Friday, December 30, 2021

HtbaS - Episode 61





Short and sweet this week since I wanted to get done before the kids woke up! I talk about the BDSI and coming NYSI, buffalo quilting, and using the Charming Stars pattern from Moda Bake Shop.

nysi

Charming Squares Quilt Top using Kate Spain Terrain:

Tuesday, December 27, 2021

Christmas Crafting Round-Up

I don't necessarily strive to make it a Handmade Holiday every year, and if I did I think it would drive me batty. I did make several gifts this year, though, so here's the list (and I'm probably forgetting something):
My parents recently redecorated their house with the help of a professional. Apparently professionals think that multiple counted cross-stitches done by one's 11 year old cat-loving daughter don't necessarily have a place all over the house, so all my precious, precious pieces were put lovingly into a box (note: I am totally fine with this, and mildly surprised they all stayed up as long as they did). I put a note with this piece that they needed something I made to hang up in their house replace all those festive felines, and this particular pattern reminded me of my grandparents farm.  I added in the smaller quilt blocks to bring it up to a size that would fit a standard frame, and did some light hand- and machine-quilting.

We're not quite done with Christmas here since we're exchanging gifts with my husband's family on Saturday,  but I've already started gathering up decorations to put up. I'm excited to reclaim my house!

Monday, December 26, 2021

Boxing Day Sew-In is here! #BDSI

Here's the basic dirt on the fun sew-in day we're organizing!
  • Visit Sandy's blog for details on how to participate and enter in the giveaways, and also on some ideas for charitable crafting today. I'm sponsoring two FQ assortments as prizes!
  • You can post pictures of your projects in the BDSI flickr group (and also answers to some of the mini-tasks Sandy will be posting).
  • I'm too excited to write more! You can follow the conversation on twitter by using tweetchat to track the BDSI hashtag. Here's a quick and dirty link to follow.

Friday, December 23, 2021

HtbaS: Episode 60





You found me! Yay! I talk about my jelly roll race quilt, making a coupon/loyalty card/notepad holder, cutting pieces for a king-sized trapunto quilt, and my Terrain layer cake quilt.

See Sandy's website for the BDSI plans!


Notepad holder exterior:
Interior:

Wednesday, December 21, 2021

Sampler Blocks and Jelly Roll Race

I picked up the sampler blocks for the Houses and Grandma's Garden last Saturday, and put the last stitch on the flower block today.  My daughter got sick last night, which was the first real tummy trouble we've had since either kid was a baby. I consider us lucky and full of intestinal fortitude.  She seems to have recovered, so we're hoping the visit to see Santa is back on for tonight!

Here's the last House sampler block (provided by the store, anyway- I plan on making 4 more for the wrong side of the tracks):
 And here is the Grandma's garden block. I chose the quote "Comparison is the thief of joy" for this one:

And I also whipped up a jelly roll race quilt last weekend to donate either to Wellspring Living (the Atlanta MQG charity for 2012) or Project Linus - I'm not sure what the timetable it for collecting for Wellspring, hence the uncertainty on where it's going:
 
This wasn't a particular brand jelly roll, and I think it was mis-priced because I remember getting it for $5 at a quilt show. I got matching fabric for the back at A Scarlet Thread.  I just straight line quilted it along the jelly roll strips.

The Podcast Moved to Podomatic!

Hopefully you've gotten the audio message (posted as video because Blip had to mess with us one last time), but the podcast feed has officially moved to Podomatic.While blip supposedly created a way for podcasters to transition the iTunes feed automatically over to the new provider, I'm 99% sure it didn't work. So, delete the old feed with the video message in it and do one of these things to get the new feed:
  • To manually subscribe to the Podomatic feed in iTunes, in iTunes, go to Advanced > Subscribe to Podcast and enter this feed in the field shown: http://hiptobeasquare.podomatic.com/rss2.xml.  Click "Ok" and watch the magic happen. That URL will work for another other podcatcher of your choice.
  • I created a new podcast feed based on the Podomatic RSS feed. The new podcast can be found in the iTunes store here. It will have fewer episodes than the original feed because the Podomatic feed will  start with #53.
Thanks for bearing with me during this change! Please let me know if you have any questions or problems.

Friday, December 16, 2021

HtbaS: Episode 59

 
I talk about fusing the moose (not an euphemism), finishing the Snowbunny, and the dreaded podcast feed changeover.

Wednesday, December 14, 2021

Oh hai, Moose!

This is my fused applique project I just finished putting together today (sorry, Jaye - took me less than a week, instead of the two I estimated). I'll be quilting it tonight and tomorrow, and since it looks like I'll have it done before Christmas I can give it to them.
This pattern is a Bigfork Bay Cotton Company pattern (Summer Serenity, I think). Pat Sloan just interviewed them on her podcast.

Follow-up! Zapper is unimpressed by mooses, but remains as helpery as ever:
Zapper says: "In your face, moose! And also cancer."  She's doing great, and my thanks go out to everyone's kind words in light of her diagnosis.

Monday, December 12, 2021

Snowbunny Quilt - FINISHED!

