Charity Pet Beds

Every year my church has a Christmas tree dedicated to pets. It's a thing that started many years ago when the pastor's beloved dog, Harley passed away. The tree was named after Harley and parishioners and visitors alike are encouraged to donate new pet items and make monetary contributions that will go to a local no-kill pet shelter. 

Each year I make homemade pet beds. I save fabric chunks and batting scraps all year in order to make them. I sew the scraps together to make the top then add old blue jeans that get cut into large pieces to make the back. The jeans add a nice sturdy base to them and the fabrics for the top are usually fleece or flannel for softness. 

Once the top is sewn to the back, I then take all my batting scraps and cut them up into small pieces. I also stuff the leftover fabric scraps inside as well. Nothing is wasted. What a great feeling. I love recycling and repurposing old things. 

This year I set one of the beds where my cat lays. I thought it would be a good test to see if a pet actually likes them. At naptime, he laid on it and stayed there most of the afternoon. Since I wasn't sure whether he laid on it because it was his space or whether it was the comfort of the cat bed, I moved the bed to a different location. He chose to seek out the bed and again napped on it. 

Now I'm in trouble. How can I take it away and send it to church when he likes it so much?

Perfect Table Topper

I made this table topper with no pattern. I used the leftovers from a pillow project I made last fall. Some of the scrap pieces were pretty small so the best I could come up with was 2-inch squares. I sewed 100 of them together - 10 rows of 10 squares. 

I added an inner border cut from 1-inch strips of coordinating fabric. The outer border strips are 2-3/4 inch strips of fabric. I used 100% cotton batting and matching fabric backing layered and quilted in a meandering pattern.

Using the same fabric for the binding as the inner border really made this project look like it was better planned than it really was - ha! The finished project measures 20" x 20" square - a perfect size for the center of any table.

What's on the design board?

These days my design board reminds me of my thought process. My brain is jumping from one project to another - I can't seem to concentrate on one thing. From an organization point of view, it's a disaster. From a creative point of view, it's great fun. I can't decide what I want to work on and when I do I can't seem to stick with it for very long.

On the left side of my board I have a project called Flying Leap. It's a very modern quilt pattern with a few circles in it. I haven't worked with many projects with circles so I decided it was time to step out of my comfort zone and try something new. I am loving the colors, they are muted and modern. In fact, I've ordered some modern prints to complete the inside of some of the circle blocks.

On the right side of the board are my economy blocks. I am using some leftover fabrics from another project to make these blocks. They are part of a placemat pattern I found in an old magazine. I don't like how some of the blocks turned out - they are much too busy so I am going to have to incorporate some new fat quarters in with the leftover fabrics in order to make them look decent.

In the center, I've made a bookcase block. I think it turned out a little too busy so I will take it apart and try again. The quilt will be a teacher gift and I have the backing fabric picked out so I'm trying to choose colors for the book blocks to match. I just got started and I have plenty of time to complete it. I won't need it until teacher appreciation week, which is in April.

Gobble It Up Pillow

I recently purchased a new issue of Quilts N More Magazine. I bought it just to get this pattern. I thought it was so cute. And I liked the fabric that the designer used too.

Now that I work in a quilt shop I have a better knowledge of what's in the shop. As a customer I just went to get what I needed, I never really browsed much. I knew that my shop has the All Hallowed Eve fabric line which was used in the magazine. I purchased the brown and off white from the shop and used my scraps to complete the project.

It didn't take very long to complete. I even quilted it just like they did in the magazine. It always helps to make a project go quickly when I don't have to make the decisions, just follow the instructions in the pattern. Ha! Now all I need is the correct size pillow form and this one's ready for later this fall.

In Between Projects

I like to make quilt kits to take with me when I go quilting at the senior center. It makes it so much easier when I get there. I know what I will be working on and I don't have to worry about packing up a project to take along; it's already packed and ready.

The problem is that I have no idea what to make into a kit. I started going through my sewing room for inspiration. The first thing I came across was my box of leftover binding scraps. It's pretty full. So I took out some of the shorter binding pieces and cut them into strips for my next scrap quilt project. That diverted my efforts to make a quilt kit. I'm easily distracted lately.

