Monthly Archives: April 2012

Sunday Night Stash: The One Where I Got Nuthin’

Sunday Stash
Well, it’s not exactly nothing, but there are no official ins/outs for the stash this week.  I did get the Wellspring Woven Quilt quilted on my friend Lynn’s LAQ this afternoon, but haven’t gotten the binding done yet. I can easily get that done this week, though.  The biggest thing I’ve been working on, however, is the Faceted Jewels quilt.  You can see how I got so much done this week:

But I persevered and got all the “elements” and blocks done (and re-done in some cases - whoops), and got a chunk put together today.  Here’s a (poorly lit but gorgeous nonetheless) preview:

  I’m handing it over to my friend Chris to LAQ later this week!

HtbaS - Episode 77

I talk about finishing the elements for Faceted Jewels, a Dresden Plate table mat, making a teacher appreciation gift, a give a review of the Modern Quilts Illustrated magazine.

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Parts is parts

Uncategorized
YOU GUYS. It’s been another week of madness at work, but have managed to finish making all the “elements” for the Faceted Jewels king size quilts. Check it out:

There are color/background flying geese (in pairs), color/color flying geese, background/color 4 patches, color/color 4 patches, 2″ HST diamond blocks, 4″ HST blocks, V-blocks, rec-triangle blocks, and a pantload of 2 patches, all waiting to be sewn together into one brilliant giant quilt top.

It’s a good sign I’m not sick of looking at these fabrics yet. Usually I’m tired of my fabric at this point in the process.

PS - My bin of scraps to be sorted is, as you can imagine, overflowing.

Sunday Night Stash: With the Unproductive Week

Sunday Stash
Not much finished this week - just the dog bed and small Dresden Plate table mat for my MIL.  I’ve been feverishly sewing for the Faceted Jewels quilt - this weekend I finished 194 flying geese, 144 4-patches, and about a frillion two patches. I just did the calculations and I’ll need even more geese and 4-patches and whatnot to expand the pattern to king size, but it doesn’t feel as insurmountable as when I started.
  • Used this Week: 4.5 yards
    • 4 yards for Gnat’s dog bed (quilted top and removable stuffing)
    • 0.5 yards for the Dresden Table Mat
  • Used year to Date: 173.25 yard
  • Added this Week: 0 yards
  • Added Year to Date: 116.5 yards
  • Net Used for 2012: 56.75 yards
    • YTD Used for Charity: 57 yards (34% of total used)

Dresden Tablemat: Finished!

Finished Projects
I mentioned on the podcast that today was my MIL’s birthday, and I’ve been working on a project I meant to give her if I finished it in time.Alas, I did not, so I had to figure out a replacement gift.  Usually when we don’t have any idea what to get her, we fall back on a gift card for JoAnn’s or the quilt shop, but since I didn’t have time to get anywhere besides JoAnn’s, JoAnn’s it was!  To spruce it up, I got supplies to make a nice, small floral arrangement, and then decided about 1 1/2 hours before we were supposed to leave for the restaurant that I wanted to make a little tablemat to go under it.

Since the colors I picked go with a particular bedroom, I thought of what was already in there - an applique quilt in soft pinks and greens from the 1980’s, I think (my MIL inherited the top from the vet that used to treat their dog). The window valance is a Grandmother’s Flower Garden, and she also stores her extra quilts in there as well. I thought a Dresden plate would look nice and server well for a little mat, so I went to Elizabeth Hartman’s tutorial on Sew Mama Sew and got the templates.  Here’s what I ended up with:

It measures around 16″ in diameter  I used the blanket stitch on my machine to stitch down the Dresden fans to the white background, and then stitched another piece of the white right sides together (leaving an opening for turning).  Then turned right side out, pressed, and top stitched in pink and yellow close to the edge. Voila!
Here it is in action with the flowers (and strange lighting):
 I’m happy with how it turned out. Have a great weekend!

HtbaS - Episode 76

A short episode with birthday wishes for the Helper Cats, finishing the Woven top, and finishing cutting the Faceted Jewels top.

  • Please vote for Hooo Baby! at the Quilting Gallery contest.
  • This is Faceted Jewels (in queen size, but I need to expand it to king). I got a quilt kit from Sew Batik back at the Knoxville AQS show, but I’m bringing in more purple to this pattern with the expansion to king size.
  • And this is Gnat, the Helper Dog (with cameo of my FIL, who is holding Gnat so he doesn’t run rampant during the Easter Egg hunt):
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Sunday Night Stash: Now With More Cats!

Sunday Stash

Well, two quilts went to their forever homes this weekend - Lavender Kiss to the lovely bride and Tiger Show to the raffle for the cat shelter (which will have a permanent home once the raffle is done!).  This week was mostly small finishes for Good Mews, since they need all the help they can get renovating their new building!
  • Used this Week: 8 yards
    • 4 yards for the7 cat nap mats (each is half a yard, plus another half a yard for binding for all seven)
    • 4 yards for fleece cat bed covers
  • Used year to Date: 168.75 yard
  • Added this Week: 2 yards 
    • I bought 2 yards of remnant fleece to make the cat bed covers.  I had two yards in stash, but needed more.
  • Added Year to Date: 116.5 yards
  • Net Used for 2012: 52.25 yards
    • YTD Used for Charity: 57 yards (34% of total used)

Cat Nap Mats: FINISHED!

Finished Projects

Thanks to the listeners to who donated fabric for these (and my mom, who should recognize the one at the top)! I’ll be taking these 7 to Good Mews to sell in their merchandise shop, or to use as prizes for fundraising events.

Each one is about the size of a fat quarter, and is great practice for different FMQ patterns!

HtbaS - Episode 75

I talk about cat toys, nap mats, Saturday Sampler blocks, and piecing together the “woven” twin size quilt top.

Here is the quilt my mom and sister found for me at their community yard sale:

Tiny pieces! And in this close-up shot you can see the sun fading:

Here’s the photo tutorial on making knotted cat toys:
Step 1 - make “fringe” on two ends of the piece of fleece. I recommend 6×10 to 12″. I ended up cutting off 2 inches from the top of this piece:

Step 2: Catnip!

Step 3: Roll it up.

Step 4: Tie it in a knot:

Zoom is a fan. The cat toys we made are in that plastic bag - the box is full of the 4 fleece covered scrap beds.

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Sunday Night Stash:The One With The Pantload of Quilts

Sunday Stash
This is the best kind of week - when you finish projects from your stash! Some of this week’s quilt finishes might go into the charity column if they end up donated to Project Linus.
  • Used this Week: 25 yards
    • 1.5 yards for the Terrain Tessellations Tablerunner
    • 3 yards for Lindy
    • 4 yards for Betsy
    • 14.5 yards for Secret Gardens 1 and 2 and pillowcases
    • 2 yards for 2 pillowcases for ConKerr Cancer
  • Used year to Date: 160.75 yard
  • Added this Week: 0 yards
  • Added Year to Date: 114.5 yards
  • Net Used for 2012: 46.25 yards
    • YTD Used for Charity: 49 yards (30% of total used)