vacation

Sorry to all my northern dwelling friends, but do you know how nice Florida is in January?

So very nice. It's 80 degrees, sunny, and I spent a good part of the morning sitting by the pool knitting. It feels so good. My husband had to come down for some meetings and the boys and I tagged along. We are headed to Disney World tomorrow afternoon.

Woo-hoo!

quilt-a-long week 11

Welcome to week 11 of the quilt-a-long! I'd like to thank each and every one of you who sent me a note of thanks or encouragement throughout this process. It really means a lot to me. Thank you for letting me know that you have enjoyed it.

for this weeks block:

cut 2 squares 4 7/8" from a dark fabric
cut 1 square 4 1/2" from the same fabric

cut 4 squares 4 1/2" from a medium fabric

cut 2 squares 4 7/8" from the background fabric

use the 4 7/8" squares to make the triangle blocks

layout as shown and sew together

and here is the completed block
it should measure 12.5" at this point

After week 12 is complete, I am going to provide instructions for one way to complete the quilt top. You may follow the instructions I provide or else you can come up with your own layout. I will attempt to walk you through the process of finishing your quilt-basting, quilting and binding.


Then, after all that is complete, I am planning to host another quilt-a-long where we will be making a star quilt. This one will also be 12 weeks long and will involve many triangles. (just a warning) I would like to make the entire quilt top before starting this time, so there may be a few weeks interim before we commence.

As always, thanks for quilting along with me! :)

work in progress

Well, folks, no completed quilt top today. Although there is a poll on the right hand sidebar so you can vote which one I make next, if you would care to help me decide. Anina, I know your vote will be pink, I just don't know about the rest of you. So please, vote away.

This is a rag rug that I am crocheting out of old t-shirts. It's going to be for my kitchen to match these curtains. I love recycling this way. It also helps me clean out my closets. I made one last year for my bathroom and I absolutely love it-it's wearing so well. And it's washable, too. Jessica made a great one here. I have been collecting old t-shirts and have plans for the next two rugs already. I can easily see this becoming an addiction. Like I need another one of those.

yellow

On Sunday, while I was home from church with my sick daughter, I started to sort my fabric scraps by color. I finished sorting yesterday. There are a lot of scraps.

So I thought I would make a series of mono-chromatic quilts.
Yes, I am hardcore.
Yellow was one of the smallest heaps of scraps so I started there. I had a scrap of batting left over that was about a baby size, so that determined the size of this quilt.

I was nervous how it would turn out, as I am with every quilt, but I do like it. I can imagine how pretty it will be when it is washed and dried and all crumply. As of now, just the top is finished.

Just so you know, things aren't all rosy here, even though I've been doing a lot of quilting. My daughter is sick with a bad cold, so she doesn't sleep well. Therefore neither do I. And she is whiny. It's been so stinkin' cold here for a week and it's supposed to be -15 tonight. I haven't been out in a loooooong time. I am going stir crazy. At least this weekend it is supposed to warm up. And we do have plenty of quilts to keep us warm. :)

quilt top crazy

You may have noticed this month I have been making quilt tops like crazy. I can't help it. It goes well with my no fabric buying month.

Here is the latest completed top. Inspired by this flickr group.
This has been a work in progress since June or earlier.
Wouldn't this be a cute pattern to use for a keepsake quilt made from a child's clothing?

quilt-a-long week 10

Welcome to week 10 of the quilt-a-long!

cut 4 squares 4.5" from the background fabric

cut 5 squares 2.5" from a printed fabric

cut 5 squares 2.5" from a contrast fabric
cut 5 rectangles 2.5" x 4.5" from the same contrast fabric

layout as shown

sew together with a 1/4" seam allowance

and your block is done.

It should measure 12.5" square.

I think this is my favorite block so far.
What is your favorite block?

I hope you all are enjoying this as much as I am.
As always, thanks for quilting along with me!

bartering + thoughts on quilting

I've mentioned before that my friend Heather has become a quilter. (yay!)

She has been making fabulous quilt tops like crazy. Good crazy. And since she is going to be watching my girl for several days when we go on an upcoming trip, I am going to quilt some of her quilts in exchange.

These are the first two that I am working on...coordinating ones for her boys. Aren't they gorgeous?!?

While working on these this weekend, I was thinking about the quilting process (not to be confused with piecing, which is putting the quilt top together) and how much I really enjoy it now. I used to dread it so very much. I can't even tell you how much. I would get cold sores while quilting. (yes, I take it very seriously-I'm pretty high strung.) All that pressure because quilting really does make the quilt. I have several quilts out there in the world that have tremendous puckers in the back. So I have to say that I was startled to realize that I do enjoy the process now. I am glad that I have stuck with doing the quilting myself, overcoming the HUGE learning curve until I have finally improved enough to have some confidence in my quilting abilities. Hurray for perseverance + improvement. And the best part? It didn't take me until I turned 80 to accomplish this, which was my projected time frame. :)

Since I get so many questions from readers asking for quilting tips, I would like to add that the things that helped me improve the most would have to be changing my basting method, a decent sewing machine and lots and lots and LOTS of practice.

tomorrow...week 10 of the quilt a long. yipee!

quilt top for my boy

For some reason I decided to try not to buy any new fabric in January.
I just about broke down and bought some about half of the days this month so far. Seriously. I am weak.

