vingt centimes

Buggy

2012-01-15T12:34:00.002-05:00

Not so long ago, while organizing my fabrics, I came across a bag full of these bug jar blocks. I made several of these very adorable quilts in a short span of time, and then I stopped. After a several year hiatus, I was ready to get these made up into a quilt, and here it is!

Look at the Birdie

2012-01-08T08:56:00.002-05:00

Once upon a time I bought a package of two one yard precuts. They were meant to be turned into an apron or some sort of project. Meh. I turned them in to a quilt for Project Linus-- my 70th quilt for PL as it turns out! How about that? Good stuff!

Teddy Bear Picnic

2012-01-05T07:52:00.001-05:00

Here's another panel that I quilted up recently. It's backed and bound with coordinates, and turned out pretty cute!

Green and Gray

2012-01-02T14:36:00.002-05:00

Oh, this quilt! I was given 16 squares of this yellow-y green fabric, and a bunch of matching strips. I could not, for the life of me, figure out what to do with it. It hovered over the trash can more than once, each time getting pulled back at the last minute. Finally, in a moment of inspiration, it was paired with charcoal gray, and voila! I love the modern simplicity of this quilt-- it's terribly appealing! It will need to find just the right home to be appreciated, but I feel certain that it will.

Here it is, 2012. In fact, here it is 1-2-12. As I've been spending time in my sewing room the past couple of days, it seemed like it might be a good time to finish some projects that got started but never finished. Along those lines, I've sewed a binding on one quilt, quilted and bound another, and am currently piecing together blocks made from fabric I picked up on vacation the year before last-- I think I'm off to a good start!

Sweet Safari

2011-12-30T16:20:00.002-05:00

Recently I was given a number of very sweet panels, which I have been enjoying sewing up. I've just been doing eyeballed (read: not even remotely perfect!) sorta straight lines. No measuring, just quilted. It went very fast and was really fun, and looks pretty cute, too! I made two of this panel, and both are bound in a tiny little white on green polka dot. Fun!

On Eagle's Wings

2011-12-29T09:30:00.002-05:00

Truth be told, this quilt isn't my style, but it does fit in to one of my goals-- making more boy oriented quilts. The front features an eagle print and a multi colored print that coordinates. The back is one big piece of deer themed fabric. Very masculine! I hope it will suit a young guy!

Boxed In

2011-12-27T15:18:00.002-05:00

You may have noticed by now that this is my favorite pattern to make! This quilt is the smaller version, although I did have enough to make it one row longer, which I think is nice for a donation quilt. Pieced and quilted by me, bound by mom.

'Neath the Tree

2011-12-26T13:16:00.002-05:00

This year, my brother took an interest in holiday decorations. That's rather notable, so I thought I should make something! He had a real tree, so I made a skirt for future trees. I stopped in the fabric shop and found three fabrics I liked. The bolts were almost gone, so I polished all three off. (when I was all done, there was a two inch strip left of one fabric!) I pondered many different options, but in the end went with something completely different from what I started out with. I made 16 'square in a square' blocks, each measuring 11 1/2" inches. I sewed them up into a square, layered them over batting and backing, used a plate to trace the opening for the tree trunk, a ruler to mark the opening in back, sewed around the outside seam, turned the whole thing inside out, and voila! Of course I had to make a matching gift bag/stuff sack. It was well recieved by my brother and hints were dropped by my parents that they'd like one. My husband was bummed out when the skirt disappeared from under our tree and he learned that it wasn't for us-- it was a gift. I wonder what I'll be making next Christmas...?

Joyeux Noel

2011-12-24T10:51:00.000-05:00

Joyeux Noel, mes amis (Merry Christmas, my friends)!

Sneak Peek!

2011-12-23T13:48:00.003-05:00

This year I am giving one hand made gift, and it is a Christmas related gift. I was at the grocery store this morning, and I happened down the holiday aisle. I was so excited to find a box of polka dot ornaments-- they will go perfectly with what I made! I can't show you the gift just yet, but I thought you'd enjoy a sneak peek. (Don't you love my vintage holly table cloth?)

Chain of Daisies

2011-12-18T18:03:00.002-05:00

A few years ago, when Amy Butler's Daisy Chain was a new line, I picked up fat quarters here and there, as well as a few lengths of yardage. Earlier this year I finally turned it into a quilt. I love it! I had just enough fabric to make it a row wider than I usually make this pattern. Subsequently it was too wide for my design wall (thus the photos outside!). I love this quilt! The colors are so calming. Looking at it reminds me of a seascape. I also had fun piecing the backing. Not an inch of this fabric was wasted. Can't wait to use this quilt!

Little Denim

2011-12-14T06:50:00.002-05:00

There was this piece of flannel with little dalmatians on it floating around my sewing room forever. It wasn't enough to make pajama pants from, it wasn't enough to do anything with. Finally, one day I decided to wing it and see if I could eek a small denim quilt out of it. Wouldn't you know there was exactly enough to make this little guy! I gave it to my mom to give to a group that organizes Christmas gifts for folks who need a bit of assistance making the season more bright. I gave one to them a couple years ago, and they were so pleased with it. Hope they like this one!

Orange Trip Around the World

2011-12-11T20:13:00.003-05:00

This eye poppingly bright quilt started out from one jelly roll. Which clearly wasn't enough. So I bought another. And then made a trip to a store 45 minutes away to get two more when the local store ran out. I took several of the fabrics out of the roll, so I should have known that I wouldn't have enough, I suppose. It was fascinating to arrange this quilt. Each rotation of the squares resulted in a completely different look. I had to photograph each way to decide which I liked best-- it was a hard call. I saved the stripe for the binding--love a striped binding! Pieced by me, beautifully quilted by my long arm quilter and bound by my mom.

Taupetastic

2011-12-03T08:09:00.001-05:00

This little guy is really subtle, but I love it! It's very calming and pleasing. I don't usually do much with neutrals, but this was a success. Machine pieced and quilted by me and, you guessed it, bound by my dear mom.

