It's that time of the year where quilters are beginning to plan and make temperature quilts. Although I am not making a temperature quilt this year, a fellow blogger,  Joanne @ Canuck Quilter posted her original design for a temperature quilt that caught my attention and she is offering the pattern for free! Check this out! 

Not only is this a clever design for a temperature quilt, it's also a great design for using up scraps! 

I made this baby quilt yesterday and that included figuring out the math, so it goes together quickly! 

I am going to make another one, but I am going to change the layout. I discovered by reversing every other row, it creates a circle effect and I want to try that!

Some other ideas I had: 

1 - Use left over jelly roll strips for the colored fabric 

2 - Rainbow quilts 

3 - Single colored quilts 

4 -Two colored quilts

5 - Super scrappy quilts 

6 - Create an ombre quilt 

It's fun finding a pattern that is so versatile, quick and easy! 

In my quilt, I used 2 ½" squares instead of 2" squares that the pattern called for and it finishes at 

38 ½" x 42 ½".  Here is the math if you want to make one like mine. Please refer to Canuck Quilter's Temperature Quilt pattern for instructions on how to assemble your quilt. 

Colored fabrics:

228 - 2 ½" squares 

OR 

114 - 2 ½" x 4 ½" rectangles (great way to use jelly roll strips)

Background fabric:

Cut 10 - 2 ½" strips and sub cut into

Fabric A)  42 - 2 ½" x 3 ½"

Fabric B) 72 - 2 ½" squares

Fabric C) 72 - 2 1/2" x 1 ½"

When you download Joanne's pattern, please take the time to thank her for her generosity! 

It's that time of the year where quilters are beginning to plan and make temperature quilts. Although I am not making a temperature quilt this year, a fellow blogger,  Joanne @ Canuck Quilter posted her original design for a temperature quilt that caught my attention and she is offering the pattern for free! Check this out! 

Not only is this a clever design for a temperature quilt, it's also a great design for using up scraps! 

I made this baby quilt yesterday and that included figuring out the math, so it goes together quickly! 

I am going to make another one, but I am going to change the layout. I discovered by reversing every other row, it creates a circle effect and I want to try that!

Some other ideas I had: 

1 - Use left over jelly roll strips for the colored fabric 

2 - Rainbow quilts 

3 - Single colored quilts 

4 -Two colored quilts

5 - Super scrappy quilts 

6 - Create an ombre quilt 

It's fun finding a pattern that is so versatile, quick and easy! 

In my quilt, I used 2 ½" squares instead of 2" squares that the pattern called for and it finishes at 

38 ½" x 42 ½".  Here is the math if you want to make one like mine. Please refer to Canuck Quilter's Temperature Quilt pattern for instructions on how to assemble your quilt. 

Colored fabrics:

228 - 2 ½" squares 

OR 

114 - 2 ½" x 4 ½" rectangles (great way to use jelly roll strips)

Background fabric:

Cut 10 - 2 ½" strips and sub cut into

Fabric A)  42 - 2 ½" x 3 ½"

Fabric B) 72 - 2 ½" squares

Fabric C) 72 - 2 1/2" x 1 ½"

When you download Joanne's pattern, please take the time to thank her for her generosity! 

When my box of goodies came in, I told myself I had to get some scraps of my own used before I cut into the new fabric. Out came all the 2" squares I already had cut up in my scrap bins. You can read about how I have my scraps precut to useable sizes HERE.  

I sewed them all together and tossed them into a bin. 

One by one, I sewed them together to create 4 patches. 

Next I added 3 ½" squares to the 4 patches. I took those sets and created a double 4 patch. These final squares measure 6 ½", so I could have added a 6 ½" square to them and eventually make a double-double 4 patch measuring at 12 ½". I love this kind of quilty math!! Maybe next time. 

I had enough to make one baby quilt at 42 ½" x 54 ½"...

and two more at 36 ½" x 42 ½"!

My 2" squares are mostly gone, but I still have a pile of 3 ½" left. I tried to make a dent, but like most quilters, I suspect, you can hardly tell I used any and yet, I have 3 baby quilts to show for it. They aren't fancy, but they are still cute! And I love this kind of mindless sewing. 

This one I made using left over princess fabric from a long time ago. Some little girl will be happy to have this quilt to call her own...

In my quilt closet, I have 5 baby quilts so far ready to be quilted and donated to Bridgehaven! 

My to-be-quilted pile is stacking up! 

