Halloween Heads quilt

My working title for this quilt is Halloween Heads because the focus is obviously Halloween related heads or faces, and head alliterates.  It is made with an Eerie jellyroll from Basic Grey fabrics.  I had to add some yardage in order to get grunge fabric for all the faces and for the background fabric.  Everything is cut from 2-1/2 inch strips though.

The back of the quilt is going to be yardage (not cut into 2-1/2 strips) and the remainder of the 2-1/2 inch strips cut into 10-1/2 inch pieces and stacked.  It will be 3 columns of yardage and 2 columns of strips.  I'll post of picture of it once it's finished, but I had to order the yardage for it.  I'm happy I could find any to order since the fabric line is 4 years old!

Mischievous Wife - Section 7

Today I did my assignment for my Moda class that is due August 15th.  This is section 7.  We had previously skipped over section 7 and are now coming back to it.  Mine, as usual, is much simpler than everyone else's.  Theirs had more blocks and a couple of partial seams.  Mine was just 2 blocks and no partial seams.  Still very happy with my choice to do my own thing here.  Also still looking forward to being finished with the project.

Spiders and Webs quilt

Today I finished making this quilt top.  It is made from a tutorial at Moda Bake Shop called Spiders and Webs.  I didn't follow the "recipe" exactly though.  The original quilt was designed using a jelly roll of Trick-or-Treat by Deb Strain, and the directions given are specific to the strips found in that jelly roll.  That made it a little tricky to translate into different fabric simply because it says things like "Separate the orange candy corn to the side for the binding." but doesn't tell you how many strips that actually was.  She then says to sew the remaining strips together into sets of four and "You will have several lovely rectangles!!"  Again, only helpful if you have an actual number.  She did say how many triangles you needed to cut, so I was able to figure it out, but it was more work than it should have been to follow a pattern.

I had originally purchased a jelly roll of similarly colored fabrics to use to make the quilt, but I decided that I wanted mine to be less scrappy than a jelly roll quilt.  I decided to use the jelly roll for a different quilt and I bought yardage and cut my own 2.5 inch strips for this quilt.  I also cut my borders an inch wider than the original.  Other than that, the quilt it pretty much the same.

The other way that I varied from the "recipe" was that I bought a Creative Grids 60 degree triangle ruler/template to cut my triangles (She explained how to cut them with your 60 degree mark on your straight ruler).  I really liked using the template.  This was my first equilateral triangle quilt and I was a little nervous about sewing it together.  But having the blunted corner on the template made it so much easier.  I used it to trim all three corners on the triangles and it made lining up the pieces a breeze.  In fact, I'm already planning another equilateral triangle to quilt so that I can use it again.

I really had a lot of fun making this quilt.  It's actually the first project that I've genuinely enjoyed working on in a long time.  And I'm probably irrationally happy about how it turned out, but I really do like it a lot.

Jack-o-lantern block

I've been working on designing a Halloween quilt that will use a jelly roll that I've had for several years now.  The plan is to include a jack-o-lantern, a ghost, and a monster/ghoul thing.  I designed this jack-o-lantern block (the one on top) and pieced a sample to try out the design.  I like the way that it turned out, but the piecing is a little tricky to make the points at the bottom of the mouth line up properly. 

In the bottom picture I just covered up the bottom points to see how it would look without them.  I really think it looks fine without them and it would be MUCH easier to piece, so I think I will probably use the bottom design in the actual quilt. 

I'm not sure what I'm going to do with this practice block.  For now it goes in the orphan block pile.

Mystery quilt - Block #7

Here are my latest two blocks for our guild mystery quilt.  I like the block on the left the best, but I like them both.  Originally I had a lighter fabric in the center of the block on the right, but it looked out of place.  I think it looks better this way.

Two Fabric Bargello quilt

I've been wanting to make a two fabric bargello quilt ever since I first saw one on Pinterest and I finally got the opportunity.  My local quilt shop got in some really nice ombre fabrics, and even though I'm not really supposed to be starting new projects from new fabrics, I bought some. 

But in an effort to keep it from being yet another UFO, I plowed straight ahead and made the quilt top.  My intention is to drop it off to be quilted this month.  I still need to buy backing fabric first.  I considered buying some when I bought the fabric for the top, but I wasn't 100% sure how much I  needed because I hadn't finalized my design yet. 

