Crafty Pat

Remaking an old quilt

2009-11-09T05:42:00.000-08:00

A few months ago I bought a set of vintage quilt blocks from eBay. These had once been part of a quilt and were still attached in rows with sashing. There were 6 rows, each containing 8 blocks. The sashing was detoriating beyond thread bare, it practically fell apart in my hands.

The blocks had been machine sewn. I saw no remnants of actually quilting but some of the blocks are worn spots or torn fabric. I ripped what was left of the sashing. I think the blocks were originally supposed to be 9 inches finished. I say "supposed to be" because the seams were not straight and most of the blocks were less than 9 1/2" unfinished. I trimmed the blocks so they would all be 9 inches square before I put sashing back on them. Some were barely 9 inches! Talk about a challenge, this was!

I cut the sashing from white muslin at a size of 3 1/2 inches wide. I also added 3 1/2 inch wide sashing to the outside as a border. I'm pleased with the results. Hopefull later today I can get a shot of the whole top. Here are a couple of close ups.

Etsy!

2009-10-28T18:05:00.000-07:00

I took the plunge! I opened an etsy shop :)

It doesn't have much in it but at least it's a start.

Check it out here http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=8358356

I started with a few doll quilts, some fabric bookmarks and a Christmas Table Runner.

It's finished!!!!!!!!!!!!

2009-10-18T13:18:00.000-07:00

At last! The quilt that took 16 years. It is finished! I just finished hemming down the binding. It was the first large quilt I started when I was first quilting in 1993. The pattern is called Crown of Thorns or Wedding Ring.

It was machine pieced and hand quilted. Each white square has a design in it, the pieced squares have the quilting in the white parts. The finished quilt is about 80 x 80 inches. The blue print is brighter than it shows in these pictures. The backing is white muslin.

Here is a close up of the quilting design (sorry about the shadow)

Here is the whole quilt!

AAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!!!

It's DONE!! ::::Doing a happy dance:::::

A couple of more quilts

2009-10-03T13:31:00.001-07:00

This is a quilt I made a couple of years ago. First is a close up of some of the fabric.

Here is the complete quilt with a matching pillow. The back of the pilllow has the same large floral as the border of the quilt. The quilt is about 48x36 - a nice size for a throw.

This one I posted about a few days ago -- I purchased the top in pieces and have sewn it together. The finished size is 39 x 48 inches. I did free motion quilting using my Viking Mega Quilter machine.

I pieced the backing with this large floral I had in my stash and some unbleached muslin. The binding is done in a solid dark blue.

My First Quilt Project

2009-09-29T08:32:00.001-07:00

This was my first quilt. A wall hanging that is about 18 inches square. I machine pieced the top and then hand quilted. I didn't know anything about hand quilting and did the "stab" method like you do for cross stitch. This was done in 1993.

Bear Paw Quilt - 1993

Close up of Bear Paw Quilt Wall Hanging

Other people's quilts

2009-09-27T12:07:00.000-07:00

I have some quilt tops and quilt pieces that I have bought off of ebay. This weekend I've been working on finishing some of these projects. The first one was a completed top that I bought. It is made from fabrics that look like they came from the 1980's and 1990's. I used plain muslin for the back and machine stitched in the ditch around each square. As you can see this is a large quilt. It's about 90 x 90 inches. The fabrics are not all 100% cotton, some are more of a sateen home decorating fabric. There is one print that I think I used myself for some home decorating project in the early 90's :)

a close up of the top

The next project came to me in strips of triangles sewn together. The original maker used the machine to piece it. Some of the fabrics are worn/faded but most look pretty good. Some of the triangles are pieced together. Some strips are long then others. I've sewn together all the strips and now will attempt to square the quilt up to some type of size. Looks like it will end up being a small lap quilt.

I love that brown print with the little leaves. Some interesting fabrics in there. This is a bit of a challenge since the original sewing is not consistent. Not all the points are going to meet but I'm determined to get something made out of it.

Crazy Quilt

2009-09-24T12:20:00.000-07:00

More pictures of my crazy quilt. I did this quilt in 1999. I used 12 inch squares of muslin as a base to sew and flip scraps. The scraps are of various types of fabrics from previous sewing projects and quilts. The backing is flannel. Then I machine stitched in the ditched. This is a heavy quilt and gets a lot of use around the house. Since some of the pieces have needed repair over the years, it is always changing slightly as I patch it.

Drag around quilts

2009-09-23T17:34:00.000-07:00

These are quick and easy quilts for little ones to drag around. I've made some in the past. Recently I made 3 for 3 little boys in a family I know. The oldest of the boys is 4, the youngest was just born a few days ago.

These are just 1 yard cuts of fabric put together with batting and then free-motion quilted. I try to quilt around the motif on one side of the quilt, such as around the Cars on the car quilt.

Baby quilt - letters on the blue side and circles on the yellow side.

Doggie quilt - Dalmations with fire hydrants on one side, little bones & balls on the other with a dalmation print binding.

The Cars quilt - with a small black & white check for the binding.

These size quilts are fun to do and kids love the size because it's easy to carry in the car or in a small overnight bag to Grandma's.

Crown of Thorns

2009-09-21T16:17:00.000-07:00

Many years ago when I first was learning about quilting I choose this pattern to make a queen sized quilt. Of course I had no idea what I was doing and what I was getting myself into. But I jumped in anyway. Now here it is 16 years after purchasing the fabric and I'm still not finished! Yes, I said 16 YEARS. I finished piecing the top about 10 years. I now have returned to hand quilting the sucker. Yes, hand quilting -- I said I didn't know what I was getting into.

The pattern is called Wedding Ring or Crown of Thorns. I'm about half way through the quilting. Here a block on the quilting frame. It is set on point with alternating white squares. The squares are about 10 inches or so.

Today I learned a valuable lesson -- always use a sharp needle! I was getting frustrated with the quilting and decided to try a new needle. WOW! What a difference! Suddenly I'm zipping along like crazy. Needles are cheap. Must remind myself to change to a new needle every so often.

I'll post more pictures of the quilt in the next few days.

