Wednesday, April 30, 2014

Love Entwined Part 5 Completed

I've completed the next part of Love Entwined. I pretty much decided on each flower's fabric as I went along. I don't see that I'm one to get it all planned ahead. 



I am really happy with how it is turning out. It gets more exciting as it goes. 


I

Tuesday, April 29, 2014

Echo Flower Shawl

I love doing lace work and this shawl is my newest.  It also took a little more time, some ripping out and figuring out. In other words, it was a little harder than most, but I made it through.  Some rows are so long that I only did 3-4 rows in an evening.


 I used a Knitpicks Heather wool called Oregon Coast.  I has little bits of color that come through.


 Look close and you can see the flowers.




 Thank you, Marilyn, for posing for me.


Monday, April 28, 2014

Getting Ready for a Picnic

My quilt guild has a picnic every June.  We have a theme to make blocks and bring them.  The blocks will then be used to make quilts to give away to folks that have needs.  This years theme is Log Cabin blocks and Churndash blocks.  So I got a start on them.


 This is another great way to use up some of those scraps.

 Here you can see I was using up greens.  I have way to many.




Friday, April 25, 2014

Juliet's New Birthday Playmat

One thing about being a grandma, I have more time to make things for the grandchildren than I did as a mom.  Then I was really busy. Of course, right now I only have 3.  I don't know what will happen when they all start popping along.  That might be too much.  But these three are getting quite a bit from me.
Juliet turned 2 a couple of days ago and here's what I made her. 
She got a little help from her mom opening it.
 

 It's this little playmat that I've been working on.  Peter Rabbit seems to be checking out the flower garden.


 I put a swing in it that the doll can swing on.


 Both girls are checking it out.


 Kisses


Hugs


 And lets swing her.


Eloise brought hers over the other day.  She's hanging clothes on the clothes line.

 You can see more pics of it here. 
I was going to sell it, but decided to give it to Eloise quite a while back.


 What fun!!!


Thursday, April 24, 2014

Hannah's New Sweater

This pattern is one of my most popular. But this time it is a new color and I love it.  It is so soft and pretty. And the design really stands out.
Hannah really looks sweet in it.


 This is a Sirdar pattern knitted in a soft cotton.


You can find the ravelry link here.

Tuesday, April 22, 2014

Want to Get Rid of Scraps?

This is a good way to get rid of scrap fabric, although it hasn't made much of a dent so far.  But they are also nice gifts to give.

Pot holders

These are a modern touch.



 I did the same pattern again.  It's easy and looks really nice.
Paper Piecing.



 Dresden flowers are some of my favorites. I've done several in the past.  I like the brightness of the colors. After all, every fruit starts with a flower.



Using up some of my more modern fabric.



And this looked a little blah to me so I added the bright binding.
What do you think?


Monday, April 21, 2014

Wholecloth Quilting


I have the wholecloth wedding quilt on my frame and am about halfway done quilting it.  These king size quilts with trapunto are always a challenge for me to quilt.  They take up the whole frame and the extra batting in spots means it doesn't lay flat. I've never figured out how to keep some puckers out, but it does always look good in the end.  This isn't for any competition.


 It is a shadow trapunto and is cream and white.


 These are probably my favorite type of quilts to do.  I might try some smaller ones and see if I can get the problems worked out on them.  I just seem to always do these as wedding gifts and they are always king size.


Friday, April 18, 2014

An Embroidered Quilt

 I have a friend that bought an embroidery machine a few years ago.  At one point, she decided to start a quilt that was a kit to help her practice her embroidery.  I think she decided she wasn't a quilter.  She got many of the squares done (not all of them) and quit on it.  She gave it to me not to long ago and said I could have it and do with it what I wanted. 


It was very easy to put together, and then I had the fun of quilting it.


I was able to practice some curved crosshatching and did lots of feathers.


I had to think of designs for every square and that was a challenge.

The rest of these pictures were taken inside with a flash, which is why the coloring is so changed. But the detail of the quilting does show up






Monday, April 14, 2014

Tutorial- A Square in a Square

As my quilt guild members will be making a quilt using this square, I thought I'd make a tutorial for their benefit.

 You need 2 fabrics for this project.  The center square is out of unbleached muslin.  You will be able to write a message on this square.
Cut it at 4 3/4"


Cut 2-4" squares out of the other fabric. 


 And then cut them in half diagonally one time.  You will have 4 half square triangles.


 Center one of the half square triangles on the square.  Make sure the point is in the center.


 Sew it.  Then do the same thing on the other side.  It should look like this.


 Press the seams toward the outside.


 Now you have 2 sides finished.  Do the same thing with the other 2 sides.
What a busy background I have on my ironing board!


 And here is your completed square at 6 1/2" after trimming.  That wasn't too hard, was it?