Baby Lock Melody Christmas Dreams

Of course you have noticed all those gorgeous quilt entries popping up all over blogland!  No?

To get an overload of sweet quilty eye candy....
                        Head on over to Amy's Creative Side to visit the Fall 2013 Blogger's Quilt Festival.

As part of the celebration, Baby Lock is giving away a Melody machine to one lucky blogger!

My son has been dabbling in that little quilting room of mine.

And I have my eyes peeled for a second hand machine to gift him for Christmas.

How incredible it would be to win him a Melody!

Here are a few of the features of the Melody that would be

 of such a great benefit to my little quilting protege......

 

• Sews a precise 1/4" seam.  Anyone who quilts knows how important an accurate 1/4" seam is! 
• Hands-free presser foot lift allows you to raise the presser foot with a tap of the knee, leaving your hands free for control and precision in your sewing, and out of harm's way!
• Automatic thread cutter
• 14 Snap-on feet including a walking foot
• Quilting extension table

 Just imagine how big that smile would be

if there was a Melody under the Christmas tree!

Oink A Doodle Moo - Deja Vu

It's a case of Deja Vu here!

Back in May, I purchased some Oink A Doodle Moo fabric, by Jenn Ski for Moda.  I made this baby boy quilt called Oink A Doodle Moo in Blue and it sat in my Etsy shop until August when it was sold.

This week the remainders of that fabric have been calling on me to play!

First I made this little doll quilt and pillow set.

I was long inspired by the hexagon log cabin by Tessa Marie of The Sewing Chick and used her tutorial to guide me in creating just enough blocks to make this cute quilt.

This little doll quilt measures 15.75" x 17.75" and comes with a sweet little pillow.
The pillow was made using the white tone on tone used in the quilt and the pillow case
was my first attempt at french seams.

The backing is a cozy flannel with little yellow stars.

I quilted in the ditch and tied and buried all those little threads!

But I still had lots of Oink A Doodle Moo left over!

So I laid out some pieces on my design wall.
And added some bright scrappy bits to make these improv blocks with white strips.

I ended up with a quilt top that would finish at 25" square.  I wanted to make it larger - big enough for a baby quilt.  And was determined to make mitered borders for the very first time!

And ended up spending the afternoon making a tutorial!
Please take a look at my new Mitered Border quilt tutorial, included on my tutorial page,
which can be found just below my blog header.

Did you notice that there are STILL some scraps of Oink A Doodle Moo peeking out from behind that new finished top?  Looks like this new baby boy quilt is going to have a twin brother!

Keep On Quilting On!

Mitered Border Quilt Tutorial

Today I would like to share with you the steps taken to make a multiple mitered border.
First you will need to determine the length of your borders.  My unfinished quilt top measured 25.5" square.

25.5 - (.25 + .25) for the seams will give a finished width of 25"

I wanted to add a 3" strip of white, followed by a 1.75" strip of feature fabric, and finish with a 3" strip of white.  I cut my white strips 3.5" wide and the feature fabric at 2.25" to accommodate the seams.  The finished width of my border will be 3 + 1.75 + 3.25 = 8"

Now the length needed for the borders can be determined by taking the finished width of the quilt top and adding the width of the two borders.


25" + 8" + 8" = 41"


So my border must be a little longer than 41".

I used width of fabric strips and sewed the white, feature and white border strips together for all four sides.

Next mark the centers of your borders and edges of your quilt top.  Fold the quilt top in half and press small creases on the edges to mark the centers of each side.  Fold the borders in half and press small creases on one side to mark the centers.

The back of the quilt top must also be marked 1/4" from the corners to indicate the start and stop points for sewing on the borders.

Lay your quilt top face up on your work surface and place the first border with right sides together, match up the crease marks, and pin in the center.  Pin along the edge to each corner, matching the raw edges of the quilt top and border.

With the quilt back facing up, sew the border on.  Begin at the 1/4" mark, sew a few stitches and carefully backstitch to the mark.  Sew until you reach the opposite 1/4" mark and backstitch again to secure the ends.

Apply all four borders in this manner.  Then fold your quilt top diagonally, corner to corner, with right sides together.  Match up the borders that meet at the corner and pin along raw edges.  Lay your ruler along the fold in the quilt top, with the 45 degree mark on the ruler on the seam line you just sewed.  Mark the border from the point at the corner out to the border edge.

Now pin along this new seam line, taking care to match up points of the featured strips.

Begin sewing at the point, backstitch to secure and carefully sew along your drawn line, to the edge of the border.  Sew slowly, removing pins as you go.  Don't pull on your fabric as you are sewing on the bias.  Take care to sew to the points where the featured strips meet.  Backstitch to secure the ends at the edge of the border.

Press the seam open and check the corner for accuracy before trimming seam to 1/4".

Here is how the corner will look from the right side when complete.

And here is my finished top!

Hope you find this tutorial useful!  I am adding it to my tutorial page, which can be found just below my blog header.  If you have any questions, please leave a comment or email me!

Keep On Quilting On!

 

Quilt Festival - Fall 2013 - Throw Quilt

Once again, it's time for the Blogger's Quilt Festival going on over at Amy's Creative Side!

In the Throw Quilt category, the quilt I'm entering is Holiday Sparkle

 

This festive quilt measures 52" x 65" and is made from machine pieced whole hexagons featuring

Holiday Frost by Jan Shade Beach for Henry Glass & Co.

and Holiday Sparkle by Nina Seven for Wilmington Prints.

The Holiday Sparkle quilt features quilting in a chevron pattern along the vertical seams, 60 degree corners, and the Little Bit binding.

Keep On Quilting On!

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Disclosure of Material Connection: Some of the links in my posts are “affiliate links.” This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive an affiliate commission. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will add value to my readers. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

Quilt Festival - Fall 2013

Once again, it's time for the Blogger's Quilt Festival going on over at Amy's Creative Side!

