Stitchnquilt

Hawaiian Projects

2012-02-02T08:17:00.000-08:00

A couple of UFO's that have sat around for a while. At least now they are ready to quilt.

Eloise is watching Grandpa hard at work. At least it looks like he's hard at work. For Grandpa, pressure washing is a hobby. He loves it.

Fruity Tablerunner

2012-02-01T09:09:00.000-08:00

Now that my large quilts are done, I'm working on small old projects to get ready for quilting.

This one is a tablerunner. I've made hotpads from this fruity fabric and decided to make a tablerunner also.

I found this tablerunner on flicker and thought it was a good idea to copy for my fruit squares.

One thing about copying without a pattern, you have to come up with a good assembly plan. This one had some tricks.

I wanted the red sashing to meet as a point between the squares. So I cut the yellow sashings on 2 of the corners 1" short. I also did not sew all the way to the end.

I sewed the small square to the short seam

I sewed the sections together which then left a small opening in the center. That was easy to sew up making sure my seams matched up.

And now I have a tablerunner ready to quilt.

This is linked to Freshly Pieced.

Sharon's Quilt

2012-01-31T08:16:00.000-08:00

This is a soft, feminine quilt.

I quilted feather and flowers all over it.

May the Lord Bless you and keep you this day.

A Quilt for Christine Joy

2012-01-30T08:38:00.000-08:00

This is the quilt I was working on using the pinwheels and the applique flowers. It's now all put together, quilted and bound.

I took the idea very heavily from a quilt I found at this place. I don't know who did the original, but I liked it and used it. You have to scroll down quite a ways to find it.

My husband was gracious to help me with the picture taking.

This is linked to Made by You Monday

and

Creative Me
Also linked to Esther's WOW

IPad Covers

2012-01-27T09:17:00.000-08:00

This was my project during the past week of no power. I have several tutorials I had pinned, but I had no internet, therefore, I couldn't follow them. So I made a simple cover on my own that works very nicely.

It is a small rectangle quilt, with a band added and folded over. Bias on all the edges. And velcro to hold it closed. Very simple.

It actually fits all the way in. I just wanted to show a piece of the IPad.

5 of them to sell at the store during my quilt guild's quilt show.

Can I get a Whoop-Whoop?

and What a Hoot!

A Winter Supper

2012-01-26T06:44:00.000-08:00

Soup simmering on the stove all day.

made from this recipe, 37 years old, hand written out of a newspaper.

You can tell it's well used.

And a loaf of banana bread to go with it.

This recipe is also old (but not as old) out of this book.

It's crispy on the edges and moist, not crumbly, on the inside. I changed it by not adding the orange peel and putting vanilla in instead. If you don't have, you substitute. It was delicious.

And the soup ready to eat. Yum!!!

He richly and daily provides me with all that I need to support this body and life.

Martin Luther in his Small Catechism

Vaira's Quilts

2012-01-25T12:04:00.000-08:00

It's so nice to be able to blog again. Last Thursday morning we lost power. We had 13" of snow, then rain came and froze on the snow breaking limbs off trees and power lines came down. We have a generator built into our house, so we were pretty comfortable during the power outage, even though the world around us was not normal. We got power Monday evening, but still no internet. It's amazing how much I have enjoyed the world of blogging, pinterest, ravelry, etc. They are another way of socializing. So here I am back at it again.

During this past week, since I was able to quilt, I did 3 quilts for Vaira. This first is a baby quilt. I did dog bones and paws on it.

This one used oriental fabrics.

I like the colors of this quilt. I did feathers all over and feathers coming off of feathers. It was really fun.

Heart's Desire - Finished

2012-01-18T07:39:00.000-08:00

Here it is. This took most of a year to get done, but it was very fun to do. I do enjoy applique a lot.

My colors are very similar to Esther's. I looked at hers next to mine and I did copy her a lot. But I do like the pinks and greens together. I also like how the leaves run outside of the box. It doesn't seem boxish.

You can see my curved crosshatch, which was really interesting to do in a long border. I had to adjust how I did it as the movement of the curves rather surprised me. I probably won't do curved crosshatching again on a long border.

I did my form of McTavish in the applique blocks.

Some feathers other places.

I like hanging quilts over my stair railing.

