Red, White, and Blue Blog Hop - my turn

It is my turn on the RWB blog hop!

For my first block, I pulled all the red, white, and blue fabrics from my stash and this is all I could find. What to do, what to do???  How about an improv block!  I just started piecing the fabrics together and then added a star and some stripes at the end.

So, I liked it but felt it needed something - but what?  I tried some hand stitching.

Much better - well, at least I think so.  Um, except that little freehanded stitched star in the upper right corner - next time, I should draw it first and then stitch.

So, my block was finished with almost two weeks to spare - yay!  But then, the RWB blog hop began and you all were not only making wonderful blocks but LOTS of them!  I was inspired to make more - only problem was I had used up pretty much all my red fabric.  Fortunately, I remembered that I had recently received a charm pack of Vintage Modern which has reds in it - it wouldn't be a big deal to take two or three charms out of that pack, right?

This is what I made:

                               (I think this one also needs a bit of hand stitching!)

Hm, is there something wrong with this last picture?  I didn't even realize the mistake until I uploaded the photo for this blog post.

Much better! Well, I guess that is what my seam ripper is for!

For these blocks, I used a mix of traditional and modern techniques which resulted in a traditional block with a modern twist OR a modern block with a traditional twist, depending on your perspective!  I wrote more about this block here and I plan on writing a tutorial/pattern soon.

Want to enter this week's fabric giveaway?  Click here - it is open until Sat, July 14, 2012 at 8pm EDT).  For the details and/or if you are wondering about or are here for the Let's Get Acquainted Blog Hop, the Advice for New Bloggers series, the Let's Figure It Out Series,  or the Monday Link-up, click here.

Thanks for visiting!

And be sure to hop over to the other bloggers posting today for the RWB blog hop:

Cat Patches

quilting by dawn
Bobbie

Kathy H

Sparrow In Flight

WIPs and an HST with a Twist Pillow

WIPS:  

1. Circle of Geese (from Kelly's blog hop post )

2. Pop bottles (used this pattern from sewtakeahike)

3. and 4. I now have 27 9" squares for my crazy nine patch that I wrote about last week.  

5. and 6.  As I think I've mentioned, I am participating in the Red, White, and Blue Blog Hop (I'm posting this Friday - these are not my red, white, and blue blocks.)  I unfortunately realized that I didn't have very much red in my stash but instead of buying more fabric, I decided to use a few squares from a charm pack of Vintage Modern.  I only wanted to use a tiny bit of the charm pack so I had to improvise and figure out a way to use only a couple of charms.  Surprisingly, I actually liked what I ended up with (I can't show it until Friday) so I decided to use some more of the Vintage Modern along with some Essex Linen to experiment with my new "pattern."

Well, since I only had one charm pack, I used that up pretty quickly so I opened my drawer of 5 inch squares, cut them into HSTs, and tried some more variations.  What do you think?  I took lots of pics of the process so I'll write up how I made them soon.  I'm not sure what to call it - something along the lines of  (Traditional) HSTs with a (Modern) Twist - maybe?

I decided to make this one into a pillow and to quilt it by hand - alternating between stitching inside and outside of the diamonds.  I need to do that more often as I love the look of hand stitching.  Now, I just need to find the correct size pillow form.

Wow - I never feel like I get a lot of sewing done until I put it all together in a post and realize that I did!  I'm excited to see what everyone else is up to so I'll be linking up and visiting at WIP Wednesday.  

If you haven't already, click here to catch up with the blog hop news including a thoughtful post by Kati of From the Blue Chair, a great fabric giveaway, the weekly calendar and the Monday link up.

WIPs, Blocks, and Pics

Just some photos from my week.

The girl's redecorated their "library" using a crochet blanket I made a few years ago (it is an old crib mattress on the floor and an old toddler bed mattress against the wall.)  Comfy!  (I can't remember if this is the pattern I used but it is very similar.)

I put together the July block from In Color Order's HST block of the month (love this one!)  You can see my others here. 

Needlepoint?!?

As Bethany wrote about here, we made a pact to try paper piecing this month.  The pic above is my attempt.  I have to say, Bethany actually made it super easy for me since she immediately wrote a post complete with links to video tutorials and she created the awesome pattern for this super cute "tanganimal" - with more animals to come soon.

Have I mentioned that before our little blog hop came about, I had signed on to participate in the Red, White, and Blue Blog Hop.  I'm up on July 13th.

