And Then There Were 3

I couldn't resist creating one more seasonal version of the Everyday Table Topper from the book "Charmed and Dangerous" by Anka's Treasures. My Christmas/Winter topper is made from Basic Grey's gorgeous Blitzen collection. I so love the color palette of this line with the cool sage and mint prints against the deep reds.

The snowmen prints caught my eye right away so I featured them when I laid out the charms.

Simple walking foot quilting with white Auriful was my choice to show off the pretty fabrics and I had a fat quarter of the ornate grey & mint print which I used for the binding.

Had I made this when the line was current I would surely have invested in more of it! Maybe I will still be able to pick up a few of my favorite prints (like the snowmen on red above) online.

On a random note... I had no idea that the markings on a cat extend to their skin. Elsa gave full consent to this tasteful belly shot although she is definitely giving me a "just take one and make it quick" look. We have had 1 black female cat followed by 3 male Siamese so this is news to me.

She also has longer fur than we are used to and it is so soft and fluffy. Yesterday I couldn't grab my camera quick enough to take a picture of the 2.5" fabric square that was attached via static cling to her tail. She had no idea it was there!

A Tuesday Finish

"Charming Stars" is UFO Finish #21 for 2013 and is made from an older fabric line called "Heaven on Earth" by Northcott Fabrics. I used 2 charm packs and the "Little Charmers II" pattern by Anka's Treasures.

I just love the soft colors and beautiful florals in this line! I grid quilted along the edges of the blocks and the stars in each block with cream Aurifil thread.

I'm excited to pop this one into the washer and let it crinkle up. I'm going to hang it in my quilting room as it complements the bedding on the trundle bed perfectly... I'll try to remember to add a picture when I get that done later in the week.

One more DONE! on my March goal list, it's shaping up to be a week of Getting Things Done around here. Be sure to come back tomorrow for my day on the Stitch Me Up Embroidery Blog Hop!

Yet Another Snowy Monday

I've lost count of how many snow days and late start school days we have had this winter... today schools are closed again. This is the view from our kitchen window!

Spring is going to come late this year but I've got lots to do in the quilting room so I'm not going to complain too much. Yesterday I felt like assembling some tops so I pulled out some UFO blocks from my drawer and started laying them out.

I had some patriotic 2.5" strips left over from my Patriotic Squares quilt for Quilts of Valor so I had used EQ to design a simple 9 Patch quilt. I don't know what it is about 9 Patches exactly but they are one of my favorite blocks. The string blocks are from an HGTV Quilting Forum Swap, I had requested shades of blue for the center strip and bright gender neutral colors. It's always fun to play around with bright strings on a grey day!

On Saturday I finished quilting this wall quilt which is one of my March Goals. I think I have more of the cream star print for the binding, I don't recall the name of this pretty fabric line so I'm hoping I'll find it on the selvage. The pattern is "Little Charmers II" by Anka's Treasures.

I'm linking up to Let's Get Acquainted@Busy Bee Quilts and Design Wall Monday@Patchwork Times.

2 Finished Table Runners

Last night was binding night at my house so I cuddled up under my Shabby Roses quilt and stitched away. The first table runner I finished was my Valentine's Day table runner which I'm now calling I Heart Pink.

This runner is made using a Thimbleberries pattern called "Queen of Hearts". It was a give-away item from a 2 day quilt shop hop I attended years ago with my Mom and two of her friends. I decided to quilt it using wavy lines using my walking foot without marking. I did the first line across the middle and then loosely echoed it. Not only was this a lot of fun to do but I really like the relaxed look of it!

I think I was done quilting this in about 30 minutes! I'll definitely be doing waves again.

Next up was my Christmas Stretched Stars table runner. I found a perfect tiny Christmas metallic floral in my stash to use for binding but I had to improvise when I was about 10" short. Luckily I had a wonky strip left from squaring up the fabric so I took a leftover strip of the background fabric for I Heart Pink and improvised a filler strip. Whew~!

