Remember this quilt I made a while ago? I had two paper pieced tulips left and have wondered, for the longest time, what to do with them. I would take them out of the drawer and put them right back in because I could not come up with any way to use only two of them in a wall hanging. Then, after I made the mug rugs I showed you yesterday I realized I had seen the light! I made two rectangular mug rugs adding ribbons of matching colors. I used Aurifil monofilament to stitch … [Read more...] about Paper Pieced Mug Rugs
Orphan blocks mug rugs
I was going through my kitchen cabinets looking for something last week when I found this cutie. Suddenly, I had another idea of what to do with the orphan blocks I could not turn into quilts - mug rugs! I began with these two blocks (remember the baby quilt I made for my youngest grandson, Alex, with similar blocks?). Got some batting scraps and backing fabric, pinned them together, chose the Aurifil threads... ... had fun quilting with them, and added binding by machine (quick project, … [Read more...] about Orphan blocks mug rugs
Beanie Friday
Guys, check out the beanie I knitted this week. My youngest son, Ryan, is loving it! Never mind it is 97 F outside... This pattern is so fun to make, very simple, and fits teens and adults very well. It calls for two contrasting yarns which I happened to have in my [yarn] stash. Nothing too fancy, just a handful of cable twists to add charm to the beanie. I used Deborah Norville's Collection "Everyday" for Premier - soft with cool colors. I have no idea what the gray yarn is called but … [Read more...] about Beanie Friday
Doodle to quilt
This new book by Martingale, 180 Doodle Quilting Designs, is just what we, free-motion quilters (and aspiring ones as well), needed. Sure, we could all use new ideas for quilting motifs, but this book is about more than just extra designs. The best way to get over the 'must-be-perfect' state of mind and start free-motion quilting is to doodle or practice the design you want to use first. I learned a long time ago to 'draw' in the air the design with my index finger prior to putting needle to … [Read more...] about Doodle to quilt
Christmas Quilt
Photograph by Matthew Owen for Quilter's World. Published with permission. Quilter's World magazine has just published their Autumn issue featuring my 'Formal Attire' Christmas quilt. I love working with reds and greens and this quilt was so fun and easy to make. I used Square-in-a-Square blocks with different color combinations. The green corners of the cream blocks form a bow tie, my whole idea for this quilt and thus its name. Formal Attire was quilted by Quilts in the Corner in … [Read more...] about Christmas Quilt
Iris Orphan Block
I made this center Iris flower block many moons ago during a class in Draper, Utah, with my friend Cathie. My original post is from June 2012 (see it here). It was so much fun and so much work! It uses Ruth McDowell's straight line method of piecing and the Iris pattern can be found in her book "Pieced Flowers". I pulled this block out of my orphan block stash a few times in hopes I would turn it into something special, but I could not come up with any ideas that would do it … [Read more...] about Iris Orphan Block