While there is a pattern available for purchase online - designed by Susie Weaver - I wanted to figure out how to do it on my own and make my own design.  (It is really similar to her Lightning Bolt layout, but not exactly the same.)  I figured it out on paper first.  Then I decided that I didn't want my strips to be quite as small as I originally figured.  Then I redesigned it on the computer. 

Here are my strips all cut, laid out, and ready to sew.  It's amazing how much width you lose by sewing it together.  (Of course, I allowed for that, but it's still amazing to see the difference.)  It's also interesting to see how different it looks with the borders added. 

You may also notice in the picture above that I carefully numbered all of my strips.  I didn't remove any of the numbers until the center was completely sewn together.  Also, to keep it from going wonky, I sewed the strips together in alternate directions.  First I sewed together pairs, sewing from top to bottom.  Then I sewed the pairs together from bottom to top.  It came out really smooth and straight that way.

Mischievous Wife quilt - Sections 3 & 4

This month our instructions were to do both section 3 & 4 of the Gypsy Wife quilt.  Obviously, I'm not doing Gypsy Wife but I still did both sections 3 & 4.  There are only 3 more sections left to be done - sections 1, 2, and 7.  I'm looking forward to getting finished with this one too.  But I know I'm glad that I didn't actually do the Gypsy Wife quilt.  I'd be totally hating life at this point if I had.

Mystery quilt - Block #6

I missed my last quilt guild meeting, but I still got the directions for the next set of blocks.  Again, it is a fairly simple and straight-forward traditional block.  I'm pretty happy with how they turned out.  I'm still really looking forward to this project being over, though. I believe we have 4 more sets of directions yet to come.  I hope it looks nice when it's finished. 

Dragonfly Carnival

This is the other quilt that I finished binding on our New Jersey trip.  I finished this one on the drive home (June 15).  It is made from fabric that I bought on our last summer trip to New Jersey.  The fabric line is called Dance of the Dragonflies, and the main motif is, of course, dragonflies.

I also had trouble coming up with a name for this one.  Clearly I haven't been too inspired in the naming department lately.  I asked my son and my husband for help in the naming process.  My son said that the colors of the quilt made him think of Mardi Gras.  I decided to go with Dragonfly Carnival, since Mardi Gras is the culmination of Carnival season.

Dream Baby

I do a lot of hand sewing, specifically turning quilt binding, when my husband and I take long car trips (defined as an hour or longer).  We recent drove to New Jersey and back to visit his mother, so I had plenty of time to finish up some projects.  I finished the binding on this quilt on the way up to New Jersey (June 6th).

I had trouble coming up with a name for this one.  It is a baby quilt made from the Happy Flappers fabric line.  The most prominent motifs in the fabric are flowers and owls.  At first my instinct was to go with something owl-related for the name - something with Hoot or Who in it.  But I decided to go with a much more subtle reference. 

I often name quilts after songs, so I started looking at songs recorded by Hootie and the Blowfish.  I considered "Not even the Trees", which is a Hootie and the Blowfish original, but decided against it in favor of "Dream Baby".  It's originally a Roy Orbison song, but Hootie and the Blowfish covered it on their Scattered, Smothered, and Covered album, so in my book it counts.  Plus, for a baby quilt, I thought it was appropriate.

Mystery Quilt - Block 5

These are my two quilt blocks for the guild mystery quilt for this month.  I won't actually be able to attend the meeting next week, but at least I have the blocks finished! 

I'll be happy when the whole project is finished.  I'm really starting to wish that I had used this fat quarter bundle for a different project.  I think part of the problem is that I'm getting tired to working in monochrome on a year-long project.  Or maybe I'm just tired of year-long projects. . .

Watercolor Bluebird

I decided to try again with my watercolor paints.  I am a lot happier with the results this time.  It's still far from perfect, of course, but I think I'm getting more of a feel for the process.  My favorite part of the painting is actually the branch and the feet.

Inside the Greenhouse

Today I attached the label to last year's Moda project quilt.  I'm calling it "Inside the Greenhouse".  The original quilt had a greenhouse in the center, but I decided  not to make the whole quilt.  I decided that mine was just the plants, in pots, waiting in the greenhouse to be planted.  And, of course, the cat knocked over one of the plants.  What else would she do. . .

