Stacked Coins Baby Quilt

A friend's son and daughter-in-law are expecting their first baby the end of this month—a boy—and I figured I better get my rear in gear and quilt the top I finished in early September.  Actually, it wasn't just pure procrastination; it was procrastination for a reason.  I wanted to get some free motion quilting practice under my belt before I attempted stippling this quilt.

Enter the Free Motion Quilt Along by Christina at A Few Scraps.  Perfect timing!  I hopped on board that train and road along the learning curve all the way up to our current stop, Stippling 101, where we are experiencing a momentary layover.

But that's okay, because stippling is exactly where I wanted to be and what I wanted to do on this baby quilt.  I practiced on my Spiderweb Halloween table topper, then practiced a bit more on my practice quilt for the quilt-along.  Finally, on Monday, I basted this baby (quilt) together, and away I went!

Oh, there are some stitch length issues and a few mountain peaks where there should be meandering curves, but overall I'm happy with how it turned out.

I did a pieced backing, since I had enough strips cut anyway.  I like a little something extra on the back of a quilt, don't you?

It's mostly from stash, except the Kona cream (I don't know the official color name).  I was trying to come somewhat close to what may or may not be the mom-to-be's nursery theme.  I think there are giraffes and leaves involved anyway.  I was fresh out of giraffes but had a bunch of leafy prints.  The gray/white/black print is a vintage piece I've used in probably way too many things already, but I love it.

Now all this quilt needs is a little baby boy nestled in the middle.  As Tom Petty said, "The way-aiting is the hardest part!"

I'll be linking to AmyLouWho's Sew & Tell Friday.  Click on over to see the other great finishes this week!

Gathered Clutch - Take #1

It's been a busy work week for me, but I did get one thing accomplished in the sewing department.  Well, two, if you count basting my practice quilt together for the free-motion quilt along, cleaning and oiling my Juki, aka Jane, and practicing a little FMQ to make sure the settings are okay.  Maybe that's two, three, and four.

Anyway, this little gathered clutch came together the other night.  I used the by-now-famous Noodlehead tutorial, which was excellent.

I will do a little tweaking on subsequent clutches, having to do with a little less interfacing on the inside pockets to reduce bulk, shortening my zipper just a tad more, and taking a deeper seam on the lining so it fits inside smoothly. 

Since the Juki was all set up for FMQ, I used my 1960s Singer Touch & Sew, aka Tammy.  She hee-hawed and got a little stubborn about sewing through thick spots, but for the most part, she clippity-clopped right along.

I've got a few more of these planned.  I think they'll make great gifts come Christmastime.  (And yes, I need a new deck...next spring, hopefully!)

I'm linking to Sew & Tell Friday.  Thanks for visiting, and be sure to check out the other fun finishes over at Amylouwho. 

Christmas Table Runner for Moi

Yes, that is a table runner, not a piano cover. The piano just happened to be sitting there doing nothing, so I employed it as a model.  Now it's asking about the benefit package and whether it needs an agent.

If the runner looks familiar, it's because I made one for my giveaway a few weeks ago.  I loved the way that one turned out, so I took what was left of the Sheri Berry 12 Joys of Christmas fabric and made one for myself this week.  This one is longer, about 60 inches.  Throw another leaf in the table, baby!

I used every last scrap I had of this fabric, including one of my favorite prints, the vintage record players.  That piece wasn't quite long enough to use as a strip in the front, so I worked it into the backing.

I really like the back, but I realize it may be a little intense.  I hope you're not running for the bottle of Excedrin Migraine right now, or the Pepto.  Maybe I should have a disclaimer:  Common side effects may include giddiness, nausea, grimacing, smiling until your face hurts, headache, vertigo, and eye rolling.  Uncommon side effects may include excessive use of exclamation points and expelling beverages through your nose.  If you experience an uncontrollable urge to send fabric that lasts more than four hours, what are you waiting for?  GO WITH IT!

There, that ought to suffice.

I'll be linking to amylouwho's Sew & Tell.  Thanks for stopping by, and have a great Friday!

Five 'til Fifty!

I have been MIA in blog land this week, but with good reason. I was focusing on getting some things done for next week.

What is going on next week, you ask?

Five days of giveaways! I'm calling it Five 'til Fifty!, since I will be turning 50 on August 10th.

It's my way of giving back to all of you creative people who have inspired me and helped me learn through your amazing projects, tutorials, tips, information, and yes, even mistakes.

So, starting next Monday, I will have one giveaway per day Monday through Friday. All you have to do is leave a comment on the giveaway day to be entered for that day's giveaway. You don't have to follow, you don't have to blog about it (but feel free to do so if you feel like it). No hoops to jump through. Just say hi in the comments section and that's it. Come back each day to see the next giveaway, and leave a comment on that post if you want to be entered for it. One entry per person per day. Please include your email address in your comment if it's not available on your profile or if you're set to "no reply" or commenting anonymously.

