Little Projects

A friend asked for a table runner that looks like wood planks. I came up with this. When she originally showed me a photo of what she wanted, I started collecting wood-look fabrics. It was fun to attend quilt shows with a fabric finding mission.

Since it is close to Memorial Day, I thought I would whip up this little Uncle Sam wall hanging. It's a kit from the quilt shop that went together very quickly.  I didn't realize until I hung it up, but I forgot to embroider the nose. I will wait until fall when I take it down and correct that for next year. I guess it went together too quickly - haha! 

A few months ago I got the opportunity to purchase a used barrel from a local brewery called Lakefront Brewery. It's a very popular spot and when they put the call out that they were selling their barrels I immediately responded to the ad in hopes to snag one. Luckily, I did get to go pick one up. Once the weather got better, my husband had to figure out how to cut it in half. 

After searching online, Jeff found a very creative way to cut the barrel. He took my garden wagon and turned it upside down placing the barrel between the wheels. Once that was done he measured to find the center then cut the barrel while I turned it. It worked perfectly. Now I have two new barrel planters to replace my old ones which are rotting away. And what a great story about where they came from to share with friends.

Old Projects

I have a few small projects that were quilted over a year ago and I just never took the time to put the binding on. Well I finally got them completed. I don't know why I procrastinated for so long, it's not like putting binding on is difficult. 

So here's a table topper using some whimsical fabrics and a Lori Holt block pattern. I can't remember which one of her books I got the block from, that's what happens when you wait so long to finish something. Ha!

This one was made from a Creek Side Stitches pattern called Entwined Pinwheels. It's all red, white and blue - very patriotic. I planned on having it completed by the fourth of July but I forgot about it.

This is one of my favorite wall hanging projects. It's made from more Sweetwater fabrics. I love how it turned out.  I remember that the pattern was free from a fabric designer but of course, I can't remember who the designer was. I sure hope I run across the pattern again sometime.

It really feels good to get all these UFOs done. It's like a weight lifted off my shoulders. 

And now I look forward to making a new stack of UFOs (tee-hee).

Stand with Ukraine & Cut, Sew, Press, Quilt

I made this sunflower wallhanging today from a paper-pieced pattern. The money from the purchase of the pattern goes to a Ukrainian charity. I made it to hang on my front door although I have yet to figure out exactly what I want to do to get it to hang.

It was a fun attempt at paper piecing. I used nothing but scraps to make it so besides the donation to a charity, that was rewarding.

I also finished some wall hangings for my sewing room. They are from a Lori Holt pattern and I mostly used Lori Holt's fabrics. 

I still need to sew some buttons on and embroider the needle on the sewing machine wall hanging. That sounds like something to do while watching television.

Dresden Neighborhood Wallhanging

Here is my Dresden Neighborhood wallhanging. The original pattern has the 'neighborhood' in a circle. But if you take some of the dresdens and turn them upside down you get them in a straight line instead of the  circle.

I used Moda Grunge in a blue and green to make the background look like sky on top and grass on the bottom. I also made sure my houses were stitched down in a rainbow effect.

I used many of the stitches on my sewing machine to stitch around the houses and roofs as well as to sew on the windows and doors. It was so much fun.

I can't wait to hang it in my sewing room. I also made sure to put a rod pocket on the back in case I enter it in quilt shows.

A World of Hearts

The quilt shop where I work wants to participate in the #aworldofhearts thing so my boss made up a pattern called Hearts in Windows. If a quilter is going to put a heart in their window, of course it will be made of fabric!

So she put her pattern and a kit to make it online and it blew up. She called the employees and in order to keep social distancing standards even while we are closed, everyone picked a day to come in to make the kits. So I make them on Tuesdays. It's crazy, she wants to keep a standard of making them from reds, whites, and blues, but we are running out of fabric to make them! So she is ordering more all the time. 

I decided to make my own from my stash so as not to use up a kit that can be sold to someone else. Here is my version:

Here's what it looks like hanging in my living room window. I used 3M Command removable hooks and safety pins to hang it.

The pattern is a pretty easy one-pager. I would share it with you but that would not be right. It is sold for $3.00 each and the money goes to a Racine charity affected by COVID-19. If you'd like to order one, check out this link: https://www.sewnsaveofracine.com/shop-online.

When I made mine, instead of making it a mini-quilt, I made the back so a pillow form could be slipped inside it after I take it out of the window. It will look just as good as a pillow on my wicker rocker as it does hanging in the window. 

Mary's Wreath Wall Hanging

I quilted this wall hanging for a client today. I free-motion quilted it once I loaded it on my frame. It sure was easier than using my sewing machine. I don't know how I got along without my new longarm machine.

