A Birthday Gift

I have a friend who has a birthday in a few days. I wanted to have a gift for her when we have lunch together on Friday so I went looking on Pinterest for some ideas.  I found a picture of these small fabric trays. After deciding what I would make and the fabric I was going to use, I remembered that I had a piece of the Pellon Flex Foam 1 Sided Fusible Stabilizer that I had purchased some time ago.  I had watched some videos on how to use it and thought that this might be a good project to try it on. I had some 10 inch squares that I thought would work well with what I wanted to make. 

 The fabric had been chosen and the Flex Foam fused to the back side of the fabric that I wanted to be the inside lining -- the fabric that could be seen the most. After laying the outside  square on top of the lining piece, I squared up the block and sewed around the whole square leaving an opening so that it could be turned. As I began turning the piece inside out I realized that I had turned the one piece of fabric the wrong way. There was no way I was going to try ripping out the stitching so I just decided that was the way it was going to stay and that it would be mine to keep. I went ahead and finished it. Later I was able to fill it with 2 1/2 inch half square triangles. Four stacks fit perfectly.

So it was then time to make the second one that I would use for the birthday gift. This time I got the fabric turned the correct way.

This afternoon I was able to make a birthday card for Linda. I think that this was the first card that I have made in about a year. 

I pray that all are safe and managing these difficult days well.

Triangle In A Square

In quilting we have many blocks that use triangles to create design. We have many different triangle rulers -- right triangles, 30 degrees triangles, 60 degrees triangles, etc. One of the triangles that I had not seen used until recently is called the "isosceles" triangle. The base and the height of this triangle are equal. Creative Grids has a ruler called "Tri-Recs Triangle ruler. It is actually made up of two rulers. As I saw quilts made with this triangle, I knew that it was one that I would have to try one way or another. I think one of the things about this square is that it creates movement in the over-all quilt design. My illustration below shows the square, then what a block would like when we take four squares, do a little rotation and sew them together as a four-patch. I love this.

Well, I had to give this block a try. I needed a table topper to go with a wall hanging that I have up in my livingroom made out of  Moda"s grunge fabric. I had been collecting fat quarters of the grunge fabric. Guess I really like it. I got the fabric out and started cutting. The finished table topper measures approximately 27" x 27". This project took me just a few days to make.My biggest challenge was getting the center of the spinner's to match up. It did get easier as I went along.

Dachshunds -- Lots and Lots

This is another quilt that I just finished. The fabric with the dachshunds was given to me by a friend some months ago. I was always looking for a pattern for inspiration. One day I found that pattern. I was able to find the perfect border fabric in my stash. And here is the finished quilt. It measures 35" x 45". When I was piecing the top together, I got down to the bottom red strip. Guess what? I had no more red. I had to wait for several weeks before any of the quilt stores opened up.

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I used a pretty piece of flannel for the backing and did all the quilting myself.

My "Fancy Foxes Quilt"

Sometime ago I saw a picture of  a quilt made with a pattern called "Fancy Foxes". I was hoping to try and make a quilt of my own someday. Well, with all the time we have spent at home these past four months I got my chance.

I needed some little boy quilts and decided that this would be the perfect time to make this pattern. I tried to figure out how to make the block myself. I got pretty close but could not get the lower part of his face to look right. So. I found the pattern was made by Elizabeth Hartman and was available as a PDF download. So as soon as my PayPal payment when through, I was able to download the pattern. Here is a link to the pattern -- Fancy Foxes.

Oh, what fun I had seeing each fox's face completed.

The finished quilt measures 34" x 46". For the background I used Kona medium gray fabric that I had purchased at JoAnn Fabrics. Thankfully I had written the color along one of the selvages because I ran out of the fabric. When I was able to go into the store earlier this month I found that they still had some of the fabric.

For the backing, I had a piece of light gray flannel that was perfect. I pray that some little baby boy will enjoy this quilt.

"William"--The Baby Bear Quilt

This quilt, called "William" is a pattern that can be found in the book Fat Quarter Baby Book by It's Sew Emma . The first time I saw a picture of this quilt I fell in love with it. I was looking for  a design for baby boys and this quilt was the perfect answer. The quilt will be donated to one of the charities that our Pieces and Patches Quilt Guild sponsors. It really was a very simple pattern to do. I got a lot of enjoyment out of making the quilt and I hope some little boy will enjoy having it.

