Crochet watermelon hat

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

Ugly Quilt contest

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

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

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

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

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

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

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!

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!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.