Fat Quarter Cobblestone Quilt Along

It's been a while, sorry about that, lots of personal issues I am dealing with, but I did get a chance to join some fellow quilters in a Fat Quarter Shop sponsored Quilt Along!  This quilt sews up really quickly and was lots of fun to make.  If you've got fabric you just don't want to cut into, then this is the quilt for you.

I chose to use Kate Spain's Christmas line, Merry Merry which is filled with birds, Christmas trees, roses, pine branches, and an adorable village fabric with a cute cat.  What's not to like, right?!

It's nice to have something already made for Christmas, I cannot believe it is already October.

A special thank you to the Fat Quarter Shop for providing the pattern and materials to make this quilt~

I Think I'm Retired

I think I am retired from any block exchanges.  I won some cactus blocks, 34 to be exact, but could only use 14 of them due to poor construction techniques. I mean we're talking non-existent seam allowances,  blocks 1/2 inch too small, etc.  Sigh.  So I made some more to put with the 8 I had already made for the pot.  It's a really easy and fun block to make.  This is the first time I've set blocks on-point and had sashing with cornerstones.  Oh, the problems I had.  My brain just could not figure things out!  Hah!  I think I needed to sash each block rather than try to add it row-by-row.  I must have done and redone every seam twice.  I finally finished yesterday after struggling over the past few days.

And wouldn't you know it...  I can't blame anyone for that but me.

Now to decide on how to quilt it.

Hope you have a wonderful Memorial Day weekend!

ETA:  Linking up with Crazy Mom Quilts for Finish It Up Friday.

Table Runner

Hello, this is another kit (a weakness!) I got from Connecting Threads back in 2010.  I didn't realize it at the time but it is Christmas fabric.  As I mentioned earlier, I'm not impressed with the quality of their fabric.  It is cheaper than the brand name stuff, but you only get what you pay for! Hah!  Live and learn.  I also had to piece the backing as the kit was short on the promised backing.  At least it is off my overcrowded kit shelf!

This is the pattern that came with the kit.  I'd make it again.

Linking up with Crazy Mom Quilts.

Friday Finish

Hello, one of my goals this year in addition to finishing up my various tops, is to start sewing my many kits and finishing them.  Here's one I bought from Connecting Thread way back in 2010.  I bought two, this one and a table runner, just to check out the quality of the fabric.  I'll just say the price was right but the mainstream quilt shop companies have nothing to worry about!  I find Connecting Threads to be a bit 'stiff' and not having a pleasant hand.  Just my opinion.

This is the pattern that came with the kit.  So easy to make, and I highly recommend it.  It uses partial seams but they're a piece of cake.

Linking up with Crazy Mom Quilts.

Hope you have a wonderful weekend, and thanks for dropping by~  

Out With the Old

Back in January I was tired of my scraps and decided I'd start with the light ones and start sewing, not stopping until I used them all.  This is the result.

I love how it turned out!  And the best part is the bag is totally empty.  I ended up doing this some more and now have like zero scraps.  Which is kind of nice for a change.

Wavy line quilting, a machine stitched binding and another charity quilt is done.

Linking up with Crazy Mom Quilts Finish It Up Friday.

Have a great weekend~

Like Old Times

I bought this quilt top from Ebay for a song several years ago.  My intent at the time was to finish it and I think the time has arrived.  I just love it!  It has a lot of feedbacks and fabrics from the 20s to 40s, I believe.  I spent the afternoon taking the yellow borders off and then trimming the inner pink border down.  To my eye, both were to wide.  The yellow borders were cut on the lengthwise grain.  The original 36 inch wide fabric was torn into 4 equal parts and then sewn onto the quilt with what looked like carpet thread.  I'm guessing the maker put the borders on as a 'placeholder' of sorts and planned on adjusting the width later.  I was really afraid before I started!  But she did a fine join with the borders and I ended up just having to ease the pink inner border a bit.

Here's a closeup of a block.  The blocks are about 11 inches square.

My favorite block.  I went over it carefully looking for any popped seams and nothing.

I love how the maker cute the stripes lengthwise.  I would never have done that!  But maybe she had no choice.
I'm thinking of doing a simple vertical/horizontal grid using my sewing machine.  From what I've read white thread was the color mostly used so I might stick with that.
I'd also like to reproduce using present day reproduction fabrics.
If anyone can add any insights into finishing vintage tops, please do!  
Talk to you later~

Orphan Adoption

Update:  I closed the comments and notified the winners.  Thanks to all who visited my blog.

Hello!  It's been a while!  I thought I'd just back jump into things by participating in Cynthia's Orphan Adoption Event.   The premise is to get unloved projects, patterns, fabric, quilt tops, into the hands of someone who wants them and hopefully will put them to good use.

All of my items are free, no strings attached, you may finish and donate to charity or keep for yourself.  I am willing to ship only to U.S. addresses.  If more than one person wants an item, I will choose the winner by Random Number Generator.  I'll pick names on Friday, March 24.  Please, make sure I can contact you.  Leave your email in your comment if need be, and the number of the item you are interested in!

Number 1.
Left over blocks from a kit I made.  I believe the line was called Animal Crackers by Free Spirit.  I've got some pinwheel blocks and about 1-1/2 yards of pink fabric.  The quality of the fabric is super nice.  I might be able to locate the pattern that was included.  If so, I'll include that also.

Number 2.
Random orphan blocks not necessarily for the same project.  A creative project for sure.  I might be able to dig up a few more mismatched blocks to add to the mix.

Number 3.
This is a sick of 5-inch fabrics, a random mix of fabrics left over from projects I've worked on.  I haven't counted but there's a lot!  And they are an accurate 5 inches square.

Number 4.
This is a finished quilt top.  I started with a panel with the cats, cut them apart and added flying geese, square in a square, but about halfway through I just wasn't feeling it anymore.  I have the backing and binding I'll send along with it.  I had originally intended it as a charity quilt.  It's lap size or a large wall hanging.

Be sure to check out Cynthia's blog for the rest of the Orphan Adoption participants.
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