A Quilt in Honor of Dad...

Hello All!

     Well no more progress has been made on my terrier quilt but I did want to share with you my quilt that I completed with my dad's shirts.  My dad passed away several years ago and I miss him a lot still.

Every winter he wore these long sleeve flannel shirts and they all had to have a front pocket for his cigar and matches.

     So since the shirts were made of cotton flannel, 50/50 and 100% polyester some of the fabric stretched so I picked an easy design.  Large 4-patches were just the ticket.  I matched those with blue cotton flannel.  The back was totally pieced with his shirts.  My daughter, who had a special connection with my dad, has already claimed it as her own.  I have enough to make one more quilt and I know my dad would be happy...

     The lovely model posing is my son's dog, Ket.

Until next time, make sure you do something you enjoy!

Susan B

Hello My Lovlies!

It's been a while I know, life stuff....
But last month I started a new project and I wanted to share it with you.  I bought this pattern a while ago but didn't start it yet.

Isn't this adorable?!

If you cannot see the name, its a Block of the Month called Terrier Town and is created by Late Bloomer Quilts.  I have a little black Lapso Apso/Terrier and anything that has a black doggie just tugs at my heart strings.

So last month I started and my goal is 2 blocks per month.  Here are the first 2 put together:

Now I don't have all of the fabrics suggested for this quilt, so I am pulling from my stash but I think it looks great so far!

I already have another block for July done and when I finish the second one I will post that also.  I still have a few weeks.

Hope you all get to create something fun today!!!

My Little Binding Experiment, Part 1....

Hello Everyone,
Here is Part 1 of my "Looking for My Perfect Binding Method."  The backstory is:  I decided a year ago that I could not hand bind anymore, it hurt my fingers and hands, and I just wasn't enjoying it.  If I am going to do hand work I would rather do some embroidery or just about anything else.  For those of you who enjoy snuggling up to your quilt and binding the heck out of it, good for you, and I do sincerely mean that, I just tried and tried and bound over 9 quilts before deciding there had to be a better way for me.  
My first machine binding was last year on a table runner with some fusible thread. It worked fine  however, the idea of sewing around my quilt three times, first for attaching the binding, second for zig-zag with the fusible thread, and third, for stitching the binding down was a drag.  There was also the ironing problem.  (Difficult little snot, aren't I?)  I have certain health problems which make standing in front of a hot iron very uncomfortable so I use my iron sparingly.  So the process worked fine, I just started searching for something that would work better for me.
I finished my spiral table runner recently and thought this would be the time to try something new.

  

   So here's the table runner all done. Isn't it cute?  I used a temporary basting spray to fuse the binding down.  It partially worked the way I wanted it to but overall was not as successful as I had hoped.  As I was sewing some of the binding began to lift due to handling so if I did a large quilt this would not work.  Also the spray was kind of messy on my fingers.  The plus side?  I did not have to use an iron and I did not have to sew around my table runner 3 times.  

     So I went back to JoAnn's and searched the isles for my next idea and will let you know how it goes.  For now I wish you all time to do what you love the most for life is short!

What is Bias Batting Tape Anyway?

Hi Everyone!

Well it has been while hasn't it?  So now that some craziness in my life has settled down I am back and I have been doing a little experimenting and thought I would share it with you.  So those of you who quilt your own quilts, what do you do when you get to the end and you mis-measured your batting?  So after I was done yelling and crying (Just kidding) I went upstairs to retrieve my handy fusible batting tape only to realize that I only had about 6 inches left of the stuff!  What's a girl to do?   I begrudgingly went to the computer to see about ordering more when I thought really what is this tape?  It's lightweight, fusible with a little stretch.  I went to my sewing room and started to hunt around and came across some lightweight knit fusible by the yard leftover from another project.  Next, I took my trusty rotary cutter and made a few bias cuts the same width as the tape I had.  Here is a picture of the tape I made on the batting:

  It held the batting together nicely and I quilted through it with no problems.  I really cannot see how it is any different than what I bought in the roll.  Well there is one difference, mine came in the pieces I cut so instead of one long strip I had to overlap the ones I made which really was no big deal.  It is fusible which means just like the tape it is meant to hold to whatever you iron it to.  The quilt has been on my bed being used every night for several weeks now and I haven't seen anything funny happening to the area where I did this.  Just something for you to think about for you next batting emergency.

Have a great day and make time to do something that you love to do!

Pincushion and Sandwiches....

          Well, trying to get caught up, which is  probably impossible but I will give it a go anyway.  Here's my second pincushion, I call her Princess Anastasia, because she is wanted it that way.  I know it's a little over the top but it was so much fun to make it was hard to stop.  My next one will probably be a ring holder for my daughter.  Instead of one long piece of velvet there will be rows of velvet kinda like sausages.

     
          Princess Anastasia has hand dyed velvet for the pincushion section and the shoe is a dark velvet teal.  Then there is purple lace all over and the collar is lace stiffened and attached to the shoe.  Then I put over 100 rhinestones all over.  Isn't she lovely?

         So now you are wondering where Sandwiches come into all this?  Well, I was reading an article on the internet that says people of my generation, born in the 60's are now being called the Sandwich generation.  Why?  Because we have children at home, although mine are adults (supposedly) and we take care of one or more parents who also live with us.  After I read the article I felt better because I am not the only one out there in this situation.  Although I love my family, it can be stressful and difficult to carve a little me time out of all of this.  So are there any more Sandwiches out there?

Merry Day After Christmas!

            Hope you had a Merry Christmas!  We actually had a white Christmas here and now the day after it's coming down like gangbusters!  Hopefully I can get outside later and show you all a picture.

            This is our mantle this year.  My first needlepointed stocking was the teddy bear for my son when he was 5.  He is now 23 and still loves it.  Then came the one for my daughter, the white one with the roses, then my mom, dad, hubby (who was my boyfriend when I made his), finally mine.  Next came the ones for the dogs (don't ask) and then there are several more for family members who live out of state.  So over the years I have made more than a dozen.  I just love making them but unfortunately they are getting harder to find.  I always line them and they have a velvet backing and cord that is hand stitched around the front at the seams.

      There are a few of my Christmas Barbies too.  Unfortunately in this house it's hard to display them so I just swap them out when I am in the mood or for a holiday.

Catching Up!

Hello Bloggers,


My mom has been in the hospital, well, actually 2 hospitals, and will be having surgery on December 28th so to say things have been a little crazy around here is an understatement.  I did get some sewing done and experimented a little with the lace stiffener (more about that next time) so I thought I would post a picture of my Bonnie Hunter mystery pieces that I have done so far....

It has been so much fun.   And obsessive as I am, I discovered that on Thursday night, well Friday morning really, at 2 am I can get the next clue and at least read it before I go to bed.  It's like peeking at your presents before Christmas when you were a little kid!

Here's hoping your holidays are much calmer than ours and that you are having fun.  We are still managing to fit some fun in between all the mess.  ;  )