Wednesday, February 20, 2013

Stack & Whack Wednesday

My Work In Progress this week is a Stack & Whack block quilt made from the Celia Benartex fabric line.   I purchased a set of 12 fat quarters some time ago and  decided it was time to pull it off the shelf and make something fun.   
 


I must say this fabric and pattern is a little "out of my box" so to speak.   But I am enjoying working with it.  I had enough fabric to have four stacks of fabric measuring 8 1/2 inches square. I then used my rotary cutter and cut each stack into nine blocks. Nothing was even or measured, so each of the four stacks will be completely different.  That's what makes it fun.

 
My pattern is a variation of the nine patch stack & whack found at http://www.ohfransson.com/.
Then  I rotated the fabric patches in each stack to the back.
i.e: 1st stack the top fabric went to the back, 2nd stack the top two fabrics went to the back etc....   So no 2 blocks should be the same, and each block should have one of each of the nine fabrics.
I was able to  lay the patches out and string sew them together. Keeping organized was the key & not stopping to switch the wash or answer the phone.  It worked pretty well.  
 
So I now have all four stacks of fabric sewed together in blocks and will try to finish up the top this weekend.  I have to decide if I want narrow strips between the blocks or let them butt together.
Decisions Decisions. 
 
More to come on this WIP.  
 
WIPWednesday
 
Everyone  Think Spring!!    

Wednesday, February 6, 2013

WIP Wednesday

It's Wednesday already!  It has been a busy week - the Groundhog has predicted an early spring, the Ravens won the Superbowl and we celebrated my hubby's birthday yesterday with a trip to the Japanese steak house (which is always a fun time).     Today I've gotten back to work on some little Valentine gifts I need to finish up before the weekend.
 
I made a couple Heart Applique Towels a couple weeks ago and today I'm putting together some Felt Heart Pillows.   
 
Here is a cute one I saw on Pinterest and gave me some ideas.. 
Pretty love woven heart pillow by annakrycz via Etsy
 
 
I had some red wool felt in my stash so I searched around the house to find a good heart shape.  Turns out these heart napkins I've had forever worked perfectly.  So I traced them on the felt & cut out.
 
 
Last week when I visited http://needles-n-pins.com/ (my fav local quilt shop) I found this gray linen fabric.  Now since I have it home under the light it looks alittle more brown, but it will be  fine.   I decided on a small 8" x 10" pillow size. Perfect for bedtop or on a nice chair. 
 

 
So, I have cut my hearts out & used a fusible to adhere to the linen. Then machine blanket stitched around the heart.  I pinned the front & back together & stitched around (yes all the way around) and then realized I hadn't put the stuffing in the pillow.  good grief.
So I pulled out a little on the bottom & stuffed the pillow & re-stitched.
I unraveled the edges a bit to give it a different look. 
 
 
Here is a picture of the finished project.   I have to make 3 more for the weekend but they will go smoother than the first. 
I guess that makes it a Finish It Up Wednesday too! 
 
I've linked with http://www.freshlypieced.com/.  Always so much fun to see what others are working on.  Such great ideas out there.
 
Wow I can certainly see I need to use my 'real' camera from now on instead of my Android.  Certainly makes a difference.   And just a word from a Newbie Blogger - be sure to Save your work before you walk away to answer the phone.  I think I did the beginning of this post 2 or 3 times.   Lessons learned.   
 
Any other good tips for a Newbie? 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Monday, February 4, 2013

Superbowl Champs

 
 
What an exciting Superbowl game! Ups & downs all night long. 
Being Marylanders, born and raised- it has been quite an exciting
couple weeks of football.  Always the underdog but they kept fighting.
Joe Flacco pulled them through with all the naysayers at his back.
Felt so good to cheer for the home team in the big game.
This year the commercials definitely took a backseat to the game.
 
Just had to show my team spirit today.
It will be a new season in September so we have to enjoy it while we can.
Maybe the other birds in Baltimore will pick up the ball and give us another
great season of baseball! Go Orioles!  Spring training is just days away. 
 
 
Getting back on track with Work in Progress Wednesday at http://www.freshlypieced.com/