top 5 projects

I have SO much going on right now. I know, I know, don't we all? In order to help myself focus, rather than freak out, I've started making a list of my top 5 projects for the week.

This week they are:

1. Finish my what a bunch of squares quilt. There is just binding left to do.

2. Sew another star wars robe. For Halloween. Oy.

3. This project-vintage crochet blanket-got resurrected recently. I'd like to finish it before Thanksgiving, which would put me at 2 years. I'm obsessive about finishing things, otherwise this would sit.

4. Quilt Heather's star quilt along quilt.

5. Put together a Frequently Asked Questions post for my blog.

I think it's about time.

new fabric

We went to visit my sister this weekend. It was great to get away for a few days. We made a quick (to me, not to my husband) trip to Gruber's. I had a gift certificate burning a hole in my pocket. This is what I came out with. After a mere hour. There are 10,000+ bolts. Oh, the choices!

Notice the absence of (primarily) pink fabric?
It was intentional.
My stash doesn't need any more of it.

doll quilts

A big event happened in my house this week...

my daughter started carrying her baby around...

and...AND....she using the few doll quilts we have to keep her baby warm.

oh. my. goodness.....be still my heart.

I started sewing another one on the double.

I expect our doll quilt stack to triple in the next week.

how to make a ragged squares quilt

Last week Jeanie asked me how to make a ragged squares quilt. Several weeks ago I had also gotten a request to show the basics of assembling a quilt top, so I'll try to incorporate both of these in this tutorial. This would be a great beginner quilt, but fun for any skill level.

select your fabrics: I used 13 fabrics in my quilt. (some were fat quarters and some were half yards.) 14 are shown, but I omitted one along the way.

cut 30 squares of each size:
3", 6" and 9".
for the 3" squares I cut a few extra just to help with the randomness.

take one 9" square, lay a 6" square on top, just centering it by eye, no measuring necessary,
and then lay a 3" square on top of that. pin.

using a 1/4" seam allowance, sew around the perimeter of the 3" square

then sew around the perimeter of the 6" square
you will leave the raw edges exposed.

and now your squares should be attached.

the center square is a little crooked, but no worries.

I think most people would cut out the back of the squares at this point to reduce bulk, but I don't bother. a bit of the polka dot showed through on the flower print in this block, but it's barely noticeable, so I just leave it as is. plus, I like the extra weight of the quilt by leaving the multiple layers in tact.

attach the squares on all 30 blocks.

once your blocks are assembled,
layout your blocks in a pleasing arrangement,
5 blocks across and 6 blocks down.

at this point, take a digital photo and view your quilt on your camera screen to look for any color clumping. re-arrange squares if necessary.

now,
using a 1/4" seam allowance, sew your blocks together to make 6 strips.

press the seams in every other row to the right....

and the seams in the alternating rows to the left.


place 2 long strips together and line up the seams. the seams should be pointing in opposite directions. they should sort of notch together.

first pin at all the seams where they notch together, then place a pin in the middle of each block.

sew one long seam (again using 1/4")

open and press the seam to one side

at this point it doesn't matter which way you press the long seam

now you can see the bottom two rows are together.

repeat the process until all rows are attached.
and your quilt top is done.

next, baste your quilt (there is a tutorial here)

and you are ready to quilt.

this quilt is easy to quilt because it is on the smaller side and you are just doing straight line quilting...no marking required.

using a walking foot, stitch in the middle of the center (6") block, and quilt a square. back stitch a bit at the beginning and ending of the seam.

quilt another square in the largest (9") square

and quilt a little square in the smallest (3") block.

in this photo the center square is the quilting, the next line is the stitching that attached the 3" square to the 6" square. the next line is quilting, and so on.

repeat this quilting for all the blocks. so in the end you will quilt 90 squares. 30 quilted squares in the large blocks, 30 quilted squares in the middle sized blocks and 30 little quilted squares in the smallest blocks.

here it is all quilted....

but, then I washed and dried it....

and had some strings to trim....

so it looks all tidy....

and here's the back. many thanks to Frieda for sending me this fabric. it was perfect for this quilt!

and it's complete!

if you have any questions, I'll try to answer them in the comments. and if you make one of these quilts, I'd love to see it!

a few answers

Thanks for all the kind comments on my stash. To answer the question that came up several times, no, my stash isn't always this neat. I had just spent 2 days folding it before posting photos. I used this method for folding, which is fabulous. I used the same method a year and a half ago. I took 2 days out of quilt production last week (which I really needed) and spent some time with the fabric strewn about the living room floor. While I was folding, I was teaching my daughter her colors. We had a great time.

