2011 Quilt Project Challenge

A small group of friends have gotten together to bust our stashes! Quilt stashes that is! 2011 is going to be the year of more sewing and less shopping. Well....that's the premise of the challenge. I might even be able to see the floor of my sewing room by years end. I sew in the formal living room and cut/iron in the dining room. The end of this year saw my projects/supplies moving into the family room and then I knew I had to do something about all the projects! Between teaching embroidery and sewing classes and quilting for myself, I've acquired quite a stack of fabrics. So I guess this is the New Year's Resolution: Finish those projects and also have handmade gifts ready!

Christmas is almost here and the projects aren't going to be finished!

I think we always try to squeeze in more than time allows! I have so many ideas for Christmas and all the supplies stacked up. My husband is even making the cookies this year. I just think that those projects will have to go on the back burner and saved for 2011. So this is goodbye to pajama bottoms and a pillowcase for my son and a purse and makeup brush holder for my daughter. Hopefully to be resurrected next year. LOL!

Houston was a Blast!

This show is like a textile art museum of the finest quality workmanship across the globe. I took over 3oo pictures! Only a few had people in them. LOL! Sharon Schamber won the Handi Quilter Best of Show for her quilt titled Mystique. It was an astounding quilt done in 9 separate pieces and connected with looped piping. It is hard to see that the piping is see-thru, but it was definitely a work of art. One of the women showing the quilt said that it took 4 years to complete and I could surely believe it. The background was white with black stitching. It had a tiny herringbone pattern that was unbelievable. The Viewers Choice went to Hollis Chatelain from Hillsborough, NC for her quilt named Innocence. It was the most awe inspiring and moving quilt that I have ever seen. I went back at least 5 times and still felt that I could have looked at it all day. The portrait of the young boy was wonderful in itself, but when I walked closer, I realized that it was quilted with pictures of children from across the globe. Some on trikes, washing laundry, holding a machine gun. From the best to the worst our humanity has wrought. If you get a chance, go to www.quilts.org/winners.html to see all the winners. These were my top two that I will never forget, but there was so much to choose from.

Ice Skate Stocking

My stocking turned out much better than I envisioned. A little differently too. I wanted fur on the top and embroidered that but was unhappy with the look. I then embroidered on the satin and was very happy with the shine at the top. I took a pattern online that was made for felt and reworked it to use the cotton. The felt was used flat with raw edges, so this took a little time. This stocking was donated at the Charlotte Quilt Guild and took first prize. The prize was a pair of Gingher scissors! We stuffed the stockings with dollars for your favorite and then the money was used to fill the stockings for the USO. I was wonderful to see all the beautiful stockings hung there. I am new to the guild and need to remember to put my camera in my purse! The embroidery design is from www.ArtisticThreadworks.com and the pattern was from the Family Fun website. (You will definitely need to rework this pattern, but it was worth it)

It's Back!

The Boondoggle is back! I'm so excited. Mom quilted my quilt and sent it back. So now I can show the border. It goes around three sides and I added just enough to cover the queen bed. I chose a King Tut variegated thread for the quilting. Mom struggled with it shredding and breaking, so I will probably go back to the other threads. The variegated was beautiful though and now I have to make some bias binding for the edges. This will probably be put up intill the new year. I have 4 quilts now that need binding and need to sew on the binding so that I can bring them to my stitching group to work on. I find that I enjoy handstitching the binding on when I'm with my group. I get more done and feel like I can do it without thinking too much about it. Thanks Mom!

T-Shirt Dress

T-Shirt dresses are so fun and easy to make! I used to make them all the time for my daughter and nieces and decided to teach the No-Pattern skirt class with a few extra projects thrown in. This is basically a ruffle that is sewn to the bottom of the shirt. Measure the best place for the ruffle/skirt to start and cut straight across the bottom of the t-shirt. Gather your fabric as you would for a skirt and pin it to the bottom of the t-shirt. If you have a serger the next step is your last! Serge the skirt to the t-shirt. If you have a sewing machine, sew the skirt on and then zig zag the edges.

The diamond in the middle of the t-shirt is a idea I had from reverse applique. The matching fabric goes under the drawn design on the t-shirt. Sew the inside lines with a straight stitch and zig zag around the edges to finish the shape. Clip the center of each sections, making an X and after washing a couple of times the edges will curl up and show the underlying fabric.

Quick Gifts for the Holidays

A Tea Towel and Wine Bag are quick and easy gifts for the holidays. The designs are from OESD and the lettering is from my Brother 4000D. I always figure why pay for letters if you can use what you have in your machine! I think my Brother has quite a few options. I buy the letters that are unique and add something to the design or theme. These designs sewed out quickly. I also used the directions on you tube to finish the edge of the towel and top of wine bag. The directions were originally for pillowcases but I used them for these gifts and was very happy with the results. They look so finished inside that I wish I would have taken a photo of that too. Here is the link to the you tube video. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MrYWCma9wgM