My Quilty Conscience!

Recycled fabric: Dog bed

2011-01-18T02:32:00.000-06:00

I've been madly cleaning out boxes and closets lately. I came across this stashed in a box in a closet- My father in Law's old hunting outfit. It's heavy, made of thick wool, and The fabric was in great shape.

I just can't see my husband ever wearing red pants for any occasion, so it was either toss it or recycle it..And then the dog curled up on it and I had a bright idea.

Our floor get a little cool during the winter, so I thought I'd cut up the pants and make a nice doggie bed for Shnicklefritz to sit on when I'm at the computer. The dog loved the idea, he seemed to understand that it was for him, and he helped me figure out exactly what size to make it.

I was getting pretty good at working around the dog, when the cats decided to see what all the fuss was about. They chased the dog off his spot and fought over it themselves.

It is hard to measure things in the middle of a catfight, so I just made a video instead and called it entertainment. During the cat fight I decided to use an old wool skirt for the back of it..And even made use of the zipper in the skirt to leave an opening for removing or adding stuffing.

I finally did get the bed done, the animals settled on who got to sit on it, and I remembered why I usually put the critters in the bedroom when I work on sewing projects.

Santa Quilt

2011-01-18T02:10:00.002-06:00

My mom saw this pattern in a quilt shop, and admired it, so of course, I wanted to make one for her for Christmas.. It's called "Nine Nicks" by Qwiltz Patterns.

I started cutting out the pieces and realized I wanted to make two - one for me to keep! The curves were a little tricky.

I wanted to make the Santas of different colors, since we have varying colors of Santas in our family..

I used the traditional reds and greens for my Mom's quilt, and choose some snazzy, glittery blues for mine.

Here's mom's quilt all finished ( and I did get it done in time for her to hang before her Christmas Party!)

Mine is still waiting to be completely put together.. I don't think of it as late, just extra early for next Christmas.

Kaleidoscope Quilt

2010-09-05T05:03:00.003-05:00

Or Stack n Whack, One Block Wonder. I've seen a few names for this sort of quilt. You start with a loud patterned fabric with repeats every 23 inches or so.

You make cuts of the fabric, stack up the sections, and cut out 8 identical triangles.

Then you sew the triangles together and watch all the different patterns pop out like magic:

I tried making some 4 triangle squares, just to see what it would look like:

and here's all the blocks I made from that one piece of fabric:

Yo-Yo maker

2010-09-05T04:47:00.000-05:00

being the complete sucker for gadgets that I am, I could not resist picking up a few of these little darlings...Yo yo makers..Not just round ones, like my great grandmothers made, but cute little heart and flower ones, and in two sizes:

Is that adorable or what? I rooted out a pile of tiny scraps from my fabric stash and took it all with me on a car trip.

I started putting them together And I think it might be a cute little wallhanging
or maybe a little dolly quilt:

My favorite piece of fabric:

Attic Window I Spy Quilt

2010-04-18T01:15:00.002-05:00

Ah Spring! Lots of Babies coming - to friends, not to me :) and incoming babies mean lots of quilts to make! Here's 2 I have in progress..

I started with some bright colorful fat quarters of novelty fabric, cut them into squares:

then added the sashing:

I used a slick new trick for making half square triangles.. I'll show that in a separate post. The half square triangle is what make the optical illusion work on the Attic window quilt. here's Quilt 1 all pieced together:

And Quilt 2 almost all pieced together..

Now to add borders, Backing and quilt them!

Fleece coat ...for my dog

2010-02-01T21:53:00.001-06:00

This wasn't too hard at all. Of course, I had to add some dreads to it, so he wouldn't feel left out. The weird thing is I think Schnicklefritz really likes his coat. I put it on him a few times to adjust the fit, and when I had it finished, he happily stuck his nose in it and pranced around.

It is a rare sight to see snow here in Arkansas ...

Rasta Fleece Hat

2010-01-30T22:43:00.000-06:00

And one more hat.. A rasta dread hat. My husband wanted it.. i'm not sure why, but he's cute, so I made him one.

I have some fleece scraps left over, and I hate to throw them out, but it isn't enough to do much with. so I think the dog is getting a fleece coat. Maybe the cats will too.

cozy Fleece hats

2010-01-08T15:10:00.000-06:00

Thanks to the cold weather, I have had time to work on several projects - and actually get them done!
Mollie's Kitty hat:

And Jake's...Dreadlock hat. He wanted it to look like this, I promise.

