Happy Halloween

Last year I purchased some Halloween fabric and never got the chance to use it. So this year I put it to good use. Since I'm not sure I would get a lot of enjoyment out of a Halloween quilt, since it can only be used for about a week, I decided to make a bag/purse!
I absolutely LOVE the way it turned out! I love it so much, I gave it away. What can I say, it's my nature. I get more satisfaction out of something, by gifting it to someone else than keeping it! I don't mean to toot my own horn, but I really like this bag.

Complete with a Candy Corn inside, did I mention it is reversible? Upon completion Kevin and I sat around pondering what to do with a Halloween bag... to make a long story short, there isn't a lot of options aside from the obvious; using it for a week as your purse and storing it away until the following year.

However, if you happen to be taking little children Trick-or-Treating this would be a perfect (fashionable) item to carry all those necessary items around in. Like the extra hats and mittens kids so often discard while running door to door. Or the candy kids like to keep out of their candy bucket to pretend they don't have a lot (I always found people gave me more when my bucket looked more empty). Or to hold a purse which is now conveniently hidden in a festive, handcrafted bag. As I don't have any children, I thought of someone that did and shipped it off immediately to my sister-in-law! Shhhh, she doesn't know it's in the mail yet...

I'd like to think that Daisy was sad to see it go!

And Pepe too, who found it quite comfortable.

This is a process photo, I really don't use a pattern, or a guide, I just start sewing, cutting, assembling and pray for the best. It usually turns out pretty well.

I tried a new type of stipple, on the inside, just to be safe. I'm not that crazy about it. It might be because I've worked VERY hard at being fluid with my stippling and this doesn't require that technique at all, or because it reminds me of Frankenstein's bolts in his neck. Either way, I went back to traditional stippling on the outside.

Luckily this stipple wasn't that visible on the Candy Corns and actually looks kind of cute when not viewed on the batting.

I also made my first tag for this quilt, I was quite pleased with the way it turned out. It's not permanent, but at least it will get my blog out there for people to see.

And this ladies and gentlemen, is what happens when you "live" where you quilt. This folks, is "Life" not to be confused with "Neglect" (I really do love my quilting projects, I just also live with my husband, a cat, and a dog!) So perhaps, later on today, I will try to fix what Life has messed up and begin to sew these pieces together so Life cannot mess with them again.

Do your quilting projects ever get like this?

Dish Towel

I finished my first dish towel. It is knit from 100% cotton yarn and it feels quite cozy. I had no idea how big to make it, it started off as a wash cloth and turned into a dish towel. Oh well, I do love the colors!

Secretly, I think Daisy does too! Although, don't be fooled, she's not gazing into my eyes, that's a treat I'm holding behind the camera, that she's watching so intently.

And the progress of my zig zag baby quilt...

Any name suggestions??? So far, I can't seem to come up with anything.

Playdate

This might be one of my favorite quilts ever! I love the colors, fabrics, pattern, quilting and sashing. I love it all!
This quilt measures 45" x 58" a good size for a crib. I used a fairly large stipple therefore the quilting took no time at all. I went with a scrappy binding, solid back and random front block placement. For the first time ever I feel that the blocks are truly random, and it feels GREAT!

My little helpers definitely chipped in where appropriate! Pepe made sure to get right in the way while I was quilting...
And binding...

And Daisy helped out too!
I think they both get very jealous of the amount of time I spend quilting. The entire time I am making one Daisy runs around trying to lay on it (at least she has the right idea).

I will be sending this quilt off to its owner (an unborn baby boy) and I will miss it dearly. I have given a lot of thought into making myself a larger version! I really LOVE it so much and I'm sure they will too!

Sometimes I feel as though every time I make a quilt I have to learn how to stipple, baste and bind all over again. It would be great if I had a reference somewhere I could quickly look to when I got confused (which happens pretty often). In addition, I have a lot of family and friends that read my blog with little quilting knowledge.

So I've decided that over the next week I'm going to attempt to explain the basting and binding process and possibly create some nice tutorials along the way.
Aside from being a good reference point for me this will also solve a lot of those "how do you make a quilt questions?" So as I finished this quilt I stopped to consider "how" I was finishing it.
I was lucky enough to have someone teach me some of these techniques first hand, other bits I learned from reading blogs and looking through books. So my hope is that my tutorials can help someone else learn to quilt and along the way teach them the many joys of my favorite crafting project.

Yardsale

Don't you just love yardsales? I absolutely do! Most of the time there is nothing worth the dollar, but then sometimes you get REALLY lucky!

Last weekend I went to five yardsales, they were all horrible. Everything was overpriced and far from good condition, so I finally gave up searching and went home. Then to my surprise, my next door neighbor was having a yard sale and the deals were phenomenal!

I got this chair for $3, it can easily be recovered if necessary or left as is, I LOVE the polka dots!
For some reason, Daisy doesn't like to be left out of a photo opportunity.

I know you're asking, "Do I have kids?" Nope, but maybe someday, so in the interim this will sit in my closet. $3 is $3 whether you have a child or not. Besides, my cat does think it is a fun place to sleep.

Did I mention that it's a rocking chair... soooo cute!

And last, since this is a quilting blog, I found a sewing machine. It is not in pristine condition, but absolutely worth $5. I turned it on, it works beautifully and comes with a few different feet.

I will probably use this when guests come over and we have duel crafting projects, I can think of a few times when this would have been handy to have around the house. It did not come with a manual so it's a good thing I'm mechanically inclined, seems to work a lot like my Kenmore.

Yes, there were other purchases as well. I also purchased some life jackets for a dollar a piece in pretty good condition. We have a boat, which I often refer to as the "bucket of aluminum" in our garage, lol.

Overall, the best $12 I've spent in a long time!

Camping

We just got back today from a 4 day camping trip...
and boy was it exhausting...
A little bit of rain...
A little bit of sun...
A little bit of humidity...
and a lot of wet dog!
I think we're all happy to be home and ready to quilt, well at least I am!
Laundry, here I come!

A Wedding Gift

Speaking of quilts made for wedding presents, here is one that my husband and I received for our wedding. It was made by one of my very good friend's mother. She is an avid quilter with a long-arm quilting machine. The detail in this quilt is absolutely beautiful. All of the little pieces make my head spin and remind me how new I am to quilting, and that I am still an amateur with a lot to learn. She did the colors in black and white because that was the theme of our wedding.

She originally designed the quilt to be taken to the wedding for everyone to sign with best wishes for the bride and groom. My mother and I couldn't bare to let people write on this amazing work of art. Besides, could they really have something important enough to write on this masterpiece.

Last time I visited I believe she was saying she taught a class on this quilt. She is definitely an inspiration to me! In order to complete the quilts I made for my mother and mother-in-law in time for the wedding, she taught me how to use her long-arm and helped me to finish both of the quilts (Brisk Breeze and Nature's Nine Patch). They both turned out beautifully! It's so nice to have someone who will take the time to teach you, so rare in this world.

This is where everyone was supposed to sign... no way!! Too gorgeous!

And the quilting was phenomenal, so perfect for the occasion. Daisy thought she would get into the photo opportunity as well, she's tired. "Please mom, sit still and put your camera away so I can go to sleep!"

...And my next project, I'm keeping the design for this one a secret until it is unveiled.
I have the quilt top and bottom complete, I need to iron, baste, quilt and bind and I will be done. That actually sounds like quite a bit, perhaps I should start another in the interim, two projects at once hardly seems like a challenge.