This is for our winter doll quilt swap at www.sewingmamas.com. I sure hope the recipient likes it. I had another top totally done, but I really wasn't happy with it. I went downstairs to talk to my stash and these fabrics jumped up and said, "Pick me!" I really did want to use the winter bird fabric, but wasn't sure how to properly show them off. I searched all over flickr and the web to find SOMETHING, but had no success. I had to just draft something and it had to be simple. Here is what I came up with. The blocks are finished 3" set in 100% linen.
Tuesday, November 18, 2008
Saturday, November 1, 2008
Long, Long time no see!
Hi, friends! I really have missed the occasional blog post. Life is settling down to a just busy pace, rather than horribly, frantically busy pace. DH returned from Iraq about a month ago, so we are so thankful for that. The kids are busy in school with just the little guy at home with me now.
Here are some pictures of recent projects.
A trio of hoodies made with organic space dyed fleece.
A pair of chocolate velveteen skirts with just a bit of super cute japanese woodland creatures.
Sunday, July 27, 2008
Ittybittybutterflyquilt
Hi, friends! Well, the move is over and while there are still many, many boxes to unload, I'm so thankful all of our stuff is in one house.
I thought I'd show you all the latest doll quilt for a swap at Sewingmamas.com. The theme was summer.
I used a paper piecing block from quilterscache.com. I enjoyed the process, but I really wouldn't want to do a paper pieced queen sized quilt or anything! I hand embroidered the antennae in brown. My very nice and talented sister agreed to do the quilting for me IF I hand sewed the binding down on her swap quilt :) I really don't mind machine quilting, but I was right in the middle of a move and I had no time or space to get out my machines.
For the binding I pieced together 4 inch strips from the various fabrics in the quilt. I love a pieced binding.
Wednesday, July 2, 2008
Four Patch Doll Quilt Sew-Along Part Three!
Ok, the top is done!
Now go ahead and square up your quilt however you would like (I, of course, don't mean make it a square, but make sure all edges are straight and the corners are 90 degrees)
The next step will be to layer the quilt, batting and backing.
Take your backing fabric and cut it 2" bigger than the quilt top on all sides and then do the same with the batting/flannel.
Next layer your fabrics, backing right side down then batting then quilt top right side up, just like you want it to be when it's finished. Make sure your fabrics are all nice and flat but not pulled out of whack.
You'll need to make sure that your layers don't shift during the quilting. I use a basting spray for doll sized quilts. You can also use safety pins and pin all the layers together about every 3" or hand baste.
To hand baste just use really huge stitches, start in the center of your quilt and stitch outward to the perimeter. You'll kind of end up with a sunburst pattern.
Here is a nice walk-through for pin-basting. http://crazymomquilts.blogspot.com/2...ste-quilt.html
Now it's time to quilt. I used a free motion stipple on this quilt or you could quilt in straight lines with a walking foot. Whatever fits your style.
Whichever method you choose, it's best to start in the middle of your quilt (or start at one edge and stitch to the middle right away) This ensures that you don't end up with lots of extra fabric puckering in the middle.
To free motion in any pattern, you'll need a darning foot for your machine, lower your feeddogs and then start meandering. Make sure that you take a couple of stitches before you start moving your fabric. This secures your stitches.
Practice, Practice, Practice on a couple of layers of flannel!!
If you want to learn from the VERY BEST, watch this video. This lady wins shows and awards all the time for her awesome machine quilting.http://www.needlepointers.com/displa...s/tvt035.asp
Easier than free-motion (although a doll quilt is a great way to get your feet wet with free-motion) would be to do straight stitching. J
ust mark your stitching lines with a disappearing ink fabric pen, put your walking foot on your machine and follow your lines. If you don't have a walking foot, you'll just have to work a little harder at keeping you layers from shifting.
Once it's quilted, cut off the excess batting and backing.
Next we'll need to cut the binding. Cut about 90" of 2 1/4" strips of your binding fabric. I cut these on the straight of grain. Sew your binding together at the short ends. Place two binding strips at a 90 degree angle, right sides together and sew from top left corner to bottom right. Cut off extra fabric.
Now you have one long binding piece. Iron this in half lengthwise, wrong sides together.
Now, starting at the middle of one of the sides and leaving about a 4" tail start sewing the binding to the quilt, raw edges together, using a 1/4" seam allowance. Sorry about this fuzzy pic.
When you get to the corner, stitch up to 1/4" from the edge and remove from under your needle. Now take the fabric and fold it back away from the quilt. Then fold it back straight across the quilt, right where you want it to got next.
I'm so glad I have pictures. I can't explain this very well!
Start stitching again 1/4" away from the corner.
