Tuesday, February 23, 2021

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

Friday, February 12, 2021

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

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

Thursday, February 4, 2021

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