Wednesday, May 28, 2014

What I've been sewing lately



Vera Bradley steering wheel covers for Lynn's Etsy page.
These are selling well......but that means that I have to sew them!




Venetian Paisley


Clementine


Heather


Variety of 5 different patterns.


Sammie requested Clementine and Ribbons.


Jazzy Blooms


Midnight Blues



Flower Shower


Petal Paisley

Plus a second variety set with 5 different prints. Plus others I didn't photograph...
The good news is that the steering wheel covers are selling very well. The bad news is that I have no time to do sewing on the various quilt projects I'm in the midst of.

Saturday, May 24, 2014

FUN STUFF: quilted boxes, crochet rugs, sew together bag

Quilted boxes


This tutorial is by Tina Craig.
Cut (2); 10" square of fabric and 10" square batting. Stack: batting then fabric with RST. Sew around edge leaving 4" opening to turn right side out. Press. Topstitch along edge (which will sew the opening closed) and quilt the rest of the block. See tutorial for sewing the side seams.

Crocheted Rag Rug Tutorial



This is my 2nd ball of "yarn".

This is how much 2 balls of yarn makes--but I chained 58 instead of 40.

By the blog Crazy Mom Quilts. Crochet hook P and 3/4" strips of fabric sewn end to end to make "yarn". Chain 40 plus one to turn. Single crochet in each chain then add one chain to turn, repeat. Her rug is 23" x 31".

Quilt Barn Tutorial for the Sew Together Bag




The Quilt Barn blog has a tutorial with good photos on how to assemble this bag. The pattern is by Sew Demented called the Sew Together Bag.


This is my inside.


This is the outside. 
This is called ticker tape--by Sew Mama Sew but I saw it on the Crazy Mom Quilts blog..


Done!



Thursday, May 15, 2014

Block 42, 43--Random Ohio Stars, Road to Camp Gravatt

It's been a while since I've posted my block progress but I have been sewing. Here are the blocks most recently completed. It is so fun to only have to pick fabrics for one block at a time. The color palate can change to fit my mood.



Ohio stars are always fun to make because of the cheater way to make the triangles.
The big star is 12" finished. 
The cheat way: cut 2 light and 2 dark squares 1 1/2" bigger than finished size desired, stack light and dark RST , draw a line diagonally from corner to corner and sew 1/4" from each side of line. Cut apart between sewing. Press open. Reposition these half square triangle units RST with light on dark and draw line from corner to corner. Repeat sewing. Cut. Now you've got 4 quarter square triangle blocks! Trim to exact size needed. 


This small star is 6" finished. 



This quilt has Puss In the Corner blocks that are set with wonky sashing that produces stars in the posts. I made 4 blocks with sashing in between to get one star in the center.


Wednesday, May 7, 2014

Quilter's Steering Wheel Cover


This steering wheel cover has 5 different Vera Bradley fabrics. 
My daughter, Lynn, sells these covers on her Etsy page Holman's Creations.
She also sells the covers made from just one Vera Bradley fabric--you pick.

So yesterday someone ordered a cover in "Heather" (which I was out of) and the lady asked please can I have it before mothers day because its a gift for my mom. Lynn asked me if I could do it... Well, yes but... So I drove 17.5 miles to the closest Vera Bradley store. No luck with "Heather" but I picked up several other fabrics. The adorable woman who works at the store checked with the next closest store to see if they had "Heather". Yes! 2 left. Put them on hold--I'll be right there. Another 9 miles farther away from home but I scored both "Heather" napkins. So I then rushed back home and sewed the steering wheel cover and mailed it to the lucky lady. I hope her mother enjoys it.
Happy Mother's Day to all the moms out there!!!
It's because we all love our moms that I was willing to drive 52 miles to make mom happy.

After the frantic rush, I got to the fun of playing with fabric MY way. Who can pick just ONE fabric anyway? So I cut 5 napkins into 6 pieces each, sewed them in rows with 5 fabrics to a row.

Each row will become a steering wheel cover. I've got the first one on my steering wheel right now.
The next 5 are nearly finished and are for sale HERE.

Tomorrow I may get back to sewing quilt blocks.....


Sunday, May 4, 2014

Blocks 40, 41--Playing With Jacks, Princess Crown and Tulip Fields

Today I was inspired by Bonnie Hunter's blog entry about her class on Tulip Fields.  There is a pattern for this block in her book String Fling. I don't have the book so I had to wing it. It finishes at 7". Cute block!!!!


Tulip Fields starts with foundation string piecing a 4" square. Make 2 for each block. 
Cut in half diagonally the direction the strips are going.
The corners are cut 2" square.
The red/white wings were tricky. I suggest using her book....


This block finishes at 6". It was simple to piece.


This cute block finishes at 6" also. 
It has a 3" center, 1.5" corners and flying geese units to complete the block.

Blocks 37-39 Pinwheels & Patches, Pineapple Blossom, Pioneer Braid Border





The red and white pinwheel is actually the corner blocks for the Out On A String block that I had lots of trouble with. These were too small for my block so I had to make larger ones. But they are the exact size required  for this pattern. For the patches part I continued the theme of red/white.



This block finishes at 9". The little pinwheel is a bonus for sewing across the diagonal twice and trimming the corner off. This block begins with 8 rectangles and 5 squares. 
No odd shapes or triangles to cut. 




These strips are cut 2.5" wide so this border could be made using pre-cut strip sets.
It finishes at 6" wide. I made this piece 6 x 12 as a sample.