Picnic Blanket Done!

When Rachel of Stitched In Color announce a quick sew along for a picnic blanket, I jumped at the chance to use up some scraps. Now this was a rainbow blanket, and I did do a rainbow, but I took a few liberties with the concept. Mainly I did this to help me use us some fabric that was hanging about with not other use. A picnic blanket is a little more casual that a carefully planned quilt. So I felt good about these fabrics.

 I did sort of follow the layout, going from warm colors to cool. I loved adding a couple of low volume prints to the blanket. I thought that was a great idea. (not my idea, Rachel's)

 Such fun fabrics. My sister and a friend looked on as I photographed it and kept pointing out some of the things they saw on it, like the unicorns and the sheep. Such fun.

The back is a Charley Harper canvas print of feathers on an olive green background. So perfect and I got it on sale for a very good price. There is no batting in this picnic blanket.

                                       Up close of the feathers.

And you just roll it up and tie it with the attached strap and toss it in the car. I used the selvedges to make the strap. I love how it turned out. Thanks to Rachel for the project and you have a lovely weekend. Linking up with Crazy Mom Quilts.

A Bouquet of Geraniums

I have to admit, I have fallen in love with sewing for children again. I used to do it when my girls were little. I loved it in part because it took so little fabric to make them things. Also, almost instant gratification for most things. A great combination for a mom who needs to sew. Now that I have a granddaughter, dresses are my thing...again! (I did sew for the boys but they are getting really big now.)

Rae's Geranium pattern is the best. Several options and so easy to make. I have made several, since the time N was a wee thing, but now that she is older and walking, she loves pretty dresses. Yay!! I have today, three more to show you.

 First, let me tell you this dress is white. Pictures were taken under the green umbrella in the heat of the day. This is a knit dress. I found that sewing with knit is not hard, but it does slow me down to keep things going correctly, which is fine. Careful is good. The little bit of stretch this knit has should help keep her in this dress for a while.

 And when you stitch in the ditch at the high waist it practically disappears altogether, which is great! The knit has a great drape to it as well.

 After I made the first knit dress, I wanted to do another and I found this one, actually Made by Rae, so it was perfect! N is going to love these doggies!

 The third one is a cute Dear Stella bird print I found on sale at Hawthorne Threads. When I got it, I suddenly decided to go through my stash and try to find something to pair with it for the top. I found this Dear Stella Confetti Dots in the exact color as the pink birds. How perfect is that? Many times a manufacturer will use the same colors making matching easier.

 Buttons are all done on all three. My button hole struggles are getting better. I have done so many lately that I am starting to understand the machine and the button hole foot.

Last minute I decided to add a pocket, just one. It fortuitously sits right below this sweet little bird. How cute is that?
If you like sewing for little girls, I would highly recommend this pattern. Now there is an expansion pack available that has sleeves and collars and I think I would like to get that so I can make some for fall too. Have a great Tuesday and I will talk to you soon.

Geese!

I have finally tackled the flying geese in a quilt just for them and no other blocks. I have always wanted to. It is small, but I L-O-V-E it. It is another for my middle daughter. Here it is:

 The other thing I have always wanted to do is matchstick quilting, but I knew it would need to be a small quilt or I would never do it. This is the perfect size.

 The other thing that inspired me with the quilting on this is a picture on someone's blog of matchstick quilting that used more than one color.

 So I tried it and I am very pleased with the look. Here you can see it on the back.

 I used some yellow, some white and some blue threads. All threads were Aurifil 40 and 50 weight.

 And I used the last scraps for the binding. Great way to use most all of it up.

Have a great Sunday and I will see you soon with more sewn goodness.

Friday Finish!

So thankful that I have been getting so much sewing time lately. It really makes me feel more like myself. And I have been cranking it out! What I am showing you today was actually finished Wednesday and I finished another Gemma Blouse late yesterday so I will show you that very soon. For today:

 This is a sweet little wall hanging quilt I made for my middle daughter. I had two mini charm packs of this and without looking back through a bunch of blogs, I can't remember what it is. I think it's Sweetwater, though. I pieced it forever ago, without any idea of its intended use. Just because.

          A quick and easy criss cross quilting pattern.

             And some lovely Henna Garden for the back of the quilt.

 I found a perfect red in my stash for the binding. I love when that happens and I don't have to buy anything new.

 And now, another little quilt for my daughter and another item off my WIP list. Yay me!!

 Then, this happened. My sister was in England and I asked her to go to Liberty and get me some lawn fabric and she did!! I asked for 4 meters of 4 prints. I told her to just pick something lovely and she did!

The total cost for 4 meters was 90 pounds which is $117.90 in American dollars. That works out to 29.475 per meter, which is 1.094 yards. A great price I think! Now to find a project for these. Have a great Friday. Linking up to Crazy Mom Quilts.