Knitted socks

2010-01-08T15:06:00.001-06:00

I finished the socks I made for my Aunt, and mailed them off yesterday. They were supposed to be for Christmas and as much as I procrastinate, since I am only a few weeks late, I am doing pretty good!

I use the two socks on two circs method. I can't handle double pointed needles, If I did one at a time I would never do the second one. And I don't have to count for the second sock, I can just do the same thing on each row, and end up with socks the same size.

I used a worsted weight wool, and size 6 needles, so they are pretty thick and cozy.

And here they are all finished!! I get a kick out of seeing them grow.

Raggy Quilt - Sarah

2009-10-27T04:28:00.000-05:00

My Friend Sarah's version of the raggy quilt:

She made a sweet baby quilt with Minky, chenille and a flannel - Lots of texture and really cute!

And she made this one too:

She got really fancy with the quilting on the squares, it really looks beautiful. I love the fabrics she choose.

Quilt repair 4

2009-10-01T18:53:00.000-05:00

This part was badly damaged, the fabric was coming apart, the bating was missing, and there was a huge rip on the back:

BAck:

I sewed up the back first, removed the entire square of damaged fabric, and replaced the batting using batting from th edge That I had cut off.

I used feedsack fabric to make a new square and hand sewed it in:

Quilt repair 3

2009-10-01T18:45:00.001-05:00

Now this one was tricky..

I only had to remove 1 inch from this side as well.
I had to cut out a bit of the damaged part, and replace some batting

Here again I used a patch of feedsack fabric salvaged from another quilt, Sewed the patch by hand, and then refolded the binding and re-sewed it.

Quilt repair 2

2009-09-30T03:21:00.003-05:00

Another area of the quilt:

Still working on the edges, I cut off just a inch off this edge to allow for rebinding

Fix:

more of the rebound edges

Quilt repair 1

2009-09-30T03:20:00.000-05:00

Repairing an old quilt is a painstaking progress..
A friend of mine asked me to do a few fix ups on her grandmother's quilt.

Here's one part of the damage:

And the fix:

The fabric had just disintegrated here, so I had to patch over it. Since the batting here was gone, I used a little batting from a part of the edge I cut off and padded it before adding the patch. I used a piece of feedsack material salvaged from another old quilt to handsew a patch.

Next problem:

Fix:

I removed the fabric at the tear on that edge, about 3 inches, to allow enough room to cut off the damged portion of binding and rebind the edge. The back of the quilt was a lovely blue polka dot fabric and the quilter had folded over the edge of the backing to bind it..I wanted to keep it true tp the original , so I did it the same way.

The Roc-Lon people

2009-09-30T02:20:00.000-05:00

A few days ago, I entered a blog contest on Kelly's blog, I have a Notion.
http://ihaveanotion.blogspot.com/2009/09/roc-lon-challenge-photos-and-winner.html

The Roc-Lon company ( Rockland Industries) sponsored the contest and even had a very nice prize package for the winner! I was familiar with Roc-Lon from using their Total Light Control Blackout drapery lining for curtains - and was very pleased with how much the curtains insulated the windows.

The contest was fun, each person was sent a 8 1/2" by 11" piece of Roc-Lon Multipurpose cloth to use in a project.
here was my little project - I made a small puppet theater for the kids to play with:

I didn't win, but I did have fun making a tiny little puppet theater that my kids have really enjoyed playing with, and I loved seeing what everyone else came up with.

This morning I got a very nice e-mail from an Administrative assistant at Rockland Industries thanking me for entering the contest. What a lovely personal touch!

Paper doll Quilt

2009-08-15T15:03:00.000-05:00

I love this fabric! Snippets By American Jane for Moda. It's so sweet, paper dolls, and little dolly clothes! It was the perfect choice for a friend's baby quilt:

Back of Quilt:

Watermelon hat and dress

2009-08-15T14:55:00.000-05:00

After I finished the hat, I decided to make a little watermelon to applique onto a dress so she'd have a matching set:

I even thought ahead - I can take the applique off and put in on another dress for next year, and make the hat a little bigger too, if need be.

It's all pieced!

