CQC FQ Challenge Day 4

Today I am off on a shop hop. Eight stores in one day. Wish me luck.

But I am leaving you with my latest creation from my CQC fat quarters.

The Two Star Tote.

And yes, I had to add another fabric to the mix- but it was from my stash! I miscut some stuff and rather than piece the inside, I grabbed this cute red and white print.

Adorable. A few handy dandy pockets on the inside.

Throw in your cell phone, wallet and coin purse and you are ready to run a couple of quick errands!

Tune in tomorrow for the last of the CQC FQ creations.
I am off to shop hop!

happy quilting,
Kate

CQC FQ Challenge Day 3

OK. I made some simple things for today's post.

These are so fun and quick that they were perfect for this challenge.

Two coasters.

I used the stripe again on the back. And you can just see the print peeking out from the center of the coasters.

What do you need to make these?
I used six fabrics. Five on the front and one for the back.

Cut:

1. 4 1/2" square of the back fabric and the center fabric 
2. 4 1/2" x 3 1/2" (or 4 1/2" x 4"- depends on how big you want the center hole to be. I used the                         smaller size.)
3. 4 1/2" square of light batting

Now, it would have made sense for me to take pictures of the coasters as I made them. But I didn't. So I guess I am going to have to make another one to show you how to do this!

Lay the center fabric face down. (yes, the center, not the back.)

Lay the batting on top of the center fabric and then the backing fabric, right sides up. The dark green print is my back.

Fold the other 4 fabrics in half WST so they measure 4 1/2" x 1 3/4". Press.

Now lay each folded fabric on top of the coaster, raw edges even, with the fold to the center of the coaster.

When you lay down the last one, tuck one edge under the first one.

Stitch all around the coaster with a 1/4" seam. Backstitch at each end. A walking foot is helpful. Feel free to pin before you sew. I just went for it!

Now, if you have a serger, yo could use that so the ends are finished. Or you can zigzag them. I don't usually do either because, well.... I don't have a serger and besides, it's a coaster! That and my "card" for my sewing machine with the zigzag stitch on it is broken. Died. Kaput.

Trim corners.  If you are not familiar with this term, it means to trim across the corner to reduce the bulk when you turn the piece.

Turn the coaster so the four fabrics are on top of the center fabric and the seams are hidden inside.

Push out the corners with some sort of pokey thing. I have a great wooden skewer that I got in a bag of stuffing.

Done!

I made two! Aren't they cute! 

And they are going in my guest room because the fabric matches the quilt on the bed!

See ya tomorrow!

happy quilting,

Kate

CQC FQ Challenge Day 2

Day 2 of my personal challenge to use two FQs I received at the Colorado Quilt Council meeting and some fabric from my stash.

Here are the two fabrics I received.

So what to do next? It's a bit of a cheat as I have posted about them before, but I decided to make a wallet and coin purse from our pattern Girls Go Shopping.

Luckily for me, I have a stash of zippers around, because I really did not want to buy anything for this challenge.

So here is the wallet:

And here is the coin purse:

The coin purse has a handy back pocket for loose bills, you know, tens, twenties, fifties....haha. I have ones in there!

But a business card fits too!

Really! See? It fits.

The wallet has a handy little back pocket too, and if you put your license in the see thru pocket, it is zippered closed so it is not going to fall out or get taken out. Yea!

Of course, that is not an ID, that is a Jo-ann's gift card!
Yes!
Girls DO Go Shopping!

OK- what to do tomorrow?

happy quilting,
Kate

CQC FQ Challenge Day 1 and Four Weeks in Colorado

This week will mark four weeks that I have been in Colorado. It really is a beautiful state even with all the tragedy they have recently experienced.

I have been spending time trying to get our apartment livable and organizing my sewing room. So far, not too bad though there are piles hidden in closets, the garage, etc. You get to a point where you say, Enough! So instead, Elizabeth and I are starting to really get back in the swing of things quilty and are working on some designs that have been on hold due to said move. So we have two patterns that are really coming along- designs for four more ready and just waiting on directions and fabric. It is exciting to get back in the quilting saddle.

Last Saturday, I went with my new quilting friend Shirley to the Colorado Quilting Council monthly meeting down in Canon City. It is about a two hour drive from here. The CQC usually has a national speaker at their monthly meetings. This month it was Rob Appell. I would post pictures of the great quilts he showed us, but unfortunately my camera died! So check out his website to see some of the great things he does. He is a dynamic speaker; lots of fun.

While we were at the meeting, they handed out two FQs to everyone as a gift from the Royal Gorge Quilt Council. Hmmm.. what to do? I could just add them to the huge stack of FQs littering the sewing room but I decided instead to do a little self challenge.

So here are the fat quarters I received at the meeting. Not really fabrics I would normally choose, but I like the stripe. I searched thru my stash and found some fabrics to go with them. Three of the fabrics I found are FQs and the green is a 1/4 yard cut.

So, I made a couple of mug rugs. One has green for a binding and one has red.

What do you think? I used the striped fabric is on the back.

And a variegated thread and a cute squiggly stitch to machine quilt them.

What shall I make next? I am not planning ahead with this so I may end up with a pile of one fabric and not much of anything else. The only plan is to make something each day this week until the fabric runs out!Stop by tomorrow and see what I do!

And keep checking back here. We are going to do a "Moving to Colorado" giveaway soon and maybe even  a tutorial later  in September on a quilt we showed here a while back.

