Another Red and White Quilt?

 How many of us have started something new this

year that we hadn't planned on?

Raise your hands!

My hand is up too.

I decided that by signing up for Sentimental Stitches

Heartfelt block of the week, Gay's 

delightful sampler patterns would encourage me to

dig into the pile of French General fabrics. 

The hardest part of a sampler and using stash

 is gathering it all together,

and then making some semblance of order out of it.

Over the years I've collected quite a few

vintage picnic baskets.  They make 

wonderful storage.

We've received two weeks of patterns so far

and I'm all caught up! 

Hahaha

Each block will measure 8" when finished.

Very doable.

I've been wanting to make another red and white quilt.

I think this will be just right,

 very scrappy and fun.

So what have you accidentally started?

****

Thank you everyone who left a comment

last week to be entered in my 

project bag giveaway.

I had originally planned on gifting 3 bags,

but I drew 6 names and those bags

are on there way to 6 stitchers.

Thanks again.

Stay healthy.

Until Next Time-

Kyle

Bag It!

 I changed gears a bit this week.  

You might remember that I have been

doing a little bit of cross stitching.

By following along on several flosstubes

found on YouTube you begin to realize how

obsessed X-stitchers are with their project bags.

One bag for each current project, a bag for

each WIP, seasonal bags, cute bags, small bags

and big bags.

So not wanting to feel left behind out, I have 

spent the week making

vinyl project bags.

13" wide x 11" high

I found an excellent tutorial on

Jenn Craft Idea, Flosstube #23.5

Her directions are easy to follow,

the zipper is quick and painless,

the backing becomes the front binding,

and they are super fun to make.

I like to order my zippers from Zip It 

which you can find on Etsy.  It's a time saver and

an affordable way to get a great assortment of colors

and sizes.

I did change the size of the bag from

Jenn's directions.  I made it an inch wider 

(you would have to change the measurements

of some of the other fabric pieces).

Let me know if you're interested.

I also used a 16" zipper.

Fabric, inside and outsider pieces, vinyl, fusible interfacing, zipper

These vinyl front project bags are additive like M&M's.

I have made about 20!

You'll find these perfect for any stitching project,

not limited to x-stitching.

Here's something else I did. 

 I had a vintage tea towel.

Cute, huh!

So I'd like to share my current obsession with 

3 of you.  Just leave a comment on this post

and you're email if you are a no reply blogger.

I'm sorry to all my friends outside of the US, but due

to current mailing hassles, I have to make this for

the US only, but now that you have a 

tutorial, you all can make lots of these.

Springtime print (Di Ford fabric), Patriotic, Subtle Halloween

I'll randomly pick, 1, 2, and 3

 Drawing closes February 18th.

Thanks as always for stopping by and taking the time

to comment on my posts.  It's nice knowing

there are is a community of stitchers who 

encourage and inspire each other.

Until Next Time-

Kyle

Coming Up With Ideas-Spin the Wheel

 Spin the wheel and 

wait to see where it lands.

That's what I did to begin my

next set of children's donation quilts.

I started with a group of Sandy Gervais Moda fabrics that I've 

 had for 20+ years.

I've used these same fabrics at least

4 times for four different quilts and there is 

still fabric leftover.

Some fabrics just seem to never go away.

I needed to find a pattern that

would fit my donation criteria, easy

yet pretty. 

I spun the wheel and a stack of Missouri Star

Block Magazines came up.  

Another spin and the pattern

the Disappearing Four Patch was the winner.

I started with 5 inch squares

that were sewn into 4 patch blocks

I considered stopping at this point and

simply sewing these blocks together, but

decided the quilt needed to be a bit more interesting.

Next step:

Slicing-

and then:

Rearranging

You can find directions for sewing this on 

the internet in lots of different places.

Resewing the pieces together

The blocks turned out cute.

 In fact, sew 35 blocks together

and you get a very cute quilt.

Disappearing Nine Patch

I decided to make two of these quilts

at the same time so, I made a total of  70 blocks.

Maybe now this fabric will finally disappear!

Some extra thoughts.

1.

I'm not going to add a border to this design so that

I can keep the quilt width under the width of fabric.

That saves having to piece the backing or

having to have a lot of yardage.

Does this quilt need a border?  Maybe, but

it will be fine without it in this case.

2.

I'm trying to keep these donation quilts

under 45" x 54".  The reason being, a 

queen size batt could be divided into 4 sections

that would work for 4 quilts.  The cost

 can really add up.

3.

I'm trying to use up some brands of

thread that aren't my favorite anymore.  I'm not 

using old wooden spool vintage thread,

but thread that might be related to

the twin sisters, Polly and Esther. 

I'm really not a thread snob.

Next I'll be finding backings and getting

the quilts basted ready to machine quilt.

Because I am the quilter, the designs

will be simple.

Hope you've had a good week.

I finally got called up for the Covid vaccine.

Heading in today.

Until Next Time-

Kyle