Calico Rose

2011-11-29T07:22:00.002-05:00

Often short lengths of yardage find their way to me. I group like bits together until there's enough for a quilt. In this case, the large scale cabbage rose print dictated the color scheme. Machine pieced and quilted by me, hand bound by my mom.

Meow

2011-11-28T08:03:00.002-05:00

This sweet, soothing little quilt features a cat print and a floral/starburst aqua fabric. The aqua has the tiniest hint of green in the pattern, which is picked up by the other fabric-- they're quite complementary! There was quite a bit of the cat fabric in my stash-- you may remember these pajama pants I made a while back. I machine pieced and quilted this, and my mom hand sewed the binding.

Quatre Cent is French for 400

2011-11-27T09:17:00.002-05:00

Who would have thought, way back in 2005, that this humble blog would make its way to its 400th post? Oh my! Looking back, I've been busy! I've donated more than 60 quilts to Project Linus (and there are currently more than 20 in the finishing queue!) made dozens of quilts, oodles of bags and all sorts of things in between. My skills increase with each new project. Sewing is my favorite pastime, and it gives me great joy. Thanks for continuing to share it with me.

Gift Swing Bag

2011-11-22T06:46:00.003-05:00

Whenever we visit my inlaws I always stop by their local chain fabric store, which is much larger than the one here in town. I've picked up some pretty neat things there over the years. Last year I eyed these pretty coordinates but thought they were overpriced, so I didn't get any yardage. This year, low and behold, they were on clearance at a reasonable price! I picked up a half yard of these two prints, knowing they'd work up beautifully into a swing bag. This bag will be a Christmas gift. Oh how I love this pattern!!

Vintage Swing Bag

2011-11-19T06:46:00.002-05:00

Not too long ago, my mom gave me a 3/4 yard length of a vintage home dec fabric. I knew right away I wanted to fussy cut it and use it in a swing bag. Originally, I'd hoped to line it in an aqua, but I didn't have just the right thing, so I lined it in purple, which worked swimingly. This was my summer bag this year. I have made this bag so many time I can almost make it with my eyes shut. I adore it!

RWB

2011-11-17T06:21:00.003-05:00

In one of the fabric bundles my mom sent my way I found all of these fabrics, each was WOF, and seven or eight inches wide. Each one was quickly straightened out, trimmed and cut to a five inch strip. If there was enough extra, I cut a two inch strip for the binding and this red, white and blue quilt came to pass. Bound by my mom.

Flames

2011-11-15T07:08:00.003-05:00

One of the things I've been working on with my donation quilts is trying to make more quilts for boys. It's something I have to work at-- although I'm personally not big on the color pink, I have a mountain of pink fabric and I seem to turn out a lot of pink quilts! I think this particular quilt fits the bill for more masculine-- it features a race car fabric and a flame fabric. I'd been having trouble figuring out how to use each of the fabrics separately until I tried them together--perfect.

Drive In Double Feature

2011-11-14T08:01:00.003-05:00

I liked this quilt so much I made it twice! (actually, while cleaning up my sewing area over the weekend, I discovered a third one! All it needed was a binding, which I took care of as soon as I found it. It's now in a pile of fourteen quilts waiting for my mom's finishing touch!) I hope this fun quilt will brighten the day of someone in need.

Purple Runner

2011-11-13T07:45:00.002-05:00

This is a project I started a very, very long time ago. It sat around, nearly finished for a long time. I finally sat down and quilted it up and my mom sewed down the binding. This was made up from leftovers from this quilt. I hadn't looked at this in a while, and it was fun to pick out various fabrics and remember where I'd gotten them. I don't wear t-shirts, but I love buying fabric when I'm out and about, and I have made a number of quilts or projects that don't look like souvenirs to others, but remind me of adventures I've been when I see them.

At the Drive In

2011-11-12T05:56:00.003-05:00

Isn't this fabric fabulous! I loved it the moment I laid eyes on it. This is another fabric that came to me in long strips of various widths. It took me a while to figure out how to use it to advantage. I finally decided a simple treatment using a dark charcoal gray as contrast was best. I love the results! I've never been to a drive in movie-- have you? There are a few left around here, but not many.

Ooops A Daisy

2011-11-11T08:03:00.002-05:00

My mom gives me lots of fabric to use for my donation quilts (thank you!) and these pieces of fabric come in all shapes and sizes. This daisy fabric arrived at my doorstep in one very looooong strip. I turned it into four strips and popped a coordinating yellow in there and voila! Bound by my mom.

Classic Pooh

2011-11-10T06:48:00.003-05:00

Over a period of time I picked up three classic Pooh fat quarter bundles, and some yardage here and there. Ultimately I had enough to make three little quilts. This is one of them. There's something so timeless and sweet about classic Pooh-- love it!

Blue Bandana

2011-11-09T07:28:00.002-05:00

Bright pink and aqua continue to be among my favorite color combinations for donation quilts-- it's so bright and cheerful and crisp!

Le Train

2011-11-08T06:59:00.004-05:00

A couple of years ago I polished off the bolt of this train theme fabric. It wasn't much, and I was never sure how I'd use it, but I know quilts for boys are always in demand, so I picked it up. Not so long ago my mom brought me a bag of fabric, and in it was a short length of a different train fabric-- perfect! Plus, the colors seemed like they would go together well. Then I got them out, side by side, and it turns out they were from the same line-- perfect! There was just enough to make this square quilt. Bound by my mom.

