CORONA

Greetings Blog Friends,

I have a quilt finish to share today.  This quilt is named simply "CORONA".  You might remember my posts about it earlier this year as I completed the blocks each week.

This quilt is a result of a quilt-along, sponsored by The Sewing Basket in Plymouth, Wisconsin.  Owners Sheryl and Elayne  developed a quilt of 20 blocks, each using 20 pieces.  Block patterns were released twice each week beginning March  20 and ending in mid May.  It is a sampler quilt, as each block is different.  I pulled fabrics from my stash...all scraps  and leftovers of previous projects.  I chose a tropical print for my main fabric and coordinating fabrics in typical tropical fabrics in corals, turquoises, light greens, and yellows. 

I chose the name "CORONA" to commemorate the time we spent together, the other members of the group and I, and although we were all sewing independently at home, we were still connected by a common activity.  We shared our progress and asked for advice in the form of posts on Sewing Basket's Facebook page.  

Here is my version, quilted and bound.  I chose a very minimal quilting motif, a straight line cross hatch design.  I chose not to put any kind of outer border on mine as I intend to use it as a wall hanging only.  Finished size is 42" x 52".  Husband Denis is making a quilt holder for me and this quilt will hang in my craft room.

Quite simply....I Love It!

Another serendipitous quilt finish next time.  'Til then...

Mug Rug Meow Style

Greetings Blog Friends,

I have a quick share for you today...another Christmas gift in the bag!  I have a friend I have known for over 50 years, we met in 7th grade.  She loves cats and I've decided to make her this cute little mug rug for Christmas, complete with a cute little cat mug!

Yes, these fabrics do look familiar.  They are the leftovers (and a couple of extras) from the kitty place mat I showed you just a few weeks ago.  See that post here.  It is made using printed "Quilt-As-You-Go" batting from June Tailor, Inc.  I used one mat from the set of Inspirational Mug Mats, only instead of the saying that came with the kit, I substituted the blue cat fabric.  I found the cat mug at an online shop.

I'll add some chocolate candies to the mug and a cat calendar with this, and voila, one more Christmas gift is on the "done" list.  Hooray!

Next time...CORONA!

Quit Your Wine-ing!

 Hi Friends,

As you probably deduced by the title, the project I'm sharing today is wine related.  And you would be right!

I'm off to a scrapbooking retreat again and have made this cute trio of wine totes as my door prize gift donation.  Actually, my gift will be two of these totes (complete with a bottle of wine each) and I will keep one for myself.  I'll add a fancy candy bar, because we all know that you can't have a scrapbooking weekend with friends and wine and not have chocolate!

These were made with five fat quarters from the Vineyard Valley fabric collection by Blank Quilting.  The pattern is one of those "Quilt-As-You-Go" sew by number projects by June Tailor, Inc.  The pattern is printed on a piece of batting, just line up the pieces and sew.  I used my own fabric from the stash for the lining and purchased a complimentary print on dark brown for the binding.  

These were easy to make and turned out pretty cute, too!  I'm giving two so the winner can keep one for herself and use the other as a gift, if she wants to.  These would make a perfect hostess gift.  

A report from the scrapping retreat next post.  'Til then...

A Special Quilt for a Special Grandson

 Greetings Blog Friends,

This week I wanted to share the finished quilt to be gifted to my grandson, Conner.  He is in the final phase of completing his Boy Scout Eagle rank, a high honor indeed.  To commemorate this achievement, I have made him a personalized quilt.  It is intended as a wall quilt for looking at only and my husband Denis is making a quilt hanger for it.

This quilt is made from the Modern Scouting fabric line by Riley Blake Designs.  I've had the fabrics for over a year and took them with me to Florida, where I worked on the quilt top.  Pattern is by Melissa Corry of Happy Quilting.  See her blog here).  I changed up her original pattern a bit so I could add the personalization boxes.  The patterns for the letters were cut using my Cricut machine and were appliqued with a buttonhole stitch.  This is a "no waste" quilt.  I used up many of the leftovers on the back and also in a throw pillow to match.  Nothing was left.   Size 55" x 64".

Quilting was a blend of free motion on the center panel with straight line outlining the letter boxes and on the diagonals.  A hanging sleeve was added to the back.

I think it turned out pretty good.  I hope Conner will think so as well.  It is my hope that it will hang someday in his own home, both as a reminder of his achievement and of the love and respect his grandmother has for him.

A fun little project is in the queue for next time.  'Til then....

Christmas 2019 Is In the Book!

Greetings Blog Friends,

After almost 8 months into 2020, I set aside two days last week to work on completing scrapbook pages from Christmas 2019.  Do you realize that in four very short months, we will be celebrating the Holidays once again!?!

