Granny Square Sampler Finish

You might remember this post from early August when I wrote about joining in the Granny Square Sampler Along at Wisecraft since I was going to be away from my sewing machine for two weeks.

I thought this was going to be a very long term project but then the sewing machine drama began and since I was without a sewing machine again, I spent all my "free" time working on the blanket and now less than 2 months later it is complete!

It is a bizarre size and I doubt any of the four sides are even but I love it.

I decided to use a combination of crochet stitches to attach the squares together treating it like an improv quilt.

I started by arranging all the squares on the floor and taking a photo.  Then, using either single crochet or the crochet stitch that I don't know the name of where you alternate single crochet and half double crochet in the same row (anyone?), I would take a square and build it up until it was the size of the one next to it.  I would then attach those two squares using a single crochet stitch and then build up that section until it was the same size (meaning number of stitches) as another section and attach those two with single crochet, etc., etc., etc. - does that make any sense at all?

Click here to see the latest blog hop news which includes this week's calendar, a giveaway from Marmalade Fabrics, and a let's figure it out together post by Janice from Better off Thread.

Linking to Sew Happy Geek and Quilt Story.

What's up Wednesday!

Back to school sewing:  Me edition (just a little zip pouch to hold my phone and keys while carrying the baby in a carrier back and forth to the girls' school.)

Granny Square Sampler Along:  figuring out how to join all the squares together (similar to improv quilting!) 

(thinking I should have this done by New Year's - 2017!)

What else to do when you don't have a working sewing machine?  Why, crochet some hats - for everyone you know - of course!  I forgot how much I enjoy small crochet projects like this.

I should have a sewing machine by next week but for now I have no progress to report on any of my WIPs.

If you are looking for the giveaway from Christa Quilts or information about the blog hop, click here.

Linking up to WIP Wednesday and TGIFF.

What I'm Working On Wednesday: Back to School 2

Five more days until school starts and we are about half way done with our sewing list.

New this week - my oldest made this pencil case:

Ms. Middle Daughter and I finished her messenger bag:

She has a plan for that requested gray patch in the middle but she hasn't told me what it is yet!

We added lots of pockets to this one as well:

Other projects I/we have been working on:

And I also have been wanting to show you this:

I tested this cute pattern for Rebecca from Sew Festive Handmade.  Click here to see all her patterns and to visit her etsy shop.

Linking to WIP Wednesday and TGIFF.

WIP Wednesday - By the Lake

With this view this past week and no sewing machine, I didn't get much sewing done.  I brought supplies for some EPP but it looks like that will have to wait for another day because somehow being by the lake inspired me to take out my dusty crochet hooks.

Back in May, I saw a post from Blair at Wise Craft that she was starting a Granny Square Sampler-Along and I was very excited to join in.  But I was so busy quilting that I never started - well, until last week.  Now, instead of completing the blocks one week at a time, I've been making them one day at a time!

 
I am now halfway through week 6.

And on the subject of "...alongs" - so many of my new friends have fun quilt alongs and other events going on their blogs right now that I've pretty much planned out all my projects for the next few months.

WIPs:

Vintage Holiday QAL at Fabric Mutt - colors selected but need to finalize fabrics
Totally Groovy QAL at Pile O' Fabric -  fabrics ordered
How Far Will You Go QAL at The Elven Garden - will be using my stash (patchwork)
Sew Intertwined QAL at Sew Bittersweet Designs - thought about fabric choices but haven't decided  
Practically Paper Piecing Blog Hop at Quiet Play - my date is August 21st
Quilt for my middle daughter - still waiting on her to make up her mind about fabrics and design


And speaking of friends - my good friend Bethany from make me a quilt is guest hosting WIP Wednesday at Freshly Pieced today so I will definitely be linking up there.

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..

WIP and Doll Quilts

It looks like we are off to a great start for the Blog Hop.  Kelsey and Erin wrote awesome posts today along with equally awesome tutorials!  Check out their posts if you haven't been for a visit yet and don't forget to mark your calendars to visit Nik and Alyssa (my new twitter buddy) on Thursday.