And speaking of cats, it seems like the best way to get the attention of cats, shy of giving them food, is to lay a quilt on the floor to try to take a picture of it. 

I thought one was asleep and I had no idea where the other one was until I laid the quilt on the floor.  Then they both showed up before I could even pull out my phone and take a picture.  Thus the transition to the wall-based photo above.  LOL!

Quilting in Watercolor

Over the weekend I decided to try my hand at some watercolor painting again.  I wanted to combine quilting with painting, so I drew a Storm at Sea block for the background and then put a silhouette of sailboat in the foreground.

I think it turned out okay for a first attempt of this type.  I was definitely too heavy handed with the paint.  I'm still learning what to do and not to do with watercolor paints, but practice is how you learn, right?

Crazy Ann block - Mischievous Wife quilt

Today I worked on my next "section" of the Mischievous Wife quilt.  This is section 5, but it only consists of one block.  I was actually excited to work on it, because I had to do half-rectangle triangles. 

I had to figure out how to make the half-rectangle triangles using the rectangles that I had already cut at 2-1/2 x 4-1/2 inches.  I'm not sure what my plan was when I cut the fabric.  I might have been planning to use the Recs Tool that I have from EZ quilting, but I kinda doubt it, because it seems like I would have told myself to cut a strip instead of individual rectangles.  I really don't know what I was thinking or if I had a plan at that point. 

The method that I used worked out really well.  It was a little more work than using the Recs Tool, but it was very accurate.  I measured in 1/4 inch from the left side and bottom and marked it with a dot on the wrong side of the fabric.  Then I did the same on the top right.  I drew a line to connect the dots.  Then I cut 1/4 inch from the line to the right of the line.  I did this with the purple rectangles and the white rectangles.  Then I matched a purple and a white, right sides together, and used pins to match the dots.  I sewed them together with 1/4 inch seams and then when I opened them out, they were perfect.  I only had to trim off the dogears. 

I'm really happy with how the block turned out.  It is more accurate than the Nurse's Cross block that I did last time.

Polka Dot fabric

Today I bought some fabric for the first time in a while.  But I'm still sticking with my goals for this year, because this fabric will be the backing for my Scrappy Hearts baby quilt.  I also picked up a quilt from the long-armer today and dropped another one off to be quilted.  I think that still has me at 14 unquilted tops because I found one from last year that wasn't in the original 18.  It's the one I dropped off today to be quilted.

Nurse's Cross - Mischievous Wife section 6

If you're familiar with the Gypsy Wife quilt - the quilt my Mischievous Wife quilt is a simplification of - then you know that section 6 is the biggest section in the quilt.  Not so much for my quilt.  My "Section 6" is only this one block.  When I divided mine into sections, I tried keep the same focus blocks in the same sections as the original quilt.  As it turned out, the only focus block I used from the original Section 6 was the Nurse's Cross and it was placed in the quilt in an area where the sections are only 12 inches.  Therefore it is a section unto itself.

I don't actually have the pattern for the gypsy wife, so I don't know how the author intends for you to make the Nurse's Cross block.  I found it to be a challenging block to figure out.  The center involved some piecing with rectangles, triangles, and a center square that were then trimmed down into a square.  (It was supposed to trim to 6-1/2 inches, but I guess my seams were a little big so it was only 6-1/4 to 6-3/8, but it worked out okay.  I should have cut my patches bigger since I was trimming it down anyway.)  I then added the yellow triangles.  Then I paper pieced the corners with the red and orange rectangles, and then attached them to the rest of the block.

It took me 2-1/2 hours to sew the one 12 inch (finished) block.  I had already pre-cut all of the pieces so there was only trimming down of sewn units in terms of cutting.  I can't say that I enjoyed it.  I really don't care that much for paper piecing, and I wish I had cut my patches a bit larger in areas where I was going to be paper piecing or where I was going to be trimming down the sewn unit.  But at least it is finished and I like the way the finished block looks.

