Monday, February 28, 2011

Finished "Picnic in the Park"

Here is my second finish of 2011, Picnic in the Park. Completely finishing one quilt a month may seem slow to some quilters, but for me its pretty darn good!

The pattern for this quilt can be found at Crazy Mom Quilts HERE and Crazy Mom's finished quilt can be found HERE.

I am so happy to have finished a quilt made totally from scraps, remnants and stash.





Saturday, February 19, 2011

FNSI Results - Christmas Gift Number Two is Made

This ECU Pirates project is the third pillowcase I have made using Twiddletails Magical Pillowcase Tutorial and I really love the way they turn out. After making three, I can now make them much faster. I estimate that including cutting time, the pillow case takes less than an hour.



After making one, I was ready to keep going and may just put together a couple today, in between pin basting my quilt.

Friday, February 18, 2011

Ready for my Weekend Sewing!

My fabric is ready for the East Carolina University pillow case I will be working on tonight during Friday Night Sew In. Go Pirates! (as long as they aren't playing NC State!)



Picnic in the Park is ready to pin baste. The backing was pieced with scraps. When you have lemons, make lemonade, right? These long strips were just right for sewing together to make the backing and helps me to use what I have on hand and not buy anything.

The quilt top and backing folded neatly awaiting pin basting:



The backing in progress:



The Grandma quilt in the quilting frame has been used for storage of fabric for a couple of months now. I plan to change that this weekend and get back to the handquilting of the Baptist fans!

Wednesday, February 16, 2011

A Quilted Walker Caddy from Stash/Scraps

I made this for a friend's walker this week.



It has a front and back pocket and securely attaches with Velcro, sort of like a saddle bag. The pocket in the front has a small Velcro closure to protect its contents while out and about in stores, etc.



I would like to embellish it a little by adding a ribbon bow on the front. If I make more of these I would like to add other decorative touches like ribbon or rickrack trim.

I was determined to make it without buying any fabric and I had exactly enough fabric in this color from scraps left over from this quilt made years ago!



I am really doing well at using what I have on hand and reducing the contents of some of my plastic bins!

Tuesday, February 15, 2011

High Tech Quilting Tool

This is about as high tech as I get. LOL



This lint roller came in very handy when finishing up my most recent quilt. The quilt batting made the dark fabrics used in the border very lint-y. With the lint roller I made quick work of cleaning it up while snipping any loose threads.

Monday, February 14, 2011

Friday Night Sew In Plans for February



So far no plans for Friday night that will interrupt my Friday Night Sew In Christmas sewing for February!

I have purchased my fabric for another pillow case. This one will be another college themed one - EAST CAROLINA.

I'll be posting pictures of it Saturday, if all goes well. Then I will have 2 handmade Christmas gifts made for 2011!

If you want to sign up go to HERE. Crafty Vegas Mom and Handmade by Heidi share this fun party and this month its Crafty Vegas Mom's turn.

Tuesday, February 8, 2011

My BestTips For Getting More Quilting Done

Since I work full time outside my home, I don't get a huge number of quilts done. I am amazed at how many quilts some ladies get done! Even though I consider myself to be a slow poke quilter, I do have a few tips for turning out more quilts.

1. Choose simple patterns. Even the simplest patterns can look complex and turn out great! For recurring gifts, such as baby gifts, use a favorite simple pattern over and over again, using different color combinations. Its much faster to make a pattern you are familar with. My "go to" quilt for babies is Stacked Coins from Crazy Mom Quilts. It always turns out great and goes together easily and quickly.

Here's the most recent version. I am in the process of making another one for another little girl, but this one will have more green in it.





2. Designate a certain amount of time you will work on quilting each day in order to meet a self imposed deadline. I recently completed a quilt by making a decision that I would work on the quilt at least an hour each night so that it would be finished by the end of the following weekend. I succeeded by pure perserverance!

3. Stay home. This isn't hard for me, because I stay home unless its absolutely necessary to go somewhere, most of the time. But, If I am out and about on Saturday, I end up getting very little quilting done.

4. Leave the quilt out in progress. I know this is hard if you don't have a separate sewing room, but it helps to be able to go back to where you left off without having to get everything out again.

This is an old picture of my sewing area. Trust me, it doesn't look this neat right now!

Monday, February 7, 2011

My First Quilt Finish of 2011 - Farmhouse Magic

I really worked hard on this one! Here is a picture showing the borders, binding and how the back looks of "Farmhouse Magic"



I enjoyed Big Brother's assistance for the Free Motion Quilting.



I also enjoyed having a warm quilt to work under while watching basketball on Saturday and the Super Bowl on Sunday with my hubby. Its always a happy moment when I make that last stitch on the back of the quilt when sewing down the binding. I usually excitedly and loudly say, "I AM FINISHED", at which time my hubby cheers.