Design a block, not me, so I thought.  I read Sarah’s post about designing a block and made a note to return to see the end results.    http://confessionsofafabricaddict.blogspot.com/2012/01/whats-cookin-at-sweatshop-week-18-lots.html

 I don’t think of myself as being creative. (OK I did actually design my Snowmen quilt but that was a guild challenge years ago).  I can look at a pattern and maybe change up the size of the block or the fabrics but I don’t generally design from scratch.  

Well I finished up reading blogs that evening and took the dog for a walk.  Out in the dark, cold evening with a dog who strolls not walks, with no one to talk to but myself. My brain started playing with the squares and the pre set measurements.  By the time I got back home I had come up with a block. Not an exciting block but a basic useful block.  I think its new, but are any basic blocks really new in quilting. I really hope I didn’t step on anyone’s toes with this block.   I came in from the walk and drew a sample of what was going on in my head. 

Then, heaven forbid I wait, I ran up to my drawer of scraps and started in.  

You know that well worn quilting adage Measure Twice, Cut ONCE,   there is a reason for that.  Remember I told you I designed this in my head walking the dog, well I did all of the math in my head. Turns out it wasn’t exactly accurate.  Thankfully the error was on the segment with the least number of pieces and I had only made 8 of that part.  It was only ½ inch off in both directions.

Oh did I neglect to say that I don’t do 1 of anything, even when I don’t know what it is I’m doing. Once I start cutting, it’s just easier to keep cutting especially when you want a scrappy look.  The block itself is made up of 2 – 5 inch squares, 4 – 3 ½ inch squares and 16 – 2 inch squares with 4 – 2 inch wide filler strips along 2 sides of the  5 inch squares bumping them up to 6 ½ inches.  Each block is made up of 26 pieces, or a whole lot of scraps. 

Well the end result on making multiples from the start is that I ended up with almost enough to make a nice size top. While the bits and pieces were out and about I finished up enough blocks to complete the top.  This is one of those blocks where you could put the blocks together in a number of ways to get many different looks and secondary patterns.  This version was my favorite.  Sorry I didn’t think to take photos as I  tested the various looks. 

I choose this layout because I really impressed myself with the 64 piece square made by the junction of the 2 inch  squares.  Never would I attempt doing that particular block and it tickled me. This was great fun and I hope some of you will try this out and let me know how you did.  Sarah if you let me know where to send this top I will gladly drop it and the many components I have left over in the mail to you.  And thanks for setting this challenge up. 

A very productive week

This has been one of the most productive weeks I've ever had.  Granted it was a week that started with a free Sunday and ended with a free Saturday but a week is a week.

It started with finishing up a few more of the spider web blocks, there is an end in sight, maybe this week

Followed by a couple more Swoon Blocks

Then I finished knitting a sock that only needed the toe completed and started on it's partner

I also cut out 24 wool bunnies for the BOM from http://theraspberryrabbits.blogspot.com/  Didn't get pictures of them yet.

Then the nut case in me took over. Wednesday evening  I read the blog http://confessionsofafabricaddict.blogspot.com/2012/01/whats-cookin-at-sweatshop-week-18-lots.html
where Sarah issued a Scrappy Block Challenge inspired by the book Cut the Scraps.  Her challenge is to design a block details are in this blog, by Feb 8 and post it on your blog.  I marked my calendar to check out the outcomes andthen took the dog for a walk.  I had no plan what so ever to enter this challenge but walking the dog in the cold dark with no one to talk to does strange things to ones mind.  By the time I got home I had designed a block. That was Wednesday evening at about 8 pm.  Keep in mind that I work a 9 -5 during the week.   By Saturday evening I not only had my block done (you know the saying measure twice cut once, they say it for good reason) but I had the whole top completed.  You'll have to wait for the 8th to see it.

So please come back then, I am quite proud of it.  Have a great week

I started my Swoon Blocks

On Wednesday my friend P felt the need to go to our local Yarn Shop which is straticially located next door to the Quilt Shop. Of course I needed to check out what was going on there and low and behold hanging on the wall was a Swoon quilt.  I have been looking at that block for months now debating how I felt about it. Live and in person pushed me over the edge.  It was a very expensive lunch. I picked up all of the backing and several fat quarters. I figured if I hated doing it I could always use white on white fabric.

