Whitney's Oz Quilt!

Whitney found a couple of charm packs of Oz by Sanae last summer.  She then talked me into buying it for her.  She has been working on getting the squares sewn together since then.

She sewed the squares into larger squares of four and then sashed it with 5 inch strips of a white sheet from IKEA.

 She quilted it today in a circle in a circle pattern.

I sewed the binding on for her but she still needs to do the hand sewing.

 A close-up of the cute quilting.

The back is a Freebird print by Momo.

Good job Whit.

Quilt #4

Quilt #4 is the T-Shirt quilt.  This was something new for me so it was kind of a trial and error project.  Each of the sixteen 12 inch squares is part of a t-shirt,  I then quilted  them onto white broadcloth.  I quilted the blocks in a back and forth or up and down pattern and then stippled between on the white fabric.  The back is the green check from Wee PLay and the binding is a red and green plaid.

Quilt #3

And now, quilt #3.  I used the rest of the cotton shirts and made off-set square blocks.  I sashed the blocks with a  Moda Crazy Eight plaid by Sandy Gervais.  The backing is more Wee Play by American Jane, this time in blue.  I used the left over red from the back of quilt #1 to bind this one.  I quilted it all over in a stipple pattern.  Can I say how much I love this quilt. 

Quilt #2

Here it is, quilt #2.  Jake had a lot of jeans so I knew that I would do a denim quilt.  I wanted the quilts to be different so I decided to do a rag quilt with the jeans.  The back is a Just Dreamy flannel by Riley Blake.  I love the combination of orange and blue.  This quilt is quite soft and snuggly be cause of the flannel. 

A Special Commission!

Almost 7 years ago, my cousin Jake was killed in an accident at the mine where he worked.  He was only 29 years old. He left behind his wife Julie and 3 little boys and another one on the way.  This summer, Julie asked me if I would make a quilt for each of the boys out of their father's clothes.  I will be posting pictures of the quilts for the next few days.  Above are pictures of quilt #1.  I used Jake's cotton print shirts to put together this Turning Twenty quilt.  The border fabric and back are a red check print from American Jane's Wee Play.  I quilted it in the retro squares pattern which is a good pattern for boys.  As those of you who regularly read this blog know,  I haven't much experience with quilts for boys, my eyes are naturally drawn to girlie prints and colors.  I tried really hard to keep these masculine but colorful.  I hope the boys will approve and love their special quilts.

An Unexpected Gift!

On monday I was teaching piano lessons as usual.  My 3rd student of the evening knocked on the door and I let him in.  He was carrying a hanger with some fabric neatly hanging on it.  He said "My grandma made this for you for teaching us piano lessons."  I said "What is it?"  he said "A quilt."  I couldn't believe it.  I took it off of the hanger and this is what I found.

What a sweet grandma.  I love it.

 Notice the music theme in the fabrics. 

 Her quilting is fabulous, I asked if it was done on a sewing machine or a long-arm, but he didn't know (being a 14 year old boy he probably wasn't that interested either)

However she did it, it's beautiful.

The quilt is a perfect lap size so I forsee many evenings snuggled up in it watching many netflix movies. Thanks so much Grandma Johnson!

Miranda's Pillow Tutorial

Today we’re going to make a Throw Pillow. Its very easy, and cost me under ten dollars. It also only took about an hour to make. Plus it will add something fun to your house.

 

First you’ll need:

-A little over a half yard of fabric….19 inches.  You can get away with a half yard if you already have it, just cut your pieces to 18" instead of 19". 

- 1 yard of fabric for the petals. 

 -  a large bowl for tracing, a pen, scissors, and an iron.

 Then cut the 1/2 yard of fabric into two 19 inch squares. Put them aside and get the fabric for the petals. Cut 30 five inch squares, 20 four inch squares, and 15 two or three inch squares.

 

Put the square on your ironing board and fold it in half.

Fold the two sides up like this and iron it down to make the creases. Make sure that the point is on the fold.

 

Using the bowl, trace a line along the front side on one of your 19 inch pieces. 

Line up the edge of a large petal along the line you just traced. As you sew the petals on, overlap the petals about a 1/4 inch. Continue sewing around the circle, adding petals.

After all the petals have been added, sew the two 19 inch square pieces right sides together leaving a few inches open to add stuffing.  Turn right side out and add stuffing.  Whip stitch closed.

Thanks Miranda, I love the pillow.

Favorite Dishrag!

This is a good pattern for those who are just learning to knit.

I remember watching my mother knit these never dreaming one day I would actually learn to knit and make some for myself.  I'm sharing the pattern below for those of you that would like to give it a try.

Requirements

1 ball of knit worsted weight cotton, 50 gm size

Size 9 to 10 1/2 needles

Directions

Cast on 4 stitches

Row 1: Knit one row

Row 2: Knit 2, Yarn Over, Knit to the end of the row

Repeat row 2 until there are 40 stitches

Next row: Knit one, Knit 2 together, Yarn over, Knit 2 together, knit to the end of the row

Continue decreasing until 4 stitches are left. Cast off.

Another from Morgan!

Morgan(my neice)sent pictures of another quilt top that she has completed.  As soon as she can get it down to me I will quilt it.  I absolutely love the colors in this quilt.  Perfect!

My Sister's Quilt!

Actually, it is not my sister's quilt because she gave it away but she made it.  My youngest sister is Sara.  She loves to make quilts for her nieces and nephews.  Our nephew Noah was married to Becky in May of 2009 and this was Sara's gift to them.

I think the colors are absolutely wonderful.  Sara doesn't usually use collections like I do to get the colors right.  She hand picks each individual fabric for the effect that it gives to the quilt top.  She has even been told she has "the eye".  Aren't Noah and Becky lucky to have such a lovely quilt to put on their bed? 

Black and White!

I quilted this quilt for a customer this week.  It is a wedding gift for her grandaughter who is getting married today.

I quilted in a stipple pattern on the borders and a cirlce pattern in the squares.  It turned out really nice.  Diane was so excited to get it bound and to the bridal couple.  The batting was a thick polyester so it is quite puffy.  The measurement was 86x110 so the bride will be able to wrap pillows with this quilt.

A Gift to Myself!

I bought this book back in July, I guess you could say it was a birthday gift to myself.  Each pattern has directions for a large quilt using layer cake squares and a small quilt using charm pack squares.  I'm so excited to get started.

Custom Quilting!

I finished the quilting on this queen-sized quilt last friday.

The customer wanted swirls to match the pattern on the orange fabric.

She used assorted fabrics from the Frolic collection and pieced it in strips.

It measures 89x93 and has a poly-cotton batting.  I didn't do the binding, she wants to do that herself.  What a cute quilt!

I'm Back!

Wow, I haven't blogged for about a month.  I actually enjoyed my little rest.  I have still been fairly busy, just not with quilts.  I did well at the county fair. Of the five items that I entered I received five blue ribbons and a best of division.  My neice Morgan was here with her two little girls last week also my oldest daughter Whitney.  They made headbands and also bags from an Amy Butler pattern that Whitney has.  This is Banner's bag, she cut it out all herself.  She's fourteen so she didn't realize that the flowers were going to be sideways when the bag was finished.  I love it anyway.  Morgan, Whitney and I did the pinning and sewing and as many of you will recognize, the fabric is Wonderland by Momo.  Banner was so excited to have this cute accessory for the first day of school.  Funny, but our model for the picture is Tennyson, she made a bag also, pictures to come later.

Headband Mania