Celebrate Worldwide Quilting Day

Happy Quilting Day! We're quilters and we get our own day, how about that? Whatever you do to celebrate today, have fun.

I'm inviting you to sew along with me today. You know I love making small projects and sometimes it's just the thing to get your creativity going. I've been working on some star blocks this week for a different project and decided to use 2 of the blocks for a couple of mug rugs. Aren't they cute? A mug quilt is something I'll always use and it's always nice to have a few extra lying around just in case. What fun to serve someone a cup of tea with a cute mug rug and see them smile and say "Oh, how sweet!"  Here's how to make this one yourself.

I have to say I got a LIFT from making these.

Ready? First, you'll need some good scraps. Choose some of your favorites and put them aside for cutting. You know how partial I am to blue but if you're not, use another color for your theme. Or, just make it all scrappy. If you prefer light prints, then make it with a light color instead of the black background. I hope some of you do this and show me. I'll be waiting for pictures.

Scrappy Star Mug Rug

Cutting: 

For the background of the star (I used black prints), cut 

           4 squares that measure 1 1/2"  x  1 1/2"

           4 rectangles that measure 1 1/2"  x  2 1/2"

For the star points (colorful assorted prints), cut

           8 squares that measure 1 1/2"   x   1 1/2"

For the star center (purple), cut

           1 square, 2 1/2"   x   2 1/2"

For the side borders (blue), cut

           2 strips, 1 3/4"   x  4 1/2"

For the backing, cut 

            1 piece of fabric, 6 1/2"  x  8 1/2"

For the binding (brown), cut

             1 fabric strip, 1 1/4" wide

Piece of thin cotton batting, 6 1/2"  x  8 1/2"

Make the Block 

1.  Draw a diagonal line across the back of each 1 1/2"  x  1 1/2" scrap square you've picked for the star points.

2.  Place one 1 1/2"   x  1 1/2" scrap square on top of one end of a BLACK print 1 1/2"  x  2 1/2" rectangle, right sides facing. Sew on the line and trim to a 1/4" seam allowance. Press the triangle toward the corner.

Place another 1 1/2"  x  1 1/2" scrap square on the other end of the rectangle, right sides together, and again stitch on the drawn line. Be sure that the diagonal line is oriented in the opposite direction from the first piece. Trim to a 1/4" seam allowance and then press the triangle toward the corner. Make four of these flying geese units.

3.  Sew a black 1 1/2"  x  1 1/2" square to each end of two of the flying geese units and press the seams toward the squares. Sew the remaining two flying geese units to each side of the 2 1/2"  x  2 1/2" center square, and press the seams toward the square. (Here's a sample I just stitched up using a red center square.) Sew all of the units together as shown below.

4. Trim your star block to 4 1/2"  x  4 1/2". Sew a blue fabric strip to each side of the block. Press.  

5.  Layer the quilt top, batting and backing, and baste or pin the layers together.

6.  Quilt as desired. I quilted an X through the block and a square in the center. Then, I divided each border into 4 segments with a washable white marking pen and quilted an X in each segment for a diamond motif. 

7.  Add 1 1/4" binding using your favorite binding method. 

These were so much fun I had to make two. Have fun! When you're all done, sit back, put your feet up and have a cup of tea or coffee and say "Ahhh, I love being a quilter." 

Happy First Day of Spring

 

Happy First Day of Spring!

It's been pretty gray here in Chicago this week.

 

 

 

The sun is out right now but I hear some of you are blanketed in snow or will be soon. I think we're supposed to get a little this weekend too. I love the snow, but only in winter, not in spring.  We had a good amount this winter and that made me happy but now I'm ready for the change of seasons (and flowers!). Bring on spring already . . . .

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Tomorrow, March 21, is National Quilting Day. I've been working on making some small blocks for a new quilt and tomorrow I'm having a little Sew Along. (It's a surprise.) Just a little one because I know you're all very busy. Everyone should make time to do a little quilting tomorrow. Many of you will be out shopping for fabric, taking a class or celebrating your heads off. And that's all fine and dandy but be sure you don't get too busy to make something. If you need an idea for making something small and cute, come back Saturday morning for my tutorial to make a little mug mat and sew along with me.

 

 

Gather up some of your favorite 1 1/2" and 2 1/2" scraps and strips . . . . C'mon, it'll be fun.

 

 

 

Quilt Show Quilts

I had a great time in Michigan last weekend. Thanks to the Thornapple River Rippers Quilting Guild and everyone else who came out to see me. The guild certainly treated me like a queen - 

Lovely accommodations. I liked the fact that the windows actually opened. I'm a fresh-air junkie when I travel.

Not your typical hotel room. The suite had a beautifully decorated kitchen and dining area.

Can't remember the last time I stayed at a hotel with a terrace, sitting room and fireplace. Oh yeah, never.

But enough gushing about the room - on to the show. There were so many beautiful quilts made by members of the guild. Here are a few I thought you'd enjoy seeing -  

Gathering Garden by Rebecca Lydy (from a design by Kim Dielh)

Civil War Sampler made by Sheila Purdy (designed by Bettina Havig)

Made by Rebecca Lydy (designed by Lori Smith)

Stars in the Garden, made by Sally Poll (designed by Vicki Olsen and Jill Shaulis)

Made by Bev Jones (from a design by Edyta Sitar)

Made by Sally Poll

Teeny, tiny  pineapples made by Sally Poll

More pineapples, made by Robin Foster

Picnic Time, made by Rebecca Lydy

Pretty in Plaid, made by Rebecca Lydy (from a Piece O Cake design)

Made by Jane Webb (Edyta Sitar design)

Made by Bev Jones

Made by Brenda Bremer

Vintage quilt made by a 10 year old girl from Hastings, Michigan in 1933.

