A race to the finish

This is the final baby quilt top from that Riley Blake - My Sunshine jelly roll that I ordered from Missouri Star Quilt Co.  Instead of doing stacked coins, I made this one into a race quilt, which had actually been the intention for all three quilts in the beginning.  This one measures 40 inches square.  I think that this one would also make a nice little quilt for a baby girl.  So many tops, so few finished quilts. . .

Stacked Coins in Pink

This little quilt top is made from the same jelly roll as the last quilt top.  (There is a third one yet to come.)  It measures approximately 38 inches x 38 inches and uses 13 jelly roll strips, just like the last one.  I'm not sure yet which baby girl will be getting this quilt once it is finished.  I have two cousins expecting baby girls and there is a new baby girl at our church.  I guess only time will tell.

Stacked Coins baby quilt top

This is my latest project.  I worked on it on Tuesday, but never got around to posting it.  It is a baby quilt that I am making for one of my husband's colleagues whose wife just had a baby.

The quilt top is made from 13 jelly roll strips, for the coins and inner sashing, and half a yard of matching yardage for the border.  I plan to use the blue polka dot fabric for the backing, and the dark green floral (from the border) for the binding.  My intention is to machine quilt in the ditch between each of the coins and between the coins and the sashing.  Then I will probably quilt one or two straight lines around the whole quilt in the border.

Christmas Stocking

Today I made a Christmas stocking for my new daughter-in-law.  I wanted her to have a stocking here at my house so that hopefully she will feel like part of the family.  Her's will be a little different from the guy's stockings, because theirs have white fleece at the top, but I don't think she will mind.  I don't know what happened to my white fleece. . .

Anyway, the stocking is made from poinsettia fabric with a solid green lining.  The top fabric is quilted to the batting.  Then the lining and outside fabrics were sewn together wrong-side out.  Then the whole thing was turned pillowcase style.

Birthday Bag

Today is my mother's birthday, and I made her this bag as a birthday present.  It uses the same basic pattern as the other bags I've made recently, but it doesn't use charm squares.  I wanted this bag to be a little bigger than the bags I made previously, so I cut 6 inch squares to use instead of the charms.  I also cut the strip for the bottom of the bag a little wider, too; it is 9 inches wide instead of 7 inches wide.  When I boxed the bottom of the bag, I came in 2 inches instead of 1.5 inches. 

The only thing that is smaller on this bag is the handles.  My mom wanted them shorter because she says she doesn't carry her purse on her shoulder.  Because of the shorter handles, I moved the handles closer in to the center of the bag.  She also didn't want a closure for the top of the bag, so that was omitted as well.  I hope she enjoys it.

Christmas Chaos

This is the finished quilt from the top featured in this post.  It is made from a Christmas Countdown layer cake.  I machine quilted straight lines across the quilt at 3 inch intervals.  I considered quilting at 3 inch intervals going up and down as well, but decided against it. I also considered machine binding it, but opted to hand turn the binding instead.

This is a picture of the label on the back.  After much agonizing, I decided to name it "Christmas Chaos".  Since the quilt has a random design, I thought that chaos was an appropriate descriptor for it.  Plus, Christmas time is often a chaotic time of year, so it seemed fitting in that regard as well.

Auburn Coasters

This Saturday is the Pike County Habitat for Humanity annual Giant Cookie Sale.  And while these certainly aren't cookies, I plan to donate them to the cookie sale.  (The sale actually includes cookies, candies, cakes, and crafts.) 

I made 8 coasters that measure approximately 4 inches square.  They have Auburn Tiger fabric on top.  The top is quilted to the batting only.  Then they are finished by adding an orange square of fabric for the backing, using a pillow turn technique. Then finally, it is top stitched close to the edge all the way around.

Here they are all packaged up for the sale.  I was thinking I would price them at $5 per set (of 4 coasters), but I'll wait and ask at the drop-off before I actually put a price on them.

Christmas fabric purse

I enjoyed using my fall themed bag so well that I decided to make one out of Christmas fabric.  This one uses the same pattern as the last one, but with a few utilitarian additions.  I added a small pocket inside to keep my chapstick and nail clippers. 

 And I added a D-ring to clip my keys to, so they would be easy to find.

The D-ring is attached to a fabric strip that is then sewn into the seam that attaches the outside of the bag to the lining.  It was added at the same time as the shoulder straps and the top closure.

Square Dance

This little quilt was made to enter in the Iron Quilter 2 competition over at the Missouri Star Quilt Company.  It is made from one Lovely (by RJR fabrics) charm pack with the addition of some some off-white " Basic Gray" fabric from Moda.  The quilt is made completely by machine.  The only exception is that I added the label by hand.  It finished 34 inches square.

I really hadn't intended to enter the Iron Quilter competition and didn't even initially purchase the charm pack when it was the Deal of the Day.  However, when I was ordering some other fabric later, I noticed that they still had the charm packs at the discount price, so I ordered one.  I really had no idea what to do with it that would make a quilt and use all the charms so I just set it aside and figured I wouldn't enter. 

