Little Finishes

Joining in on SewJo Saturday, today.

The last couple weeks have been about little finishes.

I finished quilting a quilt for a friend (which I can't post about just yet) and I finished piecing and binding the Quilt of Valor donation quilt made by the Fredericksburg Modern Quilt Guild.  Another member will be binding it so it's off to her next week.

Our parameters were blocks that were red white and blue and 12" finished. Any style.  Look at the variations of style and yet they play so nicely together.  I can't wait to see what it looks like with the binding on it.

Also, I was asked (after volunteering my services for whatever might be needed) if I could make 5 small giveaway gifts for The Stash Bash in GA at the end of this month.  I went to this last year and had a great time sitting and sewing with old and new friends. I can't wait to see Chris Warnick (Frecklemama) again and everyone else.  Seriously. It's a weekend where food is prepped for you and a room is always open for sewing. Top it off by being on a beautiful piece of property and it's a wonderfully relaxing. I've got 4 out of 5 prizes finished, so far. I'm not sure what to make for the 5th. Maybe a cellphone wallet. I don't know... still thinking.

Prize 1 - zippered pouch

Prize 2 - 12" mini

Prize 3 - Thread catcher and tool holder

Prize 4- Thread catcher and tool holder

Last little finish, a bunch of headbands. I  keep buying headbands in hopes I can find ones that don't slip off during exercise with no success. So, I tried making one.

It worked, didn't slip once while exercising. I've made several more and will send them to my sisters and a friend to test and see if they work for them as well. Regardless of their review, they work for me and a couple of these extra ones will be in my drawer. :-)

If you want to make your own, you need 1 piece of fabric 4"x18" and 1 piece of 1"x4" elastic.
- fold in half lengthwise and sew long side together
- turn right side out and tuck the short, raw edges inside the tube about 1/4"
- press the whole thing
- position the elastic about 1/4" inside a short end and then sew the short end closed going over it about 3 times.
- repeat on the other side and it is complete

Cheers!
Beck

Fabric Boxes

This past week I had a sew day at the house, in part, because I had a quilty friend stop by and stay with me while she was in town.  I wanted to give a little gift to those who were able to stop by (it was selfish, really, I participated in a Kokka 10" square swap a couple years ago but I had no idea what to do with the fabric and I wanted to use it up).

I had made a fabric box a while back using this tutorial from Seaside Stitches.  I had chosen the 10" square fabric size and the box is a great size for me to hold sewn leaders & enders as I complete them and I realized that this would be a great use of the fabrics and a cute gift.  It would be a great thread catcher.

With the aid of Karie (my guest) of Two Kwik Quilters (IG: @karitkq), I sewed up several boxes with a slight variation. I made them taller, which allows them to act as a tool holder. The tutorial calls for a diagonal to be sewn using a 2" measurement for a square box but if you use a 2.5" measurement, you will get the taller box.

I also want to share a quick weekend quilt top finish. Karie gifted me with her pattern Kwik Trio of Stars and we had fun pulling fabric for the project her last night here.  After she left, it only took me a few hours to stitch this up.  I left off one additional white border (personal preference for the finished look, and no other reason). I plan to donate this to a quilt drive held in the Spring (more on that another day). Isn't this darling?

I'm in love with these little boxes and the quilt top so I am sharing them with the very new "SewJo Saturday" linky party being held by Kim on over at My Go-Go Life.  Take a look at all the great and fun projects linked up over there!

Cheers!
Beck

Stitch that Stash Bee block

For my bee block, I am turning to 13 Spools Improv Herringbone Tutorial.  I love the look of this block and would like a colorful quilt that is sort of tonal but not necessarily all solids.

In progress...

To my bee-olleagues, I used Kona White as the strip fabric.  As for color, please choose whichever you would like. The nature of the block has light and dark contrast so as long as the block is in the same color family and doesn't have a noticeable of contrasting color in the individual fabrics, I will love it.

Did  that make sense? I guess I'm saying it doesn't need to be tone-on-tone, but if you are doing a green block and your green fabric has bright red stars, I would prefer that not be used. However, if your green has something like tiny yellow stars, it might be okay.  In short, the fabric should clearly "read" the color, I think. -sigh- I don't know if that makes any more sense but there you have it.

Okay, so this block takes a little time because of all the pieces. Once done, it is 11.5" unfinished. If you can do two blocks, that would be great but if one is all you have in you, I am completely good with that. I leave it up to you and whatever you choose/have time for. :)

I can't wait to see what you ladies come up with!

