I Miss Monday

Baby Boy Quilt

2010-02-08T12:51:00.000-08:00

Oh sweet babies...

My cousin had a boy in October and I'm finally getting around to making a quilt for him.

Though a bit dark, I do really like these two fabrics together.

I made it two sided. In my 'no buy 2010' I made an exception for this fabric. I had to Frankenstein the batting together - I have been using all the bits and scraps and was down to next to nothing.

So I did something I've always promised myself - I ordered batting.

And it makes me giddy:

My very own box of batting - all 40 yards of it...

Fleece

2010-02-01T09:30:00.000-08:00

My favorite fluffy backing for a quilt is fleece. I love not only the softness, but that batting is not required. The fleece has a certain 'grab' to the fabric - though basting is still necessary, it can be done much farther apart. It does have quite a bit of give - it wants to stretch, so I don't tape the it down before basting.

Finished - for Addison's 10th birthday. Just a little late.

She knew it was coming though.

Baby Quilts

2010-01-25T09:00:00.000-08:00

These were put in the mail Tuesday for my mom. She hosted a baby shower for two of her friend's daughters - one had a girl and the other is expecting a boy next month.

I had all the fabric in my stash for this one: Easy-peasy. It was a simple four square. I used a bit bigger border on the top and bottom to achieve a more pleasing length to width ratio. The binding is the same dark pink found in the centers of the flowers.

Just needed two of the blues* - otherwise it was all from my stash. I love the blue and brown together. The creams are three different prints. It quilted wide meandering style and this time I added a bit more border to the with to improve the ratio. Also, the backing for this is the same as the border - blue with white stars.

Both quilts got rave reviews - the baby girl's mom said that her room was painted the same gold (yellow) that was in the quilt. The baby boy's mom said his room was blue and brown. Given I just used (mostly) what I had and only knowing "girl" and "boy", I was pretty pleased with that.

Not only were the new moms pleased as punch with the quilts, the new grandmas loved them as well. That's all I could ask for.

*I am claiming exception to the '2010 no new fabric' rule - Mom bought the quilts from me.

Block Swap

2010-01-18T09:26:00.001-08:00

Awhile back I signed up for a block swap. Every month one (or two) members send fabric out with instructions and we all make a block (or two) and send it back. Simple enough. I've discovered some fabrics I really like and have stretched my ability as well.

January is my month and I decided to send solids. I have a ton (yes, you could nearly weight them) and have wanted an Amish style quilt for awhile.

Here are the solids. With 16 members (including me), every member received two fabrics and a fat quarter of black. I told them think "Old School" - baskets, bow tie, robbing peter to pay paul, monkey wrench, shoo-fly, bear paw... you get the idea. I can't wait to see what these talented quilters come up with!

My belated block for November:

Until next time - Happy sewing!

2010

2010-01-11T08:29:00.000-08:00

Here I sit, surrounded by my mess.

My 2010 goal is to not buy any more fabric.

Except...

1. Projects for pay
2. Specific gifts

I have too many quilt kits that I've put together and projects in various stages of finish.

9x9 - until I think if a better name

2010-01-08T08:25:00.001-08:00

It's been awhile!

Here's my lastest project...

I'm calling it 9x9 for now. This is something I started almost a year ago. High time to finish it.

The squares will be a finished 8". I'm going to use narrow white sashing and a inner white border. I'd like to do some sort of outer border, but not quite sure what that will be.

Until next time - Happy sewing!

More dresses

2009-11-08T19:08:00.000-08:00

More American girl dresses. Seeing as these are for profit, I can't wait to make some for my girls. The pattern also includes pants and top combination. Three down, a couple more to go...

Hey Dolly...

2009-11-07T19:54:00.000-08:00

So yesterday I received an order from back home - 4 american girl sleeping bags, dresses, and some crocheted washclothes. I should have plenty of time to get it done by Christmas, unless something shiny gets in my way.

Here's the first dress - I still have to do the bottom hem, but I managed (I think) to find a couple short cuts for the next time. Like line the bodice in muslin versus the same fabric so you don't sew the skirt on inside-out.

Bit of Binding

2009-11-06T19:22:00.000-08:00

The day kind of got away from me. Not as much sewing as I'd like but I did manage to get a bit of binding sewn

Pillowcase

2009-11-05T18:44:00.000-08:00

I made this pillowcase to match a quilt. These were the scraps:

The pillowcase and quilt were part of a barter: she took amazing pictures of my kids, and I threw together a quick quilt and pillowcase.

Scrapbooking Tote.

2009-11-04T17:27:00.000-08:00

Addison joined a scrapbooking club at school. I made her this tote today to keep her supplies contained: The only purchase was two fat quarters (floral fabric) and some double wide brown pre-fab binding. I was planning a pocket on the outside, but I ran out of time.

