Pampered Pooch

I bought these little charms (on sale) from the Quilt Cottage in Utah way back in September 2009, but I could never really get excited about what to make with them. They are an odd combination (in my opinion) of colors and designs, but I thought I would think of something to make with them since they were such a good deal.

Nothing really connected on what to do with them, but after watching Suzanne from Designs Originals on You Tube, I thought I'd at least use them to practice her technique of a 10-minute square. She used larger squares, but since I had these that's what's going into this quilt.

It takes five squares, one a different color for the center.

Fold the center piece in half.

Sandwich the folded center piece between two squares,

raw edges together. Sew down one side.

Sew the other side of the folded center between two

more squares. Clear as mud, right?

This is what it should look like when you've sewn the two sides,

sort of a little bridge.

Grab one square from each side, opening up the folded piece

to create a little pocket.

It should look like this. Pinning makes it a lot easier, though

I tend to be a non-pinner in most of my sewing projects.

Carefully sew across all the layers and avoid catching

pieces you shouldn't (this I know from experience.)

When you open it up, it looks like this. Magic!

Iron it nice and flat, making the corners line up with the seams.

You can straight seam sew around the edges, make them

into cathedral windows (whatever that is), or use a

decorative stitch around the edges like this.

These are some of the oddly colored/patterned squares that I now need

to arrange into a little boys quilt. The other squares in the

charm pack are girly colors, so I'll use them for a little girl quilt.

 To be continued........

The Ghastle Blog Hop

I was out blog stalking a few weeks ago looking for more Ghastlie fabric ideas and was "sew" lucky to find a really fun blog hop.

I've almost finished my other Ghastlie quilt (a table topper) and

will post it (hopefully) next week.

Really! I Finished Two Blankets!

I finished two baby blankets for the twins AND made a cute little tag to go on the package.

BUT...

I nicely packaged them up to be mailed, took them to the post office, came home, AND THEN remembered that I hadn't taken a picture of the finished products. Geez! Such a senior moment!

They were cute, though. Really. I promise. Sigh........

Finished...Finally! But, Just Beginning...

I've had two baby quilts sitting in a heap of other unfinished quilts and all they needed were the bindings sewn on. They were quilt-as-you-sew, so I couldn't use the excuse that I was waiting for them to be quilted. I like to think I was just unmotivated, not lazy. I decided to finish them today so that I could start working on my next Ghastlie quilt. I totally love that fabric!

With the arthritis in my hands I don't hand sew the binding on them (I know, it is a sin in the quilter's world to machine bind them, but I either machine bind them or I don't make them at all--I choose to sin!) If I ever make an amazingly heirloom-type quilt, I promise to hand sew the binding (while taking lots of Advil for the pain) or hire someone to do it for me.

This little quilt is for my nephew's baby, Luke, who was born in July. I kept meaning to finish it and ship it off to Japan where they are living at the moment, but I just couldn't get it together to finish it. Lucky for me, they'll be in town next month so now I don't have to mail it.

This "Objects of Desire" baby quilt made with leftover fabric strips will be sent off to my cousin's twins. Of course, I'll need to make a second one before I can send this one off. Sigh....I'll have to be motivated for that one another day.

Once the baby quilts were finished, I started on my Ghastlie quilt. I went looking for ideas and found Sew I Quilt Now, but unfortunately her fun Ghastlie project doesn't get started until October and I couldn't wait that long to get an idea of what to do. I WILL be checking back there, though, as I still have some Ghastlie fabric left.

I didn't use a pattern, though my creation is far from unique. I'm terrible at following directions, but occasionally do use a pattern. This time I winged it by starting with the dinner scene as my focal point and worked outward. Doing it this way is crazy, I know, and I did have to pick out a few seams to make it all line up. I still want to make it a little larger, so this isn't done. I'm just so excited to have started it!

The "Bye" tag for Ms. Y

Ms. Y is moving to Puerto Rico in about a month.

I will miss her!

I made her a quilt "to remember me by"

and this tag to go with it. I'll add a ribbon when

I'm sure what type of bag I'll be putting the quilt in.

I'm such an amateur with my stamping, but it is so fun to play around with.

A little embossing and distressing.

This was my first attempt with alcohol inks.  

Such A Slug!

I really have been playing with paper AND quilting, but haven't taken the time to post anything. What a slug I am!

Still Trying...

More attempts at distressing. I love watching Tim Holtz create--he makes it look so easy! Not so easy for me, though.

I've added a little bag in the center of the card to put a gift card or check. I like the ease of adding a bag that's appropriate for the occasion.

Distressed Card Attempts

I'm new to the distressed card world, so these first few attempts might just appear a little lame to those people that stamp, distress, and create all the time. Oh well, I had fun practicing.

A Week's Worth Of Projects

I still don't have my camera, so I had to use my phone camera to take pictures (not so good) of my projects.

I started this Mondo bag by Quiltsmart on Monday. Linda from Scrap Apple showed it to me at the quilt show I went to a few weeks ago. It looked easy enough. I've since learned I don't like making bags--I really hate making bags actually, but I will (hopefully) complete it at some point.

This is the process used to make it. Little squares ironed on specially marked pellon. Then I sewed each row one way and I will eventually sew it lengthwise. I'll add a liner, some handles, and the bag that I never want to sew another one of will be done. If I finish it, I will post it here.

My AccuQuilt was calling for me to make something with the cute dies I found at JoAnne's for $5.49 (they usually cost way, way more.) AccuQuilt has a Block of the Month project and since I've never done a Block of the Month project, I just HAD to do it. Using some of my Moda Serenity fabric that's been sitting around FOREVER, I started the project. I loved doing this and look forward to finishing the squares (if my Senior ADD doesn't get in the way.)

I picked up my quilt from Quilted Works. It's a bit flashy and bright, but since I'm so into "dead people" and researching them, the family tree fabric seemed to call my name.

While at Quilted Works, I looked around for inspiration and found this July 4th fabric. It called to me and now I'm making this wall hanging quilt with the parallelogram die cut from AccuQuilt.

Cherry Quilt

This is a quilt-as-you-sew blanket, but I added narrow stitching so that when I wash it, it will have a vintage, crinkled look to it.