Sunday, October 30, 2016

A Couple of Finishes

    I have been working on a few things even though it has been a while since I posted anything.  A couple of things are for my guild Christmas challenge so I don’t want to show them at this time.
   This was the week for church sew day and guild comfort quilt sew day.  I worked at both.  I finished the quilting Friday and sewed the binding and label on so this 3” strip scrappy trip is ready to give.


I quilted with a floral type swirl and tried a new design from ChristinaCameli in the border. My bubbles need a lot more practice.                      ---   front
                                 --- back


  I finally quilted the owl mug rugs so they are also ready to give. 


    My granddaughters love playing with dolls when they visit.  I found a pattern on PixieFaire  for beds made from PVC.  I just happened to have some laying around plus the cutter.  Here are some in progress photos and almost finished. 

 They can be twin or bunk.
This was a fun project. It was so easy I am considering making more.

Enjoy some time sewing and quilting!



Wednesday, October 19, 2016

What I’ve Been Working On

        I have made time for some sewing and quilting the past week.  I quilted 3 scrappy fall mug rugs.  They could also be used as potholders because I used 2 layers of cotton batting. They will be used for small gifts. 


       At a recent church quilt group sew day, I started scrappy trip blocks using 3 ½” strips so the blocks finish at 18”.  I like this design, however, it is not great to use fat quarters because you must have 21” strips when trimmed. Sometimes you cannot get 21” after trimming selvedge and straightening the edge.  Even though scrappy, I tried to keep the colors in the same order for each block.  Somehow I sewed one wrong.  At least the cream, red and blacks are in the same order. Can you spot my mistake?  Today I sewed on borders so the top is ready to sandwich for quilting.


     I talked several ladies in my church quilt group into making big house blocks.  The pattern was free from Quilter’s Newsletter Magazine.  For now you can still find the free pattern here.
We changed the size of the quilt and only put 6 together with sashing and a border.  It is a top ready to sandwich for quilting.



    I have plenty of other projects and some with December deadlines so I better get working on them.

Enjoy some time sewing and quilting!

Thursday, October 13, 2016

Granddaughters Learning to Sew

     I am home from a visit with granddaughters and family.  I am glad I could be there for school holidays to spend more time with them. 
The oldest made her Halloween costume – a bat.  She designed the wings.  She couched pipe cleaners as bones in the wings. We used sticky back hook and loop tape to hold the wings to a black shirt.
She has also made a mask out of black felt.


   The youngest recounted that her big sister first learned to use the sewing machine at age 4 and since she is age 4, she wanted her lesson.  I happened to have 2 ½” by 4 ½” scraps cut.  I let her choose a dark and a light to sew together.  I ran the foot pedal and helped her guild the fabric.  She was responsible for raising and lowering the presser foot and cutting the thread.  After a few seams she wanted to keep sewing to make a doll blanket large enough for her doll. I did have to resew 2 seams so as not to have holes.  I pressed, sewed backing and turned pillowcase style plus top-stitched the edge.

She is happy and this grandmother is very proud of both.


Enjoy some time sewing and quilting!

Sunday, October 2, 2016

Potholders, Mug Rugs and More

   
Even though the days here are only a little cooler, I have been thinking fall and holiday projects. The past week I have been busy playing with scraps.  I saw this cute pieced turkey on Lori Holt’s blog Bee in a My Bonnet.   You can see her 12” block here
I decided to resize it to 8” for a potholder and made 2.  I placed the first hanging loop in the corner and the second in the middle.  I guess I like the straight hanging one better.  Which do you like?
 The backing fabric is mum like and it looks like fall also so these potholders could be reversed and used for longer. 
  
 I also played a day with fall scraps and pieced the top of 3 more mug rugs. I enjoy giving them as small gifts.


Wednesday was sew day at church.  Martha shared her “Star Gazing” quilt top.  It looks great!  The pattern is from Britney Walsh of Soft Day Quilts.  You can find out more about where to find the free pattern on this post


Saturday morning I taught 3 beginning quilters in a class at JoAnn Fabrics.  Kelly finished her 2 blocks and sent me these photos.  Her birthday is Halloween and these are perfect for her and the season.



Enjoy a few minutes each day sewing or quilting!