Spring Shawl

If you follow me on Instagram, you will have seen this one already. I thought I'd add a couple of extra photos.

The pattern is the "Spring" shawl by Bernadette Ambergen. I have used one of her patterns before and loved it. I love this one too. I'm not an overly experienced crocheter. This looks harder than it is.

I was, once again, amazed by the difference blocking can make.

Here is the shawl before blocking, all curly and too small:

I blocked it by getting it really wet,

rolling it in a towel to get as much of the moisture out as possible,


and pinning it down in the correct shape and size.

Voila!

Just in Time for Valentine's Day

After weeks and weeks of development, it's finally here! The Heart to Heart Valentine's Table Runner Pattern.
I wanted to design something a little sophisticated and less cute-sy. Something for my dining table. (Because of the lack of light today, I took these photos on the coffee table downstairs, however.)
Originally the quilting was going to be really simple but then it took on a life of its own...

As part of keeping it modern, I decided that I didn't want to put a binding on it. I wanted it to look like a runner, not a quilt.
Thank you for the wonderful facing tutorial, Victoria!

It was a little more involved than binding, but the result is wonderful.
Here's the back. Almost whole cloth-like, isn't it?

Can you tell I'm really happy with how this turned out?

And Another One!

I think I've finally determined the perfect size for the 1 Hour Baskets to be used at our quilt retreat.

I cut this one at 10.5" x 12.5".
I used fusible fleece for the basket and stiffened the handles up with Pellon Decor Bond.

One down, seven to go.

Oh, and we're also making bunnies out of folded fat quarters.

A Magical "Burrito" Pillowcase

I had a couple of spare minutes yesterday, as well as a couple of charity pillowcase kits from my guild, so I decided to whip up a magical "buritto" pillowcase quickly, using the very popular tutorial from the website. I hadn't made one in years, so I'd forgotten how easy it is.

Fabric for these pillowcases is donated by guild members, which unfortunately means it's usually fabric nobody wants. The ladies on the giving committee do an excellent job matching up fabrics as best they can. It's kind of like an ugly fabric challenge.

I swapped out the trim fabric for yellow from my scrap bins on this one but that's all.

The tutorial teaches you how to do French seams so there's not a raw edge in sight!

It turned out really cute and I know someone will love it!

1 Hour Basket #2

I'm working on an idea for our guild's retreat in April and the original 1 Hour Basket is a little too big for what we have in mind.
I decided to make a smaller one.

I think this one is too small. Darn! I used fusible fleece for this basket. And interfacing in the handles to stiffen them up a bit.

I cut the fabric 10.5" x 10.5" instead of 10.5" x 16.5".

The fabric is Lilac Bunnies & Carrots from Free Spirit and Lime Le Creme Dots from Riley Blake, both available on the website.

Trying again, 3rd time's the charm, right?

1 Hour Basket #1

I've seen 1 Hour Baskets all over the web for the last year or so and today I decided to give it a whirl.
As usual, I didn't have all of the supplies called for in the pattern, but I forged on anyway.

I think it turned out quite nicely all considered. I used Pellon Decor Bond instead of fusible fleece. It's pretty sturdy but did not like being squished through a 3" hole to turn the basket inside out. I think I'll look for something else for the next one.

I also did not use decor weight fabric because all my cute fabric is quilting fabric.

The pattern is really easy to follow and the basket took exactly 1 hour and 2 minutes to make!

The fabric I used is Pink Bunnies & Carrots from Free Spirit's Garden collection & Riley Blake's Small Le Creme Dot in Pink, both available in the store.

Since I made a Halloween item yesterday and an Easter item today I'm well on my way to having all the holidays covered!

UFO Challenge #6 Done and Plans for January

Yesterday I finished my January project for the UFO Challenge. Granted it was a small one - 16"x16" - and all it needed was quilting and binding, but it was a good start to the year.

The pattern is my "Skully" block. I enlarged it to 9" to fit my instructions for a mini quilt or pillow cover which you can find over here.

Now on to the rest of the month! I'm hoping to finish my Mariner's Compass quilt this month and get the pattern written. And that's about all since this is a huge project!
Here's another sneak peek.

What are your plans for January?

UFO Challenge 2017

Happy New Year everyone!

This year I'm planning to make a dent in my UFO pile. Actually, I'm hoping to finish most of them but I don't want to say that out loud...

In order to help me do this, I've joined the UFO Challenge over at allpeoplequilt.com.

Want to join me?

You basically make a list of 12 UFOs you'd like to finish/work on and they'll pick one for you each month.

Here's my list:
1. Dear Jane - still...
2. The Splendid Sampler - lots of catching up to do
3. Mariner's Compass
4. Mini Grandmother's Flower Garden
5. Daisy Chain Hexie Quilt
6. Skully Mini Quilt
7. Rainbow Jane
8. Paula Vaughn A Quilt for All Seasons Cross Stitch - March
9. Christmas Runner - Mod Ornaments from Sew Kind of Wonderful
10. Dog Charity Quilt
11. New Project - still to be determined (I ran out of UFOs!)
12. New Project - Still to be determined

January's pick is #6, so I'll be working on the Skully Mini. It's tiny, so I can probably finish it in one day. Yay!