Pink Pieced

2011-11-07T17:25:00.004-05:00

When I was in the fourth or fifth grade, I had a pair of gray and pink Nike sneakers. I loved them! In fact, when they wore out I got another pair identical to them. Lots of my fellow students wore them-- that was a hip color combo back in the fourth grade! This quilt fondly reminds me of those shoes. My mom had given me the black/gray fabric-- it was a short piece of yardage that had a chunk cut out of it, so I had to be creative. She'd also given me that pink and white stripe (which probably dates back to the era of the aforementioned sneakers, as it features "paint splatters" in the print). I couldn't figure out what to do with either piece of fabric. Finally, I realized I could use the stripe to my advantage, making it look not like a stripe, but like pieced pink and white borders-- perfect! The very fun stripey binding was sewn by my mom, who enjoys hand sewing far more than I do!

Vintage Meets New

2011-11-06T14:35:00.004-05:00

So I've been away from blogging for a while, but that doesn't mean I haven't been busy! Thank you to my friends who hint, ever so nicely, that they'd like to see what I've been working on!

My mom gave me a short length of this very sweet Holly Hobby print. Obviously, a Holly Hobby anything is going to be vintage. There wasn't much of this fabric, and there was a large chunk cut out of one corner, so I had to be creative to get the most out of the fabric. I looked at it a long while, took it out, put it away, before finally deciding on this simple layout. The oranges, yellows and greens are pulled straight from the print itself. The tiny orange floral in the very center is also a vintage fabric from the giant box of fabric my aunt sent me a few years ago. This quilt is very simply quilted in straight lines. It was beautifully hand bound by my mom.

A is for Awwwwwwww

2011-03-25T15:34:00.002-05:00

My great niece is celebrating her first birthday in just a few short days. I wasn't sure what to give her, so I asked a bunch of my mama friends, and Liz suggested I make a back pack and a skirt. What a great idea, thanks Liz! The little back pack is adjustable (with pink hook and loop tape, no less!) and coordinates with the skirt. I put a sweet little band of bright pink at the hem. It's double faced, so it adds a little weight, and looks nice, too. The lining of the bag matches the hem band. I stopped by a local store and picked up a t-shirt covered in pink hearts. It's girly and cute-- hope she likes it!

Shorty PJs

2011-03-22T05:22:00.002-05:00

This piece of flannel has been moving around my sewing area for quite a while. I don't really like quilting with flannel, and the fabric piece was oddly shaped, so I was having a hard time deciding what to do with it. Then I decided to make some shorty pj pants. Well now, that was easy! I made another pair just like these, but out of a different flannel. It wasn't until after I had stitched, serged and topstitched the other pair that I realized that I'd sewn the pant legs together and the torso into pant legs. Ooops.

Mouse in the House

2011-03-18T08:03:00.003-05:00

Recently, my mom gave me some yardage and some scraps of some what I suppose you might call 'early computer' fabric. It features a mouse (the critter, not the device) and computers and computer stuff. It's pretty cute. And sort of quaint in an 'oh I remember those old computers' kind of way. It's perfect together with a bright yellow print, and a bright yellow backing. I love the bright primary color scheme, which is one I don't usually dabble in. Fun!

Fifty for Linus!

2011-03-13T14:58:00.002-05:00

Check out the sidebar-- this is the fiftieth quilt that I have donated to Project Linus! Wow. That's a lot of quilts! Making quilts for organizations such as Project Linus makes me feel great. It's something I do anonymously-- they don't know that I made the quilts, and I don't know who they give them to-- and that's just fine with me. When I give them to Project Linus I am giving quilts to kids who need them, and knowing that is my reward. I've also started giving quilts to other organizations in addition to Project Linus, so in fact I have donated more than fifty quilts. According to the sidebar, I've made 140 quilts to date, and more than fifty have been donated. Although you wouldn't know it from all the quilts jammed into every possible space in the house, I've also given many as gifts. I have donated or given away more than one third of the quilts I've made. And I've enjoyed every single stitch along the way!

Star Gazing

2011-03-07T07:59:00.002-05:00

In December I decided it was time to finish some things that I started and hadn't finished. Since then, I've been finishing projects left and right! This quilt had been cut out quite a long time ago. I kitted it up, put it in a bag, and put it on a shelf. I never got around to finishing it because I was two strips short. I pulled out the bag, looked in my stash for something that would work, and this was done a short time later.

Birdsong

2011-03-05T19:16:00.003-05:00

Are the birds returning to where you live? They are slowly reappearing here, and not a moment too soon-- bring on spring! This fabric collection was just too great to waste a single bit of it. I had several bird squares that were at the edge of the yardage, and weren't big enough to be included in either of the quilts I made with this. So I gathered together the remaining fabric and voila! Believe it or not, I have eked out a couple more projects from this fabric. Stay tuned.

It's all Bright

2011-03-03T07:17:00.003-05:00

This is such a cheerful quilt. I love the bright blue-- a small tone on tone floral-- and the geometric pink print together. The colors are clear and just right for each other. It's even better in person. I made this quilt a bit longer than the pattern called for. I try to do that when I have enough extra fabric for both the back and the front.

Pink Potholder

2011-02-25T14:46:00.002-05:00

It's still February, so I'll stick with pink for one more post. I'm working on a garden themed project today, and I am ready for spring! This potholder was made from scraps, but this is the second one like it that I've made, and I rather like it! We really needed some new potholders, and I could have bought some, but why bother when I can make a completely unique one so easily? Insul-brite inside.

Pink Presents II

2011-02-22T09:35:00.004-05:00

This may look familiar. This was originally going to be a lap quilt, but I changed my mind. The lap quilt became four smaller quilts, this being the second of four. Stay tuned for the other two!

Pink Roses

2011-02-20T16:22:00.003-05:00

There's something about this little quilt that makes me think of lace curtains, a soft summer breeze and a rocking chair. It has an old fashioned feeling to it. Must be the calico roses. The tiny little print was given to me by a friend, and the larger scale print came from my mom. They are perfect together! I had enough fabric to make this quilt a bit bigger than usual.

