Valentine's Projects

With Valentine's Day literally around the corner, I just wanted to remind you of some past project tutorials!

  Quilted Valentine Hearts Pillow

 

 Heart Garden Quilt Tutorial

 Lavender Heart Sachet Tutorial

 Happy Heart Making!

do. Good Stitches January Blocks

For this month's do. Good Stitches block in my Faith group we were asked to make blocks using the  Sparkle Quilt pattern from Canoe Ridge Creations and In Color Order. We were asked to make the middle block in a scrappy pattern.

 It's a fun and kind of funky block. Probably would not have tried it myself, so I'm glad I got the chance because they we fun to put together. And I love that they have movement with the HST edges. If you know me you know that I LOVE floral fabrics. But next to that I love fabric with fruit on it. Especially strawberries. I got this strawberry fabric fro Pam Kitty Morning and have been dying to use it. I thought it would be fun here. Yum!

The next block I used some fun scraps in two of my favorite colors, green and aqua. The two blocks don't exactly go together, but with all the different blocks they'll be getting, I think they'll fit in just fine. I really didn't want to make two blocks that were alike. So these are off in the mailbox today. Can't wait to see what we get to try next month!

Farmer's Wife Friday!

Remember the Farmer's Wife QAL? It's been a while since I worked on these little beauties. In the spirit of #finishit2013 that's happening over on Instagram, I decided to work on these blocks again. Cutting out all the little pieces is the perfect project while watching Downton Abbey III. :)

 This was a tricky one with some major "Y" seams going on, but it turned out pretty well. Not perfect, but it will do. :)

 I like the simplicity of this one, just squares. Sometimes just two fabrics and a simple design are the prettiest.

 I changed this one up a little bit from the original design. This fabric with the strawberries and polka dots just kills me, I totally love it.

 

 I'd almost forgotten how much I love these cute little blocks. I cannot wait to see them all pieced together in quilt form. But at this point I'm not even to the halfway mark yet! What do you think, by the end of the year? Maybe!

Do. Good Stitches

I love the sewing community on Flickr. I have had a chance to be a part of some fun swaps and everybody is so supportive. Plus I love seeing all of the amazing talent that is out there and the things they make. I also noticed a wonderful sewing bee group called Do. Good Stitches. I finally looked into it and knew it was something I wanted to be a part of.

The basic idea is making quilts and giving them to people in need. The bee is broken down into sub bees with names like: Love, Hope, Joy and Peace. Each group has a specific charity that they give the quilts to like Project Linus and Wrap them in Love. Each bee group has stitchers and quilters. The quilters come up with the design of the quilt and then each member of the bee (stitchers and quilters) makes two squares for the quilt and sends them to the quilter in charge. The quilter then takes all the squares and makes them into a quilt to be given to the charity. Awesome.

I filled out my form and have been on the waiting list to get involved, and last month, I got in! The group that I am a part of is the Faith group. I was so happy about this, because I consider myself a woman of faith, the other group members are awesome, and the charity they support is such an important one. It's called Restore Innocence. It is a faith-based, non-profit organization dedicated to helping victims of child sex trafficking. Not something I even want to think that is happening out there, but it is a reality and these girls need help. Making them a quilt that they can call their own and wraps them in love and comfort is our little way of helping.

These are the blocks I make for the December quilt. It's made using a tutorial by Film in the Fridge called Converging Corners. The colors specified were all shades of purple, periwinkle and aqua. I'm not a huge purple person, so this was a good stretch.I also haven't ever improvised a block before, so I was able to try something new!

After finishing them, I may have done a couple of things differently, but I'm happy with them and can't wait to see what the whole quilt looks like when it's all put together. Each quilt using this tutorial would be totally different because they're all improvised.

I have not started the January blocks yet, so I better get moving! They are made using the Sparkle quilt blocks in a scrappy style. Should be fun!

Granny Squares Quilt

The holidays are behind us and we're off and running with the new year! I took some time off from blogging to enjoy the holidays and get some other work done, but glad to be back. Today I wanted to share the quilt I made for a Christmas gift.

 It is the Granny Squares Quilt I made from the tutorial by Blue Elephant Stitches. I love the simplicity of the design and that it kind of had that vintage crocheted granny square look. And all done in 2 1/2" squares!

 I used a Fig Tree Quilts California Girl jelly roll by Moda. I love the dreamy colors and pretty prints. They also have that nice vintage feeling but with fun pops of color. And because it was a jelly roll, it made it really easy to cut out the squares, perfect.

For the back of the quilt, I stitched some of the left over squares in a line and bordered them with white. It was a simple design element, but I really like the way it turned out.

 Since this was a Granny Squares quilt, I decided to give it to one of my favorite "grannies", my Mother-in-Law! Let me just take a minute to tell you a little about her. She is one of the most amazing women you could ever know. She can accomplish more in a short amount of time than anyone in a day. She is an incredible cook, always making amazing meals from scratch. And knows how to make quick, healthy snacks in a minute. Her home is clean, organized and beautiful. She is fun to be with, funny, a great storyteller and always "game" to do just about anything. She is a loving wife who takes good care of her hubby. She is service oriented, works hard in all her church callings, is a terrific speaker and just takes care of the needs that are around her. She is an example of faith, love and resilience (has battled and beat cancer twice!) and is someone I hope to be like when I grow up. But the best thing about her is that she is such a good grandma. She is so good with kids, talks with them, gets on the floor and actually plays with them, never misses a birthday or special day and just makes them feel so loved. I'm so glad my kids have her. I could go on forever, but basically I love her to pieces, love learning from her and am so grateful I get to be her "daughter". The least I could do was make her a quilt, right? ;)

 When I was deciding how I would quilt this quilt I thought it would be fun to continue on the granny theme! My MIL has 15 grand kids so I quilted the name of each of her grand kids in every other square. This way when she is using the quilt all her grand kids could be near and dear to her heart. The above example is my daughter Maggie's name.

This square has my son, Samuel's name. The rest of the quilt is done in a basic stipple. You would never see the names just by glancing at the quilt. But she knows they are there and that's what counts. It truly is a granny quilt.

 For the back of the quilt, I stitched some of the left over squares in a line and bordered them with white. It was a simple design element, but I really like the way it turned out.

I loved making this quilt. It was a fun process and it's nice to make a quilt for someone specific. You get to think about them while you are making it and more love goes into the whole process. Love you Momma!