2009-07-25T00:01:00.000-05:00

Okay so I didn't get it all sewn together that day. I ran into a few problems- I had to re-piece two blocks that I somehow put together backwards. That and I had laundry screaming at me too. But It's done.

All I have to do now is send it off to my Quilter, Becky. Thank God for Becky! After becky works her magic on it, this quilt will go live with my mom, and have a special spot in the "grandkid's room" at her house.

Finishing this quilt meant a lot more to me than I thought. After I had the last seam sewn, I laid it out out on the floor to take a picture of it - and I cried.

Why so sappy over a quilt top? I don't usually cry over finishing one, I'm usually happy to have it done and out of my hair. But this one was more than just a sewing project. It was a huge mess that I had the chance to fix!

Here is what I started with I messed this up really bad, and it is one of those rare moments in life when you get a chance for a do over.

Most importantly, this quilt is proof that I finished a project! One thing I do not like about myself is that I had a habit of starting a lot of stuff but didn't always see it through. Heck, the main reason I started this blog was to motivate myself to finish up my UFO's! And look, it's working!

All the blocks are Done!

2009-07-17T10:10:00.000-05:00

I am on the home stretch! I have all the blocks pieced, and Now I just need to arrange them and sew the blocks together. The quilt will be 9 blocks by 7 blocks, but my design wall isn't quite big enough for 7 rows until they are sewn together. So now I just have to fiddle around with how I want the colors to line up, and with a little help from my son, I should have this together today!

Blue and White tea set

2009-07-15T07:00:00.001-05:00

I finally got 'er done. This one is up for sale in My Etsy Shop

These are so fun to make. Hopefully I will bring in a little extra cash for Christmas!

Fabric finds

2009-07-10T09:22:00.000-05:00

I always love adding to my fabric stash.. here's a few of my latest finds..A little more of the Snippets by American Jane. I like everything in that line. Oh how I adore the paper dolls and sweet toys! And the batiks, just like candy, so hard to resist. I don't think I'll ever buy a solid color fabric again.

I especially loved the chicken fabric. I think I may make a zippy little retro apron out of them , and a dress for Mollie with the ladybugs.

Progress on feedsack Quilt

2009-07-10T09:15:00.001-05:00

Moving right along with the "Ugly Quilt" Remake.... my quilt is growing..

Friday, 4 rows done, and the rest of the pieces sorted into baggies:

And my progress for Sunday:
Five rows finished!

And I pieced the rest of the blocks this far:

I did cheat a bit and hired out the ironing..sure did make things go a lot faster.

Monday and Tuesday's work:

Crochet watermelon hat

2009-06-24T01:11:00.000-05:00

I finished another project!!
Here's a crocheted watermelon hat I made for my little girl:

Ugly Quilt contest

2009-06-19T14:17:00.001-05:00

Oh, the things you stumble upon on the internet!

Doesn't everybody have a quilt that just didn't go the way you wanted it to? Maybe it was your first quilt, the one that you learned all the "rules" on..Maybe you've hidden that thing in a closet too embarrassed to hang it on a wall.

It's time to trot out that that trainweck and put it to good use! Get a good pic of that sucker, and enter it in "What was I thinking?" The Ugly Quilt Contest . Let's have a good laugh, learn from our mistakes, and maybe win a sweet prize for your uh..creation.

Here's the quilt I entered
If you enter one, let me know in the comments!

Stained Glass Quilt

2009-06-17T23:25:00.000-05:00

Another UFO done! I know it wasn't on my list of UFOs but, well, I have a lot of UFOs laying around. This is my Mother's Christmas Present. Yes, I mean last Christmas. Yes, I know it is June. Technically it was all finished a few months ago ( but not before Christmas), but I decided to add a quilt label on the back.

I got the idea for this quilt from a church in Grayson County Virginia. My Mother does a lot of genealogy research, and tracked down a slew of our Ancestors in that county. There is a pretty little church there, with beautiful stained glass windows, and a few of the windows had our ancestors name's on them.

I started with a foundation fabric, and sketched out the lines of the pieces, and sewed blocks onto the foundation:

Then I added bias tape for the leading:

It was hard to quilt on my machine, and next time I will hire that part out. It was the first stained Glass project I've done, and I'd really like to do more. Overall I was pleased with it. And it's for my mother, so I'm sure she'll like it. Your mother has to like your artwork, it's some sort of rule.

