Gnome for Christmas

I went to unpack my Christmas decorations this year, and I found this! I totally forgot I finished it this summer and packed it away.

This is the very popular Scrappy Trip Around the World block. I started these blocks almost three years ago (!) and I finally forced myself to finish this summer so I could enter it into my local county fair. It looks so much harder than it really is. I would highly recommend it. It's a fun way to change things up.

I ordered this Michael Miller fabric special for the back. I planned on the direction of the print running the opposite way, so I ended up having to line up the pattern and piecing it the best I could. I love it. 

(You can see on the very edge of this picture that the little elf is pieced.)

I love this figure 8 quilting. Something new and fun. 

The judges' best comment was on my binding: "Best binding we've seen all day!" That's a huge complement, especially remembering what a hot mess my binding used to be. 

I love snuggling under it by the Christmas tree.

Low Volume [+]

I declare this as my favorite quilt ever. I give all my quilts away. I didn't even have a lap quilt for my living room. So I set out to make this one. I loved this pattern ever since my amazing quilting sister in law made this one for my second daughter. 

 They are made of little log cabins. See? I loved mixing all the low volume prints on this. It was a great way to use up scraps. And it kept me interested for all 39 blocks.

 I used my left over strips to make a rainbow back. I love this back. 

 I entered it into my local county fair, and the lady shrieked when she saw the back. She loved it. 

 I've been hoarding those horses for forever. The best thing about quilting for yourself is that you can use every precious piece you've been saving. I tried a new figure eight quilting. It was super fun. A new favorite alternative to stippling.

 Houndstooth hand binding for the win.

I scored a blue ribbon on this baby. The ahem, older women, ahem sometimes don't understand my modern point of view. Haha. They also thought the quilting was "distracting" on the dark pieces on the front. I disagree :)

But I like challenging myself. It makes me slow down and really take time on binding and matching my points up. Until next year, county fair.

Skull Candy

I know this isn't a quilt, but I had to share. I made this for a friend's birthday and I had serious pause before I gave it away. I love it so much. But she loves Halloween just as much as I do, so I was happy to send it to a good home.

I found the idea here. I used my Silhouette to cut out the skull and just followed the tutorial pretty closely otherwise. This skull candy fabric is from Walmart. Can you believe!?

Not a lot of quilting going on around here. I just finished two little girls' halloween costumes. Eeek! Have I mentioned I love Halloween?

Hello, Bear

This might be the "trendiest" baby quilt I've ever made. But I love it. Boy stuff is not my thing, so it's a bit of a stretch to figure out how to blend boy colors, and not look too baby, and not look girly. 

This was a custom order for a baby shower. She wanted triangles, which I had never done before. I ordered this ruler, and it was really easy! It came together so quick (start to finish, two days).

 I started with this "woodland" fabric, because that's the theme of the baby shower, and mixed from there. There were a few more girly fat quarters, but I swapped them out for some stuff from my stash instead.

No, not camo. Those are cows. Which I think is adorable. 

Simple straight quilting on either side of the seam. I went out of my comfort zone and used dark gray this time rather than white. Crazy, I know. 

Glue basted the binding again, and it's so slick! I'm a convert. Rarely will I ever hand bind again. It looks pretty perfect. I use my walking foot and sew from the back side. 

Striped binding. I love the black and white with these colors. 

Tagged and off to the party.

And some bibs to match. Because, I just had to. 

Baby Day Sail

I love this pattern. It's super cute and simple, but still interesting. I had it done, start to finish in two days. That might of had something to do with the fact that my husband was at scout camp for six days...

The pattern uses precut charms, which is great. I used Bonnie and Camille's new line, Daysail. I love it because it manages to lean feminine without being so obvious (pink). I mixed it with neutrals that have a little green red and blue in them.

I tried a little circle quilting with my walking foot and it was way fun. I saw the idea years ago here, and I've always wanted to try it. I want to do it again so I can perfect it.

Meanwhile, the baby won't let me take pictures because she loves sitting on the quilt.

