A Quilt for Mom

Another in the long line of things we've done and haven't blogged. I used my Go cutter to make 4 inch squares from my scrap stash. I am not sure why but when ever I go scrappy, I also autopilot into ROYGBIV. Maybe this shows a lack of imagination or maybe I just love rainbows. Either way, I am happy with the results. 

Rounded corners give the quilt a softer look.

I love that I had enough fabrics that each square is different.

Simple straight-line quilting on the diagonal.

The backing is a wool blend I have had for forever. It started out grey and I dyed it this pretty purple. I used it to make this jacket several years ago.  

Thanks for stopping by!

Pinterest Challenge- Spring Edition

It's here again the Spring Edition of the Pinterest Challenge hosted by Bower Power and Young House Love

I have been in desperate need of hooks in the kids room. Preferably over the door ones because I don't want to put another hole in this rental property. The two issues are that they are either ugly and cheap looking or awesome and expensive. I had almost pulled the trigger on some that I could live with (I hate spending money on live with items!) and then I had an epiphany. I had pinned this Letter Coat rack DIY from Oh Happy Day and this fabric wrapped wire 'hello' from A Cuppa and a Catch up. What if I combine the two and make it an over the door hook?! So I got to work and used only supplies I had on hand.

It turned out awesome! 

The fabric is the same I made her peacock quilt from.

So since it was so successful I made one for Micah too. 

I love that it is fun and very Anthro looking. And adds a pop of decoration to a spot in the room that is otherwise blank. 

Hope you all enjoy my project!

Mod Mosaic - Quilt for For a Cause

  I decided to join the auction for Sacred Selections again this year. It's fun to think that I have a very small part in helping children and parents come together. 

I had a different quilt in mind, I started it and then I lost it.

 I mean this literally. 

I lost a quilt.

In my room.

I am now trying very, very hard to get my room organized.

I then decided that I'd try using the Mod Mosaics pattern by Elizabeth Hartman as a jumping off point. It was a very interesting method.  At first I wasn't comfortable not knowing exactly how the blocks would look. They changed with each small white sashing strip. After a bit it became quite fun, the not quite knowing part.

Everything I used I had in my scraps/stash. I love this quilt and it feels good to make something I love from small saved pieces. 

After I finished the large blocks, I was struggling a bit with my layout. It wasn't meshing they way I pictured, then Jessica suggested a smaller block in the middle. I think it makes the quilt. It's nice to have a second voice when you work! I sashed around the blocks with Kona Ash. That nearly made me loose my mind.,I even managed a couple of set in-seams. It's backed in a dark blue with white polka dot, Basic Brights Pattern No. 29398 by Windham. The binding is Kona Charcoal.

Now I just hope someone likes it enough to bid on it!

Modified Dresden Plates

I'm going to have to stop reading Jan's blog. I have had inspiration pictures and wanted to do something with Dresden plates forever and after seeing the cute pillow she posted the other day I ended up having some spare time at Mums house and started raiding her scrap stash - first I was just going to make a pillow but then these circles were so easy and fun to make that I ended up making 9! 

Of course I should say they were easy because Mum bought a template at the quilt show. These templates are wonderful! The other thing that made the process fast was starch (thanks Mum!) I snipped all of my scraps and then starched and ironed them before cutting- it made the process fast and I was able to cut 4-6 at a time accurately.

Of course my fun free project ended up getting rather expensive when I had to go buy fabric to put the plates on to!  Since I hadn't planned this project out I ended up at Joann's  (no patience to order things!) I originally wanted a grey linen but that was $$ and I wasn't in love with any of the limited color choices so then it was Kona Ash but they didn't have enough so I think this ended up being Kona slate...which now that it's done I think looks better then either of the light grey fabrics would have. And then while wandering the isles I spotted the green mini-check twill from the Lisette Collection. Perfect for my downstairs with all of it's little bits of green!

I just 505'd the circles onto the Kona and then machine stitched them on. Easy and fun I used the stitch that looks like a blanket stitch. For the quilting I used a variegated green pearl cotton. I refused to be all fussy with it since it was supposed to be a fun project- so it's not perfect! This was the first time I used the 505 on a quilt that I hand stitched and I have to say it was AWESOME! Are we sensing a theme? No annoying pins to put in or take out!

This quilt makes me super happy, it's already become a favorite for everyday use.

Wonkystar Pillow

Things around here have been a bit, shall we say, hectic. Then we went and got a little, um, exhausted. During this time, Jess and I decided to take a break from things we had to do, to make something we wanted to. Mine is small, her's is huge. We have yet to get good photos of hers, so today it's just mine. 

So, I've had this wonky star block favorited and pinned forever.

 By the way, if you don't yet use pinterest please, please do so. It's such a cool resource for keeping yourself organized. Of course it is also addictive. You need an invite (or you have to wait for a few days) but that's not a problem, just email me and I'll send you an invite! 

So anyway, I wanted a small pillow for back support but I couldn't just make a plain cover. Then Jennifer pinned a huge wonky star quilt and made her own mini quilt. That finally sent me over the edge and I knew I how I had to make my cover.

I did this on a whim so didn't really think it through. In an effort to use what I have, I went to the scrap bins. I finally used my "Go" cutter that my hubby got me for my birthday. Did I tell you that? Hm. Anyway, 48 little squares cut out in about five minutes. Yes, thank you! I decided to put them on point and just started sort of free piecing the sashing around the blocks. Mostly because I had a tiny bit of the Kona ash left to use. I can't actually believe it worked. All I had left was two small triangles 

I love it. I may have to eventually make a whole quilt like this.......someday.

Relax and Recycle

Yes, I too am on the string quilt band wagon. What's not to love? I'm using any paper I would normally throw away for my foundation and small peices of fabric I can't bear to throw away. The only peices you must be precise with, for the spider web pattern, are the middle "kite" shapes. I love the randomness of the rest of the quilt. I only have about 94 more triangles to go for a decent sized quilt. Hmmmm, maybe it will be a baby sized quilt.
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If you'd like to try one there is a great tutorial here.