Still in the Swing of Things

2010-10-09T13:41:00.002-05:00

A friend of mine always goes crazy for the Swing Bag that I carry everywhere. She has good taste, non? As a surprise, I made her a Swing Bag of her own. I bought this fabric a couple of years ago, intending to make a Swing Bag from it. It was a perfect choice-- it made up beautifully! In fact, it was rather difficult to part with! There was exactly enough fabric leftover to make a matching iPod wallet.

Cozy

2010-09-30T06:33:00.002-05:00

It's been on my to-do list for some time to make a new case for my iPod. My first effort was workable, but

I've since come up with a better design. I wanted something fun but I didn't want to cut into my yardage (I might need a full yard or half yard later!) I've been working and working on processing old jeans into squares for a future denim project, and had denim on my cutting table. I pulled out a packet of Amy Butler ribbon that I picked up a year or two ago. I auditioned a couple pieces of fabrics that were leftover from other projects. I cut a piece of denim, and a piece of green. I cut a piece of peltex with adhesive on both sides just a wee bit smaller. White hook and loop tape always looks so boring to me, so I went with red. Why not? Voila!

Nestled in the Branches

2010-07-29T06:13:00.002-05:00

When I was making a version of this quilt for myself, I thought I'd save myself some time, so I adapted it to strip piecing. Except I didn't think it through correctly, and when I laid out the pieces, I realized I hadn't done it correctly. So I had two options-- unpick a lot of seams and redo it, or go to the fabric store and get enough fabric to make a second quilt, using my 'mistake' as the foundation for the second quilt. I grabbed my keys and went shopping! I knew my parents would like this quilt, so I decided to make the second version for them. I called mom with apologies on Mother's Day and told her that her gift would be late, but that I hoped she'd think it was worth the wait. My parents were visiting on Father's Day weekend, and the quilt still wasn't done! Sneaky me, I worked on the binding in the evenings while we were all together and they never knew! The last stitch was secured Saturday night. Sunday morning (Father's Day), I was able to present it to both of them. They were so pleased! This quilt has been a hit all around. When I sent it to my fabulous long arm quilter, she called me up to tell me how much she liked it. Then she asked me where I found the fabric and the pattern, because she wanted to make one for her husband!

Orange Pop

2010-07-28T18:50:00.003-05:00

After I made my zipper quilt, which my husband dubbed Orange Blast, I had a lot of nice orange leftovers. All odd shapes and sizes, but I liked them so well I wanted to do something with them. They sat around for a couple of years while I thought about it, then recently I pieced them up into this strip quilt. It's rather densely machine quilted. My mom was kind enough to hand sew the binding. I usually do it by machine, but she seems to enjoy sewing them down, and I think it's so much nicer when it's hand sewn, don't you? Lately, whenever I see her, we do a quilt hand off-- I give her quilts to be bound, and she returns bound quilts. How fabulous is that? Thanks, mom!

Pink Presents

2010-07-27T06:30:00.004-05:00

I'd been wanting to make a pink and brown quilt, and I'd been wanting to try this pattern. Voila! The pink and brown fabrics by Anna Griffon are very sweet, and I love how the pattern of the blocks seem to weave together.

Be Mine

2010-07-23T06:32:00.002-05:00

Here's the version of the Valentine quilt that I made for myself. The one I made for my mom is nearly identical, although if you look closely, you'll see that the squares where the sashing interesects are all identical on my version, and are scrappy on mom's. This is such a sweet little quilt, I'm so pleased with it!

Kimonos in a Row

2010-07-14T05:51:00.003-05:00

Many many years ago I pieced many many kimono blocks. And then I changed my mind about what to do with them. I was going to make a bed quilt, but they ended up becoming three small quilts. Two of them were finished fairly soon after I started the project, and the other one was just recently completed, thanks to my mom who sewed down the binding by hand.

New Title

2010-07-12T05:40:00.006-05:00

Back in March I got a new title-- Great Aunt! My niece L. and her husband J. are the new parents of a lovely baby girl. I thought my collection of Classic Pooh prints would be just right for the newest member of the family. I recently finished the quilt (with some help from my mom on the binding-- thanks Mom!). My husband and I spent the holiday weekend with his parents, and I took the quilt along with us, figuring Great Grandma would probably see the new family sooner than I would. Turns out they were home visiting her mom, and I got to give her the gift myself! My niece loved the quilt, and was especially taken with the personalized label. My great niece slept through the whole thing-- she'll have to let me know what she thinks later, when she can talk!

Walking the Dogs

2010-07-11T13:03:00.004-05:00

There was exactly enough leftover fabric to make a donation quilt from this adorable dog themed fabric. The center is essentially the same as the other quilt (see below), but I changed up the borders a bit.

Too Hot in the Kitchen

2010-05-30T13:47:00.003-05:00

Not so long ago I made a pink and brown quilt. There were some rectangular leftovers. Not really big enough to do much with, but too big to get rid of. They sat on my sewing table for quite some time. Each morning during my workout (in my sewing studio/'gym') I would stare at those rectangles. Oftentimes after my workout, I'd wander over to the table and arrange the rectangles. One day the rectangles got sewn into three blocks. Hmmm. What does one do with three blocks? In this case, one layers two of the blocks with a piece of Insul-Brite and calls it a pot holder.

Birds of a Feather

2010-05-11T04:25:00.002-05:00

The very moment I spotted this fabric collection, I knew I wanted to do something with it. It's not the sort of thing I usually go for, but something about it just spoke to me. This is what happened when all was said and done. Perfect for spring, don't you think?

Be My Valentine

2010-03-23T05:12:00.002-05:00

There has been a panel of sweet Valentine fabric and several yards of cream and black Valentine theme fabric in my stash for a Very Long Time. I've always had the intention of making a Valentine quilt, but the Valentines on the panel were all different shapes and sizes, and I could never figure out what to do with them. I can't tell you how many times I've pulled the panel out, looked at it, thought about it, and put it back. I recently pulled it out and went for it! I cut each Valentine out and left a half inch border. Then I attached wide strips of red 30s prints. Using my handy-dandy 9 1/2 inch ruler, I squared them all up, sashed and bordered them and voila! I am so very pleased with the results! This was a gift to my mom for her birthday.

