Project Quilting season 14

 Here is my entry for PQ with the theme of "one".  I call it "One Woman's Heart".  It is my first finish of the new year.  

Our hearts are so full of EVERYTHING...One woman carries around a lot of stuff in her one heart.  And it has been shattered and mended over and over again.  

If you look closely you will see the words I embroidered. (Memories, Faith, family, pride, worry, love, hope, gratitude, dreams, and prayer) I could have just kept adding words all night long but want to get a little bit of sleep before I head out to church in the morning so I had to stop.  

It was fun.  

I started this project at 10 am Saturday.  Stopped for 45 minutes to help my husband take down Christmas lights outside.  Then stopped for dinner (which my most wonderful husband made) and about 2 hours of comedy shows with my family.  Then my son called from Hawaii and I talked to him for about 45 minutes.  The rest of the time, I have been working on this.  It is now 1:14 am on Sunday.  

Here's hoping your heart is full of all the most wonderful things in this new year!

Friday Night With Friends and Rainbow Scrap Challenge

 

I spent a few minutes playing in my scrap bin tonight.  It went together really quickly.  I thought I was using scraps of sew-in stabilizer for the foundation but it turns out is was iron on.  So, my already deplorable ironing board cover for sure has to be changed now.  

This will also be my Rainbow Scrap Challenge for the year.  I will make each row the new color of the month.  This pattern is in the American Patchwork and Quilting Magazine for December 2022 and it is the only reason I purchased the magazine.  I love this in all blues so I may have to make an all blue version too!  

I will link this post to both Friday Night With Friends and Rainbow Scrap Challenge.  

A Year of Stash Busting Quilts- Free Pattern and a Giveaway!

 

My major goals for 2023 are to focus on growing my blog and getting LOTS of quilting done, using my overgrown stash of fabrics!

So, I have decided that I am going to provide a free quilt pattern, here on my blog, every month this year.  It will be a pattern designed to use my stash, help teach beginners how to quilt, and offer ideas and projects that all quilters can use to make their quilting life easier.  

I will also TRY to offer a modest giveaway with each pattern.  

Look for patterns to be posted by the first Friday of each month.  

The January Giveaway:

For some reason, I have ended up with 3 of these lovely polar bear panels.  I know that one of them came from my sister when she went to Alaska.  She chose just the right one because it was one I had already selected for myself and had in my stash.   I think the third one arrived because I found the kit on sale and wanted more of the coordinating fabrics.  

I will be giving one of these panels away to go along with this quilt pattern.  

How to enter the drawing:  You will get one entry for each of the following:

• Become a follower of this blog
• Share a link to this post on your own blog
• Show me a picture of a block you make from this pattern

That is up to 3 chances per quilter to win this lovely panel.  I will be adding entries to a numbered list in the order they are received and then will use a random number generator to find our one winner.  I will draw for the winner on Tuesday, January 31, 2023.  

All entries need to be received by Monday, January 30, 2023.   

The January Pattern: Polar Ice

60 X 68 Inches

This quilt was designed to use stash fabrics and a panel you have been holding onto.  So, be creative, go with what you have! I can't wait to see... 

Yardage required:

1 panel of your choice- see trimming instructions below. 

2.5 yards of blue- a variety of scraps is fine as long as you can get two 5 inch squares from each scrap.

1.5 yards of white- again scraps are fine as long as you can get at least two 5 inch squares from each piece. 

Binding will require approximately 20 inches by WOF.

Backing will require approximately 3 yards of fabric.

A Cutting Chart is provided at the end of the pattern.    

Note: The panel I used had to be trimmed down.  I wanted multiples of 8 (8 inch blocks) so I decided I would trim it down to fit an area measuring 24 inches by 32 inches finished.  I also wanted a border on my panel so I had to subtract that from my panel size. 

Trim panel to 20.5 inches by 28.5 inches. (You can do it.  Think about how long you have had that panel...)

Border strips to trim the panel:

     Cut into four strips at 2.5 inches wide by width of fabric.

          Cut two of these at 28.5 inches for the long sides

          Cut two at 24.5 inches long for the top and bottom. 

 Here is a picture of the trimmed and bordered panel.    And, due to my rusty math skills, I had to remove the top border, trim some more off the panel and then reattach the border.  But all is well that ends well...    

The ice blocks are 8.5 inches unfinished.  They are made from half square triangles that measure 4.5 inches unfinished.

