A Birthday Lap Quilt

At Christmas time, I made lap quilts for three of my children but wasn’t sure the older son would want one.  Then, I decided he might like to have something to throw over himself and his two dogs when he naps in his recliner.  I wanted to use scraps and made his quilt using my 1920s Farmer’s Wife Sampler Quilt book.  I had made a wall hanging back in 2010 when I first received the book, but for this quilt made blocks I hadn’t tried before – all with blue scraps.  The blocks were of various sizes and I used borders to make them all the same size and maroon sashing to put them together.

The backing/batting is a pretty blue fleece.

The quilt measures 48 x 60 inches and took on a nautical look without my intending it to be that way.  I think it will be a nice 60th birthday gift for my son and his dogs.

Cozy Afternoon – Free BOM – Block 3

Jacquelynne Steves is offering another series of free blocks-of-the-month called Cozy Afternoon.

http://jacquelynnesteves.com/cozy-afternoon-block-of-the-month/

There will be five blocks, each with a pattern to embroider or applique for the center.  I have a large hassock with a lid which I’m going to cover, using five blocks – one for the top of the lid and four for the sides.

My version of Block 3 is shown in the top picture.  This will be one of the sides of the hassock cover, using a vintage embroidery pattern for the center.

Jacquelynne also provides a pattern for an embroidered or appliqued center and I made another block using the embroidered mug and a different set of fabrics.

The block pattern is generally easy, but I did not get the results I wanted for the four corner patches using the method given.  This could be my fault – I don’t do well when I have to sew pieces together and then slice them apart.  I’m not always as precise as I should be, but when I tried very hard on the second block and didn’t like the way it turned out, I drew the patch on my Electric Quilt software and got the measurements for a 3-inch finished block.  This one turned out perfectly.  I’m including the measurements and directions in case someone wants to do it the old-fashioned way.

Cut one “A” 2×2 inches

Cut one “B” 2-3/8×2-3/8 inches (Cut on diagonal and use both patches.)

Cut one “C” 3-7/8 x 3-7/8 inches (Cut on diagonal and use one patch

• Sew one light blue triangle to right side of pink square.  There will be 1/4 inch tails on either end.

• Press seam open and sew white triangle across bottom of pink square.

• Press seam and trim tails.  Place on blue triangle, right sides together, and stitch across long side.

• Press open and trim tails.  Patch should measure 3-1/2 inches square.  The pink patch should measure 1-3/4 inches from seam to edge, which will match up perfectly with the other squares in the block.

This is a really nice BOM series and there’s still time to get the patterns and instructions for later use.  Jacquelynne does not archive her patterns for long periods of time.

Springtime Mantel and Cushion Cover

Desert Sky Quilts has a great quilting blog which includes tutorials for some blocks she designed.  I liked her Indestructible Star and tried it using her instructions for a 12-1/2 inch unfinished block.  I added a border and ruffles to make a nice cushion cover.

(http://desertskyquilts.livejournal.com/)

I thought this would be a good pattern to use with scraps for a springtime mantel cover.  For this cover I reduced the blocks to 6-1/2 inches.

For the length I wanted, I made 5 blocks using scraps of a different coordinating color for each.

I added setting and corner triangles along with a border and a plain piece of fabric for the top of the mantel.

I didn’t want to use batting and placed the backing right sides together with the block portion and sewed around the edges, leaving an opening on the back edge.  The piece was turned and pressed, then I used a minimum amount of machine stitching to hold the back and front together and top stitched around the edge.

I like the cover very much – cheerful and spring-like.

This cover measures 19-1/2 x 43-1/2 inches.