Pick-It Fences Backing

A while back I made the quilt top, Pick-It Fences from an issue of Quilts N More magazine.  It used up many scraps from my stash (26 different prints to be exact).  I was lucky enough to have also used some strips from larger chunks of fabrics, not just scraps.  Some selvedges revealed that a few of the fabrics were manufactured as far back as 1986! I sure hold on to things for a long time.

I decided to cut 8 x 8-inch blocks from the leftovers and let them sit until I figured out what to do next. Since the quilt top has lots and lots of white in it, I really wanted a lot of color in the quilt back. I incorporated white strips in-between the squares until I ended up with 5 rows of 7 squares.  That used up most of the bigger chunks of fabrics.  I still had a ways to go to have a piece big enough to back the quilt. I cut strips from the rest of the prints the same width as the white strips for a consistent look.  Since the strips were all different lengths, I sewed white on each end so that the print was exactly in the center of the row.  I ended up with 10 rows so I sewed 5 on each end of the patched piece.  So now I have a quilt back! I cannot wait to quilt it and sew the binding on.

Coins & Quilts - A new local quilt shop

We have a new quilt shop in our area called Coins and Quilts. One of the ladies in my church quilting group recommended this shop to me since I was looking for a quilter with a long-arm machine to finish one of my quilts. I looked up their hours which weren't very convenient for me (10 am to 5 pm, Monday through Friday). Since I work until 4 pm and the shop is more than half an hour away, I know it will be difficult to get there. And that's the last thing I want is a time crunch when in a quilt shop! So my first visit was on one of my afternoons off.

The shop is on Highway 100 in Greenfield, which is very busy and currently under construction making it more difficult to get to.  (I hate driving on a good day.) When I got inside I was greeted by the friendliest couple ever.  The shop is called Coins & Quilts because the husband is a qualified numismatic (coin appraiser for us who aren't in the business) and the wife is a long-arm quilter. Thus a marriage of hobbies was born.  The shop sells a wide variety of high-quality fabrics, patterns, notions and of course, quilting services.  The shop wasn't very cute or fancy, but it was new and I am sure in time, it will get prettier as more quilt samples get added to the bare walls.

As a novice to the use of a longarmer, I was treated with patience and respect as I learned the process that my quilt top and backing was going to go through to get the end result.  After spending lots and lots of time choosing a quilt design and thread colors, the estimate for the work was written up.  Surprisingly, it was very reasonable to me. So I left my Synchronized Squares quilt and backing in her care and look forward to seeing the results in a few weeks.

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.

Booster Seat Cushion

This is the booster seat cushion that was recently featured on SewCanShe's blog.  Maggie from over at Smashed Peas and Carrots created this tutorial.  She used tablecloths that she picked up cheap and cut them up.  I went to JoAnn's and bought 24 inches of vinyl coated fabric - I think it was oilcloth, I didn't really care, I just thought it was cute and would work for this project.  As soon as I completed it, I tossed it on the floor next to my granddaughter.  She was instantly drawn to its shiny-ness then when she touched it she liked the gushy-ness.  It is a hit!

Love the UPS Man

This came by UPS yesterday.  I am going to make Sweetwater's Zig Zag quilt using their Reunion fabric line.  And I know how unoriginal that is, but I just love the quilt on the pattern cover.  I did get get a little variation on the backing and the binding so it will look a little different but I adore the bunting fabric and I have a thing for printed numbers, letters, and words on fabric.  (I am trying desperately to hold back from buying Lu Summers' line.) 

I also had to buy the fat quarter collection of Charlie Brown Christmas prints, not sure what I will do with it yet but everything CB is a must for me.  And I got a Designer's Choice collection while I was at it called 10 Little Things.  Something for children in bright fabrics is always fun to make.

The ironic thing is that I really need to stop sewing for a while.  My sewing table is basically finished except it needs to be urethaned.  With better weather to open windows around here, it is time I get it done. And after all, I will be better off when it's finished; it's the last thing to do in my new sewing room.

I love a good sale.  The Fat Quarter Shop offered gift certificates for 20% off for Mothers' Day.  So I sent myself one then ordered enough to get the free shipping and paid for it with my gift certificate.  It felt a little like double dipping on a deal but a deal is a deal.

Fabric Basket

I made this basket from a tutorial from Pink Penguin.  It's a really small basket (9" x 6"), and I wish I would have used different fabric for the bottom.  The cute little students don't show like I wanted them to.  If it were bigger, I would have made sure the kids were visible when the basket is standing up. I will give it another whirl in a larger size. I think this would make a cute teacher gift.

PatternFile Application Review

I found this app for my iPad called Pattern File. It seemed pretty cool. It's exactly as the name implies; it's a place to enter all your pattern numbers and the Pattern File database contains a photo of that pattern and all the yardage necessary (the same as the back of a pattern).  So I went to the website and set up a free account.  The account is free for 10 days, after that the price is $14.99 for the app and $4.00 per month fee.  Realistically, I cannot see spending that kind of money for a filing system when I can, although time-consuming, build my own using Access. At least with 10 days I can quickly give it a whirl. 

So on a Saturday night while watching the HBO movie of the week, I opened the program and started entering my patterns. Some of my patterns are very old but still useful so I will keep them for many more years. Surprisingly, the first number I entered was found in the database as a vitage pattern.  This is cool, it has the pattern envelope front and back just like what I was holding in my hand. So I started entering away. 

My excitement quickly waned when I realized that the stack of patterns that were found in the database was much smaller than the ones it couldn't find. So to give an accurate review, here are photos of my patterns.

These were found in Pattern File.

These were NOT found in Pattern File.

I would not recommend this software - too expensive and not useful without having all my patterns available.

I wonder if they will ever load these in their database.