Finally quilted my Sudoku quilt.....

I finally quilted this Sudoku lap quilt on the machine. Any machine quilting is a struggle for me....even straight line like this one. Took me all day and I was so glad to be done with it.I'm still sewing down the binding so only two sides are done in the photo. It was interesting to see a Sudoku puzzle done in fabric, because many of the same fabrics end up next to each other consistently, which I did not realize until seeing it done "visually". And of course you can not change that and still have a correct solution to the puzzle! Would be fun to do a kid's "I spy" quilt this way.
This was suppose to be a Christmas present for one of my sisters, so it is about time I got it done! I really loved the colors and fabrics in it. These are my favorite colors in quilts usually....green, purple, black. I have one that I made for myself, too in different colors.....now I just have to psych myself up to quilt another one!......but not for a while.

Sizzling hot!.......

When it is cold and snowy outside what should you do? Start a "sizzling hot" orange quilt! This was a technique that I learned for a border as part of a class that I took with Janet Jones Worley to make her "Chocolate Ripple" quilt. I liked the look and have been wanting to use it again on something. The peaks of this make me think of "fire" so with the orange color it seemed like a good idea. Take two squares.....each cut 8 3/8".
Stack them right sides together, draw a diagonal, and sew 1/4" on each side of the diagonal line.

Cut them apart and iron them open, making two half-square triangle blocks.

Make two stacks. Turn them to face each other as shown. THIS IS IMPORTANT.

Slice each of the blocks in 2" pieces.

Rearrange their order as shown.

When both blocks are sliced and rearranged they look like this.

Sew them together and you have your first "sizzling" block!

I feel warmer already!

I'm combining different combinations of orange and hot gold. I've been doing a reverse block of each combination, also for variety. I don't know yet how I want to arrange them. There are lots of possibilities! When I get more made and decide how they are going to end up, I will do an update! But it is a fun block in any color combination. On my sidebar is a very different combo shown in greens and brown around my "2 Scoops Please" quilt from the "Chocolate Ripple" class.

Puss in the Corner......

(I think this is also called Expanded 9-Patch. The quilt above was made by Cyndy A. who was our teacher for this workshop)

I took a workshop from our local quilt guild today and learned a fast way to make Puss in the Corner blocks. This may not be new to others, but it was new to me and I found myself getting a lot done in a short time! This block can be made any size you want, but these instructions are for making 5" finished blocks which will then be 4 1/2" when sewn into a quilt top.
Here are step-by-step instructions:1. Start with a large stack of 6" squares of fabrics. This is a great way to use up left-overs and make a nice scrappy quilt with an old-fashioned look.

2. Stack a pair of squares with right sides together. Make a cut at 3" and then one at 1 1/2" as shown above. (If you are starting with a different size make first cut at the half point and the second at half of one of the halves).

3. Sew the two dark strips to the side of the light half and the two light strips to the dark half.

4. Leaving the two sewn pieces folded lay them on your cutting board and....

5. ...cut them as you did before. Cut at the 3" mark and then cut one half again at the 1 1/2" mark.

6. Iron them open. Now put the pieces together as shown above, matching the corners of the squares.

7. Ta da! Now you have two Puss in the Corner blocks that are opposites of each other!

I found that if I cut a large stack of them with the first set of cuts, that I could than sit and chain piece them in pairs. Then I made my second cuts, ironed them open, and sat again to sew the final seams. This went quickly. I've made over 70 blocks already! They can be set in a quilt in many ways. They look very nice set on-point with a neutral fabric in-between.

Here are a bunch of my pairs pinned on the board. Should be a very scrappy look when I get done and is a great way to use up left-over pieces from other quilts. Obviously if you want all your blocks to look the same, this method won't work. You will always get a pair of opposites from your two originals. The nice part is you are never messing with little 2" squares. I also found that the corners matched up nicely in almost every case without me having to pin anything before sewing. A great time saver!

Doilies and lace......

Was posting some lace memories in my other blog....This, That and the Other Thing. Thought it might interest here, also. Check out Peggy's blog Antimacassars and D'Oyleys if you love doilies! She has some lovely stuff.

After Christmas....projects finished...mostly

I don't know why I wait to the last minute to work on Christmas projects! I kept thinking of new things I wanted to do for someone and thought I would never finish....still have a couple things to finish! Bags.....I received a bag like this as a gift a couple years ago, and decided to copy it for some family and friends. So without the pattern, I just "winged it" and figure out how to make this. It really is simple and if perfect for "charm packs" if you have those. I got a nice deal on a fat quarter pack right before Christmas and made 3 in the adult size and one half size one for a little girl to match her mommy's bag. All I had to buy was some lining fabric to match, which I found locally.
I started this black and white vest for myself to wear over the holidays....but didn't finish it until the day after Christmas....oh, well.

