Sunday Scraps Score

Whew!  See this?  It's a completely empty scrap bin!  Score!

An entire day of cutting, cutting, cutting, and here is the yield:

I cut a 12" high stack of 5" squares; two 8" high stacks of 2 1/2" strips; a 6" stack of 2 1/2" squares; 4 1/2" squares; 3 1/2" squares; 2" squares; 1 1/2" squares and 1 1/2" strips.  I also cut some 5 1/2" and matching 2 1/2" squares to make a specific scrap quilt (photos to follow next week).

Plus, a big ol' bin of "strings!"  Strings are strips that are narrower than 2", but not long enough to be useful as 1 1/2" strips.  I used "strings" last summer to make this quilt:

I think it's my favorite of all the quilts I've ever made.  Now I have enough strings to make at least one more just like it!

Tomorrow is "Design Wall Monday," hope you'll come by to see what's on on my wall this week.


From the desk of your

Happy Worldwide Quilting Day!

Yes, it's our day -- quilters, that is.  It's Worldwide Quilting Day!

To celebrate, I did a little stash enhancement.  Crafty Laine in Monument had an incredible sale, plus they offer a discount to Front Range Modern Quilt Guild members on our meeting day.  What's not to love?

I think I was quite restrained, I only bought one piece of fabric.  (OK, and some more magnets to make another Petrillo bag. And a pattern.  And a fat quarter bundle.  But still!)

This is "Period" from the Comma collection by Zen Chic.  I also bought the pattern to make the X & + quilt. I bought the jelly roll in February from High Prairie Quilts in Parker.  Now that I look at the pattern more closely, I see that it calls for fat eighth cuts, not a jelly roll.  Lucky for me, I happen to know that my fav etsy shop, FreshSqueezedFabrics has the Comma collection!

This is my last Pink Castle Fabrics Stash Stack Club.  I had to cancel my membership when my credit card was compromised.  I'm so glad I got the purple stack, because my next Scrap Squad quilt will be made with scrappy purples!  (BTW, Wells Fargo called me when only  two very small purchases were made on my card. Guess they knew I wasn't in London!)

Before my credit card bit the dust, I tried out the Moda Club from Sew Lux Fabrics & Gifts in Durham, NC.  I couldn't resist stashing the Seascapes collection for a future Sailor's quilt.  That pattern is the design for the next Fat Quarter Fun class at Ruth's Stitchery.

Last Saturday I took an all-day EQ7 class from Barb Gardner at First Stitches in Canon City.  If you ever get a chance to take a class with Barb, go for it!  We learned so much, I can pretty much design a quilt using Electric Quilt now!

Oh, and the shop had a fabric collection that was new to me, Silvia's Garden by Silvia Vassileva Studio for P&B Textiles.  I found another shop in Colorado that ordered the entire collection, so that is on my next shop hop list.

I'm in love with this new book by Emily Cier of Carolina Patchworks:

Emily is a master of modern quilts -- the book also has a companion workbook:

(photos from Emily's blog)

My best purchase of 2013 is a new camera strap.  Custom made by Crafty Coley, it's my favorite color, and it makes using my camera so much more comfortable.  Coley has an etsy shop as well as a Facebook presence, and she sells lots of custom-made items -- check it out here.

Tune in tomorrow for "Sunday is for Scraps."  I've been cutting scraps into usable sizes and shapes all week, come celebrate my progress with me!

From the desk of your

Bag It! Again!

I'm becoming addicted to sewing bags!  Sara of Sew Sweetness had a new bag on the street, and yep, I test-sewed it for her.

Introducing the Petrillo  Bag:

Here is my version:

I used my favorite Sweetwater fabric, "Reunion" in deco weight, with matching polka dot handles.  The gathered flap is Reunion in red quilting weight.

Of course, I made a few modifications.  This is a largish-bag, more of a tote, or even weekender bag than a purse. (The finished size is 12" long X 15 1/2" tall.)

So I added some outside pockets.  First, a flat outside pocket to hold my phone, sunglasses and keys.

