working on the urban 9-patch

eeked out a little time to work on the urban 9-patch today.......

Clothespin bag

With electricity bills getting higher all the time, I decided it was time for a clothesline.  I really don't like crispy clothes, but I dislike a high power bill even more!  So, since I was getting a new clothesline, I knew I needed a clothespin holder too.  I did some googling and found a design I liked, but modified it to make it my own.  And, used some of my favorite prints in my favorite colors!

 It's kind of hard to tell in the pic maybe - the circle is the opening to the bag.  I love how it makes a flower with the prairie points as the petals :)

Modern siggy block swap!

I have decided to host a modern siggy block swap!  I always miss out, so I can't miss out on this one!  I have opened a Flickr group here.

You can use this pic here on your blog if you want to join:

This is what I've worked out in EQ to what *I* would do with siggy blocks:

Hopefully we can get around 60 participants (I think that's where I will cap it to keep it manageable).  Hope to see you there!

Spring 2012 Blogger's Quilt Festival!

Wow, time again already for the Blogger's Quilt Festival over at Amy's Creative Side!

I thought it would be perfect to share the wedding quilt I made for my sweet niece Shelby and her fiancee hubby since the wedding is Saturday!

I had picked out about 5 yards worth of quarter yard cuts and started cutting them into 4.5'' equilateral triangles.  I started sewing those triangles into approx 80'' rows.  I had sewn all the triangles into rows, then after assembling 6 of the rows, I realized that it was going to be TOO small to be a bed sized quilt.  Think think think....... add more triangles?  No, burned out on triangles.  Add huge borders top and bottom?  No, that would look ridiculous.  Add strips between rows of triangles?  Yes!  Randomly so it looks like ''I meant to do that''! :)  I added 4.5'' wide strips of a Kona gray and now it's a nice big quilt, big enough I had to have two quilt 'holders', and big enough for a bed quilt, whew!  Adding the strips the same height as the triangles worked well for the quilting too - I did a simple straight-ish line quilting on the diagonal in 2 directions, making a diamond shape, which I like very much!

The wedding is tomorrow, so it's all packed up and ready to be gifted!  Although I think I need to pick up some wedding wrap.  Christmas wrap probably won't cut it huh? LOL.

Also, I am hosting a modern siggy swap block - info here and here if you are interested!

588 hexagons WIP Wednesday

I worked on assembly of my hexagon quilt last night - I figure it's about 1/4 of the way there at around 40'' squarish.  84 flowers, 588 hexagons, whew!  I have about that many more flowers basted/sewn together.  Although, now I'd like to get ALL my flowers basted/sewn so I get a nice distribution of some of the repeats like the Heather Ross prints, and the Denyse Schmidt prints.  So, as much as I would like to keep adding flowers to the top, I think I'll be making flowers for a while yet still........

 Even though it's not very big yet, it was still hard to get it all in one shot with it on my bed........

Design wall Monday

I got a few more hexies done on Saturday :)

 I just LOVE this one:

 oooooh, and this one too :)

gift card wallet tutorial

I was giving my niece a gift card for a wedding shower gift, so I wanted to add *something* handmade, so I made her a little card wallet to hold it (and I knew she was getting other gift cards, so this could hold several).   She really liked it, and she asked if I could make her fiancee one too.  It was really a simple project, so it was no problem to whip up another.  So, I decided to take pics to make a tutorial as I made the second one.

You can make 4 of these with just a fat quarter!

Cut 2 pieces 4.5''x6'' and 2 pieces 4.5'' x 4'' (I accidentally cut the two larger at 6.5'', but trimmed them after this photo when I realized my mistake)

 Back all the pieces with iron-on adhesive (I used stitch witchery and teflon ironing sheets to keep it from sticking to my iron and ironing board, but you can use paper-backed iron-on adhesive, I just used what I had on hand).  Fold the two smaller pieces in half so they measure 4.5''x2'' and iron.

 Take your inside piece (right side up) and lay the folded pieces on either end with the folded edges toward the middle.

 now lay your top piece and place it right side down on top

Stitch around all sides with 1/4'' seam allowance leaving an area for turning

 Trim the corners pretty close

 turn right side out, making sure to get the corners as sharp as possible.  Get it as straight as possible and give it a good press.  Stitch around the outside edge with a scant 1/8'' seam allowance.

Fold it in half and press again.  Voila!  A quick and EASY wallet to hold your gift cards (or debit cards/driver's license, etc.)  I think a scrappy one would be really awesome........

wedding quilt finish

I was finally able to get pics of the finished equilateral triangle (wedding) quilt.  This will go to my niece and her husband in only 2 weeks! :)

I quilted it with diamonds in a light gray, and I love how it turned out!

Block Lotto quilt finish

I am really lovin' this quilt.  Although, it's more like a comforter than a quilt!

I used poly batting, tied it instead of quilting it, and used some flannel for backing (what I had on hand that I had bought to make PJ's with, but never did).  I also used satin blanket binding, which was a pain in the rear to apply, but I'm sure glad I used it, I love it!!!  It also came from my Grandma's stash, so it's that much more special :)
My boys always comment that my quilts aren't warm enough.  Well, this one will be sure to please!

I did it

I cut into my FMF.  Just one 2.5'' strip from each piece, and it didn't hurt as bad as I thought!

then each strip into 2.5'' squares for happy hexagons :)

I think I'll be basting hexies tonight!

progress on 9-patch HST's

I have been slowly working on assembly of the 9-patch blocks ( I am making 16 more blocks to make mine 8×8 blocks).  Some of the blocks I received had some off-white, so I used some off-white on the blocks that I’m making to tie it together.  I’m liking this a LOT!  I think that this quilt is telling me that it wants flannel backing and to be yarn-tied instead of quilted and with a loftier batting than I normally use so it’s warm and cozy   I have some rainbow blanket binding from my grandmother’s stash (that wide silky stuff that I bet a lot of us had baby blankets with it) that I might use to bind it too, that would be fun!

One of the cool kids

Now I'm one of the cool kids :)  I have my own little stash of FMF (Flea Market Fancy).  I am in love.  I wonder if I'll ever be able to bring myself to cut into it?

I got 1 yard of each of the 21 prints.  I got a killer pre-order deal a couple months ago that worked out to $7.62/yd. including shipping.  Can't beat that!  It took a while to get here, but I am so happy with my purchase!  Now that I'm done stacking and petting it, I'll dream about the quilts I could make with it if I could bring myself to touch it with a rotary cutter :)