Retro Rubies

When I first saw Alyssa's Retro Ruby quilt and the announcement for a quilt-a-long, I knew I was going to participate!   I like the quilt....love piecing some curves....and I wanted to try out some of the new In The Beginning solids we got in at Pink Chalk.   This is the bundle I chose:

 I can never have enough blue!  

The blocks are very straight forward. Only two curves to sew.  They sewed up fast....love that!!!

Four blocks make one "flower" shape.  This is them together without the sashing between.  I'll be adding that once all my blocks are done and arranged how I want them.   I'm making the wall hanging size so I only need to make 20 more.  You might actually get to see the finished top before too long..........if I don't get distracted by another "have to make it" quilt.  LOL!   

Mitered Baby Blanket

I sewed a quick baby blanket for my best friends daughter who is due with her first baby any day now!

I used cotton voile on the front and flannel on the back.  The voile makes it silky and a bit more lightweight.

See this perfectly mitered corner?  I followed the directions from this site. It seems like its not gonna work but if you follow the directions carefully you'll surprise yourself with how easy it is. 

I also crocheted her a blanket but completely forgot to take a picture.  I'll have to ask her to snap one for me once the baby is born.  :)

Round and Round

I first saw this Round and Round block on Kristy's blog Quiet Play and loved it!!!    Once we got the pattern in at work, I bought it....went home and cut out one blocks worth and started sewing.  The pattern calls for charms squares so I used this pack of Happy Tones.

I had tons of Kona White in my stash so used that with the charms.   The block sewed up pretty fast.  And its huge!  23 inches to be exact.   :)

I'm going to make this block into a pillow.  Then I'm going to make another one with a different background and turn it into a baby quilt.   More on that when I get it done.   

April Modern Block and the Finale

Yesterday was the last class of our year long Modern Block class.  We introduced students to 21 blocks, many techniques and the modern quilt movement.   I can't believe its April already and its now over.

This is the final block - "House on a Hill".  It was the introduction to raw edge applique.

I ended up using this block as my label for the quilt.  I wrote the particulars in the space under the house.  

I decided to make up two different settings for my 21 blocks and make a two sided quilt. 

This is what I came up with for one side:

And this is the second side - my favorite setting!

I used Kona Navy for my background and used up some scraps for the binding.  I had a local machine quilter, Shelly Nolte, quilt it for me with an all over pattern.  I used a wool batt which gives it a bit more loft than normal.  I really love it.   

Past Bitty Blocks

I haven't posted pictures of my last groups of Bitty blocks that I swapped!  It's about time.  

Snow People was the theme for January.  I made the gal in the bikini in the upper left corner. Miss Sassy Pants!   My favorite of this group is the one with the bird on his nose.  

February's theme was Monsters.   I had so much fun making mine.....he's in the upper left corner.  Mine is my favorite of this group.  :)     My grand sons loved looking at these.  Each time I pulled one out they'd say "I want that one"!    I got out the crayons and paper and had them color their own!  So cute.  

International Quilting Day

Today is International Quilting Day and SewCalGal is hosting a virtual Sew-cial.  We are suppose to share our sewing day.  I have my 8 year old grand son over for the day and he wanted to finish the I Spy quilt he started the last time he was over by himself.    That means I can combine many things I love -- loving on a grand kid, teaching and quilting!

Here he is from the last visit with his squares on the design wall and sewing rows together.

 

We used a fleece blanket for the back and no batting. I sewed it together like a pillow and turned it.  Then we machine quilted over the seam lines in a wavy pattern.  Here he is learning some of the machine quilting.

Good hand placement!  :)

Look Mom...I'm doing it myself!   

All done!!!!   

I'm sure he is as proud of himself as I am of him!

Working with kids takes a lot of patience and a lot of letting go.  My theory is develop the love of something and excellence comes after.  

Hope your day is full of fun sewing.

Get A Clue with Nancy Drew

What a fun week its been seeing so many wonderful projects on the Nancy Drew blog hop and today is my day to share!   I got an idea for my project the very day Madame Samm announced the hop.  Being the procrastinator that I am I waited till this week to make it!  Ha, ha, ha.  

Every good detective needs a journal to write in when they are snooping!

I love to make journal covers. Lately I've been having fun with quilt-as-you-go kinds.  

I like to not over think when I make them.  Just grab a piece of fabric and sew it down.....sew my quilting lines without marking or measuring....eyeball it, baby, eyeball!  :)   Its pretty freeing, actually.

This is the back.   Do you notice the sunshine?  I got lucky and was able to photograph when the sun decided to make a rare Northwest appearance.  

