Mini Christmas Tree Stack Quilt

This is my very own pattern.  I have seen this idea in scrap booking and wanted to adapt it for a quilt.  I cut uneven strips and then stacked them on top of each other.  I sewed each one to the next leaving the raw edges.  I then stippled the quilt with a jigsaw pattern.  I added a star shaped button at the top of the tree (very hard to see it in this photo).  I added the border and backing.  I am going to get a small stick to attach to the stop and use it to hang some ribbon.  That way this mini quit can be hung on a wall, door, or even a tree.

Bed Runner

This is a bed runner I made for my mother-n-law.  She chose the colors and we selected the pattern together.  It comes from a book called Bed Runners Using Precut Fabrics. My fabrics were not precut so I had to make some adjustments.

 I laid it on my bed for the photo but it will go in her bedroom and matches her color scheme.

I love the star patterns because it looks so hard to make but really comes together very easily.  I used one of her old sheets for the back.  This saved on fabric costs, recycled an old sheet, and also helped keep the color scheme as the sheet matched her bedding.  Also note in the first picture that I now have my very own fence to hang quilts on for photos.  I always loved people's photos that were taken on or in front of a fence. I did not install the fence so I could take quilt photos but it sure is nice having the fence available.

Halloween Prep

I always start my Halloween prep in August. I figure out what I want to make and if I need to buy anything. I get a lot of inspiration from a catalog called Terry's Village.  They have really cute stuff.  I also get a lot of ideas from Pinterest.  I did not have patterns for either of these two items.  I just looked a the photos and was inspired by the general ideas.  These items are for my personal use only.

 This is Mr. Bones.  He is made from felt.  I found bone stencils on line and used them as a guide.  I used iron on interfacing to attach the bones to the body.  The body is loosely stuffed with batting.  He will be a nice addition to my Halloween decor.

 Interestingly enough my kids did not like this one.  They were thrown off by the witch who was not all there.  But I really like it because in my head I keep substituting the word witch for something it rhymes with and it makes me laugh.  I am going to hang this on my door for Halloween night.  I notice now that the upper part of the hat is not evenly placed on the bottom of the hat.  I hope it was just the angle of the photo.  Happy haunting.

Ballet Tutu

Who doesn't love tutu's!!  And this one is so easy to make.  If I had know how easy it was to make a tutu I would have had one in every color when I was a little girl.  There are tons of blogs with directions so if you are interested just do a search.  The onsie was pre-bought and then I added the applique from my Paper Dolls Cricut cartridge.  This adorable outfit will be a Halloween costume for a my little muse.

Baby Quilts and Housewarming Gifts

This baby quilt is for my friends adorable baby girl who I have secretly adopted as my muse.  She loves all of my things (and so does her mom.)  This quilt combines two techniques I saw at Missouri Star Quilt Co.  They have amazing tutorials at http://quiltingtutorials.com/.  The first was used to make the pieced portions of the quilt.  It is a method using jelly rolls and sewing them into tubes.  Then you cut triangles and then piece into squares.  Takes a long time but you end up with a beautiful quilt top.  Then I used the non binding receiving blanket tutorial to make the actual blanket.  This is a very easy way to make a quick baby blanket.

Because the tutorials are all on video you can stop and start them over and over again to get the directions just right.  I usually set up the IPad in the sewing room and then I can move it around as I rotate from cutting to sewing.  I hope the baby has fun looking at all the designs.

This next quilt is a watercolor heart I made for a housewarming gift for a friend.  When I walked into her house for the first time she had an entire room painted the color of the quilt border.  What luck!!!  It fit into her house perfectly and is hanging on a wall in her house.

Valentine Paper Piecing

Paper piecing is so much fun.  Especially when you do one of your patterns backwards. Can you find the mistake I made in this cute Valentine design?  It is sort of like an I Spy game for adults.  One of the hearts is facing the opposite direction of the other two.  That was not intentional.  Paper piecing requires a lot of concentration and attention to detail.  And when you have two 7 year old boys trying to ask you 50 questions, play in your sewing space, and generally annoy you it is hard to concentrate.  But I love all their noise and every time I look at this sweet design I will remember them.  Happy Valentines Day.