I've decided to call this one Leoni's Floral Stars after the swap hostess who ran the most wonderful monthly nickel (5" charm) & noodle (2.5" strip) swap group that I've been lucky enough to be a part of! I used Pat Speth's "Nickel Quilts" book for inspiration. Autumn Stretched Stars is the pattern.

I'm so happy that I changed course and made it into a long (18" by 54") table runner instead of a square topper. I love how it looks on our dining room table. My only regret is that I'll have to wait a year to enjoy it.

The fabrics are so stunning! Look at that beautiful cardinal perched on his glittery branch.

I love the heavy gold edging on those red roses - another favorite of mine.

A peek at a few more - I think the paisleys are fun and break up the poinsettias and holly nicely.

These are UFO Finishes #8 & #9 for 2013. And, I'm up to 25 UFO Finishes on my UFO Countdown... which means I get got to do a little quilty shopping as a reward. Yes, it arrived today!

I'm linking up to TGIFF, Can I Get a Whoop Whoop and Link a Finish Friday.

Finishing Touches and UFO Finish #15

Before I wrapped up my Find A Match quilt for mailing earlier this week I realized it needed a label. I googled "quick quilt label" and found a tutorial at Quiltmaker.com to make this.

I didn't have any pre-treated fabric sheets to print on, but I did have these new Pentel pens to try out on recommendation from another blogger. During the Christmas Quilt Show a few weeks back Lisa Chin at Something Clever About Nothing had raved about these so I ordered some.

I threw my quilt into the wash with a few Shout Color Catchers and started on the label. I took a scrap of muslin, laid it over an open notebook page to keep my lines straight and wrote out my label in one take. Wonderful pen! It glides right over the fabric and creates a beautifully clear line. Thank you Lisa for the heads up!! I used a left over binding strip for the edging and had it done in no time.

When I took the quilt out of the washer I was SO glad that I had remembered to add the Color Catchers!  I quickly pinned 2 more to the lingerie bag and rewashed it. Then I added a 5th and gave it a 3rd wash. By now it was getting close to closing time at my Post Office so I tossed it in the dryer, quickly sewed on the label and included a few Color Catchers with instructions in the package. Check out the progression of the red dyes. This is after pre-washing the fabric before using it!

UFO finish #15 is a table runner made from a charm pack of "Mistletoe Manor" by 3 Sisters for Moda. I'm happy I have another charm pack to make one to keep as I love this fabric line. The pattern is "Little Charmers II" by Anka's Treasures. It will be a Christmas gift for my Mother-In-Law. I should probably give her the teapot too... isn't it a perfect match?

I'm linking up to TGIFF@Quilt Matters, Link a Finish Friday@Richard and Tanya Quilts and Can I Get a Whoop Whoop@Confessions of a Fabric Addict.  I'll be busy sewing and decorating the house this weekend - how about you?

Marking Dark Fabric and a Finish

When I make table quilts for myself I always use muslin for backing. The chances of me running low on table quilts are slim and none since they are one of my favorite quilting projects. Mine are always going to be quilt side up or rolled up in a drawer waiting their turn!

For a gift, and especially to a non-quilter, I like to use a coordinating large print fabric so that they can flip it over for a second look. I love toile prints and will use them as often as I can. Like this beauty.  

On a reversible quilt, the quilting has to look good on both sides. Often what works for the front would look odd on the back. With that in mind, I decided to extend the grid quilting I was planning to do around around the blocks all the way across the quilt through the borders.  How best to mark the extended lines on a dark print?

Plan A: I started with a white chalk pencil but quickly opted out of that. The point went dull too fast and I wanted a crisp line to sew 1/4" on either side of.  

Plan B: I found a white marking pen in my drawer and tried that next. Total fail! It was so faint I couldn't even see it.

Plan C: I dug out a roll of painters tape, lined my 6.5" by 24.5" ruler up against the line from the block and put tape down along the edge of the ruler.  