An inside peek.

Two days ago I decided I could whip out another project and use up some more fabric I bought.  My cute little journal cover certainly didn't dent the layer cake I bought.  I decided I wanted a tote bag.  I know you've seen tons already but I *had* to have one!  

Side one:

Side two:

That's it!  Thanks for taking the time to stop by.  

Thanks to Madame Samm and Carol for such a fun blog hop.

Be sure to visit the rest of the last day crew:

Friday, March 15, 2013 

Little Mushroom Cap

Why-Knot-Kwilt

Daisy Days 

Julia P. at That Other Blog

The Day Before This Day

Sew Far

 Rainbows. Bunnies. Cupcakes.

Les passions de Cliodana

That’s Sew Julie (moved from 3/8)

Sew We Quilt

Stargazing block fun

First a little back story.  One of our students, Dorothy, in the Modern Block class is a hand sewer and applique Queen.  Piecing on the machine is often a challenge for her.  And she LOVES little things.  She has often made her blocks smaller than 12 inches.  

While another student, Elizabeth, was making the smallest star in Stargazing (its 3 inches) last month, she commented on how she would never want to make anything smaller.  

This is Elizabeth's "Stargazing" block:

Dorothy said sure, why not? I could go smaller.  We all knew she was serious and could do it!

Here is Dorothy's "Stargazing" block version.  Its only 8 inches and those two tiny stars are 1.5 inches!

Elizabeth then decided to go the opposite direction and she made a large version:

This was made with a layer cake. She used the same piecing process as the block pattern. I didn't measure it but the middle of that big star is a 9.5 inches. I'm pretty sure the smaller ones are 6 inches each.

  It was great to see these two ladies have fun playing with the block.  This is what I love about teaching!!!

March Modern Blocks

Wow!  We're almost done with this year long adventure of making blocks from the Modern Blocks book.  One month to go!   

March class was about revisiting our earliest skills learned.

This block is called "Envy" and was about partial seams again.  

This block is called "Mondrian" and was about precision piecing - lots of seams.

I didn't take student pics this time as I plan to do so next month during our final class.  But I did get some pics of last months block "Stargazing" that I will share in another post.  Two students had fun with it and you'll enjoy seeing what they did.  :)

Tote bag finished

I finished the embroidery I was doing and this is what it was for.  Its the pocket on a tote bag I made for a swap.  I used Kathy Macks "Winslow Market Tote" pattern.  I've made this bag before and it goes together so nicely.  My partner wanted her tote to be floppy so I didn't add any interfacing to it. 

Turned out cute.  I'm pretty sure my partner will like it.....hope I'm right!   :)

Embroidery

I'm doing some more stitching for a tote bag I'm making for a swap.  I had so much fun with the hedgehog pattern by Penguin & Fish that I decided to do their fox pattern.  I enlarged it a bit to fit the pocket dimensions of the tote.   Aren't those fox fabrics yummy?  It's from the Timber & Leaf line by Sarah Watts.  They aren't my usual bright rainbow colors but I love them.    :)

Back to my stitching.

January & February Modern Blocks

I forgot  to post pictures of my blocks for the class I co-teach using the Modern Blocks book.  So its two months worth again!

January's class focus was half square triangles. 

This is called "Diamond Ripples"....lots of practice here as there are 36 bias squares in this block!  I do love the scrappy look.  I only changed the bottom left hand corner.

This one is called "Front and Center".    

Our students didn't have any trouble with either of these blocks.

February was an introduction to wonky stars.   These were fun blocks to make.  Most of the students did ok with the technique and enjoyed it.  

This is called "Stargazing".  I loved making this block.  I even made another for a comfort quilt being made for an online friend.   I made no changes.

This one is called "Three Wishes".  The pattern calls for a little star in very center but I chose just to leave it plain.  I loved the long wonky points in the frame of  the block.  I'd like to do that with a whole quilts worth of blocks!

We only have two months left and then we're done.  Can't believe our year is almost done.  I will make my final blocks on retreat next week.  I already have my favorites picked out for a top and will piece that at retreat also.  

More pics to come!

P.S.  Quilted Strait (where we teach) wrote a nice blog post on our class that some of our students blocks.  Take a peek.  :)

Hedgie Pouch

I just finished my pouch for the current round of the Pretty Little Pouch Swap.  

This is one side:

Isn't that hedgehog adorable?  I love him!   I used the Penguin & Fish pattern for the embroidery that I got here.  I love the instant gratification of downloadable patterns.   I stitched with Perle cotton onto Kona Essex Linen.  More love!    I used Elizabeth Hartman's "Perfect Zip Bag" pattern...also a downloadable and also bought from Pink Chalk.

