Storm At Sea

After seeing a photo of a similar quilt, I became obsessed.  It was one of those quilts that gets stuck in your head and you're Googling and Pinteresting until you've spent more time ogling it than you would have spent making it.

I eventually found a suitable free pattern for the block, and went to work.  Once the top was done, it sat awhile, but I finally pulled it out and quilted it last week.  One of my few finishes of the summer!

apologies for the photo; it was taken from upstairs, looking down, on a ladder, in my foyer...it's a wee bit off center.

Made mostly from scraps and stash, I really only bought the binding, and the navy border fabric for it.  I enjoyed revisiting fabrics from projects-past, as this block offers the chance to put smaller pieces to use.

The back was made from leftover graduated strips, and some Kona Snow.

I quilted 1/4" from the seams on the body, and then did wavy lines with my walking foot on the border.  I love the pattern it made on the back!  Made all those mind-numbing 1/4" lines worth it.

More Storm at Sea eye candy:
Quilt Inspiration
Storm at Sea Pinterest Board

Linking up to TGIFF there's a great giveaway today!
And to Link A Finish Friday!
And to Can I Get a Whoop Whoop?!
Thanks for hosting, y'all!

Bunny Quilt

Yay for Friday Finishes!

In progress, with my homemade bunny chart

I had a couple of Luna Notte strips left on my cutting table after the last quilt, and decided to go ahead and use them up.  I also had a leftover bit of Kona Cream, and a big enough batting scrap for a wall hanging.  I ran out of cream thread on the final border, so while I'd like to say this quilt was free, I had to spring for a new spool.  Oh well.  Almost free.

I looked online for a cross-stitch or knitting chart for the bunny, but I couldn't find one that translated well, and was the size I wanted, so I printed out some graph paper and made my own.  I tried to keep it within a 10x10 square, but that little ear just popped out, so I went with 10x11, and then added a plain border, and a pieced one with my leftover squares.

All the quilt squares are 2.5 inches, my HST's were done using the trim method (since I only had 2.5" strips), but I did cheat and use a couple of longer cream strips in the background.

I used a brighter white for the tail, but it's kind of hard to see in the photos.

We've had a lot of snow (hey, for Georgia; don't laugh), and I am very ready for spring.  Even though Easter is a good bit away, I think I'm going to hang this one up early.

While I was at it, I also bound the crumb block from the last quilt to make a new pot holder.  I used my Clover clips for the first time to machine bind.  I always hand sew my binding because even with the most careful pinning, something inevitably slips.  But with the clips, it turned out perfectly (no paid endorsement, here!)  I stitched in the ditch  from the front, so that is all done without looking on the green side.  This is the first time that I haven't had a slip or a wonky stitch, and there was 3 layers of batting in that puppy!  Not sure if I'm ready to do a whole quilt that way, but I would definitely do a wall hanging, and don't think I'll ever hand sew another pot holder.

Well, that's all I've got, Happy Friday!

Linking up to finish it up Friday @ crazymomquilts, Link-A-Finish Friday, and TGIFF

Country Oasis: A Second Chance and a Finish

Scrap bin inspiration

Last Friday, I happened to see Amy's last call for the Virtual Quilting Bee.  At the start, my intention was to make the quilt from scraps on hand; half a Hometown charm pack, leftover Urban Cowgirl from a purse project, partial FQ of Oasis from my Farmer's Wife, and some random strips of Luna Notte from a Moda scrap bag.  After the first five blocks though, I realized that what looked like a giant mound in my scrap bin, wasn't enough.  And so, it has been sitting since last May.

But then, on Sunday, I was at my LQS for Super Bolt Sunday (cute, huh?), and there it was.  A partial bolt of the same yellow Oasis with a $20 sticker on it.  Plenty to finish the quilt AND back it.

Thank you, quilt angels.

Monday, I laid it all out on the dining room table, and started cutting.  I constructed another four blocks, added the setting triangles, sashing, and border.  Pieced my backing, pieced my binding, and quilted it all up. 

Last night, the final bit of binding went on.  With about 8 inches of binding to spare, and about 2 inches of thread in my bobbin.  Yay!

Country Oasis - Front

Country Oasis - Back

Country Oasis - Close-up

Now I just have another 3 yards of Oasis to find a use for.

But no crumbs...I took care of those.

Thanks again to Diary of a Quilter for hosting, and to all of the lovely bloggers who shared blocks.  

It was fun!  

