Christmas Tree Skirt

My work in progress that I shared yesterday turned into this:

I convinced my husband that instead of a big real tree this year, we have a smaller fake one.  Our condo living room is quite small and the big tree takes up a ton of space (and blocks part of the TV).  I also didn't feel like cleaning the pine needles out of my convertible that we use to bring it home in. :)  This year I bought a super cute small pre-lit 4' tree and needed a new skirt.

I sewed together strips of fabric, alternated cutting them into 45 degree triangles, added tree trunks (they are a dark brown Kona), sashed each tree and sewed them into a circle.  It finishes at 30" wide which is perfect for our 4' tree.

My absolute favorite part of this skirt is the binding. I love how the stripes look.

It was complete luck that the tree above has a snowflake positioned as if its a star on top. :)

I ripped off all of the clear pre-lit lights and added multi-colored twinkle lights.  I could stare at it for hours.  We both love it!

Happy Sewing!

Work in Progress

I had the urge to work with Christmas fabrics... so I started cutting and sewing these last weekend.  The result was a pile of these triangles:

I'll share what this turns into soon! :)  It's hard getting good pictures with limited daylight hours!

Vintage Modern Quilt

My work in progress is complete!

With much inspiration from Film in the Fridge's FMF version of the Swirling Medallion quilt, I made my own Vintage Modern wall hanging.  The swirling medallion quilt pattern can be found in the Quilting Modern book.

As I mentioned before, this quilt was made for the Las Vegas Modern Quilt Guild's Bonnie and Camille Quilt Challenge. The rules were simply that we can use any B&C fabric and make any quilt we want.

 
This quilt finished at 34"w x 46"h.  It will make a perfect wall hanging as I slowly replace all the boring brown and beige colors in our home.

The white binding was a suggestion from my husband.  He usually runs out of the room if I ever ask him anything design related... so I'm not sure what prompted his input this time.  It brightens up the quilt - he made a good choice!  I also successfully hand stitched the binding on.  I'm getting much better at it and I love having something to do while watching TV.

I added two stripes to the back along with my standard embroidered name/date stamp.  I love how the quilting is highlighted on the back.

The awesome news is that my quilt won in the 'Best Use of Fabric' category!!  I received a Jelly Roll of Bonnie and Camille's Marmalade! :D

Work in Progress

The Las Vegas Modern Quilt Guild is hosting a Bonnie and Camille Quilt Challenge.  We can use any B&C fabric and make any quilt we want.

I purchased a charm pack of Vintage Modern and was on my way!  Here was my happy little spot this past weekend:

Our projects are due at our November meeting, so I will share photos of my finished project after that. :)

Cat Nap Pad

My friend is a huge comic book fan.  He's also a gamer who's cat always sits right next to his computer while he's on it.  For his birthday I made him (and his cat) a Cat Nap Pad.

I sandwiched 4 layers of warm and natural quilt batting in between the comic book print and a layer of Minky on the back.  If he wants he can flip it and use the cotton side so its cooler in the summer or use the Minky side so its warmer for the winter.

I went through four needles making this.  I snapped three in the four layers of quilt batting but the last needle survived! I really wanted it to be soft as she's currently laying on a glass table.

I sewed the layers the wrong sides together and flipped it inside out and hand stitched (*gasp*) the opening closed.  I don't remember the measurements but the fabric piece I used was about the size of a fat quarter.

He said as soon as he put the pad down on the table she immediately plopped right now: 

Action shot!

r/aww  :)

New York Beauty Mini Quilt

I saw a friend post a Mini New York Beauty and absolutely loved it.  I've never paper pieced before so I wanted to give it a shot.  What ended up was this mini wall hanging (aka Cubicle Quilt):

Fabric: Silent Cinema - Front Row in Yellow,  Meadowsweet 2 - Henna Garden in Raspberry,
Kona White, Kona Cerise and Petal (triangles), Kona Berry (binding)

 I had a lot of firsts on this mini quilt!  The paper-piecing was fun, but I disliked picking the paper off the back. I used a shorter stitch length with regular printer paper and then tweezered that stuff out of the tiny points.

I also used my Bernina stitch regulator (BSR) and made up the quilting as I went.  I was worried that it was not going to be consistent.. but as a whole I love it.

 (It was super hard to get that berry color to show up accurately in my photos.. this is the closest to the correct color)

This was my second shot at hand stitching on the binding.  As suggested before, I used a smaller needle.  It took me a while, but I'm getting a little better.  I'm still struggling with how to tie off (hide) the end of the thread.  Especially the very last binding stitch...  (any tutorial suggestions?)

Here's a crappy picture of all of the quilting on the back.  Nobody is going to look at the back so it doesn't bug me that my thread knots are showing.

Happy Sewing :)

Washi Lunch Bag

I made another because I loved the Berry Lunch Bag I made so much! I used the Lunch Bag Tutorial from Pink Penguin.