I found this pic of Eloise after I posted the last ones yesterday. This is from the same evening and the best one. We now have over a foot of snow. That's unusual for us in the Pacific Northwest. The children will have fun today.

This is linked to Esther's WOW

and

Freshly Pieced

Marilyn's Quilt

2012-01-17T08:27:00.000-08:00

I'm back to quilting for customers after a long break of getting my own quilts done. Marilyn has one here of a nice deep orange.

I did zig-zags of feathers on this one.

A night in the snow for Eloise. She's learning to eat it and she did enjoy it. She also really enjoyed her hot chocolate (hardly any chocolate in it) afterwards.

I'm Finally Baking

2012-01-16T09:23:00.000-08:00

These are some of the most delicious sweets - but not too sweet. And baked things are so good when it snows. I got the recipe from Mennonite Girls Can Cook. These are the Lemon Pull-Aparts. They have good pictures so if you want to see more, you can check it out.

You don't need a fork to eat them, but you can lick your fingers.

Eloise gets to enjoy the snow. I can't say she really enjoyed it. It's hard to walk in for her. A little snow is a lot for her little feet.

The wonder of it all!

This is linked to Made by You Monday

and

Creative Me

The Weather Outside is Frightful,

2012-01-15T08:34:00.000-08:00

But Oh it's so delightful.

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow.

This morning's picture. I did add an effect to it.

Naomi's Doilies #8 and #9

2012-01-13T09:02:00.000-08:00

I started these doilies on our winter trip to Seaside. That seems to be when I do the doilies. They are a nice small project to take with me. I finished them later at home.

This was supposed to be all one doily with 4 squares in it, but I ran out of thread and I thought one section was quite large enough for a doily. I like them smaller than larger. I guess I don't have enough large areas to put doilies on. But these are for Naomi's collection.

I like filet crochet. You can see the hearts in the pattern.

This one didn't get the special border as I was out of thread, but some doilies need to have a plain edge.

The color doesn't look very nice here, but it's a tannish bronze and is lovely.

This is linked to It's Finally Friday and Whoop Whoop Friday.

My Applique Flowers

2012-01-11T09:48:00.000-08:00

After making the pinwheels for my new baby quilt, it was time to do some applique flowers. I don't have a die cutter, so I normally make a template and cut around it. This time I came up with a better method.

I cut 4" squares with fusable web adhered to it.

I folded it in half.

I folded it in half again. My finger is on the center of the fabric. You don't want to cut that corner or you won't have a flower.

I brought the two sides together, so it's folded in eighths.

I placed my paper template of one petal on the fabric with the point at that center we don't want to cut. I cut around the curve and down the sides a little.

This is what I came out with.

These foldings are for a 6 petal flower. After folding in half, I took one side over, making a fold at the bottom center and bringing the top about two thirds of the way over.

Then I did the same with the other side.

I placed my template over it and cut.

And now I have a 6 petaled flower which I have fused onto my fabric.

Then it's just zig-zagging it in place

and it's ready for the center.

This is linked to Freshly Pieced.

More Knitting

2012-01-10T09:13:00.000-08:00

Hannah needed a new hat. I knitted it using the pattern that I've used before. This time I used a washable wool that has some silk and bamboo in it. The pattern is a free Drops Pattern. The yarn is so soft. And then I added the flowers. They are a nice touch.

I knitted the back in one piece. I don't like seams on hats.

Her friend Isabella needed an owl hat to go with the owl sweater I had knit for her. After I finished the sweater I found this pattern and just had to knit it up for her.

Oh, I like that tongue!

I readjusted the pattern because it was written for a newborn size only. It took a fitting and some redoing but it looks like it fits well now.

Now Hannah and Isabella are not related to each other at all. But Mark (wearing another one of my sweaters) is a cousin to each of these girls. Isn't that fun?

I like that pattern in this sweater.

This is out of the Sirdar book that I've been knitting most of my sweaters from. The yarn is Knitpicks Cotton Shine Sport. The color is Sky - a nice color for baby boys.

This is linked to Too Cute Tuesday

and to Creative Me

My Little Student

2012-01-09T07:50:00.000-08:00

You've seen her before, my granddaughter Eloise. She has enjoyed watching me quilt. Whenever she is in our shop, she loves to sit on my lap. I may quilt for a bit, or I may let her play with my ruler or purple pen. Most of the time she lasts a minute and then is off to something else.