Quilt Qua

2009-06-13T11:47:00.001-05:00

I came across this wonderful new Quilting site recently :

Quilt Qua

Oh my , what a lot of resources.. My favorite is the Giveaway page, several contests and giveaways just for quilters!

There is a page of Quilt blog links, to find other quilters; a page to find Quilt shops and museums across the US, and plenty of useful articles.

Right now there is a giveaway for a lovely Holly Taylor Fat Quarter bundle for telling a friend about the site!

UFO for the summer

2009-06-13T01:46:00.001-05:00

I always have several projects going at once, and The very reason I blog is that I hope to push myself into actually finishing all the things I start. Here's the latest round of UFO's ( besides the feedsack quilt and the Rug below) but Hey, I did finish the Silk Tie dress, so that counts, right?

This dress is very comfy, and I wear it around the house because it just feels good on. But I really don't like the flowery print, and I want to make it a bit longer, so I thought I'd try to copy it in a bright happy loud tie dye fabric. I have the skirt cut out..

I saw a really cute Watermelon hat at my favorite kids clothing store, and thought I'd try to make one for Mollie. It's a small project, I keep it in my purse and take it along to the park and work on it while the kids play.

I have been hanging onto some of My daughter's clothes to make into a little quilt. Most of the pieces are knit, and I thought the pieces and patterns would look cute in a charm quilt, with hexagons. I don't really sew a lot with knits, so this may very well be a disaster, but at least it will be a small disaster. I even cut some small squares for a matching Dolly quilt.

Recycling T Shirts 1 : a rug

2009-06-13T01:21:00.000-05:00

This projects started as a swap for some fabric with a friend. She wanted a rug, and I wanted her stash..So I learned to make a rug.

I started with a pile of old t shirts in bright colors, washed and dried them,and used a rotary cutter to cut into strips about an inch wide and 4 inches long:

I cut up several shirts at a time, and sorted into bags by color. I used the mesh that is used for making latch hook rugs as the base:

And used a latch hook tool to pull one end of a strip of fabric through the mesh

And then tied a knot

Trial and error proved that I didn't need to put a knot in every row, I did two rows, and skipped a row, and skipped a row diagonally as well. the t shirt material will full up space and stand straight up, giving a nice thick, fluffy rug:

Recycling silk ties 1: dress

2009-06-13T00:42:00.000-05:00

Maybe you have a stash of silk ties in your closet, or can raid your friend's.. at worst you can buy plenty of silk ties at yard sales and thrift shops for a quarter a tie. A friend of mine made a tie skirt and I wanted to try it too.

I started with a pile of 100% silk ties and gutted them. It doesn't take long to take them apart and I had no idea what was inside.

Then toss a few ties at a time the ties into the sink , handwash with cool water and a little mild detergent. Some ties might run color, so I washed like colors together. hang over the shower rod to air dry.

Now iron flat - I used a little spray starch too, to make it easier to handle. There is a lot more material than I thought in a tie!

Then I just started stitching them together, starting from the widest end, (two rows of stitching to make it less likely to ravel). keep going until you have enough width to wrap around , and sew those end together. The bias cut of the ties will have enough stratch that most likely won't need to add a zipper.

I added a band around the top for a little extra stability, and cut off the bottom points of the ties and hemmed just a little bit.

and here it is all finished: ( yes, that is a duct tape dress form)

Back view:

Bright Ideas

2009-05-17T02:48:00.000-05:00

As usual, when I am working on one project, my mind darts around thinking up other projects to do next..

I wanted to try to crochet a set of nesting dolls.. I haven't seen a pattern for any, so maybe I'll try making it up as I go.

That made me think of a little doll I had years ago..It was a little red riding hood, and when you turned her upside down, and flipped her dress over, there was a wolf in grandma's nightgown. That would be fun to crochet too..

And I can't quite get my fill of crocheting teasets. I picked up some embroidery floss in gold and Silver today so I could try making a crochet teaset fit for Sunday Dinner..Just like the gold-edged dishes my mom used for special occasions.

Oh, and Mollie wants a Skippyjon Jones doll..So I will need to crochet one of those too, I suppose.

Just as soon as I finish the two quilts, one pair of socks,2 crocheted purses, the rug, and the mini teaset I am working on now....Oh Dear.

Feedsack Quilt - Fresh Start!