Bandana Dress

On Friday, my husband and I were babysitting our one year old granddaughter while my son and daughter-in-law went out to dinner and to the movies.  While we had her, she had a total diaper blow-out - shirt, pants, high-chair, nothing was spared.  When I went to change her, I realized that the diaper bag they left with us had a spare pair of pants, but no clean shirt. 

It was a warm day and all, but we were planning to go for a stroll after dinner and I didn't want her out without some kind of shirt on.  I scoured the house for something to use and came across an old bandana that I was planning to donate.  I quickly made a make-shift bandana top for her to wear. It was really a little too small, had raw edges at the arm holes, and used cut-away selvage strips for the drawstrings - nothing to keep or use going forward.  Although she is extremely adorable wearing it.

But that really gave me the fever to make her a little bandana dress.  Something that would be cute and usable for real.  So today I went to Wal-Mart and bought 2 matching bandanas and some coordinating ribbon and made her a real bandana dress.  She loves dogs so I thought the paws and bones print was perfect for her.  I figure we can keep it here at our house for emergencies.  Bandana dresses are extremely versatile in terms of size.  As she gets bigger it just becomes a shorter dress or a blouse.  In fact, I tried it on and I can wear it as a blouse - I'd want it a little bigger if it were for me, but she can definitely use it for years to come if the necessity arises.

Heartline pillowcase

This is a pillowcase I made a several days ago, I forget when exactly, and I forgot to take a picture of it.  It is made from leftover fabric from the Heartlines quilt.  Once I get the quilt back from the quilt shop, where it is currently serving as the shop sample for the Heart Strings pattern, I will keep it in the pillowcase.  If I give the quilt away, I will give the pillowcase with it.

2018 Goals Update - 4 months in

Since my last update on my goals in late January, I have still stayed pretty well on track.

As for getting existing quilt tops quilted, I have completely finished 2 quilts from the original 18 unquilted tops.  I have 2 more that are quilted but the binding isn't done yet; and I have one quilt that is currently with the long arm quilter to be quilted.  So that brings me to 14 unquilted tops - definitely moving in the right directions here.

I have not started any new quilt tops since my last update.  However, I'm thinking that I need to treat myself to something new soon, because I'm getting a bit tired of working only on binding and year-long projects.  I did, however, make a pillowcase from fabric that I had left over from one of the quilts I finished.

The only fabric that I have bought since my update in January was some more batik fabrics for my 2018 Moda project (Mischievous Wife quilt) and backing for my guild project (2018 Mystery quilt).

All-in-all I'd say I'm doing pretty good on my goals this year.  Definitely better than in years past.

Mystery quilt - blocks #4

Today I finished my blocks for this month for quilt guild.  This is our 4th set of instructions toward our mystery quilt.  This month the blocks were simple to construct, in theory.  It was all half-square triangles.  The problem came in with keeping the angles going in the correct direction.  I did good - no seam ripping this time!

Lemon Lavender quilt

Today I finished sewing the label onto this quilt.  I finished the binding back on April 4th, but I was in a hurry to move onto the Heart Strings quilt so I put off labeling this one.  I actually finished the quilt top back in September 2013, so I figured a few more weeks of waiting for a label wouldn't hurt, right?

It was machine quilted at the Front Porch Quilt Shoppe in Ozark with an all-over daisy pantograph.

I decided to name this one Lemon Lavender after one of my favorite Yankee Candle scents.  I still have no idea what I'm going to do with the quilt.

Heart Strings quilt

I finished the quilt for my newest pattern.  The pattern is called "Heart Strings" and it is available for sale at the Front Porch Quilt Shoppe in Ozark, AL.  I will probably be adding it as PDF download in my Etsy store soon as well. 

The finished quilt measures 64 inches by 70 inches.  The original here is made in Surrounded by Love fabric, an older line from Moda fabrics.  It is machine pieced and machine quilted.  The name for the quilt itself is "Heartlines" (because I always like to give individual quilts a name that is different from the name of pattern).  Using one of my common naming conventions, it is named after a song by Florence + the Machine.

Section 8 of Mischievous Wife quilt

Today I finished up what I need to have done for my next Moda group meeting.  Since my quilt is different from everyone else's, I try to at least show the same blocks as was in the original assignment.  I tried to group my sections so as to include the assigned blocks, but sometimes it just didn't work out that way.  So this month I have my section that includes the star block, plus the heart block as an extra.  The heart block will ultimately be in the center of the quilt, but I wanted to sew it and show it with section 8.

