Mar 31, 2014

Tee Shirt Quilt, WIP


I'm almost finished with my tee shirt quilt!
Well, there's still lots more to do, but now I can see the light :)
This is the top, all pieced together!
The "cougars" letters to the extreme right of the quilt are embroidered letters that were on a baseball jersey.
I cut them out and topstitched them onto white fabric.
I really like how that block turned out.


I was originally making a twin size quilt, but it has turned into a full size quilt.
I'm using this Kona slate for an 8" border, and the red polka dot for the binding.
I'm going to add quilt blocks to all four corners, that will be an extra feature that will add more interest.


I'd say it's a masculine quilt, and there are some touches of red in the quilt.
I always love a red binding that adds a little pop!
Did I tell you that I'm quilting this baby myself?
Yup, it will be a new experience, but I'm confident that my machine and I will be able to get the job done :)
Stay tuned.....

post signature

Mar 28, 2014

Vintage Shop eye candy


My husband and I went to some vintage shops, in Orange, California.
The minute I laid my eyes on this display, I felt as though I was taken back to my preteen years.
You know when you smell a scent that is really familiar and it brings back memories?
That is how I felt when I saw these displays.


Our kitchen (when I was a little girl) was wallpapered in flowers similar to this!


I used to try to emulate Farrah Fawcett's hair :)


Bright orange, avocado green and gold, very common colors for kitchen appliances and home decor.


I still have my Barbie wardrobe closet similar to the white one, except mine is pink.


LOVE these shoes!!!


My mom had a nightgown like this which she repurposed into a similar gown for my Barbie :)


We had a Santa head like this that lit up when you plugged it in.


Memories, these flower decals were everywhere when I was a preteen.




Down the street was this adorable shop, whose proprietor was just as adorable!
I wish I had a photo of her.


This was the inside of her shop, everything is hand painted.



 This is an antique shop around the corner from the previous stores.
Notice the pretty quilt on the chair?


Such pretty displays!




Love this quilt cupboard and ladder, not to mention all the quilts on the shelves!




I love Jadite, but it's so expensive!
My daughter bought me a beautiful blue Fire King bowl which I cherish.



I hope you've enjoyed all the vintage eye candy :)
I want to show you the vintage ladder my husband bought for me, to display some of my quilts.
It's about 7 feet tall, and I love it!

post signature

Mar 26, 2014

Quilty Fun Sew Along, Week 19


I have tried my best to keep up with this weekly Quilty Fun Sew Along, and have been successful!
Sometimes I've had to make the block a week or two ahead of time because I've been out of town, but it worked for me :)
I have pinned all of the block tutorials on my "Quilty Fun Sew Along board on Pinterest, although you do need the book for all the measurements.
I've really been looking forward to this "bumblebee" block.  
I used Kona charcoal for the bee's head, I had already used the same fabric for the "spools" block.
The bee's body is yellow "Vintage Happy" and a black gingham.
The wings are "Polka Dot Stitches".



I traced the letters onto the block, using my light box.


I embroidered the letters, it took about an hour and a half without interruptions.
I usually use red for letters, but decided to stitch in orange instead.
I am a little disappointed because the letters would show up better if they were in red.
Red always "pops".
I'm not disappointed enough to start over though....


I sewed the border on, and the bee came alive!!!


While I was at it, I decided to sash the rows together, creating the center portion of the sampler.
Now I'm ready for Lori to show us how to add the borders, on Monday.


I hope you're enjoying this Quilt Along.
I've loved following other blogs who are doing this same sampler.
I need to give a big "Thank you" to Greg at Grey Dogwood Studio for helping me with my iron issue.  
He suggested using spray starch, which was great advice!
Amy from A Quilting Sheep gave me similar advice, thank you so much!
I can hardly wait to see what borders everyone will be choosing :)
post signature


Mar 24, 2014

Doll Clothes


There are so many commercial patterns for doll clothes, these particular ones are for 18" dolls.
The instructions are very detailed and easy to read.
From this pattern, I made party dress A, the tee shirt, tights and jumper H.


I made the pajamas and slippers from this pattern.


I wouldn't mind a dress like this :)


I used some "roses" machine embroidery on the ribbon instead of topstitching it to the dress.  
I should have used a different color thread because the white doesn't show up at all!


I made the tee shirt and tights from a new "Susan G. Komen 5K Race for the Cure" tee shirt.
The jumper matches it perfectly.


I machine embroidered some bows on the hem, I like the look :)


I made a little set of pajamas, with matching slippers.
The Hello Kitty fabric is from another set of pj's that I repurposed.
That's a working pocket on the pj top, too.


My doll Red Rose is going to model the clothes.
I wrote a post about Red Rose if you're interested, you can see it here.


I made these clothes for my grand daughter Charlotte, who will be 4 years old in a couple of weeks.


I saw a little package of eyeglasses that I am going to buy for Charlotte's doll, and a pair of pink shoes to match her dress.


I love the bow on the back of the dress.
By the way, isn't this dog the cutest?
It's the closest I'm ever going to get to owning a real one :) Lol

post signature


Mar 21, 2014

Thimble Baby Qullt, WIP


I was on my iPad a couple of weeks ago and saw a notification that my daughter in law pinned this quilt on Pinterest.
You can find it here.
Her baby, our 10th grand daughter, is due on May 20th.
I have been wondering what kind of quilt to make her for the baby, and I got my answer! Ha ha!


I bought Lori Holt's Thimble ruler a few months ago and have been looking for an excuse to use it.
I have also been using Lori's method of stash organization and have accumulated a lot of 5" squares.  


I painstakingly cut out all of these thimble shapes, in softer hues.
I love the scrappy look :)


I sewed them all together.
I am looking for the perfect "minky" to back it with.
Should I quilt it a straight outline stitch, or an all over stipple or swirl?
Don't forget to keep in mind that I will be using minky for the back.
I'm a little worried about it, but have been reading some tutorials and they say to use spray glue to keep the layers together.

post signature

Mar 19, 2014

Quilty Fun Sew Along, Week 18


This week was the "Posie" flower block.
There were a lot of little white squares to cut out for each flower!
4 for the flower and 4 for each leaf.


This particular block was pretty time consuming, but I love choosing the fabrics and seeing the blocks come together!
I have been having "iron" issues.  
I haven't been using steam at all, but don't like the way my iron is pressing.
Any suggestions?

post signatureT