It is reversible, so I put a beautiful batik fabric I love on the inside for my "wilder" days :-) You can see my one unfinished table runner hanging behind the vest. I sold one runner to a blogging friend and still have one that is finished and this one that needs to be put together yet.

The little squares pinned next to it and the green one on it are little "jewels" that I'm making that can be pinned on here and there if I want them for decoration....an experiment. I haven't finished beading them all yet, but intend for them all to be different.

I had a whim to make this little Christmas wall hanging and didn't finish it until after Christmas...but it's done! Now what do I do with it??? I got the idea from a card that I saw that had white squares with circles of Christmas motifs in each square. I hand quilted it, which is why it took me so long, even though it is small! I should have displayed it somewhere other than on this curved couch back...distorts its shape.

Been making a lot of coasters for gifts and also prizes in my other blog. This coaster and tea wallet were for a little gift exchange we had among some quilters at a luncheon. I put some tea with it. I made one coaster with a paper pieced cardinal and one with a rose and forgot to take photos of either one....sigh.

These orange coasters are yet to be mailed prizes...headed to Russia! (Are you reading this Alexandra?) I did some similar red ones and forgot to take photos.

I had a piece of printed fabric with winter animal motifs on it and turned them into coasters for a bunch of people. I think I have enough left to make myself a couple! I really liked these little animals and they were just the right size.

Turning one of my Sudoku quilt tops into a lap quilt for my sister....she will get this late...sigh. I just need to get some backing fabric and attempt to quilt it myself.....straight line probably. I just can't get comfortable with the machine quilting yet and am always afraid to try it on a gift!

I usually begin the year with an inventory of my UFO's from the past year and a resolution to get them finished! This year I think I will begin the year with a new project and let the UFO's take care of themselves for the time being. I'll try to post some resolutions on what I will try this next year in my next post....got to think about this and pull some fabrics out.

Sew Saturday November....

There were 6 of this month at the Sew Saturday after Thanksgiving. I finally completed 2 of my Christmas runners that I now hope to sell, if I can figure out what a fair price would be. Both runners have the same center blocks which I machine pieced last month. I lightly machine quilted around them and did a bit of decorative hand stitching on the tops with embroidery thread.
The backs are different.

I love the rose fabric on the back of this one.

June is doing beautiful applique work on this quilt top she bought on the Treasure Table.

Earlene was sewing blocks together for a quilt with a spring look.

Rosie was making a raggy blue jean quilt.

Mary Jane had put her Krazy Quilt blocks together for a small lap quilt and was adding borders. She used the lovely black floral for the outer border and I wish I had a shot of it...very pretty!

I always manage to miss someone. Charlotte was cutting out pieces to make paperback book covers for Christmas presents. Nice little gifts! I didn't get a picture of them.

Sew Saturday is always a lot of fun and it makes me get busy and work on things that I put off when I am at home. Sewing with friends is always more fun :-)

Christmas stockings done!....

I finally finshed the 4 Christmas stockings that my sister commissioned from me to go with the one that I made her granddaughter last year. Click on any photo to make it larger. Here are the 4 toes :-) The fronts get a patchwork look and fancy hand stitching.
The backs get a striped look and just a few added details other then the lace trims.

Mary's was the most unusual because of her choice of colors and fabrics and harder to work with. I try to make each one different in some way. She got a wreath with ribbon roses, fancy buttons, silver snowflake buttons.

Dorothy's got that unusual piece of lace trim that I put on the toe and a ribbon wreath, poinsettias and candles and musical notes (she sings and plays piano)

Peter loves castles and such. Also, he is a strong Christian, so he got a "Strong Tower" and a couple of shields (the sheild of faith to ward off the enemies arrows).

Abi likes irises and I had a lot of fun learning to do ribbon irises on hers. They chose their basic colors. These were fun, but doing 4 at once was a job. Of course, I had an entire year and didn't have to wait until the last minute!.....but I did. Will mail these as soon as I take them and show them to my quilt guild. I hope to make a couple of generic ones without so much stitching to sell before Christmas. No names. I hated doing the names most of all. Very hard to keep the thread tight enough and I was not real happy with the names.