Pillowcase Project

I had a request to make four 36" x  pillowcases in beige. Well let me tell you, it sounds easier than it was! It wasn't the actual making of the pillowcases that was hard, it was the search for enough of the same shade of fabric to make 4. The large odd size was complicated by the 44" standard width of fabric for cotton fabrics. It meant purchasing more fabric than necessary since outside of the cuff on top you really can't piece a pillowcase. So finding over 7 yards of a nice beige fabric on a bolt wasn't easy. Most beiges, tans, ecrus, etc. get used as backgrounds so most people buy larger cuts of those fabrics which meant finding a bolt with 7 plus yards left became a mission.

Since I work in a quilt shop luckily some beiges came in by UPS on a day I was working. I entered the bolts into our computer system and quickly purchased the amount I needed before the fabric could hit the shelves. I felt lucky to be in the right place at the right time. So I quickly made all four pillowcases and got them delivered just a few days before my knee replacement surgery. It felt good to get that off my list of things to do before I'm out of commission for a while. 

American Beauty Quilt

I am in charge of a Spring Conference for my American Legion Auxiliary District and I wanted to donate a quilt to use as a raffle prize at the meeting.

I've been collecting fat quarters of a nice line of fabric by Riley Blake called American Beauty that is both patriotic and pretty. The florals are so sweet and the blenders that go with the line compliment the florals so very nicely.  All I needed to do was find a pattern that would show off the fabrics.

I decided to look for something with simple, large blocks so I don't have to cut up all these beauties. I wanted the focus to be on the fabrics, not on the blocks. 

I started going through all my Villa Rosa pattern cards, I have tons of them. The patterns have easy to follow instructions that make many of their projects a breeze. And since this was to be donated it's nice if I don't have to put tons of time into them. This may be a labor of love, but sometimes I just don't want the time spent on a project to take up too much time. 

So I chose the Villa Rosa pattern called Staccato. It will really make the fabrics stand out on their own. 

I cut my pieces in just a few hours then spent an entire afternoon lining them up in the order I wanted them to appear in the quilt. Color placement is so important and I struggled with making sure that different colors were next to each other and large prints were mixed up with small blender prints. 

I shouldn't really call it a struggle because I do find it to be a lot of fun...a little like putting puzzle pieces together. I did enjoy laying it all out. 

I longarmed the quilt with a pretty flourish pattern that really complimented the fabrics.

The flowing swirls in the pattern was a nice contrast to the sharp rectangles that make the blocks.

The quilt turned out beautifully and I'm so happy to get it done in time for my conference.

I hope we can sell enough raffle tickets to make some extra money for our veterans and I hope the winner enjoys using it. 

Town Square Quilt and the last Sock Monkey Quilt

From the book Easy Peasy 3-Yard Quilts, I used the pattern Town Square for this charity quilt. I've used this pattern a few times before. It goes together quickly only this time I did a few modifications.

As the book claims, you need 1 yard of 3 different fabrics to make them. I didn't have enough of a coordinating green fabric so I used two different half-yard green prints. It took a little extra planning but it all worked out in the end.

I've had the cute pea pod fabric for a very long time so I was happy to finally used it up.

I longarm quilted this with a really nice pantograph design that I didn't know I had. It was an easy pattern to follow. I'm certain I will use this one more now that I know I have it - haha!

I also completed another Sock Monkey quilt using a Villa Rosa pattern called Fire and Rain. I couldn't wait to finish this quilt. Finishing it means I've used up and entire fat quarter bundle of Sock Monkey fabrics. This is the fourth quilt I've made from that bundle and the last. I only had a few fat quarters left when this top was done so I made sure to incorporate them into the back even if they did't really match. I was bound and determined to use it all up no matter what. It's amazing what you can do with one bundle of fabric. It was quite a challenge and I now I'm ok if I never see sock monkey prints ever again - haha! This quilt will be off to Quilts for Kids the next time we meet.

Fun with the Kitties

It's almost Thanksgiving and I am still enjoying my roses. I just can't believe the weather. I cannot imagine decorating for the holidays with all the flowers that are still blooming in my yard. It feels wrong to cut them down when they look so pretty. However, it will only take one or two days of below freezing weather to take them out. When that happens I will be happy to compost whatever is left. Until then, I will enjoy the blooms as long as I can.

In the back yard we spend our mornings watching the squirrel action. It's better than television! 

I am getting a little longarming done. Although I am headed to a quilting retreat this week so this one will probably serve as a hammock while I am gone. I'm not sure what the Peyton likes best, the hammock feel or the warmth and hum from the longarmer when it is turned on.

Reading Pillows

Earlier this year a friend had asked me to make reading pillows to sell in her shop. I tried to make one up as a sample to send her and I just didn't like how it turned out. I altered it a few times and no matter what I did it was not acceptable. 

