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!

2016 Completed Projects

Not a bad year...
#1 - Oopsie Daisy (pattern available here)

#2 - Pinwheel Party (pattern available here)

#3 - Maker's Tote (pattern available here)

#4 - Sailing (pattern available here)

#5 - Frankie Mini

#6 - Grandmother's Flower Garden - a doozie!

#7 - Owl Pincushion (even the little ones count, right?)

#8 - Drawstring Bag

#9 - Windswept St. Nick

#10 - Dare to be Different (Plus Quilt)

#11 - Mini Plus Quilt

That's 11! This has been my most productive year since 2009.
For more details about all these projects be sure to check out Twiddletails on Instagram and Facebook.

Plus Quilt Top Completed!

Finished my plus quilt top at retreat last weekend. Calling it "Dare to be Different".
Another one added to the "to be quilted" list.

Stay tuned for a tutorial/pattern as soon as I get a chance.

Super Quick Ironing Table Cover

This past week I bought myself an early Christmas gift. Isn't she the prettiest thing?

I unpacked her and was ready to start ironing but just couldn't bring myself to even put her down on this:

This morning I quickly made a replacement cover for the ironing table. Here's how:

Cut a piece of fabric 3" bigger on all sides than your ironing table/board. (These instructions are for a square or rectangular ironing surface.)

Mine is 20" x 40", so I cut the fabric 26" x 46".

Fold over a 2" triangle on each corner and press. Then fold all edges over 1/2" and another 1/2".
Sew all around close to the edge.

Cut a piece of elastic half the circumference of the ironing surface, in my case 60".

Using a safety pin, string the elastic through the pocket you created and pin or sew together the ends. I just pin them because I reuse the elastic every time I make a new cover.

Carefully pull the cover onto the ironing board.  My board just sits loose on a metal shelving unit from Target.
It's not pretty, but it works:

And there we go. So much better! And really pink!
(And it only took 15 minutes.)

Update - Completed Projects

Cleaning up the blog this morning and realized that I never posted photos of a couple of my completed projects for this year!

First up, my Maker's Tote using Noodlehead's pattern.

I also finished the sailboat quilt and published a pattern for it.

And last, but not least, the Oopsie Daisy quilt, using a Darlene Zimmerman pattern.

OK, now I can update my sidebars!

Finding a Focus and Letting Go

While at the International Quilt Festival in Houston this past week, I took a couple of classes. They were all really good, as is usually the case.

One was a workshop by Jane Dunnewold, an amazing surface design artist. It was called "Creative Strength Training" and provided a lot of food for thought in quite a few areas, including how to find your "mojo" when you lose it. OK, that sounded weird, but you know what I'm talking about, right?

During the workshop I had a giant "aha" moment. I've been struggling with finding a focus, what Jane calls your "distinctive voice".

I mentally mulled through quilts I've made and projects in progress or being planned, and focused on the ones I love, the ones that make me happy and excited.

The following projects came to mind:
Geese in the Forest

Daisy Chain - my current hexagon project

Pinwheel Party

Grandmother's Flower Garden

my current, as of yet unnamed, Mariner's Compass project.

Hmmm...what do they all have in common? The next day I walked through the quilt display at Festival again and took photos of the quilts that "spoke" to me.

Next I'm going to go through my trunks of completed quilts and assess which ones I love and which ones are just ok.
I think I'm going to find my voice!

I've already decided on a couple of UFO's and WIP's I'm going to ditch. It's a like a weight has been lifted from my shoulders.

All this being said, I know that many quilters love to dabble in different things, and I think that's a wonderful thing.
I do, however, think that my lightbulb moment could be freeing for many.

Do you have projects you feel you "have" to finish? You know, those ones that make you feel guilty about starting something new because they are lurking out there "needing" to be tackled? Projects that are preventing you from working on something more enjoyable?

Maybe it's time to let them go. Donate them to your guild's next charity auction, Goodwill, even a friend who's been admiring them for a while and will give them the love and attention they deserve.

Just a Little Update

Gee, it's once again been a while! I'm trying to get my act together, I swear I am.
I finally finished the Bright Grandmother's Flower Garden quilt I started back in 2007! You can see my original post here.
The very first photo I shared:

And here she is, more than 9 years later!

If you'd like to see her in real life, she'll be at the Des Moines Area Quilt Guild's show, which runs concurrently and in the same venue as AQS Quiltweek in Des Moines, October 5-8 2016.
A couple of progress and detail pics: