Saturday, December 29, 2012

Fat Quarter Shop Mystery Designer BOM #7

Holy cow am I late with this one!  This is the seventh block from Fat Quarter Shop's Mystery Designer of the Month BOM.  It's December 29...although I did finish the block on the 26th, that's still a lot later than my usual 15th or 16 of the month.  

This block is by Sandy Gervais (of Pieces From My Heart), and is called "Moonlight Serenade".  I absolutely love that she only chose three prints from the line.  This block is simple and very elegant looking to me.




This was the first block that when I finished, was actually the 12 1/2" size that it was supposed to be, with reasonably straight edges.  Only seven months, but I'm improving for sure!

I am working on a Holiday in London Duffle Bag now for my daughter.  I can't WAIT to show you pictures of that when it's finished.

Tuesday, December 18, 2012

Nite Owl Quilting Christmas Tree Skirt - It's a Christmas Miracle!

It's a Christmas miracle!! I finished the tree skirt BEFORE Christmas!  I bought this pattern months and months ago, when my aunt gave me an older fat quarter set of Chloe's Christmas from Red Rooster Fabrics.  The pattern is the Hexagon Tree Skirt by Nite Owl Quilting.

The pattern uses 6 fat quarters and a lot of solid (back, sashing and binding).  I spent a lot of time making sure that the green, red and whites alternated and I liked the way the fabrics laid next to each other.  Here is my finished skirt!



My sashing came out well, and the binding looks nice and smooth on the straight sides...


But, my OH MY, my center binding is just a mess.  The back actually looks much smoother and flatter than the front.  I tried, I swear I tried to make it neat, but this is what I came out with...not impressive at all.  If you have a tutorial for round edge (concave) binding...I would LOVE to see it!



My corner seams looked very nice, and aligned, until the last one...then, well, they sort of not so aligned.  This shape was much more difficult than it looked!


This is the back, where the quilting shows better.  Nice and simple.  This I managed to do ok.  It was a lot of binding though, for what felt like not a very big tree skirt.


My final thought, now that the skirt is at the base of our tree...The hole is only large enough for the actual tree trunk.  Not anything close to the monster of a tree stand that we have the tree in.  The pattern suggested that you either put ties on the back seam, or hooks and eyes.  I made put on ties, because the hooks and eyes would just make the whole thing too tight.

Overall, I love the way my skirt came out.  And let's be honest...I'm giving myself crazy bonus points for finishing BEFORE Christmas.  I do think the pattern is for at the least and intermediate quilter.  The sewing was easy...the shaped sashing and binding...not so much.

Tuesday, December 4, 2012

Upcycled Sweater Baby Blanket

A friend of mine at work is having a baby.  Yes, it's the same one I made the Seven Seas quilt for.  But every baby needs a stroller blanket right??

I made this from repurposed sweaters, both wool and cashmere.  I added some vintage trims for texture.  And this time, I added some basic quilting, stitch-in-the-ditch style, so that it would hold it's shape when it got washed.



What's your favorite baby gift to make?