This week was also exciting for me because my HST doll quilt was the quilt story on Quilt Story on Monday.  I am a regular reader of their blog and have always loved seeing the quilts they choose to highlight so I was so flattered when they asked to feature mine!  (My 7 year old wanted to know if this quilt is famous because it was also in the top 10 of the Viewer's Choice at the Festival Of Half Square Triangles at Canoe Ridge Creations last month.)

I got in a bit of sewing over the weekend - I made these two little doll quilts.  The quilt in the above photo is one I made a while ago but it is a favorite in our house and so well-loved that seeing it in play everyday reminds me how much little girls love nice things for their dolls.  The girls used the quilt to turn an old, inexpensive nightstand from Ikea (I think it is the Rast) into a bunk bed for their dolls - they also used some of my husband's old shirts (that had way too many holes in them) to make a mattress.

For the heart quilt, I just randomly pieced together a bunch of yellow and pink scraps and then cut the heart freehand and zig zag stitched it to the background fabric.  I FMQ'd a meandering stitch with pink thread inside the heart and then also using my FMQ foot, I outlined the heart 3 times.  Then I switched to the walking foot to add some random lines.  

I really liked the circle quilt (it was inspired by this lovely quilt from Cluck Cluck Sew) so today I started a lap size version.  

My oldest daughter was in sewing with me while I was making the doll quilt and helped me cut out the fabric behind the circles (after you sew the circle to the square and cut in fourths.)  She then started playing around with those scraps while I was finishing the quilt and here is what she ended up making (if you can't tell, they are butterflies and she told me she plans on adding a binding.)  Not surprisingly, she was more than happy to cut out the same little pieces from the lap size quilt tonight.  And, the background fabric and the backing are also made from old ripped shirts - thumbs up for upcycling!

Since this is a WIP post, I'll also mention my ongoing WIP which is the basket of yarn I have been pondering on my way to the sewing machine.  I've again been taking pics of my past crochet projects to find inspiration to start a new one before the yarn gets too dusty.

These are washcloths made with organic cotton yarn that I love using everyday for my little one.

This is a scarf I made with a basketweave stitch - I love love love the yarn I used - so soft and a beautiful color - only problem is I have no idea what it is so I can't buy it again.

WIPs:

Circle Quilt

Patchwork Prism 

Patchwork Square Quilt with the squares leftover from this

Small stuff for the little one including bibs and some easy skirts to wear over onesies for the summer (which means the older girls will want some easy skirts as well)

Crochet . . .

Please visit my Links page to see where I like to link my posts.

Bow Tie Baby Quilt and WIPs

I am very excited about the positive response I have received for the Let's Get Acquainted! Blog Hop.  Updated info can be found here.  If you are participating, please grab a button and let other new bloggers know about it (I think the button works correctly - please let me know if it doesn't.)  I used this straightforward tutorial by Jennifer at Ellison Lane Quilts to create the HTML code box.

I finished up this baby quilt yesterday (it is raining again today so I can't get any pics of it outside - I thought it was supposed to be April Showers - isn't it May???)  I think it is called a Bow Tie quilt?  I basically just cut out large squares of the pink and small squares of scrap fabric and stitched them together HST style.

I put the smaller HSTs away for another project and I squared the larger blocks.  I then cut some more blocks from the pink, stitched the blocks into rows, and stitched the rows together.  I thought the quilt was too small after I used up all my blocks and since I didn't have any more of the pink fabric, I just improvised with some scraps for the bottom.  I free motion quilted it with a meandering stitch - it is my second time doing so and I really enjoy the process - it is fun deciding the stitch pattern as you go.

And I used more of the Momo Wonderland fabric that I cut into for the My Precious QAL.

As for WIPs, I started making some scrappy, wonky little houses - not sure if I am going to make a quilt (the plan being to make a bunch of the small ones for the quilt top and put the big one on the back or the reverse.)  But I might just do something smaller like a pillow or a bag.

And I started making some HSTs for a chevron quilt (or pillow or bag.)