2009-05-17T02:39:00.000-05:00

I decided to use the Snail's trail pattern with the feedsack material I took apart. I set to work re-cutting the triangles:

And started piecing the blocks. I used a red from the Snippets line by Moda to contrast with the feedsack fabrics

I am so pleased with how it looks this time around!

I have decided I like it so much I am going to make a second quilt for me to keep.

Hello Kitty crochet bag - almost done!

2009-05-11T00:54:00.000-05:00

I crocheted a Hello Kitty Bag for my Little daughter. You can see the beginnings of it here http://mamacatbluequilts.blogspot.com/2009/04/crochet-hello-kitty-bag.html

I've added a lining, Sewed on the eyes and nose and tomorrow I put on the whiskers..Maybe she'll get it before college.

Feedsack Quilt

2009-05-10T23:28:00.000-05:00

I started this quilt about 10 years ago, when I was very new to quilting.

I got it about halfway finished and stopped in frustration, packed it all in a box and hid it. For years it has been bothering me, and finally I did something about it. Or At least I started doing something about it..

Before:

And the back..This is when I learned all about how important seam allowance is:

This past week, I took a Seam Ripper to it and pulled every bit of it apart, and threw out the horrid white material I had used:

After several hours of picking seams and ironing, I now have a motley assortment of triangles. 10 years of this quilt mocking me, and I had the last laugh! Now to figure out what to actually do with them..

UPDATE!
Here's how the remake of this quilt is going

Update again!
The finished top

Kameleon Quilt - two quilts in one

2009-04-18T19:54:00.000-05:00

Here's an update on "Growing Season"..

Eldrid Royset Forde designed this Pattern. The name of the pattern is "Kameleon Quilt Night and Day". It can be found at her website Kameleon Quilt Tekstildesign

I love the idea of having a quilt that changes. Here's my completed version.
First the solids, which makes me think of the early days of spring, at planting time

Then the harvest season, when the garden offers it's bounty

Close up of the middle with solids showing

And the middle with the corn and chickens showing

The secret to getting two looks out of the quilt is the flaps that move back and forth and fasten onto a button in the center of the squares. The flaps have a different fabric on the back so when it is moved and buttoned in the opposite direction, you see the fabric underneath.

Mending Day and Guilt

2009-04-13T00:10:00.000-05:00

It is so very satisfying to work through the pile in the mending basket. Especially when the things in the mending basket have been taunting me with cries of "But I've been in here a year" and "Hem me before the kid outgrows me already!"

I was feeling a little rotten for putting off so many little easy things that had grown into a huge pile. It would take forever to do it all..but it didn't.

So I took an afternoon and worked on the mending pile.. It felt so thrifty to hem the ragged edged pants into shorts..and to shorten the sleeves on a few shirts so my daughter could wear them from another season.I saved a lot of money on clothes! I got on a roll and sewed on 3 missing buttons, fixed a ripped strap on a dress, and several of the 5-minute fixes that I just put off doing for no real reason.

I worked through my guilt and procrastination piece by piece, my guilt started to melt away I started to feel pretty good about my accomplishments. I couldn't help but think of the other mending basket I have. The one nobody can see.

The phone calls I put off..the letter I should write, the friend I should make. The things I keep meaning to attend to, just put off- for no good reason. All these things I know I should do, and the longer I put them off the worse I feel.

So tomorrow, I think I'll have another mending day.
Join me.

Crochet Hello Kitty Bag

2009-04-08T01:25:00.000-05:00

I absolutely loved this pattern! I saw it on a website, and when I started looking for the pattern, I found that the The pattern is published by Sanrio...In Japanese.

Now I don't read any Japanese, but I really wanted to try this pattern, so I tracked down the book here: Saucy Louise's Shop. The name of the book is Hello Kitty Pompom Mascots and Knit Goods Vol 14

The inside of the book looks like this:

Here's what I have done on the bag so far..

And I decided to line it with a coordinating fabric..

