Purple & Gray Table Runner

This was made for a Christmas gift and because I didn't want it to be seen ahead of time, I haven't posted it yet - just a sneak peek on my Facebook page. I've had these bright colours here for a while and love the way they pop with a gray background!

 This size of table runner is so versatile - here it is on my dresser as a dresser scarf - great bedroom accent piece!

 Quilting is kept simple with a meandering all-over machine quilted pattern.

 And binding is machine stitched to the back and then top-stitches to the front.

And backed with a muted lavender print! I hope the recipient was happy when she opened this gift!

--Ann

Seasons Mini Quilt Swap

Maple Leaf Seasons Mini Quilt

Summer leaf details

Here's the finish on the Season's Mini Quilt that I posted about earlier this month. The maple leaf block is one I've used many times, but this time I didn't piece the stem. Instead, I machine stitched the veins in the leaves and the stem with a variegated green thread and then did a close stippling on the sky blue background.

I'm still waiting patiently for the quilt my partner made for me and will post it here as soon as I get it!

--Ann 

Custom Quilts Headed to Texas

 Just came back from the Post Office where I sent these quilts off to their new home in Texas! It's so exciting to see where my quilts are ending up and these bright blue quilts were a pleasure to make.

These photos are taken in our basement guest room which was repainted earlier this year from a chocolate brown to a creamy white. The room is much brighter now and the neutral colour means I can now take photos of my quilts there. I still need to make curtains for the window and am thinking that just a plain bleached muslin fabric would be perfect with a little black trim or  embroidery to add some detail.

Blue Tempest #1

Blue Tempest #2

The pattern chosen by the customer was the Tempest from Cherry House Quilts. Isn't it gorgeous here in shades of purple Kona cottons? The pattern was lost in transit and so I just improvised so I could get these quilts completed, but Cherri is resending, so I'll have a copy soon! Cherri is the author of the quilt book "City Quilts" which I've borrowed from the library and is on my quilt book wish list!

My sewing machine has been humming and I will be busy this week finishing gifts for Christmas!

--Ann

String Piecing Mug Rugs

I am a scrap fabric hoarder saver and this past week I took out my string fabric scraps. Strips of fabric that are larger than 3/4" and smaller than 2" are perfect for string quilts. I used some of my scraps up last year in this quilt that was made with a blocks from my online quilting friends:

Scrappy strings Baby Quilt

But I still have quite a few left and thought I'd use them for some craft sale projects. First thing I did was separate the strips by colour

Scrappy Strings ready to sew

 And on a piece of batting that was about 7"x9", I started sewing strips down, quilting as I went. The first strip goes on right side up and then the next strip right sides down on top of the first strip, lining up the edges. Sew a 1/4" seam and press open. Repeat on both sides of the first strip until the batting is covered.

Adding string scraps to batting

Trim square - I trimmed mine to 6.5"x8.5". Add backing fabric and bind as you would a normal quilt. Or if you're adventuresome, try turning your backing fabric to the front as binding.

Scrappy String Mug Rugs

And there I have some mug rugs (snack mats) that used up some of my scraps and hopefully will be great sellers at the craft sale I'm in on Saturday!

--Ann

Linking up with:
Quiltsy WIP Wednesday #34
Needle and Thread Network WIP Wednesday #63
Freshly Pieced WIP Wednesday

Tutorial - Fabric Basket

A year or so ago, my friend Marie taught me how to make these unique little fabric baskets. This is a perfect project for those fat quarters that you love, but don't want to cut into little pieces for a quilt! I'm making mine today with some Halloween themed fat quarters I won from Monika at Quiltlover from her Facebook page. I hope she likes what I decided to do with her fabrics!

Fabric Basket - FOR SALE

FABRIC BASKETS
Material list:

• 2 coordinating fat quarters (Fabric A-outside, Fabric B-inside)
• 1 piece batting 12.5" square
• 4 buttons
• basic sewing supplies

This project involves hand sewing - I'm sure after making a few of these, a sewing maven could figure out a few machine short-cuts! My green fabric with the black cats is Fabric A, and my Fabric B is purple. Click on any of the pictures for a close-up!

