July 4 themed UFO

I've finished the top of another UFO and this one is kind of exciting because it is a totally new pattern for me. 

This is called the Spicy Spiral table topper, and I bought this kit last summer for a Patriotic themed version. It takes 8 fat quarters and requires a 10 degree ruler to cut the strip sets.

My first thought this morning (as my husband left for a golf tournament) was that maybe I would just get the strip sets cut and sewn together. But those were quickly done, so then I tackled cutting the wedges. Piece of cake with that ruler!!

By the time he got home from golf I had this almost completely put together. Next steps are trimming, layering it with backing and batting. That is my task for tomorrow - after I get off the golf course myself.

Moravian Star is complete



I've finished my Moravian Star and it's all ready for Christmas.  I used part of a charm pack of Reindeer Games, by Moda.  This was a fun project that began (for me) with a class at the Pin Cushion.  I'm considering making another using some scraps of blue and white frosty fabrics. 

Girly version of western

Pink and brown makes a perfect "girly" version of western.  I found this cute print in Minneapolis at a shop called Crafty Planet.  Isn't it cute?

This little shop caters to the knitters and quilters out there in NE Minneapolis.  Beautiful yarns and knitting notions - plus a very bright cheerful collection of fabrics, including a lot of children's prints. 

Bells & stars

Just a quick post show off the progress on my Moravian Star. I'm getting very close to the finish line.

I added small jingle bells to all of the indented areas. And I have all of the sections made - the last 2 "star-let" sections will go on tonight to the second half. Then I just need to put the 2 halves together.

We had about 11 hours of driving in the past 2 days so I should have taken this with me in the car to finish. But I was so afraid I would crush it by accident.  So it was waiting for me when I got home last night.  Back to work today, but I think it can be done in the next evening or two.

Waffle Time

Waffle Time is one of my favortie table runner patterns. I have a long rectangular one done in Valentine's fabrics for my dining room table.  And I've made several square and rectangular ones and given them away as gifts over the years, done in Christmas themes, spring florals, and a couple of coffee themed ones.

The square one fits perfectly on my small kitchen table. So this week I pulled this one out to add some patriotic colors to my kitchen in anticipation of the upcoming July 4th holiday.  This one is hand quilted - by me!

I have a new square Waffle Time runner at the quilters right now. So when that one comes back I can show that off.  However I also must admit that there are 2 more of them sitting in my UFO stack all ready to finish.

Moravian Star . . . Halfway

I'm halfway with assembling my Moravian Star. The more sections are on, the harder it is to hang on to it while doing the handstitching.

My next steps are to add some little bells to the inner points, and to keep working on the other half.

This isn't the best picture as it really doesn't do justice to the rich reds, greens, creams of this fabric. Guess I should have gone outside with it to take a picture.

Binding is ongoing

I've been plugging away on the binding for my Polka Dots & Pachyderms quilt during the evenings this week.  Slow going - mainly because it is HOT this week and it is too warm to work on binding a big quilt even in my air-conditioned house. Maybe it's all in my head. . .

This aqua stripe is a great match for the aqua and white backing, and even has a tiny stripe of some of the rainbow colors found on the front of the quilt.

Moravian Star update

I have 1/3 of my Moravian Star completed.  Last night I added 2 sections to the 2 I already had done.  If I can get 2 more done tonight I'll be done with one half of the star.

I have a ton of small scraps left from the blue/white frosty quilt I made a couple of years ago. Those would make a really pretty Moravian Star too.  We'll see how this one goes first however.

Another Ditty Bag

On Sunday evening I finished another little Ditty Bag. This one uses coordinating golf fabrics just like the one I made for myself.

I think this will make a perfect gift for a golfer with a few little inserts added: a sleeve of balls, some tees, and some lip balm with sun screen. It will also hold my purse basics (cell phone, credit card holder with my ID, tissues, and car keys. Perfect size!

Moravian Star

I took a fun quilt class at The Pin Cushion this evening on making Moravian Stars.

These 3-D stars are done with fabric over cardboard, and are a variation of English paper piecing. The diamonds are about 1.5" wide, and there will be 60 of them. The star will end up being a little bigger than a grapefruit.

I really like doing handwork, so this has been fun so far.  I think I need to add little round bells inside each section since I'm using Christmas fabrics.  I have two sections made and have 10 more to go. The little cardboard diamonds are all cut and ready to go, so at least that step won't slow me down.

Using up some stash

There are a couple of reasons I love making pillowcases: it is fast and easy, and it uses up stash quickly.