Dreaming of the Stars

2010-03-19T09:02:00.002-05:00

This little quilt might be perfect for someone who likes to dream and imagine. It's full of stars and magicians' caps.

Going to the Dogs

2010-03-14T16:45:00.004-05:00

The moment I saw this fabric, I immediately envisioned this quilt... and here it is! I used three coordinates and a solid. Vision realized.

Pumpkin Gal

2010-03-12T17:40:00.002-05:00

Last October when we were visiting my parents, I saw this wool felt pumpkin lady and chuckled-- I had completely forgotten I'd made it and given it to my parents! I enjoyed doing wool felt for a little while, but I really do prefer working with quilting cottons. My mom, on the other hand, loves wool felt and has made countless adorable projects!

Pink Tulips

2010-03-10T06:29:00.003-05:00

Around town, there are lots of bulb shoots poking out of the ground. Most of them are daffodils, but I know that the tulips will be coming soon! In the meantime, here are some pink tulips. This print is so rich and pretty, although it's harder to appreciate when it's all cut up. I used a full length of it on the backing.

Nautical Coin Quilt

2010-03-08T06:09:00.003-05:00

There were lots of leftovers from the cottage quilt, and I thought they would make a nice coin quilt. This is such a soothing color combination, and there are so many interesting prints to look at in the coins. I quilt all of my donation quilts myself, and I find that I'm getting better at it. It's all straight stitching-- I should really venture into the world of free motion quilting.

Cottage Quilt

2010-03-06T12:06:00.003-05:00

Growing up, my husband spent many, many happy hours at his grandmother's cottage on the lake. It was an easy drive north of home. There was boating and swimming and walking along the beach looking for interesting rocks. Not long after we met, I started collecting fabrics to make a quilt to remind him of those cottage days. We'll be celebrating our tenth anniversary this year, so it was time for me to stop collecting and start sewing this quilt! He received it as a birthday gift last month and immediately declared it an Up North quilt. It features lighthouses, pebbles, tiny seashells, sand grass, water and sailboats.

Dogs and Daisies

2010-02-21T17:02:00.002-05:00

There has been a lot of sewing and quilting going on around here! This is one of my recently completed donation quilts. The aqua print is a sweet Alexander Henry print that was given to me by a friend. The black and aqua really pop!

Weekend Sewing -- Pirate Pajamas for Everyone

2010-02-09T06:02:00.001-05:00

Of the three pairs of kid size pjs I sewed up last week, I think these are my favorite! What's not to love about one-eyed bandana wearing pirate fish? Too cute.

Weekend Sewing -- Pajamas for Everyone in Blue

2010-02-08T05:50:00.002-05:00

These pajama pants really do sew up quickly! The other day I cut three pairs out at once, and worked on them here and there. This weekend I sat down and finished all three pairs. I doubt it took more than an hour to make all three pairs.

Weekend Sewing -- Pajamas for Everyone in Pink

2010-02-07T15:46:00.003-05:00

When she finishes a project, my mom sometimes gives me the leftover fabric, then I try figure out something to do with it. In this case, I made a rather zany pair of flannel pjs. Polly Pocket on one leg, plain orange on the other.

A New Handbag

2010-01-19T17:27:00.003-05:00

On a visit to my husband's hometown, my mother in law wanted to take me to the newest quilt shop in town-- well, who am I to refuse an offer like that!? While I was shopping, she was looking around, and came across a shop sample of a Mini Bow Tucks Bag. She loved it! Duly noted. I started looking for the pattern, but it was hard to find. My mom managed to locate it and bought it for me. Later that fall, my husband's parents were visiting us, and we stopped at a quilt shop. While I was shopping, my mother in law remarked how much she liked a fabric line featuring seed envelope motifs (she's an accomplished gardner). Hmmmm... seemed like a perfect match to the pattern I had waiting in the wings! I gave this to her as a Christmas gift, and she seems quite pleased!

Safe and Sound

2010-01-07T07:18:00.003-05:00

Here's an iPod wallet that I made for a Nano. The exterior is a simple cotton stripe, and the interior is a fusibile fleece. It closes with hook and loop tape.

Santa's Square in a Square

2009-12-21T06:08:00.002-05:00

Remember this and this? Rather unbelievably, I managed to make a Christmas quilt from start to finish in less than two months-- two busy, hectic , leading-up-to-Christmas months. I shipped this off to my fabulous long arm quilter, who quilted it with candy canes, bells, and holly and shipped it right back to me. Fortunately, I had already made the binding, and when the quilt arrived at my doorstep, I trimmed it and sewed the binding right on. Four nights of hand stitching later, this cheerful little quilt was complete. Not too bad for a bag full of leftovers!

Tea Wallets

2009-12-17T05:56:00.002-05:00

Recently, I needed two small yet nice gifts. After pondering the options for a while, I decided on tea wallets. Both are made from the same fabrics-- I just swapped the order they're in, so the yellow is on the inside on one and on the outside on the other. These were quick and easy to make, and very cute! I do believe I'll make tea wallets again.

Paisley Dot Swing

2009-12-14T06:21:00.001-05:00

Here's another version of Amy Butler's Swing Bag. This one is made with a set of coordinates-- paisley on the outside, fun dots on the inside. I made this for a gift exchange.

Santa was Framed!

2009-12-13T12:59:00.002-05:00

In years past, I have draped this vintage tea towel over my stand mixer for the month of December. That way we could enjoy it, but we weren't actually using it. Now that I have a fabulous mixer cover, I didn't really need or want to do that, so I thought I'd trying framing the tea towel. I couldn't be more pleased with the outcome! Now this neat piece is showcased, and I don't have to worry about anything happening to it behind glass.

