A Quilty Finish - Martha's Cross Quilt

I started working on these cross blocks way back during the summer, I believe.  I blogged about them here and here.  This quilt was to be for a very special person who is one of the most genuine people I have ever met.  She has a pure heart - do you know what I mean?  It's hard to describe so I'll just say that you don't meet people like Martha everyday.

The crosses have a special meaning but I'm not going to go into all that.  Let's just say this was a very special quilt for me to make and to give as a friend.  
Although, just from a quilter's standpoint, I LOVE this quilt and I wanted to keep it so bad.  I love the simplicity of this block and the fabrics I used.  I think I'm going to make another one for myself just because I can't stand it if I don't.  LOL.

I know there are a lot of tutorials for this block out on the internet but I actually got my instructions from the book - Fat Quarterly Shape Workshop for Quilters.  I find this book to be a great reference book and for anyone new to quilting.  It gives instructions on 60 or so different blocks but it starts you out on easier blocks that have square pieces, then on to rectangles and then the tougher shapes.  I'd like to try to start at the beginning and work my way through the book to practice and build my piecing skills.

Anyhoo, about my gorgeous quilt,  I made the majority of my blocks with solid crosses in the middle using a variety of Kona cottons and also some Bella Solids.  The white background fabric is Kona White.  I mixed those up a bit with a print occassionally and the went even further by inverting the blocks.  So, I had 3 that had white crosses and print/solid backgrounds.  The blocks all turned out bright and cheerful which was my intention.

I quilted my quilt with an organic wavy line.  Organic meaning I didn't mark anything.  I just started sewing.  I really love how the quilting turned out and I think I'll be doing this quilting on the quilt I'm working on now.  It's basically straight line stitching but with a twist.  I used my walking foot and my little Janome machine, rolled my sides up real good and just went for it.  Also, I'd like to add that I use the 505 Basting spray on everything that I've done so far.  I've tried basting pins but I don't seem to have the knack for them and why mess with them when you can use 505. 

It looks pretty I think.  I used white Aurifil thread in 50 wt. in the color white.  Isn't it funny how it looks green on the green fabric?

This is the quilt back.  I used KonaWhite  for the top and bottom strips.  The middle strip starts off with a red/white dot which is a Michael Miller Ta Dot fabric.  The chaotic fun, colored fabric is my favorite print ever and it is from Robert Kaufman.  This was my last piece but since this quilt meant so much to me, it didn't hurt too bad to use it for this.

The binding is a black and white zig zag fabric from Mama Said Sew by Moda.  I think it finished of the quilt perfectly.  I machine bound the quilt front and back.  I stitch in the ditch on the front of the quilt to sew the binding on the back.  I'm getting really good at it too.  You can barely see the stitches on front.

Lovely and bright quilt back.

My lovely Robert Kaufman fabric.  You can see the cool quilting so well.

This is my lovely friend Martha holding her quilt.  She came over a few days before Christmas and I literally finished the binding that morning before she got here.  She seemed so excited about it and I was excited to give it to her.  

I am so proud of this quilt.  I learned a few quilting lessons when making it - especially about trimming blocks.
The quilt size finished is 48 x 60 inches.  This is the largest quilt I've made to date.

Thanks for reading!

**Linked up to Needle and Thread Thursday, Crazy Mom Quilts and Can I get a Whoop Whoop!

2013 Handmade Christmas Gifts - Part 2

Happy New Year everyone!  Hope you had a fun and safe New Year's Eve.

This is Part 2 of my handmade Christmas presents for 2013.

A couple of years ago, I made my husband a cell phone case for his Iphone.  He wanted to be able to put it on his belt but he wasn't happy with the one's that were available on the market at that time.  He tried several different ones and didn't like any of them. 

Then I saw a tutorial in a sewing magazine (Volume 2 of Sew it All) for a camera case by Sara Boughner.  I started thinking about how perfect an Iphone would fit into something like that but the case didn't have anyway to attach it to anything.  The camera strap just stuck out the side and that was how you carried it.  So I started to think of ways that I could adjust it so that my husband could wear it on his belt.  My solution was to make a fabric loop on the back of the case that he could slide onto his belt.  It worked perfectly.  He has used his case everyday for at least a year and a half.  I thought I might have blogged about it but I can't find the post.  His case is a lightweight denim fabric with Mickey Mouse lining and a fussy cut Mickey Mouse on the flap.  This fabric was HIS choice by the way, not mine.  And yes, he wears it to work everyday.  He got some flak about it at first but everyone knows how crazy he is about Disney so, there you go.

