Horses and Butterflies Equal Memories

2 Christmas' ago. I made each of my grand children a quilt.  I wanted to make each quilt from a favorite thing that the child liked. I started one with the butterflies for my second oldest granddaughter
 then 6 years old. She liked butterflies..she called them "flutterbies".

Well, I got the quilt top done, and it hit me. She may like butterflies,(who doesn't?) but she REALLY LOVES horses...so why am I giving her butterflies! So I set the butterfly quilt aside and made her a quilt with horses. The design was based on the Serendipity books about magical horses that I used to read to her and she loved hearing them. I am sure our reading times with those wonderful horses will be a memory she will treasure! 


This is the series of Serendipity books...these two were her fav's.



(More about this quilt later). So on the quilt rack the butterflies went.

 A year later, I needed a TV watching  blanket, so I decided to finish this WIP and use it for ME!  The butterfly quilt has a thin, fleece back (pink zebra print!) and NO batting. I wanted it to be soft and cuddly so I could wrap myself up  while watching TV so it needed to be soft and "bendable" as possible. So I used the fleece and the quilt top only and it worked out perfectly! I FMQ'ed meander stitch throughout, outlining a butterfly or two in each block. The butterfly colors are bright and shiney against the black background because the fabric has tiny little sparkles in it..and they really do sparkle!  It turned out really nice, and warm and cuddly! It measures appx 60x60". Each block is 12x12 with 2" yellow sashings and cornerstones.  




Here is the butterfly quilt for ME!

The colors of the cornerstones are matching colors of the butterflies. I had originally gotten the pink zebra fleece for the back as that zebra print in any color was  a favorite of young girls at that time. Now..it just is warm and cuddly and colorful for me!

The memory here? Since I started it for my grand daughter

..every time I use it, I think of her!

Want to read more at Fabric and Memories? CLICK HERE
 
This post is linked to the daily Linky Parties I participate in...click on the tab about that says "Linky Parties" and come on over and join us! Lots and lots of wonderful tips, tricks and ideas in the craft world!

Thanks for stopping by and...keep on sewing those memories!

Make Heart Block from HST's.

Our auto mechanic was going to be a daddy soon, so I decided that since he does good deals for me on my car maintenance, I would make him a quilt for his child. I waited till birth to know to make for a boy or girl. Little Brenna Jane was born!  I forgot to measure the quilt before giving it, so it is probably around 45x45". This was my first attempt at the Heart block using HST's but it worked out great, real quick and easy! HST's are my favorite piecing to make.

I made the HST's with (if memory serves!) 3,1/2x3,1/2 inch squares. This made a 12x12 (finished) block. I used white and green, purple and pink with mini, mini white dots. The hearts are made with 16 HST's of the appropriate color combination. The two bottom corner squares are a whole, white square and 4 whole colored squares are the middle of the heart. Each heart is 8 HST's, 2 whole squares in white and 4 whole squares in a color. Quick, easy and so many heart-y options!

I used 2" sashings in yellow with the blue as the cornerstone and binding. I searched (and searched) the internet for printout of the alphabet in 3 inch height. I printed out on tracing paper and cut them out  and then used as pattern to cut from the fabric, backed with iron-on interfacing and then appliqued the letters onto yellow fabric with a narrow zig-zag stitch.

The back is a yellow baby print of little ducks and lambs. I FMQ'ed with meander stitch the whole quilt. It turned out really nice.
 
Half square triangles are my favorite piece to make. I highly recommend a triangle square up ruler...My personal preference is Eleanor Burns Quilt in a Day, 6,1/2x6,1/2 inch template.  This makes squaring up the HST's so that they are all the exact same size and perfect for assembly. Just lay the line on the seam and trim! I have also found that QIAD templates are a bit less expensive than others and I prefer the black print on a clear template as opposed to yellow print on a clear template
                                                                        

Although I searched and searched ...and searched...online for 3" letters, I wish I had had a stencil to trace them from so I went after wards and bought these stencils...works great! I specifically wanted block style letters as they are easier to applique than curves and just getting back into applique, I wanted to start the easy way first. But once "back in the saddle" I got these "chubby" style. They are much cuter than the block style, don't you think? With  a stencil, you can trace directly onto the fabric. No pattern required!
And you can get your letters in any size. I chose 3" because I thought it was big enough to be seen prominently, yet small enough to not overwhelm the quilt. Plus, the longer the name, in my opinion, the smaller the letter..unless you want the name to be the main focus of the quilt. In that case, choose a larger stencil                                                                                              

Want to read more at Fabric and Memories? CLICK HERE

This post is on the Linky Party of the Day - click on the "Here's Where I Party" tab at the top of this page and come join the fun!

