We're Both Designers

Despite all the rain drops 

and cold temps, it's May.

We're suppose to be outside doing

 spring yard work.

Well, Running Man has.

He's been designing and digging and 

 has outdone himself this year.

He's dug
up a huge section

of the front yard,

hauled in big rocks,

planted 125 assorted shrubs and ground covers,

created a dry creek bed,

 and

hauled more rock.

Me, on the other hand,
have been using these rainy days
for designing as well.

Although, in a much different way.

 Fussy cutting designs from my
coveted Dutch Chintz fabric pieces,

and coordinating all the design elements

for part 2 of Petra Prin's mystery quilt

from Quiltmania. 

Part 3 arrived last week so either

I need to work faster or

 

hope for more rainy days.
 

Until Next Time-

It Can't Be Halloween

It's official.

There are only 165 days left until....

"Halloween".

I've already begun seeing new fabric lines advertised,

along with patterns and projects.

So I guess, I'm not too far out off

by showing you what I've finally finished.

"Happy Halloween"

 It's the Halloween mystery quilt

by Thimble Creek Quilt Shop.

They offered free block patterns 

for several months last year, but it was

a mystery, so there was no idea what

you were making.

Except that you were sewing

50 six inch blocks and

then setting them together with

 one inch checkerboard sashing strips.

The setting triangles are fun

because they resemble candy corn.

My machine quilter, Debi, did a great

job with an overall pattern of swirls and stars.

It seems that even the fabric is happy

with how this quilt turned out.

I had a couple of larger Halloween fabric pieces 

lurking in my closet that worked

out perfectly for the backing.

The strip is a ticking that I have been

hoarding / saving for years for just the right occasion. 

Thimble Creek Quilt Shop is starting

another new mystery, if you're interested.

You just have to sign up for their newsletter.

In fact, there's another one that's

 almost finished, but the patterns are

still available in the newsletter.
Check it out.

I've been working on that one.

Still six inch blocks,

but I chosen some cute brights to work with.

Here's an example of the 10

different blocks from this recent mystery. 

They should be publishing the finishing directions soon.
Can't wait to see how that one
goes together.

You may be laughing
at the fact that I just finished
a Halloween quilt, but remember

I'm 165 days ahead!

Until Next Time-

Every Baby Needs a Quilt

 Spring is the time for babies,

animal and bird babies.

This is one of the three baby Kestrel Hawks

we had in our birdhouse last year.

This year it seems to be new babies

for nephews and my daughter's best friends.

It was time to get sewing on some 

quilts for these new little ones.

I have a "go to" baby quilt pattern

that I have used for years.

It has a center panel section cut 20 1/2" x 32 3/4".

 

or

It allows you to cut two panels from a yard of fabric
and it's a great way to feature some super fun kid fabrics.

Then that panel is surrounded by a border made up of
rails and nine patches.

From two fabrics cut:  In this case
(7) 2" x wof  - blue-fabric 1
(5) 2" x wof - red-fabric 2

Make some strip sets:
blue/red/blue (3)
and subcut: (10) 8 1/4" x 5"
                     (10)  2" x 5"

And then a strip set
red/blue/red (1)
Subcut: (20) 2" x 5"

Sew the 2" x 5" pieces into 9-patches.
They will measure 5" x 5" including sa.

Sew 2 sets together for the sides:
rail/9-patch/rail/9-patch/rail 

These will be sewn to the center panel first.

Sew 2 sets together for the top and bottom:
9-patch/rail/9-patch/rail/9-patch
Then add the top and bottom.

The outer border can really be cut
any size, but I have most commonly used
5 1/2".

On this quilt the border went all around the quilt.

On this one, the printed border piece was too short
so I added a square in the corners.
It's a very flexible pattern!

Here's the basic yardage for one quilt:
fabric one: 1/2 yard
fabric two: 1/3 yard
center panel: 1 yard = 2
Border: 2/3 yard
Binding 3/8 yard -straight of the grain
Backing 1 5/8 yard

The quilt finishes about
40' x 52"

A couple more quilts to sew
and all the new babies

 will have a quilt to call their own.

Until Next Time-

Cutting Corners

If someone says they are going

to cut corners, 

it usually means that they

are trying to do something in the

easiest, quickest or least expensive way.

 

 These short cuts could result in poor quality, 

shoddy work,

or even something illegal. 

But for a quilter, cutting corners

can mean something entirely different.

Okay, I admit 

I have been cutting corners 

this past week.

I've been designing corners

for my Noah and Matilda applique quilt.

I tried to get all four corners to match,

but the closest I could get

was 2 and 2.

So I settled for that.

 one set of corners

second set

Luckily, they ended up opposite of each other,

so it has a balanced look.

The quilt top is done,

and I've even marked feathered wreaths in the 

open squares for future hand quilting.

I used a light table and
a mechanical pencil with a very hard lead.
Hard to see, I know,  but that's the point.
Only I should be able to see it.

The backing 

which is a Minick and Simpson Moda fabric,

is waiting for 

 for me to feel inspired to crawl along

the floor to baste it all together.

 Well, that's the plan.

No corners were cut in the making of this quilt.

It's all in tip top shape.

I guess that's why it took 2 1/2 years 

to get this far,

 but that's just the way the cookie crumbles.

 Until Next Time-