Layer your fat quarters on top of each other on your cutting board and cut a 12.5" square - or you can cut each one separately - it's entirely up to you!

Prep for sewing by layering from bottom to top - batting, Fabric A right side up, Fabric B right side down. No worries at this point if Fabric A and B are mixed up - it will all work out in the end! Pin with 2 or 3 pins on each side to keep layers together.

Sew with 1/4" or 3/8" seam - I just line up the edge of my pressure foot with the fabric - around the entire outside edge of your layered pieces, leaving a 2-3" opening for turning. Clip corners, and trim batting close to sewn seam to reduce bulk.

Turn right side out, paying attention to the corners - we want these neat and tidy as they'll be very visible in the finished product. Hand or machine sew opening closed - I prefer hand stitching as it is less obvious in the finished basket.

Divide each side in half - put in a pin to mark the centers. And then mark halfway between center and the corners (each side will be divided into quarters).

And now, the tricky part - working with the inside of the basket up, bring the pins marking outside pins in to meet the pin in the center. Using a coordinating thread, stitch these 3 points together. Don't despair if your stitching is less than perfect - it won't be noticeable if your thread blends well with your fabrics. After the third side, you should start to see the bowl of the basket forming! We're almost done!

Now, take your fabric corners and flip over the folded edges made by the previous step. I've tacked those folded edges down as they tend to poke out with the passage of time. This is one of those times that a picture just doesn't quite cut it - you'll get it when you have your basket in front of you!

Sew the point down with a decorative button - I've used these sparkly pumpkin ones that I found in the fabric store, but would love to use these ones I found on Etsy:

Polymer Clay Pumpkin Buttons Cofanetto on Etsy

My basket is done and ready to be filled - I'm off to the grocery store to stock up on Halloween candy to fill mine.

These are great for any occasion - I've made one for my grand-daughter for her hair accessories, one in my sewing room for sewing essentials, but I'm sure you can find all kinds of uses for yours! Have fun creating!

--Ann

Linking up with Tip Junkie - (so sorry, couldn't get the button to load!)

Zucchini Salsa

I'm still putting away the last of my garden produce and with tomatoes ripening daily and zucchini lingering in my fridge, I searched online for a great salsa recipe that would use both of them up. I found a simple recipe at Food.com for zucchini salsa and canned a few jars. It's a little sweet and very mild, so if you like your salsa hot and tangy, just reduce the sugar a bit and add some hot peppers.

We had a great Thanksgiving feast with all the kids and grandkids home and when a little person asked for a story, well, how could I refuse?

Happy Thanksgiving!
--Ann

Quilt Retreat

It's been a sluggish Monday morning for me - but that's pretty normal after spending a weekend quilting with friends at a quilt retreat. From mid-afternoon Friday to mid-day Sunday, we had no responsibilities and could sew to our hearts content. I'm just sorry I didn't take more photos to share with you!

Penny's quilt in progress

 I did some sewing on my sweet grand-daughter's quilt. The layout will not be the Sudoko-style layout I showed you earlier, but I think this one will be a little calmer with a little more white through the quilt.

Plan C - pattern by Carrie Nelson

 This pattern is one that I marked off to try from Carrie Nelson's book "Schnibbles times Two". The pattern is called Plan C and this is the smaller version of the quilt. I had some coordinating fat quarters I had picked up at a quilt show earlier this year and used them rather than the 5" charm squares called for in the quilt pattern.

Triple Irish Chain - FOR SALE

This one was the triple Irish chain quilt that I have totally fallen in love with! The colours are just beautiful and the fabrics are so pretty! I sewed the binding on the quilt, thinking I would hand-stitch it to the back when I got home, but my good friend, Imogene, picked it up and finished it with her beautiful hand-stitching! Thanks so much Imogene!

