February Finish

     

    It is fun to think of today as a FREE extra day to accomplish things.  I am making good use.  This morning I machine sewed the binding on this made-fabric comfort quilt for a finish.

I quilted extra long FM feathers in the background areas using a burgundy thread.  I quilted FM swirls in the border using light brown thread.

 

I planned and practice the feathers on plastic. 

         I also made one mugrug for a friend who has health problems.  I like this design and plan to make more but maybe use a more narrow bias for the stems.

Hope you enjoy some time today sewing and quilting.

Making Doll Clothes

   On my recent visit with granddaughters they enjoyed playing with the dolls.  They also let me know that the dolls needed certain new wardrobe items. 

  In the past week I have made time to make a yellow rainhat and raincoat to go with the 18” doll yellow rainboots.

I have not found retail patterns for the little sister doll.  For some outfits I drew patterns from her clothes.  Then I discovered that if I downsized the 18” doll patterns 71%, they fit fairly well.  So now little sister doll has several new outfits and even puppy slippers to go with her pajamas. 

Enjoy a few minutes sewing and quilting!

Big Block Comfort Quilt Tops

   This is my week with 2 days of comfort quilt sew days – one for guild and one with church group.

Knowing that today would be guild comfort quilt sew day, yesterday I started gathering the pieces to sew at the meeting.  Then I decided to put it together so today I took the top for batting and backing to be cut at the meeting. 

I really like this quilt pattern.  This is the second time I have made this design.  It is fast and a good size. It finishes at 48” by 54” with a 3” border.  I pulled 3 ½” squares and strips from my stash.  You do have to be careful to piece 2 A blocks and 2 B blocks. 

A                                                                                                         B

 

    Tomorrow is sew day for my church quilt group.  I have 2 tops ready for backing and batting so they can be sandwiched.

The first is another great big block pattern of 18” blocks using a large print fabric.  You can see more about the pattern by watching the video from Nancy Zieman and “Sewing with Nancy” at http://wpt.org/SewingWithNancy/Video/sew-big-quilt-blocks-part-2

With only 12 blocks the quilt will finish at 54” by 72”. A border would make it larger.

     Here is my second top ready to be sandwiched.  When I trimmed the blocks for a Stack and Slice quilt, I saved the scraps and used them along with a few other scraps to improvisationally piece blocks.    

Time with Granddaughters

   The past few days I have enjoyed watching granddaughters.  They have spent many hours playing with dolls and I have a list of needed outfits to make.

I have found a little time to piece some blocks for a comfort quilt.  More on that later.

I expect to have time today for another sewing lesson with Mattie. She may work on a doll dress or quilt blocks.
*afternoon update*  Mattie sewed all the seams of  doll jacket.  She also used the pattern and cut out the pieces.  I read the pattern and directed her.  She did a great job.  She was scared of the curved seams.

Enjoy some time sewing and quilting.

Beginner Quilters

     Monday evening at JoAnn Fabrics I taught 2 beginner quilters to make the Ohio Star block.
They did a great job on their 1st blocks so I wanted to share.
     Here is Deborah with her block                         and here is Linda with her block.
     

The directions also give them most of the parts for a second block with a slight change in the position of the dark and medium value pieces.

On these cold days it is great to enjoy some time sewing and quilting.

Finishes

     I finished the last FMQ on the bug jar baby quilt and hand sewed the back of the binding Saturday morning while watching “Sewing with Nancy” on TV.

I quilted the Echo Shortcut motif ( learned from Leah Day) in the red made-fabric border, then a simple meander in the green outer border.  

     In the afternoon I quilted a large meander on this adult comfort quilt for guild.  The guild cuts and packages kits which members sew together.  Most adult kits are 5" squares and finish at 60 by 72". I sandwiched and quilted the top another member sewed together.  There are other members who will add the binding. 

   I have a small version of Bonnie Hunter’s “Grand Illusion” Mystery from 2014 sandwiched and ready to be quilted next but it will probably wait a week.  Starting next Thursday I will be substituting for the nanny and taking care of granddaughters for a week. Hopefully Mattie and I will have time for another sewing lesson.

Enjoy a relaxing few minutes to sew, quilt and create.

Progress on Quilting

   I am working on quilting the bug jar quilt for a baby gift.  I meandered the brown background and used a beige and brown variegated thread to free-motion quilt "woodgrain" on the bookshelf  areas.

   I hope I am not quilting too heavily because I want it to still be cuddly.

Hope you find some time to sew or quilt.