Sidetracked again! Here's a cute, quick, easy to sew gift idea. Fabric coasters. I don't know who to credit with this idea as I learned to make these at church and the pattern just seems to be passed around. Anyway...

You start with 6-5" squares of fabric. These are ideal to make with charm squares and you could certainly make your coasters larger or smaller using 4" squares or 6" squares, etc. I may try 10" layer cake squares to make a great matching trivet. Two of the squares will be the bottom and the other four will be the top part of the coaster. Fold these top four squares in half and press. You could use all of the same fabrics, some of the same fabrics, or none of the same fabrics for a scrappy look....your choice.




The bottom two squares will be placed wrong sides together. Yes, wrong sides together.




On top of the two bottom squares, you will place your four folded squares in a pinwheel, layered arrangement. Hard to explain, but kind of a basket weave. It will make sense when you have the fabric in front of you and you are matching it to this picture.

Pin all of the stacked layers together and sew around the edge. After sewing all the way around the squares, trim off the corners and excess seam allowances. This will reduce the bulk when you turn your coasters to the right side.

Turn the coasters right side out. Use a pointer to push out the corners. Slip the pointer into each of the sections to push the corners out.

Here's the finished coaster, which has been ironed after turning. I think these would be fun to make in a round shape too by just sewing in a circle instead of around the edges. I like this project because there is no hand sewing at all. Once you turn the coasters, the raw edges are hidden inside. The coasters are 6 fabrics thick, so they have a fair amount of insulation. I had thought about putting some sort of waterproofing layer sandwiched between the bottom two squares, but thought that it would add too much bulk. I may still try this on my next set.

Betcha can't make just one!

While house/kid sitting the past week, I brought along some hand sewing to occupy some of the down time. Although I made this quilt quite a while ago, maybe even a couple of years, I had not finished the binding. It was a year long, mystery, row by row quilt class. You received the block pattern and instructions on making the block each month, then you went home and made however many blocks that were required to make a row. The number of blocks needed to make a row depended on the size of the block.



As a bonus to taking the row by row class, at the end of the year long class, your quilt was long arm quilted at no extra cost. And this is where the trouble began.....

I won't mention the name of the shop that offered the class and quilting, but they are no longer in business for other reasons. Anyway, I finished the top and turned it in for quilting. The quilting was so sparse that I took it back and they added more quilting by quilting between the rows already quilted. There were areas of 10" to 12" with absolutely no quilting! You know how a quilt feels "quilty" after it's been quilted? It just has a wonderful feel and drape. This quilt felt like simple layers of fabric, nothing else, because of the sparse quilting. OK, so it gets more quilting which helped things immensely. It is far from being even moderately quilted, but I felt like I could put it in a washing machine without it completely bunching up and falling apart. Now.....when your long arm quilter isn't paying attention to the backside, it can turn out like this next picture. There were evenly spaced borders around the green center and now, on one side, the black border is completely gone! You can't see the scale here, but this is a long, skinny, twin sized quilt and those extra borders were about 8" wide. That means that when this quilt was placed on the long arm frame for quilting, it was 8" off center. An inch or so off center happens often, but 8" is negligence.




Well, at least this beast is finished! It's been sitting around in my craft room for ages, just leering at me and reminding me of the poor quilting. I lost my enthusiasm for completing the binding and put it away. It was a lot of work to piece this quilt and to see it finished with very poor quilting was hard to swallow. Oh well, life certainly goes on. At least this is a quilt that will get some use, as I won't feel like I need to save it for special occasions. I think it will make a great picnic quilt!
(Thanks for listening to my ranting!)

It's that time of the year.....another birthday for me! Kathy baked this wonderful homemade carrot cake for my birthday and was kind enough to only make me extinguish three candles. We've been "clapping" them out lately to keep from spraying germs on the cake and I'm thinking that this is a great idea all of the time.




Here's the cover of one of my cards. It's funny but certainly not far from the truth at my age!

