Monday, July 18, 2011

Design Wall Monday

I have been busy again this week. I am still working on the star blocks. I am really happy with the way this is turning out. Here you see some blocks before they are sewn together. Doesn't look like they will be a star does it!


I had read about Quilts for Kids in a magazine my mom had given me. I decided to check it out. The quilts are given to kids you are You can request a kit. They sent me a kit with the dinosaur fabrics. My job was to put sew it together, quilt it and bind it. The kit included the fabrics for the front and back. I provided the batting and machine quilted it. They ask that the quilting be close and all sewing be done by machine as the quilts get washed daily. The suggest to fold the backing to the front and machine sew that down. I did that using a decorative feather stitch. I think it turned out nicely. I had a cute kitty print in my stash so I decided to make another quilt using it.

Well, I cannot seem to figure out how to place pics where I want them! The first pic is the back of the quilt and the second pic is the front. The fabric selvage said this print is called Dinosaur Tracks. I think it is bright and cheerful and hope the child who receives it enjoys it and feels comforted. The third pic is the top with the kitty print.

Friday, July 15, 2011

A Trip to the DMV

My son, who is disable physically and visually needed an ID card. Required forms include one signed by a doctor stating that he does have a permanent disability causing him not to be able to drive. Got that done last summer, but then didn't have one of the other required forms. OK, get a replacement and try again. The form from the doctor was outdated so we had to get a new one. I did think this might be happen so I called to check. The lady I spoke with was very nice and explained what we needed well. I was able to print out the required doctor form and took it to the clinic. Since the doctor is not at the clinic every day we had to wait a few days to get it back. They were nice too. The doc marked BOTH the physically disabled box and the visially disabled box. Makes sense, my son qualifies for both. DMV would not accept that. You can only put ONE on the ID card. DMV is 30 minute drive from where I live, doc is close to where I live. Doc does not have office hours every day at the clinic near where I live. Fortunately for me, the doc was in that day and filled out the new form as soon as I brought it in. I understand the DMV has rules for a reason, but it is obvious that my son has both disabilities. I don't know why they couldn't have just accepted the paper and choose one of the disabilities to put on the ID card. Anyway, got the card.

On to quilty matters:

The top photo was a kit from Keepsake Quilting called Cascades. Love the batiks. My husband likes to keep me busy. He snags the catalog before I see it and picks out what he likes. Good thing we have the same taste :)

The next photo is two different projects, again thanks to my husband. The one on the right is called Magna Chroma. It is ready to be quilted. I will hand quilt it.

The one on the left is called New York Run Around. It is fabric foundation pieced. First time I have foundation pieced on fabric. I have done paper before. It is pretty much the same except you don't have to remove paper when finished. Makes it thicker though so I think I will machine quilt that one. I may add borders to make it bigger also.

The bottom photo is a counted cross stitch project that I started years ago. I loved it then and still do, but I have decided I will never finish it. It is about 1/3 stitched. I don't know anyone who does this anymore so I am unsure what to do with it. Anyone interested?

Monday, July 11, 2011

Design Wall Monday

Finally.... I am able to post on Design Wall Monday.
I have been busy quilting/sewing, just
not posting.
Right now I am working on this - Spinning Stars, a Bits 'n Pieces Pattern by the Rabbit Factory. I am using batik fabrics. Love the colors.

I have also been busy doing this.


They both were dresses. The first
one had a small hole so I cut it off just under the hole, put in a casing, and made it a skirt. The second one was a little tight in the bodice so I cut it off around the waistline and turned it under to make a waistband. There is a zipper at the middle back. It worked out well. I used fabric from the bodices to make pockets. I need pockets!





Friday, July 8, 2011

Busy...

Every summer when school is out I work like crazy to get caught up on UFOs. But, I also started something new. I was inspired by this post:
http://crazymomquilts.blogspot.com/2011/04/living-up-to-my-blog-name.html
and thought it would be a good way to use up my scraps. And it did!

Sorry I haven't figured out how to put links in yet. :(


I store my scraps using Bonnie Hunter's method - mo
stly. I have a tubs of scraps starting at less than 2", 2", 2 - 1/2", 3", 3 - 1/2", and then a tub with big ziplock for 4", 4 - 1/2", 5", 5 - 1/2" and 6". These scraps are cut as strips and squares. I cut my scraps as big as I can from the pieces left over.
I started with my tub of less than 2" and started sewing strips together. Then trimmed into triangles, sewed the triangles into rows....

Towards the end I started wondering if I would ever have enough for what I wanted to do. I used up all the less than 2" strips and had to cut into the larger strips. I found that I had a lot of blue scraps for some reason. I made a cover for my Mega Quilter.

It was a good use of my scraps and good for practicing my machine quilting.
I still haven't figured out how to place photos so I can type around them :(
Guess I don't do this enough!