Raffle for Wii

2009-03-24T12:50:00.000-05:00

A good friend of mine is raising funds for March of Dimes. Her beautiful baby girl was born 13 weeks early. Here's sweet Molly at 10 weeks

To learn how to support March of Dimes and Join in on a raffle to win an Awesome Wii Bundle, just go here:
Molly's Mission Raffle for Wii

Crocheted Miniature Tea Set

2009-03-24T01:34:00.000-05:00

A while ago, A friend of mine showed me a picture of an adorable crocheted teaset she saw on Etsy. You can see it here, just click on this link:
GingersnapBoutique on Etsy

I immediately bought the pattern and made several for gifts and even sold a few. The pattern is very clear, well written, and thorough. My little girl was delighted with them and asked me to make her a tiny one..

Cupcake on the left is made from Simply Soft yarn and size E crochet hook, Cupcake on right is made with crochet cotton thread and size 12 crochet hook:

The doily is 6 inches across:

Moda Jelly Rolls

2009-03-22T05:49:00.000-05:00

Oh My, are these ever delightful!
I purchased 4 jelly rolls of Moda's 5 Funky Monkeys Line, and made 3 quilts with the strip Quilting Method. These make up very quickly, since the fabric is already cut in strips:

Queen sized one for my Daughter:

One Baby Quilt That my son helped sew for a friend of ours:

And yet another Baby quilt for a friend:

All Patterns are from the book Strip Happy...Quilting on a Roll.

Working with Solvy

2009-03-22T05:07:00.000-05:00

Using Solvy for Applique can eliminate a lot of headaches: You can avoid hand turning under edges, do machine applique with neater results, and it works out pretty quickly, allowing you the time to do more elaborate Applique pieces.

Here's how I used it a on Halloween kitty Quilt. Solvy is a marvelous product that looks like clear plastic, usually comes in a roll - and best of all, Solvy dissolves in water, so it will wash away when you wash your quilt.

1. I used or a window to trace my pattern onto freezer paper. ( who needs a light box?) Cut one pattern apart and used the second for reference. If you have a lot of pieces you may want to number them .

2. Traced each pattern piece onto the wrong side of the fabric, and sewed the Solvy onto the back of the fabric, using a 1'4 inch seam allowance.

3. Cut a slit in the Solvy and turned pattern pieces right side out..

4. Arranged pieces on background, and pinned into place. I used a close zigzag (satin stitch) to sew around edges.

Learn more about Solvy here: http://www.sulky.com/stabilizers/solvy.php

Pattern used was from The Book Kitty Capers by Carol Armstrong

Raggy Quilt Instructions

2009-01-15T23:22:00.000-06:00

This is a great beginner project and great idea for gifts. They make up quickly and require little planning and the best part - you can hide a lot of mistakes. If seams get a little squiggly, and corners aren't perfect, the raggy edges disguise it well.

First decide how big you want your quilt. A nice kid size is is 35" square. For that you would want 5" finished squares. For a larger 64" square quilt you can use larger 8 " finished squares. Keep the math clean. This is not the time to fool around with decimals.

Graph paper is a good way to lay out color if you want a pattern. Denim and flannel work well for a raggy edge.

Cut flannel or denim into squares one inch bigger than you want the finished size to be. If you want 5 squares in your quilt, cut 6 inch squares.

If you have decided on 5" finished squares, cut 5" squares of batting. You want the batting 1" smaller than the size of the squares you cut, so you won't have batting sticking out of the fringed edges. This is a good time to use up scraps of batting from other projects. It would be fine to mix different colors or kinds of batting for this.

Now make sandwiches. Two squares of flannel, right sides out with a square of batting in between.

Now sew straight or curvy lines , or spirals onto each square. That is all the quilting you will do. You quilt it before you sew it together.

Sew squares together into rows. Use a 1/2 " seam to sew squares and rows together. For a larger quilt it may be easier to sew the rows into blocks, and then sew the blocks together:

Once your quilt is assembled - and it will surprise you how quickly it goes - Sew about 1/2 " around the outside of the quilt, to keep the edges from unraveling. Now it's time to clip it. Use a sharp pair of scissors and make little snips along all the edges of the squares, and all along the sides. This will make a huge mess.

the clipping takes the longest on this quilt. Plan to watch a movie or two while you clip edges. Once you have the edges all clipped, take the quilt outside, and shake the bejeezus out of it. This should get a lot of the little loose thread out, and start the nice raggy edge.

Toss it in the dryer for a cycle, and then clean the lint trap of your dryer. Really, it's a LOT of lint Then throw it in the wash, and dry again.

Now enjoy. Use it for picnics, playing on the floor. This isn't a quilt to store away. The more it's used and washed, the nicer the flannel feels, and the edges look.