You can comment on any or all of the giveaways through noon Central time on Sunday, August 8th. I'll post winners on Monday, August 9th. Then on August 10th...well, I'll be celebrating my 50th birthday!

Here is a sneak peak at Monday's giveaway:

And here's a peak at next Friday's:

So that's some of what I've been working on. And for you vintage lovers and collectors, there will be Pyrex...

I hope to see you back next week. It should be fun!

I'll be linking to Sew & Tell Friday at amylouwho. Can't wait to see what you've been up to!

Mixed Bag

I did a little bit of this and a little bit of that this week, so it's a mixed bag for Sew & Tell Friday.

Starting with these little bags I sewed to hold the game pieces for my sister's project. The pieces are craft foam shapes and sticks. Not sure yet how they're used, but I'll find out when I play the game!

The double pinwheel string quilt came back from the longarm quilter this week, and I could just squeal with delight! (Thanks again, Sandy!) I cut, sewed, and pressed the binding strips and am planning to finish it up this weekend.

Today, I sewed the whirlygig Christmas quilt top together.

One good thing about tornado sirens (and we had not one but three today), when I go to the basement, my sewing room is there. I sewed rows together during the time I was waiting for the storms to blow over.

When this quilt is done being quilted--and I haven't quite figured out how I want to do that yet--it'll be bound with the dark salmon/red snowflake print from the 12 Joys of Christmas line by Sheri Berry.

That's the binding fabric here under this little fat quarter stack that also found its way into my shopping cart. I blame Elizabeth! Her ironing board cover from last week was just too cute! By the way, Elizabeth is having a 200th blog post giveaway, so be sure to check it out over at Such a Sew-and-Sew.

I've got plans for the Frolic fabric, which plans I'll talk about more next Friday. See, I've got a birthday coming up in August--one that ends in a big honkin' zero. Thought I might share the joy and give back in some small way to all of you who inspire me. Here are a couple quick peaks at what I've been working on for that so far.


Okay, enough for now. More details next week!

And be sure to visit amylouwho and the other linky peeps on Sew & Tell Friday!

It's in the Bag!

I had an unexpected "free day" today (yippee!), so I kept working on the game board case for my sister's school project. It's basically a quilted envelope style bag large enough to fit a game board she's designed that measures 12" x 18" folded. She also needed 14 pockets inside for the stacks of game cards, which are the size of a business card, one large pocket for her instruction book and a pocket to fit a kitchen timer used in the "lightning round" part of the game. (It's really a fun learning game for medical-type stuff. I hope to show you the whole thing when she's done, before she hands it in for her class at the end of July.)

I used stash/scrap fabric throughout, all Lantern Bloom by Laura Gunn, except the brown with the black swirls. No clue where I got that one, but I sure had a lot of it!

Here is the outside, pin-basted to the batting. I ditch-quilted the inner design and then straight-line quilted the rest of the bag, mostly vertical lines but some horizontally in the flap.

I drew the rows of pockets out on graph paper to make sure they'd all fit. Here they are sewn onto one of the inner lining pieces. Since I didn't have a pattern for this bag, just the dimensions of the board and the other elements she needed, I made it up as I went along, making sure to measure, measure, and measure some more. I found the design-as-you-go process pretty enjoyable, actually. Those purple things in the pockets are just cardstock cut to business card size so I could double check the fit.

For the kitchen timer pocket, I played around with folding the paper to make side gussets, because the timer is kind of thick. Then I translated that to fabric. It worked!

The most difficult thing was figuring out how to sew the lining to the bag so that when turned right side out, it would fold down inside the bag and the pockets would be going the right direction, etc. I actually had to make a mock-up on a small scale with some scraps and play around with that. I swear I used to be better at grasping spatial concepts with just a mental picture or glancing at a diagram, but now? Not so much. I haven't made any lined bags recently, so I felt like a total newb.

The moment of truth: Turning the bag...*drum roll*...*cymbal crash*. Yes!

Front with flap open:

Back:

Inside:

So there it is! My sister was elated to see it this evening, and the stuff fit inside great! Now I just have to make a drawstring bag and another small pouch for the little game pieces--no big deal.

Now let's see what everyone else is up to on Sew & Tell Friday at amylouwho!

Whirlygig Christmas Blocks

Is it too early to start thinking about Christmas in the sweltering heat of July? Well, I've done just that this week, as I've started to get things spinning on my whirlygig Christmas quilt.

I have about one-third of the blocks done for this quilt. After reading several tutorials on how to make these, I went with an excellent one by Penny at Sew Take a Hike that needs no template. I modified it to make a slightly bigger angle with the cut, and I'm orienting the whirly blades with the wide ends to the outside of the block.