On the opposite side, I added a pocket gathered at the top with elastic.  Perfect for a water bottle, eh?

Most of Sara's bags have an inside zipper pocket.  I admit, the first bag  I tested for her, I had trouble understanding the zipper directions.  Probably thanks to my numerous questions, she has rewritten that part of the instructions so now it makes sense to me!  I love having a zipper pocket in a tote bag to hold change and my airplane ticket when traveling.

See the little label?  It reads "Made Especially for you by Aunt Marti."

My favorite feature of this bag is the padded pocket for my e-reader (or iPad, if I had one!):

The outside flap and the padded pocket close with magnets.  I used two magnets on the outside flap, although the pattern calls for only one.  I copied a computer case my DH has, and I think it keeps the bag closed more securely.

This is the brand of magnets I used, available at JoAnn.  Angie at Crafty Laine has ordered me some more from Checker Distributors.  I imagine they are stronger, but I had to finish the bag for my deadline, so Dritz it was!

The snaps are applied to the Soft and Stable lining.  That tape dispenser is there to show that I taped the magnets in place before sewing.  You can sew right over the tape, then tear it away when you're done. (Works well for sewing on buttons by machine also!)  You might think it would be difficult to sew through the rubber cover surrounding the magnets, but I had no problem doing so.

Go to Sara's post here to see all the bags other testers made.



From the desk of your

Sunday Scraps and Giveaway Winner

The scrap bin is overflowing -- to the extent I bought another one, which is now filled to overflowing!

Top level of scrap bin:

Scrap bin 2:

 Two more scrap bins!

I decided to set my trusty kitchen timer to 23 minutes and cut scraps for that length of time.  After two 23-minute sessions, I haven't made a dent in the scrap bin!

I cut my scraps into 5", 4.5", 3.5", 2.5", 2", and 1.5" squares, and 2.5" and 1.5" strips.  I know some people sort their scraps by color, but I find I rarely make a scrap quilt of a specific color.  So I sort mine by size.

Today, however, I am keeping the purple scraps aside.  My next Scrap Squad quilt will be purple!

Since no 52 Quilts blog post is complete without a photo of a quilt, here is one from way back -- the 14th quilt I pieced in 2010.  It's called "Line Art," by Brenda Henning.

Are you waiting patiently to discover the winner of the "Dishcloth Diva" book?

The Random Number Generator chose commenter #15:

Who is another Debra, who wrote:

Since Debra's email has a return email addy, I can send her the PDF immediately.  Congratulations, Debra!

I hope you'll come back tomorrow and see my (I hope) big pile o' scraps that I cut today!


From the desk of your

A Friday (Knitted) Finsh

It's been another week of "secret sewing," so I have no quilt finishes to show you.  But I did finish knitting a "Hats for Sailors" beanie!

If you've been following 52 Quilts for awhile, you may remember this photo:

16 Hats in 16 days -- my Ravellenic project during the 2012 Summer Olympics.  I announced my goal to knit one hat per day for "Hats for Sailors."  Then I found out how many days the Olympics continued.  So I was committed to knitting one hat per day for 16 days!  I met my goal, but my hands and wrists were out of commission for days afterward!

This year, I decided I would knit one hat per month instead!  Here is the one I finished yesterday:

It's the "Naturally Comfortable" beanie from this pattern book:

The book is from Leisure Arts, available at JoAnn and other "big box" craft stores.  It's a pretty fast knit, but more interesting than my standard Navy Watch Cap.  The yarn is Cascade 220 Superwash.  Of course, I tossed the ball band, so I don't know the color.  It's more green than the photo shows, reminds me of the ocean.

"Hats for Sailors" knits hats for sailors on selected ships each year.  Thus far, knitters have donated more than 1600 handknit caps to Sailors!  Go here to find out more, look at the free patterns, and find out where to donate your handknit hats.

Linking up to Thank Goodness It's Finally Finished Friday at Quilt Matters, and Link a Finish Friday at Richard and Tanya Quilts.

Have you commented on this post for a chance to win a PDF copy of Deb's "Dishcloth Diva" book?  It's a great way to get started knitting!

