City Weekend Square Dance - Waiting for Cora

This is my very favorite reason to sew.  Two of my very dear friends are welcoming their first grandchild in the next few weeks, and I couldn't wait to make the baby a quilt.  

I used Oliver & S City Weekend.  It was a fat quarter bundle that I got a few years ago at QuiltMarket and have been hoarding away for just such a special occasion.

My husband doesn't like the quilts hung up on our fence, but I love it.  It's just the right height for baby size quilts.

Front view

Blue for the sky, yellow for the sun, green for the grass.

Big striped backing

Adorable birds from Hideaway by Lauren + Jessi Jung

I have to say I am one of those who loves hand binding.  It's very relaxing but it also builds up the excitement, as you know you're getting closer and closer to another finish.

Blue Kaffe Fasset Aboriginal Dot for the binding

Here are some of the other Square Dance versions that I've done.  I have two others that I never took pictures of before I gifted them away.

Sock Monkeys

Seven Seas Organic

Forest Friends in Flannel

Custom Tote Bag - Pattern Adapted from "Easy to Make Totes with Zippers"

My cousin asked me to make her a bag last year.  Yes, last year.  I knew exactly the pattern I'd use, she got the fabric right away, and here it is April and I've just finished it.

She needed a tote bag for work, that would carry "a lot of stuff".  She showed me the bag she was using and I knew I could give her a huge improvement.

She chose black fabric with a wavy grey pattern.  Good choice for work, should wear well and not show too much dirt.

Custom Tote Bag for my Cousin

 I had made a similar bag from this book once before.  It's a fantastic book, Easy to Make Totes with Zippers by Cindy Taylor Oates, from 2003 I think.  The directions are clear and just detailed enough with drawings for anything that's hard to describe.  I'm 99% sure I got the book on Ebay super cheap.

Pattern Book for Totes with Zippers

 The pattern I adapted was the one on the lower right, that shows multi-colored stripes and webbing straps.  Yikes.  So I took the final measurements I needed and just made a single piece and quilted it in diamonds.  And I made her 2" wide straps so that they wouldn't dig into her shoulder.

The striped one at the bottom is the pattern I used.

My favorite part of this pattern is the recessed zipper.  It's actually really easy to put in if you measure everything carefully.  When you put the placket onto the bag, there's about 10 layers to sew through, so I did break a few needles, and had to turn the wheel by hand, but that's a common occurrence with me and making bags...either I'm too rough, or the machine is too cranky...or both.

This is the recessed zipper

I'm so happy with the result and my cousin will most definitely be more comfortable (and chic!) carrying her work in this.

Finished Bag with Extra Long & Wide Handles

T-Shirt Quilt number 2, back from the dead

Wow is that scary.  Months and months go by and I barely pick my head up to look around and see what I’m missing.  But we had an awesome summer, with some really fun vacations, and I have been sewing, just not taking pictures of my work or taking any time to reflect on it.

This t-shirt quilt that I made for my son was the second one I made.  I made one for a customer earlier this year, and my son loved it so much he immediately made a pile of his old shirts for me to make him one.  Like with SO many other projects, I had it all cut out and the top sewn in less than a week.  I did it all while we were at the Cape in June.  

20 of his old favorites

Flash forward to last week and I was just putting the binding on.  But look, he loves it, and I’m already working on one for my husband.

(photo approved by new quilt owner)

I use Pellon 101 woven fusible interfacing to firm up the t-shirts.  It’s time consuming, but the body of the quilt is nicer, and it’s thin enough that it doesn’t take away from the awesomely soft t-shirt feel of the finished product.

This shows the back - one of the first fabrics I ever bought

I’ll probably make one for myself out of my race t-shirts.  I never wear them, and I won’t feel so lazy resting under a quilt made of shirts I had to RUN to earn!