Note: any time you want to use this method for half square triangles, you take the measurement that your blocks need to be (in this case, 4.5 inches) and add 3/8ths of an inch. That means your squares will be cut at 4 7/8ths inches.  

One Ice Block, made up of four half square triangle blocks, each of them need to measure 4.5 inches square before you sew them together.  

For Each block:

Cut two white squares and two blue squares that each measure 4 & 7/8ths inches square. 

Note: You need 44 blocks for the Polar Ice Quilt.  That means you need to cut 88 blue squares and 88 white squares in pairs of 2 of each color.  It takes 2 blue and 2 white squares to make one block.  I used 4 different white fabrics and 7 different blue fabrics. 

On the wrong side of each white square, draw a diagonal line down the middle as pictured below.

 

Match a white square with a blue square, right sides together, and sew, using the diagonal line as the edge of your ¼ inch seam.

Sew on each side of the line.  Then cut the triangles apart on the line.  Press open towards the blue fabric. 

 

 

 

 

 

Lay out a block before you sew it together so that you can make sure you have it oriented correctly.  At this point, I start pressing my seams open so there will be less bulk at the points. 

At this step I also start pinning my blocks.  Because the seams are pressed open, they are harder to match.  They do not nest against each other. 

Match these center seams and pin. 

The end diagonal seams still nest so they are a little easier to match but I still pin them. 

 

I did not trim my squares at any point after the initial cutting and, as you can see, it measures a perfect 8.5 inches. Just check to make sure the blocks turned out decently uniform and correct.  

Lay your blocks out and arrange how you like.  I chose to arrange mine from light in the upper left hand corner to dark in the lower right hand corner. 

In the diagram below, the blocks are randomly placed. 

* To finish the quilt top, I added 2 inch borders.  They are cut at 2.5 inches wide.  Two strips joined together and trimmed to 64.5 inch lengths for each side.  I joined a light strip and a dark strip for the left side, joining them on a 90 degree angel, as you would for binding strips. The right side got a solid dark strip. 

* For the top and bottom, cut your borders 60.5 inches long, joining strips to achieve this length.  The top strip was again a combination of a light and dark strip joined on a 90 degree angle.  The bottom received a dark strip. 

 

Cutting Chart

Piece	Size	Number to cut
Ice blocks- blue squares	4 7/8ths inch squares	88
Ice blocks- white squares	4 7/8ths inch squares	88
Panel	20.5 inches wide by 28.5 inches long	1
Panel border sides	2.5 inches wide by 28.5 inches	2
Panel Border top/Bottom	2.5 inches by 24.5 inches	2
*Outer Border sides	2.5 by 64.5 inches	2
*Outer Border Top/Bottom	2.5 by 60.5 inches	2

*- please see border notes above

If you prefer to have a printable PDF of this pattern, you can find it at my Etsy shop for $2.00  https://www.etsy.com/shop/AndraAndIvy

Thanks so much for following!  Happy Quilting to all!

2022 in Review

 

Here are my finishes and some of the projects I worked on in 2022.  So many things not pictured though, that are in process.  Had to include my two babies as well.  So proud of what they have accomplished in 2022 and continue working on for 2023!

Ringing in the New Year with a nice, quiet, day at home with the love of my life!  We will hit 28 years married later this year.  And of course, I will squeeze in some sewing as well!

Best Wishes to all  in 2023!

Mystery started

 I told myself I was not going to start Bonnie's Mystery this year.  I never finish them.  I love Bonnie!  I love her quilts!  but I only have one finished Bonnie pattern and it was started in a workshop with her and took years.  I have two mysteries I started of hers and they are still in pieces but here I am- doing it AGAIN.  

I got this first clue all done in one day though, and just in time for tomorrow's clue release.  I may not do as well next week as I will be out of town for most of the week.  

Here are my chosen colors.  I am only using my stash and I do not have much orange so I am going to go with YELLOW I think...

Not much variety.  My purple is going to be all out of that solid.  Trying to use my stash before I die, ya know...

I will have to see if I am still happy with the yellow after the first yellow (orange) clues release. 

Funny story- while I was making these, I was also baking cookies.  I was pinning on the final row of the 9 patches and was 12 short.  So I ran upstairs to quickly sew another set of finishing rows.  When I came back down, I couldn't find my 12 unfinished 9 patches anywhere.  Looked back upstairs, looked in the kitchen...Found them in the dog's mouth.  He's lucky that no dissection was required to find them all.   