Note: Cats think quilts on quilt frame is kitty hammock - Bailey The Cat relaxing

Quilts in the Mountains

2009-09-19T09:36:00.000-07:00

My sister lives in Western North Carolina. She doesn't like to sew but does enjoy collecting quilts. Last weekend I went up to visit and we went out to photography quilts. We went to a few public places that had nice country backgrounds for quilt photos. Here are a few of the photos we took.

This first one is a quilt our Grandmother made in the late 50's or early 60's.

This is quilt my sister bought somewhere. It is beautiful!

This is a lap sized quilt I made a few years ago.

I'm back!

2009-09-19T07:16:00.000-07:00

Okay, so I haven't updated my blog in months. Was busy with personal stuff, school and work. I'm now in my last semester of graduate school and unemployed. I've been catching up on sewing projects.

One of my nieces is expecting a baby in October. She is doing the baby's room in yellow and brown. I made this quilt for the baby (it's a boy) using the Snapshot pattern from the book "Happy Hour". Thanks to the Jeanne at Quilts 'N Fixins for helping me pick out yellows and browns.

Sewing Update

2009-02-01T10:00:00.000-08:00

After many months in the shop, my Viking Quilt Designer II is back home and sewing nicely. Last all it developed a problem of raising and lowering the presser foot randomly as I sewed. After trying a few differen parts replacement, the step motor had to be ordered. I seriously think they had to have it shipped from Sweden because it took 2 months! Thank goodness I still own my trusty old Pfaff 7510 and could still do some sewing. Also, thank goodness for the warranty coverage on the Viking - I didn't pay a dime to get it repaired.

I recently made this basic blouse. I will be making it again in other fabrics and with a longer shirt tail. This one is short because I messed up when cutting the fabric out. This is a shirting fabric I got from Hancock's for not much money so even if I just give it away it was money well spent to try out the pattern and getting the fitting correct. Patter is McCall's 5052.

I also have been working on a fleece jacket that hopefully will be done soon. I had to do a lot of resewing to get the shoulders to fit the way I wanted them to. I got up enough bravery to cut the garment back, front and sleeves based to bring the sleeve-shoulder seam up to a higher point on my shoulder. The pattern was loose fitting with dropped shoulders. On me, it just looked like it was way too big and bulky. It's looking better but not complete.

I also ordered some Melton Wool last week. Now I'm afraid to cut into it since it was $16.00 per yard, which actually is an excellent price but more than I'm used to spending on fabric. It is heavier than I expected so I'm waffling on which pattern to use. My original idea was the short version of Vogue 8089 but now I'm thinking Butterick 3573 . Decisions, decisions!

Fleece coat

2009-01-21T15:30:00.000-08:00

Last year I made fleece coat of blue and cream fabrics. A few days ago I left it in the car and then my 17 year old son borrowed the car. A few days later he said one of his female friends liked the coat and would I make her one in red & black. Of course I will !

The pattern is McCall's 9576. Hancock's Fabrics happened to have fleece on sale this week also. I used Fireside Anti-Pill Red and Black.

I didn't use interfacing like the pattern called for because it is not noticeable with fleece. The one I made last year was a large size. This one is a medium. I'm happier with the fit of the medium on me. I had been thinking of making me another one with a different color choice. Now I know I really do want another one, this time in medium. The jacket is reversible and has side pockets on both sides.

The jacket goes together quickly and only has 3 pattern pieces. I think the instructions would be confusing for someone new to sewing.

Goodbye to Joe

2009-01-17T15:54:00.001-08:00

A few years ago I made a friend online from Michigan. I have been able to met her in person a few times, along with her husband Joe. They were high school sweethearts who parted ways as teens, married others, had kids, and divorced the others. About 20 years ago they got back together and were still madly in love with each other. They had been living in Michigan for a number of years. This past October they moved to Kentucky to escape the harsh Northern winters. A few weeks after they moved they were in a motorcycle accident. Joe was thrown over the windshield of the motorcycle. His wife, Babe, was okay because she was strapped in the side car. Joe has been in the hospital since that day.

This afternoon Joe passed away. His body could take no more. His wife was with him when he left this world.

Joe was a published author of 2 books. He was charming and fun to talk to. He made friends everywhere he went. He loved animals. Most of all he loved his dear wife.

Goodbye Joe. You fought a good fight, now is time for rest. Goodbye Mr. Author.

Babe, you know my heart is breaking for you.

String quilts

2009-01-11T07:55:00.000-08:00

I was inspired by Bonnie of Quiltville to make a string quilt. I started with a pile of scraps from the Newborns in Need group. I tried just working from the scraps randomly but soon realized I needed to do some sorting. I sorted the fabrics into 3 groups - pastels, brights and non-baby. The non-baby fabrics just were not working out very well in the few strippy blocks I sewed.

One of the items in our donated box was some cream colored sheets. I used the sheet like muslin for the base of the blocks. I cut the sheet into 5 inch squares which is larger than what I wanted but that gave me some room to square it back up if it got wonky after sewing on strips.

This was an interesting project but the small sized squares did seem to make this go on forever. It also is a problem that I my iron is across the room from my sewing machine, so I would sew a strips on a few blocks and then go press. I think to be able to do a lot of this you need to have a location where you can spread out your fabrics, have your sewing machine and your iron right there.

In the end I made 2 baby quilts - one pastel and one brights. You can see I did sneak in some dark fabrics into both. Some fabrics ended up in both quilts as they could be considered pastel or bright depending on my mood.

This is the one with bright colors (and some dark colors)

The back has little sailboats on it.

This is the pastel one. The border is just white with small pink dots.

The back is a soft flannel with duckies.

Now that I've gotten it out of my system about making a string quilt, I'm going to pass the remaining scraps along to someone else in the group to see what they can do. I will probably do one again in the future but I will think twice before doing such small blocks. Visit Quiltville to learn all the ends and outs of using scraps to make quilts. Bonnie has some wonderful examples on her website and blog.

Sewing baby things

2009-01-04T08:16:00.001-08:00

For charity, not for me! Here are some of the things I made over the past 2 months for Newborns In Need.

This is what we call a butterfly shirt. You can see in this picture that the shirt opens up completely to lay the baby on it. There are small pieces of velcro on the sides and in the front to close it. The pattern is on the NIN website under "hospital shirt" http://newbornsinneed.org/html/sewing_patterns.html . These are used for babies in NICU that may have tubes or wires hooked up to them. The way it opens makes it easier for the nurses to dress the babies and to examine them when needed.

