scrap happy apron

Today I "borrowed" from the family couch time quilt that is in progress and turned a few of the slabs into a quilted apron. I've been thinking of making one of these for a few months...at least....probably more! It worked out much better than I thought it would, which is sweeeet! I'm sure I will use it all. the. time.

I made the ties extra long so they wrap around my waist and tie in the front. Of course they are red polka dots, right? I used the thinnest batting I have, quilted it on the diagonal with a cross hatch to stabilize the patchwork, mainly. I added a layer of Kona cotton, stitched around the perimeter and flipped it right side out using the birthing method. I top stitched around the outside edges to finish it off. It's scrap project #99/101! And I LOVE IT!!!

Only 2 more scrap projects to go! And one is already finished...woo-hoo! It's bittersweet to be this close to wrapping up my scrap challenge. It's been so very fun! I'll definitely miss it....

Happy Monday to you!

gingham quilt complete

Welcome to finish it up Friday!

Last Saturday evening I finished my gingham quilt!!!! I waited until I completed the coordinating pillowcases (all 6 of them!) to put the quilt on the bed. Otherwise I would procrastinate for at a least a year or two to actually sew them up. Ha! I put everything on my bed last night and I'm soooo pleased with how it all came together!

The quilt uses only 5 fabrics: White, Pink Flamingo and Pearl pink (all Konas) for the top. The binding (lotta dots in coral reef) and backing (apron in coral reef) fabrics are from Connecting Threads. That coral color is super hard to photograph, but trust me, it's really pretty!

It was pretty fun to back an entire quilt with my fabric. :) This is my largest quilt to date, finishing at about 108" x 102". I'm very happy that this quilt, which features the Kona color of the year, is actually finished before the year is over. Woohoo!

Now it's your turn! Please link up your finishes for the week. Thank you, as always, for joining me for finish it up Friday! Have a great weekend!

patchwork obsession: part nine

quilted moving sale apron

It has a lot of problems, so it is a good thing it is cute.

The same goes for me.

a little bit vintage

Welcome to finish it up Friday!

I'm still plugging away quilting my huge log cabin quilt, so that's where I've spent the bulk of my sewing time this week. I did have time to finish up (and gift!) a few items this week, so that was fun!

This pouch was something that I made around the holidays, I think, but I finally sent it off to it's new home this week. (It was so nice to have it ready to go!) The fabrics for the pouch were acquired from the free table at a retreat last summer compliments of my friend Jeni. I turned them into this cute little pencil pouch (free tutorial here) and sent it back to Jeni as a birthday gift. I figured that she would like it, since she is the one who purchased the fabrics in the first place! Ha!

The exterior fabric was a vintage napkin, originally, and the lining fabric was part of a vintage apron. It was fun to repurpose both fabrics to make this pouch. I used my favorite interfacing (Pellon SF101) to add some stability to the lining.

Since I didn't have the right size zipper on hand, I added zip tabs to the ends. It worked out great! Also, I LOVE a quilted zip pouch. It takes longer to make because you have to quilt the panels, but the texture is totally worth it. Plus, it uses up scrap batting. Gotta love that! I'm happy to say that Jeni loved her pouch. Hurray!

I did a little more playing with churn dash blocks. (I still have more ideas to work out...so don't be surprised when you see the next few installments!) This block is 3 1/2" unfinished, so 3" finished. Pretty small, but I still want to go smaller! I think it's a sickness.

I knew that I was not going to have the patience to make a few hundred of these blocks, so I added a thin outside border (so the points wouldn't get lost around the curved edges) and turned it into a pincushion. I love it so much, it's going into the permanent collection. I used a feedsack fabric that came from my grandma's house on the back, so further excuse to keep it. This is scrap project #200.

The last project of the day is a tiny needle book. I purchased the blue vintage scraps at an antique store (many!) years ago. It was high time to use them! I love the vintage-looking button to finish it off. I made two of these needle books, nearly identical. I gave one to my friend Nancy, (who taught me how to quilt!) and I think I will keep the other one. They are so tiny and cute!

The interior fabric was from the stash and the pages are scrap batting. The elastic thread that I used for the loop closure was also repurposed....originally it held a pair of shoes together. I love that I can repurpose that elastic thread....it feels sooo thrifty and it works like a charm! :) This is scrap project #201!

 

It's kind of fun that all of my projects included some vintage component in the making. It feels good to use those precious little bits rather than hoarding them. Hurray!