The woman in charge of the quilt group at the senior center loves to share her love of Missouri Star quilt patterns. I came across one she gave me so I thought I would make it into a kit. It requires some charm packs so I dug mine out. My kitty decided to get in on the action. After auditioning some fabrics, I finally cut my next kit.

It was a fun adventure around the sewing room and a reminder that I really don't need to shop for new projects. I have plenty of beautiful fabrics all around me.

I'll start my new project next week - another quilt for the church charity.

Postage Stamp Quilt Block Class

I am teaching a class on the postage stamp quilt block this Thursday. I thought this would be a good class for beginners who like to keep their scraps. Since I am teaching this to the church quilt group, I know we get a lot of donated scraps and this might interest someone who wishes to use them.

I started by making samples of each step. The first step is cutting the pieces so we could practice our accuracy with a ruler and rotary cutter. The second step is sewing 4 strips together.  After that we press the seams all to one side - another great lesson. Then we will turn the strip set sideways and cut into strips again. This will teach the class how to line up a sewn block for cutting. Then we will learn to nest seams as we sew the strips together to make the blocks.

I also made a sample with 3 blocks sewn together in order to promote the importance of pressing to one side.

I think this will also be a lesson in color arrangement. I want to stress that sometimes the print doesn't matter as much as the color. I hope the class gets some enjoyment in making these for themselves. I made sure they will have written instructions with photos as well. That's how I was instructed and it worked for me. Here's to hoping the class enjoys this!

Toy Story (Buzz Lightyear) Quilt

I am doing this game (challenge) found over on the Country Threads Chicken Scratch blog called Connie's Dirty Dozen. The idea is to find 12 of your unfinished projects (UFOs) and number them from 1 through 12. Each month a number will be drawn by Connie and that's the numbered project you need to complete by the end of the month. You can read all the rules and instructions for the game here. The game started with July and last month I finished my #8 in two weeks. I had extra incentive in that I was donating the quilt to my church's art fair on the 20th of July so it really needed to get done. Country Threads posted the photo I sent them of my quilt here. Yay! I am keeping up with the game (so far- ha ha).

For August Connie drew #3 so here is my August project all done:

This quilt will go to Quilts for Kids. As you can see the fabric has Buzz Lightyear all over it in large print. I struggled to figure out how to cut up the fabric to make quilt blocks and still see that it's Buzz on the fabric. So I found this cute free tutorial here called the Novelty Quilt tutorial. I thought it was perfect for this fabric so I fussy cut all the Buzz images as well as his enemy. I used all leftover scraps from my scrap bin of solids to make the 2-inch squares. It was a very economical project. I used high-loft batting when I quilted this in order to make the quilting pop. I think I was successful. The quilt feels nice and puffy yet still soft.

So I'm 2 months into the Dirty Dozen game and I feel like am "winning"!

Gypsy Wife Quilt #2

This is my second Gypsy Wife quilt. I made it with the intention that I would follow a quilt-along where each month one of each of the 10 sections would be completed. I got all the way to Section 7 when I couldn't stand it any more. I just had to keep going. So I finished the quilt top last weekend.

During the week I bought the backing for the quilt and put it on my longarmer. Once I finished quilting it, I decided to use the same backing fabric for the binding.

Today I hand-stitched the binding while watching the Milwaukee Brewers' game. It's about 97 degrees outside so it was a good way to spend the day even though I would rather be outside.

This pattern was quite a challenge and many people think it's a hard pattern but I think it's just complicated. The blocks are simple - it's the putting it together part that is unusual.

I used a pantograph called Trumpet Vine to quilt it. And even though this is a scrap quilt, I tried to showcase fabrics with cats on it in many of the blocks. What fun!

Presents from Mom by Creek Side Stitches

This quilt is made from donated fabrics. The fabric came from someone who goes to my church. It was her mother's. I tried to use it up in a meaningful way. There's so much of it so there will be many more of these quilts before I use it all up.

The pattern is called Presents from Mom and it's found in a booklet called Slice of Home by Creek Side Stitches. I picked out many greens and blues from the donated fabrics no matter what the print was. I cut 42 10-inch squares from the fabrics in order to make this. The instructions stated that a mix of darks and lights were important so no matter the print, that's what I concentrated on. For an experiment in color, it didn't turn out too bad - haha!

I quilted it on my longarmer using the Daisy Doodle pantograph.  I really like the quilting.

