Happy Valentine's Day!

The Striped Heart block. Originally blogged here in 2009!

Used in the Sweet Hearts quilt.

I wish I had time to make another one of these. I have a pretty stripe that will be PERFECT!

To celebrate Valentine's Day both the printed and PDF patterns are 20% off in the store just for today.

More Scrap Bags

Sorting, organizing, and blowing out fabric continues at casa twiddletails.

Pretty much everything in the store is on sale.

I'm also listing most, if not all, scraps on Etsy.

(I announce most Etsy listings and new markdowns on the Facebook page as soon as they happen.)

A New Round Robin - Winter Wonderland

Becky over at Patchwork Posse is hosting another row quilt Round Robin and I've been invited to design a row!

The theme is "Winter Wonderland".

Row instructions will be posted on the 2nd and 4th Monday of each month, starting on January 28th and ending July 9th.
There will be a last post on July 15th with finishing ideas and prize winners!

If you think you may be interested, click on the button above for more information, a list of designers, and buttons for your blog.

Scrap Bags!

Major spring/moving cleaning has begun!

I've started listing scrap bags on Etsy and will probably continue doing so until I run out of scraps, which could be FOREVER!





 

2012 Books Read

Reading fell by the wayside a bit this past year.

	Dracula Bram Stoker
	The Winner David Baldacci
	Fall of Giants Ken Follett
	The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo Stieg Larsson
	Under the Tuscan Sun Frances Mayes
	Resistance Anita Shreve

2012 Completed Projects

2012 was most definitely a better year than 2011. 2013 may not be as productive.  I have a lot of life changes planned, which are going to take up a whole lot of my time, but will be SO worth it.

1. Granny Square Afghan, 2. Geese in the Forest Quilt, 3. Sand & Surf Baby Quilt, 4. Challenge Quilt, 5. Cherry Love Makeup Bag, 6. 3 dresses, a blanket, and 2 headbands, 7. SewConnected 3 Quilt, 8. Heart Cushion, 9. 12 Days of Christmas Quilt

New Project

I bought this lovely yarn in Houston. It's Silk Garden by Noro. I love the colors, but I'm a little concerned about how loose the "weave" is. I'm using the recommended needles but I wonder if I should switch to thinner ones. The only problem with that is that I probably won't have enough yarn then and this stuff is pricey!

More details here: http://www.ravelry.com/projects/twiddletails/noro-striped-scarf

Ta-Dah-ish

The Granny Square Afghan is finished. Sort of.
I still have a lot of stringy bits to get rid of in the back.
I'm also mulling over whether I want to add a picot edge or just leave the double crochet border I have right now.

The light is still not optimal for photos, but at least it wasn't raining.

Two projects at a time

I've decided to go back to the days when I only worked on one or two projects at a time - one machine and one handwork item.
It feels like I managed to get much more done this way.
I'm just not a very good multi-tasker when it comes to sewing.
My current focus:
1. Finishing my Rainbow Jane quilt top.

2. Completing the granny square blanket. I'm up to 15 x 10 squares (the photo is old and it's too dark to take a new one right now). The plan is 15 x 12 squares with a border.

Today, however, I have to go buy supplies for Houston!!!

Oh, the possibilities!

Actually, I have some WIPs I want to finish first, but having an empty tote is a REALLY good feeling.

Ta-Dah!

Done! Finished! Complete! Finish #8!

I wrestled with whether to add a border or not, but I wanted to keep the modern feel, so I decided against it.


I decided to do a simple green binding.

And I managed not to chop off too many points.

(In the store: Pattern - Geese in the Forest. I added some kits too.)

Progress

All the trees have a bit of quilting in them. Planning on finishing the background quilting today. I have more plans for the trees, but we'll have to see if I have time, since I have to drop this baby off on Monday. Eeeek!

This is Going to Take a While

A Forest of...

...pins.
300 or so.

