Fat Quarter Shop Mystery Designer BOM #7

Holy cow am I late with this one!  This is the seventh block from Fat Quarter Shop's Mystery Designer of the Month BOM.  It's December 29...although I did finish the block on the 26th, that's still a lot later than my usual 15th or 16 of the month.  

This block is by Sandy Gervais (of Pieces From My Heart), and is called "Moonlight Serenade".  I absolutely love that she only chose three prints from the line.  This block is simple and very elegant looking to me.

This was the first block that when I finished, was actually the 12 1/2" size that it was supposed to be, with reasonably straight edges.  Only seven months, but I'm improving for sure!

I am working on a Holiday in London Duffle Bag now for my daughter.  I can't WAIT to show you pictures of that when it's finished.

Nite Owl Quilting Christmas Tree Skirt - It's a Christmas Miracle!

It's a Christmas miracle!! I finished the tree skirt BEFORE Christmas!  I bought this pattern months and months ago, when my aunt gave me an older fat quarter set of Chloe's Christmas from Red Rooster Fabrics.  The pattern is the Hexagon Tree Skirt by Nite Owl Quilting.

The pattern uses 6 fat quarters and a lot of solid (back, sashing and binding).  I spent a lot of time making sure that the green, red and whites alternated and I liked the way the fabrics laid next to each other.  Here is my finished skirt!

My sashing came out well, and the binding looks nice and smooth on the straight sides...

But, my OH MY, my center binding is just a mess.  The back actually looks much smoother and flatter than the front.  I tried, I swear I tried to make it neat, but this is what I came out with...not impressive at all.  If you have a tutorial for round edge (concave) binding...I would LOVE to see it!

My corner seams looked very nice, and aligned, until the last one...then, well, they sort of not so aligned.  This shape was much more difficult than it looked!

This is the back, where the quilting shows better.  Nice and simple.  This I managed to do ok.  It was a lot of binding though, for what felt like not a very big tree skirt.

My final thought, now that the skirt is at the base of our tree...The hole is only large enough for the actual tree trunk.  Not anything close to the monster of a tree stand that we have the tree in.  The pattern suggested that you either put ties on the back seam, or hooks and eyes.  I made put on ties, because the hooks and eyes would just make the whole thing too tight.

Overall, I love the way my skirt came out.  And let's be honest...I'm giving myself crazy bonus points for finishing BEFORE Christmas.  I do think the pattern is for at the least and intermediate quilter.  The sewing was easy...the shaped sashing and binding...not so much.

Upcycled Sweater Baby Blanket

A friend of mine at work is having a baby.  Yes, it's the same one I made the Seven Seas quilt for.  But every baby needs a stroller blanket right??

I made this from repurposed sweaters, both wool and cashmere.  I added some vintage trims for texture.  And this time, I added some basic quilting, stitch-in-the-ditch style, so that it would hold it's shape when it got washed.

What's your favorite baby gift to make?

Fat Quarter Shop Mystery BOM #6 - 1st Half Recap

It arrived on Thursday.  The Fat Quarter Shop Designer Mystery BOM, block number 6.  I've said it before, and I'll say it again.  There is something about these blocks that makes me HAVE to cut it out and sew it up within a few days.  I actually finished the block yesterday but didn't have time to take my bad photo and post it.

This block is called "Town Square" and is designed by Kate Spain.  It's the third block where you have to cut one of the fabrics two different ways to make the block come out correctly.  I'm seeing blocks quite differently now that I know about this.

Because this is block 6 of 12, I thought I would put them together so far to get an idea of what the variety of blocks looks like.  

I think my favorite so far is block three.  Which one is your favorite?

New Place to Find my Patterns! YouCanMakeThis.com

I have some great news to share!  My patterns are now available for download at YouCanMakeThis.com!

Jane Dandy - a quilt made from repurposed sheets

And Jim Dandy - my favorite re-purposed project ever...a quilt made from pre-loved denim jeans.

I'm thrilled that there are so many places you can find my first two patterns.  I'm looking forward to seeing what you make with them!

New! Cloth Napkins made from Vintage Christmas Tablecloths

The last set of Christmas cloth napkins I had in my Etsy shop sold last week.  I happened to have two other vintage tablecloths that had seen better days, so I made some more napkins!  Both sets are available in my Etsy Shop.

The poinsettia ones are large, 15" square, and there are four of them.

The candle, garland ones are 12" and there are SIX of those!

Making these is like therapy for me.  I get to make something new out of something that might otherwise never see the light of day again.  It was a great way to start thinking about the holidays!

Finished Apple Cobbler Baby Quilt

Just thought I would share pics of the quilted and bound Apple Cobbler baby quilt.  It was sent off to PA on Monday to meet baby Hensley.

I did simple straight line machine quilting on my machine, and I'm really pleased with the finished look.  Again, I used organic fabric, which was a bit stiff, but washed up to make a nice wrinkled look.