Great Granny Table Topper

This was such a fun little quilt to put together, it measures about 45" X 45".

As I showed you last week, I finished all nine blocks.

I didn't take any photos of sewing the sashing and the borders.

I sandwiched the quilt top, the quilt batting and the backing and pinned it all together with curved safety pins.

I use safety pins on small projects because I can't stand basting!

When I first started quilting, I quilted by hand.  After a few quilts, I realized that even using a thimble my fingers were so sore that I didn't have any feeling in them.  I thought it was best to machine quilt.  I really love this process.  I look at the quilt for a few minutes and determine what method of quilting I should do.  I felt that stitching in the ditch wouldn't take away from the beauty of the fabric in the squares.  If you don't know what stitching in the ditch is, it is stitching on the seam line.

After all the ditches were stitched, I outline stitched each square.

The quilting is finished!

I bought a beautiful Amy Butler fabric for the back of my quilt.  I wanted a bright color for the binding, to keep the theme of the colors in the squares.  I picked an aqua polka dot out of my stash and auditioned it with the Amy Butler fabric.  I like it.

I have a Robert Kaufman app on my smartphone which I use for calculating the binding.  It told me I needed 5 strips for my binding. I cut the strips and sewed them together and pressed them in half.

Now I'm attaching it to the quilted quilt, using the method I showed you in my binding tutorial part 1 and part 2.

The table topper is finished :)

I decided to sew little circles on the sashing and borders of the quilt.
Here are some closeup photos.

I love the back of the quilt!

See how the stitching in the ditch shows up on the back?

I love finishing a project.  I put in it various areas of the house and admire it as I walk by!  Am I weird?  lol

Great Granny

Hello everyone! 

 My friend Lori, is having a "Great Granny Along" on her blog,

 Bee in my Bonnet. 

 You can find part 1 here.

I had a great time making the squares, they are very addictive. 

 You just love how one block turns out and can hardly wait to get started on another!

It has also been fun looking at everyone else's blocks on flickr and on other's blogs.

Lori made 9 blocks which created a table topper.  That is exactly what I wanted to do.  I am going to machine quilt it myself and I can only manage table toppers, table runners and baby quilts.

I decided to make each of the 9 blocks a different color.

I was able to use my scraps, which to me means anything smaller than a fat quarter.

The first thing I did was cut all 25 - 2 l/2" squares.

I turned all the squares so they were on point.

I sewed the 3 squares together on a row, then the 5, then the 7, etc.

After I had sewed the blue squares in rows, I added a white rectangle to the end of each row, excluding the middle row.

I sewed the rows together to make a block, and then sewed four longer rectangles on each end, centering them.  

The block's edges now look like stairsteps.

Each block will be cut to 12 l/2", so I simply center my 12 l/2" square ruler over the block.

With my rotary cutter, I trim off all four sides, even with the ruler.

I did mine a little differently.  I chose a colorful center, and surrounded it by the same fabric print.  All the other squares in the block are different, giving my great granny a scrappy look.

I love this aqua block, the colors are so soft.  Almost every square of fabric brings back a memory.  An outfit I made for a grand daughter, a quilt, doll's dress, bag, etc.

I love the elephant that I fussy cut in the center of this pink block.

I thought the gray block was really different.  I was thrilled to have little red riding hood fussy cut for two of the squares, including the big bad wolf and a pretty tree that is in the fabric line "A Walk in the Woods".  I also love the grey houses and flowers from "Daisy Cottage" by Lori Holt who is hosting the "Great Granny Along".

I had a harder time finding enough oranges, so I had to use some 30's prints.  I really like the butterfly in the middle.

I love the red, and like the apples I was able to find in my stash.

Can you see a little baby's head in one of the squares?

I am making a baby quilt with that fabric.

The little car and elf are pieces of some Japanese fabric that I have.

