pattern purchasing tips

Sale alert!
JoAnn's Fabrics has McCalls patterns for only $1.29.
That's right.  One dollar and twenty-nine cents!!!

When patterns are this cheap, I can buy two (or three, or four...) of the same one and then not have to worry about saving cutting lines when I want to make more than one size. Yay!

With nearly all patterns, you cannot judge the possibilities by the cover -  which is why I posted a snippet of the back of the pattern.

My advice is to use the picture on the pattern front to see if you like the garment fit, but use the drawing on the pattern back to see if you like the garment style.  If you try to make your decision on whether or not to buy a pattern based on the fabrics the pattern makers chose, you will most likely leave the store missing tufts of hair empty handed! 

I've decided not to make the ruffles as wide as shown (too bulky),  I will definitely put sleeves on the girls dress/romper, and I won't be making the boys romper at all (funky fit). But the final green light for purchasing this pattern were the back buttons.  Zipper closures on children's clothing are bulky and scratchy, and I don't understand using them as a back closure AT ALL.  Have you ever seen a zipper on the back of a Janie and Jack outfit?  Point proven.

P.S.  I know that we're in winter, but wouldn't the dress be cute in pinwale corduroy with a long sleeved t-shirt behind it? The romper will just have to wait until spring!

whirligig quilt

The Santa Ana's are blowing today....which means I'm sneezing.
But that's not my point.
Now that we have these warm winds stirring things up a little, it's the perfect day to blog about this quilt.  See the pinwheels?  Can you imagine them happily spinning? That's why I chose to have air currents stitched on this quilt .... okay, it's a pattern called wandering spiral, not air currents .... but it looks like air currents, doesn't it?  Maybe I'll name this quilt "Ode to Santa Ana"!

I love the color of red I found for the binding.  It's actually more of a scarlet red color - and a little less bright than it photographed .  So hard to describe but perfect just the same.  The blue fabric is a Kona solid.  The print fabric is Flea Market Fancy by Denyse Schmidt (yes, her name appears in my blog once again!) .

FYI:  If you see me post a picture of a rolled quilt, it's a sure sign that it's going to take a trip somewhere....

The pattern is called Intersection by Sweetwater.  And although I do like the quilting design used on the pattern sample, I wanted something denser so that would crinkle a little more after washing.

 

If you are a certain someone reading this post, it's now October.  That means a little something is going to be arriving in your mailbox soon.   Perfect timing now that you've had your first snow!

a gently stated quilt

I'm inexplicably drawn to a certain style of patchwork that is found in Japanese craft books and magazines.  It's an understated look - low contrast, usually with delicate fabrics. When I saw this line of fabric, Woodland Trails by Riley Blake, I decided to try my own version of that style with this quilt.

I did have to add a couple of other fabrics to the 3 charm packs I had purchased - I didn't realize that Riley Blake doesn't put as many squares in a charm pack as Moda does. But now I know to pay attention to that little number on the back of the package!

The pattern is called Smitten by Rachel Griffith.  It's pictured with a white background, but wanting my background to blend more with the blocks for the look I was after, I chose beige with white dots instead.

I love the strip layers around the edge of the quilt.  These are not part of the line and I can't remember now who manufactures them.  They are tiny checks that read as a solid unless you're looking closely.  The backing fabric is one of Denyse Schmidt's lovelies and was purchased at JoAnn's.  I chose leaves as the quilting pattern to complement the outdoorsy, animal fabrics.

When our family went on vacation to Yosemite this past August, I took this quilt along to sew on the binding while we drove.  Once I finished it, my little grandson used it to lay on to watch Stuart Little (a movie he simply calls "mouse").
I think it's a sweet quilt and quite love it.

It's a match!

I've had my eye on this sewing project for quite a while and last night finally got to stitching it. Truth be told, I needed something to work on to distract me while I watched/listened to the presidential debates.  They soooo stress me out.  Because I want my guy to do well, I'm on pins and needles until it's over.

This project is from The Purl Bee and is titled Emily's Memory Game.
Since the fabric squares are 2 1/2", it is a perfect project for those who have leftover
... quilting word alert ...
jelly rolls strips.

I only made half of the recommended squares because I didn't have enough of the white wool on hand to make more.  Fortunately, today I found an etsy seller who can enhance my depleted supply.

One change I made to the pattern was to use iron-on adhesive between the top and bottom squares so that they wouldn't try to slide around while sewing them together.  Another change was to zigzag through all of the layers instead of just the top two. And finally, an obvious change was that I used blue as the backing instead of white.  Not sure I like the stitches showing on the blue; but I knew if I'd used white as the pattern suggested, the squares wouldn't be munchkin-hand friendly.

I had in my crafting stash the perfect box to store the game in (probably either from Hobby Lobby or Michael's).  See, Honey. I do eventually put this stuff to use!
I simply washed the box in blue acrylic paint and sealed it with Mod Podge.  The decorative paper was modged to the bottom so that it was less likely to be peeled up by those little prying hands that we all know will attempt to get to that bee!

I think I'm drawn to memory games (see this post) because when I was young, my mother would play Concentration with me over and over and over again. We'd take turns laying out the 52 playing cards on the living room floor and chat while we tried to memorize the location of the face-down cards.  I remember winning a lot of those matches.  Having been a mother to young children myself, I now know why.  *wink*

Here's my finished Halloween wall hanging........displayed on the entry dresser.
I still haven't figured out the best way to get these things onto the wall!!
(P.S. Love that binding!)

vintage Halloween

What I hope to accomplish today is quilting this Halloween wall hanging.  We all know that October will be over in about 10 minutes! And yes, I've procrastinated.
The darling kitty and pumpkin images are vintage card designs printed onto fabric. The website that sells them also offers the wall hanging pattern for free (and we love free)!  You can find this pattern, and others, here.

