Fresh-Squeezed Totebag Sew-Along

In this weeks newsletter from one of my favorite shops, Quiltin' Country in Killeen, they linked to some sew or quilt-alongs, just in case we needed something to do this week.  I decided to try the Fresh Squeezed Totebag Sew-Along.  I had everything needed, except the webbing for the handles and with camp coming up, a new bag would be pretty handy.  Plus, it was a one week sew-along, so I could do it quickly...in fact, I made it today!  Here is the result...

I have a ton of Dilly Dally by Me and My Sister that I bought for the hand applique class that I took (and did not finish) and it makes fantastic, colorful bags.  I also altered the pattern some so that I could have more pockets.  Here is a close-up of the fabric...

My bag was made entire of fat quarters (6 in all), making the inside pretty scrappy, but fun and colorful.  Inside, I made pockets all the way around the bag, six in all.

I can't wait to use my new bag!!

A Quilt for Titus

I have waited for more than two years to make this quilt.  It was made for a very special friend and her precious son who will be joining us soon.  I prayed so hard for this little boy and started looking at fabric and patterns just as soon as I found out he was coming!

The pattern is Criss Cross from the Moda Bake Shop by Karen of Lisnaweary Quilts.  I used Lily and Will II from Bunny Hill Designs.
Here are a couple of close-ups of the fabric and quilting.

I love the yellows, aquas, and browns.  This is by far some of my favorite fabric out there, especially for a little boy.  I hope Titus loves this quilt as much as I loved making it!!

Happy Independence Day!!!!

Today, I want to share a project that required no sewing at all!  You can find complete instructions in this Moda Bake Shop Tutorial, Firecracker Favors, by Angela Yosten.  Once again the Bake Shop delivers a fantastic treat.

I made these for the kids in my Sunday School class.  I don't make treats for them very often, so when I saw this recipe, I knew that these would be perfect.  This is something anyone could make.  Instead of using layer cake squares, I cut my own 10" squares from a yard of fabric I bought at my LQS.  Then, all that was left was to glue and wrap the fabric and fill them with candy!  I'm pretty sure I'll be making more of these when Christmas rolls around!!

It's been a while...

I was horrified when I realized that I have not blogged in nearly a month! I will make up for that over the next few days. Don't worry, I've been busily quilting, but I haven't completely finished much (I can complete a quilt in less than a week, but I just can't seem to get the binding tacked down on the back...). I have two baby quilts waiting for that last step and another smaller quilt waiting to be quilted (that's on the docket for Tuesday evening).

Friday night, I got to do my first quilting of the year with new Christmas fabric!! I realized Friday afternoon that I needed to put something together, as a just in case I need it kind of thing, for our family reunion on Saturday. So I ran to my LQS and got a charm pack of Deb Strain's new Christmas line, Nature's Gift. The fabric features cardinals and chickadees, my mom's favorite birds. I used the City Windows pattern from Moda Bake Shop.  I love how it turned out.

Bloggers' Quilt Festival

I am so excited to participate in the Bloggers' Quilt Festival over at Amy's Creative Side for the first time!

I've been waiting eagerly to participate since the Festival last fall.  For those of you who don't know, Amy hosts the Bloggers' Quilt Festival each year during fall and spring quilt market.  It is so much fun to see all of the quilts!

And now for my quilt...

I call this quilt "Verna's Flower Garden."  The fabric is Verna by Kate Spain.  I pieced the top last summer as a way to experiment with a jelly roll.  Then I folded it up and set it aside for months.  Then, I realized that it would be perfect for a special friend of mine going through chemo.  All of the colors and flowers really reminded me of her, so I pulled it out and finished it up for her birthday.

I love the colors in this quilt.  It is so bright and cheerful.  It reminds me of a sunny spring day!

A close-up of a block and the quilting...

And because I love pictures of quilts blowing in the wind...

Now, head over the the Bloggers' Quilt Festival and check out all of the amazing quilts!!

Canvas Pail

Today I finally made the March Sweetwater Label Crew project, a canvas pail, perfect to be used as an Easter basket or to hold things.

It has three tags on it, each with spring words and definitions, matching those on the Sunkissed fabric.