Section 9 - Mischievous Wife quilt

Here is my latest progress on my Mischievous Wife quilt (aka a simplified version of the Gypsy Wife quilt).  I'm really glad that I didn't have to do the actual section 9 of the Gypsy Wife for this meeting.  I totally wouldn't have had the time.  I just did get this one finished and it's due on Wednesday.  Yard work and babysitting my adorable granddaughter have limited my sewing time this month.

Mystery Blocks #3

I'm a little ahead of the game on my guild blocks this month.  I had to present the blocks because our normal teacher (the one who actually knows what the finished quilt will look like) wasn't able to be at the meeting.  Since I already had the pieces cut out and partially assembled for one block, I went ahead and finished it.  I decided to do the other one too, while I was in that gear.  So here are my blocks that aren't actually due until April.  Go me!

Mystery Blocks #2

Here are my two newest blocks for our guild mystery quilt.  I really don't like them as much as last month's blocks.  I don't know if it is my fabric choices or the block design itself, but to me they are just sorta blah.  Oh well, at least they are done.

Black & Gray Pot Holder

This is one of my UFO for this year.  The pieces are pretty small and I originally intended it to be more of an artsy piece, but then I really wasn't feeling it as art, so I made it into a pot holder.  It has both regular batting and insulated batting.  It is machine quilted in-the-ditch-ish around each of the little hourglass blocks.

Lots of little pieces, carefully sewn together to form a light to dark fade, now something to set hot dishes on.  Oh well, at least it is finished!

Mischievous Wife quilt - part one

This year my Moda quilt group at the quilt shoppe is doing the "Gypsy Wife" quilt.  I don't particularly like the Gypsy Wife quilt.  It's not really my style and it looks extremely complicated - lots of small pieces, partial seams, confusing directions, etc.  So, I decided that I'm not doing the Gypsy Wife, I'm doing the Mischievous Wife.  She's not as free and uninhibited as a gypsy, but she's still a little mischievous. 

I used nine of the focus blocks from the Gypsy Wife, and made them all 12 inches.  I used several of the filler blocks and made them either 4 inches or 6 inches.  All of my strips are 2 inches wide (finished) so that I can use jelly roll strips, and none of the placement requires partial seaming.  The focus blocks are in a symmetrical layout, but the filler blocks add some asymmetry and mischief. 

The group is doing one section of the quilt at a time.  The first assignment was Section 10.  I divided my quilt into 10 section, coordinating them to the sections of Gypsy Wife based on the focus blocks used in each section, as much as possible.

My plan for the quilt is to use all batiks.  The stripes alternate between white and light pastels.  The filler blocks are a shade darker.  Then the focus blocks are the darkest, brightest fabrics.

Mountain Sunset

This is my delectable mountains quilt from one of our guild projects last year.  I used a split complimentary color scheme - blue with shades of orange, red and yellow.  I was going for a look of mountains at sunset.  I had it machine quilted at Front Porch Quilt Shoppe in an all-over swirl pattern to somewhat mimic a wind motif.  I think it makes for a really striking quilt.

First two blocks - Guild Mystery Quilt 2018

This year in my quilt guild we are doing a mystery quilt.  Each month we will get directions for a block.  We are then supposed to make two blocks in that same pattern but with different fabrics in each.  These are my first two blocks.

Chubby Charmer

I finished this bag today.  It is made from a pattern called Chubby Charmer by Penny Sturges of Quilts Illustrated.  The pattern calls for 48 charm squares and 1-1/2 yards of fabric for the handles, lining, and pockets.  The charm pack is Mill Book Series c. 1852, one of Moda's Collections for a Cause (purchased in 2014).  I also used 1/2 a yard of fabric from that same line (purchased at the same time) for the handles and to cut some extra charm squares.  And I used some yardage from my stash for the lining and pockets.

Now I will have a bag that is large enough to carry a quilt in that isn't a reusable Walmart shopping bag.  I got teased about that recently.  This one is big enough to carry a 9x13 casserole dish in the bottom.  It says so right on the pattern!  The bottom is 9x18.

