Tablecloth of many colors

Finished! This tablecloth was started, I'm ashamed to admit, 11 years ago in a class taught by Chris Bagley. I brought the top home from a get-away, and left in the bag for so long. It only needed a backing and binding! This year, my guild is challenging its members to finish long-ago projects. Since I've already started with 2 recent finishes, I'm looking forward to moving some more items out of their bags.


Recognize any of the Waverly prints? We had to bring home-dec pieces. To make the block (shown above), you placed nine different squares on top of each other, then sliced, shuffled, sliced, shuffled, repeat as necessary and piece. Finally, you just trim the blocks.


My completion (such a hard task) involved buying a wide muslin for the backing, tying with crochet cotton, and then machine sewing the binding on. With this much action, who would notice a crooked binding? The home dec fabrics have a teflon coating, which will help repel spills.

Can you see someone peeking out behind the curtain on the left?

It's Lucky, who is loving the radiator covers during the cold weather. I wish I could curl up with her.

Have a great day!

Finished- mini quilt

Have you ever made one of those jelly roll 1600 quilts ? They are the ones where you take a package of 40 2 1/2" strips and sew them together to make a really long strip and then sew that strip together, snip it, and sew it together again several more times until you end up with a quilt. I know - a very bad explanation, but this technique makes a very fast quilt. The 1600 is because there are 40 strips that are about 40 inches long. Google 1600 quilt if you want to see videos of people making these tops.

For a wedding gift, I had sewn the batik strips together on the diagonal, leaving the opportunity for some leftover tiny half square triangle bits. These I pieced together, making the center of my tiny quilt and thought of using them as a pretty potholder. My very wise quilting friends told me I was crazy, so the center just sat around. Since I'm on a finish it bent, I decided to make a mini-quilt. 

I didn't even baste, just pinned the quilt together with batting and tried matchstick quilting, somewhat following the path of the squares on this batik.

It finishes at 9 inches square and I call it Summer Rain.

There are small triangles in the back so a shortened chopstick can be used as a hanger. 

Now, I'm digging deeply into the quilt cave to find more beginnings to finish!

Weed Whacker

Have you tried the pattern Weed Whacker by Bonnie Hunter? I love how this pattern comes together and it's a great way to use up scraps. I can call most of these greens gone from my stash! This was started (ahem...) several years ago at a get-away taught by Tina over at Seaside Stitches. Hers was done up in beautiful multi-colored scraps, but I went for a similar-colored look. Today I pieced the back and pin basted so I can get quilting. Gotta love crawling all over the floor and in the humidity, the quilt top was sticking to me knees and lifting every time I moved.

The bonus pieces cut off each little group were used to make the pieced border. Scrap quilts always tell a story - there are pieces of my mother's fabric, some from a friend, pieces left from quilts I've given others. It's always fun to just look at the bits.



I moved all the furniture in my dining room as this quilt is HUGE. My dog zonked out in the heat and humidity and didn't make a move to walk on the quilt. The cat, however, has a mind of her own, but gracefully skirted the quilt edges.



And a bonus picture. My youngest son is working at the Weekapaug Inn in Westerly (just ranked #5 in the US for inns and lodges) and part of his job is taking people out on a salt pond and showing them how to dig clams. He brought me these beautiful quahogs (an Indian word for hardshell clam) for an appetizer last night. They look tiny, but they are all legal! The sugar package and mess is from chocolate frosting he was making for a cake. He's quite the chef.

Happy 4th of July tomorrow!

Window treatments

Tina over at Seaside Stitches posted about a challenge to sew every day in July. I accept! Today I finished some valances in my kitchen. First, though, is the modified roman shade in my breakfast nook. This Waverly toile fabric was gifted to me quite a few years ago by my friend Ellie, and all it needed was some lining fabric. 

The shade almost fully down. Can you see my dog in the lower left? He's checking for squirrels at my bird feeder!



I hang the shade from a rod and have screw eyes in the frame of my window. I know it's supposed to be attached to a block of wood, which is then screwed into the wood frame, but even though these are replacement windows, my window frames are OLD, and don't like too much screwed into them!



This is one of two tie-up valances. The ribbon came from JoAnn's yesterday with a 40% off coupon and an extra 15% for the teacher card. I'm thinking of painting the kitchen yellow, but that will have to wait.

Scrap quilt by Tora

My guild gets together about twice a year to create quilts for new Habitat for Humanity residents. This very scrappy quilt was designed a created by Tora, quilted by someone else and bound by me. 

This is one of the sashing treatments (navy stars) and below is the other with off-white sashing. In included the center of the quilt top. Tora added different borders to the top and bottom to make the quilt longer.









Notice the grey in each block corner as well as the red square with off-white rectangles. I call this quilt very scrap-happy!

Quilt for Gary

Not the greatest picture, but I wanted to record a gift being delivered on Saturday night. My school's 8th and 9th grade history teacher is retiring and I helped our art teacher create this quilt for a gift. She had the current 9th graders make a block depicting a sight from Washington D.C. after their trip with Gary last year as 8th graders. None of the kids were sewers, but using Heat-n-bond and running stitches they did a super job. Maria, the art teacher doesn't sew either, so she ironed, trimmed blocks and tied the quilt. 

This is the Indian print backing because Gary loves all things Native American. It's cheap poly batting and tied, so pretty bulky. Washing is not recommended, due to the nature of the applique!

Uncommon valor was a common virtue - The WW II Memorial.



I think this is the Lincoln Memorial??



The National Aquarium

Love this one.

Our school logo. All in honor of Gary Williams.

And Flann, checking out the quilt! 

Iron mat and carrier

My guild offered a workshop this morning to make this fabulous bag which opens to use as an ironing mat and closes to carry an iron that's still hot. I saw this bag being used at a class a while ago and knew it would need to join my supplies. Those blue buttons are ancient and who knows why I bought them!

This is a great way to use quilty print fabrics.

Some of the ladies used colored hair elastics, but I used 1/4" elastic. The inside is insul-bright and one layer of cotton batting. The silver fabric is for ironing boards. 

The pattern is from http://www.sisterscommonthread.com.

Done! Pot of flowers for Twisted Tradition

I'm not a big fan of appliqué- looking at it, yes, but working it myself is difficult. Too many stitches show here and there, but it is easier than last time.
Aren't these colors great? Block of the month with all fabrics chosen by Material Obsession in Australia

Twisted Tradition - Pot of Flowers

On school break now and have much more time for quilting. This pot of flowers will become the center of a much larger quilt. This is a block of the month from Material Obsession in Australia and I'm about a year behind.