A Fabric Funny

After trying to board a plane

with a recent, rather large, fabric purchase

(some of it for me), my sister sent

the following text . . .

The brick of fabric in my backpack

was suspicious so they had to

open the bag and search it :-)

Can you imagine the look of confusion
on the screener's face

as he opened the pack to find

. . .

a fat quarter stack?

Yep, we quilters are pretty

shady characters.

A "Color" Soft Book

I made several of these little color soft books based on this tutorial a few years ago for a charity event.  Thankfully, I saved one not knowing for sure if there would ever be another little one in our family.  It sat, undone, for all those years, but now it is done for Joe to enjoy.

It includes several pages, two of which are pictured below.  It includes the rainbow and then pink, brown, black and white.

The words were printed in reverse on iron-on transfer paper and then ironed onto a square before being stitched into a four-patch.

Now Joe can learn his colors . . . or at least have another tasty book to chew on.

Mod Times Quilt Finish

I followed along with Jessica at Twin Fibers in her Mod Times Quilt Along and here's my quilt.  I was using what I had on hand . . . a fun print from IKEA, some Kona White (although Snow probably would have been a better choice) and Kona Coal.

The back was pieced with another fun print from IKEA, Kona Coal, and the print from the front.

I quilted it with a wide-spaced spiral.  I started with a rather large circle and worked inwards first.  NOT a good idea.  I might have pulled it off if I had a walking foot, but it would have worked much better to work from the center outward.  To create the initial circle, I made a compass from a piece of yarn tied to a pencil.  I held the end of the yarn where I want the spiral to end (a hippo nose) and then drew a circle with the pencil stretched at the other end of the yarn.

Here's a close up.  I screwed the guide in at 1" and then just followed the circle inward.

When I was working on the outward leftover circles, I had to put my guide in upside down.  This actually worked well.  Following the guide out in front helped me turn the work a little ahead and actually kept it where it should be.

You should check out all the great color combinations that people came up with for this quilt along.  Thanks, Jessica, for great instructions and for teaching a new skill . . . inset seams!!!

Traveling Flower Garden

I managed to complete a few hexagon flowers as we traveled to Yellowstone last week.

 

I thought I would get many more done while in the park, but I enjoy the view far too much to be bent over hexagons.

So these few were completed on the road to and from.

Here's my favorite.

I use 1" hexagons that I make from hexagon graph paper printed here. I just change the hexagon size to 1" and then print on cardstock. I like to punch a hole in each paper piece for easy removal later. For 1" hexies, I use a 2.5" square of fabric. See a little tutorial here for how to create the hexies. And then I just whipstitch them together into a flower shape.

If I get enough of these, I think that I will applique them onto a quilt rather that create a traditional Grandmother's Flower Garden where every flower is sashed with neutral hexagons . . . my patience for hand-piecing does not extend that far.

These are quick little finishes that I plan to take camping and to swimming lessons and such this summer.

Swooning Over Swoon

While I wait for the pattern to come in the mail, I figured out how to create these block in 2" units instead of what I was guessing to be 3" units to make a 16" block (rather than a 24" block).

I have a fat quarter pack of Panache I bought many moons ago that I think I will use for a king-size version of this quilt.

The Little Turtle

The Little Turtle

a poem by Vachel Lindsay

 There was a little turtle.

He lived in a box.

He swam in a puddle.

He climbed on the rocks.

He snapped at a mosquito.

He snapped at a flea.

He snapped at a minnow.

And he snapped at me.

He caught the mosquito.

He caught the flea.

He caught the minnow.

But he didn't catch me.

Soft book created and quilted by me.

Where the Buffalo Roam . . .

My family and I just returned from the "land of fire and ice" where I said "hello" to some of these . . .

Where I was awed and inspired be some of these . . .

Where I'm always amazed by these (although I didn't get many good pictures . . . it was rather chilly this year which makes for foggy hot springs) . . .

And where I captured glimpses of little beauties like these . . .

I know some of these need to be turned into quilts.  Especially Sapphire Pool up there . . . that one haunts me year after year.

Maybe someday.

Antique Quilts

Last week, our family buzzed down to St.George, Utah to enjoy some warmth as we celebrated the end of the school year.  While there, we toured the Brigham Young Winter Home, that was built and occupied in the late 1870s

These two quilts caught my eye.

The first in obviously a traditional log cabin.

Anyone know what this red and white pattern is called?

Here's a close up.  I'm pretty sure the red and white triangles are pieced.  And check out the beautiful quilting.

4th of July Table Runner Tutorial

Can you believe that the 4th of July is only one month away?  With the chilly weather we've been having, it hardly seems like summer yet.  I'm ready for some warmth and flag waving, so here's a little table runner I whipped up this week.

Would you like to make one?  Here's how:

Supplies:

1 @  6.5" x width of fabric (wof) strip of blue

2 @  2.5" x wof strips of red

1  @  2.5" x wof strip of white

fusible web

white fabric for stars

4.5" star to trace (I just cut one out on my Cricut, but you can create one in Photoshop or google a star image and make it about 4.5" tall)

Step 1:

Using an accurate 1/4" seam, sew the red strips to either side of the white strip.  Press seams.

Step 2: (not pictured)
Sub-cut the red & white strip set and the blue strip into 6.5" squares.  You should be able to get 6 of each.

Step 3:
Trace 6  4.5" stars onto fusible web and fuse to white fabric.  Cut out the stars and center them on the blue 6.5" squares.  Press to fuse.

Step 4:
Secure the stars to the blue squares.  I like to satin stitch.  I use a short stitch length and a middle stitch width, keeping the outside of the zig-zag close to the edge.  You could also use a blanket stitch or just a straight stitch close to the edge.

Here are the appliqued stars and sub-cut stripe blocks.

Step 5:
Using an accurate 1/4" seam, sew a stripe block to the right of each star block.  Note that I have all of the stars pointing out, so I made all of these star/stripe pairs identical.

Step 6:
Sew three pairs of blocks together to make two identical rows.

Step 6:
Sew the rows together as pictured below.  The stars should look a little off-center at this point.  The binding will re-center them.

Step 7:
Quilt and bind as desired.  I straight stitched around each star and stippled everywhere else.  I did try straight stitching a 1/4" from all the seams, but I liked the stippled look much better.

Let me know if you make one.

Happy Summer!!!