Cushions/Pillows for the Teenager

Cushions? Pillows?
What do you call them?  If its on your bed it’s a pillow, if its on the sofa it’s a cushion.
I had a few scraps of fabric left over from making my teenager his quilt, so while waiting to get it back from the LAQ I decided to make some cushions.


Now you may not be aware but I have a zip phobia and the thought of sewing a zip into a cushion was filling me with dread. I usually make envelope cushions, but the problem with them is that the sometimes gape open and it annoys me. A also didn’t want a zip at the top, I wanted it covered.

Its not wonky, I promise, its just where I was holding up the flap so I could show you!

So I searched high and low for the perfect zippered pillow tutorial.  And WOW I found the perfect tutorial, that made putting a zip in easy peasy!
Check out the Zippered Pillow Back Tutorial by Amy who blogs over at Amy Made That

Here is one of her pillows, look at the fun you can have with contrasting fabrics! 

So if your like me and have a zip phobia or you want to make a really stylish pillow back with a covered zip then this tutorial is for you.
I still have a couple of more pillows to make for the Boy, I just need to buy some pillow forms and then I can share them with you.
I can see a lot of pillows in my future. Just think of all the different combinations of fabric you could use, Mine is a little plain, but hey its for a teenaged boy so it can’t bee to fancy!

QUILTS FOR BOSTON–A COUPLE OF MORE BLOCKS

 

Did you read this post I blogged about?  If not be sure to check it out!!

I spent the afternoon today, in my sewing room making more blocks,  so after I finished these blocks I decided it was time to go and get some much needed sun and happy weather!  So I did a little photo shoot! Do you know how difficult it can be when your trying to take photos of blocks, the wind is not helpful at all!

 

 

 

QUILTS FOR BOSTON–churn dash block

Do you have a few minutes to spare this weekend?  If so read on…………

Have you heard about Quilts for Boston.  The Boston Modern Quilt Guild are collecting blocks to make quilts for those that were directly affected by the bombing and the subsequent events.

 

Blocks should be blue, yellow, gray, and white. All blocks should be 12½” tall x the width of your choice. That could mean 12½” x 7”, 12½” x 12½”, or anything wider, more narrow, or in between.

You can find more details at the Boston Modern Quilt Guild and there is also a Flickr Group where you can post quilt blocks you have made.

Here is my block, if I have time I hope to make some more, but we have been a little busy trying to make the most of the gorgeous weather we have had this weekend after nearly 5 months of winter weather!

WIP–Male Teenagers Quilt!

WIP – So last week I decided that I needed to make my son a quilt, he graduates from high school this year, and I thought it would be nice to make him a quilt.
I have been searching for months for patterns for boys but alas I haven’t really found one! that is until I came across some beautiful quilts  made by Carla  (who blogs at Coras Quilts) for her teenaged sons. 

Photo Source used with permission: Cora Quilts

You need to go and check out her blog, where you will see more photos of the quilts she made for her sons and some other beautiful quilts she has made.
I instantly knew that this would be the perfect pattern.  And funnily enough I had seen the same fabric Carla had used at my LQS the week before and another lady at the store was also making  a quilt for her son with the same fabric.Carla  included a link to a tutorial over at Jeni's blog from In color Order. Her tutorial uses 4 inch squares and is for a quilt measuring 64”x75”
I need to make a queen sized quilt  for my sons bed and it needed to be quick to make if I am to get it done in time for graduation!!!  Talk about leaving it to the last minute!
I decided to draft my own pattern using bigger squares and rectangles. I went to the LQS bought some Curious Nature fabric and started cutting up fabric on Tuesday evening.  By Wednesday evening I had the whole top completely sewn up!  I then decided the next morning to add a couple of borders to it.
So here is photo of the quilt in progress, see my helper, all the time I was trying to cut and lay this quilt out she was there helping me.  I don’t know what it is but she also enjoys the sewing process!!!

All I needed to do was to get some fabric for the backing and then get it quilted.  So on Saturday I went to Target, yep you read that right, I decided to by a queen sized sheet for this quilt, my LAQ is quite happy to quilt sheets which I was surprised at when she suggested it for backing fabric, as I have read somewhere it is a big no no!

I did contemplate quilting this one myself, after all I could just do straight line quilting, but then I though about it and decided that if I really want this quilt to last, remember its going to belong to a teenaged boy and they are not as careful as young ladies, it needs to be quilted  to make it last. 

So I dropped it off with Sue my LAQ on Monday.  If you need a long arm quilter I highly recommend her and she is even happy for you to send your quilt in the mail.

Here is a little sneak peak of what it looked like before borders, The squares are 6” finished and the rectangles are 18” finished. I had no idea how much fabric to buy but went with 7/8 yd of each print that you can see in the photo below.


I am going to go with and edge to edge pantograph design but have no idea what I am going to choose yet, or even what thread colour to go with, so if you have any suggestions then please let me know. I am sure Sue will have some great suggestions anyway, she always does and I trust her judgement.

I hope to get my quilt back in a couple of weeks time, so when I do I will post some photos of the finished quilt.

Sweet Contrary–Mosaic Contest

 

Rachel over at Stitched in Color is hosting a Mosaic Contest with Lark Cottons, hop on over to Stitched in Color and join in the fun.  You could win something!

With the lack of sunshine around these parts, I can but dream of a beautiful sunset! So that was my inspiration when I chose these gorgeous fabrics!

The lucky winner will win a FQ bundle of the fabrics from their own mosaic, so what are you waiting for, join in the fun!!!

