Halloween quilt top

I pieced the squares together and added boarders to finish the quilt top.


There are a few first in this quilt. It was my first time paper piecing. The jack-o-lantern's nose/cheeks are paper pieced. I liked how clean and crisp the corners were but I didn't like how much fabric was wasted. It will also be the first time that I try a scalloped boarder, but that will come after the basting and quilting. I was excited to get started with that part(not really, as it's my least favorite part), but when I went to get the backing fabric I realized I had left it at home (I'm at the beach for a few weeks). Robbie is coming tomorrow night and will bring it, but in the meantime I've been working on some other projects which I'll post about soon!

More Halloween Blocks

I worked all week on my Halloween blocks. The ghosts were definitely the easiest; thank goodness I did them first. Then I did this cute jack-o-lantern.

He wasn't too hard, but there were lots of little pieces. Or so I thought. Next came the bat. Ohhh, the bat.

He's only 6.5 inches square instead of 12.5 like Jack.Some of those little pieces were 1.25 inch squares! Needless to say, the block is a little wonky (and sorry for the string that was somehow invisible when I took the picture but is now very obvious), but I think I can make it work once I piece the whole top. Then came this interesting block. Can you tell what it is?

It's the top of a witch head (mostly her hat). She will get applique eyes and a nose that hangs down onto the block below her.

And finally came these two star blocks.

See how they are opposites of each other? I really liked learning the technique for these blocks. Just take two squares of fabric and lay them on top of each other. Then make a cut through both blocks (where you see an orange strip) and sew one of each type of fabric to either side of an orange strip. Now you have two blocks that each contain both fabrics. Stack them on top of each other again, making sure to line up the orange strips as best as you can, and make another cut. Sew one part of the top block to the other part of the bottom block (with an orange strip in between). Keep doing this until you have made all five cuts and re-attached the blocks with the orange strips. If you took care to always sew one part of the top block to the other part of the bottom block and vice versa, you will end up with two blocks like those in the picture above. Easy peasy! (Next time I'll take pictures as I work so that the directions are more clear)

Ghosts

I have started on a Halloween Sampler quilt. I'm usually not into these holiday themed fabrics (except for the Christmas ones, which I love) but I wanted to make something that my students would like to have around the classroom. I have made the six ghost blocks so far. Two each in three black on white fabrics.

I appliqued the eyes and nose.

I still have to cut and piece a bat block, a pumpkin block, a witch block, and two star blocks. I have also started starching my fabric for more precise cutting and piecing. I'm not sure how much of a difference it's making, but I do like the feeling of the stiff fabric.

Riley Blake Givaway

Have you seen the quilt contest on the Riley Blake Blog? They're hosting a contest for quilts made with Riley Blake fabrics, and there are some great prizes!

Fabric Flower Necklace X 2

I recently made fabric flower necklaces using two different techniques. The first one I made was a chain of puffy flowers.


The tutorial can be found here. It's pretty easy-to make a flower just cut out a bunch of fabric circles, scrunch them up, and glue them onto a circle of felt. I love, Love, LOVE this necklace. the colors turned out really well, I think.

I found a tutorial for this second necklace here, on my friend Laura's blog.

This one was even easier than the first one. Just take a strip of fabric, twist, roll, and glue. I love both of these necklaces. The first one is great if you want to get dressed up in a little strapless dress, and the second one looks best with a casual tank top.

Other Baby Things

Around the time I was piecing the baby quilt I realized that I could use my sewing machine for many things besides quilting. I started by appliqueing some onesies. How hard could it be? Hard. HARD. The onesie fabric stretches and it’s nearly impossible to stitch around the applique using the machine and not stitch some other part of the onesie in. In the end, they turned out pretty cute.

I did enjoy adding the ruffles to the backs, as they are for a little girl.
I also had a great time stitching up these cute bibs that I found in the Summer 2011 issue of Quilts and More. The creator was challenged to make something using a pack of charm squares and a fat quarter. I had a pack of charm squares left over from when I made my first quilt. The company sent me the wrong kit and didn’t make me send it back. Notice that these bibs are in the same fabric as Quilt #1.


Originally I used Velcro, but after consulting some new Mommies I found that children can easily pull the Velcro bibs off of themselves. So I made a trip to Jo-Anns to purchase this nifty snap-attacher.
They are really called Grommet Pliers but I like snap-attacher so much better. I think they look much more professional with the snaps than they did with the Velcro, and let’s be honest- I was pumped to have the excuse to buy another gadget.
I was enjoying using my sewing machine for something other than quilting, so I also tried my hand at these baby shoes.

They are called Kimono shoes, I guess because the fabric wraps all the way around. I don’t know if the will stay on a baby’s foot or not. I’ll report back in October, when she’s old enough to try them out.
I didn’t have much time for sewing after pumping out all of those baby shower items, but I did manage to make a few more bibs (in Lilly & Will and Lilly & Will II and some left over Verna by Kate Spain) for two soon-to-arrive babies of Robbie’s friends.

A Baby Quilt

Around the time I was finishing up Robbie’s Quilt, a friend of mine from work told me she was pregnant. Yes!! I had been waiting for the opportunity to make a baby quilt and I poured over my quilting magazines looking for the perfect pattern. It didn’t take long to find it. In an old issue of Quiltmaker I found a pattern in cream, green, and brown flannels that was made up of only two alternating blocks: a nine-patch and an appliqued fleece sheep. At the time she didn’t know if she would be having a girl or a boy, and this pattern would be great for either one. Plus, I knew she would like the colors. I set about cutting and sewing and immediately regretted my decision to use flannel instead of cotton. Flannel stretches and distorts. No matter how carefully I cut and sewed, I just couldn’t get the seams to line up. I started to get frustrated, but soon reminded myself that this is only the 5th quilt I’ve ever made and before I started quilting I had never even used a sewing machine before.

The applique part was easier, and I even used one of my decorative stitches to create the sheep’s’ eyes.
In the end it went together well, and I’m sure I’m the only one who notices those seams that are just a little “off”.

I stitched in the ditch between the blocks and stitched an X over the nine-patch blocks. I also quilted sheep around the boarder. I added a cute label to the back (something I know I should do every time) and finished just in time for the baby shower!