Here are a few different size/style diaper shirts. All of these are made with light weight cotton and lined with cotton. You can also use light weight cotton blends.

This is a blanket I made with some scraps of material. I had a large piece of the Peter Rabbit fabric and surrounded it with pink strips, then had the white with pink dots for the backing. I machine quilted diagonal lines. Something like this only takes about an hour to do. I think this quilt is about 36 inches by 40 inches.

Here are a couple of sleepers and a lap front t-shirt. The sleeper pattern is in the NIN Pattern Set #1 that can be ordered from their website. http://newbornsinneed.org/html/pattern_sets.html

The pattern set is a little hard to follow so it helps if someone can show you how to do it. It takes about 20 minutes total to make one sleeper. The t-shirts go together quicker than that. I sew these in assembly line fashion -- do all the sleeves, do all the neck bindings, do all the sleeve bindings, etc. I don't know if the t-shirt pattern is in one of the NIN sets, I got it from another NIN volunteer. These all must be made from stretchy knits. I use the serger to make them but they can be sewn on a regular sewing machine. I later put snaps on the front of the sleepers. These are all preemie size. Aren't baby clothes the cutest things?

If one of your New Year's resolutions is to help others more, please consider donating your sewing skills to a group such as Newborns in Need. It is a very rewarding experience. It is a great chance to learn new sewing skills and meet new people. Also, you get to be creative as you try to use every little scrap of donated material and make every yard be used to it's fullest potential. The items are so small that you get that satisfaction of completing something very quickly. Best of all it helps comfort our littlest babies and their families.

Cats in My Garden

2008-12-31T08:39:00.000-08:00

Being a cat lover, I just had to do this quilt when I saw the pattern. Jeanne at Quilts & Fixins designed this pattern. You can order the pattern from their website. The hardest part was the darn cat faces. I'm not good at free hand embroidery and thought I would never finish those blasted whiskers. Some are very wonky and some are very short. I considered leaving them off but that would not have looked good. Jeanne agreed that drawing them on would be a good idea. Apparently I'm not the only one who whined about the embroidery.

Here is the back of the quilt. Quilts and Fixins always has lots of fabrics with cats on it, so I had a hard time choosing which on to use.

For quilting, I only stippled quilted in the green. The shop sample had large meandering quilting over the whole quilt.

It was a lot of fun to pick out the scraps from my stash to make the cats. I did buy a few new fat quarters for some of the cats. At least I don't have to feed all these cats!

I've been busy

2008-12-22T07:12:00.000-08:00

I've been really busy the last few weeks with end of school semester, work and life. I also was finishing up some projects for gifts. Sunday my family got together for lunch and I gave quilts. Everyone seemed truly happy.

This one was for my parents. Later I called my mother and she said it was just the right size for wrapping on on the couch. She had been using two small afghans because neither were long enough.

This one was for my brother. The front is flannel.

This one was for my sister and her husband. I must admit I start on hers a long time ago. I refuse to discuss how long ago LOL. This one is bedsize and she immediately said it would look great in her guest room.

Fabric Bookmarks

2008-12-05T17:06:00.000-08:00

A bunch of 'em! Tomorrow is a Christmas party and gift exchange with other crafty people. I made fabric bookmarks. I tried to make a variety of colors so everyone can choose what they like. I made 34 of these bookmarks.

I also finished up a bag for my mother to give to a friend of hers. My mother liked the bag I made for her that she wanted one for her friend. Her friend is a big fan of University of Georgia. I think it looks cute.

Antique Double Wedding Ring Quilt

2008-12-03T17:28:00.001-08:00

Today I got an old quilt that I bought off ebay. The description said "some of the fabrics have deteriorated and the backing shows through." Let first say, I am very happy with my purchase but it is not what I expected.

Here is a picture of part of the quilt.

Most of the print fabrics look like this....

In other words, every piece of the "rings" are worn through. Yet as I was looking at it, I kept thinking something looked odd. Why way I not seeing batting or a thin piece of backing? Wait! I was looking at a quilted piece of material. Finally, I figured it out -- the rings were appliqued onto the large white quilt top! There is still a lot of quilt left, just very little of the applique pieces. It still looks beautiful.

This is a picture of one corner from the back. Can you see the lines of hand quilting?

Teeny, tiny hand stitches about every 1/2 inch. As you can see, many of those rows of stitching overlap. The quilt is about 68 inches by 80 inches. Thousands of tiny hand stitches! Each wedding ring has two rows of stitching inside the prints fabric and then rows of stitching outlining the rings. Here is another shot of the back. I think you can see the circles of stitching.

I should also mention it is very, very soft. Is filled with cotton batting. There is one edge that the binding is hanging off of and in bad shape.

As I was trying to examine the quilt and take pictures, THIS happened......

Queen Bailey decided since it was on "her" bed, that she could inspect it also. Silly cat!

Vintage quilt blocks

2008-12-02T10:37:00.001-08:00

While browsing on eBay recently I found this set of quilt blocks for sale. Four patches sewn into strips. The price was great (less than $10.00) so I bid on it. The fabrics seem to be from the late 60's, maybe early 70's. I sewed the strips together to get this....

Here is a closer view of some of the fabrics. There are polyester blends in there and some fabrics I can't identify except to say "coarse and scratchy". The solid blues are a thin chambray shirting fabric.

Look, it's Dumbo! Or at least part of Dumbo. The squares that look like pieced triangles are really "cheater" cloth fabrics.

I think I'm going to quilt it on the machine with white thread using diagonal lines.

I'm now having to make myself stay away from ebay because I keep wanting to "rescue" more quilts, quilt tops and quilt blocks. This is a whole new avenue for my quilting addiction!

Blue Hydrangea Quilt

2008-11-30T08:11:00.001-08:00

A few months ago I picked up a bundle of 5 - 1 yard cuts of this fabric from LakeHouse called Hydrangea Garden: Heron. I wasn't sure what to do with it until I remembered seeing a quilt pattern by Amy Butler called Brick Path. You can find free patterns from Amy at her website http://www.amybutlerdesign.com/products/free_patterns.php . The pattern for Brick Path called for 11 1/2-yard cuts. I thought it would look fine with my 5 yards just a slightly smaller quilt.

