Sunday, December 31, 2017

Pre - Cutting for 2018

It's so easy to be productive in the sewing room when I have the parts cut out and waiting for assembly.

Today I'll be sharing those strange pictures of fabric piles with pre-cut parts.

These 1st 4 pics are cut for quick donation projects;  I call it Mary's Strippie. I cut extra strips to add to the sides, adjusting the shape a bit.  It is designed by Mary Johnson of Heartstrings yahoo group.  She shares the free pattern on her site   HERE  .

Mary's Strippie










Irish Chain Challenge


This photo shows the pre-cut strips for the Irish Chain challenge.  The alternating blocks will be the beige print fabric.
Irish Rose - *ignore the leaf pattern*




This photo shows a collection of pre-cut 3-1/2 inch squares for a scrappy 9-Patch ICC which will alternate with open blocks for quilting.  There is also the green collection of quarter square triangle pieces cut for Bonnie Hunter's Hourglass quilt.



This photo shows an assortment of green pre-cut 2-1/2" squares.  As I work thru my scrap bins with a cutting system, I can collect for this wonderful scrappy Irish Chain quilt





Related image
inspiration only



This is my version of Bonnie Hunter's mystery, I'm calling it  On Ringo's Starr.  The star blocks are all made from the scrap bins.  I have the alternating blocks cut from chocolate browns.



That's it.  A bunch of new starts for the new year, plus I had  a few unfinished leftovers, just a few.
Aiming for lots of lovely finishes in 2018.

Happy New Year  !!

Saturday, December 30, 2017

Creating a scrap users system ...................

Preparing fabric scraps for more efficient use in 2018,   I'm trying to create a system that will work for me.  I wish I took a photo of the bin before I attacked it with iron and scissors and go cutter.

I  kept my larger pieces of scraps , up to a FQ  in the skinny drawers and the loose bits of pieces, strips and strings in the larger bin, sorted by color family.

Now I'm trying to make my own pre-cuts and organize them in an easily usable system.  I thought of keeping little dividers in the bin to keep the pre-cuts separated,  but now I'm wondering if it will work better if I keep the pre-cuts in the skinny drawers and the bigger pieces in the bin.  I think I'll try that.

At this point, I tossed the strings, anything skinner than 2 inches,  into a bag.  I will collect them there, maybe one bag for warm colors and one bag for cool colors.
This system will be a work in progress , just like my sewing work room seems to be.



Here is the small bin,  2 - 1/2 inch strips,  2 inch strips,   2-1/2 inch squares,  2-1/2 inch hst units and 2 inch squares; the large bin has bits separated in the front and the pile of larger pieces & near FQ size just behind it.  I intend to spend some more time on the larger pile and cut up the unusual shapes.
(P.S.  if the strip is shorter than 1/2 WOF i.e. 20 inches,  should I cut it up into squares?)




Here is some pre-cuts for 2018 projects.......  3-1/2 inch squares for a scrappy 9-patch chain and lots of QST units for  Bonnie Hunters 'Hourglass' - the  L/E project of 2016




I also have alot of odd sized strip - set leftovers, which I'm not good at tossing out and  haven't figured out how to use them yet.  Here is the green collection..................  What would you do with these?



I invite your suggestions to help me make it a useful system. 


 I started with the green bin, to  get a feel of how to approach this process.  I plan to use the RSC18 challenge to work thru the rest of the color bins.  By fall, I should have it totally under control.  LOL  I also have last years RSC projects to finish, need more blocks to add to the churn dash quilt and many more blocks to add to my 20 Triangles quilt, more crayons, more ......  I hope my only new add project for RSC18 is the Hourglass.

Thanks so much for stopping by.

Tuesday, December 26, 2017

Playground Quilt

It's a finish and already gifted out - as of yesterday.  Yay!

I called this one the Playground quilt, that's what all the colors and logs and pinwheels made me think of children at play.  It finished at 41 x 57, a nice play size. 

I saw a photo on the internet which inspired this quilt.  It is also a result of  this years' jelly roll challenge at Stashbusters yahoo group.  I made 4  great tops from that challenge.



and here is the back, a happy lime green fleece;  the quilting shows up very well from the back; the color is a prettier shade than it shows in this photo;  I had to take the pics indoors.