Goals for 2018

This year my sewing goals are more general than specific.  I want to try to focus on finishing things I've already started and using what I already have. 

So here are the goals spelled out:

1. Finish the year with fewer unquilted quilt tops than I started the year with (I started with 18, oops, make that 19, I just found another one). Updated 5/15/18)
2. If I start new projects, use fabrics that I already have on hand.
3. If I buy new fabric, it should be to finish an existing project or complete a project I've previously designed.

So far, I'm basically on track, but it is still early.  For my Moda project, I'm using a charm pack and a jelly roll that I already had.  For my guild project, I'm using a fat quarter bundle that I already had.

I've made a quilt top from a design I made last year and from a jelly roll I already had. And I made a bag from a charm pack I already had and fabric from my stash.

The new fabric I've bought so far was backing for the previously mentioned quilt top, and background fabric to go with a fat quarter bundle that I already had to make my guild project quilt.

And although I have made another quilt top since the first of the year, I've dropped 2 off to be quilted, so that more than balances out.

2017 in Review

Looking back at my sewing projects from last year, I found that I was a bit busier than the year before.  I finished 6 quilts, made 4 bags, 2 pillowcases, 2 pot holders, 2 matching place mats, 1 cat toy, and several cloth wipes (for my granddaughter).  That makes for 17 completed projects.  Not too bad.

I also completed 9 quilt tops that didn't get finished.  At least a couple of them I plan to quilt myself, but I haven't gotten around to it yet.  One I know I plan to have quilted, but I haven't bought backing yet.  And one of them is quilted, but not yet bound.

It seems like the UFOs are starting to pile up a bit again.  I guess I should get to work on that this year.  But I also have several designs that I've dreamed up that I haven't made yet, so those are calling to me, too.  Somehow piecing almost always wins out over finishing. . .

Hearts and Stripes

This is my newest creation.  I just finished the quilt top this morning.  I designed it myself and I am calling the pattern Hearts and Stripes.  Not too creative a name, I know, but it's accurately descriptive.  It uses one "Surrounded by Love" jelly roll (purchased in 2017) and some yardage for the background and borders.  It finishes 64 inches by 70 inches.

I like the way that the vertical stripes in the hearts bisect the horizontal stripes in the rest of the quilt. 

Christmas Joy

This will be the last quilt that I finish this year.  I'm calling it "Christmas Joy".  It was a gift for my 8 month old granddaughter.  I machine quilted it myself.  I hope that someday she will enjoy having a Christmas quilt from her Grandmommy.  I know she will grow out of it size-wise, but it could be wall-hanging later on if she wants.  I haven't decided if I'm going to make getting a Christmas quilt into a tradition or not.  We'll see what next year brings.

Blue Lagoon

I actually finished binding this quilt the day before Thanksgiving, but I got so busy that I forgot to post it or even take a picture of it.  I gave it to my youngest son for Christmas.  It was going to be a "housewarming" gift for his new apartment, but since it was so close to Christmas I just decided to wait.  I named it "Blue Lagoon" after the fabric line that the 2-1/2 inch strips came from.

My cat, Dusty, is photo-bombing the picture.

Little Quilt for my Cats

I have two cats.  One is solid gray and the other is a black tortie.  They both like to camouflage themselves in matching blankets and covers.  Earlier this year I had my black and gray fabrics out in a heap on the loveseat in my sewing room.  The cats LOVED to get on the pile of fabric and nap, so I decided to use some of those fabrics and make a quilt for them.  I thought a simple 'puss in the corner' block repeated would make a good cat quilt.

They have an old shipping box that they like to lay in like a cat bed, so I'm going to drape this in the box.  It might make the box a little more comfy for them, and it should definitely make it look less like I just have an old Amazon box sitting around on the floor for no reason.  Hopefully it will be a win-win situation.

2017 Moda Project - Finished Quilt Top

So this year our Moda group decided to the Quilter's Patch quilt as our project.  I did a few blocks and decided that I didn't really like it that much, hated making the blocks, and didn't want to finish the quilt as patterned.  So I came up with my own design to use the blocks that I had made, and made a few more that I liked to go with them.  This is the finished top.  The original quilt had a greenhouse in the center, so I am calling mine "Inside the Greenhouse".  It is approximately 42 x 50 inches.