I also love the bunting around the top.  Sweetwater just loves using bunting in its designs.

I am also working on a UT quilt for someone I work with.  My table has been covered with burnt orange fabric for about a week now.

Just One Star

One of the things I love most about the quilting community is how giving it is.  I posted a couple of months ago about the Basics Charity Challenge led by Cara of Cara Quilts.  A ton of people were helped through that fantastic challenge.  A little over a month ago, Moda, my favorite fabric company, issued a challenge...

The goal is simple...100 quilts for 100 soldiers.  Each quilt requires 18 stars, meaning that Moda needed 1800 stars to make the quilts.  

The challenge...make just one star, sign it, and send it to Moda.

I know that several groups have made stars.  One of my favorite LQS's in Killeen, Quiltin' Country, collected more than 200 stars!

I made four stars this evening that I will mail in tomorrow.  

I used a background that had stars on it.  My red stars are just a small print, but the blue stars use a fabric with military-appreciation words.  I really like them and I'm glad I chose to participate!

Java Mini Messenger Bag

Tonight I went to a class at my LQS to make this fantastic Mini Messenger Bag.

I used Java by Deb Strain.  I just love this fabric!  I had part of a charm pack left over from a mug rug I made (more about that coming soon!), and the fat quarters were on clearance at my LQS, so I went with it.  I think it made a super cute bag!  It has lots of great pockets and is just the right size.
Here's a close up of the pieced flap.

You Are My Sunshine

My Happy Quilting Quilt-a-Long quilt is finished.  I made it using Sweetwater's Sunkissed.  I have decided to call it "You Are My Sunshine."  I absolutely love this quilt!

Here are some close-ups of the blocks...

I also pieced the back.  I love doing pieced insets on the backs of quilts.  For one, it saves on backing fabric.  I was able to back this quilt using 2 yards of fabric rather than 4 yards.  The inset is made up of half-square triangles left over from piecing the top.

I have entered this quilt in our local guild show in a couple of weeks.  It has some issues, so I don't expect it to win any prizes, but I love this quilt and want to share it!

Finally Done!

I've been waiting a while to post pictures of these two special quilts because they were a surprise for two special boys.  I made both of them with Lollipop by Sandy Gervais.  The first is the "Boxed In" pattern by KarrieLynn.  The second is a disappearing nine-patch.  This is one of my favorite new patterns and the quilt is one of my favorites.

The Boxed In Quilt

A shot with the cute monkey backing

The Hidden Nine-Patch Quilt

The fun fish backing

I put their names on them :)

Now I'm busy quilting my quilt-a-long quilt.  I love it and I'm entering it in our local guild show in a couple of weeks!!

Catching Up...

It's been kind of busy, so I haven't had a ton of quilting time.  I had been working hard trying to finish quilting and attaching the binding to two quilts which I will be able to show you soon, but that I also wanted to have nearly done for show and tell at my Sunday Sampler group this coming Sunday.  I have also been trying to catch up on my quilt along work.  I finally got caught up on that just a little while ago.  Here's a picture...

My quilt along blocks so far...Love the Sunkissed!

I also wanted to add this picture.  This is the mug rug I made for the Burgundy Buttons Java Mug Rug Challenge.  I'm still waiting to hear about the judging on this one, but I think it's pretty great!

My Java Mug Rug

Check this out...An Amazing Project

One of my favorite quilt bloggers posted about a really need project on Facebook, so I had to check it out.  It is called...

Go to Cara's blog and check out her story and challenge (just click on the picture).  I think that this is an amazing way to encourage the quilting community to come together and do something.  There are so many things that we can do to help victims of abuse, so think of something creative, then go out and do it! 

Fun Projects from Sweetwater

I love Sweetwater!  Their fabrics are always so bright and cheerful and they have fabrics for great small projects, as well as fantastic quilts.

This is February's label crew project.  It is a great little bag, perfect for a small gift.  There are also several "Happy Birthday" labels that go with it.

Check out my new lunch bag!  I made this in a couple of hours this afternoon.  I also used my personalized label from February (another Label Crew thing) to put my name on it.

