patchwork

Small Patchwork Projects

| terriaw

Some weeks, when life gets busy, all I have the time or motivation for are small patchwork projects, which can be equally as satisfying as larger, more complicated projects.

I recently make this silly pin cushion tube with a strip of leftover scraps. It fits perfectly right in front of my sewing machine so I can just pull out the pins, stab them into the pin cushion and keep going without missing a beat!

pin cushion tube

I made this Good Neighbors fabric patchwork over a recent weekend retreat, and then…

Good Neighbors patchwork… I turned it into a fun thread catcher basket, which is fast and easy to whip up.Good Neighbors thread catcher basket Good Neighbors thread catcher basketI have a growing list of new, larger patchwork projects in the works, from new tote bags to quilts, so it’s nice to work on smaller projects in between. Happy sewing!

Terri

 

Happies

| terriaw

Every year, my friends and I exchange gifts at our annual retreat, which we call “happies” because it makes us happy to give gifts. This year a few people went overboard in making their happies.

Grubers Happies 2015

  • Cindy made us the 1 hour basket with the cool license plate fabric, which we all used to throw our scraps in over the weekend.
  • Rene’ gave us a custom coffee mug with the logo I designed for our quilting bee, a stack of 2-1/2″ squares of fabric and a patchwork mug rug/mini quilt.
  • Michelle made us a catch-all fabric basket.
  • Amanda Jean made us her work in progress bag, included the pattern and gave us a stack of 2-1/2″ squares from her upcoming fabric collection, Good Neighbors. She also gave me an autographed postcard from Sarah Watts, since I love her illustrations and fabric.
  • Doris gave us charm packs and a cute scissors key chain.
  • Mary gave us a pin cushion with the tiniest hexagon flower. Sew cute!
  • We’re all in the same quilting bee together so Stephanie used the logo I designed to create custom embroidered totes for us. She threw in a jar of honey from her very own bee hives.

happies from StephanieShelly made us perpetual calendars, with each index card date-stamped, as a way for us to track happy moments.happy from ShellyI made a dresden color wheel mug rug for everyone. Click here to see my tutorial on how to make your own.dresden color wheel mug rugsIt was better than gift-exchanging at Christmas!

Terri

Patchwork Projects: Garden Party Quilt

| terriaw

I am so excited to show you my finished Garden Party quilt!

garden party quilt

A former quilting bee I used to belong to helped make some of the blocks using this tutorial for a “2.5 Times Around the Block” quilt block. I wish I could have made it a little bigger but my stash of the red mingling and ice mingling prints from the Garden Party fabrics designed by Anna Maria Horner was quite limited.

garden party quilt top

The backing is all about the turquoise centerpiece print!garden party quilt back

My friend Julie, a professional long-arm quilter, did a beautiful job quilting it.

garden party quilting

garden party quilt

I can’t even begin to tell you how excited I am with this quilt! I started making it about three years ago with a quilting bee I belonged to at the time, and it’s one of the few quilt finishes I’ve had in a looong time. Projects like this are one of the many reasons I love sewing and wanted to learn how to design fabric, sewing patterns and surface patterns.

Terri

Stats:
Block: 2.5 Times Around the Block
Size: 42″ wide x 55″ high
Fabrics: Garden Party fabrics designed by Anna Maria Horner  

Peace Quilt Blog Hop and A Pattern Giveaway-Closed

| terriaw

Welcome to the Peace Quilt Blog Hop. Today is my turn to showcase Rene’s Peace quilt pattern.

My friend Rene‘ asked me to test her Peace Quilt pattern, which includes instructions for three sizes. I chose to make the smallest size, which is a 30″ square.

Peace Baby Quilt

Rene’ did an excellent job writing out the pattern, and providing a chart for laying out the squares in the peace sign shape. The most challenging part for me was following the instructions very closely so I got the layout correct. At first, I had it wrong, but you can’t tell from my progress picture below. (I was actually missing a column on each side.) I noticed it when I started sewing the columns together, which was easy to fix by referring to Rene’s peace sign grid, and remaining the extra strips and squares I had leftover from the cutting steps. LOL!

Peace Baby Layout

I had  fun choosing fabrics for the squares, which all came from my stash of Anna Maria Horner scraps. I still have a nice bin of fabric scraps, so I would love to make more projects like this, since this was a great way to use scraps. I used a pale yellow solid fabric for the background to provide the most contrast with the squares making up the peace sign.

Peace Baby Scrap Squares

As part of her blog hop, Rene’ is giving away a copy of her Peace Baby quilt pattern to my readers. Leave a comment by 6pm Thursday, January 31 to win your copy.