This day she quilted. The machine was turned off. She loved moving the handles.

Sometimes she'd have to stretch, because the machine got away from her.

Look at the concentration!

What! You're taking pictures of me? Oh well.

Back to work.

Can you tell what quilt she's working on?

Linked to

Manic Monday

and

Sew Modern Monday

Also linked to Esther's WOW

How Much Can I Make from this Fabric?

2012-01-06T08:54:00.000-08:00

I bought 1 1/2 yards of 2 fabrics to make a bag with. I don't know why I bought more than I needed - maybe I didn't want to run out. I made this bag which you saw in this post. I bought the pattern from Geta here.

Afterwards I decided to make things and see how many items I could make from these to fabrics (plus a lining fabric that was already in my stash).

I recently gained an IPad and thought an IPad cover would be a good thing. I found this tutorial which I modified to suit the look that I wanted. I'm ready to try more of these.

I did my own quilting on this which didn't work to well, especially as the fabric is so busy you can't see it anyway.

It has a pocket in front for your cord and a velcro closure.

I also made a small zippered bag. I like the gathered look. It's free tutorial is here.

It even has pockets inside.

I do like fabric softie toys. But notice this elephant has only 2 legs. I might change the pattern to a 4 legged creature. I figure this one can be a pillow. The pattern is here. I did round him up a bit and added the curve to his trunk.

And last I made this bag. It's a flat bag and the seams (which I serged) do show on the inside. I think I would change these next time. But I do like the look of the front of the bag. I made it about an inch smaller than the pattern, not having quite enough to make it the right size. After this bag was done, I only had scraps left. Pattern is here.

Here they all are. These are Moda fabrics - Fandango by Kate Spain.

Can I get a Whoop-Whoop?
This is also linked to It's Finally Friday
and Weekend Showoff Pary.

The Making of a Pinwheel Square

2012-01-05T09:40:00.000-08:00

I'm starting a new baby quilt and it will have some applique flowers along with some pinwheel squares. I thought there must be some easy way to make them that I could learn, so I searched the web. I found this great video that really helped me. You can watch that, but since you're already here you can also check out my little tutorial.

I want my pinwheels to be 5" when finished (5 1/2" unfinished). I cut 2 squares of the different fabrics 5" each.

I place them right sides together.

Sew 1/4" around all 4 edges. You are sewing it closed.

Cut diagonally through it once.

Cut diagonally through it once more on the other corners.

Now you have your 4 half squares triangles all sewn together so easily.

You press the seams all towards the darker color and lay them out for sewing just as you want the pinwheel to look.

See what can happen when you don't pay enough attention? Time to rip.

Whoops! I wasn't watching my layout!

Sew 2 squares together.

Cut the dog ears off. That is very important if you don't want a lump in the center.

Sew the 2 halves together. It's important to make sure your seams match up together.

Mine don't quite match up. I can do better than that.

In the center of the finished square I snip on the seam 1/4" on each side so I can press each side towards the darker color. I also open up the center and smash it with my finger and press it open. That keeps the center points from being one big lump.

My square is a little larger than the 5 1/2" which is how I like it. Better too large than too small. I can always trim it down. Trim it to 5 1/2".

See the mistake in this picture? When you've done one square it's always important to keep it on hand to make sure you place the others in the same manner. Otherwise there's more ripping to do.

A nice clean cut and pressed square is always a pleasure to look at.

This is linked to Tutorial Tuesday

Heart's Desire - Quilting

2012-01-04T08:59:00.000-08:00

My first post for doing this quilt was in March of last year when I was picking out fabrics. Now I'm really coming towards the end of this journey. I'm in the quilting stage. So far, I've taken about 18 hours working on this quilt. It is quite the challenge.

I decided to quilt the long applique borders using a curved cross hatch. That might not be the best way to use the curves. It turns into rainbows over long areas. I drew it out on my quilt and then started quilting from there. Then I came up with the rainbow. Then I drew some more. Then I ripped. I decided maybe I'd better practice on paper and see what I could come up with.

I decided to turn my curves the opposite direction on the second half of the border. The center of the border is a large applique flower, so that makes it easy to turn a curve that really looks straight because it's so small.