Tree of LIfe

"It is a tree of life to them that hold fast to it..."  These are the lyrics to a song I grew up with.  When I saw this pattern that is the first thing I thought of.  This watercolor quilt is my tree of life quilt.  It was made using fusible grid interfacing.  If you have not used this before it is amazing.  You just lay it out and start adding your 2 inch squares.  When you have your pattern set you iron on the squares and then sew down the rows.  I have been using this product for a long time and have found lots of wonderful uses for it.

Favorite Shirt Re-Invented as a Cardigan

This was one of my favorite shirts.  Then it mysteriously obtained a stain on it that would not come out.  I mean this was a stain like no other.  I really didn't want to part with the shirt so I decided to try turning it into a cardigan.  There are tons of blogs with info on how to do this.  It seems to be all the rage now.  I went to Joann's and bought some Heat and Bond Tape.  I bought two sizes because I wasn't sure what size I wanted to use.  I ended up using the 3/4 inch.  I measured (well not really, I just eyed and pulled it to the center) and pinned the shirt in the center.  I then cut down the middle.  I followed the directions and made two seams on each side.  I thought this is going great.  I am totally loving this.  Then I realized the stain was still visible.  This was a big stain.  So I added some buttons.  The center button is covering the stain.  Is it perfect?  No.  But it was a great learning experience and now I have a nice summer cardigan.  I think I may try this again with some old sweaters or a Goodwill find.  Try it.  No sewing required.

Tree of Life

This is my Tree of Life watercolor.  It is a work in progress (WIP).  My mom had given me all of her watercolor one inch squares the she had left over.  I searched around for an idea.  I am not a hearts and cats type of girl.  I wanted to do something more with my watercolor quilt.  I really like this tree.  I feel like some of the leaves are falling off and the ground is a little mossy.  At my local fabric store you can buy grid material that you can iron on.  So once you have your design complete you iron the squares on the grid.  Then you just have to fold and sew on the lines.  My mom says this is cheating but I say it is evolution.  Why should I sew each square to another square when I can sew an entire row all together.  This way at least I have a chance of getting straight lines.  I still need to decide on a boarder and a backing.  And then I need to decide what to do with it.  I may keep it or I may give it away to a friend.

Baby Girl Fun

My friend had a baby girl.  And what an adorable baby she is.  So of course I had to make some baby girls things.  Who doesn't want to make baby girl things!!  The dress is a onsie that I sewed a skirt on.  I used a blind hem stitch for the first time which was amazing and gave it a very nice finish.  I used a gathered stitch at the top.  I think this may be the cutest thing I have ever made.

Next I used my acuiquilt and some wonderunder to make these cute cut outs.  I ironed them on and then free stitched a rambling pattern to secure them.  So cute and super easy.  I also made the mommy a nursing cover.  I had made these before so it went together quickly.  I almost want to have another baby just so I can make tons of cute baby girl things.

Butterfly Strip Piece Quilt

Happy New Year to my 16 loyal followers. I have left you a drift for several months.  But have no fear I have a couple of new posts coming up.  We will start with this one.  This is a strip piece quilt, sometimes called a string quilt.  It uses all scraps and was made one block at a time.  This took some orchestrating as I had to make sure to make the correct number of colored blocks so that the pattern would work out.  This is my own design and I laid everything out like a map before I started quilting.  The scraps were sewn onto 10 inch blocks.  The base of the block was made from a white IKEA sheet.  I figured since only one strip of the sheet would show I didn't need to spend a lot on a base material.  I added some butterflies that I cut with my acuquilt.  I also added pink rickrack when I was binding the quilt.  This quilt possibly, maybe, has too many things on it.  But since I was making it for myself I decided to go all out.  I took this quilt to work as I felt by cubicle needed some color.  So now it hangs on the back of my chair and just blasts color.  I actually received a compliment from a male co-worker!