After seeing this awesome quilt yesterday by Amber from One Shabby Chick, I knew what my next quilt project would be.  And the tutorial she used from Elizabeth is fantastic (as Oh Fransson tutorials always are!)

And click here to read a wonderful advice post by Sara from Sew Sweetness and to enter the giveaway to win some patterns from Kate Conklin Designs.

Linking up to a few of these..

A Little Scraps Bag and A Precious Quilt

I've decided that little tote bags are one of my favorite handmade gifts for kids - they are relatively easy to whip up and the kids can actually use them.  I also like making them because I can experiment with different patterns and techniques without having to commit to making a whole quilt.

And that is my middle daughter's foot in the photo staking claim to this bag!

I put this together by taking the linen-y fabric and a piece of batting and, using a strip of masking tape as a guide, stitched a grid.  I then cut out little rectangles of fabrics to fit in each box and used my free motion foot to applique the shapes to the background.  (Is it still called applique if I use the free motion foot to outline the scraps???)

I used home decor weight fabric for the back and straps and then lined it with regular quilting cotton.

I also got started on my first QAL.

When I read about the My Precious Quilt -A-Long on Kelbysews, I knew I had to join since I've had a yard of Momo Wonderland in my stash pretty much since I started sewing that I've been saving for some reason even I don't know (Kelly even mentions Wonderland as an example - guess I'm not alone!)

As I'm completely hooked on HSTs, I decided to try another HST quilt.  I added in many of my other favorite fabrics and this is what I came up with.  I only used a small bit of the Wonderland maybe I'll make a trio of small quilts with it?!?

There is also some Mendocino in this quilt.  The Mendocino is another one of those fabrics I bought when I first started sewing.  It was on clearance and I only bought one yard!!!  Well, and one yard of the orange.  I think it was less than $5 - oh, well.  Live and learn.  I definitely didn't realize what a find it was.   My daughter loved the fabric and at her request, I immediately used it to make a skirt for her - um, the first skirt I ever made so it wasn't even a good skirt - just great fabric.  Well, the skirt is a bit too short now so I reclaimed the fabric and upcycled it to use in this and a future project.

To make this quilt, I first cut up a bunch of squares and randomly put together fabrics to make a pile of HSTs.

  I put those to the side and cut out strips from the same fabrics.  I pieced the strips together.

And then cut it into strips.

 I then took the strips and the HSTs and arranged and rearranged until I liked the pattern.

Then I added in the white fabric as sashing to piece it all together.  It was kind of like figuring out a puzzle.

I wanted to try something new with the quilting so I did diagonal lines of varying widths along the whole quilt, horizontal lines about 1/2 inch apart along the bottom third of the quilt and vertical lines about 1/2 inch apart along one of the sides.

Oh, and I used some Jennifer Paganelli Pinwheel stripe fabric for the backing.  

And here is the very beginnings of my next small quilt using my "precious" fabric:

Linking up to 

Whoop Whoop at Confessions of a Fabric Addict

Finish it Up Friday at Crazy Mom Quilts

Sew and Tell Friday at Amylouwho

Serenity Now

Weekend Wrap Up Party at Tatertots and Jello

Once Upon a Link Party at Family Ever After

An HST Doll Quilt

I finally tried making Half Square Triangles and now I know what all the fuss is about!  They really are fun and easy to put together.  Whoever came up with the right sides together, draw a line down the middle, sew two lines, and cut was genuis!

I used this charm pack from the "big order" from months ago that I had regrettably prewashed.

Made one and squared it:

Made many more and squared them:

Then I just started arranging and rearranging and mixed in some of the now completely gone solid yardage that I had in my stash (actually, I had to cut some off one of my WIPs - Yikes!)

And, the Sun and Water Blocks doll quilt was born (have I mentioned that my kids name the quilts???)

I'm again not sure this is exactly my aesthetic but I guess my aesthetic is growing.  And I really enjoyed the HST method so I think when my new fabric order comes, I'll make another one.

This was another doll-sized, stroller-size quilt.  I like making this size because it can be done in a few nap times, allows me to experiment with new techniques, and it is actually the most practical size for me right now - great for the stroller and floor for the baby AND great for my older girls for their dolls and for gifts for other little girls who love getting things for their dolls.

Linking up to Whoop Whoop at Confessions of a Fabric Addict,  Finish it Up Friday at Crazy Mom Quilts, and Sew and Tell Friday at Amylouwho.