These are my first 3 blocks.  They are addicting. After making the first 2 I realized I had chosen dotted fabric for the stars. I love dots actually the white has white dots on white also.  So last night I pulled lots of dots from the stash and will plot the remaining blocks from there.

I made the 3rd block last night while participating in the Friday Night Sew In .I tried to link to the site but either blogger or the internet won't let me. It is sending me messages about closing programs.  I'm hoping I don't have to start this post over again.  I think I will just post now and hope for the best.

New Project for the New Year

Generally I spend January, February and March catching up on my reading and doing some knitting.  Since becoming a member of the blogging world that’s not so easy.  There are way too many quilting ideas to tempt me back to my sewing machine.  I am doing a little reading.  I got a Nook for Christmas and I have started a pair of socks and have gotten to the toe of the first one but I really want to sew.

Over the last couple of weeks I feel like I have seen Spider Web quilts everywhere. I Googled and found severalto look at  and a video to watch and I just had to try it.  I have a large shoe box (guys sneaker size) that I have been throwing misc scraps into for the last few months  that were too small to be given a real home  . Thought this would be a good place to start.  I am a traditionalist and am using phone book pages ; )  for a foundation.  I don’t know about by you but my yellow pages has shrunk down to sheets 7X9. Not so big.  Therefore the blocks aren’t very big. Something like 9 inches square.

Not counting the white centers which I am pulling from my stash I am using scraps from the box. I don’t need anything longer than 4 ½ inches.  I’m trying to do a block or two a day.  It’s taking me about an hour to do a block. So far the only problems I am having are remembering to shorten the stitch length each time I sit down and removing the paper is awfully boring not to mention messy.

I was planning on doing a top with 24 blocks and borders.  Made that plan before I realized that the phone book sheets were so small.  I may have to go to 48 blocks to make it worth my while. I’ve got 12 blocks done.  I guess I’ll make my decision at 24 blocks.  I know I can manage that but my fear is that if I decide to make this that much bigger it may become a UFO and I haven’t done that in a while and don’t want to get back into that habit.  

It will take me a couple of weeks to get to 24 so I don’t need to rush the decision. No matter, I really do love the way it’s coming together and I’m glad I started it.

These are the 12 finished blocks on the wall.  I hope keeping them there will keep me on track.

Christmas Presents Received

I make Christmas presents for many people. I have 3 old friends who make me presents.  While they all quilt to some degree this year they each displayed different talents.

Lets start with J. We've been friends for about 30 years. This year she got into beads and I am the proud recipient of this set

They came in this nifty pouch

Now onto P. We've been friends for about 20 years.I got P into quilting and P got me into knitting several years back.  Knitting is her craft of choice. She made me this great shawl.  The picture doesn't do it justice.  Couldn't figure out how to drape it for the best picture. Gave up trying, couldn't maintain the smile any more.

But this next pictures shows not only her knitting talent but her great sense of humor.  I have been talking retirement lately, mainly to Florida, not in the near future, but just starting to send out some feelers.  This is her response to my ramblings, it's what happens to bad girls in Florida.  I really love the red shoes.

Last but not least are my gifts from B. She's been in my life for 40 years. A couple of weeks ago I posted pictures of my past Christmas crafting for my sister. B told me I need to do my pictures at her house next year, she has more and they cover anytype of craft I may have tried over the past 40 years.
 I got her into making bags last month but she choose to crochet my gifts for this year.  This great ponch (first picture taken, smile was still working and my photographer wasn't bored yet)

additionally she crocheted this great plastic bag holder, you know the bags from the food store and everywhere else.  I save and recycle them when I walk the dog but they do have the tendency to spread out all over the closet.  This holder has brought them into order not to mention it looks ever so much nicer than the mess I had going.

didn't need to smile for this one.

Now I'm sure you'll agree I am one very lucky gal, with great and talented friends.

12 days of Christmas Blocks

For the last week or so I have been working on the 12 blocks of Christmas from http://temeculaquiltco.blogspot.com/  Each day for 12 days one block was posted. I started late, on day 5 or 6 I think but I managed to finish up the top right on schedule.  Well I finished one of the tops right on time. I had started the project using red scraps but they weren't doing a lot for me.

