A Trio of Minis

Finally after all these ages I actually have something to post. Well, that is a misrepresentation, because I've been making stuff, I just haven't actually gotten around to taking pictures and posting about them. Case in point- these minis have been done for at least a month and I only just took pictures of them.

Minis are fun- give you a chance to try out different techniques, work with scraps and they are done so quick! The first one is made from all the Harmonies fabric I had left over from the shower curtain I made a few years ago. It measures 22 inches square and is listed in the shop.

The second I made with the scraps from Kennedy's crib quilt that my mom made. They were all triangles and I enjoyed trying out a new technique- a chevron design from triangles. Although I have to admit that I don't love piecing triangles and probably wouldn't do it again. It measures 20 inches square and Kennedy has claimed it for her doll/stuffed animals.

Last but not least is this little selvage quilt. I really love creating blocks from selvages and these were so quick and easy. Each square of selvages was 4 1/2 inches. I also did something different with the quilting- straight horizontal and vertical lines grouped together. I love how it turned out. This one measures 22 x 26 inches and is listed in the shop.

I backed all of them with a sheet, it is Roxy brand and thick but still silky smooth. Oh, and one more new technique- I experimented with sewing the binding down by machine, at first it did not go very well, but by the third one I started to get the hang of it.
So, hooray for quick little finishes and trying new stuff!

Fandango

 I wasn't sure I would ever be able to write this post. This quilt was quite nearly my undoing. Everything went fine until 3/4 of the quilting was finished and I discovered the most horrendous puckers! And at that point it was either unpick all my quilting, splice, or discard. It threw me into a complete sewing funk. So I tossed it in a corner and ignored it for about six months. Then my mom stepped in and helped me figure out the issues, and voila a finished Fandango quilt.

 My favorite part of this quilt is the quilting through the patchwork. Actually I made this quilt specifically for the quilting. I love how quilting in the negative space makes the colored blocks pop.

And the back, which was fun!
Hooray for another one crossed off the list.

Covered Button Ring Tutorial

 I've made a few of these rings but hadn't thought of posting about them on the blog, until a friend suggested it. So I thought I'd put together a little tutorial of how I make them.

What you'll need-

ring blank with a flat pad (I got mine here)
cover button kit (I used 3/4" for the yellow, green & blue, 1" for the elephant; I get mine at JoAnn's)
scrap of fabric
hot glue gun & glue

 Start with one uncovered button and back.

 Remove the metal loop on the back. I do this by wiggling and moving it around until it slips out, you could also use needle nose pliers.

 Cut a circle of fabric the size indicated on the cover button box- if you have an image be sure to center it in the circle.

 Then create the button (if you haven't done this before, the box that the cover buttons come in has good instructions). As you do this be careful to keep your image centered- which is more difficult than you'd think- as you can see, my elephant isn't perfect, but I've had worse.

 Now grab your ring blank and heated hot glue gun. I squeeze enough glue into the back of the button to fill it, but not overflow. Then press the ring blank pad into the hot glue and hold until cooled.

 There, you have a darling custom make ring.

Now, go forth and make 1... or 4!

Obviously I'm not a hand model, but I wanted to include this picture for perspective on the size of the button.

For Next Year

I know that Easter has past, but I just had to share this cute garland I finished, based on this pattern. I had a great time using up little scraps/selvages and arranging them to create these darling spring time shapes. I used Osnaburg linen for the back ground.

 I'm pretty partial to this little bunny. Especially that little white dot of a tail and wee little bow. 

I also love the carrot, such a fun little shape and color combinations!

The egg was the simplest to make. I added a bit of trim to the bottom of each piece and some ribbon to hang them. Not sure I love the ribbon, it's a bit on the bright side, but oh well.

And finally a little chick. Stitching around the shapes and border went really quick and was fun, I think it helped that I didn't worry too much about the stitches being perfect.

So, Happy Easter (next year)!

Happy Easter {Basket}

Whipped up this darling Easter basket, from a paper grocery sack, with the help of this tutorial. I made mine bigger than the tutorial (8x8 bottom and 4 strips around the sides) to fit a few more eggs.

An action shot.

Mostly she just wanted to eat the candy.

Hope you all had a Happy Easter.

Ruffly Table Runner & Fabric Eggs

Remember when I won this awesome prize? Well I finally finished my table runner. Actually I had the table runner done that first weekend after I got my fabric, but I wanted to add some trim to finish it off, and then family came into town, things got busy and only just had the to finish it yesterday.
Close up on the trim. I love how it turned out and love how it looks on my dresser (I'm hoping it will help motivate me to keep my dresser clean- we'll see). If you want to make one here is the tutorial. I only did a couple things different- for the ruffles, instead of folding the fabric in half I hemmed the edge, my machine just couldn't handle the bulk of ruffling the fabric double layered. And I added the trim.

This tutorial for fabric eggs has been on my to-do list for ages, and I can't figure out why I waited so long to make them. They weren't hard and came together pretty quickly (except that I didn't have any fiber-fil, not having all my supplies seems to be a reoccurring theme for me).

I think they are cute, but I can't decide if they look like eggs. What do you think? If I make more I think it would be cool to make them monochromatic, but still scrappy, ie. 4 different green fabrics for one egg.

Paper Piecing #1

Here is my first attempt at paper piecing, and I'm moderately pleased with the outcome. I used this tutorial. Things that I have learned about paper piecing:
-Using scraps is great, just make sure that your scrap more than covers the shape.
-Before beginning ensure that you have enough of your background fabric.
-Regular printer paper works just fine.
-It's an addicting process!
Not perfect, but not bad for my first try. I can't wait to do more, I'm just not sure what I will do with the finished blocks. Maybe nothing. Oh and if I do another one with this pattern I think it would be really fun to do the triangles in white and the back ground piecing scrappy- sort of crazy quilt like.