I used 2 pieces from each fabric in each column. The backing is also in LakeHouse Hydrangea fabric. The quilt measures about 60 x 72. I machine quilted in the ditch of the vertical rows.

Pink and Floral

2008-11-29T17:19:00.000-08:00

I'm on a mission to finish many of my works-in-progress. I pieced this top a few years ago. Last year I machine quilted it along the sashing strips with stitch-in-the-ditch technique. This week I finished it up by machine quilting around the inner blocks. The back is muslin. The quilt measures about 88 x 100 inches.

The floral print has shiny gold colored thread in it. I wish I could get a better picture of it.

The pattern is called Blue Plate Special and was in the February 1998 issue of McCall's Quilting. If I remember correctly, the quilt in the magazine was done in blues and whites.

Here my cat Hunter decided to test it for napping comfort.

Shades of Blue

2008-11-28T14:42:00.000-08:00

I finished a quilt! The top is done in 3 shades of blue flannel. I started this top in a mystery class held at a LQS a couple of months ago. I'm afraid I don't know the name of the pattern. It is like a square in a square. Each square has dark triangles in the corners, where they come together creates the dark square on point. Isn't it interesting?

Here is the backing I choose. It is not flannel.

For quilting, I stiched in the ditch around the medium blue squares.

Here the quilt is being tested by Cosmo The Cat

Then Bailey The Cat had to double check Cosmo's work. She is THE Queen and doesn't want the quilt to smell like Cosmo.

Crazy Cats Quilt

2008-11-26T05:26:00.000-08:00

A few years ago when I was doing a lot of quilting, I made this quilt. I feel in love with the fabric when I saw it. Since I love cats and have at times had more than is socially acceptable, I liked the crazy ladies and cats fabric. I cut the main fabric into large squares, then used a sashing between them.

I did free motion around the cats, ladies and chairs. The border has straight line channel quilting.

It's such a bright and cheerful quilt I love to have it out during the dreary winter.

This is a great way to use a fun fabric that you just don't want to cut into little pieces.

Quilts from Fleece and Fabric Bookmarks

2008-11-23T08:56:00.000-08:00

Someone had given my mother this huge piece of fleece with little bears and bunnies on it. My mother passed it on to me. The fabric was 60 inches wide. I made 3 quilts/blankets out of it for my great-neices and great-nephew. The little girls are my nephew's children and the boy is my neice's child. They are all my brother's grandchildren. I found this cute fabric with bubbles somewhere online. I got blue for the boy, baby pink for the girly-girl and dark pink for the tomboy-girl. I didn't really quilt them but just sewed around the edges and bound them. That fleece stretches and slides way too much for quilting much. Each blanket is about 60 inches by 36 inches.

I have also been working on making fabric bookmarks. I combined a few different ideas I have seen online. I think I like the ones with the pinked edge best. The larger ones have a piece of cardstock that is 1 1/2" x 7" with the fabric cut 2" x 8". Then I sewed about a 1/4 inche from the edge. To make the fabric stay together while I sewed it, I backed the fabric with heavy duty Heat & Bond. I think the next ones I will just use some temporary adhesive spray like is used for machine embroidery sometimes.

Happy Hour Quilt

2008-11-22T11:59:00.000-08:00

I am blessed to live very close to two quilt shops. One of them had a pre-Thanksgiving sale this weekend. With everything 30% off, I knew I had to go over there on Friday. I found this wonderful pack of fat quarters - Redbird by Moda

I also had just read about the book "Happy Hour" from Atkinson Designs . So I grabbed the book and the fat quarters. I love the pattern book. I don't buy a lot of quilt books because I would rather spend my money on fabric. This book is great! Great looking designs, easy to follow instructions and fun patterns! The fabric requirements and instructions are included for various size quilts. There are even patterns for what to do with the leftover fabrics from these quilts. These are great for fat quarter collections.

Here is the quilt in progress

Here is the finished top from the pattern called "Snapshot". You can do borders if you want. I choose to not to borders. This is 5 x 7 blocks which is 45 x 63 inches finished size. This size used 12 fat quarters with some pieces left over to make a coordinating pillow or something interesting with.

A close up of the top.

Today I went back to the quilt shop to get backing and binding. Good thing I went today because they are almost sold out of this line! Being so close to the end of the year, the shop owner is trying to avoid buying fabric so she doesn't have to pay taxes on it as inventory.

I should also put in a plug for the LQS -- Quilts and Fixins of Jonesboro, Georgia. The ladies there are great. They first opened in 1998 and are still going strong. I love their selection of fabrics.

Antique pillow cover

2008-11-20T07:22:00.000-08:00

This pillow cover was found in things that belonged to my Grandmother. She was born in the 1890's. We don't know where it came from nor who made it. Much of the velvet is worn down. The stitches are still in beautiful condition.

The back:

A close up:

My sister's red quilt

2008-11-17T06:12:00.000-08:00

For many years I had good intentions of making my sister a beautiful quilt. Somehow those good intentions never formed themselves into an actual full size quilt. In the fall of 2005 I went through my fabrics and decided to do a simple top of 10 inch squares. This one is all red. When I finished it, I decided my sister would enjoy it so she received it for Christmas. It is simply hand tied with yarn.

Not only did my sister and her husband enjoy it, so did their little dog Sadie! They said Sadie had never cared for any particular blanket before but she took this one as hers. If someone went to move the quilt while Sadie was on it, she would gently growl at them. I think you can see the look on her face in this picture of "I am NOT moving!"

Quick Quilts for Kids

2008-11-17T05:34:00.000-08:00

Here is a quick quilt I love to make for kids. It's simply 2 pieces of fabric, 1 yard each. Place batting between the two pieces and free motion quilt all over the quilt. You can also do straight-line grid quilting if you prefer. It's a good way to practice your free motion quilting. You can practice outlining the design on the fabric. Then of course bind the quilt in a coordinating fabric. Wash and hand to a little one. You end up with a quilt about 35 x 40 inches.

I made this one last year for a toddler who loves Dora The Explorer.

This is a time to have fun with fabrics. I had bought the cow print a few years earlier with no idea of how I would use it. My little grand-nephew loves animals and to make animal noises so this was the perfect quilt for him.

The following two were for my little grand-nieces

This one was made with baby flannel. Both sides are from the same fabric.