But now that this month is half over (already) I am determined to make it through. I could make several quilt tops from my scrap bucket alone. And then several more from my stash.

The quilt top shown above is made up of all scraps, excluding the white borders, which I had in my stash. It is going to be for my little guy whose birthday is in February. He informed me that he would like a new quilt for when he turns 5, because then he will be too big for his current quilt. I couldn't deny that request, even though it is completely untrue. :)

combating blogger guilt

I received a lot of fabulous (blogger) mail lately and for some reason I have a hard time posting it on my blog. Don't get me wrong, I am extremely grateful to each person who sends me a package and I love the contents, but for some reason when it comes time to blog about it, I hesitate. We all know how much I like bragging, so I don't know where this issue stems from. :) It must come down to the fact I have a hard time expressing my gratitude in words. The guilt that I have been feeling about this finally got to me, so here is all my gratitude wrapped up in one post.

My thanks goes out to each of these extremely generous and talented ladies.

Lera

Carolyn

Roxanne



Anina

Linda

Veronica (no blog)

Kristen

Amy Jo

Thank you to my real life friends and to the friends that I have never met.

quilt-a-long week 9

Folks, we have made it to week 9 in our quilt-a-long, can you believe it?

I chose another fairly easy block for this week.
And it's only 2 colors, just for you, Amy Jo. :)

cut 2 squares 4 7/8" from the colored fabric
cut 4 rectangles 2.5" x 4.5" from the colored fabric

cut 2 squares 4 7/8" from the background fabric
cut 1 square 4.5" from the background fabric
cut 4 rectangles 2.5" x 4.5" from the background fabric

use the 4 7/8" squares to make triangles
(use the same method as shown in the previous blocks)

layout as shown

sew together

and your block is complete

it should measure 12.5" at this point

any questions will be answered in the comments, as always.

ragged squares quilt top

is done!

It was a challenge because I was working outside my normal color palette. I ended up editing out the peach because it just wasn't working for me. I like how it turned out.

I will be gone from the blog for a few days. My father in law's wake is tonight, the funeral is tomorrow. My mother in law turns 70 on Sunday and my husband's birthday is on Monday. I think I will be posting week 9 of the quilt a long on Tuesday. I'm tired just thinking of it all.

Hope you all have a great weekend.

a quilt for Spot

Spot came to live at our house last September. He is well loved, and he needed his own little quilt, so my sweet boy and I worked on making one together.
We designed it together and he even got to help with the sewing. I guided the fabric, he pressed the foot pedal. That is very exciting stuff for a little guy. There was lots and lots of stick-your-tongue-out concentration going on...it was adorable. My sewing machine will sew 1500 stitches per minute - luckily he didn't find that out. :)

Anyway, I finished hand stitching the binding last night, so he could see it before he went to school this morning. He told me that he really likes it a lot, the only thing he didn't care for is the fact that you really can't see the star quilted in the center of it so well.

My son had definite ideas for this quilt-right down to the quilting. Normally, I am not the most patient person when it comes to crafting with kids (terrible, I know), but it was very enjoyable to work on this project with him.

ragged squares

I started a new quilt project yesterday.

It's really out of my comfort zone, as far as colors are concerned, but I am enjoying the challenge.

What I did was take 3 squares (cut 9", 6" and 3"), layered them all on top of each other and sewed around the edges of the smaller two squares with about a quarter inch seam. The edges will fray over time. I did not cut out the backs of the squares (to reduce bulk) because I think I will like the thickness that the multiple layers of fabric will add. Once it is quilted and washed the texture will be fabulous. I got the idea from a sample in a quilt shop that was done in katie jump rope fabrics. It was gorgeous.

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On a side note, it is roxanne's birthday today, so if you have a minute, go wish her a happy birthday!

spectrum quilt

I finished the top of my spectrum quilt.*
I didn't expect it to be a king size.
what I was thinking?!?

*no new fabric was purchased for the making of this quilt.
all pieces were from my stash or my scrap bucket.

quilt-a-long week 8

Thank you all so much for your condolences and prayers for our family during this difficult time. We are doing as good as can be expected and are so thankful for each and everyone who took time to leave a comment.
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Here is the block for week 8. Again, I tried to keep it fairly simple. Do you find as you make more blocks that they are going together easier?


cut 2 squares 4 7/8" from the background fabric
cut 2 squares 4 7/8" from the colored fabric

cut 10 squares 2.5" from the background fabric
cut 10 squares 2.5" from the colored fabric

sew your 4 7/8" squares together to make 4 sets of triangles

layout as shown

sew together using a 1/4" seam allowance

and you have another completed block.

As always, any questions will be answered in the comments.

Just out of curiosity, how many of you are caught up?