Swimming in my own ScrappyTripAlong Lane

It was only seven weeks ago...but it feels like so much longer than that.  I started my Scrappy Trip Along quilt  and did my first post in mid-January.  I started it on a whim on Sunday...when for whatever reason, I thought "what the heck, I've only got 4 million other things I'm supposed to be doing". 

But here it is, early March, and my top is done.  I did a nice, manageable 16 block version.  Not the amazing, giant 32 block ones I see in the Flickr group.  With this project, as with the rest of my life these days, I am working VERY hard at swimming in my own lane.  Competing with no one.  Comparing myself to no one.  Setting my own goals, and then going after them.

It's worked well for me so far.  I've finished tons of sewing already this year.  Stuff that I wanted to sew.  Stuff that makes me happy when I look at it.  The other huge benefit from moving through life this way, is that I tend to get much less stressed out, and actually enjoy what I'm doing.

Of course, even after all of my crazy moving and re-arranging of squares, now that I see it put together there are spots I would change.  I love it, though.  In all of it's scrappy imperfection.  Just like me.

Apple Cobbler Pattern Review - another baby quilt

I'm getting them done as fast as I can...these babies...they just keep coming.  And coming EARLY.

This is Apple Cobbler, by Carlene Westberg Designs.  I got the pattern as a PDF download, from Fat Quarter Shop.  The fabric I used was a fat quarter bundle of Safari Sweet by Alysssa Thomas (Penquin & Fish).  This is from Clothworks' Organic Elements line.  

One side note...I do find the organic fabrics a bit stiffer to sew with, but they wash just beautifully and come out very soft.  Funny, it seems if I wash it first, then sew on it, it's still pretty stiff...but the end result is always soft, and I'm pleased with it.

The pattern was super simple.  You cut three size rectangles from fat quarters.  My only beef was that it said "works well with large and small scale prints".  I didn't really think about the fact that I had stripes, and that they may need to get cut in two different directions out of the fat quarter.  It would have been nice if that was noted, but that having been said, I think the mix and match of the stripe directions actually looks really cute.

I also quilted and bound my second Square Dance quilt.  I used a cotton from the same line, and an orange houndstooth (Denyse Schmidt) for the binding.  I am over the moon with the results.  This may become my go-to baby quilt pattern.

I love the brightness of the blue for the back, and blue and orange are one of my favorite color combinations.

Look at all those critters!  Dragonflies, ladybugs, turtles, salamanders...just perfect for little eyes to focus on.

Next up is a big reveal for me...I have been working on these two projects for over a year.  It will be a big exciting day for me, and I can't wait to share it with you all.

Flannel Meadow Friends Square Dance Baby Quilt

I've never made the same quilt pattern twice.  But I was so very happy with the Seven Seas Square Dance quilt that I decided to make another one.  The whole process was much quicker this time, and I think my total sewing time for the whole top was maybe 2 1/2 hours.

I used flannel Meadow Friends by Deb Strain.  When I bought this I really felt like it was gender neutral.  I decided to leave the pinks out, because the baby this is for is arriving in November, and I thought it would look fall-ish.  Now I'm wondering...is it to masculine?  I love the orange and white.  What do you think??

There are all of these adorable frogs and dragonflies, that you can only see up close.  There were some prints in the cotton line that I didn't get in my flannel bundle, but I'm using one of the cottons with a lot of the creatures for the backing.

I have to say that it is SO encouraging to be able to put together a quilt top so quickly now.  Our side fence is my favorite picture location for quilts.

Off the Rail Top Finished! JayBird Pattern Review

I realized I never posted pictures of my finished Off the Rail quilt top. I know I showed you all pictures along the way as I cut and made the blocks. I am super happy with how the finished top looks. The sad part is that I have no idea when I will actually get to quilt it. I move so quickly onto the next project my "to quilt" pile is getting pretty tall.

Julie of JayBird Quilts makes absolutely fantastic patterns. Her directions are clear, and the pictures make it so that you see exactly how things are supposed to come together.