This will be given back to the church to use for whatever they want. It was a fun experiment in color.

Shirting Fabric Find

While cleaning out my sewing room I came across a plastic storage bag filled with plaid shirting fabrics. They are beautiful fabrics, some were leftovers from a quilt I made for my son while he was in high school. Well he is 36 now so I have to admit that they've been lying around here for way too long. Instantly I thought they would make great charity quilts for the veterans.

Some of the fabrics were cut into 3.5 inch squares and 6 inch squares. So I ironed up the fabrics and cut some more squares in those sizes. Some pieces were so big I also cut 10 inch squares. I think I will easily get three quilts out of these fabrics.

I used up most of the 3.5 inch squares making this panel. I added an inside border and now I have to choose a plaid for a bigger outside border and viola! ...a completed quilt top. In my charity fabric bin there's a large piece of fabric with a white tailed deer print. I think that would make a great backing for this quilt.

What's on the design board?

There's not much going on on the design board this month. Or last month really. Once summer comes it's hard for me to stay indoors. Plus my time has been hijacked because we are hosting a family reunion at our house in 2 weeks. That part is easy. The hard part is that my husband's brother, his wife, husband's sister, her husband, my son, and his fiancee are all staying at my house over the 4-day weekend during the reunion. That's a lot of entertaining and a lot of figuring out where everyone is going to sleep. It's a fun problem to have.

I am making slow progress on my gypsy wife. I have sections 1 through 7 completed and section 8 is on the design board. Plus a few extra blocks I made that I do not like. Don't know what's going to happen with those. 

Sections 1 through 7 are sewn together and now it's too long to hang on the design board. So here is the best photo I could get without having to lay it on the floor.

I made a chocolate ganache pound cake from a recipe I found on Pinterest. It was not great. It wasn't bad, just not good enough for me to make it again. It sure was pretty though. Click for the recipe if you care.

My Small World Quilt

Here is my finished My Small World! After 1 year and 2 months, it is complete. My daughter, Bailee bought me the pattern last year for my birthday and I started working on it immediately. I got hung up with each section that required hand applique. I don't know why. I can do it, I guess I just didn't want to hand stitch anything. But for a quilt like this one, it had to be done that way, the right way. So I muddled through making hexies by hand, Dresden plated by hand, and a some curved pieces. I learned a few tricks along the way and I have to admin, every time I finished a hand appliqued part, I wondered why I put it off. It was all so very enjoyable. I did cheat a little; I paper-pieced a few blocks which was not how the pattern was intended but I wanted to see if it made any difference in how some of the blocks turned out. I didn't. So I machine pieced most of the quilt just like the pattern said to. After lots of thought I quilted this with a pantograph called Breath of the Gods. It looks like the wind is blowing across my little world.

So now I'm on to my current crafty project - hanging deer antlers. My husband is a hunter and he had one of his deer preserved in a way called European-style. I don't understand why they call it that, it looks rather southwestern to me. Anyway, I dug out some pallet boards I've been saving and made a panel to mount the deer antlers on. Now that it's ready to be hung, I have to decide where. I think that part might take me a little while since we aren't quite done with putting things back after our new floors were installed. I guess I will leave it on the floor until I figure out where it should go.

What's on the design board?

Here are the first few sections of my second gypsy wife quilt. I decided to do this second one using a cat theme. I am going to fussy cut kitties all through the quilt blocks.

This will definitely be a scrappy version of the quilt. I am using scraps left over from many other projects, except the cat themed fabrics. Those are new.

I finally decided on the backing for my first gypsy wife quilt and loaded it on my longarmer. The thread choice was easy - a variegated gray. As for the quilting pattern, originally I was going to hand quilt it but I have such a hard time with my fingers in the winter. They are so cracked and dry that I struggle to hold a needle without pain. So that idea has come and gone. I think I will do some straight-line quilting.

I-Spy Quilt

I put together this quilt from my larger scrap pieces and once I finished the quilt top, I totally forgot about it. I don’t know why I just let it sit there unfinished. The poor thing didn’t deserve to be left behind. So, I dug through my stash and found a nice simple print to use for the backing and quilted it. I liked how the backing looked next to the top so much that I also used the same fabric for the binding.

