End of 2014 - Start of 2015

So, a new year has arrived.  A clean slate.  A new beginning.  It was a very busy end of year however.  I started some new things and finished some things.  I think I built up some momentum for the next few months.  Here is what I was working on since the my last post.  My time was mostly occupied by helping the Hubs recover from cataract surgery, traveling to the Outer Banks for 2 weeks in October, my birthday, our anniversary, Thanksgiving and Christmas!  I'm lucky I found time to think about quilting, let alone get any done.  But, I did accomplish a few things. 

I saw a quilted box on one of my quilting groups on Facebook and fell in love with it.  It is a simple project made with 2 squares of fabrics of various sizes.  I chose 10" squares.  Great for using up some scraps.  I found a wonderful tutorial on seaside-stitches.blogspot.com.  The size of the box changes with the size of the squares you use and how deep you make the corners.  I had such fun buying buttons too! 

As I was going through my stash of holiday fabrics to use to make more boxes, I came across a holiday table runner kit that I remember purchasing at a NJ Shop Hop location.  It came with the fabrics for the top, backing and binding.  It took less than an hour to sew and about 2 hours to bind.  I was so glad I finally got this one done!  I wonder how many other simple-to-do kits I have hidden away!  Will know soon, but more on that later. 

This was a wonderful surprise from a quilty friend who is travelling the country in a spectacular RV and quilts on the road.  I love this and found a template to make it on the Missouri Star Quilt Company website.  It is the wacky web (periwinkle) template.  This uses the 5" template and is perfect for charm squares.  I loved this so much I made some for gifts.  I used fat quarters for these, but have plenty of charm squares that I can use to make lots more.  They were quick, easy and lots of fun!  They make great mug rugs, candle mats or table toppers.

This was the last quilt I made in 2014.  It was made for a dear friend's grandson who was born in September.  His dad is a big Yankee fan as you can tell.  I designed the quilt around the center logo square and machine quilted it with stitch-in-the-ditch and echo stitching.  The piecing was done in 2014 and the quilting and binding were completed by January 2nd. 

Now for the new stuff! 

I started a block of the month project, an event created by Pat Sloan on her Facebook group, Quilt Along with Pat Sloan.  The list of supplies was provided in late December and the first block pattern was given out on January 1.  A new block pattern will be provided each month through September.  I am using the fabrics shown here. They are from my stash.  

I finished my first block today!

 

 

The new year is off to a good start! 

2015 Pat Sloan BOM

I started a block of the month project, an event created by Pat Sloan on her Facebook group, Quilt Along with Pat Sloan.  The list of supplies was provided in late December and the first block pattern was given out on January 1.  A new block pattern will be provided each month through September.  I am using the fabrics shown here. They are from my stash.  

I finished my first block today!

 

Sweet Dreams

Now that we have two homes, we have a few more beds as well as a pull out sofa that need sheets, pillowcases and quilts.  I have a list of quilts I want to make when I have a block of time and I have purchased and/or shared sheet sets for all of the sleeping accommodations.  But we, and many of our guests, like to use more than one pillow.  Of course, standard sets come with one pillowcase for twin beds and two pillowcases for other size beds.  So, I have been totally absorbed in making pillowcases for here and there! 

I have been sorting through my fabric stash lately and have come upon a few pieces that are at least 3/4 of a yard.  Most of them had not been assigned to a project yet so I thought they would make cute pillowcases and reduce my fabric stash.  I needed 1/4 yard of coordinating fabric for the border and about an hour of time for each one. 

I have a few instruction sheets that have come in pillowcase kits or found online.  I have also found patterns that include  small accent stripe which becomes a flange just below the border.  My favorite pattern produces a pillowcase with all seams enclosed in French seams.  I like this one although it takes a few more minutes to do.  This gives a very finished appearance to the inside of the pillowcase.  Well worth the extra time. 

Here are some pillowcases I have made either for gifts or for utilitarian use.  I have several more planned.  Since they take about an hour to make, it gives me my quilting fix on what could be a busy day otherwise.  I like those kinds of projects every once in a while. 

This one was made for my husband for our cabin bedroom.  As you can see, there is a theme to the fabric which may, or may not, have anything to do with his "indoor" hobby!  I'll never tell!

This one was also made for my husband and is representative of his favorite "outdoor" hobby!

This one was made for my grandson and has all his favorite Super Heroes!  He loves to use this at our cabin.

My stepdaughter loves to trout fish and I had the perfect fabric to make her a pillowcase.  She often rents a cabin in the forests of north Jersey and I thought this was great for her to use while camping.  She loved it!

This one was a hoot to make!  It was a gift for my daughter for her birthday and is totally her!  She is still my granola girl! 

Well, better late than never!

I switched to a different computer and it appears that I can now upload pictures again!  Thank goodness I save legacy software.  So, without further adieu (I have always wanted to say that!), here are the other projects I have recently completed. 

This quilt is a companion to the one shown in the last post.  This is for the little sister and is called "Flutterbys" and was  also beautifully quilted by Karen Thompson. 

I used "back art" as part of the backing.  This is quilt-speak for "I misread the fabric requirements for the pattern so I had to improvise".  I think it worked out well. 


The other fun quilty project I worked on was a Mug Rug Swap with my quilting friends online.  Someone in the group commented that is was way too quiet on the group and suggested we start a swap of some kind.  Ended up being mug rugs.  I had never made one of these before and I was amazed at what I learned about them on line.  Each person in the swap was paired with another person.  A deadline was chosen and off we went.  There were no other specifications.  Just make a mug rug.  This is the one I received from my buddy.  It is very sweet and in my favorite colors. 


I made a mug rug for my buddy but it needed to be sent to Sweden.  It was mailed on February 3 which gave it plenty of time to arrive on time.  I knew it would take a bit more postage and time to get through customs.  No biggie, right?  WRONG!!!  I waited patiently for my buddy to let me know it had arrived, but nothing for a week, two weeks, three weeks, a month!  Others were arriving daily to their buddies and being posted for all to ogle.  I felt so bad that mine was nowhere to be found so I made a second one and mailed it off.  Fingers crossed!  Here is the second one I mailed.  Her favorite colors are black and purple.  This one, thankfully, arrived in only 7 days.  Figures, since I paid for the international tracking!   I guess that's the secret!


But that's not the end of the tale!  Another month goes by and I receive a message from my swap buddy.  Guess what arrived in her mailbox that morning!  Yep, the first mug rug I sent!  I was so happy!  We can only surmise that it got stuck in customs some where!  Here is the nomadic mug rug:

Of course, by now I had gotten hooked on making these.  There are quick, use up some of my smaller stash pieces and come in very handy for all the beverages and snacks that are enjoyed either in NJ or our PA cabin.  Here is one I made for me to use when I have my afternoon tea in our cabin. 

Now I have a new project to use up some of my stash: pillowcases! 

Less than a yard of fabric, less than an afternoon of time!