Thanks to everyone for making my day special!

If you go all the way back to my April 21, 2009 post, you will find details about Kiva, a loan program that helps entrepreneurs in impoverished areas build their businesses.

The loan that I told you about in that post and made on that day, was paid back today. I have re-loaned the same money to another business woman, a 46 year old woman with a grocery store in Mongolia.

If you have an interest in Kiva, please check out my sidebar for a link. You will find information on each of the entrepreneurs, all waiting for your help!

Hmmmm....this doesn't look like the Christmas exchange project that is supposed to be my top priority.....life happened and I'm still behind on that project.......

Meanwhile, I was piecing the quilt below at my church this past Saturday. Everyone liked the quilt and suggested that I donate it to an auction that will take place on Saturday, October 17th to benefit the Woodburn Christian Children's Home. Yikes! Only one week (less than) and many other obligations to take care of during this time. I got it done.....the proof is in the pictures! Just goes to show you what you can accomplish when you set your mind to something AND there is a deadline...not to mention that any money that it raises will go to a great cause.

Does this quilt look familiar? It's the same pattern as the last charity quilt, just different fabrics. Same pattern, same quilting design. I needed a fool-proof and fast quilt and this one worked out nicely. The color of this quilt is actually a soft mint green....much prettier than this picture shows.

Fold over of the back side. I attached a label on one of the corners with Matthew 19:14 on it. "Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these."

The quilt was delivered to the home today and was in time to be included in the auction and in the accompanying auction brochure.

FYI.... Here's a link to one of the auction information pages. Maybe you are looking for a good charitable cause. :)
http://www.wcchonline.org/2009%20Auction/Auction%20Letter%20Businesses%202009.pdf

The October BOM, all finished. Now I've got to get busy on my Christmas exchange in order to get it mailed out this month......that's the next project to finish!

It's finished! My Quilts for Kids quilt is finished! I posted the information about this organization in an earlier post and I'm just now finishing the quilt. They supplied the fabric, I supplied the elbow grease. The quilt measures 38" x 45".

I finish lots of quilt tops, runners, tablecloths, etc., then panic when it comes to quilting the project. Thus.....I have tons of unfinished quilts stored away. The instructions with this organization specifically asked for heavy quilting in order for the quilts to stand up to daily washings. I knew that a simple stitch in the ditch would not be adequate, but what to do? After a long period of procrastination and several prayers, I jumped in with a simple wavy line, sewn diagonally across the quilt from top to bottom. It looked OK...didn't pucker.....looked fine on the back...... Then another line approximately an inch from the first line....and so on.

I'm very pleased with the end result. It looks nice and will hold up for a long time. Here's the back with my label attached. Under the label is a scripture for comfort and healing. May God bless the child that receives this quilt and may they enjoy it in good health!

(And now.....when I get time.....I may actually finish some of those waiting projects!)

Here's another quick and easy project for you. I used a purchased pattern and followed the simple instructions. This pattern is designed specifically for striped material and you can make some beautiful patterns by matching the stripes at the ends of the runner.

Before you decide that you don't want to match the stripes....keep reading. I used to make garments and always stayed away from matching stripes and plaids.....too much work and too many seams to rip out if they didn't match. This pattern, with clear instructions and a 60 degree triangle ruler, makes it super easy to cut exact pieces that will fit together perfectly.




My runner pieces, all cut out and ready to sew together. The 60 degree triangle ruler allows you to cut your fabric pieces without hesitation.




This is a picture of my almost finished table runner. After you sew it together and turn it right side out, you will need to close the opening that you used to pull the fabric to the right side. The pattern recommends closing the opening with a slip stitch but I wanted to get this done a little more quickly. I used a double faced fusible web to iron the opening closed. You can buy this in rolls like tape and they are great for many uses like a quick fix for a loose hem. Of course, I top stitched the opening and all around the runner, knowing this would secure the sides together, especially at the fused area.




