Fat Quarter Quilting: Reproduction Fabrics

The first fabrics I used when I began quilting about 10 years ago, were civil war reproduction fabrics.

I love the richness of the colors and the prints.

The name of this quilt is "Row Sampler" from the pattern Fat Quarter Quilting:  Reproduction Fabrics by Lori Smith.

Here is the link to her website and the pattern.

This pattern is 16" X 20" and is perfect for a table topper.

I hand quilted this mini quilt to make it look authentically old :)
It took some time but was definitely worth it!

I love a quilt with red binding,  and I used reproduction fabric for the backing too.

I wonder if people used to hand quilt outdoors during warm, sunny days when they had more light and the days were longer.

My little mini quilt is all rolled up, ready to gift :)

Layer Cake Lemonade Quilt Pattern

I just found out that my step mother in law's lymphoma cancer has returned for a third time....

She has opted to take chemotherapy and I want to make her a soft, cozy, snuggly quilt to wrap herself up in.

I wanted to finish it quickly, so I chose a simpler pattern which I found through the fat quarter shop, called "Lemonade".

You can find the free pattern here.

I have a Pinterest board named Lemonade, which you can find here.

The quilt pattern Lemonade is made from a layer cake.

I really like Lori Holt's "Millie's Closet", and I think Glenda would love it too.

She's a "vintage" type of girl, and appreciates that sort of thing :)

These are my favorite 10" squares, so I'm not going to cut them in half.

I sewed these 10" squares together and will cut the rows horizontally, to insert between my rows (above) of 10" squares.

I laid all my rows together and really like the way they look :)

Sorry about the yellowy night light....

Here is my completed quilt top.

I love it, with the pops of red and aqua amongst the greens, yellows and pinks.

I bought some soft minky in aqua, to back the quilt with, and Lori Holt's "Vintage Happy" to bind the quilt with.

I love red, and love the way a red binding can "pop" on a quilt.

I just have to get my Bernina back from the repair shop, it's been about 3 weeks and I really need it!

I highly recommend this free quilt pattern, Lemonade.

It was really fast to sew up, it just took me one 
evening :)

"Frozen" fabric

I began a tradition of buying my grandchildren pj's or nighties when they come to visit.

I looked at a few stores for a cute "frozen" nightgown and couldn't find any.

I went to Joann Fabrics and saw this beautiful fabric!

The main character is Elsa, which is my grand daughter Neo's favorite :)

The fabric was pretty expensive, $24.99/yard, but it was 60" wide and was on sale.  I thought I could make matching nightgowns for Neo and her sister Kylie.

To make a long story short, there wasn't quite enough fabric for two nightgowns.

I found these pretty little frosty pink flower buttons in my button jar.

I used pink eyelet for the neck and armhole trim.

To make another long story shorter, used lavender eyelet for the hem trim.

Originally, the pink trim was for one nightgown and the lavender was for the other.

This nightgown was made from a slip pattern and I have made about 20 or more of them for my daughters and grand daughters.

I was able to fussy cut the yoke so that Elsa is front and center :)

Here is Neo wearing her nightgown, she really loves it!

She wants to wear it during the day too, and Kylie is wearing her "Princess Sophia" nightgown that I bought for her.

Aren't they the cutest?  (proud grammy)

Scrappy Cross Roads Block

Lori from Bee in my Bonnet had a tutorial for her Scrappy Cross Roads Block on Instagram, you can read about it on her blog here.

I decided to make it, and pulled 48 -  2 1/2" squares from my 2 l/2" scrap box.  

I cut enough for two blocks :)

It also takes 8 - 4 l/2" squares from background fabric.

I chose Kona Pond for my background.

I made 8 easy corner triangles, and used up 16 of my 2 l/2" squares.

I sewed squares together, and laid them all out on my design board.

Can you see how easy it is?

Ta Da!  My beautiful Scrappy Cross Roads Block!

I organized my 2 l/2" squares into color categories....

.... and made another block!

I want to make 2 more to make a pretty square.

Each block measures 16" square.

I really enjoyed making my Scrappy Cross Roads Blocks :)

Handmade Birthday Club, July

I received my second gift from the Handmade Birthday Club.

One of the things I said I liked, were stuffed dolls or animals.

Becca made me a cute whale, she made it without a pattern!

She also sent me some delicious Canadian chocolate and some maple syrup candies, yum!

I don't know how she knew I liked selvages, but I got a bundle of them!

This is only a sampling of what she sent me.

They are Lizzy House too, I didn't have any of those.

I know a little boy who will love playing with this whale :)

One of the great things about this group is that you have the opportunity to expand your skills and make things you've never made before.
I love handmade gifts and hope to show you more soon.

Scrappy Summer Sew Along - Sweet and Simple Table Runner

I made this Scrappy Happy table runner, you can find the tutorial at Bee in my Bonnet here.

After sewing all the Easy Corner Triangles, I had these triangles left over.

They were big enough to cut l l/2" squares.

I layed out all my little squares, plus others that I retrieved from my l l/2" square box.

I used my Alphabitties and labelled all the colored sections.

I had never used them before, and discovered that they were invaluable.

I always get my little blocks mixed up and out of order.

Not this time!  Thank you Alphabitties!

You can find them at the Fat Quarter Shop, and they're very

inexpensive :)

Here's my table runner all sewn together, and waiting for the border.

I used a Lakehouse dot for the background, one I've had for a few years.

I'm making this table runner for my daughter in law.

She got a new hall table and I offered to make her a table runner.
She wanted me to use some bright colors.

The border I used tones down the bright colors a bit and it has inspirational quotes that add whimsy!

The border is 2" finished, here is another closeup of all the cute little prints that I used.

Scrappy squares can be very meaningful.

I can tell you what project I used each and every piece of fabric for.

I'm a sucker for polka dots and cherries and gingham :)

Here's the finished table runner.

I am going to call the repair shop today and see if my sewing machine has been fixed.

I really miss it and have a long line of projects waiting to be quilted.

Thanks for stopping by, I'll see you again in a couple of days :)

Handmade Birthday Club, July 2014

I've been making about one gift a month for the members in our Handmade Birthday Club, since January.

Well, guess what?

This is my birthday month!

I mentioned that one of my loves is Aneela Hooey fabric.

Isn't this the cutest table topper?

It's 24" X 24", and oh so cute :)

When I first opened the package, I looked at the back first.

I was so excited that I forgot to look on the other side, the front side, lol!

"House of bad cats" also sent me some owl notecards and some owl washi tape. 

LOVE!!!

For now, I've got my new cherished table topper on my antique sewing machine table.

I'm going to use it to decorate my table when I teach the Young Women at church in another week :)
They'll love it!!!