Do you take your projects on the road? Or have a group of friends that you can share your hobbies with? I love the way friendships grow from shared activities!

--Ann

Guest Room Make Over

Out of the way and private in the basement, this room was claimed by our oldest son when we moved here. He change the lighting from fluorescent fixtures in the drop-down ceiling to recessed potlights, added a dimmer switch and painted the trim a beautiful royal blue. When he left for college, the next oldest promptly moved out all his brother's belongings, painted the walls chocolate brown, and moved his stuff in. And life was good and these two found awesome women, got married moved out and are living their happily ever after.

Chocolate brown walls

Wall graffiti

The youngest son was happily living in an upstairs bedroom, but when his messy bedroom became too much to look at on a daily basis, he was moved downstairs into the vacant room while he was away one summer. Because he's a musician in the military reserves, his curtains were made from camo fabric. But this summer he moved out, and, well, some of his stuff went with him, and I took the opportunity to re-do this room into a more permanent guest room space.

Bright and light

Still need to add wall art here (and curtains)

Desk and closet

I still need to work on curtains for the window and for the closet door, but it's a brighter space and we've already had guests here to test it out. It was fun to re-do a space, spending a little on paint, but most of the other decor items were re purposed from other areas of the house. You'll probably see more photos of this space in the future as I plan on using it to photograph my quilts.

How about you? Have you re-done a room in your house? Used what you have in new ways to refresh a space?

---Ann

Sewing Room Update

I was surprised by my sweet husband this weekend as he helped me lug the bunkbeds to their new home downstairs and sent me off to IKEA to buy the frames for the bargain desk tops I found on Kijiji over a year ago. The end result is a room just for me - a sewing studio with a huge table for spreading out fabrics and cutting boards. There's still some fine tuning to do, but that will come as I use the space and figure out what works and what doesn't.

So pop on over and see where I will be doing my creating this fall:

The Board Room Cutting Table

Sewing desk in the corner

Ironing Board and storage in walk-in closet

Next full-size quilt in progress

And in cleaning up, I checked my inventory for the coming fall season and found a spot that I couldn't quite get rid of on one of my baby quilts, so it's reduced in price from $110 to $60. The spot will not affect wear and may disappear over a few washings.

Price Reduced from $110 to $60 - Buy Here!

I found a few more things in my cleaning up, so you'll be seeing them over the next little while.

--Ann

Picks from the Garden and a Pink Baby Quilt

Yesterday, I picked a few beets and made some lovely looking beet pickles. I don't think I've made them before, so I hope they taste alright! I do love how the golden beets look up next to the red beets! Very jewel toned colours!

Freshly picked beets!

Pickled beets ready for the pantry

 Just a peek at the 9-patch baby quilt top that is ready for quilting. The borders were not going to have 4-patches in the corners - I just cut the borders without thinking and cut 2 sides too short. So this is Plan B!

That's all for today!
--Ann

Back to the Sewing Machine!

 Well, it looks like my holiday is over and it's back to the sweat shop sewing room again! I have a custom quilt order that is just about finished and I should be able to show the 2 twin quilts, complete with pillow shams, to you later this week if the weather cooperates for a photo shoot.

And here's a sneak peek at what's on my design wall today - it felt a little weird to be working on Christmas quilts, but once the pieces were cut out, I couldn't wait to get them sewn together. I will be quilting these with some gold metallic thread and hopefully, the thread won't give me as much trouble as last time as I've gathered a few tips in the meantime!

Christmas Table Runner

My granddaughters were here for a visit last week and they were so awesome! We painted rocks, played at the park and just hung out. It was so great to have them stay!

Painting rocks? Or legs?

Just hanging out, like the monkeys!

Until next time!

--Ann

WIP Wednesday - July 4

Just a peek at what I have on my design wall and on my sewing table today!

Pillow Shams to match custom twin quilts

Binding attached and ready for hand-sewing.

Pink 9-patch baby quilt started

That's all for now! Thanks for looking!

--Ann