The finished runner.




The backside of the runner with my coordinating fabric. You could certainly reverse this runner to get more use out of it. Different seasons, different colors, whatever.

“Time is passing. Yet, for the United States of America,there will be no forgetting September the 11th.We will remember every rescuer who died in honor.We will remember every family that lives in grief.We will remember the fire and ash, the last phone calls,the funerals of the children.”–George W. Bush (1946- ), 43rd President of the United States.

And then there were three..........

I took a fun and simple class today at my local fabric shop. We made cute little, cosmetic sized, bags that have unlimited uses. I made mine out of some sweet tractor fabric.


This is the bag in a snapped, open position.

The pattern is called Snap Happy! and has directions for three sizes, as well as instructions for making about any custom size that you would like. The fun part is the "snap" part. What do you think makes the purse snap open?

A metal tape measure, cut to fit! You cut your desired length from the tape measure and insert it into the bag casing. You pull on the prairie points on the sides of the bag and.....Voila....it snaps open and closed!

This was a fast project to make and I plan on making several of these for gifts. The possibilities are endless!

"Do you mind.....I'm trying to take a nap."

September's BOM and the first of the new series. There were two colorways to choose from, a bright colorway and a more pastel colorway. By the time I signed up, the bright colorway was already gone so I had no choice but the pastel colors. After seeing the bright colorway finished block for September, I'm really pleased that I'll be working with the the softer colors.

HAPPY LABOR DAY!

It's Christmas in September! I started working on a Christmas exchange that needs to be finished by the middle of October. It will be a small winter wall hanging and I'm using paper foundations for the focal blocks. I think it will be about 16"x 20" when finished, but that may change as I work on the project.

Backside of the stars. Not many pieces and pretty simple to make. The block is 3" x 3" (finished).

Star front.

Tree backside. This block is 5" x 6" (finished). More complicated than the star and harder to guesstimate the right size of fabric pieces because of all of the angles. Best tip is to just cut much larger pieces than you think you will need and save yourself lots of time and do-overs. Even though you waste more fabric, it keeps you from pulling your hair out.

Front side of tree. I'm trying to achieve the looks of a snowy, winter night.

I made one of each of these blocks to audition the fabrics to see if I would like the way they turned out. It just saves time to take this extra step to make sure everything will turn out as you envisioned. Fortunately, I'll be able to use these blocks in the final hanging.

Since my BOM blocks were sitting on top of my "to do" pile, I went ahead and set them into what I think will become a tablecloth. The picture isn't great....I had to stand on a chair and kind of guess about the placement. The background is my carpet and it confuses your eye. I sashed the blocks and used cornerstones to make sure that the whole thing was square and accurate. If you don't want your cornerstones to stand out, you can make them out of the same fabric as your sashing. By setting the blocks this way, I could accurately cut my sashing at 12 1/2" x 1 1/2", my cornerstones at 1 1/2" x 1 1/2" and this would ensure that the whole thing was nice and square. If you cut long strips of sashing and simply cut off the excess at the ends, you can have some stretching and distortion, (plus, many of my blocks had bias, stretchy edges). After setting the blocks this way, I felt pretty confident that my border would also be accurate, even though it would be done with long strips with the excess trimmed off. Hmmm......clear as mud?

As I said, this may become a tablecloth. It may also be a lap quilt, I may pipe the edges, I may just add flannel as a batting.....and so forth. It just needs some thought at this point and I will come back to it sometime in the future. Overall, I'm pleased with the results.




Sandy........ I'm thinking about you and sending prayers for your recovery, hoping that you are doing well today. Be tough!

My friend, Sandy, sent this to me several years ago and I just love it. It represents the four of us, high school friends then roommates in college. Two blondes, two brunettes. No, we aren't' goddesses, we're just plain ol' girlfriends that have known each other for many decades.

I hope you can read this poem that is on the back of the card. (Click on the picture for a bigger view) It really sums up the value of friendships. God directs people into our lives and we receive so many blessings from these contacts.