Have fun quilting!

Newborns in Need

2008-11-16T10:55:00.000-08:00

Earlier this year I started sewing for a charity called Newborns in Need http://www.newbornsinneed.org/ . This is a national organization providing items to families in need who have newborns. This includes burial outfits for the tiniest ones that leave this earth too soon. Also, we provide blankets and clothing for preemies and newborns staying in the hospital and those from families with financial needs. The local chapters of NIN make and gather donations then give them to hospitals to distribute. Our chapter meets once a month to sort items, share ideas and make things. You can find a local chapter on the website and find out how you can help. I do this because I believe every baby deserves clothes that fit and a warm blanket.

Here are a couple of preemie shirts I have made:

One of the ladies from the group taught me how to use my serger to make the t-shirts and baby sleepers. We have a lot of fabric that is donated to us and we do our best to find a cute way to use it. The diaper shirt shown above has velcro on the sides and the front so it easier to use on babies in ICU. There are free patterns on the NIN website for sewing and crochet items.

Please take a moment to check out the website to find out what they do. There are also other groups out there that provide some of the same services, so if there is not an NIN chapter near you do some googling to find who is doing this in your area.

A tote bag

2008-11-15T15:00:00.000-08:00

Okay, so it's been months since I've done an update. I swear I'm going to try to do better.

A few months ago my mother showed me a drawsting tote bag that she had that she liked a lot but she was tired of the cutesy fabric it was made from. She wanted to know if I could figure out how it was made and make one. Sure, I was up for the challenge. She wanted something nice enough looking that she could carry it to church. She said colors of gray, black or brown. Here is what I picked out for her....there are pockets on the outside and inside....

Here is a peek on the inside....

It was fun to make and my mother was very pleased with it. I used 1 yard of the black-on-black print and 1 yard of the white with black print. I used a little bit of solid black for beding around the top and the top of the pockets.

I've got the fabric to now make one for a friend of my mother. That one will have a lining of fabric with University of Georgia Bulldog print since her friend is a big Bulldog fan.

Scrap Quilt

2008-03-07T13:49:00.000-08:00

Well I finished up the scrap quilt top made of 5-inch squares. It is 20 squares by 20 squares - that's 400 squares! I'm pleased with the results.

My quilt quality inspector seems pleased as well. She said it shows off her eyes very well.

I still have lots of fabric in my stash. Some larger pieces that I no longer like I have put in a box to list on freecycle. I also have a stack of 6-inch squares to make another scrappy quilt from. The cutting of squares did get monotonous but in the end it was worth it.

Patchwork Quilt in Progress

2008-02-26T16:53:00.000-08:00

The scrappy quilt made with 5-inch squares is coming along pretty good. It's looking much than I thought it would. I am so tired of cutting and sewing squares at this point! Of course at my house if anything is put on the floor for a few minutes, some furry rear-end will be on top of it pretty quick. This is Trixie.....

Here is part of the quilt without a dog on it.

I got a new quilt book in the mail yesterday. It is called "Prairie Quilts" by Johanna Wilson. It is projects inspired by Laura Ingalls Wilder. This book has 27 projects (wall hangings, table runners and bed quilts). The pictures are nice and the instructions seem to be clearly written.

I've been a huge Laura fan since I first read some of her books when I was about 7 years old. I've read the series numerous times and have other books about her and by her. In a few weeks I'm going to go to Mansfield, Missouri to visit her home and museum. The only odd thing about sewing quilts inspired by her books is that Laura didn't like to sew. It is mentioned in her books that while Mary enjoyed learning to sew Laura was more interested in what was going on outside.

Fabric scraps

2008-02-23T17:30:00.000-08:00

Oh, what to do with those scraps. We save them and save them and save them. Like any self-respecting quilter I have a stash. Mine is very small compared to others I've heard of. I can fit all of mine in one small closet. Still I feel the need to whittle it down, especially the ugly fabrics that I'm not sure why I hold on to them. I have some scraps people have given me, some that I have bought and some from quilts and garments I have sewn. I also have those fabrics that fall into the category of "what WAS I thinking?". Some most have been appealing at the time but the colors from the late 80's no longer seem to fit into my color schemes.

This week I finally started on the much thought about scrappy quilt. I have been cutting 6-inch and 5-inch blocks. I started out cutting 5-inch then I found a large stack of 6-inch squares that I bought a long time ago. I have plenty of fabric to make one quilt in 6-inch blocks and one in 5-inch. I'm talking about large king-sized bed quilts.

Here is a picture of a large number of 5-inch blocks

Some of the ugly fabric is already starting to look better just by being in small squares and next to some "pretty" fabric. I guess I shouldn't be so biased about the ugly fabric.

Since I got sick of cutting today after about 300 squares, I started sewing things together. Here are a few pieces together.

Hopefully there will be more updates soon on this quilt and happy updates at that!

Gee's Bend Quilt

2008-02-19T16:28:00.000-08:00

As I walked to get some lunch at work on Monday, I noticed a quilt being set up for display. I knew immediately it had to be a quilt from Gee's Bend. If you don't know about Gee's Bend read more here http://www.quiltsofgeesbend.com/

This quilt was commissioned by AT&T to be made by the quilters of Gee's Bend. It was hard to get a good photo because it was behind glass. It is made from various types of material - I could spot some stretch polyester and cordoruy. It is hand quilted. AT&T is displaying as part of Black History Month.

You can read more about the quilt on this page http://www.att.com/Common/quilts/index.html

Old Quilt Books

2008-02-16T12:13:00.001-08:00

Last week my mother gave me some quilt pattern books that she had cleaned out of a closet. My mother did sew when I was growing up but never made a quilt of any size. She thought about it a few times but never made one. Even after rotary cutters came on the scene, she has not been able to convince herself to make a quilt. She said always wanted to sew things she could start and finish in one day. She does crochet afghans that take more than one day but says those are easy for her to pick up and put down.

These booklets are from the lates 60's and early 70's. Here is the first one published by Parade Magazine in 1974 --- Nifty Fifty Quilts - 50 patchwork and applique quilts

In the back of this one is an advertisement to order more books. The three below were 50 Cents each, add 25 cents each for postage and handling.