I used 2-inch finished squares so this quilt is a little small. The quilt finished to 34" x 38". If you used 2.5-inch finished squares, your quilt would measure 42.5" x 47.5". If you were to use 3-inch finished squares, the quilt would finish to 51" x 57".

4-Patch Stacked Posies

A couple of years ago, Mary Lou Hallenbeck was the speaker at the Pieces and Patches Quilt Guild in Jackson, Michigan. She had written a pattern which she called "Four Patch Stacked Posies". I knew that this was something I really wanted to try. Not long after that, I had a chance to visit the East Lansing Country Stitches store. I found this material on sale that I thought would work for this technique.

Finally, I had a chance to give it a try last month. The first step is to find the repeat of the print and cut four pieces using that repeat. The challenge comes at trying to get all four pieces lined up, one on top of the other perfectly. Using lots of straight pins and lots of time I came pretty close.

My repeat was about twelve inches. I did not try to cut the strips on the width of the fabric. I cut my strips vertically and then cut  that strip into three 3 1/2-inch squares.

From these squares, I have four squares that are identical. By putting the same point in the middle I get four, very different blocks. The four squares are sewn together as a four patch. Sometimes, it was really hard to decide which way I wanted to sew them together because I liked all my choices with the four squares.

Here are three different designs using these four identical squares. Not sure why I have only three pictures, but my guess is that I didn't like the fourth choice.

First choice

Second choice

Third choice

I have all my squares sewn together in blocks. When I am able to get to a quilt shop, I will get some coordinating fabric to finish the quilt. It will be nice size lap quilt or wall hanging.

Continuing To Learn

Every once in a while, I sit down at the sewing machine and practice "Free Motion Quilting". It looks so easy when watching a video. BUT IT IS NOT EASY. The teachers say "practice, practice, practice".  Boy, is that a true statement.

These placemats were done the last of February and the very first part of March. The quilting does not show up in the picture very well. On the middle red, I used loops and meandering. On the outside sections, I did straight line quilting.

On the following placemat, I tried pencil quilting. I love the effect, but I was surprised at how much the fabric migrated during the quilting process, even though I thought that I had pinned the quilt sandwich together well. I think I was able to salvage the placemat, but I see the distortion every time I look at the picture.

I am enjoying the sunshine this afternoon here in Jackson, Michigan. Praying that everyone who sees this post is well and enjoying your day.

It Is Finished!!!

Getting a project finished is a great feeling. We began a sew-along at our Pieces and Patches Quilt Guild in August of 2018. We were doing one square a week using Lori Holt's Farm Girl Vintage book. During the winter as I had time I would work on my blocks. I finished my blocks in mid July, 2019. During next few weeks, I got all the blocks sewn together. The only thing left was to add the border, have it quilted and put the binding on.

During the summer I bought fabric for the border, back and binding. In February 2020, I began thinking about getting it finished. The guild quilt show was coming up in May, and it would be fun to show it there. After putting the first piece of border on, I knew immediately that it was not not the right fabric. I found a piece of fabric from my "stash" and decided to use it. It worked beautifully. Got the borders sewn on, took it to Jeanne to be quilted and put the border on a few days after I got it home.

I love my quilt. I made all 6-inch squares. I learned so much.

I got it finished!

The Red, White and Blue "Sawtooth" Star

A few days ago I saw a picture of this quilt block on Pinterest and immediately knew that I wanted to make something using it. I figured that if I made four squares, that would be enough for a table topper for Memorial Day or the Fourth of July. By using 2 1/2"strips and 2 1/2" blocks, the overall block would measure 16 inches, making the table topper finish at 32" x 32". Once I found my red, white and blue fabrics, I was all set to give it a try.

Love the result. Simple but very patriotic. 

"Oh My Stars" # 2

I needed a project that was not to complicated this week. So I pulled out the "Oh My Stars" pattern from Pat Sloan. This made for a fun, easy, quick project. I pulled the squares from my collection of 5-inch squares that I have been cutting from my scarps. The only fabric I had to cut was two squares and the points on the stars.

This is a charity quilt that will be donated to "Together We Can Make a Different" that works in the city of Jackson, Michigan. The Quilt size will finish at 42 x 50 inches.

Staying In

These days are difficult. I pray that each one who reads this post is staying well and heathy. Since March 11, my husband and I have been staying in away from other people. I have had to go to the supermarket a few of times. I have gone about 7 o'clock a.m. There have been a few people there which I felt was manageable.