From Oranges to Ornaments

2009-12-08T06:36:00.002-05:00

This rather unassuming box holds my Christmas ornaments. Sure, there are all sorts of fancy boxes out there that you can buy to do that job, but this one works just fine. It has four cardboard trays inside, each one with a plastic insert shaped to cradle citrus, or, in this case, ornaments in all shapes and sizes.

I get a kick out of getting this box out each year and looking at the postmark. It's postmarked the month and year that my parents were expecting me. I made my grand entrance the following year (yes, year-- the box arrived in December, but I did not). This box has been sealed, moved and opened many times, but it won't be traded in any time soon for a fancier model.

Polka Dot Tote

2009-12-07T05:55:00.002-05:00

Ok, let's be honest here: anything made with this fabric would be cute! I went with a simple solid color accent on the bottom and for the handles. Very cute, and very simple.

Asian Inspired Tote

2009-12-06T06:37:00.002-05:00

For quite some time now, I have had a 1.5 gallon bag full of odds and ends of Asian-type fabrics. The pieces were too small to do much of anything with, and I kept thinking I'd make some sort of art quilt with them. Every so often, I'd get the bag out, and play with the fabric, and finding no inspiration, I'd put them back. A couple of weeks ago, I got the bag out again, and finally realized the reason the art quilt idea wasn't working was that it wasn't the right idea! Within a few minutes I had arranged the fabrics into this assymetrical bag. I put an attached key fob inside, just for kicks. These fabrics are really beautiful, and the intricate detail on them makes them so interesting to look at and enjoy. I'm pleased that I was finally able to use these fabrics.

Carry Anything Carry All, Take Three

2009-11-28T16:13:00.002-05:00

Apparently, I can't stop making this bag! This is the third version I've made. I like using them for groceries. For this version, I left off the side handles. People kept asking me what purpose they served, so I thought I'd leave them off and see. Next time, I think I'll put them on again-- turns out, I like how they look, and the extra element of stability they add! This bag is made with Alexander Henry coordinates.

Christmas Gift Bag

2009-11-26T06:48:00.002-05:00

When my mom sent me a big bag of strips of holiday fabrics, I divided them up by tone. The bright strips, which were the most numerous, went into a square in a square quilt top. The subdued strips became this bag. Only one set of strips remain, and I haven't figured out what to do with them yet!

Blue Stripe Bag

2009-11-25T15:18:00.002-05:00

This quirky little bag was made up from leftover strips of fabric from a number of completed projects. It's too small to be a totebag, but will make a nice gift bag.

From One Margaret to Another

2009-11-22T07:32:00.004-05:00

Last month my friend Liz asked me if I'd heard about the Craft Hope project to gather 400 quilts for Margaret's Hope Chest in Grand Rapids, Michigan. I hadn't, so she filled me in. The goal was to collect enough quilts to give one to every homeless child in the Grand Rapids Public School system. It sounded like an excellent thing to do, and this blue quilt was my contribution. And, the great news is, they met their goal!

Weekend Sewing -- Pajamas for Everyone, Kid Size Take Two

2009-11-14T16:22:00.002-05:00

There was another oddly shaped piece of flannel waiting to be made into something, and it turned into pajama pants! I serged all the seams and did top stitching, just because. Also, I bought four yards of elastic, so I wouldn't have to keep going to the store. Now I think I'm done with pajama pants for awhile, and I've got three and a half yards of elastic left!

Weekend Sewing -- Pajamas for Everyone, Kid Size

2009-11-08T10:29:00.003-05:00

Sometimes, you just have to make a project. For instance, when you have a piece of oddly shaped fabric that really will only work for one thing. And you just happen to have enough pattern tracing fabric left to trace off the size that will exactly fit on said piece of oddly shaped flannel. So, I made a kids size small-medium Pajamas for Everyone. Since I'd already made these once before, I went ahead and made my very minor modification- I serged all of the seams. I still went ahead and top stitched all the seams, because it is so easy, and it really makes a garment look finished.

Scraps to... a Quilt!

2009-11-02T06:59:00.002-05:00

When my mom handed me a lot of Christmas fabric strips, I divided them up by color family, and by width. There were quite a few bright red scraps that were at least three and a half inches wide, and I thought they'd make a good square in a square quilt. It's currently five by five blocks, and I may make it five by six. I'll post a photo when it's all done.

Weekend Sewing -- Pajamas for Everyone

2009-11-01T09:48:00.002-05:00

These pajama pants made up quickly and easily. They would've been made in one sewing session except for the lack of elastic. If I were to make these again, I would serge all of the seams, but I followed the instructions the first time around. I did add quite a bit of topstitching, which fancies them up a bit, at least if you look closely! I made these a size bigger than the size I would purchase at the store, which turned out to be a good idea. I found these to be very long, at least for me. That's easily remedied, however.

Favorite Jeans Denim Quilt

2009-10-28T16:53:00.002-05:00

One of my mom's friends has always sent a lot of old jeans my way, destined to get cut up into denim quilts. When the last batch arrived, mom mentioned that her friend S. was particularly disappointed to send her favorite pair to me-- she really loved them but they were just plain worn out. S. and I are the same size, so I tried them on, and I could see why she liked them so much, and alas, that they were beyond repair. The jeans had lace appliques on them which I knew would be well suited to fussy cutting. And I thought it would be a great way to let S. remember that great pair of jeans in a new format. So, S., thanks for all the great old denim you sent my way, I'm sending this quilt your way!

From Scraps to...?

2009-10-18T13:23:00.002-05:00

My mom has been giving me all of these scraps of holiday fabrics. I laid them all out, stared at them for a while, and came up with a project! I supplemented them with the green fabric. Can you guess what I'll turn these oddly shaped scraps into?

Weekend Sewing -- Drawstring Travel Bag

2009-10-11T17:37:00.001-05:00

Not so long ago, I found this golf print fabric and picked up a yard. Half of that yard now resides in this travel laundry bag.