Quilt Book # 1 - has a variety of 16 showpiece quilts. Patch patterns, complete directions for each quilt. (no copyright date)

Museum Quilt Book #2 - Patterns for 15 quilts dating from 1815 to mid 19th century. Quilting Designs, yardages. (no copyright date)

The patterns are for single beds and double beds. The quilts for children refer to "junior bed" size. The books are in colored print but not photographs except for the cover of book 1. Of course this was way before rotary cutters and strip piecing so the directions are along the line of "cut 796 of pattern A". That's the sort of thing that kept me from quilting for many years. I think it also kept my mother from quilting. All the piecing and quilting was done by hand as well. I love to sew and even enjoy some handwork but hand piecing is not for me.

Some of the quilt patterns include:

Presidential Quilt - Has a large applique eagle grasping the 3 arros and olive granch. This was based on a quilt in the Smithsonion made in 1846.

Cowboy - Youngters Favorite Lovely in many Gay Colors -- it is a bucking bronco with a ragdoll looking cowboy appliqued on 7 1/2 inch squares which are set on point. Is it just me or is this cowboy wearing bell bottoms and high heel boots?

There are star quilts with many pieces, pinwheels, nine-patch, clamshells, corn and beans, grandmother's flower patch hexagons and a "old time crazy quilt".

One that looks like a ripple pattern you would see in an afghan. The title says "The tailored quilt for the he-man who likes his comfort". Then it says "This pieced quilt is tailored enough to please the most viril man. It is made of 192 blocks for the single bed or 224 blocks for the double bed."

Fabric shopping

2008-02-01T12:24:00.000-08:00

Today I went to my favorite quilt store, Quilts 'N Fixins in Jonesboro, Georgia. You can find out more about them at http://www.quiltsandfixins.org/

The ladies there are always friendly and helpful. They have a great selection of fabrics and will take the time to help you find just the right fabric for your quilt. The first Friday of each month is "Fat Quarter Friday". All fat quarters are only $1.50!!!! They will even cut fat quarters off the bolt for you at that same price. I picked up 21 fat quarters. I also found a few remnants that I liked. Here is my bounty from today....

Then I had a delivery of some fabric I had ordered earlier this week from http://www.thousandsofbolts.com/ .....aren't these pretty?

I have most of the weekend to myself so I plan sewing, of course.

Crazy Quilt

2008-01-27T07:37:00.000-08:00

When I first got my Pfaff 7510 sewing machine I decided to make a crazy quilt. It gave me a chance to try out the many fancy stitches on the 7510. Since I'm the type person who likes to have things planned out and symmetrical this was also an excercise in going with the flow.

I had scraps that had collected over a few years of attempting to sew. I used many types of fabrics in this quilt. Some were left over from home-decorating projects, some from garment sewing, and some from quilts. I used 12 inch squares of muslin as a base for the squares.

My son was about 8 years old at the time. He and his best friend choose many of the speciality stitches for me to sew. I also used the machine to add the date and our names. The quilt does have a batting. The backing and binding is flannel purchased at Hancock's. It is a heavy quilt! Over the years, I just patch it as needed. To me, that adds to the charm of this quilt.

Quilt basting

2008-01-20T17:19:00.000-08:00

I pulled out a quilt top that I made a few years ago and tried to baste it this weekend. I thought this should be easy with quilt basting spray. I recently tried quilt basting spray and did not have good results. Then I found out I tried spray that was meant for cotton batting when I had polyester batting. This time I tried a different type of spray that said it would work on any type of batting.

Arrrgghhhh!!!!

I carefully laid out the layers of the queen size quilt and basted according to instructions. I am doing in-the-ditch-stitching on this quilt, so this shouldn't be very difficult. WRONG! The layers started shifting! I've sewed, ripped, sewed, and ripped. I spent most of today ripping out and smoothing out half of the quilt. Along with the spray basting, I used some safety pins.

I think I may have it relatively okay at this point. Of course, I had 2 cats "helping" me along the way by sleeping on the quilt as I basted.

Weather update
We had more snow this weekend! It snowed most of Saturday but instead of snow accumulation, we ended up with about an inch of ice. Thank goodness I didn't have to go anywhere.

The dog enjoyed sitting on the front porch and watching the snow.

Winter has arrived

2008-01-17T12:01:00.000-08:00

It is mid-January and we are finally getting a bit of winter here in Georgia. Yesterday we had sleet and snow. Really there was snow, big white fluffy flakes. Enough to cover the yards and rooftops then it turned to rain. Kids all over the state went to bed dreaming of a day off from school. Only the ones in the northern most counties saw that dream come true. DS was one of the ones that was disappointed this morning as I woke him to get ready for school.

Thanks to the cold weather I can now wear my latest sewing adventure -- a reversible fleece coat. This was made from McCall's pattern 9576. The pattern instructions were easy to follow, quick to make and I love the way it feels. I did not use interfacing like the pattern recommended, I just don't see the need for it in fleece.

It's hard to tell from this picture but that is a navy blue and off-white (think antique white). It comes down about to my knees and has side pockets. I went through my quilting stash to find some fun fabrics for the pockets instead of using "lining fabric" as instructed by McCall's. Here are a couple of close ups, you can see the fleece colors better in these also.

Lat night at the bookstore I picked up the January/February issue of Mark Lipinski's Quilter's Home magazine. I've only one other issue of Quilter's Home. It's a "different" quilting magazine. It's not a lot of patterns. It is like a conversation with a good quilting friend. I went looking online and found Mark has a blog that he apparently updates regularly. WARNING: there are a few pictures that are not for the easily offended. For example, he has pictures of the much-whispered-about fabric with drawings of a certain male body part on it. If that offends you, oh well, you've been warned. http://marklipinskisblog.wordpress.com/

Mark, love your blog and magazine!

I hope to do some major quilting and sewing this weekend since my son will be at his father's house. When I'm alone then I can leave thread and fabric throughout the house and have a sewing frenzy without anyone commenting. The cats like sewing frenzies because it means piles of fabrics and quilts for them to inspect as sleeping pads.

Here is one of those cats....His name is Cosmo, he weighs about 15 pounds, he's a bit "fluffy". He's a funny cat.

