Piecetime

Blankie for baby

2010-04-07T08:41:00.006-05:00

So I finally got around to cutting and piecing four gorgeous thrifted pink toned wool sweaters that I fulled. It ended up being enough for what I would call a stroller blanket, about 32 x 41 inches. Two dilemmas: 1) how do I reduce the waviness at the seams? and 2) should I put a backing on it? I have the perfect striped fabric for the back and some nice contenders for the binding. I kind of like it the way it is, but not everyone is a fan of the softly scratchy feel of wool against their skin, especially babies. Okay, so I've answered that question, but I still don't know about the waviness. Maybe when I quilt it to the backing, some of it might go away. We'll see I guess.

Doll Quilt Swap 7

2009-09-17T07:35:00.003-05:00

DQS7, originally uploaded by kathilu.

Here's my contribution to the Doll Quilt Swap 7. I made these crosses ala Betty Ninja's method. I had so much fun making this little quilt. It is so gratifying to be able to sit down in almost one sitting and start finish a project. The was my first attempt a pebble quilting. I have to say the quilting isn't my greatest work but we have to start somewhere. Anyway, this was a lot of fun and I would love to participate in a DQS8!

The Toy Society

2009-02-21T15:23:00.000-06:00

I made my first toy and drop for The Toy Society--what a rush! I loved making this little doll and I really loved the idea of giving her away to a stranger. I will definitely do this again.

Our church was having a rummage sale today and this playground is across the parking lot from the sale so there should be a lot of traffic. Ooooh, I am so excited at the thought of someone taking her home, I can't stand it!

Just do it already!

2009-01-30T13:00:00.000-06:00

Here is what I made yesterday: a new cover for my ironing board. The old one got lost in the move--I don't know how your stuff gets loaded onto a truck at your old house and when the truck gets to your new house, some of the stuff is gone! I mean, why not take the whole ironing board if you're going to steal my stuff, not just the cover! I digress, anyway, I have been going round and round with myself for the last 5 months, since the naked ironing board arrived, whether to make or buy a new one. There are all these great tutorials out there, like this one and this one. I don't know why it took me so long; I just needed to decide to do it. So I did...yesterday...finally...and I love it. In the end, I read the tutorials and then did my own thing. The bright fabric is from Ikea in Heidelberg, Germany--I had used it for my daughter's room when we lived there years ago and I was about to give it away. I'm so glad I didn't because it's a nice reminder of the years we spent there, and I didn't spend a dime to make it. Yay!

Cross Blocks

2009-01-21T12:02:00.000-06:00

These are so much fun to make and so easy. Just follow Betty Ninja's directions here. I love her Hot Pink Cross quilt, especially that all the crosses are different widths and sizes. I'll do that next--these all have 1 1/2 inch wide crosses. I'd like to do some real fat and real skinny ones. I am loving this so much that I think this will be my Project Imrov project, and I'll sash everything with white.

Also check out Bison Girl's cross quilt. Just as beautiful as Betty's but so different.

Project Improv: Not as easy as I thought

2009-01-16T13:03:00.000-06:00

I've done what I think is my charity block for Project Improv, but I'm not sure yet. I signed up for the Red/Acqua combo and at first I wasn't sure if my fabric choices were "red" enough. Now I'm not sure I'm happy with how simple the block turned out compared to the ones other people have posted. So while I like the block and will use it somewhere, I think I will play around some more before sending this off to Jacquie for the charity quilt. Here are some things I learned while making this one though:

Improvising can take longer than working from a pattern

Some traditional quilt rules are still good, like pressing your seams to the dark if you can. I can see from my picture that this block needs to be pressed some more

A quarter inch seam is not always necessary. If you aren't matching seams, then don't worrry about it.

And don't tell the quilt police but I used whatever thread was already threaded on the machine. How's that for wild and crazy? It sort of reminds me of the "quilts" my grandmother used to make--she would cover old blankets with whatever scraps she had on hand. Now they call them utilitarian quilts. And she wouldn't have dreamed of matching the thread to the fabric color or trying to use a neutral color. She just wanted to get it done and keep her family warm.

But you gotta love this face!

2008-03-14T10:23:00.000-05:00

So we have been finding bent safety pins all over the place, and who in this house uses lots of safety pins but the quilter, right? But, I say innocently, I haven't pin basted a quilt lately and my tin of pins is sitting with its lid closed on my sewing table. Then I notice Scruffee, chewing on ... something...

The little nut has been pulling the safety pins out of a basted quilt that I had laid across my cedar chest and then chews the top off and mangles the straight part. Potential for major OUCH, Scruffee!

Here are some happy pincushions I made a while back from this pattern: http://www.quiltmaker.com/patterns/patt95.pdf. (Sorry, I can't seem to make the link thingy work.) They are fun to make while watching TV.

My plastic bag bag

2008-03-11T08:54:00.000-05:00

Here's what I finished last night--my plastic bag bag. I love this bag. It is unbelievably soft, considering it is made out of plastic grocery bags. I'm not a crocheter, but I saw this online and my plastic bag holder was overflowing so I just had to try it. It won't be the last one I make. It was fun but it does start hurting your fingers after a while.

Here's my other recent obsession, pink crumb squares:

I'm not sure how I'm going to use them yet. Right now I'm thinking of framing them with a lighter solid, then sashing them in white. I still have a few more to get to the right size, then I'll start playing with layout. I'm just about out of pink scraps though, and that makes me a little sad. But I have plenty of other pinks to cut into and then I'll have more pink crumbs. It never ends.

Lots to do

2008-03-10T12:46:00.000-05:00

We're moving again. We've been here less than 2 years and we are moving again, this time to Alabama. I'm glad though, because 1) I'm not crazy about northern VA and 2) this will hopefully be our last move (unless we get to go overseas again.) I'm also nervous about 1) our youngest child's reaction (she's a freshman in high school) and 2) selling this house in the current market. So instead of facing it and doing something to start getting organized, I made these potholders.

I told myself I was reducing my scrap pile and making the kitchen look better. I can justify anything.

My first post

2008-03-08T18:37:00.000-06:00

I don't know why this seems so scary to me...I created this blog a couple of weeks ago and just haven't been able to get myself to post anything. I suppose I am approaching blogging the same way I get into a swimming pool: one toe at a time. But here goes nothing...

I think I'll start off with my favorite quilt. It's my favorite because my daughters and I made it together. It was August 2000, when the kids were bored of summer vacation. I got the idea from an episode of Simply Quilts. I gave each girl 1 red and 2 black background squares. Then I gave them each a square of another red, green, yellow and white with fusible web on the back. The could cut any shapes they wanted to applique and they were to trace their hands on the white. I taught the two oldest how to blanket stitch around the shapes and the little one how to do a running stitch. The bottom 3 squares are mine. We had so much fun. They were 13, 12 and 6. I think if we ever had a fire, this is what I would run back into the house for.