Voting starts on April 30th, I would love to win the fabrics in my mosaic, but even if I don’t I gave myself some great inspiration looking at the fabrics at Lark Cottons.

I will let you know when you can vote for my creation, and if your still having snow in April like I am then I hope my mosaic added a little bit of sunshine to your day!

 

SUNSET

Swoon–Cut, Pieced, Quilted, Binding

So I finished the piecing of my swoon quilt back in February and there it has sat since.  I had plans for this quilt, plans to make it into a King sized quilt, well a couple of weeks ago I went on a little trip to Minneapolis again! You know! the fabric shop, where I am in fabric heaven, you can read about that here. (I have been a few times since that trip, it’s a little addictive)

I bought some fabric to make a border and also bought fabric for the backing.  I eventually got the borders sewn on and it was delivered to my LAQ last Tuesday, we discussed pantographs, thread etc. and I got it back on Friday!

Yes you read that right, my LAQ is fantastic, she has such a great turn around, and is great to work with, and if you are looking for a LAQ then I would certainly recommend her, you can find more information here !!!!  and see examples of her work on her facebook page here

In the meantime I made my binding in anticipation for getting it back.

I picked it up on Friday morning and on Friday afternoon I sewed the binding onto the front by machine.  On Saturday I went all over town looking for the perfect tools to hand sew my binding onto the back. See the gorgeous quilting the pantograph is called Sparkle!

LETS TALK THIMBLES

I had a regular thimble already but I have never really got on with it, not only that it makes your finger SMELLLLLLLLLLLL!  So this is what I bought

Thimble It – Complete and utter waste of money, they are so slippy that you might as well put some packing tape on your finger, they are about as much use as a chocolate fireguard and I certainly do not recommend themNext up leather thimble, I found this to be restrictive and clumsy and I have heard good reviews, but personally I just could not get on with it,

So I persevered with! wait for it

BANDAIDS

and the occasional use of my metal thimble,

The thing you need to remember is I was sewing binding onto a KING sized quilt!  I anticipated my fingers getting sore and wanted to avoid it, but what do you expect when you have that amount of binding to sew! It’s a labour of love!
I started it on Saturday morning and had the occasional break to eat! and finished at 9.00pm Saturday evening.

sOn saturday evening I slept under this beauty, (sleeping under the stars) WOW did I sleep well.

Thread used: Signature Cotton in Pearl
Batting Legacy 80/20
Pantograph: Sparkle
Quilted by Sue Tuma

Apron

 

My oh my, I am loving how this apron turned out for my parnter in the Crafty Cooks Apron Swap over on Flickr. 

 

I was lucky enough to pick up some gorgeous Joel Dewberry Fabric on a recent trip to the Twin Cities, and not only that its Sateen fabric in other words decorator weight fabric, it’s a little bit more expensive than normal quilting fabric but its got a beautiful feel to it and it’s a little bit more sturdier, so it’s the perfect apron fabric.  I also think I might have enough to make myself a bag, would be the  perfect weight for bag making too.

The fabric I chose is a pretty bright strong patterned fabric, so I made this apron reversible, so when my partner is in the mood for not being so bright she can wear it the other way round!

 

And here is a closeup , I lined the pocket, to make it extra sturdy and also added some pink ric rac.

I am absolutely loving this apron and to be honest I really want to keep it for myself, maybe I will if she doesn’t notice it! But I am sure she will. I don’t think she has any idea that I am her partner, but then again, I have no idea who my partner is either!  I will be equally happy to receive a handmade apron by someone else, just knowing that someone has taken the time to think about me and put some effort into sewing something just for me, makes me happy.

So what do you think partner?

Bee Blocks and a Moan!

I finally managed to get my Sampler bee blocks finished in good time and in the post last week. A couple of them have arrived at their new homes already. I am loving this star block and really do need to make a quilt with this block. Oh how ! that list of mine just keeps growing!

Online bees are a lot of fun, but sometimes not so much!

MOAN TIME

I have so far received 2 back from this hive, its early days yet but I am still a little bit worried as this has been the quietest hive I have ever been in. The swap mama seems to be MIA most of the time! and a couple of the people in the hive have only ever posted a couple of times, which doesn’t bode well for receiving blocks at all!

Don’t get me wrong online bees are a lot of fun, when your in a great hive, like the star hive I am in but sometimes participants don’t even bother to send at all, and at other times blocks are badly constructed, so it is a case of some you win some you loose.

It hasn’t quite put me off online bees quite yet, probably due to the fact that I am in another fantastic hive where we chat constantly update one another with our progress.  But I will take note of the participants that are not so communicative in the current Sampler hive I am in and make sure next time I will avoid being in the same hive.  The star hive ladies are fantastic and I have not worried at any time about receiving blocks at all from any of them and I have already received 5 blocks back and the only one I am waiting on is from a member who is in the early throws of pregnancy and we all know how that is, and anyway they are not due to be posted out until the 15 April so she has loads of time yet. OK moan over and now onto the photos of the latest blocks.

 

 

I

Tula - VW Tula Pink Pillow

Last weekend I went to my LQS where Tula Pink was doing a presentation on her quilts.  I got to see some absolutely gorgeous quilts and she explained her design process from drawing to the actual fabric being printed.

I also got to see her City Sampler quilt that features in her new book  100 Modern Quilt Blocks, which comes out in May,she also had a different colour version to the one on the front cover on the book, they are both gorgeous and I have already ordered my copy of the book.

The local shop also made up some kits for her VW Pillow, so I bought one and I finished making it the other day.  I am loving this pillow and plan on making a couple more of them.  If you want to make one yourself the pattern is free online, just Google it.