But on Friday I got an email reminding people to enter and I had an epiphany.  I could use the same idea used here in this jelly roll quilt, but use half charms instead.  I headed down to the quilt shop that afternoon, and voila, now I have a finished quilt.  I'm sure it won't win anything, but I really enjoyed making it.  I think it will make a pretty wall hanging for the spring.

Christmas Countdown Throw

Today's project is a throw sized quilt made from a Christmas Countdown layer cake.  I didn't actually have a pattern for it.  I used the same technique from a Turning Twenty quilt, but used 10 inch squares instead of fat quarters.  It makes a block that finishes 9 inches. 

From each 10 inch square, I cut off a 3.5 inch wide strip (3.5" x 10").  Then I rotated the remaining piece 90 degrees and cut off another 3.5 inch strip (3.5" x 6.5").  I was then left with a 6.5 inch square.  I mixed up the pieces and sewed them back together, sewing a 3.5 x 6.5 to a 6.5 inch square, then sewing the 3.5 x 10 inch square to the unit that was formed.  I then trimmed off the excess to make a 9.5 inch square.  I then set the squares together in the same layout as a Turning Twenty.  I didn't measure it, but it should be about 54 inches x 63 inches.

It's not the prettiest quilt top I've ever made, but it may be the fastest.  It went from being a layer cake to being a complete quilt top in about 6 hours.  And that includes several interruptions and lunch.  I'm hoping to machine quilt it and have it finished to use this Christmas season.  I still need to buy backing and binding fabric.  I see a trip to the quilt shop in my future.

Rolling in the Deep Wallhanging

Before I start on this week's project, I figured I should post last week's project.  I actually finished it on Saturday, but just now got around to taking a picture of it.  It follows the same pattern as a Jelly Roll Race quilt, but only uses 13 strips in 16 rows.  I wanted to try out the pattern in a smaller scale before I did it with a whole jelly roll.  I was happy with the result, so I bought a couple of jelly rolls to try it full scale.

The quilt finished about 32 inches square.  It was machine pieced and machine quilted.  The quilting is straight line, in the ditch quilting, all the way across the quilt top.  The only hand work on the quilt was turning the binding.  I considered doing the binding on the machine as well, but I enjoy hand binding, so I did it my normal way. 

I named it "Rolling in the Deep", inspired by the Adele song, because it used jelly roll type strips and it reminded me of the ocean.  It has a much more abstract feel than most of my quilts, but I like the change of pace from the graphic style quilts that I normally do.

Christmas Present Block (November block)

This month's block is a Christmas present block.  It is an enlargement of the block used in this quilt.  It was my month to teach the block, so I went with the one I had just finished.  It is made entirely of fabric from the Holiday Accent line.  It is a really easy block to sew, but can be a little confusing getting it laid out correctly.  I always had to consult the diagram to make sure I had those center squares in the right orientation.  Other than getting it oriented correctly, it is just rectangles and squares with a few flippy corners.  The pattern came from Quiltmaker's Nov/Dec 2008 issue.  The pattern was called "Silk Wrappings."

Sunbonnet Angel (October block)

For our current guild project, we are making a Christmas sampler quilt.  Each guild member teachers a block, and we get a new block each month.  Last month's block was a Christmas Sunbonnet Sue, which could be a plain Sunbonnet Sue in Christmas fabrics, a Sunbonnet Cat, or a Sunbonnet Angel.  I decided to go with the Sunbonnet Angel.  She's not finished yet, but here she is, all ready to be appliqued down.  I don't know if you can see the blue line in the photo or not, but the block will be cut down to a 12 1/2 inch square once the applique is finished.  I'm planning to hand applique it, using a blanket stitch in gold thread.

My First Jelly Rolls

Remember that fabric that I said I had ordered from Missouri Star Quilt Company?  Well, it came in the mail today.  The odd thing is that I don't remember getting an email saying that it shipped.  Oh well, better to get it when I wasn't expecting it than to be waiting for it and it not come.

So anyway, what we have here is a First Ladies jelly roll, a He Still Loves Me jelly roll, and a binding tool.  If I had known that it was coming today, I would have waited until I got it to put the binding on the quilt that I bound today.  That's okay, I'll use it next time. . .hopefully soon!

More Fabric!

I've gone a little crazy buying fabric lately, and I just realized that I forgot to document my latest purchases (from late October).  Again, I ordered some pre-cuts and yardage from Missouri Star.  Those pre-cuts really are addictive and I haven't even used any of them yet!

Below I have a Salt Water layer cake, a Lovely charm pack, and some Holiday Accent yardage. 

The yardage was intended for the borders on the Christmas quilt feature in the previous post, but only the white background holly fabric made it into the final quilt.  I'm not sure yet what I'm gonna do with the pre-cuts.

Then my local quilt shop was having a sale, so I bought even more fabric.  Below I have one Christmas Countdown layer cake, a half yard of green fabric, a fat quarter of novelty fabric, and a remnant of brown fabric.

