Missing U Quilt top

 A number of years ago, when the book Sunday Morning Quilts came out, I was smitten. It was the best quilting book I have ever found for inspiration. I wanted to make every single quilt in the book, and I never feel that way. I started an on line bee, based on the book and for 3 years we helped each other make quilts from the book. Then, I eventually moved on to other quilts.

But I have never forgotten that book and those quilts. Fast forward to now and I pulled it from the shelf again. I wanted to make another scrap quilt. I am really trying to use up my fabric scraps and the fabrics I have on hand. And it is working. I do have lots less than I used to. So, enter the Missing U Quilt by Cheryl Arkison. A rainbow quilt, big enough for my queen sized bed, if I add a few more blocks to the one in the book. But I didn't end up with a rainbow.

I started off with my blue scrap bin. Then, I pulled out my teal scrap bin. It holds every shade of blue that is of a teal or aqua shade. I didn't really know the direction I was going with this, but I thought I would make these blue and teal blocks until I either figured it out, or ran out of fabric in these colors.

But then, it finally dawned on me...after I posted on IG about this, and Cheryl commented that yes, I should use all the colors of the sea. I wanted to make the ocean, with a sunrise.

And so I did. I was so into this quilt top, I made all 36 blocks in less than two weeks. It has been a long time since I have felt that way about a quilt. So much freedom to create from my scraps that I couldn't stop. The quilt top is 91 inches square. I have ordered a 108 inch wide backing for this one. My goal is to get it quilted and on the bed before winter. I have decided on a fairly simple quilting pattern. I will be back to show you when it's finished. Man I am loving this!

See you soon.

Off to the (Craft) Fair

Remember when I said I was working on items for a craft fair? This was my very first craft fair as a vendor. It went really well, and I wanted to show you some of it.

 This is our booth set up. My sister helped me so much with set up and manning the booth. She also was so very helpful in how to arrange all the items to their best advantage.

 We used one of my quilts on one of the tables. I think we decided that as pretty as it was, next time we will go with white so as to not detract from the colors of the items.

I named my booth Six Sisters Stitchery. This is after my grandmother and her 5 sisters. 6 of the bags were named for them. So, for example, the makeup bag is the Nora Bag. Just a happy little nod to the wonderful women who helped me to be who I am today.

 And here are a few of the items I made to sell. This one I call the Ayumi Bag. The pattern is a free tutorial on Ayumi Mills' blog, the Pink Penguin. I wrote to her and asked permission to make a few of these to sell and she said yes. I made a tag to hang on each bag that gave her name and blog name as a source of the pattern. They were very well received.

 I made these phone stands, filled with crushed walnut shells. I love mine and these were also very popular with the fair goers.

And then, to use up my 2 1/2 inch squares from my scrap bins, I made these little patchwork pouches. I call these the Iva Patchwork Pouch. I love seeing the history of my quilting in these cute pouches.

I didn't take up close pictures of everything, but I had a lot of products and variety. All of the items were made from my stash. I only had to buy zippers, Pellon 809 stabilizer and some tassels I put on one of the zippered pouches.

I asked, and received permission for a couple of designers to use their patterns, in exchange for making sure my signs gave them credit for the patterns. I was happy to do that and to tell my customers about where the patterns came from. Most seemed to appreciate that I was giving proper credit to the designers.

Some of the customers were quilters too, and while they didn't want to buy anything, they were happy to stop and chat with me about our shared love of quilting and sewing. So a fun day for me all the way around.

Thanks for stopping by, and I will talk to you soon.

A Quilt Full of Hugs

Well, I finished my hugs quilt today. It took me almost two weeks, but at least 3 of those days were no sewing days, so they don't count. My friend will receive her quilt this weekend when I see her, and it is a surprise. So, here it is:

 I used all fabrics from my stash for the top. I googled X quilt block to get dimensions and then I just cut and cut and then chain pieced for days to make this 63 inch square throw quilt.

 I know there are parts where there is less definition between fabrics, but up close, it's a beauty.

 The back is all pink, a fabric I picked up at Joann. I just really didn't want to take the time to piece the back for this one. I wanted it done and in her hands.

 The red binding goes well with both sides and frames the quilt up nicely. I have had that in my stash for years and am glad it found a home.

 I used a cookie cutter to trace a heart in the center and then quilted hearts one inch apart from there outward. It does lose some of the definition, but I still love it.

Quilt inspector Pouncer came by to put her paw of approval on the quilt. She knows a good one when she feels it.

       Got my label and I wrote the date with a micron pen on the back.

 And now it's ready to be gifted and I am happy to have it complete. Now, on to my December Penny Sampler Quilt lesson. I have to finish that so I can put that year long project together. I have decided to hand quilt it, so that may take awhile. Don't worry, I will have lots of other projects going on to show you while I hand quilt. Have a great weekend. Linking up with Crazy Mom Quilts