New Year's Eve 2015

I have been doing pretty well organizing myself the last few days, and have made some good progress on the table runner.  It's actually at a point that I can baste and quilt it, but now I need space to tape it down for the basting.  Which involves cleaning off a table... we will see if that happens this morning.

 

The top of the French Braid table runner completed.  Loving how striking the colors are.

This is how I pass the time until the Seahawks play.  Also, check out my NEW JERSEY!!

I pieced the back with the strips cut off the sides of the runner when I squared it up.  I would like to make a larger version of this, again, very striking.

I also found in my organizing my Mini Stitch that I had started summer 2015 and got that pulled together for a completed top.

The pattern was fun to work with, it's also mini sized so assumes you know what you're doing basically.  Not many instructions.  You can find Mini Stitch and more mini patterns at Fig Tree & Co's website here.

This is going to make the best wall hanging, I am very excited to have it ready to quilt.  I picked colors that make me happy and will stay interesting to me.  Some of them will also bring back some memories, but as I haven't made a lot of quilts most of this fabric is just from my stash.

And I completed mom's Christmas present the day after, but it sure turned out nice!  And she is very excited to have a sewing project bag of her own, she has really been picking the sewing back up lately (I may be causing some of that...), even made 12 Seahawks hotpads for Christmas gifts, and 4 pillowcases!

This fabric is so pretty, I got it at the shop in Bonner's Ferry when we went to Montana.  I keep hoping to find it in blue for myself.

Another chance to practice my FMQ, I did not mark this feather, just made it happen, and filled in the gaps with pebbles..

I am learning the best way to install my tags is to wait until I'm finished and sew it on the seam afterwards.  I redid this one 3 times before I figured that out!

 

I have to laugh at myself, I have made this project bag at least 7 times, and I make it differently every time.  I have been making notes on the last 2, and taking pictures, I'm hoping to pull it all together into a tutorial for you all.  And to help myself be more precise and timely in the construction.  What is taking the most time (and I'm pretty sure I said this before) is the quilting.  I keep using these bags as my practice pieces for free-motion quilting techniques, so instead of it taking me 5 minutes to quilt it I end up taking closer to an hour.   The bag assembly itself is only taking ~30 minutes. Quilting is my hobby though, I'm not in this to make things REALLY fast.  I am trying to enjoy the act of MAKING.  And lately, I've just been very thankful to have the time to sew at all.

And without further ado, I'm off to take advantage of the bit of time before I go to work!  Make the most of every minute, the year is nearly done!

Happy New Year everyone, here's to strong finishes and exciting new beginnings!
~Brandy

Linking up with Let's Bee Social at Sew Fresh Quilts

 



UFO Busting with Pat Sloan

I'm taking on the challenge Pat put out this weekend, and have pulled together actual UFOs in my sewing room.  I've made lists all year, but most of them include piles of fabric waiting to become quilts, and those technically aren't unfinished, as they haven't been started yet.  Right?  Hee hee :)

 

So here's my goal for the summer:

 

 

1. This is the baby blanket I've been working on for 2 months now.  If I'd wanted to give it to them I could have a month ago, but I wanted it quilted because my hope is for it to be well loved and dragged around.  So number one on the list, baby Scarlet was born last Monday and is ready for her blankie!

2. This is a marriage quilt (they will celebrate their 1 year anniversary this month, congratulation Ashley, I love you!)

 

3. This is a guild challenge, there are four of these panels and I was the only one who picked one up.  So if I finish it and take it back to guild next Tuesday I will win the prestige of finishing it on time LOL!  Possibly there is a prize too, but we're making them as baby blankets for donation, which is pretty satisfying in itself. 

 

4. I started this pillow design the night before the Super Bowl, and mainly hope to have it done by football season this fall.

