Hump Day

I love Wednesdays! I get to go to work at my LQS on Wednesdays. It's the best job - ever! Kits for our second block challenge are now available, if you are local. I finished my block.

The red background fabric is the one I added, everything else is from the kit. The theme is "April Showers Bring May Flowers" and your block must contain a flower on it some where. I think I'm good in that department. Blocks are due May 1st and then the Viewer's Choice voting commences. I can't win anything since I'm an employee, so it doesn't matter if everyone knows which block is mine.

Spooky was keeping me company over the weekend while I top-stitched my block.

She looked so cute curled up on my practice machine quilting pieces. Then she started falling off the bookcase.

Crazy cat!

Commission Work

Former neighbors, and really good friends, recently sent me a quilt started by a relative (wife's mother, I think) that they would like for me to finish. If they weren't such good friends I wouldn't even consider tackling this project. It is a Christmas block of the month from 1998. Four of the twelve blocks are done.

The rest of the blocks are just patterns and little bags of fabrics. The one below is for the fifth block and the fabrics are even labeled as to what she planned use where.

The fabrics are "not my style" is the nicest way I can think of to put it. The blocks are mostly applique (yuck!) surrounded by a little bit of piecing. The applique on the four completed blocks is done by hand, and quite well I might add.

I'm not sure if I will do the rest of the applique by hand too or switch to machine applique using invisible thread and a blind hem stitch. The pattern says to use freezer paper applique which is what I will do regardless, but the original maker used poster board to make her templates. I was actually a bit surprised to see that the pattern specifically said to use freezer paper since the pattern is from 1998. I didn't realize folks were using freezer paper for applique that long ago. I wonder why the original maker didn't use freezer paper?

Interestingly, I do like the four completed blocks. I've looked through the rest of the block patterns and they are cute too. I would never purchase this BOM myself, but I'm kind of looking forward to working on it.

Another Wallet

Over the weekend I needed a quick project. I decided to make another wallet.

The one on the left is the one I made a week ago. You can read about that and get the pattern info here. I took a few more photos of them so you could see the inside and the back.

A credit card or ID fits nicely in each pocket. A bit of cash fits nicely in the largest, main pocket. These just snap closed so it isn't very secure for change. I used the left over bits of the Madrona Road print and linen from the iPad/Kindle bag I made. They were already out on my cutting table. I decided it was easier to make something with it rather than fold it up and put it away. Lazy I know, but it's true!

I have no purpose in mind for either of these. I just enjoyed making them. It took me longer to sew the snaps on by hand than it did to do the rest of the sewing. I'll put them in my gift stash or possibly take one to guild for a door prize.

A Finish!

I took a break from quilting my Bohemian Stripe to finish another quilt. This one has a deadline since it is going to be a birthday gift for a special little boy. I put the last stitches in the binding last night and had to wait until the sun was high enough to get a good picture before I could post this morning.

His birthday is in a little less than 2 weeks so I finished with a little time to spare. It measures 57.5" by 72.5".

The pattern is a variation of Turning Twenty. I used twelve fat quarters instead of twenty. The blocks are made the same way you do for Turning Twenty, but twelve fat quarters is not enough to do the same border as in the Turning Twenty pattern. So I used those pieces that were set aside for the border to create my own border using a thirteenth fabric. I'm pleased with how it turned out! I wanted to use as much of the sport fabrics as possible, which this border did. I don't have any of the sport fabrics left.

I asked him if he has a favorite sport or if he just likes them all. He said he didn't have a favorite. I was asking because I hadn't purchased a backing fabric yet. Since he doesn't have a favorite I used a flannel sport themed print. It has baseballs, basketballs, footballs and soccer balls on it.

The quilting is not fancy, just a nice all over meander that will hopefully hold up well over time.

I'm linking up with Crazy Mom Quilts for Finished Friday.

iPad/Kindle Case

Another weekend project was the iPad/Kindle Case.

This is an adaptation of a Snap Happy Purse pattern. The only thing I did differently was to resize it to fit my iPad. I tried to find the original pattern online but was unsuccessful. It is a new pattern, so that might be why it is hard to find. I'll look when I'm at work tomorrow and edit this post with the pattern information if I can find it.

I do not like the strap on this one. Next time I will do something different. Other than that, it is great.

My iPad, with cover attached, fits easily inside.

This will be one of the classes I will be teaching next quarter at my LQS. I love projects that can easily be finished within a three hour class period.

Quick Weekend Project

I finished a couple of small projects this weekend. The first was this Little Wallet. The link will take you to the pattern page. You'll need to scroll down quite aways to find it, but it is on the page.

The pattern is by Valori Wells and the kit came from The Stitchin' Post. A friend sent it to me. I have actually almost purchased this pattern myself, twice, but never did. So I was thrilled to finally get it.

It was easy to make and turned out well. The kit included plenty of fabric, the snap and interfacing required. It only took about an hour to make which included tracing and cutting out the pattern pieces. The pattern was clear except it made no mention of when to sew on the snap. This isn't my first little pouch/bag, so it was easy for me to figure out when the snap needed to be sewn on. However, a beginner might need a little guidance on this. I also added an extra little square of interfacing behind the snap sewn to the pocket that the pattern didn't call for. Probably wasn't necessary but definitely doesn't hurt.

Finishing

I have seven quilt tops done that need to be quilted! I've decided to stop piecing for a while until I can get a few of these quilted. I've started on the first one.

This is the front.

And the back.

Here is a photo of the entire top.

So far I'm just quilting the light colored section with the gray stripes. I haven't completely decided how I want to quilt the rest.