I got nothin.

After having such a productive weekend last weekend, I got nothin... I didn't do any sewing this past week or weekend. I'll make up for that this coming week... I have loads to do, most of that backings which isn't fun in my opinion. I do need to pick up more starch so as soon as I do, I'll be an ironing fool!

Mug Rug

I made a ton of mug rugs for Christmas presents this year. I gave most of them away and didn't take pictures. I didn't have some fabric I wanted/needed for one I wanted to make for a guy I support at work. He's a Oregon alumni - Go Ducks! I finally found some duck fabric online and bought it. I showed him what I bought to use for the front of his mug rug. This week, another guy I support came to town so he got his mug rug. The two guys were talking...so I knew making the Duck mug rug was at the top of my to do list this weekend. Here's the front

and here's the back - red and green for Christmas

I'll bring it to him tomorrow and I hope he likes it. It's Ducks so I'm sure it'll be a hit!!
And yes, I'm a big Ducks fan now too!!

2.5 inch blocks

I think I said this before... I've cut up a bunch of fabric scraps into 2.5 inch blocks. I've been collecting patterns that work with these blocks...and I have three projects in work using them.

The first is going to be a red, white, and blue stars quilt that interlock like plus signs. I've seen both kinds of quilts and started piecing some blocks. No pictures yet...but soon.

The second are scrappy hearts in pink and purple. I have three blocks made so far. The first block I made just sewing things together ... but had some of the same fabrics touching. So, the next two blocks  I laid out and they look better..and were faster on the sewing portion. Here they are:

My daughter thinks the purple one needs some lighter purples...

The third quilt I started is similar to a QAL going on right now on the web. I don't have the link or address, so lame of me. They are making the center portion right now and the entire quilt is a lot bigger. I had the same idea but using my 2.5 inch squares...and just two "colors"... I wanted to make a scrappy green star table topper for St. Patrick's Day. Here it is:

I LOVE this!! It turned out just the way I had envisioned...only a little bit better!! It's 40 inches square so it'll be perfect.

My projects for the rest of this week are to sew more on the first two scrappy projects...and to get backings ironed and cut to shape. I have fabric for 4 or 5 tops...I'm excited to get some quilts done and ready to get quilted!!

Black/White/Red Quilt - 1st Finish for 2012!

I finished my first quilt this year. Is it a finish when all the work is done in 2011 except for the binding? Well, here it is:

The quilt was started with the black and white centers of the blocks. These were pieced from a black and white checked fabric that were leftover after some cutting. I like the way they looked so I put triangles on either side to make the blocks. I added in the red as the black and white was getting a little blah. I bought the border fabric for something else and used the leftovers here...and on the back.

The binding was made by my friend who gave it to me when she moved. I found it cleaning/organizing my stash a couple of weeks ago. The binding turned out to be the perfect size. Here's the back:

The back was left over black and white fabrics. I love the quilting on this one which you can see really well on the black fabric on the bottom.

Autumn Pineapple x2 and Rainbow Feathered Star

Last weekend, I started in on organizing my stash. I have some great wire baskets that fit under my cutting table and hold most of the fabrics I own. My cutting table is an old table my husband and his mother redid over 20 years ago and lived in his boyhood bedroom and then in our garage for lots of years. I put bed risers on it and now it's a great cutting height. I then put the basket system I bought from the hardware store underneath, modifying the height to fit exactly. I can fit 3 large baskets in each of 3 frames (so 9 baskets of storage).

I've had two baskets full of the cuttings from quilts I've made. So, I emptied out those two and either put the big pieces back into the sorted-by-color stash, or I cut them up into 2.5 inch squares...unless they were strings and then I made a separate pile for them. I've saved the little plastic containers from the smallest size of frozen lasagna and the squares fit perfectly within the containers. I now have a dozen or so containers full of squares sorted by color. YIKES! I do have two projects I'm making with the squares and I've been collecting patterns to make from them as well. I was down to 4 containers...

I had one complete empty basket after all of this, so I emptied out a plastic tub that I also had some of my stash within... Yep, I know, it's bad, I have 4 plastic bins with precuts, started tops or "kits", old quilt tops, and stuff to make at least 2 t-shirt quilts. The plastic tub had an incomplete quilt top and then a bunch of jelly rolls and charm packs. These are now in a basket, except the quilt top which is now with three others waiting for backings and battings. The quilt top is similar to this one - just without the applique:

I forget how I pieced the pinapple blocks above...probably from the pattern I used. The second quilt top was made used pre-printed fabric for the blocks. It has the same/similar fabrics as the quilt above and I put it aside as I didn't have the applique patterns handy, and then didn't want to do them. I've decided to finish the quilt without the applique and put it in the pile of "quilts to sell".

I also spent the weekend typing in all of the information I had in hard copy on the quilts I've made AND creating a list of books I own. These are both to help me with the goals I have for the year.

