Halloween 2018

Halloween has come and gone. I finally found where I

hid the Halloween pillows. Just in time to display them for

a few days. I did purchase the spider pillow cover from

Crate and Barrel this year, need to get a 20" pillow form 

for it though. The pillow I inserted is a bit too small.

   

I still love the Poof! pillow.

I need to make another cross stitch pillow

for next year.

I started to quilt this last year, got stuck on how to mark

the spider webs I wanted to quilt. 

So I put it away.

I found a chalk marker I had in the back of a drawer

and lo and behold it worked for me to hand draw

the webs! I loved it! So easy!!!!

It took me only a few days of hand quilting to finish

this table topper.

Just need some black to bind this quilt and I'm done!!!

Blue Butterfly Churn Dash Quilt

Started to work on my blue churn dash quilt the other day.

I mentioned it in my Feb. 22 post.

 I found this on Pinterest...

...and fell in love with it.

So shopped online and found some fabric I love.

Changed my mind about the white/cream fabric a 

couple of times and finally chose my favorite white

pin dot I get from JoAnn's. It mimics the dots in the blue fabric.

Basement sewing

I have been busy making plaid star blocks for a quilt for Joe.

It'll be just like the one I made this last summer, only a queen size

and not on the diagonal.

I bought 6 yards of background fabric and it just won't be enough to cut the

side and corners for a queen size quilt. 

I've tried to buy more of the background but it's not available anymore. :(

 This layout takes sooooooo much fabric!!!!!

I started to make it a charm quilt, only using a print once in the quilt, 

but that fell by the wayside. 

I now have 26 blocks to work with and will be starting to sew the rows together 

soon. I really love making these blocks!

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I took 3 quilts in to be quilted and got them back last Friday.

Today I finished up the binding on this baby quilt.

It's now ready to find a baby!

I also got the Scrap Bin quilt back, along with a pink baby quilt.

Not sure which I'll choose to bind next.

............................

 Found something else on Pinterest!

Found this picture of the red squares and thought it would look good

on my wall of quilts that I want to have someday.

I have been collecting lots of reds and lots of red prints on white and cream

for quite awhile now.

Time to dig in that pile!

It was difficult to keep everything straight and on track with the correct 

measurements and I made quite a few mistakes. 

But it is finished. 

It finished at 24 inches square.

Just need to back it and perhaps hand quilt it.

Not a great photo. :(

I had some leftover cuts and put them together to make a mug rug.

Mistakes and dreams

Well, I put the table runner aside until I get a backing for it.

The triangles I "wasted" I made into half square triangles.

I plan on making a few mug rugs with them or a table square for the living room.

To be finished later........

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I have received the scrap bin quilt back from the quilter and I chose to bind it

with a jade green binding.

I ordered 1/2 yard,

Here it looks a little blue, but it is more green actually,

It looks really good with the backing!

unfortunately I needed 1 more strip.......

so I had to order more.......

I finished hand sewing most of the binding just

leaving enough room to add another strip later......... 

I think it is going to really work for this really scrappy quilt.

..............

I found this on Pinterest and really really want to make it.

I found this fabric on line and will make the churn dash background out of the

blue and will use the butterfly print on the backing.

I just need an off-white for the front.

Can't wait to start this one!!!!!!!

A Very Warm February !

This February we have had wonderful weather. Yeah, for a few days

we've had cold weather, ( 23 degrees ) but all in all it has

been absolutely fantastic.

Tomorrow it will be about 60 degrees!

And for the next week it should be in the high 50's to low 60's !

Wonderful!

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Today I worked on a Halloween table runner and almost

ruined it!

It is a pattern from Pat Sloan.

:( I didn't read the directions! :(

I bought a charm pack and didn't cut them down to 4 1/2 " like the

directions said. So my table runner will be huge! And I didn't have

enough black and grey fabric left in the charm pack to do the next step!

I did do ok with appliquéing the pumpkins and stars on the background.

 I used this method:

I windowed the iron on fusing paper and then used telephone paper on the back

to stabilize the machine buttonhole stitching around the appliqué.

I then set my machine to this setting.

-This pic is for me to remember what the setting was for future projects.-

Here is a close up of the pumpkin.

Tomorrow I'll have pics of what I've been doing with the black and grey border.

