Mini Quilts from 2013

I'm finally getting a chance to get caught up posting some of the small things I finished last year.  My definition of finished is being bound and ready to go ... not just quilted. I actually got several other quilts "done" last year ... as a matter of fact, my rack that holds them is full so this year may look like I've been extra productive as I get them bound.

Anyway these are mostly all wall hangings from Tara Lynn Darr's book Simply Charming. I love these little miniature quilts in her book.  I've still got a few more to make.  I love, love, love the little pieces. 

First up is "Juliana's Jewels":

Next is "Worn Old Clothes":

Then "Columbia's Vintage Charm":

Next "South for the Winter":

And ... "Hopscotch":

 The last little quilt was from the Temecula Quilt Shop. It's called "Blessing Baskets":

I'm excited to see what all I can get done this year.  I've decide not to make a list of goals for this year.  Last year I only completed one on my list of twelve.  This year I'm just going to keep going and see how many I can complete.  If I finish 12 or so that would be awesome ... and if not then there's always next year of course!

Weekend Wrap Up

I spent most of this weekend getting ready for my surgical vacation tomorrow.  I got the house clean-ish and the laundry done.  I moved my sewing room to the kitchen since I won't be able to do stairs for a while.  I'll be sewing on my Featherweight.  I figure there will be lots of sewing and napping for a few days anyway.  Maybe I can get caught up on a couple of my BOMs!

I did get in a bit of hand sewing in.  I got my first Lucy Boston block done:

I'm using paper pieces ... as you can probably tell from all the threads!  I plan on making them out of scraps from other projects.  I'll need to decide on a background and highlight fabric though.  I think I'll wait until I get a few made to select something.

We made an impromptu trip to take my Mom to lunch for Mother's Day yesterday.  I managed to get the binding sewn on one of my little quilts on the trip there and back.

Here's Nala modeling:

 And here's the un-modeled quilt:

This is from Tara Lynn Darr's Book "Simply Charming" and the quilt is called Hopscotch. I need to buy some quilt hangers.  I wonder why they are so expensive though every time I buy them.  I think I need to assign my husband a task of duplicating those little buggers!

Weekend Wrap Up

There's not much to wrap up this weekend.  I haven't been feeling the best.  I started out with an ear infection at the beginning of last week and the antibiotic is about to kill me. I'm trying to decide if I've been on it long enough to call it quits.  Plus I'm having some other health related issues ... I have a gastric band and I'm having problems with it.  It's not looking good and I've got some big decisions to make.  So that has been weighing on my mind too.

I did finish the binding on the baby quilt I needed to get done and will try to pick up a card and get it in the mail this week.

Here's Nala modeling it for me ... shhhhh .... don't tell!  I'll run it through the dryer and no one will be the wiser.  Unless of course the recipients happen to read my blog!

This is the first quilt I've ever labeled.  I need to start getting in the habit of it but I find I don't usually think about it until I'm hand stitching the binding.  

I did manage to drag myself up to my sewing room this afternoon to put the binding on several quilts:

That should keep me busy for awhile.  There are 7 wall hangings and one lap quilt in that pile.  I'm working on the lap quilt now.  Hopefully I can get out of this antibiotic induced funk by next weekend so I can do some sewing.

No More Scorched Mats

My Nellie's Nine Patch from the Simply Charming book finally got quilted and bound.  And now it's happily hanging in my cubicle at work.  It makes me happy.  

Nellie's Nine Patch

Nellie's Nine Patch

 I need to bring some more in .... maybe they'll make me forget I'm at work all together.  LOL

Remember all the dreadful pictures of my ironing pad?  It got like that from taking classes.  The shop where I take most of my quilting classes has Oliso irons.  So after sewing there all day, I would come home and leave my Rowenta laying down like the Oliso.  It didn't work so well.  I actually ended up scorching a block for my Vintage Rouge quilt because I left it down thinking it would pop up and then got distracted.  Anyway, I found the perfect solution earlier this week ....  Ironing pad covers from the Quilt in a Day store!  They were on sale with free shipping so I ordered a couple (for when I scorch it again).  They fit like a glove!  I really like them and much cheaper than buying a new pad and a tighter fit than just wrapping some fresh muslin around it.