Another new thing: Glue basting. Have you heard of it? I don't remember exactly how I came across it, but it's pretty awesome. I basted the binding and sewed it in the ditch from the back side of the quilt. It was super slick! I'm totally doing it again. Especially for small projects like this. 

Striped binding. It's still going. And going.

I mailed it to one of my cousins. She is a loan officer so she has babied us and held our hand through the process of getting a construction loan. She helped so much, so I wanted to do something in return. 

Her first baby girl is due any day now! I love sending quilts where I know they will be loved and used.

Pretty Little Pot Holders

Pot Holders are kind of my go-to quick and easy gift. I think I whipped out at least 15 last year for Christmas. The pattern is a little more time consuming, but the I think the details make them so cute (hello, mini ruffle?!).

The hardest part of making these is the binding. I tried something new: using Elmer's Glue to baste. Have you heard of it? I ran upon the idea on Pinterest a few weeks ago and I finally tried it. It's kind of amazing. Look how perfect it turned out! Have you ever tried it?

Elephant March

Simple scrappy patchwork is so satisfying. I love this quilt.

I almost prefer the back to the front.

See?! I've been hoarding that strip of elephants for years.

Simple 1/4" quilting on each side of the squares. If you've never made a quilt before, this would be a good way to start. You don't need to do anything fancy like stippling to get a great look and drape.

More striped binding (I'm thinking I should start to branch out...)

Mailed to my brand new niece that just arrived last week. 

Finicky Piecing-How to Not Lose Your Mind

Here's a little trick I use to keep all my pieces in order for my Farm Girl Friday blocks. Each of the fabric pieces are labeled with letters. She uses alphabitties, but I didn't want to spend that much money for something I thought I could make myself. 

I printed and cut out little circles with each letter on it, laminated them, then hot glued them to flat flower head pins. That way as I'm cutting, I can easily label what I'm working on and pin them to the fabric before they get all mixed up.

It has made piecing so much easier!

Baby Hearts

Another baby quilt given away. I ran across this pattern at Cluck Cluck Sew a few months ago, and I immediately knew I wanted to make this for my little niece, due in August. I tried to be more adventurous with the background, and not be so matchy matchy.

These hearts came together super fast! It really looks more complicated that it is. I also loved this pattern because she uses strips around each block rather than sashing. I kind of hate sashing. 

 I love using blue for girls. 

I tried something new with the binding this time. I used my serger to finish off the edges before machine binding and it worked like a dream! No puckering or pulling. I've started doing it every time. 

My sister in law flipped when she opened the package. I love making quilts for people who appreciate the time that goes into it.

#FarmGirlFridays

#FarmGirlFridays are happening. After making two table runners, I decided to order her new book, and I'm kind of excited about it. I've never made a sampler before, so this seems like a fun way to start. I may regret those words later. 48 six inch blocks are a lot of blocks. But it'll be worth it because I'm keeping it, dang it! 

 Even though I seldom quilt for myself, I love doing it because I don't hesitate to use the cutest scraps I have been hoarding. My goal this year is to be more selfish with my quilts.

 

And see how tiny? They finish at 6". I keep trying to explain the scale of it, but it's hard to get a feel without seeing them in person. I have to iron most of the seams open so there is less bulk in all those tiny intersections.

Mostly all scraps. Eek! Did I mention there's a milk can block?

Perfect for a Little House on a Dairy.

Mischief Managed

Let's talk fabric management. I keep mine in drawers like this. I use homemade card stock inserts to guide my folding. Anything that won't fit on a card goes into color coded scrap bins. But the organization ends there. It's a huge mess.

 I just read this blog post and I am trying a new system. Instead of having overflowing, unfolded and all sized scrap bins, I am going to try to cut them into strips: 1.5", 2.5", 3.5" and 5". That way, they're easy to grab and use when I need them.

I've also started on my Farm Girl Vintage Sew Along. It's so nice to just grab one of those pre-cut strips and go at it. I'm hoping to bust through tons of my scraps. (PS, those six inch blocks are tiny. I don't know how she makes them look so nice)