I haven't been crocheting but I've been taking pics of things I've already made like this blanket (which took forever!)

I guess I also can consider finishing up the navigation bar a WIP  - I finally have everything linked up correctly but I still want to finish up the pages.  I also want to work on the actual projects for the links I put in under the Participating In tab.


Fabrics used in Bow Tie Quilt:
Amy Butler Love Cypress Paisley Lime (backing)
Erin McMorris Wildwood Flower Shower in Fuschia (binding)
Erin McMorris Wildwood Flower Shower in Gold
Momo Wonderland Tweedle Dee (Sugar?)
Amy Butler Midwest Modern Honeycomb in Sand
Heather Bailey Nicey Jane Dream Dot Clementine
Heather Bailey Pop Garden Sway in Lime
Sarah Jane Children at Play Summer Gardens Lilac
Kona Cotton Petal

Please check out my Links page to see where I like to link my posts.

Little Crocheted Bags and Free Motion Quilting

After spending the morning troubleshooting my uncooperative sewing machine, I was so happy when the baby took a late afternoon nap while the girls were at a friend's house thinking I'd be able to get some sewing in today.  All was looking good until I noticed my iron was not warming up - sadly, I don't think I can fix it so my sewing will have to take a break for a few days.  What to do???  Crochet, maybe?!?

 
Actually, I made this little bag with the purple flower over the weekend (and the pink one years ago) - if I'd only known, I would have waited.

These bags are a relatively simple and quick project.  I've been giving these out for birthday presents for a few years and from the feedback I've received, I can say - little girls LOVE them!

To make the bags, you just need to make two Granny Squares of your choice and a big flower.  For the grannies, I recommend making two identical ones - you can vary the yarn color for the middle but I think it looks nicer at the end if your outermost row is the same for both.

Put the two squares right side together (if you have a right side) and starting in the middle of one of the sides, use single crochet to stitch around the rest of that side and the next two sides.  Then make a chain of your preferred length (mine was about 100 stitches) and stitch down the rest of the side you started with.  You can really attach them anyway you want but using this method gives the bags a nice boxy look.  Flip the bag around so the right sides are showing and attach your flower (or flowers.)

You can leave the bag like this or you can add a lining.  To make the lining, you need to first measure your granny square to figure out what size you need.  Your fabric should be about 1/2 to 1 inch wider than your square and double the length plus about 1 inch.  For example, if my square was 5x5, I would cut out two pieces of fabric measuring 6 x 11 inches.  Remember when choosing fabric, that the exterior will show a bit though the crochet - you might want it to stand out or you might prefer for it to blend in - I usually hold it up behind the square when deciding which fabric to use.

Put your two pieces of fabric right sides together and sew around all four sides leaving a gap on one of the sides for turning.

Turn it so right sides are facing out and topstitch around the rectangle enclosing the open gap while doing so.  Take the rectangle and fold it in half so that the short sides touch and sew down the two sides forming a little bag.  The seams will be showing but the raw edges will be enclosed because of the first step.  (You could also sew the fabric bag with no seams by sewing the exterior into a little bag and the interior into a little bag, putting one inside the other (right sides facing) and sewing around the top leaving a gap for turning.)

Then just put the fabric bag inside the crochet bag and hand stitch using your preferred method for invisible stitches around the top to attach.  Make sure to put your needle through just the interior side of the crochet stitches so that the thread doesn't show on the outside.  

I also made some of these little bags last night using some granny squares that I had made awhile back (I think I was originally going to make a blanket.)  

But back to quilting:

I've been building up to free motion quilting - using it in smaller projects and trying sketch stitching but I finally quilted a whole quilt (well, it was doll/baby size) using a meandering stitch.  I love the scrunchy look the quilts get when made this way.  

I used my go-to wonky log cabin for the blocks and appliqued the hearts using a zigzag stitch.

And here is the back:

I definitely want to make more quilts using FMQ.  My WIP this week is a little houses quilt that I started before my iron broke and I guess I'll take this opportunity to organize my stash and go blog hopping!