Jessica asked what I do with my scraps.
Well, here they are. They are color coded and stored in any container I can get my hands on. Then, for the rest, plastic bags. Can you tell that my blue and purple scraps rank low in my eyes? They are mixed together and thrown into a plastic Target bag.


My smallest scraps are organized in these storage cubes.

Now, a few words about my quilt production.
I get several emails asking if I sleep. Yes, I do. I got a comment asking me how many hours a day I devote to quilting. The answer: I'm afraid to keep track. It's A LOT. There is no secret to my productivity. Just a whole lot of hard work. I'll be the first to admit that my life would benefit from a bit more balance.

the state of my stash

candy corn quilt

Thanks in part to my son being sick and home from school yesterday (and thus lots of movie watching together) and partly due to my husband working all day (he got home after 9pm), I was able to finish the candy corn quilt.

I. LOVE. IT.
Since my quilt holders are at school today, I had to get creative for the photo shoot. I wiped clean my rain gutters and used binder clips and clothespins to hang the quilt. I really need a clothesline.

I pieced the binding so it would match each colored section, otherwise there is no way I would use white binding-that's just looking for trouble.

Exact piecing of the binding was a new challenge for me...

and it came out better than expected.

I quilted the orange section in orange thread, the white and the yellow sections in white thread.
I adore the polka dot fabric that I used for the back.

I even have the label on. So it's really done.

Many, many thanks to Lera, who originally inspired me to make this quilt and for all the cheering me on she did along the way. Thanks friend.

Christmas tree skirt tutorial

First, make 15 little log cabin blocks. I basically used this method, but I didn't use those measurements. I used tiny scraps from my scrap bucket. The finished log cabin squares range in size from to 3.75" x 4.25" to 5" x 6".

I made them one of two ways:

green center, 4 red logs, then 4 green logs
or
red center, 4 green logs, then 4 red logs.

then I added 4 white borders so the block would be larger than 7.5"

trim up the block to 7.5"
do this for all 15 blocks.
also, cut one plain white square 7.5"

for the center of your tree skirt, cut a 21.5" square from the background fabric

layout as shown

sew together

baste

and quilt as desired.

cut out a piece of paper into a circle 5" in diameter and pin it to the center. Trace around it onto the fabric. Cut out the center circle, also make a slit to the edge. I used masking tape to mark my line for cutting to the edge then removed the tape immediately afterward.

now it's time to add the binding. I don't care for bias binding, so for the outside edges, I made straight grain binding by cutting 5 strips of fabric 2.25" x width of fabric, then joined them together.

starting at the left hand side, layout the binding around the perimeter of the quilt

and machine stitch in place

ending at the right hand edge of the circle.

hand stitch the binding to the back by hand

now, for the middle circle, you will need to use bias binding.

cut one strip on the bias measuring 2" wide by 22" long. I pieced mine to save fabric.

use a 1/2" binding tool to make the binding strip

fold in the raw edge

then fold two sides in toward the center and press. this will be the your starting edge.

with the starting edge at the beginning of the circle, pin in place, leaving a tail at the end of the circle

using a walking foot, sew into place. take it slow and easy and be careful not to stab yourself with all those pins sticking out.

sew to the end of the circle and back stitch

now trim the tail a bit and fold in the raw edges. you want this tail to be about 1.25" long after the edges are folded in.

at this point I changed to my regular 1/4" foot so I could sew the tab more neatly than if I was using my walking foot.

now all the edges should be sewn together

for the closure, I am using stainless steel snaps. I love these things-they are easy to use and durable. (I buy them at Wal-Mart, Jo Ann's or Hobby Lobby.) These are size 16 - 7/16".

(you can see the snap setter that I use on the left)

attach the snaps

and your tree skirt is done!

it's totally reversible, too. you could as easily use the back as the front.

The finished size is approximately 35" square.

If you have any questions, I'll try to answer them in the comments. Let me know if you use this tutorial to make a tree skirt. I'd love to see it.

Enjoy!