scrap quilt progress

Tonight I put a lavender border on my scrap quilt. It's scrappy but most of the pieces are close to the same color and value. I started out putting some darker pieces in it but it didn't look right. Tomorrow I'll piece the back and hopefully get it basted too. I have no idea what I'll bind it with, I might need to buy fabric for that.

Watercolor quilt pattern information

Someone asked about the pattern for the watercolor quilt in my banner up there; I should have posted about it a while ago. The pattern was in the May 1999 issue of Quilter's Newsletter Magazine--it is called Colourwash Checkerboard and was designed by Deirdre Amsden. If you go here it looks like they have back issues for sale. Have fun!

this week's sewing

I made some fun things this past week. Last week after finishing my scrap quilt top, I sewed up a sweatshirt for myself. I took a lovely self-portrait but the bathroom mirror was dirty so I'm not sharing it, sorry. It's a nice lightweight sweatshirt knit I got from fabric.com and I really like it. I was happy to make something that was finished so fast after working on that quilt top for so long.

Then I made this baby outfit that I had cut out and waiting:



I was trying to make the top into a dress but it's not a dress, just a cute long shirt. I like it anyway. The patterns are from Ottobre Design, 4/2004 for the pants, and 5/2006 for the top (but I changed it).

The Kansas City Star had the first Block of the Month pattern for 2009 in last Sunday's paper. I decided to sew it up in a non-traditional colorway.



If someone knows the trick for doing those tiny 9-patches without them ending up smaller than the other block components, let me know. All those seam allowances made it so the block didn't go together as well as I would have liked. It was fun to make.

I also made my donation block for Project Improv. This was a lot of fun to make; I think it came out looking pretty good and I have some more ideas for whenever I do this kind of block again.


These two blocks were both 12.5", way bigger than what I usually do.

Finally, here's a tiny glimpse of a secret project I'm working on. I need to get to the quilt shop to buy some more colors I need for this project.


Next up--I am making another pink fleece hat for my baby. She outgrew her old one. Other things on my list:
*more churn dash blocks
*maybe add a scrappy purple border to my scrap quilt, then baste and quilt it
*vintage baby dress--I got this pattern at JA when Simplicity patterns were 99 cents last week but missed out on some other patterns. Next time I need to go closer to the beginning of the sale instead of the end.
*finish knitting baby hat (I'm making the Marley hat shown here)
*Valentine's redwork stitchery--isn't that cute?
*work some more on the secret project

I looked through the patterns on the Simplicity site and found a few things I want to make for myself--I'm getting ready for the next pattern sale, whenever it is, and spring. I like the short sleeved button-up view of this top, and am hopeful that it will work out ok for me based on the reviews at patternreview.com. And they have a bunch of cute skirt patterns, too.

Oh yeah, I also wanted to share a couple of free block of the month projects I found recently. Here's a fun Noah's Ark project, and I really like the looks of this project, too. Who knows if I will get around to making them but I'll keep them in the back of my mind for now.

scrap top finished

I decided I needed to finish this quilt top before going to pick up the kids from school. It has lots of mistakes and problem areas and I learned a lot making it. Mostly I learned that I won't do it that way again! I'm going to get batting this weekend and will finish this up soon.

I also saw this on Shelly's Quilts and realized I don't think I ever posted a picture of my quilt like that. So here it is:


I think I made this in 2001 or 2002. It has fluffy poly batting and minimal quilting. The batting beards somewhat and the binding is undone in a few places. But we all love that quilt for snuggling.

scrap quilt

I've been working on a few different things.... I have a cute baby outfit and a sweatshirt for me cut out, and I have 16 diapers in process but I put them aside for a while because I need to wait to buy the snaps. And. I decided to make a quilt out of scraps after I saw this link at Sew, Mama, Sew. I didn't follow the tutorial exactly but I'm happy with what I've got done so far.


big scrap blocks


sashing audition--I decided to go with the linen


puzzle pieces--just needs sashing now

I'm going to keep working on this today because it's fun. Some of the fabrics are from when I was a kid and when I finish up the top I'll put the picture on flickr and label some of the memory fabrics.

Oh--also! Jacquie at Tallgrass Prairie started a Project Improv group and at first I wanted to sign up but I didn't really think it was my thing. (My first attempt at wonky log cabin blocks was... sad. And I like neat, straight blocks, too. I even like some traditional quilt blocks.) But the other day while I was working on this scrap quilt I decided that if this isn't improvisational quilting, then nothing is. So I'm going to join in and work on my own style of improvisation this year, along with all my other projects.