These pages have been finished and waiting for photographs since December of last year.  Papers used are from the Close to My Heart Holly Jolly and Cedar and Pine collections.  Here are some of my favorites:

This set of pages is old and has been waiting a long time to see the light of day...since 2014.  I used a 9 x 9 page protector and insert to highlight the great hand made gift tags from my sister-in-law, Bev.  I felt they deserved to be saved and preserved.  I love them!

So, I went through all the photos from our Christmas gatherings and there is not one picture of me!  LOL I was there, tho...the gift tags prove it! 

I'm back to sewing and am hard at work making masks for my grandchildren -- they need them for when school starts in just a couple of weeks.  I'm also working on some quilt finishes, including that special one for my grandson (postponed one week).  The "Dog Days" are pulling at me again, but I'm trying to resist!  More on that next week.

Until next time...

 

Dining in Style

 Dining in Style -- Doggie and Kitty Style, That is!

Greetings Blog Friends!

This week I'm sharing a fun little project to jazz up meal time for our furry friends.  We all know that our pet friends can be messy eaters at times, so how about a placemat to help with that?  

These are a pair of placemats I made for a Christmas gift for a friend of mine.  Both of these feature the patchwork pattern printed on fusible fleece.  Both designs are offered by June Tailor, Inc.  Fabrics are from my stash, some purchased in the past especially for these projects, some leftovers from other projects.  A fat quarter was used as the backing.  Basically, you just line up your fabric to the printed lines on the fleece and sew!  It is a quilt-as-you-go project and by the time you are done adding your fabrics, just add binding and done!

Here's the doggie dogbone placemat.  The center WOOF paw and bones print was used on the back and for the binding.  I accented the seam lines with zig-zag topstitching.

Here's a fishy placemat for the kitty.  I found this several years ago at Antoinette's Quilt Shop in Stevens Point, WI, along with some fat quarters of cat prints.  They have been waiting in the stash for at least three years.  I added some fabrics of my own.  A fish bones print is on the back and the binding is a tone-on-tone white print.  

Both mats required a bias binding, which really behaves exceptionally well around curves.  Size for both is 10" x 18" at the widest points.  These were easy projects to complete.  And, you know how I love to use up the leftovers...I even had enough to make my friend a pillowcase! One Christmas gift completed!

A special quilt finish for a special young man is up for next week's post.  Till then...

Beating the Dog Days

Greetings Blog Friends,

Well, I've tried to follow the suggestions for taming those dog days of summer blahs.  Here is how I did:

Day One.  I started getting enough sleep at night.  No more late nights staring at the same TV shows I've seen many times before.  I assembled an easy scrapbooking kit of just 4 pages, but I like them, very "summery" indeed.  I also sewed my blocks for this week's jolly bar quilt-along and neutralized the ironing basket, consisting mostly of pillowcases.  

Day Two.  I cleaned out one of my fabric cupboards (the one I use all the time).  I needed to..each time I opened the door, something fell out of the lower shelf.  This closet is organized well for the most part, just the lower shelf was a jumble of loose fabrics, patterns and kits shoved in.  Sooner or later, it had to give...and it did...all over the floor.  So, I sorted and planned some quick finish projects to work on.  The sorted fabrics were sent off to the laundry.  Mission accomplished.

Day Three.  Today was a scrapping day.  I all but finished a very large project involving 16 pages to cut and assemble.  These pages are made from Close to My Heart Happiest Place collection, page designs by Susan Williams (Justcrazyblessed.blogspot.com) Add to that, some laundry (all those fabrics!), and some household chores.

Day Four.  Today was another scrapping day.  I finished the big projects and assembled pages for two kits that I had in the queue.  These pages are from Close to My Heart Stitched Together collection, page designer is Kristy Schoon.  I'm reducing the paper stash little by little.  I also wrote a letter to a friend and cleaned up the scrapping mess.  I'm going to switch gears to sewing and work on some of those quick projects.

Day Five.  Today  is a sewing day!  Two pillowcases and a tea towel to hang in my kitchen.  The fabric for the pillowcases is from the Wisconsin Quilt Shop Hop from 2014.  I originally had thought about a Wisconsin quilt, but have decided on another fabric line for that.  I love the postcard and postmark prints.  Now we can always dream of home wherever we and are our pillows are!

I also made myself a facemask from the postmark print.

Day Six.  Another sewing day!   I started working on a couple of Christmas gifts for a friend of mine.  She has a cat and a dog.  Well, anyone who has a pet knows they can be messy eaters (just like children!).  What better and useful gift that a placemat for each...a fish shape for the cat and a bone for the dog.  More on these next post.  How fun!

Day Seven.  Cleaning Day!  Yes, time to clean up the detritus of everyday life.  I usually work for 4-5 hours, but then am rewarded with a nice clean house, for a short time, at least!  

After a week of doing something every day, I can say that I'm feeling less like a lazy dog and more like myself again.  Onward!

Till next time...