Whether you've been friends for 40 days or 40 years, please take the time to send a prayer of thanksgiving to God for the priceless gift of friendships.

This is the final block (#12) in the Block of the Month series. Yippee! This one was pretty tedious, with 72 triangles in this 12" block. As usual, I changed some of the fabrics and did a little rearranging of the supplied fabrics. The new series begins the first week of September and I've signed up for this new BOM series too.

I made a 13th block to add to this series. The BOM series ended up having 8-12" blocks and 4-6" blocks. Unless you set them in kind of a medallion or even put all 4-6" blocks together to make a 12" block, the setting just didn't make sense to me. This extra block now gives me 9-12" blocks, enough to make a 3 x 3 block square tablecloth or lap quilt. I think my leftover 6" blocks will become pot holders. My kitchen is blue and they'll fit right in.

I have extra fabric to sash the blocks and add a border (maybe two). I'll post an update when I get the blocks set. Right now, I'm still thinking Christmas projects need to come first. Ho, Ho, Ho!

The second batch of monochromatic blocks arrived yesterday. I had sent two batches of 20- 6 1/2" blocks and received the same in return, in two mailings. A central hostess sorted and mailed out these blocks to the 50 participants. She certainly had a lot of work to get these blocks back to us.

I did end up with a duplicate block, but out of 40 blocks, this isn't bad. I had 5 blocks from the new batch that I took apart and resewed. They weren't that misshapen, but when you are working with a somewhat small block, there isn't much room for error. The tiny blocks don't have much stretching possibilities, so it was just easier to redo them. I feel that they will all go together easier by just resewing them. This extra work will save me time in the long run.

I'm not sure what I'm going to do with them yet and will put them on the back burner for the time being. I imagine that I will make a tablecloth out of them, maybe 6 blocks x 6 blocks. My kitchen table is a small round table and a square tablecloth looks nice with the corners draping down. We'll see.

Right now, I need to get into the Christmas gift making mode and get moving. I have several projects planned that I'm hoping won't be as time consuming as last year's gifts. I've also signed up for some classes for various projects that I believe will make good gifts. Although you certainly don't need classes to make gifts, it gives me a jump start. The classes are free at my fabric shop and the motivation is priceless!

There will always be a demand for people to make and donate quilts to various charities. The fabric below was sent to me from Quilts for Kids, an organization that delivers handmade quilts to sick children. Because I'm "financially challenged", they even provided the fabric for the quilt. Rules, inspirational stories, etc., may be found on their web site, http://www.quiltsforkids.org/. There might be a local chapter in your area, and if not, your quilts will be welcomed for national distribution.



This is the quilt label that they also enclosed. When I finish the quilt, I will sign my name and sew this to the back of the quilt.

As I said, there are many, many organizations that are in need of handmade quilts. Many will accept quilts and covers that are knitted, crocheted, fleece, quilted, etc. You will just have to find out what specific guidelines your chosen charity will require.

As life would have it, I was recently on the receiving end of a donated quilt. Not me, specifically, but a dear friend. She has been in ICU for a few weeks and received a beautiful, handmade lap quilt. In ICU, even balloons are restricted, so the only color in her drab room is this beautiful quilt. Once I found out the background of the quilt, I volunteered to make quilts for the ICU unit too. The least I can do is "pay it forward" as that quilt really touched my heart during a difficult time.

I just wanted to point out the great need for quilters to make quilts for charities. Many of you reading this blog are quilters and sewists and your skills are badly needed to keep these charities loaded with quilts. The ICU unit at my local hospital has given over 700 quilts in only a year and a half and are in constant need for more. That's a lot of quilts! So if you have the time, there is a worthy charity near you that needs your help. Please contact them for details and get started on a quilt that will bring hope, cheer, and brighten the day of someone special!

