Cut the Kona...

I decided to start working on my solids quilt. Inspired by this one. I first went with wonky. Can I just say how much my brain hates this! I love the way they look. But I don't enjoy creating them. I'll just have to admire the wonky quilts that other people make. I cut a bunch of odd sized strips and blocks and here's what I came up with. It's wrinkled because it now lives in the scrap bag along with the strips and blocks.


I'm glad I didn't cut all my fabric this way. I cut the rest with nice , even sized, measured strips and blocks. I love symmetry.


I have to draw out my quilts, even just a little, before I start. I can't stand the thought of wasting fabric and spending precious time on something I won't like.


I love these blocks. I have 9 made and I plan on making 80 total. They measure 10 inches. Now the strips are random sizes but they are even. I am having so much fun picking colors for each block. It's total stress free sewing. That's what counts, right?

My 10 Dollar Pfaff....

I love sewing machines, especially old ones.


Last year when I was looking for a featherweight, I came across this Pfaff. I think it's from 1951.


When I got it home and started to clean it up I was so excited to find all of the goodies that came along with it.

I love this little oil can. All of the parts and pieces say Pfaff on them. I was so tickled. Someone kept everything in really nice shape at one point.


I think it was a treadle machine that was turned into an electric machine. It has a knee pedal, which I had to get used to.


It was in the basement of the person I purchased it from and they just wanted to get rid of it. I'm not clear on who it originally belonged to. They didn't know if it worked. I didn't know if it worked. I figured for 10 bucks it was worth taking it home to find out. It sews beautifully. I even did some free motion with it.



I found it on Craigslist. If you know how to tinker with machines it's a good place to look.

Whimsy Progress.....Process Pledge

In keeping with the process pledge (badge on sidebar). I thought I'd post my progress on the Whimsy Snowball quilt. I have all of the blocks sewn, finally. I layed the blocks out in their rows. I was going to lay it out 10 blocks x 16 blocks, but I didn't care for it. I decided on a 12 block x 14 block layout. I labeled my rows and now they are ready to be sewn together. I'm still debating what fabric I want to use for borders. I want this to be bigger so I definitely want borders.


I have some yardage from the Whimsy line.


I have some dots also by Joanna Figueroa (Fig Tree & Co.) that blend well with the Whimsy. The other one is Moda Marbles. It matches nicely also. I'll update when I get to that!

I think the ric rac fabric would make a nice binding though, cut on the bias.

FYI : the finished size of the block is 4 inches. I used 4 charm packs and 2 different 1/2 yards of fabric to get 168 blocks.

Double Irish Chains

This post is inspired by Jacque and her cute little Irish Chain quilt that she made.


When I started quilting again in 2005 I was all over the Double Irish Chain.

I made a lot of them.

They are usually strip pieced and really fast and fun.

It's also where I really learned to appreciate butting seams and proper directional pressing.



The main quilt on my bed is a Double Irish Chain.



This one was my first.



It's still one of my favorites.



This was for my mom.



This was for my SIL's mother.



This was for my cousins baby.




I started by using the measurements here. Then I began to modify the block sizes.

I still have plans to make a scrappy chain with leaders and enders like this one.

I think it's a great pattern for a beginner.