June 24, 2012

stacked coins quilt

I have a little sneak peek of a stacked coins baby quilt I am making for a friend.  She is expecting her first child at the end of August but the baby shower is less than 2 weeks away so I had to get moving on her quilt.  Mom and dad aren't finding out the gender of the baby and mom doesn't want anything "themey" or "cutesy."   The nursery will be gray and yellow and mom likes polka dots so I made this. . .
I used this tutorial by Amanda Jean of crazy mom quilts.  I'm starting to wish I hadn't used so much white.  It's pretty, but I think gray would be a little more practical for a baby quilt.  It's all pinned (my least favorite part) and ready to quilt.  I was planning on diagonal line quilting unless somebody has a better suggestion--I always have trouble deciding on a quilting pattern.

June 17, 2012

string block pillowcase

I finished pillowcase #2 for Danny.  She needed 40 pillowcases for the young ladies that will be attending TRAC summer camp. For this pillowcase I used four of my string quilt blocks. I love how it turned out and I kinda don't want to give it away. But it's for a great cause and I hope the recipient loves it too.
I love string quilt blocks and am always amazed that strips of fabric that usually end up in the trash can be sewn together to make something so beautiful.  It's fun to looks at all the fabrics and remember the projects that resulted in the scraps.  I quilted the top with some cotton batting then washed and dried it so it has that crinkly quilt feel.  Love it!  (And it will look better covering the 20 inch pillow it's made for--the only pillow I had was 18 inches so it looks a little floppy.)

I used some green fabric from my stash for the back--and there's even a matching strip in one of the blocks on the front.
Even though this pillow would look great in my sewing room it will be packed up and mailed off this week.  (I'll just have to make another one for myself.)  Hopefully it brings a smile to the face of the young lady who ends up with it!

June 13, 2012

patchwork pillowcase

Just a quick WIP post today because it is the last WIP at Freshly Pieced until September and I don't want to miss out.  Today I finished up a patchwork pillowcase.
It's for Danny at Mommy for Reals.  (You should check out her blog because she's funny and crafty and her daughter is adorable.) She needs 40 pillowcases for the young ladies who will be attending Teen Reach Adventure Camp.  I love crafting for a good cause so of course I wanted to help.  I made a disappearing nine patch panel with some rainbow charm squares from one of the swaps I participated in.  I used purple fabric from my stash for the borders and back and quilted it with some randomly spaced diagonal lines and variegated purple thread.  I think it's fun and colorful and hopefully a teenager will like it--I'm a little out of touch with what teens like!  (I know the pillowcase looks a little big. It's for a 20 inch pillow but the only pillow "model" I had was only 18 inches.) Now just one more pillowcase and one drawstring bag to make then I can ship everything off!

June 4, 2012

scrappy kaleidoscope blocks

Awhile back I signed up on the wait list for do. Good Sitches {a charity bee}. Each month, group members make quilt blocks to send to one of the group's quilters who will use the blocks to make a quilt for charity. I was so excited to get the e-mail letting me know I was a new member of the WISH group. We will be making quilts for Project Linus and our first task was to make bright pink/purple/orange/gray scrappy kaleidoscope blocks using this tutorial. I panicked a little when I saw the blocks. I haven't really made intricate blocks before. I panicked when I saw the colors. I don't have the greatest fabric stash. Then I took a breath, read through all the instructions, and surveyed my stash. And I made these:


I'm a little disappointed with the center points--I could not get them perfectly lined up even after multiple attempts. My stash was lacking in gray fabric but fortunately I had just ordered a variety of gray polka dot fabric to make my friend a baby quilt. Most of the corner pieces are from a Moda Half Moon Modern Charm pack. The orange fabric is Bridle Path by Kate Spain/Moda. The purples and pinks are random scraps. I'm excited to see the final quilt. I would never mix these colors but I think the end result will be beautiful.

June 2, 2012

recycled denim trivet

Sew, Mama, Sew! is having a Summer Reinvention Contest.  Link up a project using a recycled material for a chance to win a copy of Reinvention:  Sewing with Rescued Materials.  (I already have this book checked out from my local library.  It is a really nice book and it's going on my wish list!)  This contest was a good motivator to finish a project I've had cut out and sitting in the WIP pile for a long time--a recycled jeans trivet.

I reused a belt loop to make a handy loop for hanging.

I love that you can get a perfectly good pair of jeans for 99 cents at Goodwill.  I used Insul-Bright batting, quilted the trivet with an orangey-brown thread and used a scrap of fabric for the binding.  (I used this machine binding technique--I still need some practice!)  The trivet is a little thick to use as a potholder but is perfect for putting under pans and baking dishes.  It's pretty handy and I think I'll make a larger size that will fit under my 9x13 pans and baking sheets.

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