using it all

It's no secret that I find great satisfaction in using up all my scraps. It's rather addictive, really. But hey...there are far worse problems I could have. :)

I've been turning these batting scraps

into a nice pile of squares

that were coupled with a bunch of O-L-D charm packs

and some more charm packs

to make these blocks.

I'm taking a stab at making (my first ever) rag quilt. It was that or make about 200 coasters. Ha! 

I ran out of coordinating charm packs, so I raided the stash and filled in as needed. I'm hoping I haven't gotten too carried away with my color scheme. I guess I'll find out in a day or two. :)

Happy Monday to you!

flock quilt

This quilt has made my 8 year old son very, very happy. He has been waiting an awfully long time for it to be completed. I started this quilt because I wrote a tutorial for the flock block for Quiltivate and I just loved it, so I made enough blocks to make an entire quilt top. The blocks themselves only made a quilt 48" square, so I added a few pieced borders to make it larger. I love the traditionally pieced blocks (pinwheels included) mixed with the improvisationally pieced string borders. I also LOVE the color scheme so very much.

It finishes at about 60", and it's almost square. ;) It's a great lap size for my little guy.

I used Fairfield 80/20 batting, which has more loft than my normal warm and white batting. The extra loft threw me for a loop, so I had to rip stitches (less than a bobbin's worth), rebaste (oh, it was painful!) and then quilt again. It was worth it, because I was able to quilt it without puckers the second time around. Phew!

This is the first time I attempted machine binding both sides on a quilt this size. I was still quilting it after supper, but I had it done-binding and all-by bedtime. Woo-hoo! What a quick result! I really like the look of the top stitching on the front. It looks so finished and tidy...at least in most places.

I attached the binding on to the back of the quilt, then top stitched it on the front. I began by pinning the binding on 2 sides. I pricked my fingers way too many times, so on the final two sides I just folded the binding over as I went, without pins, and it worked about as well. It was much less painful! I did pin each corner, though, because I didn't want to mess those up. I'm pleased with my first attempt at this technique!

I was planning on binding this with Kona charcoal, but my boy picked out this little bird fabric for binding instead. I think it's a far better choice. It ties all the colors of the front and the back together. I like how it adds a bit of fun and whimsy to the quilt.

I couldn't choose just one perfect backing, so I went with a pieced back instead.

 

The roosters are so fun, I just couldn't pass them up. (How handy that they tie in with the name of the quilt!!!) The green is a Nicey Jane print and I patched in the grey section because I'm frugal. :)

I was telling some friends last night that if I knew how much I would love this quilt I don't know if I would have promised it to my son. I'm such a great mama, huh? No, really, I'm glad it's his and that he loves it so much.

winners

The winners of the Sweet Remembrance stacks are:

Cami

Obsession With Online Tutorials

Ettabug

Please email me your mailing info so I can send out your free fabric to you.

Thanks to everyone who played along!

fabric giveaway

The fine folks at Connecting Threads saw my post awhile back, and as a thank you sent me some of their Essential PRO Thread. I was shocked that they had seen my post, and even further amazed that they sent me some thread as a thank you. What a pleasant surprise! They also sent me some fabric to pass along to my readers. I have 3 stacks (similar to a layer cake) of Sweet Remembrance fabric to give away. So you know the drill, if you would like to win a stack, leave me a comment here. I'll pick 3 separate winners sometime next week.

Happy Friday!

cuteness

 I made myself a new little pincushion the other day. I absolutely LOVE it!

It's made with a pieced back....

and itty bitty scraps. Not a bit of those precious bliss dots gets thrown out at my house!

Pattern can be found in this book.
When I make something this cute, why do I have to urge to make 100? or 1000?

modern basics winner

The winner of Amy's Modern Basics book is Christy.
Christy, please send me your info so we can get the book to you!
Thanks to everyone for playing along.

movin' on up

I'm happy to share with you February's stash quilt pattern. Just in the nick of time!

The layout is much different than what I had anticipated when I first started this quilt. That happens sometimes, and that's ok. I really like this happy little accident!

Materials:

12  10" squares...either use layer cake pieces or yardage from your stash. (if you are using yardage, you will need just under a yard of fabric) I used 12 different prints.

1 1/4 yards background fabric (white, in my case)

1/3 yard binding

1 1/2 yards backing fabric

37" x 49" batting or larger

Cutting:

Cut the background fabric into 16 2.5" x wof (width of fabric) strips.

If using yardage for the colors, cut 12 10" squares.

Assembly:

Follow the instructions here to assemble the 12 blocks.

Then, cut each block into quarters. Each piece will be 6.25" square.

My original layout was going to be this:

It's ok, but it definitely lacked pizazz. Not the vision I had at all.

So, a little rearranging of the blocks....