Here's the other side:

Did a wee bit of paper piecing and some fussy cutting.

My partners inspiration mosaic was all aqua's and red's.....and she said she liked polka dots.......she should like the fabric choices.  :)

I'm mailing it off tomorrow.  Can't wait to hear what she thinks of it.  

My only Christmas sewing

I only sewed one gift this year and it was for my adorable grand daughter:

  My daughter in law, Faith, snapped this pic of her when she had her "pretties" on!  She likes to take my ear rings off and "wear" them herself. 

I made her a pillow to cuddle with:

The fabrics and doll panel are all from Riley Blake designs.  I used their Lolly Dolly pillow tutorial with a few modifications.  One change was that I put a zipper in the back so the cover could be used on a pillow form rather than stuffed.  

Zippers are so easy to put in a pillow and being able to take the cover off to wash it is a good thing!

Christmas morning was a frenzy this year and I barely had time to snap any pictures.  Luckily my daughter did get one of Heidi with the pillow.

Good thing I reinforced the legs and arms with extra stitching!  I knew they'd get a workout.

I'm currently re-organizing my studio and purging my fabric.  Its taking so long cuz every piece of fabric has a story attached and its hard to let go....at least for me.  Time to get back to it.

10 minute gift

My co-worker Diana showed us how to make these easy key fobs that take about 10 minutes - no joke! Nice idea for a quick gift this Christmas season. 

 You need cotton webbing and ribbon (Pink Chalk carries really fun ribbons) like these:

Mine were cut 10 inches in length.  I sewed the ribbon onto the webbing along each side.

Fold in half and stuff the unfinished ends into some key fob hardware - I got a bunch on Amazon.  

I used pliers to squeeze the hardware shut.  I suggest covering it with some fabric or you'll get a little dent like I did.  See it below?  I think they make specialty pliers for this very purpose but I didn't have any.  

That's it!   Don't ya just love fast gifts?!!!

Fall Bitty Blocks

Here are the Bitty Blocks from October when the theme was Fall/Thanksgiving.

Lots of cute ones.  I made the one with the rake in it.  

I decided to sit out November and December so I could concentrate on holiday sewing....and I am missing some fantastic bitties being made!!!!!

October & November Modern Blocks

I keep forgetting to post about the latest Modern Block class blocks.   

Octobers class focus was on paper piecing.  One method was on paper, the other on freezer paper.  It was a challenging class and no "love" was had for paper piecing!  That's what this class is all about - exposure!   :)

This one I already showed on the Dot blog hop.  Called "Blue Specs". It was paper pieced on Carol Doak paper (ripped off easier than copy paper).  I altered the pattern a bit by making the glasses frame narrower. And by enlarging only to 195% (rather than 200% as the pattern calls fro) to fit on a single piece of paper in my printer.

This one is called "Free Wheeling" and was pieced onto freezer paper.  I liked how the freezer paper holds the fabric down but it tears a bit harder so you have to be really careful of your stitches.

For November our focus was on piecing half rectangle triangles and isosceles triangles.  My favorite method is to use the Tri-Rec tool so this is how we taught it....skipping the paper templates.  The gals enjoyed these blocks.

This is called "Box Kite".   It is all half rectangle triangles.  

And this is called "Diamond Triptych" and has two half rectangle triangles sewn to either side of an isosceles triangle. 

I made it again in my alternate fabrics and pieced it differently.  I sewed all isosceles triangles with the half  rectangle triangles only on the ends.  I like it this way better because there is no seam line between the background fabric.  Looks cleaner.

That's it.  Now I'm all caught up showing my Modern Blocks.  We don't have class in December so will be back with more in January.  :)

Fab Little Pincushion

This is the pincushion I made for the Fab Little Pincushion swap and oh how I love it!!!   It's ok to adore your own stuff, right?    :)

I made it for Carol of Mamacjt.   I was peeking at her Flickr favorites and spied an embroidered sampler made in a grid and knew that was what I wanted do.  I loved trying out new stitches in the tiny squares (an inch).  Carol loves rainbow colors just like me so that was a joy too.  She loves it, thankfully!  I ended up being sick a lot so having handwork to do while laying around on the couch was nice.   

I got a great pincushion & extra goodies from Staci:

Staci used a pattern called  "Deep Dish Pincushion".  I had never seen it before.  She also made an adorable needle book with pockets inside for scissors and needles.  

This is one of my favorite swaps and I can't wait for the next round -- hopefully after the holidays!