The beginning of a Summer Quilt

I just love this fabric.  It is so perfect for a summer, red,white and blue quilt.  I found this in the Christmas fabric close outs in my LQS and thought it had been miss filed. So much more 4th of July than Christmas to me.

This will be the third red, white and blue quilt I have made for me. The first I ended up donating to be raffled for the Bulldog rescue where we got Tink. The second was still only a top and has been picked by a friend for her new summer home on the lake.  It's on it's way to the quilter as we speak. Maybe this one will actually be a keeper.

This quilt will be based on the 12 Blocks of Christmas from http://temeculaquiltco.blogspot.com/.  They had  a great sew along the end of Dec beginning of Jan.where each day you made a 3 1/2 inch block.  Each day the new block contained one more piece. My version is here  http://selinaquilts.blogspot.com/2012/01/12-days-of-christmas-blocks.html.

The difference this time around will be that the blocks are 9 1/2 inches not 3 1/2 before the sashing strips.

See Block 3 - 3 pieces

Block 4 -

The first 4 blocks with sashing strips.   Opps, the bottom sashing strip on the 4 patch needs to bbe flipped around.  Tomorrow is another day.  Looking at it like this I am very pleased so far.

I also managed to get one more Swoon block done this week.  That's 12 of 16 done. I have even picked out the fabrics for the remaining blocks just need to cut it up.

Have a great week and thanks for stopping by.

New Batch of Rice Bags

 My dear MIL is back in NJ from Florida for the summer. I got an email this afternoon letting me know that she left her rice bag in Florida and she really would like it if I could make one for her and bring it to the family picnic on Sunday.


http://www.sewwequilt.com/2011/12/comfort-and-joy-with-selinaand-her-rice.html

My thinking is that there will be at least 5 families at the picnic. It would be tacky for me to just bring one for her and have her tell everyone how wonderful it is.  It was just easier to make them before she shamed me into making them for everyone else.  The link above is for the tutorial to make the rice bags that I worked up last December for Sew We Quilt.

The tutorial was made using larger pieces of fabric to start which made the project fly.  I used left overs for this project. I swapped a tiny bit of speed for cleaning out some flannel stash.

The best part of the tutorial is that for the first time I made these bags without the guessing of the size fabric to cut and all my tips were there from the get go.

I made 7 and I'm pretty sure there won't be any left to bring home.   They are such a fun quick gift.  Between 7 and 9:30 this evening  I whipped up 7 rice bags and walked the dog.

8-9-10

Still plowing away at the king size Swoon  quilt.  Got blocks 8 -9 and 10 completed this week with e#11 laid out on the table and #12 half cut out.  I only need 16 blocks in total so I’m better than half way there.

Not a bad weeks work.  I even figured out how best to store them so that I could see what fabrics I had already used, pretty much at a glance.  The only problem with this storage system is that everything is held together with straight pins.  At the rate I’m going the unifying element of this top will be the trail of blood ; } .   These are shots of blocks 1 thru 8.

I have 2 backs to put together for quilts that have been commissioned.  Once the backs are done I can get them in the mail to the quilter. After that, I think I will get at least number 11 and 12 Swoon done before I go on to my other projects.  I have some Charity blocks I’ve committed to do and my Red, White and Blue blocks for the blog hop to do .  I have ideas down on paper for the RW&B.  It’s just a matter of starting them.  They are only 12 ½ inch square.  They will be done in plenty of time, I'm not scheduled until 7/10.

Mail

This week I need to mail off several charm packs.  I started to put them in puffy envelopes and they looked lost.  I so needed to remedy that so I whipped up some cozy envelopes for them.

Don't they look better? More secure? Happy?

I made several of these last fall using this tutorial. http://originateandrenovate.blogspot.com/2011/09/traveling-art-kit.html

They take 2 pieces of 10x20 fabric and some interfacing. They don't take much time to sew up either. The ones I made in September had velcro closings.  The tutorial calls for buttonholes.  I haven't done one of those in several years so I opted to do nothing on this group.

This is the size in the tutorial.  I made several on a smaller scale. They held greeting cards that I made as gifts and gift cards.  A wonderful stash buster.

Refering back to my posting regarding what I did in the month of May I noticed that I completely skipped over the Swoon blocks that I am making for the quilt for ME for the new house.  How I forgot about 7 of those huge blocks I have no idea. They are covering half the free surfaces in the room.  Hopefully by late tomorrow I will have the first one for June done.

Small Project Sew Along Finale

This is a  photo of an item not on my list of things to do in the Small Project Sew Along that was hosted by Amanda Jean http://crazymomquilts.blogspot.com/.