  

I did get this lovely Christmas quilt on the wall last week.  

I am so happy with how the quilting came out.  Always hard to decide how to quilt a panel.  

My robot hadn't been used in a long time and it threatened to crash on me a couple of times but never did.  I believe it was certainly divine intervention preventing the crash.  

Maybe I will find some more to help me get dinner ready before I have to head off to choir practice.  

Happy December!

Special Pillow

 

A friend brought me a shirt her mother had embroidered for her years and years ago.  She said she would never wear the shirt again but wanted to preserve the three special kitty embroideries from her mother's hands.  I combined them with some ivory to match the bedding in the room where she will use the pillow.  I think it came out beautifully.  

The flange is awesome!  I am not sure I will ever do a pillow without one ever again!  

October

 I can't believe it is October already!  And almost half gone at that...

Helping us to move into the Fall mood, we brought home quite the haul from the church pumpkin patch.  My daughter has already baked that "pink" pumpkin in the foreground and it is delicious!  She made a pie that is half gone- I may have had a piece for breakfast this morning- and there is plenty of pumpkin left for more delicious treats.

We had a blue pumpkin last year and it was delicious so we grabbed another of those.  The swan necked gourd will be just for us to enjoy looking at, and the fate of the "warty" beauty in the back is yet to be determined.  It was my daughter's favorite though, so it had to come home with us.  

I have been rereading the Harry Potter series, about to start The Order of the Phoenix- again.  So, I have been inspired to pull out my "Project of Doom" that has been decades in the making.  

14 blocks made.  Currently Working on the Singing Egg block.  Then I want to add Hedwig and a few other book blocks.  Then I will put it together.  Can't just keep making all the cool blocks or it will never end!

My daughter has been helping us to get in the mood for Halloween.  Watching scary movies and creating this lovely piece- a challenge given to her from her work.  They provided the skull and employees were encouraged to decorate as they saw fit.  

She added this lovely snake that she created out of air dry clay.  then moss and stones and paint.  

It is currently at work for judging but I hope we have it back by Halloween!  

I have also been trying to get into the Halloween spirit by taking part in the Sweet Pea Halloween Sew Along.  Here are two of the many blocks I have made.  3 more to go and I will start sewing it together.  I will be doing well if I get it hung up by the 31st!

I am also working on a shower curtain and window curtain for my bathroom, done with machine embroidery and some sewing.  Would love to get that done, including towels to match.  

Lots to do, never enough time!

I am determined to have some nice finishes by the end of the year and hopefully to have my house a great deal more organized!  

Happy Fall Stitching!

August catch up

 

Middle of August already and I don't even feel like I have had a summer.  Mostly I feel like I have been unhealthy the entire time.  Covid in Mid June with a cough that never did go away, sewed through my finger recently which healed within a week, and now I have head congestion and my cough is at the level where I can't sleep and my chest is killing me.  Calling to see if I can get in with a doctor today- that is after calling all last week and not even getting the phone answered.  I am VERY upset with medical care these days.  

I absolutely have to be well in time for my vacation at the beginning of September!!!!

But, I did get a quilt bound that had been waiting for a great while.  It is on the wall in my dining area and I really love the colors!

And, this is the second of two large beach bags I have sewn in anticipation of our trip.  It came out okay.  I am not great with boxed corners.  Still need some practice.  I have a hard time making the seams line up with the side seams.  Better if there is no thickness.  

Here are two sides of a smaller beach bag I stitched- it is actually purse size.  It is an in-the-hoop project from Sweet Pea Machine Embroidery.  This is where I had more problem with the boxed corners not lining up with the side seams because of the bulk.  

Cosmo made sure to be up close the entire time in case I needed help.  This is the design that I was doing when I sewed through my finger- the flip flop beach bag.  It bled a little, stopped quickly and healed within 1 week so I have no complaints other than the medical cost.  

Cosmo turned one!  I stitched him up a birthday neck cloth which he chewed the entire time it was on, and my daughter made him a pupcake.  

I love this pup like crazy but he has been a challenge.  His Sheepadoodle behavior is crazy and we have had to resort to some very serious training to be able to live with him.  Not a breed I would suggest in the future.  He still frustrates my husband to no end.  And now that I am home instead of working, he is even more attached to me.  That means having him lay at my feet constantly- tripping hazard for sure, and walking with his body touching my leg, pretty much everywhere we go.  And, he behaves as if he weighs a dainty 5 pounds instead of close to 70.  