If someone didn't want to pay the $ for the images, I think just appliqueing some Halloween designs would work well... but then I've never appliqued, so proceed with caution!
Here is where I found some free designs - this collage page being my favorite.

The fabric I'll use for my binding has a bright green background with black spider webs.  Creepy cute!

Lil' Dude done

I wanted to post some pictures of a quilt I made last year but had only blogged a picture of the quilt top.  It is one of my favorites and one of my firsts.

The fabrics were mostly ones I had on hand.  A couple of the background beige fabrics a sweet friend shared with me.  It's been used for a year and is getting that snuggly feeling that a good quilt should have....especially one intended for a little buckaroo.

The free pattern is Fredericksburg by Karen Witt and found here.
Finished size is 37x37.

Previous post on this quilt

quilting time

off-beat practicality

While at quilting class a few weeks ago, I spied an interesting color of green fabric on sale.  I snatched it up and off I went in search of something ... funky ... to coordinate with it.  Upstairs I discovered a fabric with piggy banks on it.  **Piggy banks!!!**
When I came downstairs with my duo, my quilting teacher's eyebrow raised ever so subtly.  Even though not a word was uttered,  I could tell that I might be out on a limb.  I decided the success of my quest depended on finding just one more fabric.  Something somewhat serious that said, "Don't worry.  I know what I'm doing."  And black with greyed white dots spoke those very words to me.

At that moment, I knew what I was making.
I don't want to call them "hot pads" or "pot holders".  Far too functional.  So I'll be Shakespearean and make up my own word like ... warmies.  Let's try it.
"Hey, Honey.  Can you grab me the warmies?"
Hmmmm.
This is going to take a little more thought.  Any ideas?

Sorry about the peek-a-boo element to the photos.  I plan on writing a pattern for all four and will show the other two when I do.  Hopefully I can figure out how to link a pdf file to my blog before we all ring in the new year.  My goal is to make some for all of my family members as Christmas presents this year (if you are a family member reading this, sorry I didn't issue a spoiler alert!).

FYI:  The inside batting is Insul-Bright, and the finished size for all four is 9.5 inches.  I didn't put a little loop in the corner so that they would look better if used on the table underneath a hot dish.
The set quilted with vertical lines is simply stitched the width of my walking foot.  The other set was quilted with outline stitches.

out on a whim

We are going to time travel a little ... back to Mother's Day to be exact.
Here's my tale:
I wanted to make a quilt/throw for my mom for Mother's Day.  So like a responsible first born daughter,  I started two months in advance of the holiday to make sure that it would be finished in time.  And it was.  And I didn't like it.
Not. at. all.
So Plan B was set into motion.  Buy Mom a temporary Mother's Day gift, start anew on the quilt concept, and send her the replacement ASAP.  Thankfully, once it was finished I loved it....which then made me hesitate to mail it.  And as much as I respect my friends at the local post office, I just didn't want to put my hard earned quilt into a box, wave it good-bye, and cross my fingers (No, I've never lost a quilt; but I have spent a little time perusing lostquilt.com and have nearly wept over what has been lost!).
So here it is mid-October and this quilt is finally going to meet its rightful owner.  Mom and her husband are going to be here in two days, and I'll be able to give her her gift as well as a humble apology.
But she won't judge me ... because she's my mom. And so very wonderful.

The floral block fabric is from the line Gypsy Caravan by Amy Butler.
The pattern is "On a Whim" by Thimble Blossoms.

The background fabric is something I found at a quilt shop in Parker, Colorado which you just can't find anymore (I've tried).  The backing fabric is from JoAnn's and still available.

The quilting pattern is called "feather meander" and was machine stitched by J'Adore Quilting.  I wanted to use a traditional-ish design to tone down the modern-ish prints.

The quilt is a little large for a lap quilt, but my mom's husband does have long legs - so maybe that's not a bad thing!

My husband helped me find the binding fabric (I bought three before I found the right one).  He is a wonderful, patient sounding board.

Happy snuggling, Mom!

These are a couple of pictures I took of the wall quilt I made for my dad to take as a thank you gift when I went out to visit.  As soon as he gets it hung on his wall (and I sure wish I had known how to make that easier for him), I'll have him send a photo of it for me to post.  We were just too darn busy running around to get it done while I was there visiting!

ten little things quilt

This innocent looking layer cake haunts me no more.  It had been in one of my fabric drawers for months without any hope of release.  My struggle with it had been in trying to find a pattern that made good use of the many bold colored fabric squares.  Well, I fret no more because today I finished making the stymieing stack into a quilt top.
This pattern was the perfect solution....and free!  It is offered by Moda and titled "Jungle Path".

This quilt is a grandma's house quilt because it will live here, although I did make it with my little grandson in mind.  The fabric line has lots of cars and trucks, Evan's toy of choice.  And who-who could resist those adorable owl faces?

I made the quilt a little larger than the pattern (5x6 blocks instead of 4x4) simply because I had the fabric in the layer cake to do so.   As for the instructions, the cutting was simple and therefore quick; and the assembly was straightforward.  This easy quilt is my kind of quilt to make for a toddler  - something that can be mauled a little without Grandma tearing up.

The stash buster background fabric I used has a greenish grunge look which adds an interesting texture to the white.

For the quilt back, I'm definitely walking on the wild side! The navy color photographed more black than it really is, so the overall effect isn't as harsh as it looks here. 

I'm not sure how I'm going to have it quilted, but I do enjoy thinking of the possibilities!