I used Rita of Red Pepper Quilts' basting method.
Off to buy thread this morning. I'm quite excited about getting this one quilted.

How often do I...

...clean the inside of my sewing machine?

Obviously not often enough.

Yup, that all came out of that tiny hole!
I entered the Geese in the Forest quilt in our local quilt show.
The perfect incentive to finish it, right?
Figured I should clean the sewing maching before I start quilting...

Free Pattern!

What have I been doing the last couple of days? Writing a Sand & Surf pattern. It can be downloaded over here.

I've also added kits to the store, so if you want to make your own little Sand & Surf quilt, you don't have to think too hard.

 

If you decide to use the pattern and find any errors, please let me know.  I haven't had time to have it tested.

Finish #7!

Here she is. Sand & Surf.

Baby quilt. 35" x 48".

 

And here's why I had to sew part of the binding on backwards. I wanted the colors to line up perfectly on both sides of the quilt. They do.

I decided to start selling my sample quilts on Etsy since I just don't have room for any more, but I don't think I can part with this one. Not yet.

(If you want to make your own, the Bella colors I used are: 201, 68, 104, 85, 216, 107, and 97 for the white.)

Super Quick Flying Geese Tutorial

Sand & Surf is done.  I love it and I'll share tomorrow. And I'm working on a free pattern.

Since most zig zag quilts are made up of flying geese units, I thought I'd share the method I used.  There are tutorials for this all over blogland, but I figured one more couldn't hurt.

This makes 4 identical flying geese, without any fabric wasted.

First off, you need to determine what size you wish your flying geese to be.
Flying geese units are always twice as wide as they are tall.

For Sand & Surf, I made 4" x 8" (finished) units, but this formula works for any size.

Add ⅞" to the finished height. (4 ⅞") - A
Add 1 ¼" to the finished width. (9 ¼") - B

Out of the fabric you wish to use for the side triangles of your flying geese, cut 4 squares A x A.
Out of the fabric you wish to use for the center of your flying geese, cut 1 square B x B.
Draw a diagonal line corner to corner on the WRONG side of each of the smaller squares.
I like to use a pencil because it won't bleed when washed, but you can also use a disappearing or washable marker.

Lay two of the smaller squares on top of the larger square RIGHT SIDES TOGETHER as in the photo. Be sure the lines match up. Pin.

Stitch ¼" away from the drawn line on each side.

Cut along the drawn line.

Press the seam toward the smaller triangles. (Forgot to take a photo the first time around...)

Place the remaining smaller squares on top of the two units you just created, RIGHT SIDES TOGETHER. Pin, and sew ¼" away from the drawn lines on either side.

Cut along the drawn lines and press the seams toward the smaller triangles. Voila! Four identical flying geese!

(I have created a PDF version of this tutorial, which you can view here.)

Binding Time!

Want to challenge yourself? Try attaching a binding in the opposite direction. Reverse engineering.
You will probably do a lot of cursing and seam ripping but it will be SO rewarding in the end.

Almost there

I'm hoping to finish Sand & Surf today and starting to think about binding.

Any ideas?

Pebbles take forever!

I'd never tried pebble quilting before. Until today.

I love it, but it is NOT a quick way to quilt. 40" of zig zag took me two hours. Not sure how many more pebbles will be in this little quilt.

 

See my little clam shells?

I really shouldn't

I have SO many other projects going, but this looks like fun.
Michele from Quilting Gallery is hosting an Autumn Block Party.
Over 15 weeks there will be instructions for 45 blocks designed by guest designers.

The blocks will be designed as 12" finished but I decided to reduce them to 9".  We'll see if it works.
The first block is appliqué, so reducing the size was fairly simple.  Not sure about the pieced blocks but I'll cross that bridge when I get to it.

Top Done!

Progress is slow over here, but I'm getting there.

I think I like it.

Now to figure out the quilting.

(The Bella colors I used are: 201, 68, 104, 85, 216, 107)