 

5. This fabric basket needs unsewn on the corners, quilted more densly, sewn back together and have the buttons put on.

 

6. Big Fish Little Fish wall hanging, just keep swimming!

I started working on this last night, made it through 5 of the star points before we had a lightning storm come thru and I stopped to watch it instead of sewing.  Plus the power flickered and I feared for my sewing machine.

 

Good job gloves, you hold that in there for me 'til I get home tonight.

 

The cats watching the storm with me last night.

 

So there we are, 6 items on the list.  And the hope that I won't decide to start another!  Except one thing, I get to test a pattern for Heather at Quilts Actually!  Very exciting, this is my first time testing a pattern, and I just love this one.  I'll share when I have permission to :)

 

Have a wonderful week everyone!

 

~Brandy







Hotpads

I gave my Great Grandma her puzzle hotpad/potholder on Mother's Day, and she was really impressed.  Everyone loved the colors, I had to point out the quilting.  My family is still in training...

 

 

And I finished my sister's Christmas/birthday present hotpad, I still have a pen case on the books for her.

 

The quilting in progress.

Making a flanged binding for Jen's hotpad, my first flanged binding.

Still trying to figure this part out, it's fine on the inside!

I love the framed look!



You can see the quilting really well on the back, I tried to vary it to look like the cup is on a table.

Very nice!  Slow and steady, really important.

This is my next project, finishing this wall hanging from Connecting Threads.  I was able to get two of them because they were on clearance in January.  Not sure yet what will happen with the second, probably someone will come along in our lives who's obsessed with fish or has a nautical-themed nursery.  We'll see

Love the fish block!!

 

Alright, off to work now.  Have a super sparkly day!

 

~Brandy

 

Thomas and Belle want to remind you to take it easy and enjoy the sunshine!

 

 

 



T'was the Night - Day Three

Oh happy day!  It's my turn on this wonderful blog hop, and I couldn't have been much more excited about participating in this one.  Not only do I love making small and quick projects, but I got to give one of them to a fellow quilter/blogger!  I just love giving homemade gifts.  Thank you very much to Marlene and Madame Samm for organizing this hop, I'm having such a wonderful time.  And thank you so much to all the others participating in the hop, I am loving seeing all the great ideas everyone has!  Be sure to hop over to my fellow ladies of the day, you can find the links at the end of this post.

 

First off, I wish to share with you what I received from Jill at Apple Avenue Quilts.  I was so excited to see what she made for me!

 

What a beautiful wrapping idea!  (sorry, I'm new to the idea of the use of ribbon.  So every time I see something wrapped in it I get all excited :)  )

I admire people with knitting skills, this is a beautiful washcloth Jill.

Buttons, yay!

And a couple great potholders, and perfect timing, I just had to retire a bunch because they were beyond saving.  I think you can't have enough of these, especially if you entertain ever.

Remember to go to Moose Stash Quilting next to see what I made for Joan!

 

And here are some ideas I found only took me a couple hours to make:

The Mortimer moose wall-hanging I made last year, you get the idea, small (it's only 17"x17"), simple patchwork, and simple applique.  Ta-da!  Stinkin' cute wall-hanging.  Then a patchwork pillow sham, a potholder using fancy fabric and flower shaped quilting, and some decorative stockings.

My great-grandma Pawlik inspired me when making these.  She made a bunch for the ladies in our family about 15 years ago, and we still all put them up for Christmas.  I'm hoping that will happen with my family when I'm a grandma someday!

Here are some more everyday-type gift ideas:

 



A project bag.  I love the size tremendously and got the instructions from Jina.  Not only will it hold all your sewing items you'd need, it is also the perfect size for a cosmetic bag, or to hold snacks on a car trip, or colored pencils and a small drawing pad... so many options!

A plastic bag holder.  My grandma Kathy showed me how to make these on Sunday, thank you grandma!  This one has already been claimed by my sister, which fits, she has a rooster-theme going on in her kitchen. 

