Gnome Pillow

This is a cute pattern I got at my local quilt shop. I used some Sweetwater Christmas fabrics I had on hand. I love Sweetwater fabrics so much, whenever they come out with a new collection, I have to get it. I'm happy to get to use some of this collection on such a cute project.

Valentine Heart Quilt - Completed

I finished sewing the binding on my Valentine heart quilt today. I followed Jenny Doan's YouTube video instructions to make the blocks.

The problem I have with MSQC's videos is that some of the instruction are vague. For example, with this quilt Jenny says she just adds sashing and a border then she mentoned how much yardage needed to complete the quilt top. The instructions never state the width of the sashing strips or border. So I just decided to do what I thought was best.

The heart blocks ended up measuring 9 1/4" x 9 1/4". I decided to add 3" sashing around the blocks. I decided to cut a 1-inch strip of black fabric as an inner border. Then I made the outer borders 3 and a half-inches wide.

I do love the YouTube videos and I appreciate that they are free so I am not really complaining, after all, it's really not that hard to figure out the size of sashing. The way I figure it, if I don't like the size of the sashing I can always change it.

Christmas Table Topper

I wanted a new Christmas table topper for my kitchen table so I thought I would whip one up. I have some leftover 2 1/2-inch strips from another project and I love the fabric so much that I really want to use it.

I cut the strips into 2 1/2-inch squares and made a patchwork top. I made as many rows as I could with the fabric I had. I used some of the larger pieces that weren't cut into strips yet for the inner and outer borders and I used the scraps left after that for the back.

I found a scrap of batting from my stash and free-motion quilted it. I also dug out the leftover binding from the original project and used the rest here.

This is what I came up with:

Just Four Fun Quilt - Completed

I used Amanda Jean Nyberg's Just Four Fun pattern found on Craftsy for this quilt. The fabrics are from Sweetwater's Holly's Tree Farm collection and they make a nice holiday quilt for this season. I thought I would experiment with using linen for the sashing, borders and backing. I feared that the quilt might be heavy from the weight of the linen but it was not heavy at all.

The linen was quite a find. A friend from church mentioned that she was cleaning out her aunt's house to hold an estate sale and there is a room just filled with fabric. She invited our church quilt group to come to the sale a day ahead of time to purchase the fabric for a dollar a yard. I was definitely interested so I went to the sale. I found tons and tons of nice cottons but unfortunately most were not my style so I passed on them. Then I noticed a table just filled with linen fabrics. The entire table was heaping and most of the fabrics were in 7 - 8 yard cuts. I was in heaven. I piled all the neutral cuts of fabric up to purchase. The pile was so heavy I was worried that I wasn't going to be able to lift it! When I went to pay for my selections, I told my friend that I was certain I had at least 45 yards of fabric, she looked at the stack and said, "How's five dollars?" OMG! I offered her more but she refused so I got a wonderful stack of linens for close to nothing. I promised her they would not go to waste.

So this was my first opportunity to use some of the linen and even though it shredded a bit during the piecing process, it turned out beautifully and was not difficult to work with. Tomorrow this quilt will be in the Elna show at my local quilt shop. This is the first quilt I made with my new Elna machine.

Tumbler Block Doll Quilt

Tumbler Block Quilt

I have Lori Holt's Thimble Ruler Set. There are 2 rulers in the set; one is a 10" ruler and the other is 5". I started to use the 5" ruler with the idea that I would make a quilt.  I seriously thought I could do that.  Then I started to cut the blocks. They were very small. So I stopped.

For a very long time I stared at the stack of cut blocks.  I cut them from one of my favorite fabric lines and looked at them for months.  I finally decided to sew them together and after stringing 9 of them in a row  I was exhausted.  I made a total of 8 rows of 9 little blocks.

After stitching them together, I had the cutest little piece of fabric.  Earlier in the year, I made my granddaughter a doll quilt and after looking at this, I decided it would make a fabulous doll quilt for the other granddaughter.  After all, I couldn't possibly make something for one of the girls without doing the same for the other one.

I added an one-and-a-half-inch inside border out of ecru and a two-and-a-quarter-inch outer border from the fabric line as well.  I had some leftover backing from a larger quilt I made using the 10" thimble ruler so I used that on the back of this mini-version.  I also did some straight-line quilting on the diagonal for a nice contrast.

I think my granddaughter will love it. And on another note, I have grown tired of this fabric line.  I purchased a fat-quarter pack that contained 35 pieces of the line and I also bought 5 yards of my favorites from this line.  It's time to put the rest away for a very long time and move on to other pretty fabrics.