I have been able to spend time at my sewing machine working on finishing some of my projects. This one is a very simple 9 patch with only two colors and two pieces of fabric.

I love the 9-patch block. It is easy but can look very different depending on the color and the choice of fabric used. All the fabric for this quilt I found on sale at a couple of my favorite area quilt shops. The light pink was from the Moda collection "Downstairs at Downten Abby" and the darker fabric was from the "Prairie Cactus" collection from Kansas Troubles Quilters for Moda Fabrics The second fabric that I purchased to help finish the back was "Fresh Cut Flowers" also from Kansas Troubles Quilters for Moda Fabrics. The colors matched perfectly.

I did the quilting on my home machine using one of the decorative stitches. I have seen it referred to as a "wiggle" stitch or a "serpentine" stitch.

When I  got ready to sandwich the quilt top, I realized that I did not have enough fabric for the backing. The piece I had was not wide enough and I didn't have enough of the pink fabric to add the inches that I needed to make it wide enough. One morning I told Don that we were going to take a little trip. I wanted to get biscuits and gravy at Hardee's for breakfast and I wanted to go to the Quilts at the Marshal House Quilt Shop to see if I could find something that would let me be able to finish  the quilt back. I found the perfect piece and it was on sale. I used all the pink fabric I had left over to make two strips that were 3-inches wide by the length of  the backing fabric. Between those two strips, I added the new fabric to make it big enough to use as the backing.

Another Project Finished

Several months ago, I went to my sewing room with the idea that I was going to discard (throw away) "my scraps." I picked up the box where I had placed scraps leftover from a number of projects. About the time I was ready to toss it all in the garbage can, I could not do it. I saw squares that could be cut from those pieces and used for something. I decided to cut the scraps into 5-inch squares, then 2 1/2-inch squares. Anything smaller than that I would throw away. As I cut squares, it seemed that my scraps continued to grow. I ended up with lots and lots of squares.

Now I have been working to turn those squares into children's size charity quilts. I finished the second quilt for this year on Saturday.

This quilt was made basically with 2 1/2-inch squares. I made the large square using sixteen 2 1/2-inch squares. For the second square, I made a 4 patch surrounded with a background fabric cut into 2 1/2-inch strips. I used a piece of flannel for the back of the quilt and did my own quilting on my sewing machine. I truly hope that this quilt will make some child warm and happy.

The blocks finished to 8-inch squares. The finished size was 40 x 56-inches.

First for 2020

This is the first charity quilt for 2020 that is actually finished. I took 5" squares, cut them in half (5" x 2 1/2") and added a 2 1/2" square on one end. These pieces were sown into rows with the rows then being sewn together. The finished size is 40" x 48". I found a piece on fabric in the closet that worked for the backing.

To finish off the quilt, I used the "magic binding". The blue strip measured 1 1/4" and the red strip measured 1 1/2". When those two strips are sewn together and pressed, the 1/4" flange is created. The binding is sewn to the back side of the quilt, turned to the front and stitched where the two pieces come together. Using a matching thread makes the stitching almost invisible.

Third In The Set

Today  I am posting the third placemat that I just finished. Again I went to my scrap basket, sewed several strips together and made this placemat. I quilted it much like the other two.

Here is a picture of the quilting. All was done using the IDT on my Pfaff sewing machine. I used a decorative stitch that I have seen called "the wiggly stitch".  I reduced the width of the stitch from 9mm down to 6.5mm and increased the length from 3.2mm to 3.6mm. Then I just follow the seam lines. This stitch is very forgiving. If I happen to get off a little, it doesn't show.

For the borders, the machine was set for a regular straight stitch. As I sewed across the border I moved the fabric from side to side to create the waves. No lines to follow and I can make it as wavy as I want. This is an easy way to add the quilting to your work.

A New Year -- 2020

I can hardly believe that the first month of 2020 is gone. Here in Michigan we have had some really warm days and a few really cold days. We have also had a couple of large snow storms.

Parkinson's Disease continues to be a controlling factor in my days. My husband has some really good days and then there are days that are difficult. We try to take each day as a gift. Over the past few months I seem to be doing more and more quilting and less of the card making. I am trying to use fabric that I have on hand and I am also trying to become better at free motion quilting.

I took strips from my scarp basket and sewed them together to make some placemats. I then tried different ways of quilting them. It has been good to try something new. These placemats will be donated to "Meals On Wheels" in a few weeks.

Each mat measures approximately 12 x 16-inches. The pictures are not the greatest but the quilting shows up well.