Are you making any dents in your scraps? What are your favorite ways of using them up? 

When my box of goodies came in, I told myself I had to get some scraps of my own used before I cut into the new fabric. Out came all the 2" squares I already had cut up in my scrap bins. You can read about how I have my scraps precut to useable sizes HERE.  

I sewed them all together and tossed them into a bin. 

One by one, I sewed them together to create 4 patches. 

Next I added 3 ½" squares to the 4 patches. I took those sets and created a double 4 patch. These final squares measure 6 ½", so I could have added a 6 ½" square to them and eventually make a double-double 4 patch measuring at 12 ½". I love this kind of quilty math!! Maybe next time. 

I had enough to make one baby quilt at 42 ½" x 54 ½"...

and two more at 36 ½" x 42 ½"!

My 2" squares are mostly gone, but I still have a pile of 3 ½" left. I tried to make a dent, but like most quilters, I suspect, you can hardly tell I used any and yet, I have 3 baby quilts to show for it. They aren't fancy, but they are still cute! And I love this kind of mindless sewing. 

This one I made using left over princess fabric from a long time ago. Some little girl will be happy to have this quilt to call her own...

In my quilt closet, I have 5 baby quilts so far ready to be quilted and donated to Bridgehaven! 

My to-be-quilted pile is stacking up! 

Are you making any dents in your scraps? What are your favorite ways of using them up? 

After I finished the Free-Wheeling Single Girl quilt, I got on a roll and have been working like the energizer bunny getting things that have been sitting around done. 

The longest project waiting to get my attention was my Sew Together Bag that I made in 2014!! I never liked the binding that I used on it and the zipper was not a good one. I kept it hidden in a cupboard all these years and never used it because I didn't like it. You can read about my Sew Together Bag here if you want. 

This is the before...

And this is how it looks now! So much better, don't you think?! The binding and zipper that I have been dreading to redo these last 5 years, gave me no trouble at all! I am no longer ashamed of it! In fact, I want to make another one!!

I also made some journal covers for notebooks just for fun. This one is going to be used for keeping track of quilt ideas and notes on the quilts I am working on. The pattern I used is the Quilted Bible Cover tutorial by Amy Ellis.

My traveling journal got a new cover, too. 

Last spring, I basted 3 baby quilts and then they sat. Here are two of them. The third is waiting for binding. 

 The center block of this quilt was a test block variation I was trying out and it turned into an orphan block. I snowballed the corners and framed it out until it was big enough to use as a baby quilt. 

This baby quilt used the leftover half-square triangles that were cut off in the making of Love You More quilt that I made in the spring. 

After taking almost 3 months off from playing in my sewing room, I seriously wondered if I would ever enjoy my hobby again. I still have some projects I need to get to that I am not super excited about. I figure they can sit until I am. In the meantime, I am only going to work on things that bring happiness. 

Next time I will share the two big projects that I finished! 

After I finished the Free-Wheeling Single Girl quilt, I got on a roll and have been working like the energizer bunny getting things that have been sitting around done. 

The longest project waiting to get my attention was my Sew Together Bag that I made in 2014!! I never liked the binding that I used on it and the zipper was not a good one. I kept it hidden in a cupboard all these years and never used it because I didn't like it. You can read about my Sew Together Bag here if you want. 

This is the before...

And this is how it looks now! So much better, don't you think?! The binding and zipper that I have been dreading to redo these last 5 years, gave me no trouble at all! I am no longer ashamed of it! In fact, I want to make another one!!

I also made some journal covers for notebooks just for fun. This one is going to be used for keeping track of quilt ideas and notes on the quilts I am working on. The pattern I used is the Quilted Bible Cover tutorial by Amy Ellis.

My traveling journal got a new cover, too. 

Last spring, I basted 3 baby quilts and then they sat. Here are two of them. The third is waiting for binding. 

 The center block of this quilt was a test block variation I was trying out and it turned into an orphan block. I snowballed the corners and framed it out until it was big enough to use as a baby quilt. 

This baby quilt used the leftover half-square triangles that were cut off in the making of Love You More quilt that I made in the spring. 

After taking almost 3 months off from playing in my sewing room, I seriously wondered if I would ever enjoy my hobby again. I still have some projects I need to get to that I am not super excited about. I figure they can sit until I am. In the meantime, I am only going to work on things that bring happiness. 

Next time I will share the two big projects that I finished! 

