Farmer's Daughter pattern

I enjoy watching Quilt in a Day with Eleanor Burns on Friday mornings on KET.  After having been grading papers for a couple hours, it's a nice 30-minute break.  Plus, she is so upbeat in her demonstrations and story telling!

Today, as she demonstrated the "Farmer's Daughter" pattern a light bulb went off in my head.  This is the pattern that I will use to create a pink themed block for an October challenge at my local quilt shop!    It just so happens that I purchased three coordinating fat quarters yesterday that I wanted to use for the block, and here is my chance.

Materials:

1 pink fat quarter

1 black fat quarter

1 white fat quarter

Cuts:

*Pink:

4-2 1/2" squares

2-2 1/2" x 10 1/2"

2-2 1/2" x 15"

*Black:

8-2 1/2" squares

*White:

5-2 1/2" squares

4-2 1/2" x 6 1/2"

1.  Using 1 white rectangle with 2 black squares, create 4 wide flying geese.

2.  Lay out the block as shown in the picture.

3.  Sew the middle 9-square.

4.  Sew the top and bottom flying geese to the middle.

5.  Sew the border squares to the vertical flying geese.

6.  Sew those two sides to the rest of the block.

7.  Sew the 2 shorter pink strips to the sides.

8.  Sew the 2 longer pink strips to the top and bottom.

9.  Press and trim to desired size 

This will eventually be squared up to 12" but I wanted to wait to make sure the guidelines didn't change between now and October.

Thanks, Eleanor Burns for the inspiration!

BOM 2012 - June & August

Here are the latest 4 blocks that I have learned to make through my Craftsy.com class with Amy Gibson.  Yes, I know that I have skipped July, but hang tight, I will tackle it next.  I want to get a Dresden template to use to make those blocks a little more precise than me cutting out a bunch of cardboard templates.

The June blocks are the Modern 9-patch theme that consists of the Greek Cross Block and the Octagon Block.  Both were fairly simple and quick to make, and I figured out that chain piecing the rows is ok and maybe even speeds up the sewing process a little.

The August theme is Stars so for this month's lesson I learned to make the Ohio Star and the Double Block Star.  There were a lot of small fabric pieces for these blocks but learning how to make Flying Geese using the corner-to-corner method was pretty cool!  Ok, I'll admit, making the 1/4 square triangles for the Ohio Star was pretty cool too!  

I peeked at September's theme...curves!  Oooohhhh...lah...lah...

Block of the Month-May 2012

Modern Log Cabin & Wonky 5-sided Cabin

Block of the Month-April 2012

I improvised on these two blocks a little bit from the actual blocks from the course.  By a fluke, I created "Ring Around the Hexi" and then in honor of the red/white/black quilt that I am making for my University of Louisville fan-parents, I give you "L-yes!"

Block of the Month March 2012

String Block and Broken Spider Web Block

These were not super difficult, just a little time consuming.  At first I really didn't like the randomness of the strips stitched together; I'm more of a pattern kinda kid.  But after seeing it for several days lying in the bin with the other blocks waiting for April-December to join them, the mis-match of fabric patterns and sizes have started to grow on me.  Although I'm not anywhere closer to creating a full quilt of scraps than I was before I started on the March blocks.

Addy's Memory Quilt

I am super excited about this project!  The end result will be a memory quilt for my niece Addison designed with clothes and blankets from when she was a baby.  She just turned five and getting ready to start kindergarten.  I think this is a great time to do a little closet cleaning but also reminisce on her life and adventures up to this major milestone.  My goal for this blog, however, is to keep a running record of the steps to completion.

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THE QUILT TOP
First, my sister-in-law collected the keepsakes that she wanted to incorporate into the quilt.  I really predicted all pink, but was pleasantly surprised to see some blues and yellows as well.  The items consisted of onesies, pj's, overalls, burp cloths, dresses, and blue jeans.  After sorting through the bag of goodies (and with a little encouragement from my SIL to use the corduroy and jean materials), I decided to use all of the pieces except for an adorable white knitted sweater.  It was just too precious to cut up!

