Quilting Soothes the Nerves

So--I was on the phone with the California Dept. of Public Health to TRY to figure out what I can do about a smudged date on my birth certificate. The guy said, "I'll look at the microfilm and call you RIGHT back." Well, long story short, I waited 5 hours for that call.

While I was waiting, and waiting, and getting angrier, and more frustrated, and so on--I decided to calm myself by starting a new Block of the Month quilt. I decided to use some really cute and slightly unconventional Christmas fabrics.

Both of these blocks are from Quilter's Cache.

This one is called Housewife:




This one is called Grandmother's Cross:



I think I'm really going to like this Christmas quilt!

Log Cabin Pot Holders

Can you tell that I'm ready for summer? I chose some bright greens and yellows to make these log cabin blocks, along with the traditional red center. These pot holders are for my Mom!

Quilted Potholders

Well, so far Spring Break has not been good to me. I went to bed last night with a massive tension headache. Time to retreat to my happy place of crafting therapy.

I decided to finish these two potholders that I have been piecing together in five minute intervals for the past few weeks.

Both patterns are from the book "101 Fun-to-Quilt Pot Holders". The title is a misnomer in my opinion because the book has waaaaay too many patterns that require mitered corners. And in my world, mitered corners are not "fun". But I did OK on the patterns above, called Spin Art and Pinwheel.

Autumn Table Topper

For the past few weeks I have been sneaking into my sewing room for a few moments at a time to make this table topper for fall:


Mine turned out wider than what the pattern called for since I used 3 inch fabric strips instead of 2.5 inch strips. Mainly because I bought a Moda scrap bag that had all of these beautiful 3 inch strips and there was no way I was going to cut them all down to 2.5!

Also, I was only supposed to use dark and light fabrics, but I mixed in lots of pretty mediums, so I don't have quite the contrast that I should have. But I really like it anyway.

The best part? It's reversible! The other side is similar to this side, except more dark fabrics and fewer light. So when I have a little spill, all I have to do is flip it over!

Lots of cutting and piecing, but I like to call that "therapy".

The pattern is in Quilter's World June 2010.

Mitten!

I tried my hand at machine applique yesterday--and decided that I need a lot more practice! But this block will make a cute table runner or wall hanging if several mittens are made in different fabrics. I got the mitten template from the Connecting Threads site--it's a free pattern for a mitten garland, which is also really cute.

Redwork Hand Embroidery

I've waited a long time to post this project on my blog!



I made this for an embroidery challenge in my Yahoo group Quilt Makers International. We were each given the simple embroidery design and told to make anything that we want using it.

I decided to go with simple redwork, since I have been wanting to do some redwork for a long time. I embroidered by hand onto some white on white fabric, and then used that as a center panel for a table topper.

I couldn't show you the finished project until now, because our group members were voting for their favorite entry during the month of August.

Wow, this gives me the itch to sew! I haven't done very much in my craft room this summer. It's time to get back in my groove!

I made this today

The pattern is called Prairie Queen from Quilterscache. It's actually the January block from my Block of the Month quilt--it seems that *somehow* I forgot to make this one! Anyway, I also made another block for this quilt, but it came out 1/2 inch too small. And for all of you non-quilters out there, 1/2 inch might as well be 1/2 mile. So I need to redo that one and figure out how to get it right.

And I also finished up a project for a challenge in my online quilting group. But I can't show it to you yet! Some of the people that are voting on the winning entry might see my blog post and my entry will no longer be anonymous. But I promise I will show you soon.

Have a good rest of the weekend. We are absolutely sweltering here!

A Quilt with No Name

The name of this block is No Name Block #2, which I find kind of strange because I've seen all kinds of interesting names for quilt blocks. It seems odd that they couldn't come up with something to name it! It's the first block that I have made for my 2010 block of the month quilt. Never mind that I'm four months behind!

The pattern is on www.quilterscache.com.

Mending a Broken Heart

I made these quilt blocks for a Block of the Month exchange. Unfortunately I'm late with these and couldn't be in the drawing--they were due on the 25th--but I will still mail them to the winner.

Two nice things about this Mending a Broken Heart pattern: you make 2 blocks at a time, and it's quilt-as-you-go and the blocks are ready to put together right away.

If you use Insul-bright batting, these blocks would make nice potholders. Hmmm, there's a thought.....

Have a good Saturday.

Evening Star

Here is our January block of the month called "Evening Star" from Quilter's Cache. Even though it is paper pieced, I couldn't get the points to match in the center! Kinda bugs me but kinda doesn't :-p. Still turned out ok though.