What's on the design board?

Summer seems to be flying by. I'm surprised that I got this much done, but I did finish the frivols granny square quilt top which is the size of a wall hanging and I also made a table runner out of some fat quarters. I haven't selected any fabrics for the backs of either of these but I hope to do that by the end of the week.

I'm going to start attending open sew sessions at the local senior centers. I use the plural 'centers' on purpose. I signed up at a center that has open sew on Mondays and Tuesdays and at a different center on Wednesdays and Thursdays. They both have long arm quilting machines that are available for members to use and I look forward to trying them all out. I can't wait to see how this little adventure turns out.

What's on the design board?

This month my Kindred Frivols kit is in the works. The kit came with the Hello Darling fabric collection that is really pretty. I seriously don't think I would have chosen this fabric because I don't usually work with these kind of floral prints. I love stepping outside of the box and trying new things, so I am not complaining.

The block is made up of quite a few pieces so it took a little bit to get going. In fact, since I'm working with a kit, I was terrified that I would make a cutting mistake. I'm not so sure there will be a lot of fabric left over so I paid very close attention to the instructions. But once I had one block completed, the ones that followed just kept getting easier to make.

I can't wait to complete more blocks since these look so very pretty.

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.

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. 

Quilted Growth Chart Completed

My daughter, Bailee made this adorable growth chart for her girls.  I quilted it and attached the binding for her.  I also put a sleeve on the back so she could easily hang it from a rod. She doesn't know about that so it will be a nice surprise.

It is so cute. I hope she likes how it turned out. I can imagine her either embroidering the girls' height measurements on it or even using a cute pins or buttons to mark their progress.  There's a lot of ways she can go with that. I can't wait to hand it over to her later today.  It will look great in Chloe and Avery's room.

Sadly, I got it a little dirty while trying to take this photo.  It rained all night last night so when I hung it on my clothesline, it dragged to the ground - the ropes are so waterlogged, it will take a while for them to dry out.  So I used the hanger that the bird feeders are on.  Unfortunately, there was a little mud that must have splashed up from the ground onto the pole, so now there is a little mud mark on the bottom part of the binding on the back.  I hope I can quickly wipe it off without much notice.  At least it's on the back!

Quilted Growth Chart

Bailee made this growth chart for her little girls and she wanted me to quilt it.  She used muslin on the back which makes sense because no one is going to ever see the back.  Unfortunately, it is difficult to quilt with muslin, it moves and puckers and stretches easily.  So I got a few puckers and just left them. 

I used variegated yellow thread and just stitched random rows with no real pattern or symmetry.  I'm not sure if she wants me to bind it or of she is going to so maybe I will post more photos if I end up finishing it. I also think it needs a sleeve to hang it properly. 

Sampler Quilt Along Blocks 1 - 4

Here are the first four blocks for the Sampler Quilt Along. Each block has a cute summery name. One more, and I am all caught up!

Time for Ice Cream Block

Jump in the Pool Block

Peek Over the Fence Block

Play Hopscotch Block

Sampler Quilt Along

Michelle over at Quilting Gallery is doing a beginner's quilt along where you make a sampler.  Each week a square is revealed so it's a mystery as to what will come next.  I stumbled on it during week 4 of the quilt along and even though I think I am slightly past the beginner stage, I really like the idea of making a sampler.  I could use up my black, white and gray collection and put the finished quilt on my sewing room wall or use it on my day bed. Make sense to have a sampler hanging around a sewing room, I think. So I gathered up my stack of blacks and whites and started making the squares. This is going to be fun.


Sampler Quilt Along, a photo by SunshineSews on Flickr.

Sampler Wallhanging

I took a quilting class for fun and the first suggested project was this sampler. It was a great opportunity to make a bunch of different kinds of quilt squares. I used one of Debbie Mumm's fabric collections to complete the project and I used the leftover scraps to make the backing. I learned a good technique to attach a rod pocket to the back in order to make this into a wall hanging.

I've been making quilts since seventh grade but since most of what I know about quilting was self-taught, I thought it would be a good idea to see what I could learn. It felt good to discover that I knew more than I thought, good validation and it gave me more confidence. I did pick up a few new tricks and techniques so it was a worthwhile investment. It also gave me incentive to keep on quilting.

Because of Summer

I love summer and I love gardening. I also love Country Threads patterns. In honor of some of my favorite things, I made this wall hanging. Now I just need to re-paint my kitchen to reflect the colors I used. Is that a bad thing to decorate a whole room to match a wall-hanging?