Mini Valentine Quilts

Pink hearts quilt with vintage lace trim around the hearts.

I used bubble quilting to echo the pattern of the white on white background fabric. This is done with light pink thread.

The binding is done with jelly roll strips from the Love Is In the Air collection by Deb Strain.

Inside these hearts I did a quilting design that echoes the squares printed on the fabric. The background quilting is a random stippling done in hot pink thread.

Here is the finished quilt bound in some red Kona solids.

Laptop Case for Me

I had to come home and whip up one of these for myself tonight. I got some double-sided quilted fabric in a wild floral pattern I love. Very Vera Bradley-like. The upside of using pre-quilted fabric is that you get an extra layer of cushioning.

I adjusted the measurements of the pattern according to the size of my Dell Mini. Halfway through I was afraid that my little computer would not fit, but it did--perfectly!

The back of this fabric has the accent stripes as seen here on the flap. Love this pattern--thinking about making a tiny little case for my ipod next and maybe my digital camera, too!

Skeleton Tatoo Laptop Case

Materials ready to start assembling the laptop cover. This bolt of fusible fleece was on sale at JoAnnes this weekend. Whoo-hoo!

My cousin picked out and purchased these fabrics. The skulls kinda grew on me the more I looked at them! Can anyone tell who her favorite band was (and still may be)?

I chose to quilt only the roses after applying the fusible fleece to the opposite sides of both prints. That part took forever. (The fusing, not the quilting.) I added the fleece to both layers of fabric to provide extra cushioning for the computer.

The finished case is 9.5 inches high and 13.5 inches long. It should hold the laptop snugly.

Here is the top with the flap in place. It looks pretty good, if I do say so myself! If Frida Kahlo had a computer I bet she would want this for her case!

Here it is open, ready for a computer to slide inside. I used this very wide velcro because it is what I had on hand, but I think it will provide extra grip to hold the case closed.

You can see the interior print here. I quilted it in a random stippling with red thread.

Soon it will be on its way to its owner--hope she likes it!

Pieces of Eight Finished

I started this stacked coins quilt some time ago and had not finished it. I was trying to use the quilt as you go method as a way of not having to wrangle large quilts under my normal sized sewing machine. It made the quilting much easier to work on smaller pieces at a time, but I was stumped about a good way to finish it off.

When I joined these three sections together, I ended up with a noticeable lumpy seam on the front of the quilt. I wanted the back to be smooth, with no toe-catching seams, but that left a mess on the front to contend with.

I got a flash of inspiration recently at how easy it is to bind a quilt using folded strips from a jelly roll. I joined two strips to give me the length I needed, folded it in half and sewed it along the seam just as though I were sewing a binding onto the edge of the quilt. Then I flipped it over the raw seam and stitched it down, covering up the seam allowances neatly!

I used additional strips from the jelly roll to make the binding. Once this goes through the washing machine it will be ready for me to use.

The fabric in this quilt is Nest by Tula Pink, one of my favorite collections and favorite designers. This is the second quilt I have made using this collection and I still have four yards of my favorite print in four different colorways. In case you are curious it is these birds formed from foliage.

Authentic Canvas Tote Bag

The bottom part of this bag is made with canvas fabric from the Authentic line by Sweetwater. I bought one yard of this fabric, a piece that is 36x54 inches. I figured out that if I cut it into fourths, I would have plenty of material to make 4 bags.

The top of the bag is designer outdoor canvas from JoAnne Fabrics. Didn't write down the name of the pattern, I just chose it because I like the starbursts.

I sewed the handles into the seam between the two kinds of fabric and then top stitched them down for extra strength. I have never made handles like this before, but I love the way they came out. I might make the handles a little shorter next time.

Love the way this came out. One down, three more to go!

Three Hearts Wallhanging

I completed this wallhanging tonight. The three hearts are appliqued with raw edge technique, then I added more stitching that echoes the shape. The binding is the same fuschia fabric as the center heart.

I used free motion quilting to create a lacy edge doily effect around the hearts. This is done with burgandy thread, which really shows up on the white background fabric. This is a white on white fabric with overlapping circles.

A view of the quilting from the back. I chose to use bubble quilting because of the overlapping circles in the background fabric. You may notice that some of the quilting lines from the heart are not showing, that is because I quilted the interiors of the hearts before adding the backing fabric.

I can already see areas of improvement for the next version of this I make. It is good practice for my Sweethearts Rock swap project, though!

Retro Pictures

On Facebook people have been posting old pictures of themselves. I thought I would send them out to blogland as well. This one is from elementary school.

High School, but not Senior Year.

Toddler--probably a terror!

My grandmother, Edith Smith, holding me. Check out my hairdo!

Middle School, I think.