 

 So mid way I started another set in blue and white.  Liked this one a lot. Since the blocks were small and quick I did finish all of the red ones and will put them together sometime this weekend before they get lost in the shuffle.  But the blues came together really well.

I like this one so much I will actually hand quilt it.  Not something I do often anymore.

This was a great project and very, very far out of my comfort zone.  I try not to use pieces that start out smaller then 2 1/2 inches square.  The blocks in this piece finish at 3 1/2 inches. Honestly none were difficult and I would try this type of thing again.  It was a great come down from the Christmas rush project.

Newspaper Gift Bag

I was totally unfamiliar with this concept yesterday but as with everyday in blog land we learn something new and fun.  I was visiting with Judy at

http://cathcarts.blogspot.com/2012/01/newspaper-gift-bag.html

where she was showing her version  of the bag and the link where she found out about them.

Here are my attempts.

yeah I know doesn't look like newspaper.  I don't get a paper. so I improvised using left over Christmas wrapping paper.  The big one measures in at 15 x 9 x 4 the smaller one is 13 x 6 x 3.  Since I still have presents to deliver this works out just great.  The instructions call for glue but I don't have that either so I used double sided tape.

It was definetly worth trying and to have the idea on file for future use.

Christmas quilting past

Went to my sisters for my Christmas/Birthday/ New Years's visit (very busy week in our family) and it was like going to my very own quilt show.  I hadn't realized just how many Holiday quilt things I have done over the years for her and her family. These go back several years and I am very sorry but I can no longer remember whose patterns I used so I can't give proper credit where it is due,  and it is due.

Lets start with the oldest one I have made.  This one I did with out a pattern and without a rotary cutter and mat.  I used a yard stick and pencil and scissors. It is actually 3 trees high but it hangs in the powder room and I couldn't get behind the toilet to snap the shot.

 These ornaments were also hanging in the powder room.  I love them.  The year I made them I must have made 30.  Everyone I knew got one.

  This guy is hanging in the entry way, welcoming one and all.

And this guy is just hanging out on another door.

 The wreath is hanging on the den wall.

And this Christmas throw is on the den couch where no one is allowed to disturb it.  This was my first jelly roll quilt and my best guess is that it is a moda recipe.

Well that's most of the Christmas stitchery.  They got a new puppy at her house this year so there was no official tree so the tree skirt I made was in protective custody in the attic and the Christmas sampler quilt I made for her last year and never finished is in my sewing room and I promise here in writing in front of everyone in blog land to get it done before Christmas 2012.

The only problem I see with these pictures is that I don't see any people in them.  Got home and realized I never took Christmas pictures of the people in my family. Not good.

Happy New Year everyone.

We have a winner

Congratulations to Linnea who is the winner of the giveaway tied to my Rice Bag tutorial.  I have sent her an email for her address.  I hope to be sending her a Rice Bag, 1/2 yard of Moda brushed cotten and 1/2 yard of muslin and maybe some other little goodie or another.

Thank you all for your warm comments on my tutorial.  I so appreciate you all.

Have a wonderful New Year,  stay healthy, stay safe and stay happy.   Selina

Another Christmas Present

Another Christmas gift finished and delivered.  Only 2 more to finish and deliver, one by next weekend and the other sometime in January.  Can't post those yet since both of the recipients are readers.

This gift is the 1600 quilt I started a couple of months ago.  I posted about it  here in September  http://selinaquilts.blogspot.com/2011/09/another-busy-weekend.html  The problem with making a top that far in advance of the holiday and knowing from the get go to whom it is going is that in my mind it was a done deal.  Well two weeks before Christmas I realized it really wasn't a done deal and it needed quite a bit of work before it could be wrapped. Things like a back and quilting and binding. You know, the little things, mere details.

Sorry but I don't know how to rotate the pictures.

What I did discover once the quilt was complete is that I think I like the back of this quilt more than the front.  I am very partial to polka dots so maybe that's what is doing it for me. 