This week I have also done a few other projects.  I made my mug rug for the Burgundy Buttons Java Mug Rug Swap (see button) and finished one of the quilt tops I have been working on (you can see it in the background of these pictures...I'm working on quilting it now).  I'll put up pictures of both later (since one is in a contest and the other is a gift, I need to wait a bit).  I'm looking forward to lots of quilting this week (and a day off on Friday!!!!).

New Fabric Day!!!

I absolutely love getting new fabric, whether through the mail or picking something up at my LQS (local quilt shop).  Today I got two boxes from the ever fabulous Leah at Burgundy Buttons.  Here is what was inside:

I've been wanting to buy some of this line, Lovely, ever since I saw it on a coming soon page.  I love all things from Sandy Gervais, but I particularly love this line because of its colors and prints.  I can't wait to break these charm packs open for a new disappearing 9-patch.

I also got this layer cake and yardage.  I have been wanting to make something using Sunkissed for a long time, too.  I love the bright, citrus-y colors and the text prints.  I also love all things Sweetwater.  I ordered this to participate in my first ever quilt-a-long.

Finally, I got this yardage (I bought the layer cake earlier this week at my LQS...I love Frolic but it's hard to find).  I'm going to make this...

Actually, I'm going to make 4 of them.  I won this pattern as a door prize at the Winter Schoolhouse at my LQS.  It's a charm pack pattern, but I absolutely love it, so I decided to go with a layer cake, that way I can make 4 and have some gifts on hand.

Now on to some Saturday sewing.  I'm thinking that I will work on and finish my Mug Rug today.

My First Appliqué Block!

I'm taking a hand-applique class at my local quilt shop, and after many hours of small stitches, my first block is done!  I'm really enjoying doing applique and I love the way this block turned out.  Now to prepare the templates and fabric for next month's class...

Snow Day!!!! (and a long promised tutorial)

This morning, I woke up to this...

Snow Day!!!!  It is amazing how I revert to an eight year old when there is even a chance of snow.  I checked school closings as soon as I woke up this morning and was ecstatic to see that I don't have today!  Since I get to stay home (and there is rare internet at my house this morning), I'm going to update and give you a quick tutorial.

Here is what I've been up to lately (I can't show everything, but here are a few things).

My version of the Stacked Coins Quilt for a friend's baby

WIP Film Strip Quilt

WIP Boxed In Quilt

WIP Hidden 9-Patch

I am also doing a few BOMs (blocks of the month) with our LQS (local quilt shop), including one where I'm going to finally learn applique!

So now for the tutorial.

Log Cabin Ornament

This is a quick little ornament that I came up with for Christmas gifts this year (after I cut up a charm pack for a project that did not work and did not want to wast them).  It uses just charm squares, batting, and a bit of ric-rac or ribbon.  You could use other fabrics to make ornaments for other seasons as well.

You will need:
1 charm pack (for the tutorial, I used Lumiere de Noel by French General)
6 feet of ric-rac or ribbon
Scraps of Bella Solids white (or whatever color you choose for centers)
Batting

Start by cutting fourteen 1.5 inch squares from your Bella white.

Next separate out your charm pack into lights and darks.  Choose 14 squares for backing.

Cut the remaining squares into 1 x 5 inch strips.

Cut each of your light squares into one each of 1x1.5, 1x2, 1x2.5, 1x3, 1x3.5, and 1x4 inch strips.  Cut each of your dark squares into one each of 1x2, 1x2.5, 1x3, 1x3.5, 1x4, and 1x4.5 inch strips.

Now to start sewing.  Begin by sewing your light 1.5 inch strip to your 1.5 inch square, right sides together.  Next add your light 2 inch strip, your dark 2 inch strip, and so on, rotating the square clockwise each time.  (See pictures)

 

When your block is done make your quilt sandwich of block-batting-backing square (I did not trim anything until after I quilted the square).  Quilt the square.  I preferred quilting in the ditch using a zigzag stitch.  It gave the ornament a crafty-country look.  Trim the square.  Attach the ric-rac by making a small loop and inserting it between the square and batting.  Zigzag the edges to finish.

Yield-Each charm pack can make 14 ornaments