Here is the blog hop schedule:

Monday, January 21 –  Katie at KT Quilts (http://ktquilts4fun.blogspot.com)
Tuesday, January 22 – Michele at  Nostalgic Cafe (http://nostalgiccafe.blogspot.com)
Wednesday, January 23 – Cindy at  Live a Colorful Life (http://aroundtheblockdesigns.blogspot.com)
Thursday, January 24 – Michelle at  Frustrated Quilter (http://frustratedquilter.blogspot.com)
Friday, January 25 – Stephanie at Peas in a Pod (http://peasinapod.typepad.com)
Monday, January 28 – Terri at Terri’s Notebook (https://terrisnotebook.wordpress.com) Right where you should be today!
Tuesday, January 29 – Doris at Made by a Brunnette (http://www.madebyabrunnette.com)
Wednesday, January 30 – Mary at Mary on Lake Pulaski (http://maryonlakepulaski.blogspot.com)
Thursday, January 31 – Shelly at Prairie Moon Quilts (http://www.prairiemoonquilts.com)
Friday, February 1 – back to Rene’ at Rene’ Creates (http://www.renecreates.com) for a final give away

Thanks for stopping by.

siggy

Sewing With Friends

| terriaw

My circle of sewing friends includes my blog readers who sew and a couple people I know locally who sew.

It’s a lucky day when you get to meet your blog readers / sewing friends in person. An even luckier day when you get to spend an entire weekend sewing with them! Last weekend was the third year in a row we got together for our retreat at Gruber’s Quilt Shop and retreat center in central Minnesota.

We had eight people this year instead of our usual ten: (front row) Cindy, Amanda Jean, Stephanie, (back row) Doris, Michelle, Rene, me, and Mary. (we missed Shelly and Toni this year.)

Our fabric tastes and sewing styles are different and complementary, so we get along quite well. Of course, we do A LOT of sewing! I haven’t had much time for sewing over the past six months, with the busy class and homework schedules I’ve had. I didn’t realize how low my sewing motivation had gotten until I started sewing again. I sewed a lot!

I made two patchwork rugs using my Innocent Crush stash, one for a bathroom and one for my new screen printing station in the basement.

I pieced together a patchwork tablecloth using a variety Garden Party fabrics, Loulouthi fabrics and solids from my stash. It just needs a border and backing.

I quilted concentric squares on my scappers delight block to be used as a pillow cover for the 25-inch pillow form Amanda Jean made for me.

I pieced together wonky stars for a table runner and a center piece using more of my Innocent Crush stash.

I made a set of zipper pouches from some of my Spoonflower fabrics to share with everyone for our “happies” exchange. (I will share the happies I received in another post.)

The most fun was digging through my scrap bin to piece together new fabrics. I ended up making giant pincushions. Giant, as in this 9-inch square!

For this one, I had a wrist rest in mind but it also kinda looks like a bolster. I just love it!

It was crazy fun hanging out with like-minded people, fabric lovers who share my same creative enthusiasm, uber talented sewers, and the nicest women a girl could ask for in friends. Thanks for stopping by!

PS – I did a bit of fabric shopping which I am excited to share with you in another post.

Blogger’s Quilt Festival Spring 2012: Floating Stars

| terriaw

It’s time for the Blogger’s Quilt Festival, Spring 2012 edition. For those of you who aren’t familiar with this event, it’s an online festival where quilters from all over the world share a picture of one of their favorite quilts they made. It takes place over the same weekend as the International Quilt Market, a wholesale trade show where fabric manufacturers and fabric designers get together to share their treasures with fabric shops. I hope to attend that Market someday with my own fabric designs, but not yet 😉

Amy's Creative Side

I want to share with you this lap-size quilt I made on a whim at a quilting retreat last summer. I call it Floating Stars.

We were fabric shopping and I started picking up miscellaneous fabrics that I liked. Turns out, they went well together. Since I love stars, especially Gwen Marston‘s liberated star block, I decided to make a big star.

Then I decided to float a few random star blocks around it. I’m not big on following quilt patterns, so this was a fun project to figure out what I wanted as I went merrily along.

I had an extra star block so I incorporated it into the backing. I did some fun free motion quilting around the stars to make them pop, and echo quilting inside each star.

Thanks for stopping by!

Distraction Sewing

| terriaw

Sometimes, I need a simple sewing project to work on, whether I’m procrastinating working on homework or just feeling anxious and need a distraction.

For each of these projects, I started out with a scrap piece from a Square Dance Panel, and added scraps of solid strips to the sides to simply frame them or make a log cabin block.

It was relaxing to start with a small piece and challenge myself to keep adding to it without a plan.

I haven’t decided yet what I’m going to do with these blocks, maybe just a fun set of mini quilts for our end tables or mug rugs.

I love these panels, and I especially love to imagine what they would look like as a doodle page in a sketchbook. That’s next on my list of distractions.

Giveaway Day – December 2011 – Closed

| terriaw

It seems like ages since I’ve offered a giveaway, so I’m excited to be participating in Sew,Mama, Sew’s Giveaway Day again!

I am offering the book Pretty in Patchwork Doll Quilts which was the inspiration for the mini quilt I also made for the lucky winner (see below). This book is full of 24 projects for making mini quilts in a great variety of sizes and themes.

Along with this book you will receive this mini quilt I made based on the cover project, a Christmas star measuring 19.5 inches all the way around. Perfect for a table topper or centerpiece.

I used that green fabric for the binding and that red fabric for the backing.

I will also include the scraps in case you want to make something else to match your new mini quilt, like a mug rug, potholder or smaller mini quilt.

Leave a comment by 7 pm CST on Friday, December 16 to be entered. International entries are welcome. Good luck, friends!

COMMENTS ARE CLOSED NOW.