Thanks for stopping by and...keep on sewing those memories!

"I Spy With my Little Eye"... a Finished I Spy quilt!!! YEA!!!!

Well, it is finally finished! My much anticipated  "I Spy" quilt for my grand kids! It has been a long road...mostly just trying to figure it out, but with the help of some wonderful cyber friends who helped me collect some of the most amazing and awesome fabric images to use to "spy"...I got it finished!

Here's how it started...... I Spy, Part 1    and      I Spy, Part 2 

And now it is FINISHED!!!! 

I wanted the images to be (finished) 3x3 squares - 169 of them! I sashed the squares with white 1 inch sashings because I wanted the sashing to separate the squares so it didn't look cluttered and messy.

 I added 2, 2" borders and a final binding.        It measures 70x70"

The back is a colorful flower bed sheet sheet. I did a little notebook with all the items to "spy" and made a pocket out of the label on the back for the little book to go in. Now, one can have the book and choose from any page, and item for the others to "spy".

The creation of the quilt wasn't all fun tho! I enjoyed so much collecting the pieces and even sewing the sashes on was quick and easy and even fun. I was so looking forward to putting it all together!  I was disappointed tho, that in spite of how hard I tried to make sure everything was even and straight, when I went to sew the sashed rows together, seams didn't match. I don't know what I did wrong. But oh, well, because it was so large and so many squares, it wouldn't be that noticable. Or so I thought hoped!

When I went to do the top stitching,  I decided to just sew around each square...about scant 1/4" on each side of each seam. That way the square was accentuated and no stitching was done over the image. But because the seams didn't match when I sewed the sashes together, the seams used as a guide were then crooked. Now it was noticable!!! Nothing I could do do about it, so I just did the best I could at making the lines straight and just finished it off. I kept telling myself...."the kids won't notice! The kids won't notice! They will be having so much fun...they won't notice!"

 Here are a few of the squares..


"I spy with my little eye......a red car, a dolphin, a cheerleader, bouquet of daisies

 "I Spy with my little eye....
some pencils, a pink butterfly, hot dogs on the grill and a yellow teddy bear with a green sweater

I Spy with my little eye....Red lips, little cars, Raggedy Ann and Andy, a unicorn

 

" I Spy with my little eye...
a sewing machine, a watch, a lobster, a camera"














 
And in the end, that is all that matters anyway..that the kids have fun with the I Spy quilt, made for them by their loving Grandmother,  Nanny (that's me!) We will make some great memories! I wonder what they will say when they have it to give to their kids and tell  about when their grandma made it and gave it to them!!

I have some extra "I spy" pieces, I am comtemplating creating a quilt/board game similar to CandyLand. I was raised on board games and putting the game on a quilt just makes it all better. I made a hopscotch quilt (will blog about that soon!) and the girls loved it..none could hop in the square right, which just means they need practice on balance and coordination...and that is one thing Hopscotch offers...practice on balance and coordination!

P.S. When I took it over to the kids..they didn't notice!

Want to read more at Fabric and Memories? CLICK HERE This post linked to the Linky Party for the day. Click on the "Here's Where I Party" tab at the top of my page and join us! Lots and lots of amazing talents on "display" 

Thanks for stopping by and...keep on sewing those memories!

April: Finished, WIP's and Destash

Wow... April was  a crazy month!  But at the same time a great month of finishes, new creations and...not a single trip to the fabric store! And the thrift store didn't have any fabric this month either. But...I did participate in a fat quarter swap and swapped fat quarters I had with some other ladies for new fat quarters! Got some nice pieces. So in April,  my stash has not grown, my budget has not been incumbered and I was able to finish several projects and start a few!

FINISHED - Monkey Tote Bag

My grand daughter loves monkeys so this fabric was perfect.I bought it a couple months ago with her in mind. I didn't have a pattern, just used the basic size....13x15 rectangle with 3" sides, and lined with poly.cotton broadcloth and quilted/FMQ'ed with the meander method

  I added a side pocket on the outside and one on the inside, a front pocket and one on the inside. I did forget to add a clip or O ring so she could clip things on to it tho. Oh, well, guess that means I get to make her another one!