Then I used the edge of the tape to sew 1/4" away followed by flipping the block around and repeating the process. Better, but so time consuming. After doing 1/3 of the quilt I was over this method. On a side note: I need better task lighting at my machine STAT.  No wonder I make more mistakes sewing at night!

Plan D: I dug around a bit more and found my Hera Marker. Bingo! One quick score along the ruler line made it easy for me to use my presser foot edge and sew perfect 1/4" seams in my grid pattern all across the top. If you enlarge the picture you can easily see the crease line made by the Hera. Such a handy tool. I used my Hera on the rest of the top and was done quilting it in no time.

EDIT:  Since there have been several questions about the Hera in the comments I thought I would clarify that the white tool below is the Hera. It's made of plastic and has an edge along the curved part on the right. It leaves a crease/score on the fabric that you can use as a guideline for quilting. Over at Milk and Honey Quilts you can see a really clear photo of how a top looks after using a Hera.  

Here's the finished table runner. The pattern is Linda's Simple Trio from the book "Mostly Table Runners" by Calico Printworks. The fabrics are from a Faye Burgos collection for Marcus Brothers.  

Aren't they gorgeous? Good thing I have leftovers to make something to keep as I'm giving this one away to someone who I think will love it as much as I do.

This was my New Project Reward after finishing 10 UFOs. It feels really REALLY good to start AND finish a new project! I think I bought this fabric about 4 years ago, so it's nice to make a little dent in the Fabric With a Project in Mind stash as well. Baby steps right?

I'm linking up to WIP Wednesday@Freshly Pieced.

Lucky #13 UFO Finish

Last night I was up late catching up on some DVR TV and hand sewing binding which I'm thinking will be my habit every night this week. I'm holding off on starting to decorate the house until after I finish up my "short" list of quilting projects. Is everyone else having a hard time limiting your computer time this week due to all of the fantastic giveaways? I had no idea that Giveaway Day was so gigantic!  My Monday goals were untouched and that's a bad way to start a busy week.

UFO finish #13 is made from yet another This & That pattern called "Evening Star". I used 2 charm packs of Tamarack Grove by Holly Taylor for Moda when I pieced this in 2009. It's a dreary morning so the pics are are not the best, I'll try again on a bright day and update.

I really love these rich colors. The fabrics that look brownish here are actually deep eggplant purple. This topper is a perfect fit for my "Up North" family room decor.

Speaking of a perfect fit here's a full disclosure whoopsy where these reds are not even close. That intersection must have been a real doozy if I ended up having to accept that as my best shot! Or maybe it was the green pine bough in that point blending into the green square? OK, go away Inner Critic - it is DONE.

Lastly, isn't this checkerboard border the cutest thing ever on my Santa quilt?

I was all set for some compromise because of how I had to trim the Santas down because of my wonky beginning quilter piecing in 2002, but the quilting gods smiled on me because it fit perfectly. Go figure! Again, sorry for a not great photo.

I'm linking up to WIP Wednesday@Freshly Pieced.

A Finish That is NOT a UFO

Tucker and I have a good morning routine. After he has breakfast at 7:00 he snags my sewing chair for a morning snooze while I drink my coffee and use the computer in another room. This was the look I got when I claimed it was my turn this morning...

Oh I Think NOT!

I conceded gracefully, did some tidying up and settled down with some hand binding to watch the Vikings lose to the Packers. Can I tell you how I adore Adrian Peterson? Love him. 

Instead of posting about UFOs today I'm going to show you a finish on my family room table. But before that, let's talk about what has adorned that table for several years. My first quilt!

I took a beginning quilting class in January 2002 during our first winter here in northern Minnesota. We were given a copy of "Start Quilting with Alex Anderson" and had our choice of 3 quilts to make: Rail Fence, Flying Geese or Friendship Star. All 5 of us picked Rail Fence, in my case because it had no HSTs and I'm guessing I wasn't alone. We were turned loose in the quilt shop to pick a border print that we loved. Great advice that I still use today! Then our teacher worked with each of us to choose 3 color families and 3 values in each family. Let's just say there were bolts of fabric everywhere. Good times. I still love that border fabric and this quilt.  