Anyhoo, my FIL wanted me to make him one for his Iphone but without the Disney characters.  So, I made three.  The first one was too big, the second, too small and the third, mostly just right.  I gave him that one for Christmas.  And here it is:

I used the same lightweight denim that I used on my hubby's but the lining is white Kona cotton.  I embroidered the flap with his initials in a "manly" font, lol.  There is velcro sewn onto the flap and the case to keep it closed.

This is the back of the case.  See the fabric belt loop?  You slide your belt through all your pants loops except the last one, then you slide the phone case onto the belt then put the belt through the last loop on your pants.  This holds your phone right next to your body, it won't fall out if you bend over, it's more comfortable than it would be in your pants pocket and you don't have to put it in your shirt pocket - which drags your shirt pocket down.  It's the perfect solution.  Also, it's not going to fall out and into the toilet - yuck!

My FIL wears a lot of denim so this will practically blend in with his clothing.

Here is a pic of the velcro on  the case and inside flap.  I used a stiff interfacing between the layer of cotton and denim to help it hold it's shape.  I didn't use that on my hubby's and his has gotten a bit "slouchy".

This is how his phone would look inside the case.  He has this same phone and otter box.  This is a great handmade gift for a guy.  I'm about to make my husband another one using up some of the UT Austin scraps I had leftover from his pillowcase.

And my last little handmade was some potholders.  My MIL said she didn't want anything for Christmas and she was very adamant about it.  But I don't like for her to have nothing.  It just doesn't seem right.  So at the very last minute (meaning the night before and the morning of), I made her some potholders out of my 30's reproduction mini charm pack from Moda.  I LOVE those mini charms.

I'm not going to ramble on about how to make these because there are about a million tutorials online if you don't know.  Plus a lot of quilting blogs did a tut on these for Christmas.

So, I'll just show pics.  :)  Everyone needs new potholders right?  I know I do.  Mine all look like crap.  All burned and stained.  So sad.

Backside of potholders.

Cute retro fabric.

There you have it folks.  I'll stop rambling now.  I still have 2 quilty finishes to share so be sure and come back to see.  You can follow my blog with bloglovin (button at the top on the left) or with Google (on right side bar).

2013 Handmade Christmas Gifts - Part 1

University of Texas Longhorn Pillowcase - Part 1 of my handmade Christmas gifts for this year.

My husband graduated from UT Austin which is a big deal in Texas.  There are two major college systems in Texas - UT and Texas A & M.  The Longhorns and the Aggies.  There is a branch of one of those, and sometimes both, in just about every mid-sized/large city in Texas.  So, I wanted to make him a Longhorn pillowcase for his stocking this year - especially after I found this fabric on clearance at Hobby Lobby ;).

I used the AllPeopleQuilt.com million pillowcase tutorial.  This was the first time I had ever made a pillowcase but this tutorial was amazing and the pillowcase is super easy to make.  I don't think it will be the last time I use this tutorial.  I see pillowcases in the futures of everyone I know!  LOL

 

 Isn't it cute all rolled up?  He was surprised and impressed that I made it.  Yay!

For this tutorial, there are 2 pieces of fabric to cut.  The one problem that I had with this tutorial is that it didn't tell you which way to turn the outer band of fabric if it is a directional print.  So, of course, I turned mine the wrong way the first time I sewed it and had to rip it out.  I wanted the outer band to go in the same direction as the main fabric.

 So, if you have a directional piece of fabric for your band, it needs to go this way.  The band fabric goes upside down and the main fabric is right side up.  If you check out the tutorial, you'll see what I mean about placing the fabric this way.  It has lots of pictures and is so easy to follow.

 Here is my pillowcase all rolled up and I'm sewing it into the "tube".

 And tada!  I got it right!

 The tutorial explains how to do french seams so that there are no raw fabric edges.  It looks very professional.

 A perfect pillowcase.

 With fabric all going the right way.
I hope everyone had a very Merry Christmas.  Ours was quiet but nice.  Very low key.  There were only 5 of us and we had our traditional sandwiches - I'm not kidding, it really is a tradition.