We're Really Sewing Here

I feel like I am really getting my sewing groove on here. I have ideas for quilts and garments and am sewing most every day, at least a little bit. After my daughter and granddaughter were here for a long weekend visit, I have even more inspiration to sew some cute little dresses. So that is coming in the very near future. I have some fabrics, but I just ordered a few more. More on that soon too. For today, here is what we have going on:

 Middle daughter shopped my stash last winter an set aside a box of fabrics she liked. She requested some small wall hanging size quilts for her home. Yesterday, I revisited Melissa Corry's tutorial on flying geese blocks. She has a very easy method with no wasted fabric. I know, crazy, right? No scraps.

 The first set I made, I cut the large squares out of the wrong fabric and I only had about a quarter yard, but I worked it out. I will put the rest of these together and see how they look. The other one will get quilted.

 And this is the back of a pincushion made from leftovers, just to see how small I could go.

 EEEP!! So small and cute. This pin cushion thing may be getting out of control.

 Then, I finally bound this one up. I put it together without a recipient last year, to try out the plus design. It is now destined for a soon to arrive baby I know.

 I love the fabrics in this one and I think they go very well together. Lots of cute prints.

 And a nice bright back as well. Nothing better that a two sided quilt for a baby, right?

 I quilted scallops all around the cat border and then at my hubby's suggestion, wavy lines in the blue border. I love how it turned out.

 This is going to make a certain mama and baby really happy. I am thrilled to be able to send her this.

And a bright, colorful binding and my label. Now, gotta find a box and the address. See you tomorrow with another finish that I have yet to photograph. Have a lovely Thursday.

Pin Cushions Are Contageous

I have been following Amanda Jean at Crazy Mom Quilts for a bunch of years now and I have to say, every time she posts pictures of more pin cushions, I just want to make some. So now I have.  It is the perfect thing for when you want to sew something but have little time. So here are some I made last week.

 This one I made and showed last week from a leftover block from the Penny Sampler Quilt. But little did I know it would only be the first.

 Then I saw these cute scraps and I knew that they were the very last of my favorite fabric from Sunkissed by Sweetwater. Too tiny for anything else.

 And these, for the same reason and to make something with tiny triangles which is always fun.

 Then, I found the 4 tiny blocks I made last spring. The block finishes at 2 inches square and the whole point was to work on your precision piecing skills. I didn't make them with a plan in mind, but here they are. This is the first one.

                    And a little Lizzy House on the back.

 A tiny rolling stone block here and I used wider borders to make it a bit bigger. This one is a favorite. I love that yellow butterfly print. It's Heather Ross.

I even used it on the back and tried to get the selvedge in the picture. So bright and pretty.

 Then, there's this one. I kinda messed up adding the strips to make it bigger. I didn't want white next to white, but my brain had checked out I guess.

This is my favorite one. I love the tiny churn dash block. I don't know what else you could do with these if not pin cushions, but I do love these a lot.

So, here is my "collection" of pin cushions. They are addictive to make and I know I will make more. I will probably have to find a way to give them away or I might get over run with them. I like having several, but I already have 4-5 in use. Any suggestions?
Talk to you soon.

Very Productive Weekend

I have been so very productive here the last few days. I have been sewing up a storm and so happy to be ticking things off my list. I love it when it works out that way. Here is what has been happening:

 This is the ribbon block for the Penny Sampler quilt. I have all the parts up on my design wall in their more or less correct places so when the new assignment comes out I can see what is needed color and fabric-wise. I thought I just needed some red. Something that would POP and draw the eye in, before it starts to look around the quilt. This is a busy quilt. I LOVE the way this block turned out. I took my time and pinned, sewed and pressed carefully and I am quite pleased with the way all the points came out.

 This little six inch block is much smaller and easier to piece, but still I was careful to make sure to pin and press to get the points to line up.

If it wasn't for the ribbon block, this would be my favorite. I love how this came out. I love the colors and the style. If you haven't figured it out yet, this whole lesson was about HSTs and matching up the points. The best advice I can give is go slow, pin and press. Trim carefully too.

This was a most enjoyable lesson. I wanted to get it done, as the rest of July will be busy with family visitors coming to see us in our new digs. My goal for this project has always been to stay caught up, and so far, I am. Yay!

 When the hourglass blocks were done, there was one extra, since they are done in pairs. So, taking a page from Amanda Jean's book, I made another little pin cushion. These are so much fun and I love having pin cushions around the room wherever I may need them.

 The final thing I finished was another Beatrix blouse with the pattern by Rae. I have had this cut out for a few weeks, so when I was ready to sew, it was just GO! The back doesn't completely match up, but I knew that would probably happen and I don't mind. I am not using this to dress up, just for daily wear.

 The front turned out very nice. I love the way this fabric works for this blouse. I think this turned out better than my last one. I felt more confident when I was making it.

And for this one I opted for the shorted sleeves. I am not a big fan of short sleeves as I am getting older and don't like the look on me, but these are not too tight, so I think they look good. I do recommend this pattern and also the Gemma. They make for a nice summer wardrobe, but I am planning a Beatrix with 3/4 sleeves for cooler weather. Again, it is all cut out for whenever I have the time to sew it up.

I also finished a quilt top, but I can't share that yet as it is a gift. So, a very productive weekend! Have a great Wednesday. Talk to you soon.