 

Much, much better!

Here's a better view of how the blocks are layed out.

    

Sew the blocks together into rows.

Sew the rows together to make a quilt top.

Finished quilt top size is 35" x 47".

If you try this pattern, I'd love to see it!

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In other news....Cheryl is here for the week to visit. Woo-hoo! We've been playing fabric already. Imagine that. :)  And she gave this quilt it's great name. Thanks Cheryl!

I plan on picking a winner for Amy's Modern Basics book sometime tomorrow.



Happy Monday to you!

Modern Basics Blog Tour

I'm so happy to be a part of Amy's Modern Basics blog tour today.
Congratulations, Amy, on a beautiful book!

The patterns in this book are straightforward and easy to follow. Perfect for a beginner but fun and flexible for a more advanced quilter. I love the quilt on the cover!

Here are a few more of my favorites:

I also completely LOVED this image in the front of the book. There is something so pleasing about a pretty stack of quilts!

Amy gave us opportunity to ask her some questions, but one and only thing I wanted to ask is:

How on earth did you write a book with kids at home? (It's a good question, don't you think?) ;)

This is the million dollar question! I always tend to work in an assembly line which I think helps. But mostly I stopped and started a LOT! My most productive hours were (and still are), 8-midnight after the kids went to bed. During the day I would prep and cut fabric, and pin pieces so that I could systematically sew, and sew, and sew in the evenings.

My husband and kids were all very supportive and excited for the book, and helped out with extra chores around the house and dinner preparations. While challenging, I think sewing at the kitchen table helped too - I am always right in the middle of the house and all that is happening with the kids, and can quickly get involved as I'm needed.

That said, by the time my deadline rolled around I was very sick with a sinus infection and needed a month to purge all the clutter that had accumulated around the house while I was focused on my quilts and writing the patterns. I've learned that I have to let somethings go around the house in order for other things to get done, just not my kids! I'm okay with that as long as I can get back to it in a timely manner - otherwise the clutter drives me crazy!
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Here's the complete schedule of the blog tour:

Piece N Quilt 2/21/2011

SewCalGal  2/22/2011

Old Red Barn Co 2/23/2011

Terri's Notebook 2/24/2011

Crazy Mom Quilts 2/25/2011

Wild Card Quilts 2/26/2011

BumbleBeans 2/27/2011

Fat Quarter Shop  2/28/2011

One Shabby Chic  3/1/2011

Canton Village Quilt Works 3/2/2011

Diary of a Quilter 3/3/2011

Fat Quarterly 3/4/2011

Amylouwho  3/5/2011

Make sure to stop at any or all of the stops on the blog tour for a chance to win your very own copy of Modern Basics!

Amy will be giving away a copy of her new book to one commenter on this post. Please, only one comment per person. I'll announce the winner sometime next week.

long division

My long division quilt is complete! You can find the tutorial here. This was my first time designing a quilt with a values approach, and I think I will be exploring this method further. It's quite fun!

The backing is something I picked up at my LQS for $1.99/yard on sale. I LOVE getting great deals like that on backings. Or on any fabric, for that matter. :)

I stitched a simple swirl all over in light grey thread. It blended with most fabrics well. That's about all you can ask for, especially in a quilt like this with so many colors and values.

I tried out a new labeling approach. I used a little fusible web to this make it. It's ok, but I think I'm ready to graduate to "real" labels. Labels that someone else makes. Or else the labeling rarely gets done.

And here it is all rolled up. I love that little grey and white bicycle fabric. It's so sweet! In fact, there are so many special fabrics in here...some came from my friends: Amy, Linda, Tara, Terri and Victoria. This is sure to be one of my favorite quilts for a long time to come. And it's all from stash. I think I might go make another. :)

angry bird

I whipped up this angry bird for my little guy that will be turning 8 this week. It was all my brother's idea to make it. Since my brother has been kind enough to shovel my driveway 3 times in the last day (we got 14" of fresh snow), it was the least I could do to help him out. Sewing in exchange for shoveling??? Um, twist my arm!

My little guy loves it.

(I do, too.)

Happy Monday to you!

winners

The winners of the Oval Elements fat quarter bundles from Pat Bravo are:

Shannon
and
Teresa

Thanks so much for playing along!

giveaway

I recently had the chance to play with some of Pat Bravo's fabrics....fat quarters from the Oval Elements collection. This fabric is amazingly soft and the colors are vibrant and wonderful! I'm trying out a twist on one of my previous patterns, and I'm loving it so far.

Pat is generously giving away 2 fat quarter bundles to two of my readers. (One fat quarter pack to each reader.) If you would like to win a fat quarter bundle, leave a comment on this post. Only one comment per person, please. I'll pick a winner sometime on Wednesday, February 16.

Happy Valentine's Day to you!