Mini Log Cabin Blocks

I joined the SewCanShe.com 'It's a New Year Sewalong' and this year's block is the mini log cabin. I made mine from some leftover Sweetwater Noteworthy fabric I had laying around.  These blocks use 1-inch strips so it is easy to find pieces of scraps to use to make the blocks.  Once I made a bunch in a variety of colors I decided to make it into a mini-quilt for my granddaughter's baby doll.  She is one an a half and seems to be in this nurturing phase where all she wants to do is wrap the baby doll in something warm. So now she will have her own little quilt to wrap her doll in.

Jelly Roll Jam Quilt

I followed the tutorial from the Fat Quarter Shop to make a quilt called Jelly Roll Jam.  It was very easy and quick to make.  All you need is half of a jelly roll to complete.  It's a pretty small quilt which is partly why it's so quick to make.  I used a jelly roll from Sweetwater that I've had sitting on my shelf for a very long time.

The tutorial for this quilt can be found here. I really like the busy look and colors I get from this easy to make pattern and I look forward to making many more. With the right fabric, this would make a perfect baby quilt that can be completed easily in a day.

Aiming for Accuracy Quilt Project Completed

Aiming for Accuracy Quilt Along Quilt

I joined in a quilt-along this summer and I actually completed all the lessons on time...well almost all of them.  I got to the very last border, a simple strip of Kona white and I just stopped working on it.  I had an obligation to finish another quilt project so I put it down.

When I put things down the momentum to finish just disappears.  With craft fair season and the holiday season coming, I had plenty of good arguments for putting this one aside. So now I have to admit that I am proud of myself. Here it is, just three days after Christmas and I finished it! I put the last border on, made the backing piece and quilted it on Thursday. I finished binding it yesterday afternoon, so really I finished it in two days but I didn't photograph it until today.

Oh crap! It doesn't have a label yet so I guess I am not quite finished after all. Gotta keep that momentum going.

Teacher Gift Bags

I used Sweetwater's Birthday Bag pattern to make a Christmas version of their bag. The Sweetwater pattern came with some premade labels so I stole that idea and printed up some of my own that said Merry Christmas. The Christmas prints are so bright and cheery and once the bags were completed, they seemed like a perfect fit for my granddaughter, Chloe's teachers.  She has two teachers who attend to her class and two teachers' aides as well. So of course, I had to make four bags. I bought the most adorable coffee mugs and filled them with cappuccino mix and some Godiva chocolates which fit perfectly in the quilted bags. Then I attached a tag I printed off the internet and hand-wrote Chloe's name on each tag. I sure hope they like them, they are all so wonderful.

A Tumbler Quilt

Tumbler Quilt

I ordered the Thimble Ruler set a few weeks back in order to make this quilt.  I just love the Noteworthy collection from Sweetwater. So much so that I had enough fabric to make two quilts. Anyway, the size of the ruler allowed for pretty large pieces that would make each piece a focus piece. I followed the tutorial on the Riley Blake design blog and you can find the link for it here.

My new friend from Quilts for Kids, Renee let me use her AccuQuilt and the dies in order to cut the flowers for this quilt.  I also used some on the back.

I took some of the leftover fabric to make the panel on the back.  That happened by accident.  The truth is I cut the ecru fabric wrong.  It was supposed to be wide enough to go across the entire quilt and for some reason, I cut it way way to narrow. Therefore, I had to add some fabric to it and since I had to, I needed to make it look like I did it on purpose. So I cut the ecru fabric off center and spliced in the leftover Noteworthy. 

Just when I thought I was ready to put the layers together, I noticed the leftover flowers I had cut and it hit me at that moment that I should add them to the back for some consistency and continuity. I quilted along the edges of the tumbler blocks to add depth to each piece.

Noodle in a Haystack Quilt

Noodle in a Haystack

Using the Noodle in a Haystack quilt pattern from Rodney Gile, I made this quilt.  I finally broke open my fat quarter stack of Noteworthy by Sweetwater for this.  It seemed like a great way to use the 30-plus fabrics in the collection.  And I did use them all!

I also had some extra yardage of the Noteworthy collection and used the fabric, Plant a Garden in the color, Cloudy for the back.  I quilted it with random stitch lines to complement the randomness of the 'noodles'.

Four Square Bag

I belong to the Sweetwater Label Crew.  For $7.50 a month, I get a set of cool Sweetwater labels (even one that is personalized) and a pattern for a project that uses the label. A few months back I got a pattern for this cute little bag. Using Sweetwater fabric (purely coincidental), I whipped this one up today. Their labels are amazing. They are high quality, easy to iron on and easy to sew over.  I love how easy the pattern was to follow and how quickly I completed it. 