The original list looks something like this:

1 - Green and Yellow quilt for H2H                                            Completed and mailed

2 - 1600 Jelly Roll quilt for H2H                                                 Completed and mailed

3A - Small zip purse                                                                    Completed and delivered

3B - Another small purse                                                             Completed and delivered

3C - A third zip purse                                                                   Completed and delivered    

4 Tailor a pair of pants for a friend                                              Completed

5 - Bind the Swoon Quilt                                                             Completed and delivered 

6 - Bind the Granny Square quilt for my Sister                           Not even touched

7 - Finish Log Cabin Blocks                                                        Not even touched

8 - At least 1 Harrison and Hannah block                                    Not even touched

Additions to the list

9 - Large Carry All for a friend                                                   Completed and delivered

10 -  Red, White & Blue blocks for Beth at                                Completed and mailed
        http://lovelaughquilt.blogspot.com/  for a quilt for her local VA Hospital

11 - My traveling socks                                                               Did a couple of inches


This was a great idea and mostly kept me on target so a Big Thanks to Amanda Jean.

I did have a couple of issues that got in my way.  First and foremost is that the last 3 items on the original list had no deadlines other than this Sew Along.  Not enough of a pull when these other things presented themselves.
 
Beth put out a request for 12 inch Red,White and Blue blocks that she would put together for her local VA Hospital. Got 3 of them whipped up and in the mail and forgot all about taking photos of them.

A friend asked if I could whip up a Carry All like the one I made for my sister last summer only larger.  The picture above is of my sister's bag.  I used the same prequilted fabric and made the new bag about 3 inches wider and 4 inches taller and with lots of interior pockets. Gave it to her and yet again forgot to take a picture.

Then  last but not least we went away for the last few days of the month and out came the traveling socks.     I generally keep a small bag in my tote that contains yarn, my circular needle and pattern for a pair of socks.  Over the course of the year I generally get a pair done while on the road.  I did a couple of inches of the top of the second sock this trip.  I'm ready to turn the heal.  I will probably finish the heal before I toss them back into the suitcase. The heal takes a bit of concentration that I don't generally have when I travel.

So that's my month in review. I'm rather proud of my accomplishments.

If you are new to my blog you can see most of the completions fo the month by scrolling through my postings for the month.

Thanks for stopping by.

Link to tutorial for Garden Fence quilt

This is the link for the tutorial for the Yellow and Green quilt below.  I was in a hurry to do the post and forgot to include it. It's a great tutorial.   
http://thiscraftyfox.blogspot.com/2011/06/garden-fence-pattern-wip-planning.html

Hand 2 Hand 2012 Charity Quilt Challenge

This is one of my favorite quilt patterns. It is so versatile. I have done it with fussy cut centers of children novelty fabric several times for quick gifts.  This quilt and the one that follows is for the 2012 Hand 2 Hand Charity Quilt challenge.  I will be linking to their show of all of this years quilts.  Please stop by  http://www.confessionsofafabricaddict.blogspot.com/search/label/Hands2Help on Sunday.

This is one of the 1600 quilts.  It is such a fun quilt to make.  You don't need to compete with anyone but yourself.  It goes together mindlessly.  I put on a DVD and just GO.  I personally found it took longer to iron it than it did to sew it.

This is the back of the 1600 quilt.  It is such a fun fabric.  I believe it is a Dr. Seuss.   No picture of the back of the other quilt it was pretty but plain.

I got 3 more of my Swoon blocks done. 7 done out of 16.  I found a real motivator. I booked some time with my long arm quilter for the end of July to have this done.  Now I need to keep my end of the bargain.

This is the 3rd block.  I went to bed last night with the block in 3 big pieces.  Just too tired to finish the last 2 seams.  Can you tell which seams I'm talking about.  Well I got up this morning and decided to finish it before all of the holiday plans kicked in and voila, I not only put one piece on the wrong end I did both pieces wrong.  The one mistake I can accept but after sewing it I ironed it and never noticed it was wrong before adding the other side. 

My ripper works well and it was fixed in a matter of 10 - 15 minutes.   This should be the worst thing to go wrong with my weekend.

I hope to get some quilting in between errands, picnics and parties this long weekend here in the states.  I'm heading out to get my toes done so they will look pretty in my sandals.

Enjoy your holiday.  Go hug a veteran and say thanks.

Over Achiever : )

So my goal for this weekend was to make 2 Swoon blocks for my King Size quilt.  I think I must be just a little bit of an over achiever.  I made these four and cut out the pieces for another. My backgrounds are a very light gray with white flowers and light gray with little bits of red and white.  Picked them up at 50% off at my LQS.  I'm planning on making the bulk of the blocks from my stash. So far 3 of the 4 are from stash.  I did pick up the oranges the day I picked up the background. I don't know how this picture will look once I publish but right now that bottom right block looks very pink, it's actually red.

Since I work for a living the sewing is back on the back burner.  Hoping to get the cut out block pieced over the course of this week. Have a good one.