 
 
FINISHED - The "Nanny" Bag
Then I go to visit my 4 grand kids, I enjoy taking them a little "something". So I found this awesomely cute fabric....with little cats playing around in a sewing room... and made myself a tote bag! Yes, you read that right...made myself something! Most every thing I make is for others or for a house decoration, but this time...it was for me! I love pockets so it has alot of pockets inside and out! I used the quilting bar for the first time to do just square quilting lines..worked great.  I grew up with Mary Poppins and her "carpet bag" of treasures...had the books and the LP record (yes, LP record!) but never saw the movie until I was pregnant with my second child in 1982! But I still remember Mary Poppins and her carpet bag. So, I hope to create some wonderful memories for the kids of when Nanny came to visit! And I LOVE pockets, so this tote has pockets all over...that pocket there on the front has pockets inside it! Plus pockets on the sides and inside! I hope I create some wonderful memories for the girls of their speical times with me!

FINISHED - Traveling Sewing Book
I bought a  pattern from Craftsey but the instructions were very "minor" shall I say, but I got the idea good enough and created my own version.  I used batting on the front and did line quilting/FMQ just straight lines across and a  heavy interfacing on the inside. Then just added sewing necessities. 

Pin cushion and needle book, both velcroed so they are removable. A pocket for thread, pocket for other things (I gave her a seam ripper) a pocket for scissor and I added of my own idea...and zipper pouch in the middle where I put in some 5x5" batik charms. She loves batik and calls them "fogs". Last time she was with me I taught her how to hand sew and she made her own "pockets" out of charms,that she called "Nothing Pockets" ....because she put nothing in them! So now she can make more or create something else. I am happy to be able to help her create some memories!

FINISHED - Wedding Quilt..."To have and to hold.."
I fought this quilt the whole way.  Daniel Boone would have been proud of me for fighting this 'ol bear!  Everything that could go wrong, did and I ran out of fabric twice! But I learned to use transparent thread (on the top) and a really fun Scrabble game feature on the back with the bride and groom's names. But I finished it and got it mailed to the bride. It is 72x72.  I hope her memories of her special day stay with her always! Click here to see it.....>> "To Have and To Hold...From This Day Forward".

 

WIPS for April

Postage Stamp Quilt... I participated in a postage stamp square swap where I swapped with 8 other ladies, 100 each, 2.5" squares!   I had never done anything like this before so it was exciting to see what I would receive! Of 800 squares... I only received 2 that were the same prints as prints I already had! And NO duplicates! So it was pretty cool. In going through them all, I found many that had a single image/item on the square so I pulled those out with the intention of making an I Spy quilt with them. Need to collect more or create a way to use them with other sizes of charms to make the quilt. This will be a WIP for a while I figure!

I Spy quilt..... I am working on an I Spy quilt for my grand children. I was cutting 3.5x3.5 inch squares of my own stash of items, but didn't have enough so I offered out a swap with others for some charms suitable for the I Spy and my cyber friends blessed me with enough to finish the quilt! I will be finishing the top this week, and have to decide what to do on the back. Then make the book of the list of things to "spy"...then I am done...and get to enjoy it with the kids!

Reorganized My Sewing Room
 

 
I also reorganized my sewing room.  Having the sewing table and my pressing table with my chair in the middle is the most perfect way to go! I sew and then spin and can press and spin back to sew! No jumping up and down to press and now I press all the time! My "to do" list is on my bulletin board right in front of my face so I can always be   thinking of next project.And nice to have a window to open when weather allows! And the TV.. I have DVD's or CD's for that..no tv connection.  

 

My fabric is on 2 book shelves in front of my sewing table. I love just looking at the colors! I have them in color stacks with (usually) solids on the bottom and prints on top of each stack. To the far left in the third photo is a plastic 5 drawer unit where I have my scraps. I have the color taped to the front of the drawer to show what color is in what drawer to better help me organize the scraps. And the crewel flower picture... I did that, oh about 25 years or so ago!. 


April was pretty cool...I hope May will be too! I am particularly itching to get the I Spy quilt done and play with my grand children! They are going to love it!

Want to read more at Fabric and Memories? CLICK HERE  

 This post is shared on the Linky Part of the day....click the tab at the top of this page.."Here's Where I Party" and join in for lots of fun and inspiration and alot of how-to's!

 
Thanks for stopping by and...keep on sewing those memories!

I Spy Quilt, Part 1 -The quilt begins!

I am so grateful for some cyber friends that sent me some pieces to use for the I Spy quilt I am making for my grand children.  Pauline, Linda, Pam and Rachel, Kori, Suzette and Donella, Sherri and Cecile, Diane, Wendy and Laura -  thank you  SO much your your help!  I am so amazed at the prints they sent me! I know there's alot of fabric I have never seen, but these are beyond what I  thought I could see! They are just perfect, unique images  for an I Spy quilt. While looking through the pieces, I kept telling myself "its for the kids! It's for the kids! You can't have it!" I am so excited to start working on the quilt again. 