A New Purse for Camryn

My youngest son (who is 20 years old, btw) told my that his girlfriend said that she needed a new a purse.  I was wanting to make something for her, so I volunteered to make one for her. As far as I know it will be a surprise for her.  Her favorite color is green and she wears a lot of dark colors.  My son says that she will love it.  I hope so. 

New Cat toy

I made this cat toy a few months ago out of some scraps of left over quilted material.  You know, the edge that gets quilted by the long-armer that is just backing and batting.  I sewed it into a tube and stuffed it with plastic Walmart bags.  It took Cleopatra a while to warm up to it (as is the case with a lot of cat toys), but now she pounces on it, grabs it, and kicks it like crazy, which is exactly what I intended her do with it.

Autumn flowers

This year I signed up for the Flower Guild at my church.  That is the group that arranges the flowers that are on the altar.  I had never really learned to arrange flowers, but I have always wanted to learn. My friend Harriett said that the Flower Guild really needed some more people and she would teach me.  We arranged the flowers together several times and now it is time for me to start doing it on my own.  My first time will be in mid-November, so I am doing a little practicing at home.  I really like how these turned out.

Butterfly blocks for Moda

Our blocks for this month were butterfly blocks.  I didn't really like the butterfly block that was in the book, so I decided to make my own.  There are 8 inch blocks, just like the ones in the book, but they look very different.  These are the last blocks I plan to make for the quilt before I start assembling the quilt top.  Almost done with this quilt that I wish I had never started.  Hurray!

Scrappy Heart Quilt

This is a quilt top I made using some of the left over fabric from last year's Moda quilt.  I had an idea for a quilt made from a jelly roll that involves stripes and hearts.  I wanted to try out the heart block first on some scrap fabric before I started on the actual project with my jelly roll.  The project will use all of the jelly roll strips so there is really no room for trial and error there.  This isn't the same pattern as the hearts and stripes quilt, but it uses the same heart block.  Because, you know, once I had made the trial run heart block, I had to use it in something.

"Baby Blocks" Christmas Star

Here is the finished quilt top from the previous post.  I made a slightly narrower border than what the pattern called for, because it fit the width of my fabric better.  I didn't want seams in my border and the border fabric I was using was not 42-1/2 inches wide, it was only 41 inches (not including selvages).

The quilt top is 40-1/2 inches square.  Plus it will fit better onto the backing fabric as well.  I will still have a problem if I decide to have it long arm quilted, but I will probably quilt it myself, either on my regular machine or by hand.  I'm still deciding on that part.

Scrappy pot holder

I needed something to work on today, so I made this scrappy little pot holder.  It is made from cut-away corners on my Moda quilt from last year.

I saved a lot of cut off corners from that quilt.  I'm not sure what all I will end up doing with the rest of them.

Christmas Baby Quilt

I decided to make a Christmas quilt for my baby granddaughter for her first Christmas.  I saw the "Baby Blocks" quilt in the most recent issue of BLOCK magazine, from Missouri Star Quilt Company, and decided to give it a try. 

My problem with the pattern, as it is presented in both the magazine and the tutorial, is that the directions that they give don't actually produce the quilt that they show in the pictures.  The instructions say to use 4 jellyroll (2-1/2 inch) strips of fabrics to make one single strip set.  Cut 16 2-1/2 inch strips from the strip set and use them to create the four blocks that make up the center of the star.  The pictures used in the magazine and on the tutorial use way more than just 4 fabrics in the center.  That makes for a different look in the finished quilt. 

I decided to make the quilt following the actual directions given.  I used two red fabrics and two green fabrics to make the strip set, alternating the red and green in the strip set.  The pictures below show the basic options I came up with for the center of the star using the blocks that one strip set would actually create.  (I am sure there are a few others that I didn't think of.)

 Four blocks with green corners oriented toward the center.

 Four blocks with each block oriented in the same direction.

Four blocks with the red corners oriented toward the center.

I like the look of the red corners oriented toward the center, so that is the layout that I decided to go with.  I am still working on getting it sewn together, and it still needs a border, but I thought I would share these layouts in case anyone else was interested in what it would look like actually following the directions.