New Pillowcases

 Sometimes even the shop owner has to put aside work sewing and make something for herself.

It has been two years since I made myself new pillowcases. It was time. These are already washed and on my bed. 

2022 2nd Saturday Sampler BOM

 My scrappy version of the 2nd Saturday Sampler Block of the Month is finished!

Quilt finishes at 78" by 90"

The first set of patterns for this quilt will be sent out on the second Saturday in March, March 12, 2022. Anyone can participate because the patterns are being sent via email. The cost is $25, plus tax. If you want to play along with us you can sign up through my shop website, Alamosa Quilt Company. The last set of patterns will be sent out on the second Saturday in September so you will have plenty of time to get it finished in time to gift it for Christmas, should you decide to give yours away.

Here is a direct link to the 2022 2nd Saturday Sampler BOM.

I, of course, altered the original pattern slightly. Below is a photo of the original quilt.

If you decide to participate you will have the option to make it just like the original, shown above, or like mine, first photo at the top of this post. Some ideas for the blank areas if you decide to make it just like the original pattern is to put some machine or hand embroidery on those blocks, do some beautiful quilting in those areas, or add some hand or machine applique to those areas. I will be providing instructions for the pieced bonus block I used in mine if you decide to do it like mine. If you want to do something else in those areas then you are on your own for embroidery, applique or quilting patterns for the blank blocks.

More details can be found by following this link: 2022 2nd Saturday Sampler BOM If you decide to sign up then you will receive a Welcome Email with more details and yardage requirements a few days after you sign up. It's not an automatic email so you have to wait for me to personally send it to you. 

There is no fabric kit included in the price. Most of my customers prefer to use what they already have, but if you want a kit I can do that for you. The price is only for the patterns and club registration. 

New Tablecloth Quilt :: A Finish

 I finished our new tablecloth quilt!

I altered the Moda Love pattern. The link in the previous sentence will take you to the free pattern. The pattern makes three sizes depending on the pre-cut you start with - layer cake, charm pack or mini charms. However, my squares finish at 7" and the quilt finishes at 56" by 56". This is the size I needed for our new dining room table.

I used up more of my cat fabrics for the backing. And here is the label I made.

I love using the old license plate fabrics from my shop for labels! I called this one "Here Kitty Kitty". It was fun to be able to do some selfish sewing!

Hold Tite :: A Gift

 Here is the last handmade gift I received. Last, but certainly not least!

It's called a Hold Tite. The link will take you to the free pattern.

It's a holder for these SewTite notions. They are magnetic and the holder has metal inside for the magnets to stick to.

As you can see, I have a nice collection of several styles of SewTites. They are great for holding small pieces (applique pieces and English paper piecing and probably other things too) instead of using pins or clips to hold things in place.

And there is also a place for regular pins, needles or clips in between the metal "pages." This was made for me by my friend Stephanie P. She contacted me out of the blue to verify my address. I couldn't for the life of me think of what she would need my address for but I'm sure glad she thought of me! I love it Stephanie!

Admittedly, I don't use the SewTites that much yet. Probably because I could never find enough of them to be useful to me. Now I have a nifty holder for them though so I might actually use them more! I didn't even realize I had so many because they were in four different places.

A Couple Cute Gifts I Received

 My sewing friends are always so creative when it comes to gift giving! I got two adorable little items: a teeny-tiny pin cushion and an adorable needle book.

The pin cushion is so stinkin' cute! The pin in it is a small applique pin. And it looks huge because the pin cushion is so small.

She went to Harbor Freight and looked around to see what she could find that she could repurpose. This is a bolt screw cover less than 1" in diameter.

Someone else made me the needle book. Here is a close-up of the inside.

I have another fun sewing themed gift I received but I haven't photographed it yet so I will have to share that with you another day.

Birthday Sewing

 My birthday was last week. I gave myself the day off and stayed home and sewed! I made a tablecloth quilt for our new dining room table.

The pattern I used is called Moda Love. It is a free pattern from Moda. I adjust the size of the finished squares to 7" finished so that it would fit my 46" round table. This version will finish at 56" by 56".

I am calling this quilt "Here Kitty Kitty" because I dug into my larger-than-I-thought collection of cat fabrics. I used 18 different cat prints for this project which isn't even half of my collection!

Fun fact: the cat print shown below was purchased exactly 20 years ago on my birthday from a quilt shop in San Diego. I used it to make a baby quilt for my son, who I was pregnant with when I bought the fabric. So, of course, I had to use a bit of it for this quilt too!

Another Charity Quilt

I completed the quilting on this before Christmas but just finished the binding. It would have been better to photograph it outside, but we finally got snow on New Year's Day and I didn't feel like putting on snow boots to go out in the back yard to take a picture.

This is another digital sample from 5 years ago that I just recently quilted. I used a ruler to stitch in what would be the ditch if it were pieced then did an all-over meander. This finished at about 54" by 54" and I will turn it in to my local guild for them to donate to one of the local charities we support with quilts.

Now I need something else to quilt! My family needs a new tablecloth quilt and I have a pattern in mind. I need to get busy piecing it because I think it might be the next thing I want to quilt with my Q20.

Crimson Tweed Progress

 A few days off with no where to go and nothing specific scheduled to do has been wonderful! I am making good progress on the borders of Crimson Tweed.

Everything in the top and right side borders is sewn down now. I still need to add some stems to the berry sprays in the right side border. I got inpatient and sewed a couple berries on one of the berry sprays along the top border. I cut a bunch of circles from all four different red wools in my kit. I plan to mix them up. I have been thinking about what kind of embroidery embellishments I will do on the borders but haven't settled on anything yet. I still have a ways to go before I will be ready for embroidery on the borders so I have time to think.