When you get to the starting point, leave about 4" in between your start and finish. Lay your quilt out flat and match up the ends of your binding and trim 1/4" up from the quilt. Open up your fabric strips and sew, right sides together, the two pieces together. Fold them again and stitch them down to the quilt. Please look at this link for pictures of this process. http://www.needlepointers.com/displa...inding-101.htm
Now take your binding and wrap it around to the backside and handstitch it down.
You're done! Don't forget to sign and date it somewhere!
Now go ahead and square up your quilt however you would like (I, of course, don't mean make it a square, but make sure all edges are straight and the corners are 90 degrees)
The next step will be to layer the quilt, batting and backing.
Take your backing fabric and cut it 2" bigger than the quilt top on all sides and then do the same with the batting/flannel.
Next layer your fabrics, backing right side down then batting then quilt top right side up, just like you want it to be when it's finished. Make sure your fabrics are all nice and flat but not pulled out of whack.
You'll need to make sure that your layers don't shift during the quilting. I use a basting spray for doll sized quilts. You can also use safety pins and pin all the layers together about every 3" or hand baste.
To hand baste just use really huge stitches, start in the center of your quilt and stitch outward to the perimeter. You'll kind of end up with a sunburst pattern.
Here is a nice walk-through for pin-basting. http://crazymomquilts.blogspot.com/2...ste-quilt.html
Now it's time to quilt. I used a free motion stipple on this quilt or you could quilt in straight lines with a walking foot. Whatever fits your style.
Whichever method you choose, it's best to start in the middle of your quilt (or start at one edge and stitch to the middle right away) This ensures that you don't end up with lots of extra fabric puckering in the middle.
To free motion in any pattern, you'll need a darning foot for your machine, lower your feeddogs and then start meandering. Make sure that you take a couple of stitches before you start moving your fabric. This secures your stitches.
Practice, Practice, Practice on a couple of layers of flannel!!
If you want to learn from the VERY BEST, watch this video. This lady wins shows and awards all the time for her awesome machine quilting.http://www.needlepointers.com/displa...s/tvt035.asp
Easier than free-motion (although a doll quilt is a great way to get your feet wet with free-motion) would be to do straight stitching. J
ust mark your stitching lines with a disappearing ink fabric pen, put your walking foot on your machine and follow your lines. If you don't have a walking foot, you'll just have to work a little harder at keeping you layers from shifting.
Once it's quilted, cut off the excess batting and backing.
Next we'll need to cut the binding. Cut about 90" of 2 1/4" strips of your binding fabric. I cut these on the straight of grain. Sew your binding together at the short ends. Place two binding strips at a 90 degree angle, right sides together and sew from top left corner to bottom right. Cut off extra fabric.
Now you have one long binding piece. Iron this in half lengthwise, wrong sides together.
Now, starting at the middle of one of the sides and leaving about a 4" tail start sewing the binding to the quilt, raw edges together, using a 1/4" seam allowance. Sorry about this fuzzy pic.
When you get to the corner, stitch up to 1/4" from the edge and remove from under your needle. Now take the fabric and fold it back away from the quilt. Then fold it back straight across the quilt, right where you want it to got next.
I'm so glad I have pictures. I can't explain this very well!
Start stitching again 1/4" away from the corner.
When you get to the starting point, leave about 4" in between your start and finish. Lay your quilt out flat and match up the ends of your binding and trim 1/4" up from the quilt. Open up your fabric strips and sew, right sides together, the two pieces together. Fold them again and stitch them down to the quilt. Please look at this link for pictures of this process. http://www.needlepointers.com/displa...inding-101.htm
Now take your binding and wrap it around to the backside and handstitch it down.
You're done! Don't forget to sign and date it somewhere!
Saturday, June 28, 2008
Four Patch Doll Quilt Sew-Along Part Two!
Ok,now that we've got our 4 patches sewn, we'll start working on the background.
Cut 6 -4" squares of the background fabric
Then we will cut the triangles for the sides:
Cut 3 -7 3/4" squares.
Cut the squares into quarters diagonally.
Lay these triangles around the edges of the quilt.
Here's a little extra info :) You can make this quilt in any size and to figure out what size to cut your side triangles, you need this formula:
Count how many side triangles you need. Then divide that number by 4 rounding UP to the nearest whole number. Then take your block and measure it across the diagonal. Add 2" to that measurement. That is the size you want to cut your squares.
Next we will cut the triangles for the corners.
Cut 2- 5 1/2" squares of background fabric.Cut into half diagonally.
Yep, there's a formula for this, too. Take the measurement of your blocks (not diagonal this time) and add 1 1/2".
Now we get our first glance of how it will all look together. Lay out the blocks and triangles on your work area. The triangles will overlap, don't worry.