The Blues

2009-10-06T16:42:00.003-05:00

Way back in January, I spent two days sewing this quilt top. I had been stockpiling these prints to make another blue and white quilt. Then I was honest with myself that I was blue and white quilted out. These had been sitting on the top shelf of my fabric cupboard for a few years, and it was time to use them up! This is lap size, and it's perfect! It is great to wrap up in on the sofa, or is a perfect extra layer on a cold night.

Cat's Meow for Linus

2009-10-05T06:07:00.002-05:00

Most of my Project Linus quilts are made from fabric that I pick up on sale or that is given to me. This one is made from a set of coordinates that I bought because I thought they were awfully cute. I didn't have quite enough to make the entire thing from the coordinates, so I added two prints from my collection to round it all out.

Weekend Sewing -- Drawstring Travel Bag

2009-10-04T11:19:00.001-05:00

These drawstring bags are so easy to make, and they're fun to make, too. I had a half yard of fabric left over from this project, and I thought it would be fun to make a matching travel laundry bag. Mission accomplished.

Weekend Sewing -- Fat Quarter Napkins

2009-09-29T05:46:00.002-05:00

While going through my fabric recently, I came across this batik. This was given to me, and I never knew quite what to do with it. Until now! I quickly cut it into two squares, and found two cream colored fat quarters for the backs. Voila! Batik is heavy anyways, which makes it a good fit for a napkin. I like the weight of these, and it's fun that they're reversible. The top stitching one inch from the edge gussies them up a bit.

Weekend Sewing-- Summer Blouse

2009-09-27T12:26:00.002-05:00

With pattern tracing material finally in hand, last night I traced off the pattern pieces for this top, and today I cut it out and sewed it together. It's a pretty easy blouse to make. I did take heed of others' observations that the placket was rather plunging, and I shortened it up considerably, as I didn't want to do the suggested hand sewing. This blouse is made from a vintage fabric. I don't usually wear yellow, as most shades of yellow do nothing for my complexion, but I can actually pull this one off.

Fabulous Finds

2009-09-07T07:34:00.003-05:00

Take a look at what I found this weekend! The women's patterns are all in my size. My favorites are the two on the left. I may need to try those out. I've constructed original 50s patterns before. I'd love to try out earlier pattterns, but those aren't so easy to come across. The patterns along the bottom are childrens patterns-- aren't they sweet? My mom is always asking me to be on the lookout for kids patterns for her sewing projects. I think these are pretty timeless-- maybe my mom will want to try them out?

Weekend Sewing -- Lucy's Kimono

2009-09-05T11:36:00.003-05:00

Oh dear... I didn't expect this to be so cute! Quite some time ago I saw a remnant of this flannel, and I couldn't possibly leave it at the store-- it's printed with tiny babies in pea pods! So I brought it home and there it sat. Until yesterday. I figured it would be perfect for Lucy's Kimono. I didn't have enough for the sleeves, but the solid white flannel works just fine. This is adorable and soft, and made up very quickly.

Drawstring Travel Bags

2009-09-04T13:02:00.003-05:00

If you make one of these, I'm pretty sure you'll make several-- they're so easy and cute! I had ribbon left over from this project and two pieces of fabric left over from this project. They weren't really big enough to do anything with, but were way too big to pitch out, so I turned them into a bag for my mini tripod. I followed all of the directions except for the fabric dimensions. I tend to view bag instructions as a starting off point: cut whatever size fabric you want (or might have on hand) and follow the directions from there. That doesn't work for every project, but it worked for me on this one. And can I say how much I love my mini tripod? When we head out the door on a walk, I throw it in my bag or tuck it in my back pocket. We've gotten some really nice photographs of the two of us using the tripod and the timer on the camera.

Sew-Along

2009-09-01T19:55:00.004-05:00

The Quilted Turtle and Vingt Centimes are are hosting a sew-along and we would love to have you join us! We picked Heather Ross’ book Weekend Sewing, which is full of all sorts of fun projects, and good for sewists of differing abilities. September is National Sewing Month, and a great time to kick off our sew-along. Would you like to join us? Leave a comment on this post, and we’ll add your blog to our sew-along sidebars. You can also add the sew-along badge to your blog. When you make a project from Weekend Sewing, post about it! You might make one project from the book or many. We’ll be sewing along together until the end of October.

A Case for Everything and Everything in its Case

2009-08-23T12:05:00.003-05:00

Just before we left on our recent vacation, we decided to get a GPS unit. I am so glad we did! It was incredibly helpful, especially since we were in unfamiliar territory. We'll definitely take it on on all of our trips in the future. When we got it, I didn't buy a case for it. The cases are so boring-- black cloth cases with vinyl piping and zipper closures. I knew I could do better than that and at a fraction of the cost! The morning we left I was up early. Really early. So I went down to my sewing room and within a half hour had a custom GPS case. To be perfectly honest, I picked the exterior fabric because it was an eighth of a yard and so narrow that it wasn't getting used for anything... until now. I made this the same way I made my phone and camera cases (even used the same lining fabric and red hook and loop tape) except I substituted thick Peltex for the fusible fleece. The Peltex required a larger opening for turning and some patience in the turning process, but it was all worth it. The case is adorable and protects the screen from getting scratched up.

Swing Bag en Vacences

2009-08-14T06:59:00.002-05:00

We just got home from vacation-- we visited North Carolina. In preparation for our trip, I decided a new bag was in order. I've been carrying around the same swing bag for a year and a half. While it is a fantastic bag, I decided I'd like a new one, and an upcoming vacation was a good reason to make one. I showed my husband the four half yard cuts I was considering for the bag and he liked these two. I liked them all, and thought he made a good choice, so I went with his selection-- the orange print and the gray print. They're modern prints, with a bit of a fun, 50s feel to them. They are also, dare I say it... autumnal.
We spent our ninth wedding anniversary exploring the Biltmore Estate, which is where this photograph was taken.

