Not Sewing or Quilting, but still fun.

We went to Minnesota to visit my son, daughter-in-law, grandson and granddaughter this weekend.  I crocheted a hat for Sophie while we were there.  I also am going to start working on her Christmas stocking.  I made them for everyone else in the family a couple of years ago and now I will make one for Sophie's first Christmas.  You'll be seeing more about that in the days to come.

October UFO/WIP

Here is my October UFO/WIP.  I started this table topper last year and got it ready to quilt and then it just sat.  So got it quilted at the beginning of the month and just got the binding done tonight.

Binding

Spent some time stitching the binding down.  It's getting closer and closer. I'm hoping to finish it tonight and then I'll show you tomorrow.   Promise.

Binding

Got my binding cut out, pressed and sewn onto my October UFO/WIP.  Ready to start hand stitching it down.  Yeah!

15 Minutes

Too many things going on tonight, but I did cut some more 6 inch and 3 inch squares for my king-size quilt.

Another Row

Finished the row 9th row of my king-size quilt tonight!  I've only been working on that row since October 4th.  Not very fast if I plan on finishing this quilt this year.  I really need to speed it up.  I know I did spend a lot of time working on bags for Wings Of Hope, so no more excuses or other projects.  (Although I do need to finish my UFO/WIP for October.)

King-size Quilt

Worked on my quilt tonight.  Sewing the 3 inch squares.  I have a ton of things I want to start, but I'm staying focused on my quilt.   Just realized I do need to finish a UFO/WIP for October.  I have just the binding to put on a table topper, so think that will be the project.

Church Quilt - It's Done!

This is the back of the quilt, so you could see the wonderful quilting that Sandy did.

This is the finished quilt that we have been working on at Church.  We got the binding sewn down tonight.  I love scrap quilts and this one turned out so beautiful.  I'd love to do one for myself.  The pattern is from a book by Pat Speth and it's called "Delta Star".   The quilt measures 108" X 108".                                    

My Quilt

I had a busy evening, so only was able to squeeze 15 minutes in.  I spent that time pinning my 3 inch blocks so that tomorrow I can sit down and sew, sew, sew.   Yeah!

Last Steps

Fold the points down and pin to hold the point where you want it. 

Stitch about 1/2 inch down to form a casing.  (Depending on the width of your ribbon you may need to make the casing bigger.) 

Take 2 one yard pieces of ribbon and thread it around the bag inside the casing.  One going one way and the other going in the other side.  Tie the ends together and you have a drawstring bag.

All of the the bags I needed to make are done and I was able to work on my king-size quilt tonight.  I got the 6 inch blocks sewed on and picked out the 3 inch blocks.  YEAH!!!!

Still On The Bags

Next step is to sew across the corner at the base of the bag.  I sewed it about one inch from the tip.  Do this on both corners.

Looks like little ears on the bottom of the bag.

Turn bag right side out.  Now the bag can stand on it's own.







Next Step

The next step is to fold the bag in half and sew the side seams.  I use about a 1/4 of an inch to a little bigger seam because of the bulk of the fabric. 
I'm hoping to get a few of these done tonight.

Went to a new quilt shop today.  It's located in the country outside of Clarinda, IA.  It's called The Quilt Coop, check it out.
http://www.quiltcoop.com/   They have a great selection of fabrics and so friendly!

(Still not working on my king-size quilt.)

Another Step For The Bag

After top stitching all around the edge of the 18 inch square, you will fold it in thirds. Make sure the point of the opposite corners are to the edge. If you don't, the bag will flop open in a way that won't make you happy. You will then stitch 1 inch away from the center of the piece. In this picture that one inch line is marked in blue with a water erase pen.  TIP:  To find the center of the bag, fold in half and iron.  The crease will give you the center and you can then mark your stitching line


On a side note, I had to rip out the stitching on 4 bags because we didn't get the point to the edge as shown. That's how I know you won't be happy with a bag that flops open. 

Kits

I went to Jeanine's house tonight and Jeanine, Sondra, Kathy, Deb and I cut kits for Quilts From The Bluffs. It's a little thing, but it helps to make quilt day go so much better. And we're able to make more quilts. (Still not working on my king-size quilt.)

Bags

A small group of us met at Church tonight and did some sewing on the bags. The bags are in all sorts of stages, so will take some more pictures to let you see the different steps in getting them done. Making lots of progress! (Just not on my king-size quilt.)