Now, it's time to sew them in diagonal rows. Don't worry about the corner triangles yet. Take the top right diagonal row and sew the 4 patch and two triangles together. Make sure that you match up the bottom of the triangle to the 4 patch. I like to keep the quilt laid out, rather than picking up all the rows at once. It helps me keep things in the right order.
Continue sewing all the diagonal rows together. Next, sew the rows to one another, making sure that you match up the seams rather than the edges. You can see in the picture below that the points of the triangles stick out a bit.
Time to add the corners. Center each corner triangle, right sides together, using the center seam of the 4 patch to place it. Sew together. Trim off all of those little points sticking out.
The top is pieced!! Next post will be quilting and binding :)
Cut 6 -4" squares of the background fabric
Then we will cut the triangles for the sides:
Cut 3 -7 3/4" squares.
Cut the squares into quarters diagonally.
Lay these triangles around the edges of the quilt.
Here's a little extra info :) You can make this quilt in any size and to figure out what size to cut your side triangles, you need this formula:
Count how many side triangles you need. Then divide that number by 4 rounding UP to the nearest whole number. Then take your block and measure it across the diagonal. Add 2" to that measurement. That is the size you want to cut your squares.
Next we will cut the triangles for the corners.
Cut 2- 5 1/2" squares of background fabric.Cut into half diagonally.
Yep, there's a formula for this, too. Take the measurement of your blocks (not diagonal this time) and add 1 1/2".
Now we get our first glance of how it will all look together. Lay out the blocks and triangles on your work area. The triangles will overlap, don't worry.
Now, it's time to sew them in diagonal rows. Don't worry about the corner triangles yet. Take the top right diagonal row and sew the 4 patch and two triangles together. Make sure that you match up the bottom of the triangle to the 4 patch. I like to keep the quilt laid out, rather than picking up all the rows at once. It helps me keep things in the right order.
Continue sewing all the diagonal rows together. Next, sew the rows to one another, making sure that you match up the seams rather than the edges. You can see in the picture below that the points of the triangles stick out a bit.
Time to add the corners. Center each corner triangle, right sides together, using the center seam of the 4 patch to place it. Sew together. Trim off all of those little points sticking out.
The top is pieced!! Next post will be quilting and binding :)
Thursday, June 26, 2008
Bibs
Creative title, eh? Sorry, I'm plain worn out from packing and cleaning and hot weather.
Great day today. I ran 5k on my treadmill! I've been doing the couch to 5k program, hoping to run in a race on the 4th of July. I truly couldn't imagine being able to run that far when I started. I'm just so stoked....and a little sore.
On the crafty side, which has been very sparse lately, I whipped up some baby bibs for my cousin and his wife expecting their first little one.
Great day today. I ran 5k on my treadmill! I've been doing the couch to 5k program, hoping to run in a race on the 4th of July. I truly couldn't imagine being able to run that far when I started. I'm just so stoked....and a little sore.
On the crafty side, which has been very sparse lately, I whipped up some baby bibs for my cousin and his wife expecting their first little one.
Sunday, June 22, 2008
Shopping with the kids
So, on Thursday, I packed up the three kiddos and headed to Traverse City to do some shopping. With gas at (gasp) over $4 a gallon, I hate to travel that far, but we had quite a few things that we couldn't get closer to home. It is our closest Jo-anns, however, and I never fail to find a few minutes to stop in and look for some goodies.
I didn't NEED anything, but with all the red tag stuff 1/2 off, I managed to find a few things that came home with me.
First, I found this poly knit. I've had this Simplicity pattern for a while. Normally I don't even bother with Big 3 patterns, much preferring Kwik Sew, Ottobre, even Burda. This pattern had great reviews at http://www.patternreview.com/ and I really liked the shaping of it, so I want to give it a try. I was thrilled to find an inexpensive knit to try it on.
Next, I found this subtle dot on a dark sagey green to use as the background for my woodland animal swap squares. I think it will work nicely.
Finally, here is what comes of shopping with kids. My 3yo just HAD to have this. It was only $1.50 a yard....and it's cute....I just have no idea what it's going to be yet :)
I didn't NEED anything, but with all the red tag stuff 1/2 off, I managed to find a few things that came home with me.
First, I found this poly knit. I've had this Simplicity pattern for a while. Normally I don't even bother with Big 3 patterns, much preferring Kwik Sew, Ottobre, even Burda. This pattern had great reviews at http://www.patternreview.com/ and I really liked the shaping of it, so I want to give it a try. I was thrilled to find an inexpensive knit to try it on.
Next, I found this subtle dot on a dark sagey green to use as the background for my woodland animal swap squares. I think it will work nicely.
Finally, here is what comes of shopping with kids. My 3yo just HAD to have this. It was only $1.50 a yard....and it's cute....I just have no idea what it's going to be yet :)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