Donation Quilt

2009-08-04T07:46:00.004-05:00

Earlier this summer, my friend's young daughter was briefly hospitalized. While nobody likes to check in to the hospital, it's especially difficult for a little one, who might not fully understand what's going on. My young friend was given the royal treatment (really! she stayed in the princess suite) and was given a quilt to keep. They took good care of her and she is home safe and sound now. I wanted to return the favor to the hospital, so I made this little quilt from the Snuggle Up pattern and gave it to my friend for the hospital. I could have sent it myself, but I knew it would mean more if it came from my friend and her daughter. And indeed it did! Here's what my friend said: "We took the quilt to the hospital today. They remembered us and GUSHED over the quilt. She said it was perfect and thanked us over and over again. She said that they were always running out - so anytime you wanted to send quilts north they would love to have them. " Glad to help!

Book Pocket

2009-08-02T19:26:00.004-05:00

Bookcovers... doesn't the very word take you back? It reminds me of the first day of classes in high school, after books were passed out in each class, the teachers would tell us to cover our books. And so that night I would go home and pull paper grocery bags out of the pantry, use that sturdy brown paper and fold paper covers for each book, securing them with tape.

These days, no one is admonishing me to protect my books; it's a task I take on myself. I particularly wanted to find a way to keep my Quilters' Travel Companion book from getting all banged up. It spends a lot of time in the car, gets carried around, in and out, gets exposed to the sun and countless other tales of woe. My first volume of this book got dog eared and tattered and I wanted to save this copy from the same fate. Easy enough! This is two rectangles of fabric, some fusible fleece, and a length of Velcro. The exterior fabric is a sturdy stripe from Ikea, the interior is a fun print I picked up yesterday.

Travel Day Tote

2009-07-27T08:32:00.002-05:00

When I was looking at all of the projects on the Amy Butler Softwares program, I was really looking forward to making this tote. I thought it was going to be a lot of work, and I thought it might be a tough project, but it turns out I was wrong on both accounts! There are two layers of fusible interfacing on each piece, which calls for a lot of ironing, but that isn't difficult. This was actually a fairly easy bag to make. If you've never made a bag before, or haven't worked with really stiff interfacing, this might be challenging, but otherwise I found this to be straightforward. And I love it! It's a great shape, and the interfacing gives it such great form. I only made one minor change , and that was to the interior pocket. I omitted one pocket, as I really don't use a lot of pockets. The remaining pocket I tricked out a little bit. I added a pen pocket (which means that I added an extra line of stitching to create a pocket about one inch wide. For the remaining pocket, i added a strip of velcro so there will be a more secure pocket. The only alteration I would make next time around is to make the cell phone pocket deeper and add a little spot of hook and loop tape. I really look forward to using this bag! The exterior is an Alexander Henry print, and the interior is a Joel Dewberry faux bois in Almond.

Save a Tree-- Use a Cloth Bag

2009-07-05T13:56:00.002-05:00

Here's my latest rendition of the Carry Anything Carry-All bag by Amy Butler. I really like this bag! It's so sturdy and it's huge! This will be great for carting groceries home from the store. The tree fabric is an Ikea design I picked up a couple of years ago. I always figured it would be a tote bag, but I was never sure exactly how it would look. I fussy cut the tree motifs, so it matches all the way around, and even inside. It does use more fabric to fussy cut, but the final product is worth it.

It's a Cover Up

2009-06-27T16:15:00.002-05:00

A stand mixer is a permanent fixture on the kitchen counter, mostly because it's so heavy that I don't want to pull it out of a cabinet to use it. Since it doesn't get used every day, I like to keep it covered so it doesn't get dusty. I made a cover for it a few years ago out of leftover valance fabric, but there was barely enough and it finally fell apart at the seams. It took a while to decide how I was going to redo the cover. I bought some fork and spoon fabric, but then I found this fabric with beaters on it, and of course this was meant to be! I wanted the black and white fabric to really pop, so I used red piping, which did the trick. This cover is far more substantial than my first effort. I lined the outer fabric in fusible fleece, and the inner fabric with iron-on interfacing. I thought about making it reversible, until I finally decided I liked this fabric so much I'd never turn it inside out, so no need to bother!

Carry Anything Carry-All

2009-06-14T18:22:00.002-05:00

It was with great anticipation that I opened my mailbox on May 15th. It was the release date of Amy Butler's new Softwares program, and my copy had arrived! I am looking forward to playing around with this program and perhaps designing a quilt to use up some of the AB fabrics I've been picking up here and there. Softwares is an Electric Quilt Company product, and it's pretty versatile. I was especially excited to see the bag patterns. The first pattern I used was the Carry Anything Carry-All bag. This is a great bag! It was easy to construct, although there are a lot of steps. The only problem I had was that I broke a needle because I didn't follow the pattern's advice to use a denim needle. Once I put a heavy duty needle in my machine, it was fine. The last steps of the construction involve sewing through a number of layers. I put the walking foot on my machine and went slowly and didn't have any problems. I've already cut out another bag using this pattern.

Shower Gifts

2009-06-03T04:12:00.007-05:00

On Saturday I attended a wedding shower for a friend. I was having the hardest time deciding what gift to give. The wedding decorations are red and white gingham, and I had picked up two lengths of gingham over the past couple of months, and I'd been sort of staring at them, but no inspiration. And then, finally, inspiration struck! The Emmeline Apron by Sew Liberated. Have you made this apron? If not, what are you waiting for? It's SO cute! And very easy to make. I made one side in gingham and the other side in a super fun Alexander Henry print. Instead of making bias strips, I bought extra wide bias tape in a matching brown, and it made the whole project go even more quickly. Because I am continuing my effort not to use gift wrap, and because I like my gifts to have a little extra, I made a matching reversible tote to put the gift in. I wanted to give her more than just the apron and the tote, so I found a white ceramic casserole and put the apron in the casserole, in the bag. I was pleased with the outcome! The bride-to-be seemed to like it, too.