In the meantime,
Happy quilting
Kate

Kids

My oldest son Sean and his new wife Rea came to visit us this weekend. It was great to see them. They have a very busy month coming up and then they leave for Scotland! And the plan is that they will be there for at least 4 years.
We probably won't see them again before they leave. It was so good to see them. So sad to say goodby.

While they were here, we took them on a few rides to see the area and then we took them up to Estes Park to the Rocky Mountain National Park to go hiking. What a great day. We got there nice and early and started hiking by 8am. We were only going to go to Dream Lake but then we decided to venture on and go to Lake Haiyaha which is higher up. It was quite a climb for some of us (me!), but we were so glad we did it. Isn't it just beautiful?

The lake is surrounded by boulders so you have to climb on and around them to get close to the lake; so worth the effort. All in all, it was a good day and we managed to get up to 10,000 feet!

Next post will include some quilting stuff but for now... off to update my passport so I can plan a trip to Scotland!

Happy quilting,
Kate

Almost finished

A few friends and I are doing a block swap. When Elizabeth first mentioned it, I thought "Oh, that sounds like fun! I have always wanted to participate in a block swap!" Then she mentioned that you make 9 blocks each month! Nine! Was she nuts?

Apparently so I am because I said Yes. And it is not bad- the blocks are fairly simple and they are only 6" square. You put 9 into a larger block which ends up (quilter math anyone? yes I really mean 6 1/2" unfinished...) 18" square. Each month you make 9 blocks of the same pattern. They can all be the same, they can be all different, or some of this and some of that... it doesn't matter, because everyone gets only 1 block from each of the other quilters. Our only stipulation for this swap is batiks.  

We started in Feb and I have gotten back blocks for the months of Feb thru June. So yesterday I started putting the blocks together.

Here is Feb:

And March:

April:

May:

June:

They look great don't they? So far, my favorite is April. Though March is a close second. Using one type of fabric really ties the whole thing together. Elizabeth did this swap with her guild a few years ago and they used Civil war fabrics. I am a new fan of them and think that would be fun too!

I also made this quilt top. It was made using the pattern Surf Club by Sweetwater and a layer cake of their fabric line Lucy' s Crab Shack. The link is for the website Lily Bella Fabrics who still has the layer cakes. And she has them for $35.00 instead of the usual $39.00.

I did change the pattern a little- my friend Charmion and I wanted to make the quilt larger, so I added a inner border of white to float the center pieces, and then added a pieced border of 4 1/2" squares around the outside. Cute, huh?


The problem with living in smaller apartment is (smaller in that it is smaller than my old house) there is no where to take pictures of the larger quilts. Hmmm... this will take some thought.


Off to plan the quilting for Little Lucy.


Happy quilting,
Kate

MUFs

A while back, actually a long while back but we won't discuss how long, I started a list of MUFs. Masterpieces Under Fermentation. I have quite the list. And I am sorry to say, I have not completed anything on that list. And not everything is even on the list because I thought it would look bad!

However, it does not mean that I have not moved on to other projects and completed those first!

I finished one "business quilt" but I can't show that one yet. Not till the pattern is really done and the final version made. This was just test version #1.

Sneak peak... maybe you can guess what season?

Here is one I just did for fun. For me. It was a present from Elizabeth and I love it! The pattern is by Susan Rooney and it is called Daisy Duo. Elizabeth picked up the kit in Syracuse when she went there after our quilting weekend back in June. Not sure what store she got it at, but maybe she will comment on this post and let you all know. Because it is too stinking cute.

And it was quick! I did follow the pattern (I usually don't!) except my thread for the cute curlicues is white not yellow or green. And I added a couple of green button centers to my flowers. I wanted to add a bee button, but I have not found one I like yet. Still looking. I love daisies- one of my favorite flowers along with pink tulips.

Yesterday, my hubby and I went to 2 sewing/quilt shows! Sorry Jim, but he offered! First we went up to Denver and went to the Rocky Mountain Sew Expo. A nice lady at the Show Offs booth gave us VIP tickets so we got in for free! How nice was that?

So many fun things to see. And, surprise, surprise, I did buy something. Only one thing.

My new sewing room in our apartment is actually bigger than the room at our old house. However, the rest  of the old house was much bigger! More rooms to store things in. And an attic. And a basement. So while the room is bigger, there is now more stuff in it! Thank goodness for the closet!

So with the cutting table, the sewing table (actually our old kitchen table), and a desk (my old sewing table that is an old counter on legs from Ikea), there is no room for the ironing table. Except in front of the door.

So, my purchase yesterday is this great, small, portable ironing table from sewNgo. And I think it will work very well.

I have to finish adding the velcro to my adorable cover (you get to pick your cover. I did good! It even matches the pin cushion and thread catcher I made with all it's purples and greens) and we will be all set. It is hard to reach my bookcase, but that is better than blocking the door!

And did I mention that I saw lots of machines there? Sewing, quilting, long arm.... oh what fun. I was really struck by a Janome I saw, the Horizon- don't tell Vicky (my Viking machine!).

Then we went north to Loveland and the Quilt Colorado 2012 Quilt Show. More fun vendors and some great quilts. Inspiration for sure. And I kept my $$ in my pocket. Except for a raffle ticket. Aren't you impressed? I have so many projects in the hopper, I needed to be good. Not that I wasn't tempted.

So off to play with more MUFs. Which one next? Maybe I can get Lily to pick- she has been hanging out here on the deck helping me blog.

I hope whatever you are doing, you are having fun.

Happy quilting,

Kate