Sewing goodies other than masks again (thought not done with masks!)

I guess it's a good sign that mask sales are down! (Can't wait for the vaccine to be injected into my arm!). I did, however, donate 35 masks to a group of educators yesterday. I've been donating masks all along and this donation made me feel particularly proud. The teachers are still teaching in the classroom, even during the pandemic. We need to be safe and keep others safe. Are you sewing masks? 

Here's what I'm sewing these days:

My daughter has been asking for a stocking for her dog, who will be celebrating her first Christmas together this year. I drafted a pattern and made a prototype for her. It's a large bone shape on the back and 3/4 of a bone shape on the front. I have to revising to do to the pattern, but not bad for a first effort. I had all the fabrics on hand (the paw fabrics are from my mask making stash) and added the pre-quilted back and red/white stripe ribbon to add some Christmas flare. I like it and can't wait to try more.

I've been working on these particular placemats for a long, long time. I began making them some time ago and ran out of the corn fabric used for strips on the front. When I had some breathing room, I started searching for more of it. I finally found it at Colorado Creations Quilting. They were pretty marvelous to work with and are going to show these off in their newsletter. I sew 2" strips of denim end to end and wrap it into a roll, then it gets used in this kind of project. I love the way the denim colors flow together and add some contrast and upcycling at the same time. 

You can make strip quilted placemats with denim, corn fabric, or whatever you want using this tutorial I wrote way back when - PLACEMAT TUTORIAL

My newest thing is another baby quilt. I decided on a Grandmother's Flower Garden pattern because I wanted it to be hand sewn. I always have a hand sewing project going. It's not easy for me to watch TV without one! I found the rainbow color bandanna fabrics, had the center fabric, and the path that will be going around the flowers is a black bandanna fabric. I want the rainbow colors to stand out and I believe they will.

What are you sewing? I'll keep sewing masks until they're no longer needed. I've just about worn out my 8-1/2" ruler and rotary cutter, not to mention the cutting mat. I'll be glad to retire them all. Let's hope the vaccine does its thing. 

Merry Christmas to you all and as always, keep stitching!

One of the most beautiful updates ever - Anna, Brian, and Catherine's quilt

Any of you who follow me know that I love to make quits for babies. My daughter's bestie, Anna, and her husband, Brian announced they were expecting and I got to work hunting for fabric and coming up with a design. He's into trains and she's into him, so by default, she's into trains too, right? ROYGBV makes for a nice color scheme. I found the train fabric first (had to order more!) and then took that to the fabric store to match up the nontraditional red/orange/yellow/green/blue/violet colors. Babies like bright and contrast, so I tried to keep that in mind.

To refresh your memory, here are the posts from conception to completion:

• Design and first block.
• Coming along.
• Taking shape.
• Done, oh, and let's do a pillow too!

Yesterday, February 20, Anna posted the most beautiful pictures on Facebook featuring Catherine with her quilt and pillow. Cuteness overload! This kind of stuff makes it all worthwhile. And now, here's she is:

I told Anna I had tried to make the pillow as delicious as possible. 

Must have worked!

Look at this beautiful baby. Who cares about the quilt!?!

Thank you Anna, Brian, and Catherine for sharing the pictures with me and for allowing me to share them here. How can you not smile when you see this? 

Anna and Brian quilt, now known as Catherine's quilt!

The quilt is done (May 28 - October 1, 2017). The baby's been born. Now to bring the two together. It's taken time as I've been working on a play and doing some other things, but here's the result and I hope they love it.

This is a 4x5 block log cabin design. The first fabric I chose was the train fabric, a nod to Catherine's father, Brian. I found muted ROYGBV fabrics at Joanns and created the log cabin around a 2" piece of the train fabric. 

I had plenty of the log cabins left when I was done, so decided to create a small pillow to go with the quilt. I fashioned a ruffle out of strips of fabric and there you go!

The back of the quilt, which was made quilt-as-you-go, is train fabric.  

Here's a closeup of the ROYGBV log cabin. I used 2 strips of each color, but all the prints are different. 

I created binding using the strips I had cut for the log cabin itself. I reinforced all the seams in the binding since the pieces are so small and I want it to hold up to as many washings as needed. Everything except the binding was machine stitched. I like to hand stitch the binding on a quilt. 

And the pillow. I added strips to an original log cabin until I had used each of the color designs twice. That made a nice size (about 12") pillow. But it needed a ruffle! I had plenty of strips left from the quilt itself to make a ruffle. For the log cabin side, I used train fabric.....

....and for the train fabric side, I used the ROYGBV strips. I think it looks pretty cute! 

I'll be seeing Anna soon and will deliver the quilt, pillow, and some other goodies in person. I'm excited to pass this along and hope Catherine drags it around the house, gets it dirty, loves it, and who knows what else with it. It's hers now. Welcome to the world Catherine Jenkins!