Antique bars quilt. I think I have to make this one. 

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Happy St Patrick's Day!

Did you know that every year in Chicago on St Patrick's Day they dye the Chicago River green?

Michigan Quilt Show

Quilts shows are fun. Wonderful quilts, demos, vendors selling fabric, kits and tools, etc. and best of all - QUILTERS galore.

(Photo from the Batavia, IL, quilt show a couple of years ago)

I'll be taking my "dog and pony show" to a quilt show in Hastings, Michigan, this Saturday, March 14.

I'd be delighted if you'd come see me and my quilts at the Stars over Thornapple Quilt Show.  I'll be doing a lecture and book signing as well.

Buy a book and have it signed or bring a book you already own and I'll sign that too  (as long as it's one I wrote and not, like, Anna Karenina, or anything. But, who knows, you may want me to sign one of those instead. Whatever.).

Can you think of a better way to spend a weekend?

Something Old, Something New

Many of the quilts I make include pieces of scraps from my scrap basket. Do you do this too? Some of the scraps are pretty old--not necessarily antique or vintage, but just small pieces of some of my favorite fabrics I've saved over the years that are left over from other, earlier projects.

Isn't it true that, when a fabric calls to you, you just have to buy it even if you have no particular plans for using it right away? Recently, I bought a little bit of new fabric and, since I like to use a LOT of different fabrics in my scrap quilts, I am going to combine it with some of what I already have and add it to those quilts.

I love going through my fabric looking for just the right small scrap from years ago that will add a little something to a new quilt. Actually, I'm doing this right now as I try to finish some quilts that are half-started (but also half-done!)  and work on putting some blocks together that I sewed a long time ago. When I took them out of their box I decided I still liked them so that always motivates me to work on them some more and maybe finish another quilt or two.

Old but not forgotten

Lordy, I'm STILL hanging on to some of the same old scraps so I can use them in other quilts someday. I guess I've really formed attachments to some of them. Crazy, I know. Somehow it feels very satisfying to use those familiar scraps and place the ones I particularly love in several different quilts. Then, every time I look at one I have to smile because I feel a little tug.  Seeing the special fabric in a quilt might make me recall where I bought it or remember things I did that year. Women from the 19th century did this too. Pieces of scraps from worn dresses often found their way into their quilts. 

Some of you who have my books and are pretty sharp may have already noticed that I like to use some of the same scraps over and over in the quilts I make. Often, you'll see a certain lovely blue print everywhere you look, making an appearance in several different quilts. It makes me feel good to put something old into a new quilt.

My DJ blocks make the best use of  my old fabric.

                       

Some of the pieces of fabric I love and am hanging onto are now pretty small. But they are often lovingly spread throughout my scrap quilts. I never get tired of looking at some of them.

For the best of both worlds I buy fabric often because there's nothing like new fabric to inspire you to begin a new project. But I also make use of the old too. Much of what I buy coordinates with what I already have because I usually only buy what I love. And that’s always changing.

Cold Comfort

Some of you may be feeling sorry for those of us in the Deep Freeze, either here in the Midwest ("Chi-beria") or over there on the east coast. Don't.

It was -8 degrees when I woke up today.  Pretty darn cold.  My sister-in-law is in Florida right now and, like many, has been there awhile in order to avoid this Chicago winter of ours. She invited me to go with her but I declined. She keeps sending me pictures of all the fun she's having in the sun. Don't get me wrong, they're nice and I'm glad she's having fun but I'm not really envious. Actually, we're okay here. More than okay. We're kind of used to this weather. And we've still got sun. Supposed to get all the way up to 4 degrees later.

Can't imagine where the Weather Channel is getting their pictures from . . . .

The real view.

I'm sitting on the sofa right now, curled up in a quilt, wearing my pink fuzzy socks, drinking coffee and beginning to work on the binding for a small quilt I started a long time ago. Life is good, I think to myself.

A few days ago I also became inspired to quilt then finish my little Valentine's Day quilt so I'm on a quilting/finishing roll again.

It felt good to finish something I'd started for a change. Yesterday, I looked at my stack of small quilt tops and half-finished quilts and wondered why I usually just reach a certain point and then quit. Some of them I actually like. No good reason I guess, except that I buy fabric then become inspired to try new projects pretty often and those push the others into the background, then the Unfinished drawer. Many of them I know will not even take that long to finish. So, I pulled out an old one and decided now was as good a time as any to finish something small. 

Anyway, yes, it's cold here. But, for some reason I don't ever mind. I guess I'm just a natural home body. My nesting instinct really kicks in during the winter and every winter I find a strange comfort in the extreme cold. I'm lucky to be able to work at home so I don't have to go anywhere. I don't have an outdoor job - unless you consider standing out in the back yard every hour on the hour, watching the little dog, making sure she doesn't get dragged off by a hawk or coyote my outdoor job. (It kind of IS now that I think about it . . . . )

My husband is working from home today, my daughter came home a couple of days ago to "nurse" a cold or the flu (actually, I am the one doing the nursing . . . . ) and is resting on the other sofa, the dog is curled up next to her, the coffee's hot and I have my sewing to do. It's kind of quiet and cozy here. What could be better? I wouldn't trade it for Florida, that's for sure.