In the Scrappy Quilt category, I'm entering the quilt I spent the whole summer working on....

Oh My, Scrappy Stars!

This quilt measures 100" x 100" and was made using 2356 - 2" finished size squares and 9 - 8" finished squares in the center of the star blocks.  It was pieced and quilted by me, on my little Janome.

I designed this quilt when I was inspired to make a scrappy quilt with a neutral background,

using warm and cool colours for the focus blocks.

My inspiration came from three sources:

•   Sarah Fielke's Paint by Numbers quilt from her latest book, Hand Quilted With Love.
•   The Scrappy Swoon that made it's way onto Google Images via the Hopeful Homemaker.
•   Jessica of Common Threads' Inverted Star block inspired my use of warm and cool colours.

If you are inspired by this scrappy star quilt, the complete instructions for making it can be found by clicking on the Quilt Along tab just below my blog header, or by clicking on the Quilt Along image at right.

100 {more} Quilts 4 Kids

Have you heard the news?  Sew Cute Tuesdays has moved.

And what a great new location....

Alyce of Blossom Heart Quilts is the new hostess.
And she is a girl who lives up to her blog name.

Blossom + Heart + Quilts = Giving
                                                 a "handmade with love" quilt to a child in need...

What does this mean for us?

This is great news for all kindhearted quilters!

While visiting Alyce's blog, I noticed her post announcing the Lala Salama (Sleep Peacefully) 100 Quilts drive. The aim for this project is to provide a special quilt for every child’s bed in the new Bethany Kids Children’s Center at AIC Kijabe Hospital in Kijabe, Kenya.  This building is scheduled to be complete in mid-2014 and will serve vulnerable children all over East Africa with medical and surgical conditions, especially Spina Bifida and birth defects.

Her post goes on to describe all the quilty specs including colour inspiration, quilt size, and all the other details.  I am so on board with this and very excited to be a part of this project - so much so that I headed to the stash and pulled these preliminary fabric choices.

Please click on the image below.

And head over to Blossom Heart Quilts to read all about how you, too, can help a child in need.

Lucky Me - Part Deux!

I know... I know.... Don't hate me.

It was only five days ago that I posted here how it has been years since I got lucky

and how that has all changed.

Apparently....  I meant it!

My good quilty friend Jennifer, who blogs at Glinda Quilts, was having a giveaway to celebrate her two hundredth post.  She is a wonderful, talented girl who makes lots of pants bags
and quilts (of course) and thoroughly enjoys online quilting bees.

Jennifer is one of those people you just wish lived right next door.

I don't even remember how we 'found' each other.

But we have been bloggy quilter friends for quite a while now.  We even became facebook friends.

Jennifer lives in London, England.  And I live in Ontario, Canada.

Now, Ontario also has a city named London, after the one in England, no less.  I'll never forget how excited (and then disappointed) Jennifer was when I once announced that I was taking my daughter and her girlfriend shopping in London.  Yes, London, Ontario not London, England.  I mean, I wish!

Well yesterday a sweet package arrived from London! Yes, the one in England!

Enclosed was the sweetest note, a spool of thread,
and these four fabby and fun Christmassy fat quarters.

And just in time, too!

As of right now, there are only a mere 62 days left until Christmas.

I'm thinking one table runner for the Etsy Shop and one for my Mum.

Yes, that's the Londoner's way of saying Mom by the way.

What would you make?

Winter Wolves

Yesterday....                                      I did this.

And today.....                              Finished!                        And very happy...

This quilt finished at 60" x 65".  A nice snuggle size quilt.

Although I did consider using white for the background, I went with this off-white, muslin-like solid, that reminds me of a sandy beach.

 

The binding, a beautiful print called Birch Tree, from the "North by Northwest" collection designed by Maria Kalinowski of Kanvas Studio for Benartex, was my favourite fabric used in the quilt.

When I chose a fleece for the backing, I was quite concerned about puckers forming.

But no worries!  It quilted up gorgeously, in organic wavy lines!

This was my first time quilting in that method.

I quilted with wide spaces between the lines and then quilted again between most of the lines.

In hindsight, this is something I would avoid doing in the future, as this caused the top fabric to pull, and it was no longer as smooth.  But after washing....     Probably won't make any difference.

Speaking of washing quilts....
I have been looking high and low for the one product I have heard so much about, but never seen on the shelf in any store I have ever been to.  Shout Color Catcher.

BUT during the past week, I did find this....
Dr. Beckmann - Colour & Dirt Collector

Up until recently, I had always washed my fabric prior to using them in quilts.  But the last few, I have made without prewashing.  I do so hope these sheets will do the trick!

Do you prewash your fabrics?
Do you use Colour Catchers or any similar product?

I Have Quilteritis

I have come to acknowledge that I am a hard core addict quilter.

Officially.

I made this purchase on Thursday.  $365 Canadian.  Plus taxes.
This works out to $9.95 per meter or $9.13 per yard before taxes.
I think this was a fair deal.
Hope it lasts.

In other news....

As of Friday afternoon, this was the progress on the wolf blocks.

Yippee!  A completed top - displayed on my new $2 design wall!

I splurged and picked up a flannel backed table cloth from the dollar store.

Winter Wolves is the name I have decided to give this finished quilt top.

This little flimsy measures 60" x 65", a nice personal snuggle size quilt.

This morning, I laid out my backing material, which is fuzzy and has a little stretch to it, layered it with a piece of the new batting, and laid the Winter Wolves on top.

Because this backing is stretchy, I pin basted this quilt like I have never pinned before.

I was hoping this would help to prevent any puckers from forming or the quilt top from shifting while quilting.

Fingers crossed.  Stay tuned.