 I used the westalee honeycomb template and a curved template for the pinwheel areas,  and the lineworks template for framing in the ditch.










I'm linking up with a few of my favorite parties this week. Be sure to visit them to see what other creative quilters are sharing.



Have a great Holiday Week.  Thanks so much for stopping by.

Friday, December 22, 2017

Sunday, December 10, 2017

Petals Across The Pond

I know it seems I've been bone-idle for the last couple of months,  but truly I have been working diligently hard on this project, which I can finally share now.

DIL picked out this design from internet photos.  This was a virtual quilt design by Judy Butcher of virtualquilter.wordpress.com.  I was not provided with the project file or instructions, I just made my own plan for it, with a few minor adjustments, mainly to make the center medallion into a rectangle.  Judy lives in Australia, which may help  explain the name of the quilt.  Thank you, Judy,  for sharing this  design inspiration.

This quilt has 1,106 raw-edge appliqued petals.   The quilt finished at  96 x 106 .  It sure feels bigger when you try to lift it.  Most of it was quilted on my Janome 9400 using westalee rulers and templates.  What alot of fun I had!




and here is the back:



and a close up:



a different angle:




As this is a huge finish for me,   I am joining linky parties all week.  Please visit these sites to see what other creative quilters are sharing too.

Wednesday  -  Sew Fresh Quilts
                  -  QuiltFabrication
 Thursday  -  My Quilt Infatuation
Friday  -  T.G.I.F.F.

Also sharing with my inspiring and helpful Yahoo friends!

Thanks so much for stopping by!

Friday, November 24, 2017

Friday Quilt Hop * 11-24-17



Welcome to the Friday Quilt Hop.
I hope you discover some new inspiration today.





http://www.piecencutpatchwork.com/
hoover your mouse over the title headers at the top of the page; drop-down lists will display with options to free instructions

https://poweredbyquilting.com/tips-tutorials/

http://www.iamlunasol.com/p/patterns-tutorials.html

http://www.felicityquilts.com/p/tutorials.html


Have a great weekend.  Thanks for stopping by.

Wednesday, November 22, 2017

The Adventure Begins

My last  ' real project '   post was in September.  I have spent the last few months working mostly on one project .... until I get a proper name, I call it the petal quilt.   More about that another time.

Today I get to share this baby/child quilt.  It is 48 x 60.  It was a fleece kit, meant to be no-sew, but of course, I would quilt it.  A simple diagonal grid, not to detract from the pretty design, ready to be gifted tomorrow.



here is the back, a lively binding, the only tones of blue I had to compliment the quilt center.



Today I'm linking up with  Sew Fresh Quilts  and  Quilt Fabrication.  Be sure to visit there to see what other quilters are sharing today.

Wishing you all a blessed Thanksgiving season.  Thanks for stopping by.

Friday, November 17, 2017

Friday Quilt Hop * 11-17-17



Welcome to the Friday Quilt Hop.
I hope you discover some new inspiration today.





a gathering of quilting tutorials from all over the internet;  use the " older entries "  button at the end of the page to get to the next page;  I quit clicking at Page 51,  but there are more ........

http://www.keepnuinstitchesquilting.com/category/tutorials/


http://kissedquilts.blogspot.com/p/resources.html

http://www.quiltscapesqs.com/p/tutorials-small-projects.html


Have a great weekend.  Thanks for stopping by.

Friday, September 29, 2017

Keep It Simple Strippy # 3 - OMG

This is a dual-purpose finish ,  my UFO challenge for Stashbusters and my One Monthly Goal finish for Elm Street Quilts.

Last year I cut up several kits for the KISS pattern.  You can find the free pattern here:
http://sewpreetiquilts.blogspot.com/2016/02/craftsy-sweetens-up-my-life-blog-hop.html

I gave a few kits to the quilt club for mission projects and I have fun making some up too. 


I pledged this finish to Elm Street Quilts for One Monthly Goal here:



Here it is ..... I forgot to take a pic of the backing, a fun zig zag pattern on fleece.  The border is a navy, which looks black in this photo.  I quilted it with ruler foot and straight edge ruler.  It has a fluffy poly batt and fleece backing.