This afternoon, the girls and I saw "The Spy Next Door"--very cute family movie. The little girl in the movie is especially cute. She kept saying things that reminded me of my Audrey.

Have a great Monday everyone.

Photo Frame and Quilt Block

I made this photo frame by stamping with white pigment ink on the front of the glass panel on this cute little clipboard. The stamps are from A Sparkles © Bright and Happy Holiday from Clear Artistic Stamps.



You can simply slide a photo behind the glass and it will have the blue paper in the background and the snowman in the foreground.

And now, drum roll please.....

I actually finished my block of the month blocks for 2009! And it's still 2009! Amazing, isn't it?


This block is called Ranger's Pride from www.quilterscache.com. This was an easy pattern that creates a secondary pinwheel when all the blocks are pieced together. I need to remember this one for future use.

Have a great Friday! One week to Christmas!

Sorry Cardmakers....

I can hear the collective groooooan of my card making followers who are saying, "What, more quilting???" Sorry, but I've been on a sewing kick lately and I'm almost caught up on my block of the month quilt.

Here is the Sept. block (Sarah's Choice):


Here is the October block (Birdhouses):



Here is the November block (Missouri Star):


All patterns are from www.quilterscache.com. I only have one block left before I can put the whole thing together.

It's a cold day here, but sunny. Good day to get some housework done and then maybe work on some Christmas crafts. Have a good Saturday!

Candle Mat

This candle mat will be a Christmas present for a gift exchange that I am participating in this year. I made it from a kit that I bought the last time I was at Pohlar's. It's made with insulated batting to protect the table from the heat of the candle. It's quilt-as-you-go, which saves so much time.

It's really cold here this morning--we had to really bundle up for the bus stop. Have a great Thursday!

Waaaay Behind

I'm pretty far behind on my Block of the Month quilt. This is the block that I should have made in August. It's called Four Patch Fox and Geese and it's found on www.quilterscache.com. Now I need to make the blocks for September through December to get caught up. GAK! After that I will figure out how to put them together.

I'm Sewing Again

I made this quilt block for our block of the month in my quilting group. It's called Heaven's A Blaze, and can be found at www.quilterscache.com. It's completely paper-pieced.

On Thursday night, I helped my daughter's Brownie troop leader teach the girls to use a sewing machine. Eight little girls using a sewing machine for the first time! They were so excited. Here's to passing a love of sewing onto the next generation!

BTW, the girls are making a crazy quilt. Pictures will come later when it is finished!

Mystery Quilt

Here's Audrey holding a quilt top that I finished last weekend. It is a mystery quilt called PB&J--which means that my friend Joan led a group of us through making it. She was the only one who knew the pattern. For the rest of us the pattern was a mystery until we saw the final product. I really like how it turned out. Now I need to quilt it into a cozy lap quilt.

Basket of Chips

This quilt block from Quilterscache is called Basket of Chips, but I think I will call it Basket of Scraps since I used a bunch of little scraps to fill this basket. Wow, lots of cutting here!

We're having a quiet day here today. We took the kids to see Night at the Museum 2, and we will grill burgers later.

Have a good Memorial Day everyone.

Dutchman's Puzzle Quilt Block

My quilting group on Yahoo does a Keep-Your-Own Block of the Month each month, and in May it is my turn to choose the pattern. I decided on Dutchman's Puzzle, which you can find at Quilter's Cache. This is a very fast and easy block to make. It would also look good with a dark background (like black) and then jewel tones for the triangles. And of course, it lends itself to being a beautiful scrap quilt. (I love scrap quilts!)

Have a great Monday everyone. Hope you are having some of the fantastic weather that we are blessed with here in SW Ohio.

Pat's Star

This is the April block for my block of the month quilt:


The pattern is called Pat's Star and you can find it here. I think it is such a pretty pattern, sort of a star within a star. One lady in my quilting group made this pattern in red, white, blue and gold--it looks great in that combination.

Today I'm going grocery shopping for our Easter dinner. It's the one day of the year that we have leg of lamb. Yum!

Have a good Thursday.

A Card and A Block

In yesterday's mail I received this adorable card from Belinda and Traci Landtroop of Clear Artistic Stamps:


Isn't Little Mary Cheeryberry just the cutest stamp? Thanks ladies!

Also, I finished working on my block of the month for my quilting group. The pattern is called Card Trick, and you can find it here. This is my version:



Well, I guess it's back to laundry and housework for me......

I'm hoping to get another quilt block done tonight.