Anna and Brian quilt, take 3

I finished a row today. I feel pretty good about that! Four rows to go. The nice thing about quilt as you go is that the whole thing is pretty much done when you finish the rows.

I'm running out of train fabric! Thankfully, the person I bought it from on eBay had one more yard and I found a yard from another seller. Doesn't always seem to be that way? I underestimated how much it would take to make the foundation blocks. Thank you, eBay.

I may not finish this quilt before the baby shower (July 1). So, what I think is going to happen is I will take whatever is done to the shower and let Anna unwrap it, then bring it back home to finish it and mail to her when it's done.

More pictures as I get a little further along!

Anna and Brian quilt, take 2

I'm trying to work on this quilt every day so I have it ready for her baby shower on July 1. I'm determined to make it so!

I played with connecting the blocks today (quilt as you go) and I think it's going to look pretty cute.

The train fabric is going to connect the theme and I chose to use a wider sash than the logs in the log cabin. Yup. I think I love it.

I am going to bind the quilt with the ROYGBV fabrics somehow. I haven't figured that out yet. I think binding with the train fabric might be too much.

Anna and Brian's baby quilt

Brian is an engineer, so choosing a train theme was a no brainer. I wanted, though, to make sure the train fabric was suitable for either gender, not that anyone sticks to gender rules anymore! I found some fun train fabric and went to the fabric store to pick ROYGBV pastels.  Here's the first square; they'll all be the same, but with train fabric sashing around all four edges:

A simple log cabin style that will hold up to many washings. I can't wait to work on it some more!

Coming up

We've been redoing the interior of our house, including my sewing room (our formal dining room). I am currently moving my fabric and notions back into the sewing room. Before I put things back, I'm going through every single item and have purchased two sets of shelves and lots of storage bins (clear), and it'll be as organized as all get out when I'm done. I've ended up with a large amount of fabric I'm giving away, and I feel good about passing it along. Within the week, I want to be done getting set up. And then comes my list of sewing:

• Western baby bibs using bandannas for applique decorations, similar to this one I made years ago. Two things have I have in abundance are denim and bandannas. 

• Baby quilt for my daughter's best friend. This is their first child. Her husband is a train engineer. I have everything but the batting cut out for a cute little log cabin quilt.

• Halloween placemats. I have a lot of ideas. Below is a set from the past. I'm not sure I'll duplicate this pattern, but I do have several Jack-o-Lanterns cut out already. (Here's my tutorial for making placemats of your own!)

• Lastly, I want to make Christmas stockings to give away. I have some Hanukkah fabric as well. Who knows? I may make some of them. I also have some dachshund fabric to make bone shaped dog Christmas stockings. 

I've been working on some hand sewing during the transition, but I'm ready to get my hands on my sewing machines now!

What's on your agenda?

Alicia's quilt - from fabric to precious

Alicia is a friend of my daughter's, and therefore, a friend of mine. That's the way it works, right? I made a simple pinwheel quilt for her baby some time ago. He's been born and growing like a weed. Ivan is his name. She posted a picture on Facebook today showing Ivan sleeping on the quilt. This is why we sew. From fabric bits to a peaceful baby sleeping. So beautiful.

This is a cute dog/cat fabric. It was a perfect fit for Alicia. 

A couple of rows and then: 

Yep, that's why we sew. 

Quilt done, time to deliver

It started as an idea. I thought I would make a banging hexagon quilt with red, blue, and hot air balloon fabric. Then I thought I'd work it into a log cabin quilt. Then I decided I liked the balloon hexagons too much not to go with that idea, so I combined them. I ended up doing a combined log cabin pineapple type thing with a hexagon in the center.

The solids are Michael Miller Krystal fabrics, so though they are solid, they're not really solid. There will be less chance of discoloration or problems with use and machine washing.

I did incorporate an intentional mistake You can see it in the second picture, but I won't tell you where it is. The tradition of an intentional mistake supposedly began with Native American weavings as a reminder that we are not perfect. I think it adds to the character of the piece! If I really told the truth, this one was unintentional, but I left it anyway; that makes it intentional, right?

I hope the baby gets years and years of use out of the quilt. It's super bright now, but with love, it will fade a bit and will have stories to tell.

The back is a fun snake fabric. The process was quilt-as-you go. The construction is about 90% machine and 10% hand work. I have changed my habit of using batting and now use receiving blankets/flannel as batting. It makes for a warm, but lighter, quilt. It also assists with machine washing and drying as it doesn't shift and is not bulky.

Overall, I'm really pleased with the way it turned out. Now, what's next?

Another baby quilt! Brian and Joanna

Another nephew's wife is about to give birth. This time, they know it's a boy! I made a quilt for their first baby out of an old quilt from one that dad's mother had made. This time I'm doing something different. Here's a graphic representation. It will be made of 3-1/2" hexagons using Michael Miller's Krystal blue and read, as well as a beautiful hot air balloon fabric. I'll start it as soon as I get home from vacation. I can't wait to get going!