If anyone has taken on large area curved quilting, let me know your tips. I could use them.

I'm doing pebbling and my version of McTavishing in the applique squares.

I'll be going back through the quilt again with other colors for the leaves, etc.

Since I spend a lot of time doing customer quilts, it's nice to do something that's mine. It's also where I get the practice for things I want to move on with in the quilting world.

Oh. for another wholecloth

Eloise is enjoying helping in the kitchen.

This is linked to Freshly Pieced.

Izzy's Sweaters

2012-01-02T09:00:00.000-08:00

This one I made for her when she was born. Now she fits it. I added the hat later.

The sweater is a Sirdarpattern. I knitted it from a wool/silk blend.

It's a fun one to knit, not boring.

This is a cute sweater that her Momfound the pattern of. It has got to be one of my favorites. It'sknitted in a washable wool. I love the color. Some of the owls evenhave eyes.

I just found a hat pattern tomatch. Different design artist, but same owls. I'll have to makethat for her also

This is linked to Creative Me Monday
and
Made By You Monday
also linked to We Did It! Wednesday

Little Bo Peep

2011-12-29T10:16:00.000-08:00

She has not lost her sheep. They like to stay with her. This is a rendition of a Jean Greenhowe Dumpling doll that I have done. Once you've done several of her dolls, you get the idea and can figure your own out.

Look how I did her hair. That took a little ingenuity to come up with the curls.

The sheep and the staff came from Farmer Woolie.

Hope you enjoy!

This is linked to Fingerprints on the Fridge.

Azalia's Quilt

2011-12-28T10:32:00.000-08:00

She has her name on it.

It's full of flowers.

Even ones quilted into it.

You can see the start of it here.

I think she'll like it.

This is linked to Whoop-Whoop Friday.

Time at Seaside

2011-12-26T12:27:00.000-08:00

My family has been spending the weekend at Seaside Oregon. It's been a very pleasant time. A few pics.

Those are my children on the beach.

The town.

The beach on Christmas morning. This is a sped up video. It was quite fun to see the sand sweeping across the beach.

Sweater Time

2011-12-22T09:38:00.000-08:00

I have been knitting. For a while I had quite a few customer sweaters to knit, but now I'm knitting new ones for the store.

This first one I've made in a boy's style and sold quite a few. I decided I should try one for a girl. It's already a hit. The flowered portion is a big pocket, nice for keeping hands warm.

I knitted this in a washable wool blend.

Elizabeth's doing a great job for me, isn't she. I think it's because she has a new baby sister. When my children were young, they were more at ease with others after the new baby was born. This is my first photo shoot that Elizabeth has been willing to participate in.

Annie is wearing a short bolero type of sweater. I like how it ties in the front.

It's knitted with a cotton blend yarn, a very soft one.

Annie loves to pose. She stands there perfectly. So perfect , I had to come up with something for her to do, the more natural look.

So we put her back to coloring, which is what she was doing when I showed up. That worked great.

(She is still posing though. You can see that look in her face. Pretty cute.) :)

This is linked to We Did It Wednesday. (even though it's Thursday).

Some Little Things

2011-12-21T08:40:00.000-08:00

These are some doilies that I mimicked from some I had pinned on Pinterest. There were no instructions, but clear pictures and they did look so cute. I knew they'd be small, but hadn't realized how small. They range from 3-4 inches. I'm not sure how they could be used. I think some may be too small for coasters.

Actually, I think they did get used at a party as part of the centerpiece decor. I haven't seen pics though.

And then we have a customer who knows she is having her baby quite early, and the girls are sewing preemie clothes for her. I made this hat, as I was quite experienced making Eloise lots of preemie hats.

I also was going to make Eloise mittens. These are the ones that are too small. They are too large for a preemie though. Probably newborn.

After the first failure I did make her some and attached an I cord to them. After all, she doesn't want to keep them on.

They are a little big and we may shirr them to hold them on better.

By the way, my daughters' sewed up the coat for her. Isn't it cute?

Linked to We Did It Wednesday.
and
Made By Me.

Ode to the Thirties Quilt

2011-12-19T09:55:00.000-08:00

This is a quilt I was doing as a BOM with a few women in my quilt guild. It's been a project of a year and is nice to have finished. When quilts are finished they look so beautiful and I am enjoying this one. I think I'll keep it hanging on my staircase railing for a while.