Things other than sewing

2008-01-11T06:51:00.001-08:00

As if I don't have enough to do in life, I am working on my Master's degree in Computer Science. The classes are all online which is great because there is some flexibility about when I "do class". The semester started this week and I'm taking 2 classes this time. A class on Programming Languages and a class about Project Management. The Project Management class will also meet the continuing education requirements for my Project Management Certification.

Project Management Certification is through an organization call PMI. The certification makes me a "PMP" - Project Management Professional. If you are interested in Project Management, go to http://www.pmi.org/. PMI is not just about computer project management but any type of project management. You become a PMP after taking a difficult test and meeting other experience requirements. Then to keep certification, you have to do a certain number of continuing ed hours every 3 years. Since I suffered through the testing, I figure it is worthwhile to keep up the certification.

Taking college classes online is interesting. The big downside is I miss the interaction with other students that happen around classes. I miss that chance to chat with other students about the current class, what to expect from other classes, and what to expect from instructors. The up side is the flexibility of "going to class" when it is convenient to me, at least the type classes I'm taking are set up that way. The instructor posts the lecture, sometimes just text, sometimes audio as well. Depending on the instructor, the tests may have to be completed in one day or there may be a week to complete them.

I do hope to do some sewing this weekend in the midst of work, housework, and studying.

Cardigan Sweater

2008-01-06T16:48:00.000-08:00

I enjoy wearing sweater cardigans during the winter. They are nice to have at work when I'm never sure what the building temperature will be. I decided to be brave and try to sew a cardigan from a sweater knit. The pattern I used is Loes Hinse Sweater Set No. 5201 http://www.loeshinsedesign.com/categories/blouses_tops/sweater.html

This was the first time I had used a Loes Hinse pattern. I was very impressed with the simple pieces and how quickly the sweater went together. For the cardigan there are only 3 pattern pieces - front, back and sleeve. I had to keep telling myself to NOT stretch the material as I sewed. There is a little problem with the right facing not hanging correctly. The thread is such a perfect match to the material, I am having a horrible time trying to take out the sewing.

Here is the cardigan before buttons and buttonholes...

Quilting

2007-12-30T06:14:00.000-08:00

I've always been intrigued by quilts, even as a child I loved to look at quilts and dreamed of making one. In the early 90's I started looking seriously at making some quilts but was intimidated by the process of templates. Rotary cutting and strip piecing was starting to be popular at that time but most quilt patterns I found still were along the lines of "cut 1000 of template A and a zillion of template B, sew together". Uh - no thanks!

When I first started quilting in the early 90's, I stayed with small wall hangings. Few pieces to cut, little money invested and quick satisfaction. In 1993, I bought the fabric for a queen size quilt. I finished piecing the top in 1998, which I guess isn't too bad. I started quilting it in 1999, the partially quilted quilt is stored nicely in the top of my closet. One day...one day...it will be finished.

The first books I had on quilting showed quilts made from solid colored fabric. Remember these were patterns from the late 80's and early 90's. So, I had it in my mind that you choose solids and maybe one print for a quilt. Around 1994/95, I went to a quilt trunk show and the woman pulled out quilts that were full of various prints! There were AMAZING! I didn't know you could do that! The woman explained that in a quilt you can put together prints you would never wear together.

Not long after that I took my first quilt class at a local quilt shop. It was odd to work on a wall hanging quilt that had a striped bunny on a print background. Those weren't realistic colors for a bunny! I pushed myself along and enjoyed the wall hanging. By this time I had numerous wall hangings. My then-husband said "If you sewed all those together you would have a quilt big enough to use." MEN! They just don't understand the practice involved before making that big leap to a "big" quilt!

Soon I became brave and decided to do a "big quilt". I even got brave enough to use 3 prints in one quilt. This was my first "big" quilt, done in the late 1990's.

Here is a close up....machine pieced and hand quilted.

Garment making with the Quilt Designer II

2007-12-25T10:27:00.000-08:00

I made my first garments on the Husqvarna Viking QD II this weekend. The pattern is McCall's M3610. I modified the neckline on the tank to make it higher and made the straps a tad wider. I had made a tank from this pattern before and felt the neckline was too low. The tank is made from a crepe type material. The shirt is cotton lawn, which is very sheer, lightweight material. I can't wait for warmer weather to wear this to work. I think it would also look good with a pair of jeans.

What did I learn about using the QD II from this? Well, I learned how to use the Sewing Advisor. Instead of trying to figure out which seam to use for overcasting and how to set the tension, I told the QD II I had a lightweight woven and wanted to do a seam and overcast. The machine then choose the correct overcast stitch and told me which presser foot to use (the J foot). Everything stitched up just great. No puckering, no jamming of fabric.

Storage for Viking d-cards

2007-12-23T06:46:00.000-08:00

With my Viking Quilt Designer II came 4 stitch d-cards and 2 Embroidery d-cards. D-cards are used in some Viking models to allow access to other stitches and Embroidery designs. These little cards have the information stored on the back in a little computer chip. I quickly saw I needed a way to store my d-cards to keep them safe and clean. So, I made a d-card pocket. This is what it looks like from the outside folded up.

I cut a piece of fabric for the outside 10 x 13 inches. I cut another 10x13 piece for the inner lining. Then a 10x13 piece of low-loft batting and a piece of muslin. I layered the outer fabric, batting and muslin together like a quilt "sandwich". I sewed a straight stitch around the edges to keep the layers in place. Then I used decorative stitches and embroidery stitches from my QD II to decorate the fabric and quilt the layers together. Here is the complete outside....it's difficult to see some of the stitching I did in white thread but you get the general idea.

For the inside, I cut two pieces of clear vinyl 5-1/2 x 10 inches for the pockets. Using a coordinating fabric, I cut 1-inch strips to bind what will be the upper edges of the pockets. I sewed the binding on one long end of the vinyl. Then I places the vinyl on the insiding lining fabric, aligning the raw vinyl long edge to the outside short edge of the fabric. I wanted my pockets to be open to the inside so once I fold the case, the cards aren't going to slide out. I then sewed a seam in two places on the vinyl --- making 3 pockets on each piece of vinyl. Next, I put the lining fabric with the quilted outside, wrong sides together and basted the edges. I attached a binding like I would for a quilt and the d-card case was done.

