100 Quilts, 100 Kids: Quilt 004 - XOXO

Four down, ninety-six to go. I have a couple of quilts I want to make as wedding gifts and decided on using the XO blocks with some hearts. I thought I'd enlarge the XO and give them a shot for this quilt here. I put it together real quick one night and then realized I didn't have anything for the back or binding so I hopped online and ordered a solid aqua and the pink and white stripes. I really like stripes for binding.


I didn't have enough pink fabric for the "O", so I had to fudge the block a little bit to make it work. I hope that everything stays where it needs to when it comes to washing this guy.


I like these easy blocks. I may make a couple more quilts with these blocks.



Quilt Stats:

• Size: Approx. 41” x 41” 
• Pattern: XOXO
• Fabric: mostly miscellaneous fabrics from Art Gallery Fabrics
• Quilting - wavey horizontal lines varying widths apart

Finished Quilt 010

100 Quilts, 100 Kids: Quilt 003 - BQA 2.0

And number 3 is complete too. I took the remaining 4 BQA blocks and made 5 more blocks to create this quilt. I planned to make it mostly churn dash blocks, but didn't have enough scraps to do it so I ended up with 1 extra churn dash block and 4 blocks made from 2.5 inch squares. Those 4 blocks are my favorite blocks from this quilt.

I forgot the binding for this quilt was the pink and khaki stripes when I added the border. I don't really like the binding with the border. Oh well.


There is a boo boo on the blue churn dash block where my block is square up and it's a little short and doesn't catch the white strip. I fixed it the best I could. You don't really notice it.

The backing is the same as Quilt 002.



Quilt Stats:

• Size: Approx. 41” x 41” 
• Pattern: leftover blocks from a BQA and 5 extra blocks made to go with
• Fabric: California Girl by Moda Fabrics
• Quilting -echo squares around each block and around the middle square of each block

Finished Quilt 009

100 Quilts, 100 Kids: Quilt 002 - BQA 1.0

Quilt number two complete. I finished this girl at the end of August. The blocks were actually from a Beginner's Quilt Along I did about two years ago. There were 13 blocks total. The BQA made me dislike HST, but now we're okay and I almost kind of like them.

I couldn't decide how I wanted them laid out and then couldn't decide if I wanted to finish the quilt for myself so I pulled 9 of the blocks for this quilt.


The backing is the blue floral found in the middle square of the bottom left corner block. Now of course I want to keep this quilt for myself...a larger version though. 


I might like to break the rules sometimes. 

Quilt Stats:

• Size: Approx. 41” x 41” 
• Pattern: miscellaneous blocks from a BQA
• Fabric: California Girl by Moda Fabrics
• Quilting - straight line diagonal and up and down through the middle of each block

Finished Quilt 008

Quilt 007 - laying enchanted bricks

I don't know how to name quilts, it's so much easier to just number them. I tend to give them "old" lady names like Bernadette and Gertrude. I may just stick with numbering them for the time being. This quilt was made from the leftover fabric I had after making 18 churn dash blocks. I was able to get three 41" x  41" quilts out of 18 fat quarters. That's not bad. I still have some scraps left too. I'm thinking either a mini quilt or pillow.


Quilt Stats:

• Size: Approx. 41” x  41” 
• Pattern: bricks
• Fabric: Enchant by Riley Blake
• Quilting: straight line horizontal an inch from each seam

Quilt 007

100 Quilts, 100 Kids: Quilt 001 - churn dash

This is the first quilt completed for 100 Quilts, 100 Kids. I finished it probably over a month ago, but I just got around to photographing it today. All it needs is a good washing and it'll be ready to be the first in the donate pile.


The backing is a solid pink. Nothing fancy. I had a hard time getting the quilt to stay up on the lion things rump. The wind was not my friend.  


 Quilt Stats:

• Size: Approx. 41” x 41” 
• Pattern: churn dash
• Fabric: Enchant by Riley Blake  
• Quilting - straight line quarter inch from the seams in each block

Quilt 006

busy little bee

Over the last week and a half I've completed about 5 sewing projects and I have a couple more in the works. I can't get enough of my sewing machine. It bums me out some days when I have to go to work or go do other things. Here are a couple of photos taken with my SmartPhone.

