Design Wall Monday

Yes, I know it's Wednesday but I did create this little wall hanging on Monday.  On Saturday, our Guild had a class taught by one of our members.  Denni offered (4) different scenes that we could choose.  I chose Summer, partly because I liked the umbrella.

Summer at the Beach

 Here is what I learned:
--Iron Fusible interfacing to the back of the background piece
--Prior to fusing the Heat & Bond to the applique pieces, cut out the middle to help eliminate the stiffness and bulk to the finished wall hanging

Skip on over to Judy's Blog at Patchwork Times.com to check out what others created on Monday...

Making Baby Books with Charm Squares

It has been awhile since I created a baby picture book from "my" fabric.  I have made several using pre-printed panels which is nice since they have the story-line printed on the fabric squares and the page numbers.  All you need to do is add the batting.

The 3 little babies are related to my sister through marriage.  They would be my sister's niece's grandchildren.
(2) little books were created this week-end using 5" charm squares and a couple of ice cream cone blocks.
I'm hoping Mom and Dad will enjoy making up stories based on the pictures.  Two of their aunts love horses, so one fabric has horses and horseshoes.  I found in my stash (2) matching charm squares with their birthday month of June.  Here are a few pictures.....

Oops!  I almost forgot to mention who wrote the book on how to make these darling fabric books.
Gwen Marston wrote "Fabric Picture Books" with pages and pages of beautiful color photos and lots of inspiring fabrics.  The details of the fabric book construction and assembly are very clear, so the books are very easy to make.  For me, the most difficult part was sewing the spine at the top and bottom.  My 12-page books were too thick at the top and bottom.  Changing to a blue-jean needle helped.
 

Back with number selvages and front with Ice Cream Cone

Back pages with Gramma's desserts and Aunt's horses

View of other pages in one book

Inside front cover with birthday month and cake

    

Design Wall Monday

My January scrappy blocks are back.......
I got them out last week and discovered I didn't have any more swirly gray fabric for the sashing around the blocks.  So, what is a quilter to do?  Buy more fabric, of course!  Thankfully, Connecting Threads still had the same fabric and it just arrived on Saturday.  Before, I could begin working on this project, I needed to finish my QOV and get my MTSU quilt ready for entering in a local quilt show.

Hop on over to Judy's Blog at Patchwork Times to see the creations of other quilters...

DWM 08042014 (January Scrappy Blocks)

Quilt of Valor

Yesterday, I finished the binding on the QOV that I started this Spring.  Today I washed it and was so glad that I used the "Dye Catchers" in the wash.  To be safe, I used (3) and they all came out a bright pink.

Red fabric has not always been kind to me.  Before I knew about Dye Catchers, I ruined a beautiful Bible Cover and my favorite denim purse with a beautiful embroidered block on the front.  Both pieces had a "running red" lining, which ran through to the front.

QOV July 2014

Quilting by Gertrude O'Neal  July 2014

What happened here?

My husband ventured into my sewing room and asked "What happened here"?  Oh, the clear spot.  I had to clear it off, so I could sew the rest of my flannel rag quilt.  I used up most of the scraps left over from a previous rag quilt.  I plan to take the quilt and remaining scraps to my sewing group tomorrow.  Hopefully, someone with the special scissors will volunteer to snip all the seams and wash it, prior to being donated. 

"The Clear Spot"

Rag Quilt prior to cutting & washing  (36" x40")

Design Wall Monday

Last Wednesday, I had my friend, Linda come over so she could cut some 2 1/2" strips on the AccuQuilt Die cutter.  The cutting was quick and we enjoyed the day, chatting.

The next day, I decided to cut out a quilt top using a recently purchased  6 1/2" Tumbler die.  I picked  several pieces out of my stash and in less than an hour, everything was cut and ready.  However, after an hour of placing different colors randomly across the bed, I discovered I wanted the colors to look orderly.  So, I went looking on the internet for ideas.  One was to use "Trip Around the World", which I liked but more planning would be involved and I wanted to get going on the quilt.  Then, I found this pattern...

Fall Tumbler Quilt Top  48" x 65"

I'm very happy with how it turned out.  However, I quickly discovered that the pattern pieces can easily be turned around and sewn before realizing that the colors will not match up with the pattern.  I have a nice little pile of tumblers that were sewn in the opposite direction.  These can be used in another scrappy quilt, after I unsew them all.  LOL

Be sure to check out the designs of other quilters at:  Patchwork Times.com

Design Wall Monday

Just finished the top a few minutes ago.  I had a small piece of Jinny Beyer fabric, which I cut up into 1.75" strips for the inner border. I'm happy with how the borders turned out.  The top will finish at 40" x 60", so the back will not need to be pieced.  This will be donated to Project Linus.  This was a unique way to use up scraps.

DWM 07212014

   Be sure to visit patchworktimes.com to see what
   is being created by many other quilters....