This however, did not stop me from getting some of the blocks sewn together backwards. Honestly, I cannot fathom how I did this...if you look at these two blocks, you can see they are headed in opposite directions. That's not how it's supposed to be. I did the blocks in groups of 5, and at least one of the groups, I managed to put the first set of rails on the wrong side of the center block and get them backwards. Can you say "duh"?

Thankfully though, I absolutely LOVE how it looks finished. This will for sure be a keeper when I do manage to quilt it. I originally was afraid of how the pink and orange would look together (along with green and brown). All that doubt is out the window now that it's together.

Slow and Steady Wins the Race

My grandmother used to tell me that all the time. Don't worry about how fast you're getting something done, just keep working. Which is what I did this week. I didn't get a lot of sewing done, but I did manage to finish up all of my Off The Rail blocks, and they're ready to put into rows. I chose a few of my favorites...the colors of this line really speak to me. I can't wait to see the top all put together.

I really love this honeycomb pattern, it's so much more fun than a plain polka dot.

I'm finishing up my second tutorial this week! I can't wait to share it with you all. It's upcycled project, and uses an old sweater to make a little girl's purse. Come back next week and take a look!

Quick Project to Soothe my Ego

After my Cosmo Bag tragedy, I needed a quick, "easy" project to soothe my ego. I've had this book for some time now, and decided to try to use things from my stash to make a quick, smaller sized quilt.



It's interesting, you'd think that if all the quilts were made with strips, they'd all be pretty easy and not have tons of cutting, but that's just not the case. There are a few pretty complicated ones, so I went with this amended sort of rail fence pattern.



Like I mentioned in my last post, I decided to use a "design roll" that I got of Kaffe Fassett fabrics. Thankfully, even though it was just 28 Strips, that was ok, because this book is about getting TWO quilts from one 40 strip jelly roll. PHEW! I tell ya', if I started another project and messed it up right out of the box, there would be some serious, sailor-like cursing going on.


I haven't sewn the rows together yet, but these are the blocks.



It's gonna be LOUD and sort of crazy quilt looking with all of these colors. I can't wait to get the rows done and see how they look.

WELCOME 2012 - Tula Pink "Field Study"

Happy New Year everyone! I've had a wonderful 10 days off from work and it's going to be tough to get back into the swing of things tomorrow.

I am thrilled that I can start the year off with a blog post of a FINISHED UFO so soon. Both of the kids had friends over today so I got time by myself to sew and finish up this quilt top.

It's Tula Pink's Field Study pattern.

A few quick observations...I actually seem to cut smaller pieces much more exactly than I do large pieces. These blocks are 12 1/2" and my squares were not so square.

The pattern was well written, clear, and I LOVE that it's color on glossy paper. I'm rough with patterns and this will last well, and I will certainly be able to use it again. It went together quickly, when I actually WORKED on it.

(Clearly, one of my goals for 2012 needs to be improved picture taking!!)


This is the first quilt that I made entirely from my own stash. It was actually really satisfying to buy the pattern and "shop" on my shelves for what I was looking for.



I also am hopeful that this size quilt will be good practice for my very so-so quilting skills. I'll be sure to post when it's all made up. I truly love how it came out, so I'm motivated to get it done.

Do you make up entire tops from your stash?

Starry Night BOM done?? It's been a YEAR already???

It's hard to believe. A year has gone by, right before my very eyes. How do I know? I bought and finished my 12th block for the Starry Night BOM quilt I started forever ago.

Here is my 12th block, and I can see a huge difference between my first and my 12th. Both my sewing skills and my quilting skills have come a long, long way in the last year.











Here are the only filler blocks I've managed to make. 2 of 13. Ouch. But I have started to cut for them, and I do think they will go quickly because I can do them "assembly line" style. Yet another technique I've learned this year.













I think the next one is my favorite block, and it was the 3rd one we made. I really love the diamond placement.





This is the photo that they gave us when we started. I'm really looking forward to getting mine all together because I think it will look so much better. The colors are so much brighter in real life.



Which one is your favorite?