Quilt in a Day Ironing Mat Cover

 I started Easy Street Part 5.  I cut everything Friday morning before I did my usual errands.

 And then when I got back I started sewing on them.  

I haven't quite finished them yet.  I didn't get to sew today.  There were too many other things that needed to be done.  Hopefully I will have time tomorrow.  I can barely wait for next week's clue!

Simply Charming Small Quilts

Finished small quilts from Simply Charming:

Worn Old Clothes

South for the Winter

Hopscotch

Seems like a lot of progress, but I'm actually about 4 or 5 months behind on these!  I love these little quilts and they are so much fun to make.  I've used Thangles and Star Singles.  The Star Singles are super quick, but the Thangles enable you to get more variety.  It's a trade off.  I can see where each has it's place depending on what your desired outcome is.  If you need a lot of the same half squares - use the Star Singles.  If you want scrappy - I'd go with Thangles.

Star Singles

Finished Tops

I've finished a couple full size quilts here lately and have been remiss about keeping up here.  I think I'm making progress though this week getting caught up with posts about my projects.  First I finished the Spiced Apple Quilt and it is off being quilted at Quilts by Phyllis.

Spiced Apples

This was a really fun quilt to make and I think it turned out fairly well.  I loved the reds in this quilt!

The next one I finished was the Carpenter's Star quilt that I started in class.  This was a super easy quilt to make and it turned out really nice. It's also at Phyllis' being quilted. 

Carpenter's Star

And last but not least one of my Simply Charming Quilts.  This one is Julianna's Jewels.  And guess what?  It's off being quilted as well.  I'm thinking that's going to be one heck of quilting bill when I go to pick it up because if my memory serves me right, there's one more little quilt there too: my Blessing Baskets small quilt. I failed to take a picture of it, so we'll have to wait for it to come back from the quilter.

Julianna's Jewels

Simply Charming Small Quilts

I've been trying to get caught up on my Simply Charming small quilt of the month.  Last weekend I finished one called Columbia's Vintage Charm:

Columbia's Vintage Charm

I love making these little quilts, but I have to say the little pieces prove to be a challenge sometimes.  The seams get thick and become hard to manage and just plain bulky.  So this morning I was starting on one called Worn Old Clothes and I read a tip by the author Tara Lynn Darr.  She suggested ironing the seams open when using these little pieces in order to reduce the bulk.  I was a little reluctant, because I like the way you can lock seams together to match up rows if they are pressed in opposite directions, but I gave it a shot.  

Here's the results so far:

Back of Worn Old Clothes - Seams Open

It works!!  And it wasn't all that bad matching things up.  I just used a few more pins than usual. And I think it looks so much neater than the other way:

Back of Columbia's Vintage Charm - Seams to the Side

 

 

So I've acquired a new technique today for piecing these little quilts.  I'm excited to try it on some more.  I've got 4 more rows to sew on Worn Old Clothes, but here's a little sneak peak of what I've got so far:

Worn Old Clothes in Progress

Sunday, Busy Sunday

I joined the Simply Charming Small Quilts Club from Homestead Hearth. It's a series of 12 small quilts from this book:

I got the book at the 2011 Quilt Festival in Summersville, WV.  I actually bought the book from the author, Tara Lynn Darr.  I didn't know that at the time or I would have gotten my quilt geek on and had her autograph it.  Today I put together my first quilt from the book called Nellie's Nine Patch.

After I finished that I put together that Shamrock block from yesterday. The binding is just pinned down in the picture, but I think it turned out pretty good.

After that .... yeah .... I was on a roll ... I put together three more blocks for my Farmer's Wife quilt:

These are (left to right):  Block #70 Prairie Queen, Block #72 Railroad and Block #84 Spool.  Now there are only 106 more to go!

Lastly, I sewed the Spiced Apple blocks together and cut the borders. Hopefully tomorrow I'll get them sewed on so I can take it to the quilter this coming weekend.

Whew!  It was a busy day!