directions found here.

I wasn't sure if I would like the 

red plaid shirt as the inner border and thought I 

would use yardage,

  but it actually worked well. 

There is not enough left of the shirt back pieces to make

 the backing, so I will either add more shirt pieces

or just use yardage for the backing.

If I use yardage, I can use the shirt backs to make the binding.

Again,

this quilt top cost $15 to make.

Not a bad deal!! 

(I will have to pay to have my Long Arm quilter quilt it...

it's too large for my machine quilting ability.)

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

Enjoy
and

Happy Quilting!!

Shirt quilt progress...

This quilt is coming together nicely.

I love how the plaids work together

and how comfy this quilt looks.

I made the piano key border

with nine patch cornerstones.

Next is to sew the borders onto the quilt

and make the backing.

This entire top was made from

Seven Men's dress shirts.

The cost... $15!

Happy Quilting!

Recycling...

At the beginning of the year I made

this Baby quilt from recycled men's shirts

and a little yardage.

A while back I made another trip to one of my local

Thrift shops and bought some more men's shirts....

All for $3.00 or less.

100% Cotton...

They looked like new....

Great plaids and colors...

I brought them home,

washed them twice on the hot water cycle,

and "deboned" them.

Then I found this blog post for making a quilt from

Recycled shirts.

I began cutting the shirt pieces...

Ironing and starching them...

Planning the blocks...

 And after a few hours work,

this is what I had.

I have half of the rows sewn together

and LOVE how it is turning out!

(This would make two cute baby quilts!)

The only yardage I might add is for a small red border

between the body and the piano key border.

Plus, there are enough shirt pieces to make the backing.

So, once this top is finished

I will have spent less than $20 on fabric for this quilt

that will measure approximately 52"x64".

(I would suggest NOT telling the clerk in the Thrift Shop

what you are planning on doing with the men's shirts...

The poor man almost cried.

"But these are good shirts and you are going to

CUT THEM UP??")

:)

Visit Patchwork Times to see what others are quilting.

Happy Monday!

Summertime!!

Several years ago I made this

Watermelon Quilt.

I loved making this one...

the colors,

the traditional pattern,

the placement of the seeds....

This quilt usually gets pulled out of the cupboard

in August.... when watermelon is the Tastiest!!

Do you see what my Long arm quilter quilted into this quilt??

ANTS!!

How perfect!

(as long as they are stitched!)

 

The ants go marching...

 

Juicy slices...

 

hhmmm....

I'm craving some watermelon now!

Happy Summer!!

Knitting Friday

Wow!!

I have done very little knitting these

past two weeks.

Last week I was out of town and didn't post,

but I didn't have anything to post anyway!

There is a new start this week....

I began knitting a new pattern

and didn't like it,

so I ripped it out.

Started another pattern

and didn't like it,

so ripped it out.

Then I decided to knit my usual

Vanilla socks.

I LOVE this yarn!

It's so much fun to knit with, 

watching to see what color comes next.

The Vanilla sock really shows off the yarn.

I did finish the bodies of these socks

and will add the

Afterthought Heels

where the pink yarn is located.

The socks are the same size,

even though they don't look like it here.

My sweater is still at a standstill.

I became frustrated with not being able to figure out

what to do next.

It's time to get this going again!

Visit Patchwork Times to see what others

are knitting!

Happy Friday!