~stack of goodies~

Second, I cut the pieces using a 6.5" square ruler to create my quilt blocks.  I absolutely love the square templates!  They make cutting and squaring up for a project like this a breeze.  Ok, here's my honest moment...I was scared to death to start cutting!  Baby clothes are just so cute, but I told myself that this is a MEMORY quilt and Addison will get more use from it as a collection of memories that she and her friends/family can discuss then just having a bag of clothes stored in the closet.  For the clothes that were smaller than 6.5", I attached them to a piece of coordinating material as the background block and created a 3-D effect.

~25 squares ready for borders~

Third, I used a basic white border around the blocks to help them stand out rather than get washed up in the border which is a light pink with butterflies cotton fabric.  After getting the borders sewn, I then stitched the individual blocks together to create one of the rows.  The white border was 1.5" wide and the pink border was 2.5" wide.

~blocks with borders

~a finished row~

Fourth, one row leads into many more rows!  All rows then get stitched together and the top and bottom pink borders attached.  The quilt top is almost complete!

~pink border complete~

Oops....didn't get a picture of this stage!

Fifth, I used an adorable teal flower pattern with hints of white, pink, and lime green as the outside border for the entire quilt top.  The border was 4" wide.

~quilt top complete~

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THE BACKING, QUILTING, AND BINDING

Tah-Dah!!!  All finished!  For the backing I used a warm and natural material that was so much easier to quilt than the poly-fil that I had been using.  (Learn something new everyday, right?). The back and binding fabric was turquoise with white vines scattered all over that complemented the front.  I used a simple hill/valley quilting technique on the pink borders to give all the pieces stability.  You can see the design on the back photo better than the front photo.  So after almost 3 months working on this project, my overall impression is...

Love it!

Hot Dots Baby Quilt

I started a baby quilt project using the Asterisk Block pattern that I learned about in the Block of the Month class.  To choose the fabric, I didn't want to use traditional "baby" designs, so when I saw the hot pink and orange with white dots, I knew that was what I wanted to go with the white asterisk in the foreground.  Thankfully there was also a blue with the same pattern to give the quilt a grouping of three, but also add a little masculinity to the design.  The plan to finish is to keep it simple and clean by using a white fabric on the back and binding.  This was a very easy design that didn't require a lot of time or materials.  I think it turned out cute!

Block of the Month 2012 Feb.

Balkan Puzzle Block & Chunky Chevron Block

Scott's quilt...FINISHED!

The day has finally arrived!  No, it's not Christmas, summer vacation, or my birthday.  It's the day I can finally reveal the completion of Scott's t-shirt quilt!!!

I tried my luck at free-motion quilting for the first time.  It wasn't overly difficult, but just a little tricky getting to specific points since it was so big.  The finished piece was approximately 80" x 85".  The backing was orange with a 5" horizontal stripe in the middle of the blue border fabric used on the top.  The binding was also orange and required 5-2 1/2 x WOF strips attached to the back.  To add a little more love to the quilt since this project was for my hubby, I hand-stitched the binding to the front using a blind-stitch.  That also gave me time to spend with the hubby by sewing in the living room while he watched the Reds play ball instead of being stuck in the craft room for several hours.

Even though this first major quilting project required a lot of time, I loved working on it! The brainstorming, planning, mathematical calculating, finishing, and of course spending time with my crafting buddy Smokey definitely created a positive feeling on this project and I can't wait to work on another t-shirt quilt.  Now Scott can snuggle up with his past softball and volleyball memories...and hopefully think about me as the quilt designer!

Here it is!

Block of the Month 2012 quilt

I'm a year late with this project....but I wasn't into quilting last year.  :). Thanks to Craftsy.com for this free online class with Amy Gibson to learn new pattern techniques.  At the end of the class, I will have a completely finished scrappy quilt and a lot of new knowledge!

Here is a picture of the January blocks:  Asterisk Block & Wonky Pound Sign Block.

