A Little of This and a Bit of That...

Interior Backpack Pencil pocket

Whatcha been up to lately?  This was our first week of school, and it was rough getting back into the daily grind.  As a surprise a friend bought my daughter a Disney Fairies backpack.  That made the lifetime warranty one I bought seem a little like chopped liver.  It lacked a secondary pocket so rather than telling DD she couldn't use it for school, I made her one.  The fabric matched perfectly and the piece I had was already cut at the correct width.  I was sewing on the fly and didn't have a zipper so instead it has a Velcro closure which the more I think about it the more I like it.  This is my start and finish for August's New FO project.

River Art Quilt

I've been quilting too.  I put the River Art Quilt on the frame and have started working on it.  As you can see I have made some progress on my tree trunks as well as some of the browned grass in the background.  At this point I'm just finishing this quilt to finish it, as I don't see many quilt guild meetings in my future.  Pay no attention to all those wild threads, I will tame them by the time this quilt is finished.

July's NewFO Finished

As you may have noticed I haven't been a good blog author and am behind in my posts.  So this evening's post is about the Mug Rugs I made for a friend of mine.  I started and finished these all in the same day.  No bidding just sew flip and close.  Then I ran a bit of quilting around the little paw print border.  I wanted to stitch around the dalmatian but DH warned me that would wick moisture through glasses and or mugs so I didn't take it that far.

I made four of them because I had four of the cute little panels.  It was a bit of a scrap tapestry panel someone had given to me and when I saw it buried in my "notions" bin I knew it would make a perfect impromptu gift.  For the backs I used a seashell themed tapestry.  I told her she can use them to go under her doggie bowls or use them as mug rugs, around here we'd just say they are over sized coasters.  She seemed happier with the later idea.

Christmas Quilt-a-long Quilt Finish

Hello there!  Today is my DD's first day back to school.  Right after she boarded the bus I ironed the fabric I'd been planning to use for the binding of the Christmas Quilt A Long Mystery Quilt.  Clearly by now the cat is out of the bag.  But I have a little surprise.  I made mine reversible.   Then I quilted it so that the back was on top.  Now the binding is all attached and I am very happy to claim a finish.  This year has been speeding by so fast I really haven't had the number of finishes that I expect of myself, but we all have our limits so I will be happy with what I have. 

Christmas Quilt-a-long Mystery Quilt Front

It took me a while to sort out how to make this Christmas Tree.  In the end I opted for making it the width and height I needed and allowing the angles to resolve themselves.  This method did create more waste but I believe the results are lovely.  The packages underneath the tree where something I hadn't planned to add but the tree with it's star on top just cried out for gifts.

Christmas Quilt Back

The quilting is stars and loops around the yellow star.  I quilted it to look like a night sky where you have to look just a little to see the additional stars.  While I did stitch in the ditch around the star I did not quilt on the star itself, I wanted it to poof just a little bit. Around the tree on the brown background fabric, I quilted swirls to resemble the air movement and wind blowing around the tree.    The two darker brown strips each have a strip of stars quilted onto them.  The tree was fun to quilt with hanging loops shaped to resemble hanging ornaments.  Sometimes I added little wiggle of a quilting line to change things up, just like you would see on a tree in your home.  The presents, considering I was dreading making them I am very pleased with how easily they went together and were quilted.  For the most part the packages are quilted with metallic gold thread.  Into the packages I stitched my quilt label, so unless you are looking you simply don't see them.

The binding is a red that I had planned for one of the main colors in Sue's mystery side of the quilt, but I felt the red just wanted to conquer the teal.  A shopping trip found new colors that suited the entire quilt beautifully.    Sue suggested  I save the red for the binding.  As I was sewing on the binding thrilled to see how well the brown accepted the red.  It sure gives everything a little pop. 

Have you been up to anything good lately?  

A special Thanks to Tiny for being my model today.

Lonestar Day August!

Happy Lonestar Quilting Day! 

Queen Lone Star Top with DD

I am happy to say that my Lonestar Quilt Top is all together as one nice giant square.   It is a queen at this point though I do not have exact measurements yet, as I'm not quite certain how to square it in my tiny house...  I added the background pieces a week or so ago. 

In one amazingly peaceful morning with my sister I sat down with a some of Bonefish's Press Pot Coffee and came up with these rather extensive quilting plans.  With only a midarm I knew I needed a section by section plan.  I was also concerned that without a detailed images at the very least in my minds eye, I would inadvertently change quilting designs going instead for those that are more comfortable as I moved through the quilt, thereby loosing continuity. 

Quilting Notes for Lone Star

On the blog front things have been very quiet and I have missed stopping by and seeing how everyone is doing, but never fear we have just been enjoying the last strains of summer with DD which I will share with you later.  Have a nice evening.