The Block of the Month series is coming to an end. This is block #11, a small 6" block. I think I'm just going to make pot holders out of the three-6" blocks that we have made throughout the year, as I don't feel that they will fit well with the larger blocks. I'll pick up a little extra fabric and make a few more 12" blocks to finish my quilt.

My orange color blocks are finished and ready to be mailed tomorrow!


Here are all 20 blocks....ready to go!

I was also able to redo the wonky blocks that I received in the first part of the exchange. When you have so many people involved in an exchange and so many levels of talent, it's no wonder that a few of the blocks may not meet your expectations. These exchanges are still a wonderful way to connect with other quilters and get a great variety of blocks and fabrics. I highly recommend joining the swaps and having fun!

Block #11 out of 12 is finished. I didn't do the best job on this block because I changed one of the fabrics and the pieces got lost in transition. If you look closely at the beige triangle sections, you will see that each triangle is actually made of four triangles. The original pattern called for the center triangle to be made with the same light blue fabric as the outer sections. I wasn't happy with the light blue and substituted a complimentary fabric which totally lost the definition of the separate triangles. It would have been much easier to just make one triangle instead of combining the four triangles. Up close, in person, you can see the four separate units but they are all but lost in this photo. It's still a nice enough block, but I certainly messed up the whole point of the design!




I received the first part of my mono color block exchange today! Twenty blocks, each reading one color. I was pretty happy with most of them. A couple were rather wonky and I will be enlisting "Jack the Ripper" to help me take them apart and resew them. It was fun to look at all of the different fabrics.


More mono color blocks.....(I did receive one duplicate so it will be returned for an exchange.) Oh, and are you observant enough to see that one of the blocks is rotating counter-clockwise instead of clockwise?




And the last four blocks....

I hope to start the next 20 blocks sometime this week. I have chosen orange for the color, as the hostess said they didn't receive many orange blocks in the first part of the exchange.

After a month away from my blog, I'm finally taking the time for a little update. Summer just seems to be busier than winter and even yard work takes me away from hobbies and crafts. My limited energy has to be divided and some things just have to be put on the back burner.

My dear sister-in-law, Patti, visited in June. One of our main goals was to make a baby quilt that will be given to her soon-to-be-born grand niece. We had planned on making the entire quilt, from design to quilting, while she was visiting.

Here's Patti sewing the strips together to make the Rail Fence pattern. She found some really sweet pink fabrics for the quilt.


A proud Patti showing off her completed quilt top! She did a wonderful job and took great care to make sure that her seams were nice and straight.

Now at this stage, the plan changed. We discovered that the quilt was taking many days of her visit and it still needed to be quilted and bound. Although Patti could have finished the quilt herself, we decided that we wanted to do a little sight seeing and just get out of the house for the last days of her visit. So.....I finished quilting and binding the quilt after she went back home.

The quilt is on route to Patti and I pray that she will like the finished product. Now all Patti needs is for her grand niece to make her entrance into the world!

One of our sight seeing stops was at the home of Gene Stratton-Porter. We toured the grounds and her home and were thrilled to learn about all of the other talents that Gene mastered. Writing was just a small part of her life. She was far ahead of her time as a naturalist, architect, artist, home decorator, etc., etc. She had to have been quite a force in her day when women were "seen and not heard." I had to snicker as I imagined how she must have been perceived by the men of her era....they had to have been pretty intimidated by her!

This is my "almost" finished lap quilt. It's almost done except for
quilting around the squares. I might even finish it off by tying the squares....gotta sleep on that decision. The top fabrics appear be cotton and cotton blends and the backing is flannel. I folded the backing over to the front, used a large zigzag stitch to attach it to the front and make a small border/binding. I'll finish it tomorrow at church and knew that I wouldn't be bringing it back home....thus....a picture of an almost finished lap quilt. It's a little larger than the other charity quilts so I've just left it folded for the picture. Plus, spreading a flannel quilt out on my floor means it will be attacked by cat hair! Just use your imagination to see the full quilt.