This was a good chance to try some of the different stitches and feet of my new sewing machine. Two fat quarters of fabric was enough to complete the outiside, inside and binding. I made mine to hold the 6 cards that came with the machine. You could modify this to hold more cards if you wanted. Another improvement would be to put a ribbon on it so it could be tied closed or a piece of velcro to keep it closed.

When sewing on the vinyl, use presser foot H --- the vinyl will not stick to the foot and the materials will feed properly through the machine.

Christmas Ornaments

2007-12-21T11:21:00.000-08:00

Here are some Christmas tree ornaments I made 15 to 20 years ago.

This one was tatted. I love the look of tatting but it is time consuming.

These were done in cross stitch and then stuffed

And a few more....

Mending Night

2007-12-20T14:42:00.000-08:00

I took one evening this week to do some mending. Replaced buttons on shirts and restitched a few seams. One of the items I mended was a bulky sweater that may not look great but is comfy to wear around the house. It is cotton but warm enough for Georgia. Somehow both underarm seams had come out. I used an overcast stitch on my sewing machine and had the sweater back to wearable in 10 minutes.

Here is a look of the inside of the seam, you can see where some sweater threads are missing...

Here is the outside of the seam....no one will ever know...

I feel so thrifty and virtuous :)

Garment Sewing

2007-12-17T17:22:00.000-08:00

I decided recently to try again at garment sewing. Here is my first attempt. This is McCall's 5538 view C done in fleece. It is very warm and comfy even if the sleeves are a little too long. The pattern called for the zipper to be fully exposed even when zipped closed. I didn't like that so I sewed in the zipper so the fabric would cover most of it.

This next one is not so great but I tried to at least learn a lot from it. It is McCall's 5191 done in a woven polyester faux suede that I got on sale at Hancock's. At least I didn't put a lot of money in it. This fabric was not easy to work with and I had some fitting problems in the shoulder area. I can at least wear it around the house.

I used the Viking Quilt Designer II to do the buttonholes on this jacket. I learned a very important lesson about the QD II....it really does adjust the foot pressure based on what you tell it. I had a difficult time with the first couple of buttonholes then I realized the machine thought it was sewing on lightweight woven. I changed the setting to heavy woven and the buttonholes came out fabulous! This machine will make perfect buttonholes all day long! Take a look at this...all I had to do was tell it heavy weight woven and the size of the button in millimeters (use the handy-dandy measuring stick painted on the machined) and it produced this....

Moldy Christmas Ornaments!

2007-12-16T16:21:00.000-08:00

Yuck!

I opened up a plastic bag that contained many Christmas ornaments to find green mold growing on a few. EEEEEEWWWWWWWWWWW!!!!! After a few moments of panic, I calmed down enough to find a face mask and start sorting out the ornaments. All cloth ones went in a lingerie bag and into the washer on the hand-washable setting with mild detergent and non-chlorine bleach. The non-cloth ones got a wipe down with a clorox type wet wipe. Some were cross-stitch in little plastic frames. I carefully removed the fabric and washed them by hand.

The instigator of this incident seems to have been a cinnamon dough ornament brought home from school by my son at least 5 years ago. It had green growing all over it :(

I think all the other ornaments are going to be okay. A few had to have trim glued back on after going through the wash.

I guess I need to be more careful in how I store my ornaments. The cross stitch ornaments were ones I made about 20 years ago. Some of the ornaments in the bag were hand painted wood ornaments given to me about 30 years ago. They have a lot of sentimental value.

Sewing Machines

2007-12-14T11:27:00.000-08:00

When I was growing up my mother would not let me near her sewing machine until I was about 14 years old because she was afraid I would sew through my fingers. The machine is a 1956 Singer Model 301A. It has two speeds - off and FAST!

When I was about 14 or 15, she signed me up for sewing lessons at the Singer Sewing Store. I was the oldest in the class and got to sew on one of the new computerized Singers that cost way over $1,000!

As an adult my first machine was a Kenmore with about 30 stitches. It was okay but I often ended up with tangled threads. In 1998 I bought myself a Pfaff 7510.

Awww....my baby. A great machine that I got on clearance. It doesn't do embroidery like it's big sister the 7570 but it is a wonderful sewing machine.

Recently I happened across a Husqvarna Viking Quilt Designer II on clearance price. It came with an embroidery unit! This thing does perfect buttonholes like you would not believe!

It has feature to cut the threads when you are done. It also has what is called a sensor presser foot. You don't have even to lower the presser foot to start sewing, the machine does it for you! Amazing! I'm still learning about it a little each week.

I'm torn about selling my Pfaff since I don't really need 2 machines. Pfaffie is a dependable girl and has many good years left in her.

Other things in my life

2007-12-13T14:16:00.000-08:00

I love to watch Project Runway on Bravo. I don't watch much TV but am obsessed with Project Runway! Since it comes on at 10:00 pm my time I record it on DVR and watch it the next day. I just finished watching last night's episode...the one where Jack leaves and Chris comes back. I was glad to see Chris come back but hated to see Jack leave, especially under those circumstances. I cringed during the runway critique part because I didn't want to see any of the bottom three leave. Sad to see Stephen leave :(

I was happy for Christian. That was a fierce outfit he made for the lady.

I also thought this "every day woman" challenge was much better than Season 3's version. They should not have let the Season 3 designers choose who they would design for, it should have been assigned to them. But that's just my opinion and Bravo doesn't consult with me :)

Of course for all things Project Runway you must read http://bloggingprojectrunway.blogspot.com/ and http://projectrungay.blogspot.com/

Welcome!

2007-12-12T10:41:00.000-08:00

Welcome to my Blog!

My name is Pat and I like crafts!

I've always have liked to create things since I was a small child. I took oil and acrylic painting lessons as a child and teen. I learned to sew when I was about 14. I started quilting about 1992.

I have not quilted much in the past few years but just recently got back into it. I'm also trying once again to try to make garments for myself.

Let's start off with a picture of an antique quilt I'm blessed to own.

Grandmother's Quilt

This is a quilt made by my Grandmother, who passed away in 1981. This quilt was probably made in the late 50's or early 60's. Some of the fabrics are cotton and some are rayon. The quilt is machine quilted AND hand tied. I don't remember Grandmother quilting because by the time I can remember her she was in her late 70's and didn't do much.

Here is a close up - you can see the shapes that were pieced together to make this quilt.