Scrappy Debbie Mumm Beauty

My previous charity quilt made last December, shown here , used a panel from Debbie Mumm. I had another one, this time showing portraits of nine cute teddy bears, and that one also had to be the focal point of a children's quilt.

I also had a lot of novelty prints that were perfect to surround the panel.

The panel was not completely square, so I added 3" cream colored strips around it and then squared it up so I could add the squares of the novelty prints around without any construction problems.

The quilt all spread out on my porch. It measures approximately 36" x 54", and is a good-sized children's quilt. All the fun novelty prints will make it a favorite to snug under for a child.

I added a black border, and quilted a free motion design of loops and stars that fitted the fabrics well. My go-to binding for the charity quilts, an orange and multi-colored striped fabric, completed the quilt.

The playground picture shows a glimpse of the Ikea raspberry backing that I often use for the charity quilts.

A close-up of the fabrics and quilting. This completes my charity quilt number 15 to the children's ward at my local hospital. My goal for 2017 is to make a total of 6 charity quilts, I have more than enough fabrics for that!

Keep on quilting!

First Finish in 2017

This table runner has the honor of being my first finish this year. It is made completely from my stash. The fall colors of the runner matches the bare branches of my berry bush.

It is a very strange winter, 5-6 days ago we had a huge snowfall and now (almost) all of it is rained away! The very mild climate is not how it is supposed to be at this time. The only advantage is that I can use my porch and yard as a photo studio.

The back of the runner is a graphic print from Ikea.

The table runner photographed against the last pile of snow.

This is my first finish of the 2017 Finish-A-Long.


Keep on quilting!

2016 Aurifil Quilt Top

This must be some kind of a record for me, it is only the middle of January and already I have completed the quilt top for the 2016 Aurifil Designer of the Month!

The completed top was taken out for a photo shoot in the snow. The light is a little bleak, though, but the blues and the pops of color in the sashing brightens up the scene. I chose to make all my blocks in blues and white, as what the 12 different designers did.

The blocks laid out before assembling.

Grey sashing and black cornerstones added in between the blocks before auditioning borders. I chose light grey solid as the main border color, with pops of bright colors as extension of the sashing. None of the borders are the same width. I borrowed this idea from @kupitis on Instagram, and I like the modern feeling it gives to the quilt.

A detail of the quilt top.

Another picture of the top taken outside in the snow.

I will now take a little break to think about how to quilt this beauty. In the mean time there are other projects to be worked on...

Keep on quilting!

2017 Finish A Long - Goals Q1

Another year, another time to list goals for completing my projects this quarter. The list is a great incentive and motivation to finish items that have been waiting to be finished a longer or shorter time. For the first quarter I have chosen to list projects where the blocks were finished in the last months of 2016.

My first goal is to assemble the 24 blocks of the Modern HST Sampler, add sashing and quilt it.

The second goal is to do the same with the 2016 Aurifil blocks. This will be a little smaller quilt, only 12 blocks here.

Last year I joined a Quilting Bee, and these are the resulting bee blocks I have for my quilt. I will make a few more Houndstooth Blocks to make a decent quilt size. The backing fabric is already chosen, and I look forward to finishing the quilt. This is my third goal.

The fourth and last goal on my Q1 list is this table runner. The top is pieced, and it only needs batting, backing and quilting.

Keep on quilting!

Super Cute Pincushions

My first post in 2017 is a cute one; on New Year's Eve I discovered a Pincushion SewAlong on Instagram. This is hosted by @zeriano and Sew Illustrated. The patterns were free until January 1st, so I hurried to download them.

Each pincushion is 3" x 3" inches finished. I am mostly using scraps of Liberty prints.

I just had to make this as the first one. The orange batik cat is a tribute to my late cat. He passed away two years ago at the mature age of 16 1/2 years.

The second one us appliquéd using two Liberty prints, and I used both machine and hand stitching.

These tiny projects are so cute and rewarding, I am using up the smallest scraps I have. For the back of the pincushions I am using my smallest floral prints.

In this bowl there is room for several more, just stay tuned to my blog!

Happy sewing!