Remember the closet full of tops that needed to be finished? Well, I took some time last week to get the batting and binding ready and I got many of them basted so they would be ready to be quilted when the mood struck. I underestimated how long it took to quilt the baby quilts and in just a couple of days, I had 5 of them all finished! The rainy weather contributed to the many hours I got to spend in my sewing room. We need a break!! 

They are nothing fancy nor are they quilted fancy, but they will keep babies warm. It feels good to get some stash off of the shelving and out of the bins made into something useful...

Until next time!! 

Remember the closet full of tops that needed to be finished? Well, I took some time last week to get the batting and binding ready and I got many of them basted so they would be ready to be quilted when the mood struck. I underestimated how long it took to quilt the baby quilts and in just a couple of days, I had 5 of them all finished! The rainy weather contributed to the many hours I got to spend in my sewing room. We need a break!! 

They are nothing fancy nor are they quilted fancy, but they will keep babies warm. It feels good to get some stash off of the shelving and out of the bins made into something useful...

Until next time!! 

There are times when I think I may say goodbye to this little blog of mine, but I can't seem to let it go. Not yet anyway! 

So, here is what is and isn't happening around here... 

This quilt is a shop sample that I really need to get quilted today!! I have been procrastinating. The pattern is Love You More by Kati Cupcake.  I tweaked the pattern a bit to eliminate unnecessary seams and I like it much better. 

The spare bedroom closet is beginning to overflow with UFOs!! Most have the backs already to go and only need to be basted. Most of them are baby quilts to be donated. When the weather warms up, I will have a power basting day outside and get them finished up.

My poor neglected Zuma project is languishing! I have 7 of the 30 blocks pieced. Everything is cut and ready to go, so I just need to get to it!! I lost steam with the passing of my father-in-law and the holidays.  

Coming up, I am going to host a Block of the Month using the new book by Carrie Nelson, Summer Moon. I am using my stash of fat quarters by Lella Boutique, Nest and Farmer's Daughter, that have been sitting for far too long and some Grunge to mix things up. I love the cleverness of this sampler quilt. I look forward to getting this done.

Okay, I have procrastinated enough. It's time to get the top quilted!! 

Have a sweet day!! 

There are times when I think I may say goodbye to this little blog of mine, but I can't seem to let it go. Not yet anyway! 

So, here is what is and isn't happening around here... 

This quilt is a shop sample that I really need to get quilted today!! I have been procrastinating. The pattern is Love You More by Kati Cupcake.  I tweaked the pattern a bit to eliminate unnecessary seams and I like it much better. 

The spare bedroom closet is beginning to overflow with UFOs!! Most have the backs already to go and only need to be basted. Most of them are baby quilts to be donated. When the weather warms up, I will have a power basting day outside and get them finished up.

My poor neglected Zuma project is languishing! I have 7 of the 30 blocks pieced. Everything is cut and ready to go, so I just need to get to it!! I lost steam with the passing of my father-in-law and the holidays.  

Coming up, I am going to host a Block of the Month using the new book by Carrie Nelson, Summer Moon. I am using my stash of fat quarters by Lella Boutique, Nest and Farmer's Daughter, that have been sitting for far too long and some Grunge to mix things up. I love the cleverness of this sampler quilt. I look forward to getting this done.

Okay, I have procrastinated enough. It's time to get the top quilted!! 

Have a sweet day!! 

For the last six weeks, I haven't been in my sewing room hardly at all! Mostly because the new eating plan my husband and I implemented has taken up most of my time to research and learn how to cook differently. We have had to find a whole new repertoire of meals that we can prepare. Now that it is becoming more familiar, and since I didn't go to work this last week due to the crazy cold, I had time to spend in my neglected sewing room to see if I could find my long lost mojo...

I pulled out my box of 2 1/2" squares. I keep them sorted by color to make it easier to play with them at a moments notice. 

In no time I had I a pile of 25 patch blocks ready to go!

I decided to get out my larger boxes of scraps cut 2" strips and make a frame around each block. That eliminating the thinking it would take when pressing the 25 patches to get the seams to nest with one another. 

Here I have it all laid out with the fabric I chose to frame each block with. 

All done!! This was quick and easy. I wish I could say it made a huge dent in my scraps, but it didn't, but a little is better than none! 

The math...For those who may be interested.

25 patch block: 

25 - 2 1/2" squares.

 Sew together make one block unfinished at 10 1/2"

Frame:

2 - 2" x 10 1/2" strips

2 -  2" x 13 1/2" strips 

Block will be 13 1/2" unfinished. 