From the desk of your

Book Review -- and a Giveaway!

I know you're a quilter -- but might you be a knitter also?  Or a knitter wannabe?

Do I have a book for you!

"Dishcloth Diva" by Deb Buckingham features 20 fun-and-easy dishcloth patterns, as well as detailed information about choosing yarn for your dishcloths. And an intro by the famous Kay Gardiner, of Mason-Dixon Knitting fame!

If you're a beginning, or timid knitter, this is a wonderful resource.  Even a knitter with the shortest attention span can knit a dishcloth!  And if you make a mistake? so what, it's a dishcloth, for heaven's sake!

If you're a little more ambitious, choose one of the patterns and keep on knitting -- long enough to make a scarf, or not quite-so-long, seam the ends, and make a cowl!  "Dishcloth Diva" would make an excellent prezzie packaged up with some sticks and string (knitting needles and cotton yarn!).

All of Deb's patterns were extensively tested (some by me!) so they really work.  And, Deb's publisher, Cooperative Press has donated a PDF copy of the book for a giveaway.  I love PDF patterns and books, no waiting for the UPS delivery!

If you'd like to win a copy of Dishcloth Diva, leave a comment on this post and tell me if you've ever knit a dishcloth.  Or wanted to knit a dishcloth.  Or wanted to receive a handknit dishcloth!

Giveaway ends Sunday, March 10 at noon MDT.  Of course, international entries are welcome!  If you're an anonymous or no-reply commenter, please be sure to include contact information!

I think I've used up my year's allocation of exclamation points on this post! But really, I love this book!



From the desk of your

BOM-day and Tuesday Tool

I missed BOM-day yesterday, so today will be a two-fer day.

BOM-day

My whiteboard list of Blocks-of-the-Month is really helping me keep up with them!  Today I completed two more on the list.

First, a tricky patchwork technique by Jackie Robinson of Animas Quilts.  This is a two-year old project, I had the first two months completed when I decided to add it to this year's list.  Each month requires four blocks, which can either be put together to form one large block, or saved to be randomly sewn together for the quilt top.  Three Dimensional Patchwork:

Those completed so far, clockwise, are Sparkling Star, Brown Goose and Sailboat.  I wish you could see the dimensional effect of the blocks.  For example, in the Sailboat blocks, all the colored fabrics are folded so they aren't sewn into a seam, but are loose on top of the background fabric -- three dimensional!

I also finished the third block in my Patchwork Party quilt.  I am so hooked on Marti Michell's templates, even a complex block like Rocky Mountain Chain (right-hand side) goes together flawlessly!

Thus far I have completed 11 blocks of 14 for my March UFO:

I've about decided not to make the last three blocks from the Shop Hop patterns, but to make each unique. There are too many interesting block patterns to repeat ones I've already pieced!

Tuesday Tool

Thank you to Cathy at Ruth's Stitchery for demonstrating this tool at last month's block party. What a timesaver!

Jodi Barrows is famous for her "Square in a Square" technique.  The Crosscut 4-Patch ruler is a variation which enables the quilter to make four patches quickly and perfectly.

The Ryokan quilt has patched sashing -- 490 two-patch units!  It's a little hard to see in this photo, but the taupe sashing between the blocks is actually pieced. (photo from ThimbleCreek Quilt Shop)

Rather than use just two colors for the sashing, I decided to use a Daiwabo ombre fabric to make my sashing.  The pattern calls for 1 1/2" strips, sewn together and cross cut into 1 1/2" X 2 1/2" pieces:

Once the strips are sewn together, place the ruler on the sewn strips with the heavy line on the seam and the appropriate "box" lines on the edges of the strips.  As you can see, I am cutting 1 1/2" "chunks."

 Presto, perfectly-sized two patches ready to sew together for sashing!  I think this is going to look like cobblestone streets when it is sewn into the quilt.

I can cut two sets of sashing strips from each WOF strip -- and I'll need 22 sets.  Even with Jodi's cool ruler, this is going to take some time.

Come back Thursday for my review of a new knitting book -- and a giveaway! 


From the desk of your