I figure each pillowcase uses about 1 yard total, so these 3 cute jungle print pillowcases made another little dent in the idle stash.

So, counting the box of fabric I mailed to a quilter in Oregon (makes charity quilts), 4 more baby burp cloths, and these pillowcases, I'm estimating that I've done away with about 10 yards this week.  Yay!!

Add the 8 boxes of rummage sale items I'm taking to my daughter's house next week and I'm feeling some real accomplishment in terms of de-cluttering my house.  

Wishin' For Spring #3

Finally - I've taken some time to do some sewing. And I think I've been pretty productive the past couple of evenings.

This is block #3 of our Saturday Sampler. I really, really like the jewel tones of these batiks against the black solid background.

I did substitute the inner purple instead of the ones we got just because I liked the color combination better. But the fun thing about this project is that as long as I use another batik it should not make any difference in the outcome.

Big Half Square Triangles

I have all 16 of these 10' HST blocks made, and half of them put together so far. Maybe after work today I can get the other half together.

I've been collecting selvages for quite awhile, and even the ladies in the Wash Tub Club have been bringing me selvages. That is really fun because I get some things totally different that what I already have.

So . . . with all of this collecting, I'm making good use of them.  I think this quilt needs some red in the borders. And if I have enough of the black polka dot I may make 4 more blocks so that it has another row in length. I know I have enough selvages left.

Sharing my stash

I am sharing a box of fabric from my stash with another quilter. This quilter lives in Oregon and makes quilts for a charitable organization. That can be an expensive task, and I am delighted that I can share some more things with her that I'm not using. I sent some fabric earlier this spring.

Today I'm mailing a large flat rate box filled with various pieces left over from past projects that are actually fairly large. A couple of the pieces are big enough to use for the back of a child sized quilt. Lots of pastel solids and small florals.

And I'm tucking in these 3 card trick blocks I made many years ago. A little ironing, and they are ready for a new project. The whole quilt was pink and blue, but I made way more blocks than I needed for the quilt. So these were left in a drawer in my sewing room - getting wrinkled and lonely.  Maybe she can find a use for them.   

No sewing - just partying

This is my reason for doing absolutely no sewing over the weekend. And it was a wonderful weekend!!

My grandson Mason celebrated his first birthday on Saturday. We had a picnic in a shady park with all of his cousins, both sets of grandparents, and lots more family and friends.

He got 2 cakes - one to smash - and one for everyone to eat. And they matched his necktie. His mom was very smart when she stripped him down to a diaper first.

What a fun way to spend a Saturday!!!

Old needlework

I just had to share a glimpse at another old piece of needlework that I was "gifted" recently when my mother's cousin passed away.

This is a linen tablecloth that has been done by someone who was very talented with a needle. Again, no one in the family has any idea who made this piece or how old it might be, but it is really beautiful and I get to enjoy it. 

It features a mixture of heavy embroidery and delicate cutwork. The "holes" in this section of cutwork are about 1/8" square.

Baby projects

This project came from a mistake.

My friend Sylvia has been making and gifting her "boutique burpees" for a couple of years. Both of my girls was a lucky recipient and love these absorbent burp cloths. She has been using a yummy soft hemp diaper fabric.

I ordered what I thought was a similar cotton diaper fabric to use on the back of a full body baby bib project I wanted to make. But oops - the cotton terry I ordered is way too heavy.

So after washing it (lots of shrinkage is normal), I cut it into 12 x 16" rectangles and made some burpees using Sylvia's design. Diaper fabric on one side, pretty fabric on the other - and binding just like a quilt. I have a couple of baby gifts needs for fall, so they will find a home.  I have 7 of them here, plus another few cut out and ready to bind.

At least the cotton terry isn't just sitting in my sewing room taking up space.  It isn't going to become another UFO.

Now . . . I need to find the right weight cotton flannel to make my original project.

Wildlife lap quilt

My first June finish is this lap quilt made with a wildlife art panel and lots of beautiful batiks and other fabrics.

The design on this one is definitely outside of my normal projects. I don't usually like to cut panels apart, but in this case I cut each of the 8 pictures out of the panel. Then I framed them each with narrow folded 3D strips and then a shadow effect with different batiks.

I saw a beautiful picket fence border done recently on a quilt and decided that was just the thing it needed down the sides. I used the scraps from the batik fat quarters and paired them with a beautiful swirly fabric, alternating the blue and the brown colorways.

And I finish it off with a solid border at the top and bottom of the swirly blue. The borders are set off with narrow inner borders of the same black I used around the blocks.