Linking up this finish with Patty of Elm Street Quilts for one monthly goal:



Thanks for letting us join in the fun.  

Friday Quilt Hop * 9-29-17



Welcome to the Friday Quilt Hop.
I hope you discover some new inspiration today.





http://www.arabesque-scissors.com/tutorials-1/
click 'older entries' words for the 2nd page

http://madebymarney.com/category/free-patterns/

http://www.sillymamaquilts.com/category/tutorials/
6 pages

http://www.freckledwhimsy.com/p/quilt-tutorials.html

Have a great weekend.  Thanks for stopping by.

Friday, September 15, 2017

Friday Quilt Hop * 9-15-17



Welcome to the Friday Quilt Hop.
I hope you discover some new inspiration today.





some really fun and modern quilt blocks
http://quiltersplanner.com/weekly-blocks/

http://www.canuckquilter.com/p/tutorials.html

http://www.ctpub.com/categories/free-projects.html?sort=bestselling&page=1
3 pages to explore

http://arianequilts.blogspot.ca/p/links-to-great-tutorials.html?m=0
probably been here before, but she has a nice collection of tute links


Have a great weekend.  Thanks for stopping by.

Monday, September 4, 2017

KISS #3 - OMG

This little project serves several commitments in one.  It qualifies as a UFO because the strips were cut up into a kit  before Christmas last year.   I need a UFO finish soon as my name is climbing up the challenge list on Stashbusters.

I call this project KISS #3 because it is my third time making this pattern.  You will find the free instructions over here at  Sew Preeti Quilts.  She calls it "Keeping It Simply Strippy".  Scroll down the page to find the instructions.    It is a quick and painless way to whip up a child quilt top.

http://sewpreetiquilts.blogspot.com/2016/02/craftsy-sweetens-up-my-life-blog-hop.html


Here is my top #3.


Okay,  so now I've had this top sandwiched for a few weeks.   I need a finish.  I'm committing this project as my One Monthly Goal for September.  It needs quilted and bound and ready to gift.

One Monthly Goal is a program held by Patty of Elm Street Quilts.  I'm participating this month through this link:

     http://www.elmstreetquilts.com/2017/09/one-monthly-goal-september-link-up.html

Also linking up with  Small Quilts and Doll Quilts for Design Wall Monday.

Be sure to visit these sites to see what other quilters are sharing today.
Thanks so much for stopping by.

Thursday, July 27, 2017

Friday Quilt Hop * 7-28-17



Welcome to the Friday Quilt Hop.
I hope you discover some new inspiration today.




Yep, I know it's Thursday ..........   but  as I will be gone Friday and Saturday, I thought you wouldn't mind getting this post a day early.  So,  here's to exploring more quilting .........


http://patchencasa.blogspot.com/p/links-patrones-gratuitos.html

https://nightquilter.com/tutorials/

http://marelize-ries.blogspot.com/p/blog-page.html

http://homesewnbyus.com/tutorials/

http://www.conniekresin.com/category/tutorials
15 pages of tutorials


Thanks so much for stopping by.

Over 60's Yellow -- OMG

This month I made a commitment to OMG to complete the hand embroidery on my yellow Over 60's block.  Here is that post:

            http://scrapboxquilts.blogspot.com/2017/07/the-over-60s-yellow-omg.html


Today I can share that finish .....................



Sharing this finish with the One Monthy Goal link-up.................. Be sure to visit there to see what other creative quilters have finished this month.

                http://www.elmstreetquilts.com/2017/07/one-monthly-goal-july-finish-link-up.html






Thanks so much for stopping by.

Saturday, July 22, 2017

RSC17 - Blues

I pulled blues from the scrappy bins, a different one for each block.  I  finally stopped at 22.  I did get tired of making this block before I was finished with this batch.  This could be why the RSC challenges work for me,   only a few blocks at a time, not the entire project at once.



I also made blue crayons for a child quilt ..............



I met my piecing goals for this month  I'm happy to get back to machine quilting.  Today I'm linking up with the creator of the RSC challenge ...........  Angela at Soscrappy.  

Sunday I'll join the party with Cynthia for Oh Scrap.

 Be sure to visit there to see what other quilters are creating with their scraps.

Thanks so much for stopping by.