It is Ode to the Thirties, designed by Lori Smith. I started with 30's reproductions, but as I didn't want to keep buying, I started using fabrics in my stash that seemed to go along.

It took some time to quilt, as I had to come up with something for each square.

The appliqued squares I did different fillers in the background.

Some pieced squares could have the same effect. Here is feathers,

flowers inside each flower,

and swirls.

The pieced blocks also had feathers, fancy line dancing,

some twirls,

flowers,

and simple line dancing. There was a lot of that.

The border was a feather. This is now ready for my guild's quilt show in February.

This is linked to

Creative Me Monday ,

Design Wall Monday (even though this is now off my design wall),
Fabric Tuesday
and
Esther's WOW.

Vaira's quilts

2011-12-16T06:33:00.000-08:00

She brought me two smaller quilts, both with bold fabrics.

I did some flowers all over this one.

This one was swirls and feathers. It all blends in so well you can't really see them. Don't you like the fabrics she uses?

Eloise enjoys playing and singing at the piano. Here she's really getting into it.

New Bags

2011-12-12T09:57:00.000-08:00

I love going to the fabric store. There are so many beautiful fabrics. And some I just don't want to cut up into small pieces for quilts. Bags or aprons seem the way to go with these fabrics. It's fun to put together the different fabrics that I like.

Here are 2 new bags that I made this weekend.

These are both designed by Geta and she has the patterns for sale on her blog. The one above is a little smaller than the bottom one. I love how you can use 2 different fabrics easily on them and they look so nice.

Notice the pockets on the front,

and the zippered pocket on the back,

and there are also a couple of pockets inside. Pockets are important to me.

These will be for sale in my Etsy shop.

Eloise also has something new about her. See her ears. Now she has sparklies.

This is linked to Made by You Monday and

Creative Me Monday
and also
Fabric Tuesday

Wow! I'm linking this post to a lot of linky fun.
Linked to Esther's WOW

Ode to the Thirties -Getting Quilted

2011-12-09T09:39:00.001-08:00

It's been a year in the making. And finally it's on my frame.

I think this should get a Whoop-Whoop!

Eloise Gets Her First Apron

2011-12-07T08:54:00.001-08:00

And of course, Grandma made it for her. Since she started walking, it seemed to me she needed an apron. Looking through my stash I found this fabric and it did say Eloise on it . I don't know where I bought it or when and had even forgotten that I had it, but it sure was perfect.

The smallest size I could find was a 4, so I had to down size. I made a mock up to fit on her first, and then did the one she has.

So now she will learn to cook with her mom and be prepared.

It even has a cute little pocket

And I put velcro closures in the back of the neck so that it can be adjustable in size.

She even enjoys cooking on the floor.

This is linked to Esther's WOW

The English Bobby

2011-12-06T08:46:00.001-08:00

He is another of Jean Greenhowe's designs. He's a bigger doll than the others I did and does not stand by himself. Therefore I didn't do his stand and decided he's a play toy, not just something to look at.

I like all the detail she puts in her designs, such as the medal on the cap

and the buttons and belt buckle. Also notice the tie.

He'll make a cute little toy.

Eloise

2011-12-05T05:53:00.001-08:00

I realized I hadn't shown her for a while. I hope you've missed her. She's just starting to walk and very proud of it also.

There she is taking a step.

She's also wearing a sweater I knitted up for a customer. These are pics before I ship it out.

I really like her.

This is linked to Made by You Monday,

Creative Me Monday,
and
I Made It! Monday

Let's Hang Those Stockings

2011-12-02T09:22:00.001-08:00

I was asked if I could knit this stocking

to match this stocking.

They look pretty similar, don't they?

It was easier than I thought to do. And I used a regular sock pattern (same amount of stitches)

to do the heel.

Santa has some fluffy yarn.

And here's a couple of candy canes.

Can I get a Whoop-Whoop?
Also linked with Creation Corner

Hilda's Quilt

2011-12-01T04:45:00.001-08:00

It's actually her husband's quilt. He let me know that. I think he's looking forward to it. He must be a Beaver fan.

I did an overall that was easy to keep within the squares. It kind of looks like fingers, doesn't it?