This is the way I am making the blocks. 3x3" I Spy center square with 1" sashings all around. I call them sashings, others may call them "borders". Either way, I chose this way of construction to set off the images better. I have seen many with the image pieces just all sewn together and no organization and to me they just look messy, busy and cluttered. I want the kids to do a little searching for the items, but I don't want them exhausted after doing so! The white borders/sashings just work well for this reason.

 

So far I have 12 blocks per row which makes the rows 60" long(wide) which is what I want, so

"To Have and to Hold...." Wedding Quilt is finally finished!

I had such high hopes for this quilt as I was making it for a cousin...first cousin, once removed actually.  I was just trying to keep some "family participation" going as we have all drifted apart in last decade. My high hopes dwindled constantly during construction!  EVERYTHING that could go wrong with this quilt DID! I ran out of fabric twice and had to alter  the design twice because I had to get different fabric. Then it was how to FMQ it with so many different colors on the front AND the back! I just had to have what I have titled the "Scrabble Tile" name and that changed other things and I had to invest in some invisible thread! Then matching all the colors of the bottom and did SITD...but thinking differently than I needed to and oh good grief....I thought I'd go mad!  I started with these fabrics and a beige that had gold sparkles on it

Orca, a "whale" of a quilt!

When my now, 14 year old grand daughter was younger, she was in love with the Orca whale. She wanted to be  a trainer at Sea World more than anything else. I told her she could if she wanted to, but alias... now at 14, Orca trainer has kind of fallen by the wayside!She does still love the whale, but as with all teenagers...things change in those years!
 
So I made her this Orca quilt. I looked high and low for orca whale fabric! Online, in stores, everywhere I could think of.. and no orca whale fabric. I was upset as I really wanted her to have this quilt as a memory of her younger years when her passion for the Orca whale was so meaningful to her.  One day, I went to the thrift store and bought several bags (gallon ziplock size) of fabric. I couldn't see most of the fabric in the bag, stuffed full, but the outside fabrics I could see were cotton, and for $3.99 I figured I'd find enough in there that I could use. So I bought 3 bags of fabric.

Once, home, straight to the laundry room I go with the bags of fabric. I am opening them and pulling out the fabric pieces and  all were pretty good, and then IT happened...

Dresses for my Grand daughters....I amazed myself!

My oldest grand daughter is 8 and a Brownie Girl Scout. Her troop is putting on a program  with several other troops about other countries in the world and each troop chose a country.... hers chose the Ukraine. The troop contacted someone to make the outfits for the girls in the troop. 

 But she has 2 little sisters and my DIL asked me to make the sisters dresses to match so that they can kind of be part of the troop since they will all be there together anyway.  My DIL sent me a picture of this dress and asked if I could make one similar for the  2 sisters.  I thought, okay, a pheasant blouse, an apron and a elastic waist skirt.. and some embellishments of ribbon and lace. Yeah, I could do that.  I couldn't find a pheasant blouse pattern so I bought a kind of A-line dress with a regular bodice, took bodice pieces  and altered them to make a blouse, added some ribbons and lace and piece of the print fabric and made the blouses with a zipper back.

                      

Now just so you know... I haven't made childrens clothes in 12 years! Last I made was for my (then) 2 year old grand daughter. I made her 13 outfits for her second birthday. Before that, it was probably 15 years since I made clothes last. I made all my own clothes through high school and I made all my daughters clothes from birth  through 5th grade. I'll never forget the day she asked me "Mom, can I have a store bought dress?" I knew then that she was growing up and it was time to start accepting it!

How to Make a Neck Pillow Cover

I have been wanting to do this for some time. I kept telling myself I could make the pattern myself...just draw around the pillow, but I just never got around to it.  Then I stumbled on to this pattern and just said...DO IT! Especially since I use the pillow for traveling all the time now...just without a nice cover on it! So finally just did it!

A Cover for my Favorite BFF... my Singer 2010 sewing machine!

I wanted to make a cover for my other sewing machine.. a 29 year old Singer 2010...among the first "computerized" machines to come on board in early 1980's. I love that machine and  back in the day, I put more miles on that sewing machine than I did my car!   I have lot of good memories of that Singer and the things it helped me make!

I got a new Singer Quantum Stylist 2 years ago when I wanted to learn the FMQ technique and the 2010 wasn't that great at it. But I wanted to keep the 2010 out for things like assembly line sewing and to help not to have to change thread colors all the time in one machine and to just make my sewing room look nice. I already made one for the Quantum so now the "old girl" would get one!

I looked through my stash for fabric and I had bought this sewing theme related fabric back in December as it just jumped out at me off the rack and I just loved it!