The green yardage (along with an additional yard purchased later and not photographed) ended up as the outer border to the previously mentioned Christmas quilt.  It will also be the binding once I get to that point.  The novelty FQ is tentatively slated for a frog themed baby quilt I have planned.  The layer cake probably is going to turn into another sofa-sized Christmas quilt, this one using a cutting method similar to a Turning Twenty quilt, except using 10 inch blocks instead of FQs.  The brown fabric is completely uncommitted at the moment.

Oh, and I've order more fabric from Missouri Star, but it hasn't shipped yet.  However, I did manage to skip the Veteran's Day sale at the quilt shop yesterday.  It was a temptation, but I managed to resist.

My border solution

Here is the finished quilt top.  The consensus seemed to be that the green fabric was best for the border.  I think it turned out good and the green fabric really pulled it together.  The finished size of the quilt top is 49.5 x 58.5 inches.  The plan is to bind it with the same green fabric as the border.  Not sure yet what the backing fabric will be.

My Design Dilemma

Yesterday I was finishing up a Christmas quilt that I started working on last week (2 weeks ago?), I forget.  Anyway, at the point when I started working yesterday, I had just 3 blocks left to make.  I decided on the fabric for those last 3 blocks, and got them sewn and the blocks sewn into basic top without borders.  I had already chosen my border fabrics, which I had bought especially for the project.  I cut the strips, sewed them on, and thought I was done.  However, once I looked at the finished top, I wasn't happy with how it looked.  I felt like the focus fabric, the Christmas kittens fabric, looked out of place once the outer border was sewn on.  The picture below shows the original outer border.

I removed the outer border, but left the inner border. 

I was thinking that the outer border was a bit too busy, and that it would look better with a simpler fabric that was closer in color to the green of the focus fabric.  I auditioned some green fabric that I just bought at the quilt shoppe, but I don't think I have enough of it.  Although I'm sure I could go buy more.  But I still wasn't sure.

Then I found some other Christmas fabric that I had that was red and green.  I really like it, and at first I thought I was going to go with it, but now I'm not sure about it either.  I'm afraid it still might be too busy.  I definitely like both of these better than the original black, red and gold holly fabric, though.

What do you think?

Travel Fabric

My husband and I recently traveled to Berkeley, CA for my husband to present a paper at the Western Literature Association's annual conference.  While we were there, we visited a quilt shop - New Pieces Quilt Store and Gallery.  It was a really nice shop with a large selection of fabrics.  The shop staff was also very nice and friendly.  (I know that I drive quilt shop staff everywhere crazy because I wander around the store 3 or 4 times before I even pick anything up, but they are always great about it!)

Above is a picture of the fabric that I bought while I was there.  I bought 1-1/2 yards of the fabric on the left (from Abbey's Garden by Eugene Textiles).  The fabrics on the left I just bought in fat quarters (top - from Serenity by Cheri Strole for Northcott, bottom - from Autumn Bouquet by Denise Urban for Quilting Treasures).  Those were the fabrics that I just kept coming back to as I wandered the store.  They are not for a specific project, and most likely won't get used together, but they are my mementos of fun trip to Berkeley.

Pickles

For several years now, if I make enough cucumbers in my garden, I make homemade pickles.  This year we had a cool, cloudy, and wet summer, and my garden did terribly!  I didn't have any dill pickles left from last year either.  I had bought a jar of dill chips at the store, and I used them, but they just aren't the same as homemade.  Not only is the flavor different, when I went to Walmart, I couldn't find any normal, round, dill pickle chips.  They were either "ovals", which in some cases means sliced the long way instead of the short way on the pickle, or they were spicy.  I didn't want any of that, so I gave up on store bought pickles, and bought cucumbers instead.

Usually Walmart's either doesn't have pickling cucumbers or else the ones they have are all beaten up and shriveled.  But yesterday they actually had several pounds worth and they actually looked good and fresh.  So I bought them and made homemade pickles with them.  They didn't seem to have any wax on them, so hopefully they will turn out good.  The only problem is, with dill pickles they need to sit for a couple weeks before you use them.  So I still won't have usable pickles for a while, but hopefully it will be worth the wait.

Charming Little Bag

This is an adorable little bag that I made today.  From start to finish it took me maybe 5 hours, and that probably includes my lunch break.  I'm sure it could be made even faster than that, but I was stopping periodically to watch the tutorial on YouTube.  The instructions are available here on YouTube.  It is a great tutorial from The Missouri Star Quilt Company.  I've been watching a lot their tutorials lately and I really wanted to try this one.  I had several charm squares left over from a fall themed charm pack that I bought last fall to use in my row swap quilt.

Oddly enough, when I was making my bag, I used more precuts than Jenny did in the tutorial.  She used yardage for the base, lining and handles of the bag, but I used a fat quarter (or what was left of one actually) for the base, the closure, and part of the handles and some extra charm squares for the the other part of the handles.  I only used yardage for the lining.  Jenny's bag didn't have the closure, but she mentioned that you might want to add one, so I did.