I am a huge fan of this Washi fabric line by Rashida Coleman Hale.  The colors scream me. :)

As with the other bag, I added a layer of duck cloth and waterproof polyurethane laminate (PUL) on the inside.

To both bags I added stitching on the top and bottom of the rim as well as one just below the bottom rim.  This sealed in the inside raw edges of the top cover as well as looking more finished on the outside.

Happy Sewing!

Secret Quilter Gifts

Here's my Secret Quilt Gifts group shot.

The little scrabble pendant you see in the picture is this Sugar Skull that I got from HomeStudio's shop on Etsy that Zany Quilter helped me find.  My Secret Quilter once made a iPad cover that she embroidered a sugar skull on... so I hope she likes this one as well!

Berry Lunch Bag

My final Secret Quilter gift for the LVMQG retreat is this lunch bag that I shared an in-process picture of last week!  I used the Lunch Bag Tutorial from Pink Penguin.

I love this bag so much.  The solid fabric on it is Kona Berry.  I cut up 2.5" squares to make the patchwork surrounding it.  I tried to incorporate all of her favorite fabric types... dots, Flea Market Fancy, Tula Pink...etc.

The top cover is Oval Elements in Crocus.

To make the bag extra sturdy, I added a layer of duck cloth in addition to the interfacing.

The black area inside is waterproof polyurethane laminate (PUL).  I had some leftover after making black waterproof gadget covers for my dad and thought it would be useful in here!

I added an extra layer of stitching just above the squares for looks and to cover the raw edges on the inside.

More Drawstring Bags

Another Secret Quilter gift for the LVMQG retreat is this cute little bag.

I put Flea Market Fancy Eyelets on the inside with a little Joel Dewberry's Deer Valley Lodge Lattice in Peony and Moda Hideaway Edelweiss in Snow on the outside.

I made a couple more.  I'm still not 100% sold on the colors I pick on the left bag.  I'm still questioning the pink print I used.  I decided I was over-thinking it and then just went for it.  Oh well.. win some lose some!

Sharon's Block Swap... Block

Just a quick post to share Sharon's block for the LVMQG block swap!

The fabric is From Little Things by Sarah Fielke.

Mini Spool Quilt

For our LVMQG retreat we participated in a Secret Quilter swap.

 I made a mini spool quilt for my secret quilter who said she likes sewing themed items and decorates her sewing room in bright red and lime green.

My intention was to do long squiggles on the quilting.  My husband says they look like little people with their arms in the air.

On the back I put in a little piece of ribbon in the middle before I sewed the binding down to make it easy to hang.

The finished size is about 14" x 14".  I hope she likes it!

Little Projects

A lunch bag in progress...

I am using Pink Penguin's Lunch Bag Tutorial.

and a couple of pillowcases for Conkerr Cancer.

Fabric Pulled for Wonky Stars Quilt

My next quilt is completely inspired by Fresh Lemon's Twilight Lullaby Quilt.  Only my color scheme is green orange blues and grays. 

I made a couple of test blocks:

I absolutely love the little cars and firetrucks!

It always takes me forever to combine fabrics for a quilt.  I doubt myself over and over and have a hard time deciding if it matches.  Some of the above fabrics probably won't make it into the quilt.  And some I will pull out of these stacks only to put them back in later after I convince myself that it will look fine in the end.  Anyone else have this problem?

I heart chain piecing

My Orange Challenge Swap quilt has been done for over a month and I still have yet to take pictures of it.  It's REALLY hot right now in the Nevada desert, so when I feel like braving the outside I'll get out and take some pictures.  In the meantime, here it is in its growing phase:

That ruler that I'm using is the Creative Grids Quick Trim Ruler.  It made these pieces come together quickly and is great for quick binding.  Everyone in the LVMQG is currently obsessing over it :)

Wellington Park Pillow

I've been busy sewing I just cannot show you anything!  We're having another LVMQG retreat and I'm making stuff for our Secret Quilter swap.   If I post anything it will give it away!

This is a block from the Wellington Park quilt pattern by Elizabeth Hartman.  You can find the pattern here.  I actually made this block last year but forgot to post about and forgot to take completed photos!

I just made one block and turned it into a pillow for a friend that has a blue/yellow/tan living room.  I used mostly Picnic Parade (her favorite prints) by Jeanean Morrison.

I quilted the front in a diagonal pattern.... here is the back of it so you can see the pattern.

...and embroidered their names on the back to personalize it.

Orange Challenge Quilt Progress

I've been working on my orange quilt over the past month.  Here's a sneak peek at the blocks I've been working on.  The whole quilt will be made from the fabrics we swapped at our April meeting.  (more here)  I'm using the Picnic pattern from book Scrap-Basket Sensations.

The blocks in the above picture are actually the 12 blocks that went missing for 2 days.  They landed under other crap in my sewing room and I tore apart everything looking for them.  Once I found them I was so happy that I took a picture. :)

Modern Patchwork by Elizabeth Hartman

I also pre-ordered this book and received it last week.  I love it so much.  She did such a great job and I totally intend on making something from the book in between staring at the pictures in it.