WIP Wednesday - What if?.. and a Finish

I make my first mug rugs this past weekend....





Then I had an idea....

What if....

I bought some inexpensive mugs and then matched them with fabric I already have on hand to make a cute gift.

Here are some possible combinations.

The sunflower mug is mine.



These pastel mugs will be for my three coworkers. I took a poll today to see what their favorite colors are and made a lunch hour trip to Dollar General, which yielded these sweet spring cups.

Green "Hope"





Pink "Joy"



Blue "Believe"



In addition to making mug rugs, I finished the SIDNEY quilt which has been delivered to the Mom to be:





This post is linked to SIMPLY PIECED WIP WEDNESDAY HERE.

WIP WEDNESDAY

Here is an update on the progress of my current projects.

One half of the Sidney Quilt has been free motion quilted.





My next Christmas gift pillow case will be for my ATV enthusiast son. I found these two pillow panels on EBay and will add border fabric to make them work for making the Magical Burrito pillow case during April's Friday Night Sew In.



Still no new hand quilting of the Baptist Fans on the Grandma quilt. It been stuck out of sight in the spare bedroom. My goal is to pull it out into the open so that I will be more motivated to work on it. Just 15 minutes a day would get me going!




Bluberri Breezes is still in line to be machine quilted.



I made a little progress on the red and white double Irish chain quilt using leaders and enders.



This post is linked to FRESHLY PIECED WIP WEDNESDAY.

Christmas Gift Pillow Case Number Three

Here is my Friday Night Sew In Christmas Gift Pillow Case Number Three. I have to be honest with you that I was waaay too tired last night to sew, so it was done early this morning.

These pillow cases are so much fun to make. I love the way they turn out. Even with my limited sewing expertise, they turn out professional looking.



I made the trim a little wider on this one so the blue color would show up better.



The late March sun was shining in the sewing room so brightly this morning.



These two pictures show the inside seams. By sewing french seams, there are no raw edges or loose threads. When the pillowcases are laundered there will be no fraying of the seams.





Friday Night Sew In is sponsored by Handmade by Heidi.
The pillowcase pattern can be found on the Twiddletails Blog HERE.

WIP Wednesday, The "I Forgot One" Edition!

In yesterday's post on WIPs, I forgot all about mentioning the handquilting of Baptist Fans on my Grandmother's vintage,perhaps antique,quilt top.

NO PROGRESS!

I know that's not much of an update, but hopefully posting my progress here will give me incentive to work on it. I know once I get started I will continue on, because I have already made a lot of progress on it and the nearer I get to completing it, the more excited I will be about having another 2011 quilt finish!

WIP Wednesday

Here's an update on my WIPs (works in progress)

Bluberri Breezes is at a standstill, but in line to be pin basted and quilted.



My collection of selvedges is growing for a selvedge quilt some time in the future. Perhaps as a leaders and enders quilt????



I am beginning to spend more time on the red and white quilt that I began last year as a leaders and enders quilt. Its a double nine patch Irish chain in all reds and whites.



I have been working on the second of the pair of shams to go with "Farmhouse Magic". I should be able to finish it tonight.....





And then on to quilting "Sidney"!



I am linking this post to FRESHLY PIECED WIP WEDNESDAY.

Sidney Progress

It was such a busy, busy weekend that I didn't achieve all I had dreamed of on the quilting front. But, I was able to pin baste the Sidney Baby Quilt. The good thing about a smaller size quilt is not needing such a big area to work on.

The kitchen table is oval and not so big, but its perfect for pin basting a baby quilt. I tape the backing fabric down as best I can. The corners are the only area that is hard to tape down.

Hopefully I can start machine quilting tonight.

Meet The New Quilts

I have completed two quilt tops this week!!! I am so happy about that. This weekend I will work on getting them prepared for quilting. Next week after work I will have big Brother set up for quilting so that I can quilt after supper.

Did you know you can accomplish many things during commercial breaks? If you are watching a favorite show such as Jeopardy or American Idol (GO SCOTTIE!!), just commit to sprinting into the sewing area and quilt as fast as you can until the commercial is over. This works for many things such as cleaning, decluttering, or whatever it is you are want to get accomplished.

This is "SIDNEY" the fourth baby quilt I have made using this pattern and all of them have been for girls. This one has brighter pinks than the others and quite a bit of green in it. I have named it Sidney because that is the middle name of my brother-in-law who passed away in October who is the grandfather of this baby girl. He knew the baby was on the way when he died, but he did not know it was going to be a girl. He would have been so thrilled and would have loved this child so much. I don't know what the baby's name will be, but the quilt's name is Sidney!









This is "BLUBERI BREEZES" It has been a Leaders and Enders Quilt for several months and finally has been completed. I am still amazed at how many different versions of quilt patterns can be accomplished just by using the lowly nine patch block.

1000 Pyramids - My Oldest UFO

Oops! I thought I had confessed all of my UFOs and was making progress on finishing them. I forgot this one.

I started this quilt 9 or 10 years ago and was actually hand sewing the triangles together. It was supposed to be a Charm Quilt, which as you probably know, means all the triangles would be from a different fabric.

I'm not sure what to do with it because:

1. I don't really like it

2. I don't have any idea where I got the instructions from and so don't really know how to proceed.

But, after I laid out the blocks I thought the pattern was pretty striking from a distance.

I don't think I will ever finish it as a completely hand sewn quilt, but might be able to incorporate it into a smaller quilt or as part of the backing of another quilt.

I have been thinking of making a true charm quilt using the 1000 Pyramids pattern, but it will be made on my sewing machine. I will post a picture of the possible quilt soon.

Sneak Peek at March's Friday Night Sew In

I have been making pillow cases for Christmas gifts each month during Friday Night Sew In. Pillow case number 3 is for my son-in-law, who teaches guitar lessons, is a member of a band and great musician. He is so talented and he's a wonderful son-in-law, husband to my daughter and dad to my grandson.

Friday night sew in for this month is March 18th, a week from Friday and is hosted by Handmade by Heidi.

Leaders and Enders, Blue and Beige, Irish Chain Quilt

I must give this quilt a name! But, for now this is the blue and beige leaders and enders Irish Chain quilt I have been working on while working on other projects. At some point a leaders and enders quilt must become the main quilt you are working on and that time is almost here!

Here are the blocks completed so far laid out on a bed.



These are 2 1/2 inch blocks I have laid out beside my sewing machine to use as leaders and enders.



Sets of three blocks already sewn together waiting to become nine patches as leaders and enders.



My very lofty goal is to complete one quilt each month and I hope to complete this one for March. If I work really hard I may be able to complete a baby girl's quilt for my soon to be born great niece, as well.