Thanksgiving Day Wrap Up and My Newly Organized Fabric

I just had to show a couple of pics of my Thanksgiving table. 

 I don't usually have Thanksgiving at my house but since we did this year, I had to go out and buy a tablecloth and I also made some napkins.  Just quick and easy napkins - nothing fancy.  You can tell I should have put the tablecloth in the dryer or something to get the wrinkles out but I didn't.  It was made of some funky cheap fabric and I was afraid it would melt if I ironed it.

 Anyhoo, here are my napkins.  I used a cheapy fabric from the "quilting" fabric wall at Hobby Lobby so I made sure to wash it before hand because I knew it would shrink quite a bit.  The backs are a natural muslin.  I top stitched them with brown thread and tied them with some orange zig zag.  I thought they turned out very cute. 

Also, surprisingly, I had some pretty decent sales on etsy this past weekend.  NOT on CyberMonday but on Thanksgiving and the day after.  My sales - and so many other handmade shops sales have really tanked on etsy the past year or so.  Especially since Chinese/Asian factories are allowed to sell there out in the open now.  Before, etsy tried to pretend they were all co-ops but now they are all completely allowed.  

Etsy - your placed to buy made in China crap at a considerable markup than Walmart.

Anyway, the sales were a nice surprise.  I appreciate all my customers and I hope they all enjoy the items they buy from my shop.  I know some of these were gifts so I hope they are loved by all the recipients.

Ok, now for my reorganized fabric shelves.  This is the fabric I think of as my quilting fabric.  (I keep my fabric I use to make aprons for my etsy shop on different shelves in the closet)  I'm still building my stash but I'm getting there.  LOL  After I got home from the Houston Quilt Festival, I didn't want to mix in my beautiful new fabric with all the fabric that was such a mess on my shelves.  It was all just sort of jumbled together, not folded neatly, stacks here and stacks there.  Ug!  So, I set about organizing for that I could add the new stuff and be able to find it.
So  here is the BEFORE of my shelves:

And here is the after:

 I turned them long ways up then folded each piece of fabric the same way so they would be the same size.  I separated by color.

 My larger pieces of yardage - 1 yard or more - I wrapped around pieces of foam core board that you can get at the dollar store for $1.  I just cut the foam board up - unfortunately I didn't cut it all to be the same size.  That would have looked more uniform.  I may redo that in the future. 

My precut fabrics.  The top right shelf is my batik collection.  Top left are my solids.  Bottom left are leftovers from past projects that I don't know what to do with.  Bottom right is my etsy store project box.  Unfinished, half done things and fabric pulled for aprons.

It's much easier to find things now and it looks neater.  I'm trying to not buy anymore fabric until after the first of the year.  I'm thinking February.  Which is really not easy because fabric.com, pink castle fabrics, stash modern, etc are all having wonderful sales right now.  I think they're trying to kill me.  But I'm determined.  I have all the fabric I need for the projects I've started and need to finish by either Christmas or February (for the local quilt show).  So, I'm going to be strong and work on finishing - not starting.  

Help keep me honest you guys.  I really need to get some of this stuff finished.  

Thanks for reading my blog and stay warm wherever you are.  We are in an icy/freeze state in Texas right now and I know some places have it a lot worse.

**Linking up with My Quilt Infatuation**

A Fall Table Runner - Quilty Finish

Last week I had to go to the grocery store - I don't usually go.  My husband does 95% of the grocery shopping.  But since I was there, I bought myself some flowers for my sewing room.  Pretty huh?

 Ok.  Down to the good stuff.  I have a quilty finish.  A fall table runner for my dining room.  I used Moda's Wrens and Friends mini charm pack for this and it was a breeze to put together.  I love those mini charm packs.
The colors look just fall enough and it has aqua in it which goes with my dining room.

 The cream strips are from a Moda jelly roll in Snow.  It matches nicely.  I also used the same jelly roll strips for the binding. 

 It's quilted with Aurifil 50 weight thread in color 2021 which is an off whitish/cream color.  I did a straight line grid quilting on it and I think it came out great.  Total measurements are 13 x 31 1/2 inches.

 The back is an orange pattern fabric from Robert Kaufman Metro Living.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!  I have so much to be thankful for - although cooking on Thanksgiving is not one of them :)

**Linking up to crazymomquilts Friday finishes!**

Houston International Quilt Festival - Part 2

Welcome to the Houston International Quilt Festival 2013.  I'm not going to go over every detail or anything.  Just hit some highlights.