One of the Other Crafts (per my blog title) that I enjoy is making mosaics. Here is a close-up of a tray made of tiles cut from dishes and a center cut from a dinner plate. I got into mosaics in 2004 and for a couple of years I sold mosaic tiles on eBay. One day next spring I will show you my mosaic room in our garage, projects I've made and my stash of dishes. You will laugh, because I have LOTS of dishes.  

Batik Pinwheels is finish #13 and is not a UFO. This was the project I started when I began quilting again after my 3 year hiatus in September. I bought this as a kit from my LQS within the last year thinking it might jump start my quilting mo-jo. The pattern is "A Little Twist" by This & That.

Beautiful batiks and simple quilting. I'm looking forward to trying this pattern again in a different palette as I really like it. And, it's a perfect fit for this table.

On a side note, I'm kind of fascinated by how the angle of the two photos of the quilts on the same table makes the table look like it's two different colors. Into the light (Rail Fence) is golden light and with the light at my back/side (Batik Topper) is pale light. I've got so much to learn about photography.

I'm linking up to UFO Sunday@The Free Motion Quilting Project and Sew Darn Crafty@Sew Many Ways.

Chelsea Boutique Table Topper - UFO #12

Here is my Friday finish. The pattern for this table topper is "Grandma's Attic" by This & That and I used a charm pack of Chelsea Boutique by Moda.

The browns in this line are so warm and pretty... I was thrilled to find the striped binding fabric locally which saved me an online hunt for something to match. Usually I buy a half yard of binding fabric when I buy a charm pack but I couldn't find it if I did.

The cross stitched sampler fabrics are really fun too. While I was sewing the binding last night I kept flipping the quilt over to admire the top. I'm such a fan of charm packs because I can sample an entire line of fabrics in this 24" x 24" quilt for a minimal investment. I just love that! If this line was still available I'd want to make a bigger project with the benefit of knowing which fabrics are my favorites to highlight and having a head start on what kind of pattern to use too. And, who doesn't have a surface in need of a beautiful table topper?

I picked up some of these Clover Wonder Clips after reading rave reviews and I have to agree that they are a great tool. They have a tight grip for such small clips and you can stitch all around without having to remove them. I plan to use them during block construction to clip like pieces together and when I layout blocks to keep them in row order. Pretty fab I think!

I'm linking up to Can I Get a Whoop Whoop@Confessions of a Fabric Addict and TGIFF@Making Rebecca Lynne.

10 UFO Finishes = New Project Reward!

Earlier in the month I wrote about my UFO Attack Plan here. Since I finished my 10th UFO last week I get to start a new project <<HUGE smile>>. While I was looking through my shelf of Fabric With a Project in Mind I pulled out a beautiful collection of Faye Burgos for Marcus Brothers and brought it upstairs to make sure I still had the right project in mind. Meanwhile, as I was browsing my book collection Tucker quickly found the new fabric. Talk about a guilty "I'm not going to look at you" face!

Here it is after pressing (and de-furring!).  I'm going to make a table runner from the book "Mostly Table Runners" by Calico Printworks and it will be a gift for someone who I don't believe reads my blog.

Tucker relocated to the messy bed to continue his inspection duties. Love how he is laying in the center of a ruffled place mat on top of a garbage bag and a bit of fabric. My quilting room is at Sheer Mess Level 10 right now.

I also came across these little pretties in my UFO stash and decided I need to add them to my short list. These are nickels (5" squares) from an online swap of metallic Christmas florals. I've got about 25 more squares to piece and then I'm going to make them into a table topper. The pattern is "Autumn Stretched Star" from Nickel Quilts by Pat Speth. This is the 1st of my UFOs from this book that I've blogged about. You know how you want to make everything in some books? Well, this book is that for me.

 Aren't they crazy gorgeous?

I'm linking up to Freemotion by the River. Time to get cutting and stitching...