Christmas Swap Blocks

I am headed to the post office today to mail my Christmas blocks off to my swap partners.  Before I package everything up, I thought I’d share two of my blocks along with the blocks I’ve received from Debbie Johnson in Norman, Oklahoma and Lisa Naranjo who lives right down the road from me in Dana Point, CA.  Thanks gals they look great.

I have several snowman blocks that I think will play nicely with these to make a fun Christmas quilt.  Maybe I’ll dig them out later today and at least get them up on the design wall. 

A special thanks to Beth at http://modernjax.blogspot.com/ for organizing this swap.  It’s been a lot of fun.

Letty’s Bag Pattern

I did it!  I finished my second Letty’s Bag.  The pattern is finished and has been sent to my trusty pattern tester, my sister Melinda.  Check out her Blog at http://melinful.blogspot.com .  She always has something interesting to show and talk about. 

I told you I make two bags, one as the prototype and the second to actually write the pattern.  Here’s a picture of both of them together.

The first one is going to Letty the first of the week, and the second one will be my sample.  It really is pretty easy to make and is something a little different for me.  I’ll post a message when the pattern is available for sale (after it is tested and proofed). 

Next on the agenda is to make a small bag to take on vacation.  I bought smaller grommets today to play with.  Maybe tomorrow , we’ll see. 

Enjoy,

Letty’s Bag

So I thought I’d share what I’m working on this weekend.  This is a bag I made last weekend at the QBS retreat.  It’s going to be a gift for a very nice lady named “Letty”.  She has been very kind to “Two Wacky Women”.  So I thought I’d make her a bag and use it as the model for a new pattern.

Making the bag at the retreat was the first step in developing and writing my new pattern.  As I made the bag, I took notes and measurements and wrote down what to do slightly different for the next bag and pattern. 

The next step is to make another bag.  This time I write the pattern as I go and take pictures of many of the steps.  I’m in the process of doing that now.  Everything is cut out, fused and ready to sew tomorrow.  I’ve written most of the pattern but I still need to add some more graphics and pictures before I am ready to turn it over to someone to test.  Hopefully I’ll be ready for that by Monday.

If everything goes as planned, I should be able to give Letty her new bag by the first of the week.  I sure hope she likes it.

Enjoy,

Teaching Kids to Quilt

For several years I taught young children to quilt.  The classes were a week long but just half days.  We did various projects but one of their favorites was an Eleanor Burns Quilt in a Day log cabin.  Eleanor has a lot of books that are wonderful but her good old log cabin book is still one of the best for a beginner, particularly children. 

The children did just about everything.  I encouraged the parents (particularly grandmas like me) to let the kids pick out their own fabric.  They sometimes put some unique fabrics and colors together but unless they pick the fabrics themselves, it’s never really entirely their quilt.  The only thing I didn’t let them do was to rotary cut.  I asked that they come with their fabrics precut into strips and if any rotary cutting was needed while at class, I did it.  Other than that they sewed, ironed and trimmed with scissors.  We did a quick turn and tied the quilts, just like Eleanor teaches in the book.  By the end of the week they would leave, wrapped up in a finished quilt (even though it would be 95 degrees outside, they didn’t seem to care). 

Both my granddaughters make their first quilt at a young age.  This is Emily’s that she made many years ago.  This morning when my daughter Shelli dropped Em off, she had her quilt with her to take with her while on vacation with a friend.  I thought you’d enjoy seeing a picture of Emily’s first quilt and check out that plaid flannel back.  You can tell this quilt is well loved.

Emily always refuses to pose for me so here’s a picture of her taken last weekend.  She’s the goal keeper so she’s the blond that’s dressed different than the others.

Cute picture girls.

Enjoy,

Gale’s Magical Slice and Dice

A few months ago I taught my Magical Slice and Dice quilt at a workshop for Orange Grove Quilters Guild.  I have received some wonderful feedback from many of the members.  A few weeks ago I received the following email from Gale a member of OGQG.

Hi Robin!

I attended your  'Magical Slice and Dice' workshop in June through Orange Grove Quilters Guild. Just wanted to share my finished project with you. I was thoroughly thrilled with the results! The class was one of the most enjoyable that I have attended. The pattern is fun and uncomplicated and the results are wonderful! This particular quilt was a gift to my brother and sister in law for their 25th anniversary and needless to say, they love it! Thanks again for your helpful instruction and creative pattern! This is one I will do again!

Gale

Here’s a couple of pictures that she included.

and

Check out the terrific scalloped borders she added. 

Thank you Gale for sharing you lovely quilt with me.  I look forward to seeing what you do next.