Can you tell that I am reminiscing about all the fabrics I used?  lol

It was really hard to find enough purple pieces.  I had to dig into my 30's prints and civil war reproduction fabrics.

All 9 of my blocks are sewn.  I really love the fact that each one has their own color scheme, it's very colorful.  I think I was inspired my the mini granny that I made here.

On Monday, I will show you the finished table topper, sashing, quilting, binding and all :)

Mini Quilt Shop Hop Adventure

I had a lot of fun on my mini quilt shop hop!

I left the house at 10:00 a.m. and returned home at 3:15 p.m., and drove 81 miles.

I decided to buy something at each store, making it a bit of a scavenger hunt :)

My first stop was Beverly's in Citrus Heights, about a 15 mile drive from home. Beverly's is a craft store with a large quilting section.  It is a chain store, so I wasn't shy taking photos.

They had lots of Vintage Modern, there were other colors too.

Look at all the bolts of quilting fabric.  They had a lot of it arranged by color.  Pinks, oranges, and on the end aisle next to the orange, are Dr. Seuss prints.

Dr. Seuss minki....

......and lots more minki!

I really liked this owl and woodland section.

Nothing but dots and stripes.

They had a pretty good selection of Amy Butler fabrics.

I spent a lot of time at Beverly's.  We have one in Rocklin too, but not quite as much selection as this one.

My purchase was a Clover l/2" bias tape maker.  If I fold the bias tape in half, it would also be l/4" double fold bias tape. 

My next stop was Thistle Dew Quilt Shoppe in Fair Oaks, about a 5 mile drive.  Fair Oaks is a teeny little town surrounded by lots of other towns, so it isn't in the country.  There are only about 3 blocks of shops, vintage stores, a ribbon shop, a candy store, a couple of antique stores, and two or three little cafes.  There is a park that takes a block and has all sorts of chickens roaming around.  There are many different types and colors of chickens, they all look exotic.  Last December, Mabulane (my daughter in law) and her daughter (my grandaughter) Neo went to the park.  When Mabulane got out of the car and walked on the grass, all the chickens came running towards her.  It startled her, but they left her alone.  It was funny!  

Neo is quite nervous around animals, so she had to be held and had a very worried look on her face :)  This is a photo from December.

Here is a photo of the Thistle Dew Quilt Shoppe.

This shop had some cute fabric.

I bought a Clover brand awl, and fabric with scissors :)

The next stop was Quilter's Corner in Sacramento, another 8 mile drive.  See my cute little convertible?  I drove with the top down the whole time but every time I stopped I put the roof up so that the car wouldn't be burning hot.  It was in the low 80's when I left home, but the temps quickly rose to the high 90's.

This store had a lots of fabric, and they specialized in carrying the largest selection of civil war reproduction fabric in Northern California.  I have a box full and don't really need any more.

I really like this self of Lakehouse Pam Kitty Morning fabrics.

I was really excited to see these John James embroidery needles.  I have been looking for some for a long time.  I also bought some straw needles for applique and 2 yards of Amy Butler fabric (half price) to back my great granny quilt (I will show you pictures soon).

My last stop was the Country Sewing Center, a 21 mile drive to Elk Grove.  I had no idea where I was going, I just set the navigator on my phone and drove.

This was my favorite shop, the fabric selection wasn't any better than the others but I liked the layout of the store.  

I bought a yard of the blue Amy Butler fabric.  I love that print.  I have it in pink and just had to have some in blue.  I bought two pieces of "sewing" fabric and some Aurifil thread.  The saleslady said, "Oh, you're an Aurifil girl".  I guess I am!

The saleslady was so friendly and very knowledgeable.  I asked her if there was a way to get back to Rocklin without going on the highway.  She drew me a little map and I got to enjoy country roads for a while.
I drove by a huge vineyard that went on for about a mile.  I just stuck my arm out of the car and took the picture!  lol

This is a really pretty entranceway to a house, or a mansion!

I had a great day, and am glad I was able to share it with you.