Scott's quilt update

Here is the latest progress on Scott's t-shirt quilt!  I have 2 more columns to attach, plus the rest of the borders and then the quilt top should be finished.  The overall height is about 7 feet tall!   I'm still a little indecisive on how to create the back.  The lazy, just get-it-done side of me says to get enough orange material to cover and just make it solid.  But the I'm enjoying this project side says do something a little more elaborate, if nothing else use more than one color on the back.  The final decision may be determined by how much material I have left over and what can be done with it.  Stay tuned...

Sunglasses Hut

Honestly, this is a ridiculous craft to have to make, but if it helps with organization then I'll suck it up and deal with it.  The Sunglasses Hut is a project that I made for my HUSBAND and all of HIS pairs of sunglasses and safety goggles!  That's right...it's not even for me!  But hey, like I said earlier, if it will keep the glasses in one location rather than being scattered all over the house sitting on various tables and stuffed in random drawers, then ok.  To be frank, I don't think this 24x36 inch frame is large enough to house them all, but that will be when I have to say, enough is enough and the ones that don't fit have to go.  Extreme Hoarding is not a show that I am interested in having filmed at my house.

To make the Hut I just added some 12x12 scrapbook paper onto the cardboard that came with the frame for some added color.  Then I cut 21/2" strips from my fabric stash, folded them in half and glued the ends to the back of the frame.  Two of the strips had designs as I was playing with some of the features of my sewing machine.  The third I just left blank, not really sure why.  I separated the cardboard from the fabric with the plexi-glass that came with the frame.  It actually worked out well because the glass helps hold the ear pieces in place so the fabric isn't being pulled down as much as I was afraid would happen.

I'm not sure where this will hang.  I might paint the frame itself so that it blends into its environment but that wasn't a necessity today.  The extra space at the bottom might be good for small baskets with suction cups or even hooks to hang ties or belts.  I'll let the hubby make that call, though!

Sewing Machine Cover

I love the charm packs and wanted to find a project that I could incorporate them but not take a long time to complete.  The sewing machine cover via sew delicious was perfect!  My craft room is decorated in lime and hot pink so I found a charm pack to accessorize those colors with a little turquoise and red to add some flair.  After laying out the pattern, the next steps were to stitch the top and quilt the batting and the back to it.  Adding the side flaps were a little tricky but I figured them out. The last step was to add a white binding tape around the bottom and viola!  A little added color to my room and a functional cover to help reduce the amount of dust getting into my sewing machine...a win, win!  This was a fun and basic sewing project that gave me some more practice sewing straight lines and quilting the layers and in all in only took a few hours on about four different afternoons to complete.  (Probably longer than expected, but the weather was nice outside so I chose not to stay inside the whole time.)

The overall piece ended up being a couple inches too short so adding a cute border between the blocks and binding would have probably been a good decision.  Oh, and I tried my hand at hand stitching the binding to the front of the cover.  I had it finished before the Reds had ended their ballgame that I was watching with my husband on tv...and I think it turned out great!

Tobacco Stick Star

My father-in-law made and then gave us a star made out of tobacco sticks a couple years ago.  It was really too big for inside the house so I thought about decorating it somehow and then hanging it on the outside of the shed.  That was 2 years ago, mind you!  

This year I realized that I had accumulated enough red, white, and blue decor for inside so it just made sense to paint the star to match outside on the deck.  Plus, there might be a cookout at our house on the 4th, so that will add a little color to the brown hues on the deck.

Scott's quilt

Today I made some progress on the t-shirt quilt that I am creating for my husband out of some old softball t-shirts.  I finished the borders and corners of two of the five columns but left the top off for now.  I am thinking about just making one long continuous piece for that instead of individuals.  That seemed to be so much easier and matched up at the corners better than adding a border to each shirt  like I unfortunately did the other day.

A new best friend...

Currently, I am spending a lot of time with my new best friend....the seam ripper!!!  Such a time killer and quilting buzz kill, but at least I'm having a chance to learn from my mistakes so hopefully in the future the time spent seam ripping will be less.