End of Summer Catch-Up

I had a fantastic summer with my boys!  But there really weren't many tears when I sat down to my sewing machine in an empty house last week.  They all left for school and work, and I could hear my own thoughts again.  Ahhh....

My Bernina was out for a tune-up, so I did some quilting on the beast.  Lots of it.

I finally finished the flannel Man Quilt.  I used Woolies by Maywood Studio almost exclusively for the front and back (I think one of the reds is something else).  It's got an interesting feel to it, it really does feel like wool without the scratchy bit.  I did a regular cotton binding, though, as I was worried about it being super thick.

Man Quilt, Front
 (yeah, they kind of do look like swastikas, but I assure you, they're the good luck kind, so says Wikipedia)

Man Quilt, Back

That little maze quilting pattern took forever, and then some.  So proud to have this finished!  Still need to wash it, though.  There's a laundry backlog with all the sewing going on.

I also got out a kaleidoscope quilt top that I finished well over a year (or two) ago.  Quilted and bound!

Binding, pre-hand-sewing.

Look at the nifty stars the quilting made on the back!

Earning his keep after school.  Better photos (with sewn binding) to follow.

In the box with the quilt, was a zip lock baggie full of scraps.  And I had some extra batting sitting right there, thread in the machine, why not?  

Happy Camper Hot Pad

Last but not least, and before she started middle school, I was able to get my friend's daughter's graduation quilt to her.  I'd never made a t-shirt quilt before, it was fun trying something new.  The back and binding is Kona Black, and it's stitched in the ditch.  I toyed with the idea of an all-over design, but couldn't think of how to make it work with all the crazy colors.  Pretty cute.

That's it for now.  Phew!

Hope you had a great summer!

Giveaway Day Winner

I am currently taking advantage of an empty cabin and a hot cup of coffee (and wireless that reaches to the porch swing), but didn't want to miss the deadline to announce the Giveaway Day winner!  

Thank you all so much for the fantastic tips and ideas, I had a blast reading through all of the responses.  They were creative and thoughtful and smart; just what I would expect from a bunch of sewists!

And the winner is...says the random number generator...number 37!  

Sowing Stitches!

"I love the thought of the bullet casing. My imagination is running wild with this one...but from experience I know that they make great whistles...maybe she used it to store her needles."

See?  Creative.  And I never knew you could whistle on a bullet casing!

Thank you again to all who participated!  Happy Saturday!

Happy Giveaway Day!

Welcome!

I know you're probably busy blog hopping, I will be too in a bit, so I'll try not keep you long!

I love vintage notions, and look for sewing bits whenever I'm at an estate sale or thrift store.  They often tell such great stories about their owners.  Once, I bought a sewing box at an auction that belonged to a nurse, she had suture silk, surgical blades, and bandage scissors stashed in there, along with a bullet casing!  Clearly, your imagination must be a large part of the story.  I've found old letters, Girl Scout patches that never got sewn on, promotional needle books from banks, campaign buttons; all sorts of treasure!  I even found template pieces cut from old newspaper that someone had bought from another quilter for $0.25...by mail...almost half the price of a stamp today.

I display what I can in my sewing room, but my collecting has gotten a bit out of hand.

l:  framed needle books above my machine  r:  shelves of tatting and crochet thread, hooks/needles, pins, etc.

And so, today, for my first ever giveaway, I have some vintage notions to offer!

I'll be adding some more buttons and things throughout the week, it's spring cleaning time, here!

Giveaway will close on May 10th, at 5pm PST, and is open to US residents (sorry international friends).
The winner will be chosen by random from the comments section of this post.

To enter, please answer one of the following:

• Your best sewing tip, or favorite sewing notion?  
• Are there any household items that may not be made for sewing, but that you use in your sewing arsenal? 
• The bullet casing...what in the world do you think she was using that for? 

Bonus entry for followers of my blog.  Just tell me what method you used.

Good luck, and thank you for stopping by!

Virtual Quilting Bee, Blocks 4 and 5

A little bit behind on sewing #4, but decided doing both at once was better for my tendency to leave things out longer than I should.

For some reason, I had trouble with #4, my machine (always blame the machine) kept eating the edge of my fabric when attaching the squares on the bias.  Even with a leader.  She never does that.  I'm thinking I may need to change the needle and tune her up a bit.  Anyway, it pulled in places, but overall, lined up at the points well enough to call it done.  The fact that the dots weren't printed on the grain evenly bothers me too.  Oh well.

block #4

Then came block #5, which took probably a third of the time, and turned out just fine.

block #5

Thanks again to all of you talented ladies hosting: