An Easter Bunny Tote Bag

A friend sent my daughter and me really cute wall hangings made from a towel and washcloth.

We wanted to make something for her and collaborated on a large tote bag.  My daughter did her great embroidery on an 8 inch center panel …

…and I used my favorite quilt block to frame a picture – 4-½ inch log cabin blocks (1-½ inch center and 1 inch strips).

I used the same pretty pink calico in the blocks and for the backing and lining.

Pale green check seems to go with pink so well and serves as an accent on the bag.

This is a roomy 16 x 20 inch tote and I hope will be used to transport a lot of good stuff.

Click on pictures to enlarge.

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Cats and Dogs Springtime Wall Hanging

My youngest daughter likes to have a quilted wall hanging in her family room and hinted broadly that she’d like one with some spring colors.  She didn’t have any other ideas and said something with her kids would be OK.  I’ve already made several hangings featuring her kids, so I thought this time it would be nice to feature the pets she has owned since she was married.  I scanned the pictures and then printed them on June Tailor Sew-In Colorfast Fabric Sheets for Ink Jet Printers.

I added borders to the pictures to make 6 inch blocks.

The alternate blocks were simple Diamond in a Square to showcase some beautiful 5 inch florals I had along with some pale green gingham.

For the backing, I used some pink fabric that had been a dress for her daughter a few years ago.  The quilting is simple straight line and stitch-in-the-ditch.  I also made a sleeve (the drapery hooks were used just to take pictures).   The wall hanging measures 30×30 inches.  The label includes pictures of the animals.

The beagle Bailey in the center was her first dog who passed away a few years ago. The rest of the group is still running amuck in her house – the black dog Frank was adopted after he was found abandoned in the neighborhood; Jimmi the Blue Tick Coon Hound came from a local rescue (Recycled Doggies); the cats showed up at her front door on two successive Halloween nights – their names are appropriately Milky Way and Snickers.

My daughter likes having the rest of her “family” featured on a wall hanging.

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Disappearing Nine-Patch Quilt-Along

I wanted to participate in a quilt-along offered by Freda at Impera Magna and try the Disappearing Nine-Patch block.  My problem is that I’m not good at reporting my progress on quilt-alongs and before I know it, I’ve completed the quilt without really participating.

To audition the block, I made a doll’s quilt first ….

http://lillianscupboard.wordpress.com/2013/01/31/disappearing-9-patch-qal-and-a-doll-quilt/

Then, I started making a child-size “I Spy” quilt for our local Linus Project which distributes quilts to children in  hospitals.  I used all scraps for this quilt and bought only the fleece for the backing (which the Linus group prefers) and thread.  It turned out to be bigger than I expected – 47 inches wide x 58 inches long.  I’ve been having back problems and didn’t want to wrestle a large quilt through my Bernina.  This quilt was bigger than I intended, but manageable.

Instead of turning the blocks as shown in Freda’s instructions, I simply switched the top right and bottom left square in each block so that my I Spy blocks would not be turned.

Rather than buy more fabric for the border, I made an extra row of blocks and did not use a border.  I used the fleece as backing and batting and did a very simple quilting pattern on the machine.

I draped the finished quilt over my couch and left the room to get my camera.  When I came back, Addie, the beagle, was well settled on the quilt, looking as though I had made it for her.  Luckily, the Linus group meticulously washes all of the quilts that are donated so I know it will be in good shape when it goes to the hospital.

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Disappearing 9-Patch QAL – and a Doll Quilt

When I saw that Freda at Imperamagna was hosting a QAL featuring a Disappearing 9-Patch, I was interested but just didn’t want to get into a big quilt at this time.  Then, I thought maybe I could make a child’s quilt for my local Linus Project, and going even smaller, I could first make a doll quilt for my granddaughter’s American Girl Doll bed.

The doll is American Girl’s Kit from the depression era and her metal bed is the perfect color of green.  I had some Windham Storybook IV c 1930 Scottie fabric that was ideal and the Disappearing 9-Patch block was easy enough to be able to work with the small blocks.

In keeping with the 1930s theme, I added some rickrack to the top and bottom borders.

Now, Kit has all of the proper bedding, including my daughter’s hand-knitted bedspread.

I’m still participating in the QAL and working on blocks for my Linus quilt.

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Country Fair Mini-Quilt – Table Topper

When I gave my youngest daughter an anniversary mini-quilt and rack in October, I knew I would be supplying new quilts as the occasion arose.  I made Thanksgiving and Christmas quilts, then realized mid-January she didn’t have a quilt for her table topper.  I made what I call an “interim quilt” which means it would work out for non-seasonal, non-holiday display.

Last year about this time, I spent some time making some of Judy Martin’s variations on LeMoyne stars.  I particularly liked this one called “Country Fair“.  The block I made is far from perfect and convinced me I didn’t want to make a big quilt from this block, but I still think it’s nice as a mini-quilt with some strips added to fit the rack.

I quilted it to a fleece backing, added sleeve, label and binding – and my daughter has an interim quilt to display until time to put up the Valentine’s Day decorations.

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A 70s Turkey Mini-Quilt Table Topper

When I gave my youngest daughter a mini-quilt and rack for her anniversary in October, I knew I would be making some more mini-quilts for her.  I wanted to give her something with a Thanksgiving theme and remembered a pattern I had picked up in Ohio Amish country several years ago.  It’s a fused turkey design that I used to make a wall hanging.

Since my daughter is definitely a child of the 70s, I made up a mini-quilt for her with a very cool turkey, using all of the frantic 70s fabrics left over from other projects I’ve done for her.

I used wide black zigzag stitches to give it an even wilder and crazier 70s look.

Of course, she loved it and it’s in her family room along with a big stuffed orange and green owl and some other 70s stuff.

The pattern is by Becky and Me, #T-1044.  Address:  5811 Valley Ave. E, Fife WA 98424 – (253) 380-2284.

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Autumn Mini-Quilt Table Topper

When my daughter and I went to the International Quilt Show here in Cincinnati last spring, I chose an embroidery piece for my daughter to do for me – Autumn – Cherish it!  My sentiments exactly.  She did her usual beautiful embroidery on it with little scenes of birdhouses, pumpkins, flowers, apples, a church, a harvest moon, etc., and I assembled it this past week to make a mini-quilt table topper.

I tried three different approaches  and settled on this one with the green gingham which did not overpower the embroidery.  I used decorative stitching for the quilting and added some vintage and decorative buttons.

It shows everything I love about autumn.

Click on pictures to enlarge.

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An Anniversary Table Topper

I wanted to make a table topper for my youngest daughter’s 17th wedding anniversary.  Over the past 17 years, I’ve used the picture of the bride and groom many times.  This time, I wanted to use just the picture of the bride and found the perfect block on crafty.com – an Inverted Star.

This block in a 12-inch size gave me the large center portion to insert a picture of my daughter as a bride printed on  June Tailor Sew-In Colorfast Fabric Sheets.

For the four center blocks I wanted to use a picture of her bouquet and my oldest daughter was able to place the bouquet on a doily and maroon background  to give the flowers the right design elements.  She worked with both pictures to make them perfect for this piece.

I used my daughter’s wedding colors of white and burgundy in this topper and quilted with simple machine stitching.   I had made the dresses for the wedding for the bride, the maid of honor (my oldest daughter) and for me as the mother of the bride. The label includes the remaining small scraps of fabric from each of our dresses.

I was able to buy an Ackfeld 12×14 single scroll stand at a recent quilt show to complete the gift.

My son-in-law could care less about quilts and always receives a check for his gift.  My daughter was very pleased with the table topper when I gave it to her on Sunday, October 14.

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1970s Memory Quilt

Last summer, my youngest daughter asked me to make a beach-themed wall hanging for her family room.  Now that summer is over, she thought she’d like to have a quilt representing her favorite era – the 1970s – with photos of her two kids in 70s-style clothes.  She chose the fabric and pictures, my oldest daughter worked with the pictures to make them suitable for printing on June Tailor Sew-In Colorfast Fabric sheets and I set to work to make the quilt.

The centerpiece is a photo she took of David Cassidy in concert – her favorite singer from the 1970s.  He’s surrounded by fun pictures of the kids ….

…and even one of their Build-A-Bear cheetah in 70s garb.

I used a block called “Sugarbowl” in the 4 corners …

…and otherwise used 6-½ inch blocks with sashing around the pictures.

I used up all of the fabric to make the backing and binding.

Quilting was very simple machine stitching.  It was a fun and easy project.

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Honey Bee Table Topper–Mini-Quilt

My daughter gave me an embroidered piece she had made several years ago and I wanted to make a table topper quilt out of it.  I didn’t want anything too colorful or elaborate to draw attention away from the beautiful embroidery and decided on strips of Civil War reproduction fabric with the deep, rustic colors that are in the panel.

I quilted the topper with machine embroidery along the edges of the strips.  The backing is one of many I have stored away made of scraps.  As beginner/ender projects or just as some mindless sewing to do when I want to relax, I make up backings from scraps and orphan blocks.

I’m glad to have another honey bee item to add to my collection.

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