Heart Applique Blocks

This is my practice block for the heart applique quiltlet I am making for the Sweethearts Rock swap. Find out more about the swap here. I am not totally loving the quilting on these hearts. I tried not using the free motion foot and my echo quilting shapes are kind of jagged and not smoothly heart shaped. I will end up finishing this into a small wallhanging for my own personal use.

My swap partner wants pink hearts on her small quilt. I am not sure which block I will use for her package! This weekend I am heading to Richmond and I will look for other treats to go with this.

Still a work in progress!

WIP Wednesday

My work in progress, a quilt using some of my New York fabrics. I took one yard of the navy fabric featuring the lighted buildings and monuments of the Big Apple and bordered it with six inch strips of the yellow cab fabric. I cut the fabric strips so that the cabs all run horizontally.

The backing fabric is a medium blue solid into which I have pieced a rectangle of the yellow cab fabric. I used two layers of Warm and Wonderful batting instead of my usual one layer. I am hoping that I do not struggle with the quilting since it is so thick.

I plan to quilt this with a navy thread in the center section and yellow thread in the borders. I have not decided on a quilting pattern yet.

I am keeping this one for myself!

Sewing in the New Year

Here is a winter wallhanging I completed this weekend. It is a panel from Moda featuring winter birds, a birdhouse and snowflakes. I quilted around some of the elements in the picture and backed it with a solid medium blue cotton. It is bound with the same fabric as the backing, but you cannot see the binding, because I stitched it to the back, instead of to the front like I normally do. It was unintentional, but I like that you cannot see any of the backing fabric on the front of this project.

Some Valentine fabric that recently came in the mail. I accidentally got two of the lovebird panels, but have plans for them both. The jelly roll has many fabulous prints and will be used in several projects over the next few weeks.

I recently signed up for a Valentine Swap hosted by Pat Sloan. I am making a mini quilt for someone and sending it to her in a package with other goodies and someone is making a quilt for me. It should be fun! Here are some more fabrics I pulled out for possible inclusion in this project.

New York Fabrics

After my recent trip to the Big Apple, I was catching up on reading my quilting blogs and I saw a post from another quilter telling about her trip to NYC. She mentioned the quilt store she found in the city and I was instantly JEALOUS because I did not know of its existence and missed the chance to visit it while in the city.

The store is called The City Quilter and it carries many prints that celebrate the city and that visitors take home as souvenirs. For those of you who are not quilters, it is a common practice for quiltermakers to visit local fabric stores in any new city to which they travel and bring back fabric. (My sister, the lacemaking knitter, confirms that this is a common practice in her tribe, too.)

These are some of the fabrics available in their shop, the ones I bought online! I am excited at the prospect of making a couple of projects with this yardage. Next time I am in New York, I will go by the shop and see what else they have to offer.

P.S. My favorites are the ones with the subway maps on them. I saw some Wellington style boots like that while on my trip and loved them! I also bought myself a silk scarf with the subway map printed on it!

A Quilt for Ivy

This is a Split Rail Fence pattern. I purchased these blocks almost as a kit--many 3 part blocks were already completed with additional cut fabric to use in piecing together the rest of the blocks. I added my own backing fabric and batting. And, of course, I chose how to assemble the blocks. I chose this pattern because that is what it called out to me as I opened the package.

The backing fabric is a vintage sheet from Goodwill in a small baby blue gingham. Very soft and comfy! I used navy blue thread for the quilting in a meandering stipple.

I love the way this looks after its first washing-perfectly crinkly!

This ended up being pretty long for a lap size quilt, which sort of accentuates that it is narrow. :( I think my nephew will still like it anyway!

The binding is composed of scraps from the main fabrics in the quilt, pieced together and made into binding using my new bias tape maker.

Red Quilt Number Two

I used scraps left from the red bricks quilt to piece this one. The center portion has squares of the red fabrics and it is bordered on both sides by wide pieces of the gray and red striped sheet.

It was cold and windy when I made Conner pose for this picture.

The back is part of a vintage sheet I used in my sister's brick quilt. I love the blue with the red and white. It makes it look a bit patriotic.

I quilted it along the lines of the diagonal gray stripes. I used navy thread that blended well with the backing fabric. This one will probably go to school for the back of my chair. I will use it as a lap quilt when it gets chilly on cloudy days.

A Big Mess

This is what happens when you do not have enough pins holding your quilty sandwich together. The edge of the backing wrinkled up and I quilted over it until this big mess was created.

After lots of picking out stitches, I was left with many small navy threads to remove. The tape roller does an okay job of this.

Luckily I was able to remove all these stitches and then re-quilt the area. This quilt is now finished and washed. Soon I will post a picture of the finished product.

It was intended to be a Christmas present, but did not get done in time. So now it will go to my nephew as an after-Christmas present.