I did a little sewing last night to make a backing for a Rainbow Feathered Star quilt top I've had for a long time also. I finally decided it's fine at the size it is (under 40" square). It'll go to the quilter on Tuesday as the black/white/red quilt is finally ready for pickup. Here's a picture from 2006 (geez, that long ago??!) of the quilt top:

Actually, the top now has a row all around of "geese" that were made using 1/2 square triangles. I have another bundle of the hand dyed material that I bought and got the pattern for free, so I can make the quilt again if I want... I took this picture and then played with different patterns to figure out what to put around it. The geese look really good and "fit"...

I have one more little project to finish tonight. A coworker received a quilt as a gift and instead of using it to snuggle under, she wants to put a hanging sleeve on it and have it hang. She gave me the quilt and the binding to use for the sleeve, so I'm going to sew that for her - it should take 1/2 hour or less!

Starry Eyed - Top Done

I was able to finish both Starry Eyed quilt tops on Saturday night. Here they are:
Top 1:

Top 2:

I've been working on a few ideas I have for 2.5 inch blocks. Today, I went through my scraps and have cut them into 2.5 blocks as I was running low...something I didn't think would happen for a long time! I also cut batting for the 4 table runners I made between Christmas and New Years. It was a good, productive weekend!

Starry Eyed blocks

I don't know what I saw first - the fabric or the pattern. So, I'll start with the fabric.

I saw the Countdown to Christmas line by Sweetwater at Rosie's Calico Cupboard in San Diego. I loved the fabric! It's a Moda line so you know the quality is great. So, I picked up a couple of yards of a couple of the prints. I did this a couple of times until I had 9 different prints - all of them red, green, or black backgrounds.

I saw the Starry Eyed quilt pattern online at Moda Bake Shop. It was made with the Countdown to Christmas fabric. But more than that, it had wonky stars! I've wanted to make wonky stars for several years. I just never pursued a pattern for them or attempted to figure out how to do them on my own. Well, Starry Eyed has the easiest way to make the wonky stars which are centered in every other block.

In keeping with my resolution, I decided to see if I can make two smaller quilts.... One of them to keep, and one to sell/gift. I've had a little bit of a problem with my 1/4 seem - not sure if it's my current foot or trying to eyeball it while the foot was on another machine. Anyway, Here's the blocks...

and here's the layout of the quilts (both)

I did have a little problem getting the points correct. If you notice, one quilt has the points in one "direction" and the other quilt has the points in the opposite direction. I think they'll both be great.

Quilting Resolutions for 2012

I made a list of resolutions for 2012 that have to do with my quilting projects. Here they are in no particular order...

1. Make at least 1 thing from each quilt/craft book I own. If not, donate the book.

2. Make at least 1 item from every pattern I have if I have not made from them already. If I have made something from a pattern, decide if I’m going to make more or not. If not, donate it.

3. Create a fabric kit to pattern if known. If I bought fabric for a specific project, keep it all together. 

4. Make most of the #1 and #2 items from stash.

5. Review video taped quilt programs and then donate/trash.

6. Finish all UFOs – or dump them.

7. Make more smaller size quilts and projects to gift away or sell.

Can you telll what my goal is? Yes, I'm trying to lighten my load!

Happy 2012 and Christmas Quilts used this year

Happy New Year - Merry Christmas ... Happy Holidays!!

I missed posting the Christmas quilts I have and decorated with, so here they are:

Mary Engelbreit Christmas Quilt- The pattern is from the book "Seaside Cottage" by Teri Christopherson. The quilt pattern is called "Sand Castles". I've made a couple from this pattern since they turn out so cute:

I think I bought some or all of the fabric up in Big Bear, CA at a crafts store... It's Mary Englebreight and it's Christmas candies...I love to go fabric shopping while the family is skiing/snowboarding!

In The Meadow We Can Build a Snowman - I think this pattern was from a book and I'm not sure if I own it or if a friend owns it. We were going to make these together. The pattern and quilt are a lot bigger and we thought we were so smart to make it smaller... What a pain in the butt! We did the applique patterns and cut down the blocks and the two didn't fit. I remade the background blocks to fit the applique and got the whole quilt together similar to the pattern... I love the quilting on this one!

This was done with the buttonhole stitch on my sewing machine for the applique. I'm glad it's finished!!

Dancing with the Stars - This was made in a class at Paradise Sewing in Poway, CA. It took me a few months after the class to get the back done and the quilt quilted and then bound. I'm very happy with the finished product! I love the material and colors.

I'm working on my resolutions for the new year. I have some of them written down... things like organizing all of my quilt information, making one quilt out of every book I own. Making one of every pattern I own... and most of all, using  up as much of my stash as I can... I should have my list before the end of the week so I'll come back and post that. I would also like to post here at least once a week, so we'll see how that one works!