Cheers!
Beck

The "Learning to Love Batiks" Quilt

When I attended The Stash Bash in 2013, I thought about purchasing a jelly roll of batiks. I think, at the time, I was trying to challenge myself to come up with a quilt that focused on the batiks (instead of using them as blenders) even though I was less than enthusiastic about them.  Of course, when you are at a  retreat with wonderfully supportive quilters, who also happen to be wonderfully sarcastic and eager to encourage someone to be crazy, that thought developed into an actual purchase.

So, I came home and auditions fabrics to go with the bright, rainbow batiks and I auditioned patterns until I finally came up with what I thought would work. I ended up using this Bold and Beautiful print by Michele D'Amore for Benartex I had in my stash, which was perfect, and the "Sparkler" quilt pattern by Freshly Pieced. 

I really like how the top turned out.  I think the use of a print instead of a solid with the batiks makes it interesting and attractive.

 

I decided the quilting needed to mirror the fabric designs so I created meandering and twining leaves with a loose flower in certain blocks. I felt like it kept the design a little whimsical and feeling like Spring somehow.

In keeping with the "spring" feel, I used one layer of Warm and Natural 80/20 batting and a solid pink fabric as the backing of the quilt and hand sewed a multi-color dot fabric on for the binding. 

Since it measures approximately 56.5" square, it is a nice, light weight quilt that is perfect for draping over your legs when sitting on the porch on a spring or summer evening. I have already washed it (I wanted to be sure there wasn't any color bleed from the batiks) for these pictures and I'm kinda glad I did. The crinkly look suits it.

So, do I now love batiks? No. Do I hate them? No. I think they are like any other fabric. There are good and bad prints that can be used for beautiful or questionable creations. It's all a matter of personal taste.  It is unlikely I will purchase more again anytime soon, though. That's just me.

Oh, and I think I'm renaming this quilt "Spring" and I have decided to sell it. Now to figure out how to do that. :)

Cheers!

Beck

Heart Block Tutorial

Okay, this may be more like a loose guideline rather than a tutorial.  I originally created this block when I was at the Stash Bash last April.  Sharon (A Prairie Sunrise) was unable to come to the retreat due to being late in her pregnancy and so a baby quilt was planned and block contributions made using the Ruby fabric line.  Since there were only scraps to work with but plenty of white, I wanted to figure out a unique block with big impact.  I opted for the slightly off center heart and I love the way it looks.  It’s super sweet to see it in the full quilt sent off to Sharon and her beautiful girl, Ruby Verna.  The ladies who contributed the rest of the blocks knocked it out of the park, too, don’t you think? See the quilt details here from Chris (Freckle Mama).

So, here we go.  Finished block (without borders) comes out to 12.5” (your choice)

Choose your background fabric and the fabric for your heart (2 colors).  Roughly you can an FQ for your background will be more than enough and you can use 2 jelly roll strips for the colors. 

From your background cut:

1, 2” x 13” strip

1, 3 ½” x 13” strip

2, 6 ½” x 1 ½” strip

1, 5 ½” x 1 ½” strip

1, 5” x 1 ½” strip

4, 4 ½” x 1 ½” strip

1, 4” x 1 ½” strip

2, 3” x 1 ½” strip

4, 2 ½” x 1 ½” strip

4, 2” x 1 ½” strip

4, 3 ½” x 1 ½” strip

14, 1 7/8” squares

From EACH color cut:

7, 1 7/8” squares

2, 1 ½” squares

Take 1 white 1 7/8” square and put it right sides together with 1 color 1 7/8”.  On the back of the color square, draw a diagonal line from corner to corner.  Take to the sewing machine and sew 1/4” away from the line on both sides of the line. Cut on the diagonal line. Press open and trim wings. Repeat for all the white and color squares creating 28 half square triangle (HST) blocks. (see all steps here)

Lay out your block in accordance with the diagram below.

You can play with the HST  layouts if you want. The picture above is what I went with but the ones below are alternative ideas.  You can see, in the last photo, an alternating option I used for the original block.

Sew the blocks together, pressing seams open to avoid bulk then sew the rows together.

Trim to 12 ½” or 12 ¼” and voila! Your block is done.

I decided to make this into a pillow cover so I added 2 borders.  At this point, I basted the block to batting using a basting spray and quilted it. Then, I used Sew Mama Sew’s Tutorial to create a cover for an 18” pillow form.

Check out the quilting! Did this on my domestic and it's pretty even for a first time. I've never been able to and always had to put these on the frame but now I feel good about small projects getting done on the domestic, too.  Yay for small accomplishments.

(she really wants to lay on the pillow)


Cheers!
Beck