Four Square Bag

Aiming for Accuracy Fabric Selection & Block #1

My choice of fabric for this quilt-along is Lucy's Crab Shack by Sweetwater.  I've had the fat quarter bundle and layer cake since last year and this looks like a great place to use them. I also have a very large stash of Kona white so I don't even have to shop for anything to get started. I will need more thread sometime in the near future but at least I don't have to run out just for that.

I like to go to the fabric store with a list of the necessary stuff to finish things.  It makes the trip to the store worth while.  Not to mention, if it means I will get more than one thing completed, that is definitely a bonus. 


I completed the first block and the lesson I learned is how great starch is to use.  My block was so easy to iron and it is nice and crisp. The seams on the back lay down perfectly. There was no chance that they would end up in a glob of flipped over seams.  I am so glad I joined this quilt-along. I already learned something new.

Phone Pouch

I made this pouch for my phone from a tutorial by Amy Friend from During Quiet Time. The link to her tutorial is here. The pattern is called the iPhone Pouch but I enlarged it by a quarter-inch so it fit my Samsung Galaxy III.  It fits quite perfectly in this little pouch. Amy's pattern calls for using hairband elastic when you want to add a button. I didn't have any and since it's under 20 degrees outside, I really didn't feel like leaving the house today to get some, so I used ribbon instead.  I also added a lobster swivel clasp. It took me less than an hour to complete it.  What a nice quick project! 

Sweetwater's Sewing Kit and Labels

I completed the sewing kit I got on Etsy from Sweetwater.  I used the labels from August's label  crew club.  This is the grey version of the kit. I also bought the red and black versions. Not sure when I will make those but for now I have a nice little place to store things to take with me when I hand sew while sitting outside. 

Sewing Kit

Gonna make this today!

Lucy's Ruffled Pillowcase

I finished this pillowcase from a kit I bought from Sweetwater. It was one of the kits available to go with the July (or maybe it was August) Label Crew labels. The example on the pattern showed the good night and good morning placement of the labels but not the sleep label. And because I am finishing this pretty late in the evening, I'm too tired to decide for myself the best place for the label. Maybe after I "sleep" on it it will come to me. So for now, it is somewhat unfinished. I also didn't stitch the labels on yet, as I ran out of ecru thread. I do not know how that happened. I have hundreds (yes, that is plural) of spools of thread but no ecru. As if I need an excuse to go to the fabric store for more! So hopefully tomorrow I can truly complete the project and move on to the next.

Zig Zag Quilt

I decided to quilt the Zig Zag quilt myself. I love my new walking foot and it makes the job so easy.  Since the quilt was made up with precise angles. I wanted to use a combination of straight lines and some curves ones as well, but I wanted it to still have a crisp look.  After paging through a magazine, I came across an ad for a drive along Route 66.  Just looking at the lines intersecting and how some were straight and some had a little curve to them, I was inspired.  So I took my queue from that map and made my straight, clean lines and some that curved like the road does on my travels.  The end result was a nice, neat finished quilt. I can't wait to curl up with it in my hammock in these last days of summer.

Sweetwater's Label Crew

Today I joined Sweetwater's Label Crew. I've been considering it for a while but it felt a little like adding something to my ever-growing to-do list.  And I really don't need any more obligations.  After some thought I realized that the only obligation to joining is to make something crafty or quilty and there's nothing  I like more than that! So why not? Besides, just because I get a pattern and some cute little labels doesn't mean I actually HAVE to make something with them.  I can always just keep them around because they are cute.  That's not so bad. So here are my first month's labels...

 And wouldn't you know it, I just had to go to their Etsy shop and buy the kit to make the pillowcase.  It should be a quick project that will look fantastic in my new sewing room. Especially in this pretty orange colorway.

Sweetwater's Zig Zag Quilt

I bought the Sweetwater's Zig Zag quilt pattern quite a while ago.  Since then I've shopped and shopped for fabrics to make this quilt and nothing ever seemed right.  After weeks of searching for fabric, I realized my procrastination was because the fabrics that were used on the pattern were the fabrics I really wanted for my quilt.  Sweetwater's Reunion collection is beautiful. It is also much different from the pastels I usually use.

I ordered exactly what was used in the pattern photo except I chose a red print from that same collection for the backing. (My UPS man blog post has all the fabrics for this quilt in the photo.)
Amazingly, it didn't take me long to put this together.  I thought the triangles would mean trouble, but they were pretty easy to cut.  Over the course of the weekend, I ended up with a completed quilt top.