Quilting Rules to Break part one: Size really doesn't matter

2009-01-15T12:51:00.000-06:00

If you spend any time with a group of quilters, you'll hear the "rules" . When you are just starting out you google, you ask the professionals, you turn to the blue ribbon winners for advice and you will hear : Things You Must Follow To Be A Real Quilter.

At the risk of being tsk'd tsk'd, I say take the rules, see if they work, and if they don't, toss 'em. nobody will take your rotary cutter away, I promise.

1. Full size, Queen, Twin?
There is the assumption that when making a quilt, it must go on a bed. It must drape nicely over the sides and allow for pillows.

Pfooey on that. Maybe I want a quilt to snuggle on the couch and it needs to be just long enough for your favorite couch potato's toes to be covered and wide enough to accommodate two kids and a few small animals. ( He requested that it be exactly this size. On a side note, It's hard to measure around cats. They keep grabbing the tape)

Or maybe I don't even want it to be a rectangle at all. How about a hexagon shape meant to lay on the floor for baby to crawl on ?

You can make any size or shape you want, from teensy dollhouse size to great ginormous museum pieces. Make it round, or square, practically sized for the bed if you like , or absolutely impractical polygonish and enjoy the quirkiness of it.

Quilts I have loved

2009-01-15T11:04:00.000-06:00

I made this one with and for my daughter. She is a band geek and we though Drunkard's path was an appropriate choice for a marching band drag-along-on-the-bus quilt. We backed it with a warm fuzzy flannel, and the black and white fabric has music notes on it.

Knit baby sweater

2006-09-30T01:28:00.000-05:00

I taught myself to knit. I started the basics anyway, and from there I bugged anybody who knew how to knit to teach me more. I worked near a yarn shop a couple of years ago, and I would stop in 2-3 times a week to ask the ladies how to do the next stitch, what the abbreviations meant, what to do with circular needles?

I finally learned enough to make scarves, and I made a bunch. Everybody I knew got a scarf. Then I wanted to do more than That, so I bought a couple of books to figure out how to read a pattern. The best books I found were The Knit Stitch and the Purl Stitch by Sally Melville.
Really good for new or experienced knitters in understanding how those two stitches work together. Also I loved Stitch and Bitch by Debbie Stoller. That book is really good for learning how to read a pattern, understanding gauge, using different kinds of yarn, and besides, the book is really funny.

Park City Girl Quilt Festival

2006-09-30T01:23:00.000-05:00

Quilt for Grandma & Pop

This is one of my favorite Quilts, because I designed it myself, and it's so personal.. It's about 36" by 42".

My best friend helped me draw out my idea on a large sheet of brown paper, taped to the floor, and I cut it apart to use as pattern pieces.

It's a family tree, with apples on it, and the apples have all the names of my parent's children and grandchildren embroidered . The sun has my parents' names on it, and is a separate quilted piece attached after the body of the quilt was done.

In the background I appliqued an F-15 fighter plane zooming into the wild blue yonder as a nod to my Father's 20 years in the Air Force working on that plane. I used a silhouette of an F-16 to trace out the applique, and did my best to straighten up the tailfins, but I didn't fool Dad.

He liked the Quilt anyway.

Growing Season

2006-09-30T01:10:00.000-05:00

I got the idea from watching "Simply Quilts". Alex Anderson gets a little snippy with her guests, but she has a lot of good ideas.

this is called a Kameleon quilt. Really cool. here is the website http://kameleonquilt.com/index.html Eldrid is from Norway , and I ordered the pattern directly from her website. The concept is adding triangles that flip back and forth, so a quilt can change it's look whenever you desire. Absolutely beautiful!

For my first attempt,"Growing Season" I kept mine pretty simple, and used solid squares on one side, and prints of chickens and vegetables on the other. So at first, you see reds, yellows and orangy reds, that when flipped, bloom into a garden. I liked this so much I want to do a few more.

All I need to do to this one is sew on some more buttons, and it's done and ready to hang.

new to blogging

2006-09-29T11:59:00.000-05:00

My first quilt blog experience. I hope to use this as a way to keep myself organized, and possibly embarrass myself into finishing up projects!
So, I have to list all the projects I have going, and take pictures of the whole mess. I am excited to do this, yet where to start?