If you haven't tried a 1600 quilt yet I can tell you that it is great fun. Instructions for doing one are all over blogland. I didn't compete with anyone but myself and I still enjoyed it. I also didn't use a Jelly Roll but cut my 40, 2 1/2 in strips  myself because I wanted a black and white top and couldn't find a Jelly like that.  I think my next one will be made from my scrap bin.

Enjoy the weekend and stay safe.

Merry Christmas

It's Christmas morning here in NJ. I hope everyone has a Very Merry Christmas Day and a wonderful holiday season.

I finished up the last of the Christmas day delivery gifts last night at 10:55.  I still have 3 more gifts to finish but I won't see the recipients until later in the week so I have some time.  Yesterday was a wonderful day, I love the hussel bussel of the day.  On general principals I need to do some last minute shopping just to be part of the excitement. 

I spent most of the afternoon and evening working on this great quilt based on the stitchery patterns from   http://www.sewhappy.me/ for her Christmas banner.

I loved the redwork.  The banner had 7 patterns and I needed 9 so I pulled pieces of the center block and created the name blocks on either side of it.  This quilt is for a niece and her finacee.  Now that his name is in stitches she is not allowed to change her mind.

Now on tto the back.  Thanks to all of you influencial folks out there in blogland I no longer am able to just plop a plain ole piece of fabric on the back of anything.

Ok now one very, very important addition to this posting.

Tomorrow I am doing my very first tutorial. So cool.  I will be posted on

 http://www.sewwequilt.com/

Please stop by and visit me there.  I will be having a tutorial related give away at the end of the week.

Again , please have a very Merry and Safe Holiday.  Hugs, Selina

gifts for the group

We have 14 coworkers in out group.  P and I try to give everyone something small to celebrate Christmas. Most years there is some home made item included.  We generally start putting some cash away every week starting July 1. Then around Thansgiving we figure out what we are going to do based on the number of staff members we have.  This year we decided on gift cards for Dunkin Donuts.

Well of course we couldn't just give them gift cards.  So I whipped up 14 Rice Bags.  Some of the staff received Rice Bags for Christmas several years ago and I have heard suttle comments about how old they were getting.

Then we needed gift bags for the rice bag and gift card.

I didn't realize how much Christmas fabric I had in my stash.  Some of it I don't even remember purchasing.  It does make for a great bag.  I made the bags large enough for them to be used for something like wine bottles.

I made P a sweat shirt with a pouch.  Well I purchased the swear shirt and added a holiday pouch to the front like on a hoodie. If you see my blog of 12/5 I have the one I made for me and another friend posted.  It's really a simple process and it adds so much to an everyday sweat shirt.  I added a white turtle neck and it makes a super gift. Try it you'll love it.

Tomorrow is gift day at the office.  I hope all are pleased.

I will be doing a tutorial on December 26 for the rice bags at http://www.sewwequilt.com/

Ta Da

They are done, all 3 of them are completely done.

I started them in August and so many other projects had to be done in between.  You know a couple of swaps, the Ghastly Blog Hop and ever so many brilliant ideas I tripped over while blogging that had to be tried immediately if not sooner.

These are for MJ's nephew's families for Christmas.  In the past I have only made baby quilts for their families and I decided I needed to do something else.  I designed these snowmen for a a guild project several years back and figured they would be perfect.  The same and yet just slightly different.

They will go out in the mail tomorrow. Woo Hoo

Christmas Presents Delievered

This is coming to you from Disney World.  We are have been having a great time with some friends and family. Sadly they all left this morning but we made the best of our time together.

I am now able to post about a couple of gifts I made for my friend J for Christmas.  She reads my blog so posting pictures in advance was a no no. Actually she saw a gift for another friend and she was wondering if it was hers or not.

I particiapated in a quilt along in October and the end result was this table runner for J's home.


When I participated in The Ghastlie Blog Hop I jazzed up a sweatshirt with a customized pocket/pouch and thought it would make a great Christmas present if I used a seasonal fabric for the pocket.

Here we are modeling. Not the greatest of pictures but you get the idea. We were rushing off to a parade and fireworks.

My birthday is at the end of the month.  When we all get together we celebrate the birthdays that are the closest. It was my turn.

We're now off to enjoy more of our time here in Sunny Florida.  Back to Jersey on Thursday.

Take care.