Tuesday

Quilted Baskets

I received a request to make some quilted baskets out of really fun fabric. It has film rolls all over it. Some of us see this as nostalgic however it isn't... yet. In fact, I think the photos taken with film are so much better than the digital ones we take now. Although I am sure they would be better if I weren't printing them out on my crappy little color printer. But I digress...


The fabric is so bright and cheery that I decided to quilt it with some nice yellow rayon specialty thread. They are lined in simple black fabric and look like little soldiers all in rows. I did my best to cut as many of these baskets out and I got to 11 before I ran out of fabric. All that was left was one small 2" by 10" strip once I was done. I think they are very cute.

Wednesday

Quilts for Kids - Patchwork Quilts

Daisy QuiltI've been practicing some free-motion quilting lately. Since I have some quilt tops done for a charity group, I thought I would take the time to get even more practice in by quilting these finished quilt tops using the free-motion technique.

Once I finished the first quilt, I was addicted. I was pleasantly surprised how quickly I could get the entire quilt done. So I free-motion quilted the second quilt as well.

I think I will be doing a lot more of this technique. I know I need more practice but what better way to get more practice than by quilting more projects!
Capset Quilt

My Ironing Station

The end of summer is a perfect time to get painting projects. It's when the weather is perfect for the paint to dry. So it is time to get some projects done!

I've had an old entertainment center from the 80's stored away for a very long time. It held a large-screen television which meant it was a bulky piece of furniture with a fat opening for those big, heavy televisions that were so popular back in the day. That entertainment center is made from oak and the craftmanship is beautiful. It is a quality piece which is why we could not part with it. Unfortunately, we could not use it anymore either. Those flat-panel tvs we have today just don't fit.

We were going to turn the piece into a wine rack. My husband would custom-fit some bottle racks where the tv was and we would use the shelves for storing wine glasses. So I put the piece in the kitchen until I could decide what color to paint it and I absolutely hated it there. So it was on to plan B....an ironing station for my sewing studio.

Ironing StationI measured the space available in my sewing area where I thought it should go and it was a perfect fit. And as for color, that was easy - I have leftover paint from the shelves I painted so I used that. I then had my husband cut a piece of wood a half-inch smaller than the top of the unit and covered it with layers of batting and insul-bright. I topped it off with a white duck cloth cover and there you have it - an ironing station.

Even though painting is cutting into my sewing time, I am having tons of fun re-purposing our old furniture. I even did some stenciling on the inside for a little charm. Then I added a curtain rod and made a curtain with some fabric I bought at Ikea and changed the door and drawer hardware to something a little more modern. I absolutely love it.
Ironing Station


Thursday

Batik Wall Hanging

Connie, the owner of Coins & Quilts put together a wall hanging kit for her shop. The kit uses a pattern called Autumn Leaves by Thimble 'N Thread and is made up of batik fabrics. I made a sample wall hanging from the kit for her to hang at the shop.
Thimble N Thread Pattern
I used Madiera thread to do some stitching around the appliqued leaves and just a little straight-line quilting around the blocks, like the pattern designer suggested. I was pleasantly surprised how the sample turned out, especially since I'm not usually a fan of batiks. 

Tuesday

What's on the design board?

I changed up some of my low volume blocks before sewing them together. Some of the fabrics I thought would qualify as low volume turned out to be a bit too busy for my purposes. So I did some un-sewing and replaced the offending fabrics with some quieter stuff.

Now that I have the blocks sewn together, I'm thinking that I should make the quilt top bigger. I really started with no plan other than to dabble in low volumes. And now that I've gotten this far, I really like where things are going.

It will be fun to pull out a few more scrap pieces to make more blocks. Other than this quilt top, I haven't been doing all that much sewing. I have too many outdoor projects in the works to spend my days indoors but I do miss my sewing machine!

Plus Sign Quilt