H2H2012 Finishes - Sneak Peak

I had a wonderfully productive week. My committment to the H2H 2012 project is done. Here are sneak peaks of the  2 quilts that I sandwiched, quilted and bound (that looks weird) this week.      Next Sunday will be a linky party at http://confessionsofafabricaddict.blogspot.com/

for all of the contribution quilts for this years event.

I just checked my list of projects for May and I have 7 out of 10 completed. My problem today is that I want to start something that's not on the list.  Oh well there's always tomorrow for the list. Today I want to start on my next Swoon quilt.  This one will be for a King size bed.  That's 16 blocks.  I need it completely finished by the beginning of September for the 1st night we spend in the new house.
That means finishing in time to send out to be quilted and back for binding.
Goal for this weekend is 2 blocks. 

Swoon is officiallu finished and the 100th post winner

This is the zip pouch I worked up for Loralynn in her requested colors of Black and Pink.  I absolutely love the combo. The pin cushion is just an extra I'm throwing in because the pouch is empty. There was also a Chocolate and Raspberry candy bar that has mysteriously gone missing.  Will need to stop back at the store before mailing.

The inside of the pouch has a pink pocket on polka dots.  The back of the pin cushion is made from the scraps from the pouch.  The star on the front of the pin cushion is from the corners chopped off the joining of the binding strips from the Swoon quilt.  They were just lying there begging for a new lease on life.

Now on to the big finish.

I posted about this quilt coming back from the quilter back in February

http://selinaquilts.blogspot.com/2012/02/another-productive-week.html

It was quilted by Sarah Russett of Sweet Potatoe Quilts, close ups are at the posting above.

She did such a wonderful job.

It has been sitting patiently waiting to have it's binding put on.  Since it is for a gift I need for the end of the month I had to get a move on.  My problem was that the longer it sat the bigger the job was getting in my head. In actuallity it took 3 evenings. I think I had gotten it up to a bit over a week in my head. DUH!

I took pictures today because it was so bright outside and I found that every shot had MJ in shadow. The thing is about 81x81 and is quite heavy.  Here is a shot of MJ between takes. It was sweet of all 6'3" of him to help hold it up so I could get a shot of it in it's entirety.  The binding is the same deep purple fabric as the center block. Very simple clean finish.

 OK so for my small projects for the Month of May list - details here  http://crazymomquilts.blogspot.com/     I can cross off the Swoon and the 3 purses.  I really had intended on making 3 purses not counting the purse for the 100th posting which I hadn't even thought of at the time but 3 done is still 3 done.  I'm now off to sandwich and quilt one of H2H quilts. Maybe I'll get one done this weekend.

Be productive and have a wonderful Mother's Day.

And the winner is...........

Congratulations Loralynn, I will whip up a Black and Pink zip pouch for you this weekend and will get it off in the mail on Monday if you will send me your address.  I will send you an email about that in a few minutes.

I want to thank you all for your kind words and for following along. I am so enjoying the blogging experience.

I have been working on hand stitching down the binding on the Swoon quilt  this week.  I have it about half way done.  I should get it finished Friday, Saturday at the latest. Saturday here is supposed to be a great day and I hope to get a few good pictures of it to post.  Then on to the other items on my list of to do's for May.

Today I went to my LQS in search of backing for my H2H quilts.  Found some great stuff in the "sale" room.  I not only got backing for the  H2H quilts but I found a couple of great grey print Moda fabrics (still hiding in the trunk) to use as the background on another Swoon quilt I plan on making this summer in King size. The sale room was full and I managed to get 18 - 19 yards of fabric for $102.  All of it ends of bolts so it was 50% off.  Painful but so worth it. 

Enjoy the day and thanks again for your continued support.  Here's to the next 100 posts.  Selina

This is my 100th posting, oh my

I can't believe it, this is my 100th post.  Where has time gone. I feel like I just started doing this.  Meeting all of you great people.  I must celebrate.  Maybe by the end of this blog I will have dreamt up a give away.

I have signed up for the May Small Projects group with Amanda Jean at http://crazymomquilts.blogspot.com/   I am off to a good start.  It was easy, I picked the smallest items on my list so I could see the list shrinking before my very eyes. 

I have 3 pouches/purses on my list so when I saw the Strippy Pouch made by Freda at http://imperamagna.blogspot.com/2012/05/its-all-betty-lous-fault.html#comment-form  with a link to the tutorial I knew I’d have to make at least one of them from that design.  The tutorial was great when I took the time to read it.  It’s been a bad week for my allergies.  My eyes itch all the time so I am not reading  instructions fully.  I picked up all of the measurements correctly, thankfully. And on Tuesday night I cut out all of the pieces necessary to make the pouch as pictured and one without the strippy effect.  I even put the front and back  of the outsides together and made the straps before I called it a night.

