Before & After

I picked up some lillies at the last auction for $2 a pot:

But they didn't quite get planted in time before they were destroyed by Esther!  In her defense, the Jeep was in reverse and she didn't realize it until too late.

I did find time this weekend between the new Cars movie debut and Bea's dance recital to finish sewing the binding on my fall tumbler quilt.  It turned out nicer than I had hoped, and I really love it.  I can't wait to snuggle under it this fall!

I also crossed another goal off my 2011 quilty resolution list...a pieced back.  It was easier than I expected to put together and I'm quite pleased with the results, although I forgot about a piece of fabric I wanted to use and instead used the yellow print.  The yellow isn't my favorite fabric, but it looks okay.  I think the fabric I had picked out would have been better, but what's done is done!

And here is a close-up of the fabric labels I had printed at Spoonflower.  I framed it with the same fabric I used for binding.

And I also finally finished Bea's Bambi quilt.  It was waiting patiently for me to clip all the thread tails off the back from the free motion quilting leaves I quilted all over (I really quilted the heck out of this one!) and finish the binding.  It is ready to be used!!!  I think Bea is happy with it.  I bought all the fabrics at Over the Rainbow online.



Third (or fourth) time's the charm

I joined the Block Swap Adventure this month (button on the left side of my page) and was assigned my partner Lillian.  She requested a Tulip Ladyfingers block with some color choices.  I had never made this block before (I've never made most blocks before!) and picking out the fabric was half the fun.  Last weekend, I finally sat down to cut out my pieces and put it all together, but it certainly didn't turn out how I hoped:

I think what happened was that my seam allowance wasn't quite 1/4 inch, so the block was bigger than it should be.  Then when I trimmed it back, there wasn't enough seam allowance so the tulips would remain pointy when the block is sewn to another.  But basically I was freaking out.  Enter Bobbie, a fellow quilter who answered my help post on the Block Swap Adventure Blog.  She gave me some great advice for remaking the block.  I made a second that came out nearly perfect, but since I had to rip virtually every single seam, I thought I should make a newer block due to the wear and tear.  I wasn't sure how well the block would hold up after all my man handling.  After cutting out block #3, I realized I mixed up some of the colors and actually cut out and sewed the wrong color for the HSTs.  So, I had to make a fourth block!!!   The last one turned out okay.  The block is a little shy of the 12.5 inch size, but it's pretty close.  So, I hope Lillian likes it!  I picked some Eleanor Burns and Connecting Threads fabrics in blue and yellow.  I tried to stay within the confines of Lillian's color choices, but isnt' it amazing how different each block looks based on the colors?  I love the middle one with the Riley Blake polka dots and some Lecien pinks.

I also pieced together a little pinwheel parade for the Fourth of July.  The bottom with the white sashing is my first attempt at pinwheels, and I had pretty much the same errors as I did with the Tulip Ladyfingers.  I trimmed them back a little and the points disappeared, although it wasn't terrible.  So, I tried again and it turned out so much better.   This time I omitted the sashing, too, and I think I like that look better.

And finally I whipped up a tablerunner from some of my favorite scraps that I am going to call the Indian Summer skinny tablerunner.  The backing/binding fabric is actually some that I purchased to back my fall tumbler quilt, but then I forgot I had it and since I was making a pieced backing for the fall tumbler, it completely slipped my mind until it was all quilted and I found it folded up in a pile of fabric on the couch:)  It is so summery--abstract sunflowers that look just like little suns to me.  I love it!  The flowers are from my sweet husband--we celebrated 7 wonderful years together on June 19.  Happy Summer!  I hope everyone is enjoying the weather and time with family!

Old Glory

Happy Flag Day to all!  I have been so busy the past few days and I am TIRED!!!   Luckily the husband and I will be getting a date night soon.  I can't wait to not have to cook dinner!  I finished up this table runner this morning to commemorate the day (or the 4th of July):

Here's a close-up of the different fabrics I used.  I cut all the strips 10" long and parallel to the selvage.  Cutting them that way pretty much eliminated any stretch when I was piecing them together.  I actually haven't stitched the binding on the back yet, it's just pinned:)

My fifty-cent tomatoes are doing well.  I've got about 8 tomatoes on the vine right now.

And here are the last of the local strawberries for this season.  Blackberries should be ripening soon!!! 

Farmer's Market Haul

Okay, I am addicted!  I've been to the Loveville Produce Auction twice now and I'm hooked! It was so much fun today!  Here's Summer's and my haul:

12 patio tomato plants at $.50 each!!!  Summer and I split them.

1 box of mixed beautiful squash for $1.75.

2 1/2 bushels of pickling cucumbers at $8 each.

This was our most expensive purchase--11 pints of blueberries at $4 each and 2 pints of raspberries at $4.50 each...pricey!

12 bunches of beets for canning.

And homemade stone ground white wheat flour at $2 a bag.

All in all, it was a fantastic auction day.  This isn't all we bought, but because my minivan is being serviced today, we had to take 2 cars this time.  This is all the stuff that made it to my house.  Summer bought a bunch of plants for her yard that were beautiful that I don't have photos of.  We have already canned all the berries (triple berry jam and blueberry jam) and tomorrow plan to pickle.

And to top it all off, I sold my first pricey item (a baby quilt) on Etsy today!!! Hurray!!!



Housewarming Gift

I blogged before about my Aunt Joan moving here to southern Maryland to be closer to my family.  Since her washer/dryer is not in her apartment, we got her a housewarming gift so she can cart it down the hall to the laundry room with ease.  And I made a cute 16 x 16 pillow for her couch celebrating the love of her life, Rex the dog.

He is a Boston terrier, and amazingly this Chloe's Closet "Pampered Pooch" happens to have an array of dogs printed on it, including a Boston terrier!  They are not the most attractive dogs in my opinion--my Uncle Frank used to joke that Rex looks the same way coming as he does going:)  Anyway, I am off to see Aunt Joan for the morning--hairdresser, grocery store, etc.  Then, I am stopping by Joanns for some notions.  There's a 20% off coupon for everything on sale and regular priced here that you can print at home.

Sorry about the fuzzy photo--I don't know how to take small close-ups with my camera!

Recycling an old pillow

This yucky old pillow needed a facelift.  I bought it around Christmas, but with three kids running amok, it got destroyed pretty quickly.  And since the cover was not removable, this ice cream/caramel stain was permanent.  So, I decided to recycle the stuffing.

First I cut two 19 x 19 inch muslin squares.  Then I sewed them together using a 1/2" seam allowance backstitching at the beginning and end while leaving about a 3 inch hole (enough to get my hand into).  I pressed the seams and turned it  right side out.  I used a chopstick to poke out the corners gently and pressed it again.

Here is the 3 inch gap.

Now comes the fun part!  My five year old stuffed the old polyfill fiber into the new pillow.  First I refluffed all the fiberfill by "combing" it through my fingers to make it puffy again.  I also helped push the fiberfill evenly down into the corners of the pillow.

Then I handstitched the gap closed.  I hate handsewing, but luckily this step only takes two minutes.  Your pillow will measure 18 x 18.

And, voila!, I made two pillows using this method.  I love this fabric.  I found it at Joanns on Sunday when I was buying some Warm and White batting.  I turned around from the cutting table and it was thrown on the bottom shelf in the craft area.  Must have been kismet!  It's Alexander Henry "Kelo" and the selvage said 2005.  Now my living room looks great!

The pillows have contrasting back fabric and you can find the tutorial here.