Friday, March 28, 2014

Too Many Projects?

This past week hasn't seen much sewing but it has seen a lot of planning. I've got several things in the works and I'd like to tell you about them.




Front and back fabrics     

  First project: I'm working on a weighted blanket for  my niece's   son and hopefully when I'm finished, it will help him  sleep        better. I'm making it from some space fabric that he  picked  out. It's not really a difficult thing to make except that I'm  trying to make it so that it can be made longer as he grows. So I'm  making it with an inner lining that will be weighted and a cover.  I've drawn the plans and am waiting for the delivery of the poly  pellets (the weight) and a roll of velcro (to keep the lining from  sliding around inside the cover).


Second project: I'm getting ready to do a quilt along using triangles (see button on side if you're interested). I don't think that I've ever done a project with triangles before. It begins today, March 28th, so I spent some time going through my stash to see what I might want to use. I found some fat quarters that I'd been collecting that were aqua and red. Of course I did not have enough fabric for the  project so I headed off to the quilt store to find a few more fabrics. I found what I needed and am all ready for cutting instructions. Here are my fabrics.
Partially sewn pinwheel

Third project: While waiting for supplies for project #1 and instructions for project #2, I had a desire to sew something. I found a twister wall hanging that I had laid out a while back. It's made with 2" squares - I had bought some precuts from Primitive Gatherings at Quilt Festival. So . . . I've been sewing it together. So far I have each row of 9 squares sewn together and some of the rows sewn together. After I finish sewing it, I will cut it with the Itty Bitty Primitive Pinwheels Tool and sew it back together. 


On Monday I have a class at my local quilt shop, Quilter's Crossing, making fabric bowls. It's a class that I originally signed up for about 2 years ago. It got rescheduled several times and then I couldn't go. I've tried several times to make it and my chance is finally here. Look for some pictures next week. Of course, I've got to cut some 1 1/4 inch strips over the weekend before I go.


Have a good Friday and a great weekend! I'm off to pick up a quilt from the quilter today.

Dee
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Tuesday, March 18, 2014

Spring Break Projects

The school district where I substitute had spring break last week, so I had spring break as well. Even though I took it easy a bunch I was determined to get a few things done. The first quilting project that I finished was the block of the month that I am working on. It's by quiltdoodle designs and even though the final project is a surprise, we were able to figure out that it will a picture quilt. At least that's what I'm calling it - it will have a scene on it rather than just quilt blocks. I can't wait to see how it finishes out (it's a winter theme). So . . . here is my March block, called Big Tree.



Here it is with the Feb. block called Cozy Cabin.


You can see that they are made with 2 1/2 inch squares, which I have a hard time with. On these 2 blocks, I measured after each time that I sewed so I could be sure that they were the right size. It took longer that way but I think the results were good!

On Saturday, I helped a friend with a table runner that we had picked out for her to make that was "easy" but she was having some trouble with. We finally found the main problem, fixing some small boo-boos along the way. 
This made me want to make the runner that I had the fabric for to see if it really was easy. It's called Easy Striped Table Runner from The Quilt Company. I did not have the 60º triangle ruler it called for but was able to use the 60º marking on my ruler to make the proper lines. Anyway, less an hour later, I had the top put together. On Sunday evening I spent another 45 minutes to cut the batting and backing, sew them together, and add a little quilting. So here it is.


 Stretched out on the table.












Close up view


I put green on the back so that I could use it at Christmas.







Here are 2 of the placemats I made from the leftover fabric this morning. To conserve fabric, I ended up with 2 different looks. I'm probably going to go buy just a little more fabric so that I can make a few more and then I'll finish them all.




I hope you had a fun and productive week last week, even if you didn't have spring break!
Dee


Wednesday, March 5, 2014

A blog for me

Well, I've decided to enter the world of blogging. I will probably only post every once in a while but thought it would be a good place to show what I'm working on. I enjoy reading other blogs and once even needed a place to blog about a BoM project that I did. I had to let someone else host my blog . . .  but not anymore. Soon I will post what I am working on so keep an eye out every once in a while.

This is the result of the cold and rain that we rarely have together in Texas but was here on Tuesday. Brrr it was cold!


I hope you have a wonderful day!