 

Now, it's your turn! Please link up your finishes for the week. Thanks, as always, for joining me for finish it up Friday!  

procrastination

Last evening when I was supposed to be making my moving sale signs (the sale is tomorrow) I decided I just had to paint this chair. I neglected to take a before shot, which is a shame, because it was really bad. (imagine faded hunter green with white paint splatters) I used a few cans of Krylon Fusion spray paint that my neighbor gave me (he works at Sherwin Williams). That spray paint works very well. Ask Roxy or Amy Jo. My husband gave me a hard time because I was re-doing his 10 year old chair that cost him $5. But it was a free make over.

Now all I need to make is one of these (scroll to the bottom of the post) and then I should be all set for my sale. Oh, and I have to set things up, too. And finish those signs. But a cute apron is more important than all of that, right?

retreating

I had fun retreating in Colorado this past weekend. It's always wonderful to spend time with my friend Tara. That girl throws an amazing retreat! Good times, great food, great people!

Penny was just as cute as could be in her little apron. She taught workshops on paper piecing and improvisational piecing. The workshops were great.They had the perfect mix of information and inspiration with some challenge thrown in for good measure. I learned a lot.

I made these sewing machines without a pattern. I just improvisationally pieced them from my own little sketch. I looooooooooooooove them! This is nothing I have ever tried before, (shoot, this is nothing that I had even thought of doing before) and I am so pleased with my first attempts. The spools were Penny's idea and I think that it totally makes the block!

We had all agreed in advance to do a pot holder swap. It was fun to see how all 6 of them coordinated so well. Aren't they so so sweet? The second one from the left, made by Carmen, came home to live with me. Yay!

I sewed on this cutie patootie sewing machine all weekend, thanks to the ever generous Julie.

The prize bags were filled to the gills with goodies! We all got spoiled. Thank you Tara!

There was also fabric shopping, which was actually more like fabric hunting. :) We had great success. Hurray!

There were lots of laughs, a few headaches (literally, which don't mix well with paper piecing, let me tell you!), and lots of fabric scraps everywhere by the end of the weekend.

from L to R: Penny, Amanda, Tara, Carmen, Melinda, Audrey

Here's a group shot. I had met Carmen, Penny last fall. It was great to meet AudreyPawdry in real life (she and I were in a bee together a few years back), and Melinda, who is also from Wisconsin. I'm so glad that I was able to sew all weekend long with these very lovely ladies. Good times, good times.

On the flip side, it is great to be back home. I missed my husband and kids so much. Now, I have to find a home for a bunch of fabric scraps and the yardage I acquired while I was away.

a quilt in a day, day 2

Today's quilt was inspired by this apron, which was ulitmately inspired by Lera, and her love for red & aqua, polka dots, gingham and cherries. (I share the same love for all those things, too.)

This quilt went together super quick. I already had the fabrics picked out, which helped. I started cutting and sewing after dinner, and I finished it up before bed.

The backing will be that sweet aqua cherry print and I'm thinking about red gingham bias binding. To me, this quilt screams "picnic quilt", so I just may have to make a bag to put it in, too.

The top measures 72" x 81". (That's going to be a whole lot of stippling.)

I'm pretty excited to see it all come together.

broken dishes-a completed quilt

I've finished my broken dishes quilt! I started this at retreat in July, and here it is, end of September, complete. That feels great! All fabrics came from my stash, which feels even better!

 

This quilt is based on my Myrtle's Broken Dishes pattern, but this time I made 20 blocks rather than 12 and I skipped the borders. SO many half-square triangles in this quilt, but aren't they striking with the light background?

The background print is called "bedsheets" in the color butter, from my Emma & Myrtle fabric line for Connecting Threads. I did an all over "cinnamon roll" quilting pattern freehand on the baby lock Tiara that I currently have on loan. The quilting took a considerable amount of time (and concentration!), but I think it was worth it. After I got done quilting it, I thought, "I'm finally in the groove. I wish I had another quilt to quilt right away!" How crazy is that?

 

For the backing I used the red apron print, also from my Emma & Myrtle collection. I have to admit, it's pretty fun to back a quilt with fabric that you've designed! The red gingham binding is SUCH a happy finishing touch, isn't it? Initially I was worried that it would feel too light or too cutesy compared to the rest of the quilt, but man, I love it sooooo much!

The fabrics used for the quilt were bundles from Westwood Acres "I Want Her Stash Club" from a few years ago. They were curated by my friend Amy Smart and Denyse Schmidt. It was great to combine the two AND it was also a fun exercise to work with bundles selected by someone else. I would recommend it! :)

The quilt measures about 72" x 90", so a generous twin size. I'm very pleased with how it turned out.  It actually has a lovely fall feel to it, doesn't it? Now I'm excited to wash it up so it gets that fantastic crinkle. I think I'll sleep under this one tonight!

This is my 11th quilt finish for the year!