Another Summer Sewing Contest Entry

If you are looking for my Giveaway, go here.

I know...3 posts in 2 days.  Crazy huh?  But I wanted to get this quilt off my to do list anyway so I thought, why not enter it in the quilt division.  Ever since I made this quilt for baby B, I have promised V I would make a big boy version for him.  I had in mind to use the same fabrics for the airplanes.

 But instead of the stacked coins strip, I wanted just paper airplanes on it.  Love the look.

                         I tried to get them going in all different directions to make it fun.

And I quilted it with an all over loopy design to get the motion look that I was trying for.

                                           A close up of one of the planes.
And the best part?  While at my LQS on another mission, and taking a reluctant V along with me, he picked out this fabric.  I had checked out already and he saw this and said "Grammie, wouldn't this make a perfect blanket?" How could I resist?

 It's Busy Town by Richard Scarry.  It has all the characters and all the charm of his books.

 V loves looking at it.  I couldn't find Lowly Worm, but V found him right off and looked at me like I was nuts for missing it.

It makes the perfect quilt back for a kids quilt.  And he was so excited to get it, I didn't even get to wash it to make it crinkly and soft.  His momma will take care of that for me.
Have a great day.

Doll Quilts

My brother is a cancer patient and I have done some sewing for him along the way.  I have made hats to keep his hairless head warm in the Vermont winter.  I have made quilts to warm him and some to raffle off for the cancer cause that he supports.  I have made pot holders for him to raffle off or sell for the same cancer fundraiser.  Now, I was asked to send something for a silent auction that some family members are doing to raise money to help him out personally.

I didn't have much time, and I struggled to think of something that would be quick, easy and yet good enough.  Then it hit me...doll quilts.  They are small and you can get a bit intricate with them and still finish quickly.  So here we go...I had a jelly roll of Always and Forever by Deb Strain that I had been wanting bust out.  And I have been wanting to make some flying geese blocks forever.

This is how I cut it: one strip I cut into 4 1/2 inch strips  and another into 2 1/2 inch squares.  This will yield 8 flying geese blocks.

 I sewed the first square onto one corner and then trimmed 1/4 inch from the stitching line.

 Press them all open, toward the red corner piece like this.

 Then stitch the other square onto the opposite side of the rectangle. Again, trim 1/4 inch from the stitching line.

 When you press them open, you have the block like this.

 You can take the trimmed triangles and stitch them together to make tiny HSTs like this.

                                            Play with them a bit, like this....

                                                      ...or this

 This is how I chain pieced all the blocks together.  It goes really quickly too and you save tons of thread over the course of a project.  Need to take these to the iron? Don't clip the thread until you push one of those little HSTs under the needle to keep the chain going.

                                                   I played with the arrangement a bit.

 Then I made some more with a charm pack of Fairy Tale Friends by American Jane so I could make a second doll quilt.

 This was so fun and so easy folks.  I made these in just a few hours between laundry, helping my daughter paint furniture and dinner last night.  I finished them up this morning in about 20 minutes.  And I made little pillows to go with them.

So cute with the pillow.

The back, although the yellow is very washed out in this shot.

 I had my model, my youngest daughter's American Girl doll who lives with me in the sewing room, show off the quilts for you.  She seems rather bored to me, don't you think?

I think she really likes them though.  I hope the future owners like them too.  They were fun to make.  Now to get them in the mail. 
Have a great day.

First finishes of 2012

It is unlike me to post more than once a week, but since I took a week off work to rest (ha!) and sew this week, I find myself here reporting on my progress.  And much progress has been made!

I had on my list to make a new table topper for my round table.  I made the first one out of Countdown to Christmas by Sweetwater.  I liked it so much, that it became my new go to pattern for this table.  I used all charm squares for both.  This is made with Fairy Tale Friends, by American Jane.  I like this because there is no hemming (the edges are pinked) and no batting.  I set my coffee cup or water glass on here and didn't want the bulk to cause instability.  Bonus is it whips up in less than an hour, including picking the fabric charms to use.

This is my first attempt at paper piecing.  I think I grasp the concept now, but this little square took me 2 hours to finish.

And this is the mess it made in two hours!  Hopefully I will get better at this.

This wasn't on the 2012 list, and I posted this the other day, but it is a 2012 finish so I include it.

 Here is the biggie!  My Birdie Stitches Quilt is done!!!  Yay!  I quilted in the ditch only.  I didn't want to mess up the embroidery work.

 I used the same fabric for the border that I included in the blocks.  I love the way it looks.

 It was kind of windy when I took these, and here is the sun shining through the back of the quilt.  I think it looks cool!

 Can you see the little birds on the yellow print?  I saw it and knew it was for this quilt.

 Love the contrast with the stark tree branches and the Carolina Blue sky!  Now the best part!  This little guy has been watching the progress of this quilt since the beginning.  When I first started it he asked if it was going to be for him.  I said no, I was just making it for me, and he was disappointed.  As the blocks were done, he ooo'd and aaahh'd over each one, and helped me choose colors for the birds and some of the elements of the blocks.  When I began to put it together, I knew it had to have a new home.  I just felt it.  So I bound it in purple, his favorite color.  I took it to him and showed him the binding and said "I think this quilt needs to live at your house."  And this was my reward:

And that my friends, is why I do what I do.