• Pattern: Random HST 
• Fabric: Sweet as Honey and Bella Solids
• Quilting: 2 inch grid
• Size: 41 x 41 after washing

This is the fourth quilt that I've completed. I'm so in love with Sweet as Honey. I've got to get my hands on more of it before it's gone. It was hard color matching these solids, but I got through it. I had a third color picked out, but it didn't match at all when it arrived in the mail. That's okay though, because I think this quilt turned out just fine without it. I originally picked out the bee hive print for the binding, but then after I received some other fabric I ordered for the dress below, I switched them out. I think both projects look much better with my second choices.


My first Staple Dress. As you can see, I REALLY love Sweet as Honey. This dress was super easy to put together and I've already ordered fabric to make another one. For the pockets and neck and arm facings I used the bee hive fabric as a nice contrast. I love it. The weather is pretty cold here right now, but when it warms up I can't wait to wear it. I wouldn't mind 4 - 5 of these dresses to rotate through the summer. A black one, another solid, chambray and maybe two more prints. I thought about bringing the neck line down a little more into a scoop. We shall see. This is my first time making a dress, not sure I should go messing around with patterns just yet.



Art Gallery Fabrics are at the top of my list. Wanting to make something a little more simple, I worked on these two pillow cases. I bought some pillows a few weeks ago, but had been procrastinating on getting the pillow cases made. Indian Summer is neck and neck for my love with Sweet as Honey. So freakin' cute. I just need to buy some white sheets so the pillow cases match my bed and now I want to make a whole quilt. AGF are so soft. I like to lay in bed and rub the edge of the pillows in my fingers while I watch YouTube videos. I also grab for the inner seam and pinch it. It's comforting for some reason

The last two projects I completed I don't have pictures for as of right now. The first was  black maxi skirt with pockets. I love that it's so easy to add pockets to dresses/skirts. Working with knits isn't as nice as quilting cotton. I got pin straight into the cuticle. Ouch! The second was a fifth quilt with a modern aztec pattern. I found some fun fabric that said, I love to read, on the back and thought it'd be perfect for a friend. Super cute. I ran out of fabric and had to make the quilt work and it did. I hope my friend likes it.

I'm currently working on  couple more quilts for #100Quilts100Kids. I hope to have the tops finished this weekend. I'm waiting on the backing and binding to come in the mail and then I'll finish them up and add them to the pile. I'm also working on a new quilt holding bar. I stained the wood a nice dark brown today. I love it. Not sure if I'll seal it. I kind of like it just the way it is.

WTCraft - week 3

This project really only should've taken a day to complete, but I decided to drag it out over the course of the whole week. All I need to do to finish this up is throw it in the wash. I also don't have a label for it. I need to get some labels made. I know how I want to do them, just need to design them and have them printed. We'll see how that goes. Also, this quilt is for Quilts for Kids. I plan to make another one and send them off together.

top to bottom and left to right: cutting fabric, piecing, more piecing, pressing seams, basting, quilting, binding

WTCraft - week 2

A lot of crocheting this week. I tried thinking of different things to post every day. I didn't want people to get bored seeing the same project over and over, but then I thought it'd be cool to see how some projects go from start to finish. What do you think?

top to bottom and left to right: puppy bowtie, fabric for a wallet, cowl, wallet, jellyfish, the beginnings of a new cowl, half way done with a cowl.

practice makes perfect

I finished my first quilted envelope style pillow case the other night. This is the first project I've finished that is a) not practice and b) not for me. I think I did pretty well. I created it for Mommy for Reals. I plan to try to finish up another one before popping it into the mail. I love this fabric and think it'd be great for a teen girl. I'll have to purchase some more for my stash. No pictures of it on a pillow because I don't have a pillow to put in it. Adding that to my things to buy list. That list is getting pretty long.