Process: I sewed the two fat quarters together with a 6" strip of brown between them. Used scrap batting and more brown for the inside. Laid it flat and stippled with white thread on the floral and brown on the bottom. Cut off 3" from each end (of what would be the top of the bag) for use in the handles. Used narrow pre-fab binding (from my stash) to finish the handles. Folded in half and serged the inside seam for a more finished look. Boxed the corners by an inch. Used the wide binding to finish the opening. Sewed handles on. Took a bit longer than usual, as I made sure it was more square than normal.

Wonky Log Cabin

2009-11-03T20:01:00.001-08:00

Picture 588
Originally uploaded by Gretchen.D

Did this for a block swap. Not as wonky as I was hoping - still working on it! I think part of the problem was two rows of green side by side. I was going for white on one side, green on the other, and a red border, but I very nearly ran out of fabric. Eeks. Hopefully it will be good enough!

Double Wedding Ring - second row

2009-11-02T12:19:00.000-08:00

Today I finished and attached the second row of my double wedding ring quilt. It will be five rows total, so if I continue at this pace (ha ha!), I'll be done this week! Still not sure what I'm going to back or bind it with, but really enjoying the challenge.

Melons for Double Wedding Ring

2009-11-01T19:55:00.000-08:00

The other day I cut the fabric for my double wedding ring quilt. All of the fabric is from my stash. I have never used so many pins, as there is not a single straight line in this quilt.
Rather than do all the corners, all the melons, then all the circles, I'm doing just enough for one row at a time. This gives me a chance to work on my form (scant 1/4" seams!) rather than just plowing through.

So far I really like the result. One of the things discussed in the class is having a bit of 'pop' on the corners - especially with patchwork quilts. Since my arcs aren't pieced, I had a hard time deciding on the colors for the corners. I finally chose a turquoise and brown. With the red, it's not a very traditional choice, but given they're colors I wear together I figured it would be OK for a quilt.

...

November is National Blog Posting Month (or NaBloPoMo) which challengers bloggers to post every day in the month of November. I'm taking it a bit further, and challenging myself to sew, take a picture, and post my progress everyday. Some days may not be much, but some days may be like Monday - a day for sewing.

...

Quilt for my sister - #2

2009-10-26T07:38:00.000-07:00

Another started 15 years ago...
She had about 1/2 of the center done. I decided on the borders and the backing. Again, as with my last quilt for my sister, I only bought the backing and the binding.

Overall, it's another project I'm pleased with.

Quilt for my sister - #1

2009-10-20T07:51:00.000-07:00

Last week was a very busy quilt week! I managed to finish two twin quilts and a crib quilt.

Here's one of three:

Over a year ago my sister found two started quilts in my parents basement. She had started the blocks in college, put them in a bag, and left them in our parents basement for quite a few years. I offered to finish them for her.

Doesn't she do lovely work? She's much better with the fussy bits than I am.

I planned the placement, put it together and quilted it.

The only fabric I bought for this was the pink backing and green binding. Otherwise all the fabric was in the bag. I tried doing a two sided quilt - though the back side is pretty simple, I really like the effect of being able to turn it over.

Also, something else I discovered:

Rather than quilting with the top of the quilt up, I quilted with the bottom. I was using cream thread that nearly disappeared into the top - since I was just stippling it, I found myself running it together more than I wanted. By flipping it over, I could see what I was doing.

4th Grade Musical Costumes

2009-10-12T10:31:00.000-07:00

Have been busy putting together costumes for my 4th grader's musical on Tuesday. I'm hoping to get a picture of all of them together. So far they include a Confederate soldier, Yankee soldier, two Indians, two shields for soldiers, and two prairie style skirts. That will learn me to offer my sewing services! Fortunately, the majority of the fabric came from my stash.

Also, I'm terribly excited to be going to the Sewing and Quilt Expo next weekend! I'm taking a class: Secrets of the Double Wedding Ring. www.sewingexpo.com

Happy Sewing!

Fall Festival

2009-10-07T08:00:00.000-07:00

Pulled this one out of the stash... I'd started it several months ago, but once I got to the quilting, I ran out of steam. It took about an hour more of quilting, and then putting the binding on. Really, I need to be better about finishing projects!

Donated it to the school's fall festival fundraiser. It went in one of the Kindergarten baskets. The squares are 9" finished.

Just so happens the school colors are blue and silver.

Really, I do miss Mondays

2009-10-07T07:52:00.000-07:00

I miss Mondays. Sounds funny, doesn't it? But I do. Last year, throughout the school year, every Monday my friend Kathy and I would get together and sew. More specifically - we'd make quilts. And we'd talk.

After our move from MN to Kansas City, I wondered the best way to stay in contact. We talk and text fairly regularly on the phone. Usually Monday, the conversation starts with, "Do you know where your sewing machine is?" I thought this might be a fun way to supplement our phone and text conversations. After all, isn't part of the fun sharing the finished product?