And a lap quilt.  So this is the same idea as the self-binding baby blanket from Missouri Star Quilt Co, I just made it as large as I could while maintaining the 10" difference between the small and large piece of fabric.  I also managed to get a layer of batting in there, it took some finagling...

John agreed to model my lap quilt for me, wasn't that nice?

 

While I'm happy with the gifts I created, I believe my favorite last minute gift is the sweetest, and that is homemade candy!  Here's my dad's favorite recipe:

 

 

Chocolate Peanut-Butter Balls

1 C peanut-butter

1 C powdered sugar

1 package chocolate chips

 

Melt chocolate chips using whatever method you prefer.  Double boiler seems to be the most popular.

Prepare a jellyroll pan by laying out a piece of wax paper on it.

Mix PB and sugar together, roll into 1 inch wide balls, and dip into melted chocolate.  Place on jellyroll pan, and when the pan is filled place PB balls into fridge to set.

That's all there is to it!  You could then make a fabric box like Connie talks about in this post, line it with parchment or wax paper and fill it with these yummies for a quick treat too.

 

Here are the other ladies who are showing their gift ideas today:

 

Daisy Days

Just Keep Swimming

Words and Stitches

Apple Avenue Quilts

Pampered Pettit - that's me!

Moose Stash Quilting

 

Thank you so much for stopping by, I hope you all have a wonderful holiday season! 

~Brandy



with love to Konnie the cat, we'll miss you this Christmas my furry little sister

Black Cat Crossing-Day 4

Welcome!  My name is Brandy and I'm so happy you've stopped by to visit.  I was really looking forward to the day when Mdm Samm announced this year's Wicked hop so I could join, because it marks the one year anniversary of my being a part of the blog hops!  I love participating, I find I accomplish more projects and pushed myself further creatively than I would have without the "gentle push" from the ladies who organize these hops.  So thank you very much Mdm Samm and Wendy for allowing me to participate again this year.  And thank you to Maywood Studio for bringing Black Cat Crossing into our lives, I LOVE this line of fabric.  And I have really enjoyed seeing what the other participants have created with this line as inspiration.

 

 

 

I was immediately struck with the idea of a cat crossing my piece, whatever it decided to evolve into, when I first heard the name of the fabric line.  It started out a bit larger than it ended up, but that's how it goes sometimes.

 

When I saw the fabrics in the Black Cat Crossing line I was so happy to see the richness of the colors used.  And then I realized I had a smallish budget to work with, so ordering online was out of the question and neither quilt shop in town nearby carried the line.  And then it happened!  John allowed me to drag him to 9 different quilt shops on a 315 mile trip in one day and one of the shops we went to had the ENTIRE line!  The shop is in Prosser, WA and called The Sewing Basket and oh my lord, that lady has everything.  I've never seen a shop like hers, I loved it!  It's totally worth the hour and a half drive from our house.  Here's a picture of John in the middle of the room full of Halloween fabric, he's deciding which one I'm allowed to use for my project.

 

 

My design has a cat crossing a fence on a dark night while branches are reaching for him.

 

I used this project as another opportunity for practicing my free motion quilting (FMQ) and used a double layer of batting to help the cat and branches stand out a bit more.  We decided the FMQ looks like fog.  You can see here the fabric that we ended up choosing.  Although I may be going back for some of that orange and black harlequin...

 

And here's the finished piece!  We now are the proud owners of a wicked wall hanging.  :)

John and I went to Pioneer Park to get some photos:

 

Isn't the fence fabric fantastic?  When John saw it he said, "that's fencing material right there".  I discovered something veeerrrryyyyy interesting about this fabric when I was cutting it up:

 

It seems that the devil is in the details on this one!

 

 

This has been fun, please be sure to visit the other ladies I'm sharing my day with:

 

Thursday, October 23

VroomansQuilts

Lovelli Quilts

Pampered Pettit

TeaTimeCreations  

Whims and Fancies 

 

 

I hope you all have a safe and Happy Halloween!

~Brandy