This is Ebony Love.  She was my instructor for the Modern QR code quilt class.  The QR (quick read) code is that little scanny thing that is on everything now.  You scan it with your phone and it gives info about whatever it's advertising.

So in this class, we started making one in quilt form.  Ebony was the most professional quilt instructor I've ever had.  Her instructions were all written down for each of the 4 quilts that we could choose from.  She even had them bound with a spiral.  Just that alone made her class awesome.  
We could choose between a gray or off white background and I got to class too late to nab a gray but that's ok because I probably would have chosen the white anyway.
When our quilts are finished they will look like a QR code.  Because they are in color, they won't be scanable but Ebony said that she will send us a label for our quilts that has the scanable bar code on it when we finish our quilt tops.  I'm working on mine now and hope to have it done in time to enter it in our local quilt show.

I really enjoyed all of the classes I took this year.  Not a stinker in the bunch.  I have pics on my phone of some of the other classes and maybe someday I'll get them loaded to my computer so I can post some.

Here I am in my witches costume for Quiltapalooza.  I loved my tulle skirt.  But out of all the people there, about 80% were dressed as witches.  It occured to me that I could have made mine in pink and gone as a Barbie or something.  Maybe next year.  It was a fun party though.  Lots of great costumes and they gave away tons of prizes.  Unfortunately, no one at our table won any.  :(

This was my favorite quilt from the Modern Quilt quild display in the quilt show.  It is called Fireworks Quilt by Tara Faughnan, an individual MQG member.  To see all of the Modern Quilt Guild display, go here.

One of the classes I took was called Fifty Shades of Groovy By Leslie Tucker Jenison.  Her Fifty Shades quilt is one of the ones on display in the above link.  Her class was fun and she is a great teacher.

One disappointment I had was that the majority of the quilts seemed to be landscape quilts.  I love landscape quilts and art quilts but it seems to me that such a major show could have divided the categories up better.  Maybe have an equal amount of each kind of quilt.  I also wish the Modern Quilt display had been bigger.  It's quite a large movement at this point and I think there should be more recognition.  They did offer Modern quilting classes this year, which was a first.  I took as many of them as I could get into.  I'm hoping for even more next year.

Houston International Quilt Festival Part 1 - Preparing to go

Sometimes I have so many things to say on my blog that I don't know where to start and I get overwhelmed.  That's why it's been so long since I posted.  I just didn't know where to start.

On October 29th (Tuesday) I headed down to Houston for the International Quilt Festival which is awesome by the way.  If you are interested in sewing or quilting and you have a chance to go, take it.  They have so many classes, so many quilts to look at and so many vendors to shop from.

Before I left, I made some prayer flags for the prayer flag swap that was taking place.  I had never made one before and honestly, I had to look them up to see what they even were.  My friend Robyn, who also went to the festival, told me all about the ones she had made and sort of talked me into trying it out.  (Thanks Robyn!! I had fun making them and hanging out with you at the festival!!)  So I ended up making 5 and here they are.

 I like to think of them as inspiration flags instead of prayer flags as most of them don't have anything to do with religion or prayer.  I'm not sure where they got their name but I like Inspiration flag better.

 There's too much light in all these pictures and it washed them out.  Ug!  Someday I'm going to master simple photography.

 I bought a sack of these old quilted hearts years ago and I still have some.  I just sewed it onto this batik fabric which looks like it was painted with water colors.

 More batik fabric.  I cut the passage about hope out of a fabric that I've had for awhile. 

 I sewed these sweet felt flowers onto some natural muslin and stamped it with a "sending happy thoughts" stamp. 

 This one says Poppy Garden.  I hand stamped that and sewed on the felt flowers and ribbon.  And of course buttons.  Everything needs buttons.

 A washed out close up view. 

 I also needed a handmade name tag holder.  I sewed this one up really quickly and attached all my pins to it.

 Half moon modern fabric on the front and Michael Miller stripe on the back.

 This year the festival took place over Halloween.  The had a party called Quiltapalooza.  It was a Halloween dress up party/dinner.  Lots of fun.  I made myself this fun skirt.  Guess what I went as.

Closeup.  There was lime green, black and black glitter tulle. 

In my next post, part 2, I'll show my whole costume with some quilt show pics.

Thanks for reading!