I'm not sure if I basted it correctly. I didn't feel like getting on Google to look up how to baste. The colors in the picture on the top right look wonky because I didn't feel like waiting until morning. I had the itch to get quilting. I kept telling me I'd do one more row and then I'd stop and then never stopped. Then I said I'd wait until morning to bind it and that didn't happen either. I finished it all. I think I need a walking foot for quilting. My lines are less than perfect and it kinda bugs, but practice makes perfect. My binding is getting much better. I don't like the finishing up part of binding though. I might have to invest in the binding tool.

I'm linking this post up with Lily's Quilts Fresh Sewing Day. This is the only non-practice sewing item I've finished in June. I'm still working on Oh Lucy! and a couple of other projects. (Looking over the pictures and they look a little crappy. Oy!)

Linking up with Lily's Quilts Small Blog Meet as well. Thanks for stopping through and visiting my blog. I'm very new to quilting and enjoying it a lot. My blog isn't just quilting. I like to partake in a couple of other types of crafts too.

      
Also linking up with JAQS Studio Made by Me! Wednesdays. 

WIP it - a lot going on

I feel like I have a lot of sewing projects going on right now. This is new. I kinda like it. I'm excited to get to a finished product though.

I have the design and fabric cut for the pillow I'm doing for Mommy for Reals/TRAC. I don't know what you'd call that design, but I was inspired by a pillow on Flickr that I can't find. (Really, I'm a tad bit lazy to look for it and my computer is slow as molasses right now and I don't have the patience.) The grey will be the binding and backing. I'm thinking about using the same fabrics for a baby quilt for a friend. I really love the La Dee Da by Erin McMorris.

Here are the first three blocks for the Beginner's Quilt-Along. I was behind and now thankfully, I'm all caught up. I still need to buy one or two more solids for the sashing for this quilt. I'm in no rush though. We still have nine weeks to go. I love this California Girl fabric. I may have to buy more of it for something else.

And lastly my Lucy's Crab Shack Zig Zag quilt. I calculated the width wrong so it'll be much longer than it is wide. I'm still trying to figure out how I want to fix it, since it'll be an easy fix. Also, I keep seeing folks with design boards. I feel like I need one of those for this. I think I'll have to google how to make one, unless someone can point me in the direction on how to make one. I think it'd be really helpful with this quilt top.

I hope to get the pillow case done this week so I can get it into the mail ASAP. I believe the deadline is July 6th. I want to be ahead of the game so that I can possible make an extra pillow case. A lot of sewing to do on top of crocheting and possibly card making. I need to put some focus back into issa.ino business.

final decision and fabric selections

For the past couple of weeks I've been tossing around the idea of taking all the quilting posts off of this blog and moving them to a blog of their own. I felt like quilting was taking over the blog I'd created for my business and thought since quilting was new to me and just for fun that it didn't belong here. Then I asked my friend Allen of The AIDG what I should do and he told me that I should keep it all together and let folks follow my journey through quilting. And for reasons unbeknownst to me, it just made sense. So for now, quilting will stay on this blog. I'm gonna do my best to not let it take over.

Now let's talk quilting and fabric. I think it's funny that I've spent $200+ on fabric over the last month now that I've gotten into quilting. I'm trying to think of what I might have spent that money on otherwise and the only thing I can think of is probably food. At least quilts and pillows last longer.

I stopped by  my LQS, Crimson Tate last week and picked up these beautiful fabrics. La Dee Da by Erin McMorris and Spring Promise by Ana Davis. When I first picked them up, I intended for them to be the fabric for my Beginner's Quilt-Along. But when I got home and saw the package of fabric I'd ordered from Fresh Squeezed Fabric, I changed my mind and now they are the fabric for the TRAC pillow case that I'm making for Mommy for Reals.

I also picked up these lovely fabrics from Crimson Tate. My inspiration was the bottom piece. Yellow, berry, navy and grey. These will be for Randi of Fresh Squeezed Fabric's June Sew Along. The color palette I intended to go with was grey, berry, white and teal. I saw that bottom piece and changed my mind. Have you noticed a theme of indecisiveness here yet? I'm adding to this a berry fabric I picked up from Connecting  Threads and the grey from the first photo.