Winter blahs

I'm suffering from the winter blahs.

I have several projects that need to be finished up but

lack the enthusiasm to finish them.

I need to add borders to a couple but I can't measure them 

correctly because I don't have the table space to have them laid out properly.

My knees won't allow me to get on the floor to measure the center and the sides.

I want to make larger quilts but will have to figure out a solution to this problem.

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This morning I made another zippered purse for myself.

I picked up a very cute butterfly print at Mara's a few weeks ago.

It has purple and gold butterflies on it, I fell in love with the purple one!

I usually use the same format for the front as on the back but

this time I used the full pattern for the back to better show the butterfly.

I enjoyed making this one and am extremely glad that I was

able to insert the zipper correctly on this one. So many

times it is hit or miss with the zipper.

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Picnic Quilt progress

 I've been working on the Picnic quilt. Slowly getting the blocks 

together with the white print.

So far this week I manage to do 2 rows per day.

This afternoon I was able to do 3 rows. There is a total of 13 rows in

the pattern and I'm not sure if I will be 

 adding any rows to this quilt or not. We shall see.

Snowing again!

Today it started snowing again, we were very lucky during the holidays

to have decent weather and most of the 30 inches of snow we had

on the ground is gone. But this afternoon we have been enjoying a very

pretty snowfall. Lots of fluffy snowflakes! And I don't have to go anywhere 

until tomorrow!!! :)

I found some fabric for the backing for the Scrap Bin quilt.

I was only able to get 2 1/2 yds. at JoAnn's so I wasn't able

to make the quilt quite as long as I wanted but I saved some 

money.  Then I found it online but it was too late. So some quilts 

just decide for themselves what they are going to be.

This is the print I found at JoAnn's.

It's going to be a wild quilt but I like it.

I had been considering this print online but I saved a bunch getting

it from Joann's.

I can't wait to see how it turns out!

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So then I needed to pick up another project to work on. I found one I 

had started earlier this year. I had been wanting to make this for years! I 

think I got this book in the early 90's when I was working at Minnesota 

Fabrics. 

It's shown as a picnic quilt but I don't know if

I'll be using it as such.

I do love me some red, white and blue quilts.

It's a simple design but I'm having a bit of trouble with the

square in a square part of the design. I won't let it win though.

I'll get it done right. If not I have LOTS of red and white 

fabric to start over! LOL!

The cuts for the red triangle is a little small so I had to make it larger, then 

I am able to get the 1/4 inch seam right. But I have to adjust and trim all the blocks

which is a pain but it will turn out in the end.

...........................

I needed a new purse to carry my  money at work, the old one was

getting a little gross. So I tried to make one using a sewing print but

it was too big and somehow it got twisted after I stitched up the sides.

That one I'll use to store sewing supplies. So I made a smaller one

which turned out great.

I do love to hand stitch the lining in. It is so much easier that trying

to machine stitch it in.

I really love this print and was very happy I had the red to match.

The Scrap Bin quilt continues

I'm still working on the Scrap Bin quilt.

I did add a few fabrics from the stash to get a little more 

variation in the prints. 

Shh! Don't tell anyone!

I pulled in some birthday cake fabric and some Dory fabric.

I also dug down deep in one of the bins and found some more of

these prints. I love the robot print and the happy caterpillars!

Christmas Eve

Merry Christmas!

Hope everyone is having a great Christmas with lots

of good food and lots of presents!

:)

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Today I took a couple of photos of the snow, we've lost quite a bit since

the major snowstorm from a few weeks ago. In some places you can

even see green grass! Yippee!

Joe is a fanatic about his snow removal, we are one of a few that has

their sidewalk completely free of snow!

He is amazing!

I do hate the look of the dirty snow though, wish it could be white and 

pretty as a fresh snowfall all the time!

I also went in the back to see how much snow has melted. By

the back porch I made one of our neighbors quite upset by going back there!

:)

You should have seen the dirty looks he was giving me! And

his tail was wagging and shaking a lot! I guess he was letting

me know just how irritated he was with me! LOL!!!

So I left him alone and went back to where I belonged, in the house!

I'm still working on the Scrap Bin quilt, I want it to be twin size, so I

figure it should be 70" x 90".  

Maybe I'll be able to work on it tomorrow.