Meet the Snowbunny!
This is the All Stars quilt pattern by Cozy Quilt Designs in throw size.  I made enough blocks for the twin size, so I used those on the back (pics lower).  I picked the name Snowbunny because the direction the stars point remind me of floppy bunny ears.
(bunny picture courtesy of  Stonecrest Stables)

And since I did that survey, I canned both options for the inner border and went with something completely different.
I don't know that I'm in love with the nine patches in the corner, but it's what I had to do because of the striped border. I cut all the outer border strips WOF (and had to match the stripes when I sewed them together), but in restrospect should have done either the sides or top/bottom along the grain for the stripes to point in the same direction. Or pieced them in the center of each border piece so it looks like a chevron. But I wanted enough to use for the back so I could spare the length.
Here's the back... more of the stripe print.  The leftover star blocks I put on the back, flanked by the light jelly roll strips that I didn't use in making the blocks. And then I went with some of the teal that I liked for the inner border but couldn't put next to the stripe fabric.

Friday, December 9, 2021

HtbaS: Episode 58


I give some updates on the homefront at the beginning. Quilting talk starts at 7:30.  I talk about the All Stars jelly roll quilt pattern and what I've learned in making the quilt center.

If you want to manually re-subscribe to the new podcast feed, please see this page.

Wednesday, December 7, 2021

Opinions Requested!

I'm working on my Fruitcake quilt, and it's almost time to put the inner border on.  I didn't get yardage from the Fruitcake line last year to do this, so I'm going to work from my stash.  I've got two choice right now, shown below:

 So, do you think the teal or the brown? The brown is my safe zone, but I like the teal because I like teal but am not sure it goes with the striped fabric for the outer border. So...

What color for the inner border?

Friday, December 2, 2021

HtbaS: Episode 57

 
I talk about mini tree skirts, placemats, zippered crayon pouches, and making a manicure roll-up caddy. Also: Christmas exploded at my house.

Thursday, December 1, 2021

"Last Week" Gift Idea: Manicure Roll-up Caddy

This isn't necessarily a "last minute" gift to sew, so it's more "last couple days" or even "last fortnight".  I finished it up in a couple hours, but I've made things like this before, so your mileage may vary.

Make this handy manicure roll-up caddy as a gift for a niece, sister, or other manicure-worthy friend! This is more of a faux-torial because I didn't take as many pictures as I should have for a "real" tutorial.
Materials:
  • Lined Boxy Pouch about 8" long finished (materials varies by method of making the bag - check out this list of tutorials by Sew Mama Sew! for instructions)
  • 2 coordinating fat quarters
  • Medium to heavy interfacing, 8 1/2 x 22"
  • Velcro or other fastener
The first step is to make the box pouch part of the caddy; mine roughly ended up 8" long by 3x3" around.  The roll-up part of the caddy is made to match the 8" length of the pouch.

Roll-Up Exterior:
  • Cut one of the fat quarters that you want to be the exterior to 8 1/2" x 22".
  • Fuse to interfacing.  I used Decor Bond because it was nice and heavy, and it's what I had on hand.
Roll-up Interior, with Pockets!
  • Lay your exterior piece down for reference.
  • Lay your 2nd fat quarter down on top (right side up), aligning up the top edge of the FQ with the top edge with the exterior piece.
  • Fold the bottom of the FQ so it aligns with the bottom of the exterior piece, like so:
  •  Take the top of the FQ and fold it back down to line up with the bottom edge of the exterior piece. It will look like this:
  • Press the snot of out this piece so the creases are permanent. It is now your Roll-up Interior. Stick a couple pins along that folded edge so it doesn't go funky in the next step.
  • Put your interior piece right side together with your exterior piece.  Stitch with a quarter inch seam along the two long edges and end edge (I left the selvedge edge unstitched from the photo above).
  • Clip corners, and turn right side out! Press the snot out of it again. Seriously. Snot all over your ironing board now. Sorry about that.
  • Go ahead and get a tissue for all that snot you just pressed out.
  • Now it is time to stitch up the pockets so it makes cozy little places for your manicure bits!  If you have implements in mind, go ahead and lay them out on top of the Roll-Up and mark where you want to stitch to make pockets. If you don't, I spaced my stitching to range from 1 1/2" to 2" widths to accommodate a variety of implements.
  • Top stitch the whole thing so it looks pretty.
  • Now it's time to attached this to the side of your zippered pouch.  Place unfinished end of the Roll-Up on the side of the unzipped pouch, with the exterior of the Roll-Up against the outside of the pouch.  It will be awkward to stitch on the machine, but you can do it - pin it and then stitch.  Look at the photo below for placement (mine is on the bottom part of the side of the pouch, but not quite all the way to the bottom)
  • Fold the roll-up so the Roll-Up interior is against the outside of the zippered pouch.  Then stitch so the unfinished end of the Roll-Up is now encased by that seam and not visible.
  • Here is what the attached Caddy looks like (with the totebag I also made for my niece, who is the recipient for this caddy):
  • To make the strap to keep it closed when it's rolled up, cut a piece of fabric from the FQ used for the exterior about 2 1/2" by 6" (I used a scrap from a different FQ. Do as I say, and not as I do). Fold lengthwise and stitch along one short and one long end to make a strap. Turn right side out. Attach Velcro piece (or snap or whatever your chose) to the finished end of the strap. Tuck in the unfinished end of the strap and stitch it onto the end of the Roll-Up; I used a zig-zag stitch.
  • Roll that bad boy up (when it's stuffed, to make sure the strap won't be too tight), and hand stitch the other part of the fastener onto the Roll-up exterior.
Voila!
I stuffed this one with nail file, cuticle sticks, fun nail polish, nail polish remover, fingernail gems, nail clippers and such. Perfect for a girlie girl!