I have been doing a great deal of machine embroidery on my new to me Bernina 700.  This is the back of my swimsuit cover up that was purchased for last year's vacation and will be used again in September.  I also added some designs to the front.  

It stitched out beautifully on the thin terry cloth with some thin cut away stabilizer underneath and Solvy wash away on top. 

 And this is my first time ever making Free Standing Lace.  I am very happy with it and will be making many FSL ornaments for a church craft fair in October.  In fact, I should have the machines both going right now...

Underneath is a quilt (topper for my TV cabinet) I have been working on which has now been free motion quilted and just needs a binding.  Maybe it will be an August finish too!

A recent finish for a graduate

 I completed a quilt for a graduate recently.  It was a challenge as I have been so busy and my house is a mess!

The graduate requested purple, red, and pink.  Oh, and by the way, it needs to be masculine...

I was afraid but I actually love how it turned out.  I didn't get to see him open it so I just have to hope that he loved it!  

My husband is behind there, standing on our outdoor coffee table so it is a long quilt.

Here is the back- I had no idea it would look like flowers...

Up close...

You can see it is tie dye circles.  A lovely and fun backing.  I was in a hurry so it got a simple label and a machine binding- most of my quilts do now-days.  

I took off work today because my wrist is killing me- a hold over from a tumble I took when my dog tripped me on our walk almost 2 weeks ago- combined with inventory of the library, it is not feeling good.  My lip, which I was sure was ruined forever, has healed nicely and is still only slightly numb.  I am lucky to have my two front teeth solidly in their regular place.  

Love this monster to death- and he might just be the death of me...

Happy Sewing!

Sewing time!

 

It has been pretty busy around here lately with no sign of slowing down any time soon.  This morning I did some cleaning and ironing and then decided to steal some sewing time.  This is a  Leaders & Enders project that I decided needed to become a top finally- just random squares of scraps- mostly from Harry Potter fabrics.  I have it mostly stitched into rows and now will just need to join them.  It will be a nice lap size quilt.  

This is a lovely pattern I found on the Free Spirit Fabrics website.  It is called "Woodland Dreaming".  

I love the fabrics!  However, I have sworn to use my stash so I am creating this pattern with a very different look...

Here is what I have so far- try to ignore my fabric and WIPs in the back ground!  Very little progress was made today, the rest is from a couple of weeks ago at least.  I still have 2 more sections to create and some applique to do before the top will be finished.  

I am very happy with how it is turning out.  I think it will be a beautiful use of all my batiks, which I rarely use because they actually aren't really my preferred look even though they make lovely quilts.  Some of these batiks also belonged to my mother and I think she would love to see them in this quilt.  

Happy Saturday Sewing!

January Wrap Up

 I had 23 days in January that I did some crochet or sewing or both.  To me that is a major win since it seems I haven't been finding much time to do those things in the last few months.  

Yesterday I finished a baby quilt that will make its way in the mail today for my daughter to give to a friend.  

This is actually the second one I made since the quilting came out awful on the first one.  I wasn't paying attention to the back since my long arm has been doing well with many previous quilts and it ended up loopy.  Not so bad that I can't finish the edge and donate it but too bad too make a gift of it.  I am much happier with this one overall- liking the random placement of blocks better than the original diagonals.  

My other finish for January was the quilt inspired by the Ron Weasley knitted blanket.  I have been enjoying its warmth in the evenings as I crochet or watch TV.  My kitty likes it too.  One night, when I couldn't sleep, I came down to find her cuddled up on it on the sofa.  She is enjoying cuddling with me in the evenings on it as well.  

Here is the pretty girl, enjoying another favorite spot.  

She is having lots of freedom this week because our puppy is away at boarding school.  I see him this afternoon and he will be done and come home on Saturday.  We have had our first lesson with him a few days ago and it is amazing the things he has learned!  I hope that, upon his return, we can convince the kitty that he is a nice boy and she can come near without him chasing.  She is not very trusting though...

I hope to get some time with this project this week but there are so many that need attention.  AND, my two tubs of scraps are getting out of hand and really calling for a coin quilt to be made and some more spider web blocks to be built.  

We are also trying to get our kiddy cottage on the market.  So, there are many projects that need doing that will prevent the sewing.  Then there is that thing that most of us are required to do, called WORK.  Ugh!  It really gets in the way of my crafting.