The pattern for this quilt is called Ashley's Journey and it is from a layer cake friendly book called Piece of Pie. I think I would like to make another quilt using this pattern with fabrics that have a much more cohesive look. Since I used leftovers with no real plan I decided that it looks much more like an I-Spy quilt than anything else. It’s cheery look makes me think it would be a good donation to a charity group.

Fabric Scrap Contest

I purchased this bag of scraps with the intentions of entering a contest over at Coins and Quilts fabric shop. All I have to do in the contest is take a photo of all the fabric in the bag (which I did) and then make something out of it. It can be anything. So I think I have a plan for the Berenstain Bears fabrics but that's as far as I got. Hopefully inspiration will kick in and I will be able to have a decent entry for the contest. The contest ends in September so I better get moving.

Block #46

I am finally at the finish line with my 100 city blocks project. I am proud to say that using the charm pack, layer cake and jelly roll that I won a few months back, I managed to get all the blocks made.

That is all except one. That one block number 46 where I need 8 3-and-a-half inch squares - 4 from one fabric and 4 from a second fabric. The problem is that I only have pieces left 2-and-a-half inches wide or smaller. I really did not plan this out very well.

Actually, I didn't plan it out at all. I just decided to wing it. So I think I did pretty well all things considered. But for this last block, block number 46 I was at a loss.

My daughter stopped by to see my progress. I really think she wants this quilt when it's done. I had to remove blocks 1 through 40 from my design board. There's just not enough room to hold all 100 blocks on the board. So I could show here blocks 41 through 100.

When I told her my dilemma with block number 46 she says, "why don't you just cut 2-and-a-half-inch squares since that's all you have then put a border around the whole thing"? That is just genius. I guess I never thought about deviating from the book. But I really think that would be better than purchasing two fat quarters just to complete this project. Especially since I have enough jelly roll sized pieces to make it work.

Tomorrow I will get that last block completed so I can get to work planning on my layout. I also have to choose my background fabric. I'm not sure what color it will be, I just know it will be a solid. It's always fun choosing fabrics and I really look forward to it. So here are my blocks starting with block number 41 through block number 100 minus block 46!

Chevron Quilt WIP

I finished the chevron quilt top from the pattern found in the book Quilts for Scrap Lovers. It's been sitting on my pile of finished quilt tops for quite some time. I finally decided to get to the quilting part and surprisingly, it didn't take me very long to complete the quilting. Maybe tomorrow after church I will be able to get the binding on.

My Small World WIP

I've changed up my section 1 pieces of my small world quilt. I still might change up the text block above the city building. I'm just not sure about that one.

I'm also not sure about the barn block. I really like the reddish-brown piece but not so sure about the blue pieces. Up close the blue print fabric has some reddish-brown dots on it, so there is a bit of a match. Maybe after I make more of the blocks that go around that one, I might like it better.

These pieces are so fun to make, but very time consuming. Plus there's a giant mess with all the scraps. I'm thinking this quilt project might be a reason to get my scraps in some kind of order. I love the challenge.

What's on the design board?

I finished by first block for the My Small World quilt. There are things I like about this block. I like the black and gray sections of the block and I like the sky sections. I also like the yellow windows. I think the variety of yellows makes it interesting.

I don't like the two gray sections on the right side. I think the fabrics are too similar. And in one of the sections, the instructions were off so I adjusted some of the pieces which made the windows crooked. So I think I might take that section out and replace it with something else.

That is the fun of this artsy project. I don't have a problem making second tries to make it look better. I decided that this will probably be my summer project so I don't mind how long it takes. I really want to get it right.

Scraps, Scraps and More Scraps

I think my kitty hates when my sewing table is messy as much as I do. He just doesn't know where to lie down. Sometimes he just plops himself right in the middle of all the piles of scrap but he usually doesn't like to do that.

I know how he feels. Even though I absolutely must dig through scraps when I'm assembling a scrap quilt, I just do not like the aftermath. I have little piles of small pieces and other piles of fat quarters that I've cut into pieces. It's an absolute disaster area.

I must admit that it is fun to dig through the scraps though. Digging out colors to create something new is so enjoyable that I forget all about the mess I create. It's all part of the end result and I have to get over it. Maybe it will help give me some incentive to make more quilted scrap baskets to sort everything by color which will make it all so much easier to manage.