Wednesday I did the tailoring requested by my neighbor. 1st thing officially off of the list.

Last night I went back to the Pouches. Generally I don’t make boxed bottoms the way the tutorial did.  It looked easier so I thought I’d give it a try.   See the red lines on the upper right corner and on the upper left corner.  Well that’s where I wasn’t paying attention and with a RED Pigma pen I marked the wrong corners for the boxed BOTTOM.  Things went better for awhile until it was time to sew the corners for the boxed bottom before tuning inside out.  I scrolled past that step. Minor, I know but a pain none the less.  End result is great except for the red lines on the back. 2nd thing officially off of the list.

I apparently didn’t have enough pain for the evening so I went to work on the second pouch.  Error number 1,  do you see the strip of fabric in the picture in front of the pouch?

 Can you guess what it is?  You are correct , it is the strap that I forgot to attach. DUH.   Error number 2 was just plain stupid.  This is about my millionth pouch so far this year. I sewed seams for the outside and inside and sewed the corners just beautifully.  I went to turn it right side out and found that I never opened the zipper, not only didn’t open it I sewed the pull on the outside of the seam so I couldn’t even cheat it open.  Had to rip open the seam,  the same seam that I could have put the strap in if I had realized it was sitting on the table laughing at me. I did put a pocket in this one and am quite happy with it.

 At this point I’m not sure what direction I want to go, mark it off my list as completed or rip open the lining and the side seam and insert it.  I guess it will depend on how itchy my eyes are over the weekend.

Well tonight I want to get started on binding the Swoon quilt.  I think that may be my biggest project of the month.  I’d like to at least get the machine part done by Sunday night.  Then I can park it on the dining room table and work on it in between things as time permits. 5 minutes here and 5 minutes there add up.

How’s your list moving along???????

My 100th Posting Give Away









Ok so I have decided how to celebrate.  I will make yet another pouch, with pocket and strap and will put a surprise inside.    If you want in just let me know if you have a favorite color combo.  If I have it in my stash I'll do it.  If not I'll come up with something.  I will pick a winner on Wednesday, May 9.  I will ship internationally so everyone can play.

Thanks for visiting.  Selina

Small Project Sew Along List

These 2 tops are on my list for the Small Project Sew Along being organized by Amanda Jean over at

http://crazymomquilts.blogspot.com/  for the month of May.

My list of small projects so far for this month goes like this:

1. Finish the Green and Yellow quilt above for the H2H project (see the button)
2. Finish the 1600 Jelly Roll quilt also for the H2H project
3a. Make a small purse
3b. Make another small purse
3c. Make a third small purse
4. Tailor a pair of pants for a friend
5. Bind my swoon quilt which is a gift for a friend's anniversary at month's end
6. Bind my granny square quilt for my sister, just because.
7. Make the rest of the half square log cabin blocks for an additional quilt for H2H time permitting
8. At least one more block of the Harrington and Hannah block of the month from http://theraspberryrabbits.blogspot.com/  I've fallen way behind.

Now that these are written down maybe it will be easier not to loose track and start too many other things cause we all know that's gonna happen.

First I'd like to thank all of you who dropped by during the Table Topper Blog Hop. I would especially like to thank all of you who left such wonderfully supportive notes.  My goal for this evening is to respond to them. 

I am running late with that because we were away for the Blog Hop.  We were in sunny (maybe not so much) Florida looking for a retirement home. We've still got 3 years but thought that prices etc. may not hold out that long so we should strick while the iron is hot.

To make a lonnnnnnnnng story short we are the proud owners of a piece of land in The Villages. House to be built on it this summer. It looks like an amazing place to retire to.  Saw in their weekly news of things to do at least 7 quilt groups and many groups of crafters of every kind.  Any one out there from there?

We were gone for the entire Hop and MJ let me use his tablet to keep track of the goings on.  We have a household where we each have our own toys because I am really hard on them.  It was really big of him to offer his tablet and true to form I somehow messed it up.  He now has all of my December blog pictures on his tablet.  I have no idea how I did it and we can't figure out how to undo it. What is it that they say about good deeds?

Since I've been back I have managed to do another pouch for a friend.

She was looking for something to replace her purse on workdays to cut down on the number of bags she totes around. This one needed to fit into the bag she uses to carry her computer back and forth.

I got creative.  Here is a zipper pocket for change.

 Slots for credit cards and space for bills. The piece of velcro works with the next picture of the flap

 that will cover over the cards and bills

I then went to clean up the sewing room and remembered the posting by Beth at Love Laugh Quilt about Half Log Cabin   Free style.  Needless to say I didn't get the room cleaned up unless you count using some of the scraps as cleaning up.  http://lovelaughquilt.blogspot.com/2012/04/half-log-cabinfree-style.html

4 blocks  down 36 more to go.