A Fun Giveaway....

There is a great give away over at Canton Village Quilt Works.

Mushrooms...In Progress

I'm trying to finish up my wip's .

This one is from June. I love this mushroom fabric. It's Woodland Wonderland by Jay McCarroll for Free Spirit


I love the fabric but not sure where I am going with it yet.

(very wrinkled from sitting in the closet for 4 months)

I'm just doing some random piecing, no pattern. We'll see how it turns out!

Aqua and Red Pinwheels

I finished my aqua and red pinwheel baby quilt. I love it! I couldn't get the best pic this morning but it's okay.


Here's a shot of the six different color fabrics I used.



I decided to go with the red micro dots for the binding.


I more often than not sew my binding on completely with my machine and they don't always look so great. I usually only hand sew binding on if I am giving the quilt to someone else. I did sew this one down by hand. I am really going to try to commit to sewing all my bindings on by hand. They look so nice and I really don't mind doing it. It just takes so long when you have all these quilt ideas swirling around in your brain. But I am really going for better quality in my quilts over quantity.

Fabrics Used

darkest red - Marbles by Moda

red micro dots - ? not sure, no selvages (tattered), found in the bargain room at LQS, really thick and nice though
red with whit flowers - Aunt Grace Scrap Bag by Judie Rothermel (Marcus Brothers)

darkest aqua - Linen Texture by P & B Textiles
aqua with flowers - Aunt Grace Classics by Judie Rothermel
lighter blue with red dots - Bubble Gum Basics by Barbara Jones (Henry Glass Fabrics)
white background fabric - something that was nice and thick from my stash (no selvage)

Strip Pieced Half Square Triangles and Flat Pinwheels

I'm in the process of making an aqua and red pinwheel baby quilt. I love pinwheels. The easiest way (for me) to make half square triangles is to strip piece them. Here's how I do it.

I cut my strips of fabric the finished size I want my HST ( half square triangles) to be plus 7/8 of an inch. (Example a 4 inch (finished) HST  Cut strip 4 7/8 in.)Cut that measurement by the WOF (width of fabric). Then you get this nice pile of strips.


Next mark off the measurement you are using for your HST in intervals on the back of your light strips. Then mark alternating diagonal lines between the straight lines.


Now line your light strip and alternating fabric strip right sides together and press them to hold them together.


Sew 1/4 of an inch away from the diagonal lines on one side of the strip.


When you come to the end of the strip turn it and sew along the diagonal lines on the other side.


Press to set your seems.


Now cut on the drawn lines (straight and diagonal).


Press to the darker fabric and square up as desired.

FLAT PINWHEELS

Now that you have your half square triangles you can make lots of things. I am making pinwheels. This is how I get a flat pinwheel. Pinwheels have a lot of bulk where all the seams intersect. So pressing is the important thing here.

First layout your HST's to make a pinwheel. Sew the top 2 together and then the bottom 2, butting seams.


PRESS THE SEAMS OPEN.


Now put your top unit and bottom unit together, matching all seams. Pin if you like.


Press your seams OPEN.


Square up. Now you should have a lovely flat pinwheel.

recess churn dash

I started this quilt back in June. i finally basted and quilted it yesterday. I am so pleased with it. I wish the pics were better. I used 2 Moda recess charm packs.


This is one of my favorite blocks.


I really like the red binding too.

quilt festival

i've enjoyed looking at all the great quilts for park city girl's quilt festival so much, that i thought i might join in on the fun.


i made this quilt last year for a friend. i used the tutorial from crazy mom quilts . some of the browns read darker than they actually were. i really loved this quilt and it was a new venture into using white sashing. i was so happy to be able to see it again when i visited my friend recently. i really love a quilt even more when i haven't seen it in a while. don't you? the fabrics used were Moda's bistro and a some fat quarters from joann's and some walmart polka dots i loved.