More on the Bags

On the 1st picture to the right, I cut the corner at a
diagonal to remove the bulk I would have when I
turn the fabric right side out.
























This is a trick I just learned, iron down the opening to a quarter inch and that way it will make the opening more smooth. I would always seem to get a bow in the fabric. Or waves.

OOPS!

I forgot to blog yesterday even though I took these pictures while working on the bags in the morning. This picture shows the 18 by 18 inch squares pinned and ready to sew.

Addiction

OK, the fabric addiction was on full force today. All morning all I could think about was the AQS show in Des Moines and that I was missing it. In addition, my favorite quilt shop was having a big sale in honor of the show. I really wanted to go and buy fabric.

Today the weather was BEAUTIFUL! I wanted to get out and go to an apple orchard and get fresh apples or head out to a craft show, go to the quilt shop, something. So I'm whining to my hunny bunny about all of this when he comes home from golfing and I how would love to make apple crisp for dessert. That did it for him, so we got in the car, we drove to a local orchard and got some apples. As we were walking back to the car, we were trying to decide if we should just go home or pick another adventure and what are we going to do for dinner, go out or eat leftovers. I said let's just go back home and then I can make the apple crisp.

Taking the scenic way home, he said "I thought you would suggest Larsen's Pub in Elk Horn for dinner." That did sound good. (Didn't take much to twist my arm. wink wink.) So that's what we did. And since we were going to Elk Horn, we might as well stop at Prairie Star Quilts for a while. Which we did. I got flannel backing fabric for $1.oo a yard (told you it was a good sale) and backing from some of Julie's line of fabric for my block of the month that I am doing with that fabric line.

What a wonderful day!

P.S.
I pinned all the bags I have cut out and started sewing them together. I'll show you my steps tomorrow.

Origami Bags

This is one of the 13 bags I have cut out to sew for the Wing Of Hope dinner. There is a ribbon that goes in the casing at the top of the bag. It's a great bag to hold phone cords/charger or for an MP3 player. There is a great tutorial here

www.hookedonneedles.com/2009/08/origami-bag-made-with=fabric.html

I didn't do the hand sewing of the front edges, I love being able to see the background fabric peeking through.

Computers!

I love doing things with my computer, but when it isn't working well, I hate them. For some reason last night the connection was awful. I'd get signed in and then it would freeze and I wasn't able to get this done. Enough of that.

I worked on the bags for Wings Of Hope last night. www.wingsofhope.org They are going together pretty fast, so I hope to have one done soon to show you. Maybe tonight.

One More

I got the base squares sewn on one strip tonight and I also pinned 2 bags together. Going to cut out more bags and get the pieces pinned. Not much of a blog tonight, but I am making progress. I'm trying to decide if I should do all of the base squares for all eight strips before doing the 6 inch squares. The base squares feel like they take so long to do and the other squares (6 and 3 inch) seem to fly. Plus I'm getting nervous about getting it done.

Painting

Working on my quilt almost feels like I'm painting. Right now I'm working on the base coat. The backing, batting and squares I will be adding for the background. The 6 inch squares are the second coat and the 3 inch squares are the finish coat. I worked on this before going to work this morning and then again for a while once I was home.

Sorry about the way the picture comes out, something about the lighting in my sewing room. I use the ice cream cone light bulbs (energy efficient) and I use the natural light, but just comes out weird when I take a picture.

Accomplished!

I finished my 8th strip and now have half of my strips done! WOO HOO! I also got my apron done this morning. Going to do a little clean up in my sewing room and finish cutting the fabric from friends and family so I can set up the next strip.

More Aprons

I made two more aprons today just like the one I showed you yesterday. We're having dinner with friends tonight and I made one for each of the women. I have enough fabric to make one more and that one will be for me! Looking at my blog I see that I haven't worked on my king-size quilt since Tuesday. No wonder it feels like I'm not getting it done. :-)

Apron

Here is my friend Mary modeling the apron I made her. I love the pumpkin fabric and she said she really liked it. Hope so.

I spent time cutting fabric tonight for bags I'm helping another friend make for a cancer survivors celebration. I have been helping her with this project for over 5 years. We've come up with some cute ideas. ( We made this apron last year for everyone.)