QBS Quilt Guild Retreat

It’s finally here, my quilt guilds annual retreat.  This year we are going to Vina de Lestonnac Convent in Temecula, CA.  I’m really looking forward to it.  I’ve got lots of project packed, we’ll see how many I manage to get completed.  I’ll let you know when I return.

The retreat center is surround by vineyards so maybe I’ll get a chance to do a little wine tasting as well.

Enjoy,

Emily’s Pillowcases

My granddaughter, Emily, is going on vacation next week with her girlfriend Sydney and Sydney’s parents.  They are going on a train/bus trip to the Grand Canyon and will be taking their pillows with them.  Monday afternoon I found Emily in my sewing room pulling fabrics to make pillowcases for each of them.  We had the floral fabrics but had to make a run to M&L to get the running fabric. 

As I mentioned in a previous post, Emily was my camera man, director and producer of my how-to video on how to make a pillowcase.  So it was fresh in her mind exactly how to make them.   So, yesterday afternoon she made these three pillowcases.

 

I tried to get Emily to pose for a picture with her creations but no way would she do it, soooo………….I’ll show you this picture of her.

Not only does she sew and quilt, she’s the Goal Keeper on her soccer club team and high school team, but she also is on the varsity cross country team for her high school.  This was taken last week at a pre-season race.  It wasn’t her best time but she finished 9th out of 80 plus runners.  Not bad for a sewer/quilter.

Have a great day,

Enjoy,

How to Make a Pillowcase

I have been making pillowcases for a long time.  It seems that everyone in my family has their very own, made especially for them.  In fact several of them have more than one, two or maybe even more. 

My sister Melinda and I have both been making pillowcases.  Sometime back my sister posted a detailed tutorial on her blog on how to make pillowcases.  Recently the issue of being able to see how they are made, along with the written instructions, seemed like it would be helpful.

So today my granddaughter, Emily and I made a You Tube video showing how I make pillowcases, finished inside and out.   I also have a very brief pattern available at my website. So here it is, my first You Tube instructional video.

Enjoy,

3-D Heart Quilt

Since I haven’t gotten much sewing done over the last few days, I thought I would show you a quilt that I made several years ago.  The pattern is by Jackie Robinson and can be found on the Animas Quilt Website.  She calls it Be Mine but I call mine simply 3-D Heart. 

I used a large variety of floral fabrics so that it looks very different than hers.  It hangs in my dining room and everyone that sees it for the first time stop, touches and plays with the 3-D pieces.  I had to be very careful when I quilted it so that I didn’t sew down any of the 3-D prairie points. 

Enjoy,

Socks, Socks and a Cute Basket

So as I sit here this morning perusing a bunch of Blogs that I follow, I came across Patchwork Times by Judy Laquidara.  Judy asked for fellow Bloggers to post a picture of socks they have made or are currently knitting.  Since I still haven’t managed to get into my sewing room and start the tote bag I need to make I decided I’d share my sock knitting with you.  

So here it goes.  Here’s the first pair I knitted.

These were made while taking a class to learn how to knit both socks at one time on one circular needle.  My friends know that I am knitting challenged.  I can knit but that’s about it, if I make a mistake I’m sunk and have to wait for one of my knitting friends to fix it for me.  Since I make a fair amount of mistakes you can see how this makes knitting a very slow process.

The best part of knitting small projects is that I get to use this great basket. 

I found it at the Orange County Market Place (the swap meet in Costa Mesa, CA).  I love this basket, I’ve tried to find another one but unfortunately, no luck. 

After I finally concurred my first pair of socks.  It was time to attempt a second pair.  So here they are still on the needles waiting to be finished.  (I refuse to admit how long they’ve been this way .

These are ankle socks that are suppose to be for my granddaughter Natalia. 

Maybe it’s time to go back and take another lesson so I can finish this pair and start another, LOL.

Enjoy,

Design Wall Monday – 8/3/09

It’s a new week and time to start on a couple of new projects. 

First is the fabric at the bottom of the picture.  I’m designing a new tote bag that will use grommets for the shoulder strap to go through.  I have it all planned out in my head, now I just have to make it and get it all down in a pattern.  The first bag is being made to try out my idea so it is going to be a prototype.  The working name is “Lettie’s Bag”.  Can you guess?  It’s being made for a very nice lady named Lettie. 

I also hope to start working on a Christmas quilt using blocks from a block exchange many years ago.  This is the block I made, now I have to find all the other blocks so that I can start playing with them.  They are all no doubt slightly different sizes so I will be adding sashing, nine patches and maybe a few Christmas trees to make it all come together.  I’ll keep you posted when and if I get around to working on this.

Have a great week!

Hugs,