I love the movement of this block. With this cute retro holiday fabric, I'm thinking of fresh snow swirling in the blustery air and ice skaters playing crack the whip! It's The Twelve Joys of Christmas, by Sheri Berry.

These blocks go together fast once the cutting is done. Easy chain-piecing!

That's my Sew & Tell for this week. Thanks for visiting, and have fun skating around to the other participants linked at amylouwho! Stay cool!

For the Birds

As I mentioned in the last post, I was determined to finish this little quilt for my niece's graduation party this Saturday. Mission accomplished! Got the binding hand-stitched down and was all ready to package it up when I remembered one little thing.

The label.

And then I got a little bogged down thinking about the label, as I was trying to come up with a clever name for the quilt and ... *crickets* ... nothin'. You know how that goes?

The pattern is called, The Early Bird, but hello? I don't really get it. I think they probably heard the chorus of crickets too, the one who came up with that. Click the link if you're interested in the free PDF pattern download from the Michael Miller site. But buy more backing fabric than it calls for, if you do make this.

I still love that Lantern Bloom fabric.

So, the label. Birds in cages...empty cages...freedom...or the lack thereof...graduation from high school = a sense of freedom...flying the coop...spreading your wings...flying high...just say no...those darn cages...yada, yada, yada.

Well. After burning through the gears on those mental gyrations, I'm thinking of calling it, "Free Birdie!" You know, as in releasing captive creatures to the wild, a la Free Willy. Although I can't help but visualize throngs of Bic lighter-waving fans at a Lynyrd Skynyrd concert circa 1976. 'Cause I'm as free as a bird now, and this bird will never cha-ange...whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa...

Lord help me...

But hey, feel free to leave a suggestion in the comments if you've got a better idea to consider. I probably won't get around to sewing on the label until Saturday morning.

Be sure to see what's happening over at amylouwho on Sew & Tell Friday. Thanks for visiting, and have a great weekend, all!

Table Topper Ta-Da

It's Sew & Tell Friday!

First, though, thank you for the anniversary wishes! Celebrating is on hold until the weekend, though. Norm worked a 12-hour shift Thursday and came home to a lawn in desperate need of mowing, and because it's supposed to rain for the next couple days, that was a priority. Nevertheless, we are both looking forward to going out to dinner on Saturday night.

As far as sewing, I finished this table topper for my dad for Father's Day. As I mentioned a couple days ago, he is using a Christmas table topper and that is just a little ridiculous, although he doesn't seem to mind. Anyway, I hope he likes the new one!

This was again an opportunity to practice stippling, and I am happy to report that, surprisingly, I did not freak the heck out this time. And yes, there was a beverage involved, but it was just iced tea. It was pretty early in the day for a brew, so I held off on that until later. I honestly just had the usual random, run-of-the-mill thoughts going through my head as I quilted this time. Such as:

• I can't wait for the Rush documentary to come out on DVD at the end of the month!
  
  
• Why don't I use batiks more often? They really are beautiful.
  
  
• What on earth is that noise behind me? Oh, it's the window guy measuring outside for the basement replacements. I wonder what he thinks of me sitting here at the sewing machine wearing funny white gloves, with the blues music blasting? Hey, at least I'm fully dressed and not standing in my underwear ironing my shirt. That's a visual he doesn't need seared into his brain.
  
  
• Things I need from Walmart: Gum...dishwasher gelpacs...Father's Day card...

Yeah, pretty boring inner dialog, but it was nice to feel more relaxed during the process.

Next up is a small throw-size quilt top that needs quilting before my niece's graduation party next Saturday so I can gift it to her then. I think I'll do straight-line quilting on that one.

Thanks for visiting, and have fun peeking in and seeing what other creative peeps have been working on, linked over at amylouwho.

New Wave Quilt Top

It's not quite Sew & Tell Friday yet, but close enough, and by gum, I've finally got a quilt top done that's burning a hole in my pocket, metaphorically speaking.

Made using the New Wave quilt pattern by Elizabeth Hartman of Oh, Fransson! I used both contemporary and vintage fabric, unsure how it would turn out, but I have to say that I am pleasantly surprised. Honestly, I think this pattern would be amenable to all kinds of fabric choices. Check out the Oh, Fransson! Flickr pool if you're looking for inspiration for this or any of her other fabulous creations.

I made the template out of a heavier gauge clear plastic report cover, and it worked great.

I would definitely make this one again, but bigger. This household is Land of the Giants territory, and this quilt just about covers my legs as a throw.

But it sure is pretty.

I'm sure there are lots of pretty things to check out at amylouwho on Sew & Tell Friday. Be sure to click on over there for all the links, and thanks for visiting!

Oh, and this is what "New Wave" meant to me in 1980. Gotta love the zebra stripe shirt, tight pants, the red Dean Flying V guitar, and the fabulous New Wave hair before it morphed into the godawful mullet. Enjoy!