California Girl by Fig Tree for Moda. I love Moda fabrics. I picked this up from Fresh Squeezed Fabrics when Randi had it on sale. Love, love, love. I wasn't sure what I was going to do with it at first. I thought something with HST, but couldn't settle on anything in particular. Then when I opened up the package and looked at it all it just seemed right to use this for my Beginner's Quilt-Along quilt. I just need one or two solids to go with and I'm set. I love these colors and patterns, they're very soft.

And lastly, the last bit of fabric I plan to purchase for awhile, other than some fabric for a baby quilt for an old friend who's having her first baby. This is the berry fabric I'm adding to the Sew Along. I can't even remember why I picked those thread colors. I think the orange is for my Lucy Crab Shack quilt. I need to find a name for that. I'm also trying out the fusible batting. I heard it's good stuff.

I really wish I weren't working so much right now. I just want to get to sewing. I still need to buy a walking foot for the quilting. But I still have some time. I'm also contemplating buying a new sewing machine. Mine is pretty basic. I bought it refurbished from ebay almost 10 years ago. I wouldn't mind something a little fancier with fun stitches and what not. Any suggestions?

WIP it - smart or possibly lazy

I'ma go with smart. I wanted to get to work on my LCS quilt today and after sewing a few of the jelly roll strips together and using the painter's tape as a guide, I wondered if there was an easier way to make sure my seams stayed at 1/4". It came to me quickly as it's something I do when I've got to make the same cut on pieces of cardstock multiple times. I used a cardstock guide to butt the fabric up against. It worked like a charm. All I had to do was make sure my fabric was sandwiched together correctly.

I got all my LCS strips sewn together and then cut into squares. I started to lay them out and have discovered that my math was bad and my quilt will not be wide enough and will be extra long. I've already devised a plan to fix that, but it requires purchasing more fabric. No big deal, just not what I had planned. It happens I suppose. I'm still pretty excited for all of it to come together. I'm already planning out and buying fabric for my next couple of quilts.

I restarted on this hooded cowl for my old roommate while we were in Milwaukee this weekend. It was the wrong size. I was almost finished with it and had to pull out ever single stitch and start over. The goal is to get it finished this week so I can start on the second piece I need to make and then I can drop both in the mail and be done with them. I don't really do much crocheting in the summer. I think it's too warm out to be handling yarn. I've got a lot of crocheting to do though as I'll be vending in August at a fashion show.

Last WIP, I started doing cross stitch again. A chevron wall hanging to go with my chevron quilt. Not really, but since chevrons seem to be all the rage right now I thought, why not. I printed out some graph paper and created the pattern. Easy peasy. I have another design that I drew up that I'll start on after I finish this one.

I thought a lot today about what colors I wanted to use on the Beginner's Quilt Along quilt that I'll be playing catch up on tomorrow. I'm thinking grey, orange, teal/turquoise and white. The only thing I've bought so far is the white, so that's the only color that is a definite go. I'm pretty sure that's what I'll stick with though. I might throw in a fifth color though. Maybe a limey green. What do you think?

Also, I'm still on the fence. Move quilting to it's own blog or keep it here? What do you think?

WIP it - *light bulb moment*

I figured out why my seams and sizes weren't right today. It really was a light bulb/duh moment. The guide I was using was not 1/4" like I thought it was, because the foot I'm using isn't a 1/4" foot. Genius I am. I figured out that the feed dog was 1/4" though and then thought, well...I can't see that edge when there's fabric in the way...what am I doing to do? *ding, ding, ding* Use painter's tape. Such a magical thing that stuff is. So far, so good. Nice even seams and straight lines.

I started working on my Lucy's Crab Shack quilt today after I figured out what was wrong with my seams. Yay! I really didn't want to open up that jelly roll, but I had to do it. I have to say though that I'm not a fan of the pinked edges. Lots of fabric bits everywhere.

picking the order of the zig zags

I'm pretty much following this tutorial here for the zig zags (I like it because she doesn't use triangles, I don't want to learn triangles just yet, maybe next quilt). The only thing I'm not using is a solid, so I had to adjust how I am doing my strips and how they'll sit on the quilt and my quilt will be smaller. I'm not quite sure how much smaller at this point though because I'm unsure of my calculations. I'm okay with that though. This is my first quilt and I'm all for experimenting with the size of it and what not.