With a craft fair coming up soon, I thought I would give it another shot. I had this idea to use up novelty fabrics I had lying around. So I picked out my half-yard cuts. I chose some camping-themed fabric for my first try and I had this idea to use my embroidery machine to make the front pocket.

I didn't use a big enough piece of fabric so I ended up adding a band to the top and bottom to make it large enough. It really gave it a nice finished look. 

I used a free online tutorial to make the pillow. It helped me determine the right sizes for the pieces. The only real change I made is instead of using fiberfill stuffing, I used a pillow form. That meant I had to make a overlapping back piece to insert the pillow form. I discovered that was what I needed to do to improve my original pillow. It was the lumpy-looking fiberfill that was unacceptable. The pillow form really made a difference. 

Even from the back, the pillow had a nice finished look. Now that I solved the quality control issue, I needed to make some more. I had so much fun matching embroidery files with my fabrics that I ended up making a bunch more so I went on Amazon and ordered a bunch of pillow forms. 

While looking through Etsy for embroidery files I came across the cutest bird file. I fell in love with it. And now that I'm gaining experience with my machine, I conquered this file with over 34,000 stitches. It took a few hours to stitch out but I sure had fun with the colors. I chose them from the colors in the Tula Pink fabric scraps I had leftover from a quilt I made last year.

I made this little beauty into a reading pillow as well. 

I will put this one up for sale along with all the others, however this one will be a little more expensive. I'm not so sure any of these will sell but if they don't, I can always ask my friend who owns the boutique if she would like to put them up in her shop. It feels like a good business plan.

Wooden Gnome-like Santas

I used to do a lot of wood crafts. In fact, I sold many of them at craft fairs. I don't know what made me stop, but it's been years since I dabbled in woodcrafting. I saw a photo on Pinterest of these wooden gnome-like Santa and I thought I could certainly do that without purchasing a pattern or instructions.

After a some thought, I drew multiple sizes of triangles on paper using my 10-degree quilting ruler. I cut them out to get a real visual of the sizes I wanted to make. I then determined the base sizes from scraps of wood my husband had lying around his woodshop.  When he saw what I was up to he volunteered some pallet boards and dowels for the legs. I loved the idea of using pallet boards! This was going to be fun. It also made him clean up after himself so I had room in the workshop to cut on the bandsaw and sand my pieces. I did most of the work myself however I did ask Jeff to drill the holes for the dowels. After painting the pieces, I glued them together and stained them. Once the stain dried I took them outside and sealed them with spray matte-finish sealer.

And viola...

The real fun was choosing buttons for embellishments.

They are ready for my craft fair next weekend. I can't wait to see how they fare. Then I will know if I should continue with woodcrafts. I hope they do well because I had lots of fun making them.

Quilting for a Friend

I was really hoping to finish this quilt before we left for Orlando but I just couldn't make it happen. It belongs to my friend Cindy who will auction it off at a charity event that she supports. The charity raises funds for PKD, a kidney disease that her step-daughter has. It's a terrible disease that has put her step-daughter on the kidney transplant list. 

Each year she makes a quilt for the event and it continually makes lots of money. I'm happy to support her efforts, I'm sure it must be difficult to watch someone you care about suffer. Hopefully the transplant will happen in time to save her step daughter.

I used a feather pattern for the pantograph and I just happened to have a spool of variegated thread in blues and teals that match the fabrics perfectly. I love how it turned out.

My little helper was happy to watch me take the quilt off the longarmer. He just loves to hang out in the sewing room with me. 

And here's a photo of my granddaughter Avery at Disney World. We were there for her birthday where she had breakfast with the princesses in Cinderella's castle. It was supposed to happen for her 8th birthday but the pandemic pushed it off for a few years. It finally happened this year and we are glad we got to make it happen for her as promised so long ago. 

Sprinkles on Top Quilt

I got a jelly roll for 40 percent off at my local quilt shop. The fabric line is called Dandi Duo and I just love it. I was surprised to get home and find the perfect pattern to use it up. That rarely happens. It's in a book called Jelly Filled by Vanessa Goertzen. 

The pattern I chose is called Sprinkles on Top and it requires lots of neutral yardage. Luckily my stash if full of whites and off-whites. I've been collecting neutral prints for many years and it's time I start using them.

I longarmed the quilt with a swirl to soften the look of the modern blocks.  

The backing was put together with some extra yardage of the same fabric line. It's prettier in person than in photos. 

As we head into the end of summer, it's canning time. I find it bittersweet. I absolutely love summer and I don't ever want it to end but I love canning season. Harvest time is my happy time. 

I canned a case of salsa today using all ingredients grown in my garden except for the garlic. I just don't like growing it so I pick it up at the local farmers' market. My garden is my second-favorite hobby after quilting.