It's always so rewarding to use up fabric scraps and end up with a cute quilt to gift to someone. It makes me want to pull out the larger precut squares of scraps I cut last year and make more scrappy simple patchwork quilts. 

Do you have a favorite go-to pattern to make use of your scraps? 

For the last six weeks, I haven't been in my sewing room hardly at all! Mostly because the new eating plan my husband and I implemented has taken up most of my time to research and learn how to cook differently. We have had to find a whole new repertoire of meals that we can prepare. Now that it is becoming more familiar, and since I didn't go to work this last week due to the crazy cold, I had time to spend in my neglected sewing room to see if I could find my long lost mojo...

I pulled out my box of 2 1/2" squares. I keep them sorted by color to make it easier to play with them at a moments notice. 

In no time I had I a pile of 25 patch blocks ready to go!

I decided to get out my larger boxes of scraps cut 2" strips and make a frame around each block. That eliminating the thinking it would take when pressing the 25 patches to get the seams to nest with one another. 

Here I have it all laid out with the fabric I chose to frame each block with. 

All done!! This was quick and easy. I wish I could say it made a huge dent in my scraps, but it didn't, but a little is better than none! 

The math...For those who may be interested.

25 patch block: 

25 - 2 1/2" squares.

 Sew together make one block unfinished at 10 1/2"

Frame:

2 - 2" x 10 1/2" strips

2 -  2" x 13 1/2" strips 

Block will be 13 1/2" unfinished. 

It's always so rewarding to use up fabric scraps and end up with a cute quilt to gift to someone. It makes me want to pull out the larger precut squares of scraps I cut last year and make more scrappy simple patchwork quilts. 

Do you have a favorite go-to pattern to make use of your scraps? 

I made an oversized (52"x52") Swoon baby quilt earlier this year for the class I taught. I finally got around to getting it quilted and it's now ready to be gifted to some sweet baby.  =) 

Have a happy day! 

I made an oversized (52"x52") Swoon baby quilt earlier this year for the class I taught. I finally got around to getting it quilted and it's now ready to be gifted to some sweet baby.  =) 

Have a happy day! 

A few weeks ago, I took advantage of a warm and non-windy day to power baste 5 quilt tops that had I had backings already made for them. This was one of them. It's called Big Baby by Gigi's Thimble. It's an extra large version of her Scrap Jar Star and can be found in her book "Vintage Vibe."  

I chose to densely quilt it with my walking foot using the serpentine stitch on my Bernina. On my machine, it is stitch number 4 and I stretched it out a little bit. I don't recall the exact number, but I think it was 2.75.

When I do quilting like this, I start with quilting on all the seams. In this quilt, I had 9 even rows. Then I divide each of the 9 rows in half and add another quilting line. Then I divided each of those rows in half and added another quilting line. Every time I did that, it multiplied how many more lines I had to quilt between. I almost quit when my quilting lines were roughly 1/2" apart, but I made myself take that extra time and I added that last line to get the quilting to be approximately 1/4" apart and it was worth it!! The texture is amazing!! 

Here it is bound and washed. The batting is Hobbs 80/20. Not my favorite batting because it is pretty thin, but it was what I had on hand. It still shows up the texture nicely. 

And the beauty shots...

Have a happy Wednesday!!

A few weeks ago, I took advantage of a warm and non-windy day to power baste 5 quilt tops that had I had backings already made for them. This was one of them. It's called Big Baby by Gigi's Thimble. It's an extra large version of her Scrap Jar Star and can be found in her book "Vintage Vibe."  

I chose to densely quilt it with my walking foot using the serpentine stitch on my Bernina. On my machine, it is stitch number 4 and I stretched it out a little bit. I don't recall the exact number, but I think it was 2.75.

When I do quilting like this, I start with quilting on all the seams. In this quilt, I had 9 even rows. Then I divide each of the 9 rows in half and add another quilting line. Then I divided each of those rows in half and added another quilting line. Every time I did that, it multiplied how many more lines I had to quilt between. I almost quit when my quilting lines were roughly 1/2" apart, but I made myself take that extra time and I added that last line to get the quilting to be approximately 1/4" apart and it was worth it!! The texture is amazing!! 

Here it is bound and washed. The batting is Hobbs 80/20. Not my favorite batting because it is pretty thin, but it was what I had on hand. It still shows up the texture nicely. 

And the beauty shots...

Have a happy Wednesday!!