Zippy Purple Enchantment

Finished this quick little lap quilt yesterday. Took the idea from the Missouri Star Quilt Company's zipper quilt and made a few changes of my own. 

Used a layer cake from Connecting Threads in the Isle of Enchantment line. Added a navy solid from Robert Kaufmann. The backing is purple chenille.

 It took 19 'slices' to make the four columns. Each 10" x 10" piece was cut in half. One 5" x 10" section was saved for the border and the other was cut into four 2.5" X 5" pieces. A solid navy 2.5" square was sewn to each rectangle and the rectangles were randomly sewn into columns. 

Each column has 19 stacked rectangles with the solid square alternating sides. Five 2.5" WOF strips were cut from the navy and used to join the columns. Two more 2.5" WOF navy strips were added to the top and bottom. The 5" x 10" reserved sections were sewn together by color and added as the border.

Here is the finished quilt. I quilted down the navy strips and down the centers of each column in a wavy line. I used variegated green thread from Connecting Threads. The finished size is 44" x 50".

 The back is soft, fuzzy chenille. I bought 1.5 yards and sewed it without a binding. I put right sides together and sewed around the edge leaving an opening about 8" for turning. After turning I stitched the opening closed and top stitched about 3/8" from edge. The ridges of the chenille are going across the width and my quilting is going down the length.

 I don't know what happened to the photo below. I took all the pictures at the same time and this was the last one I took. It looks like the purple back is glowing.  Any ideas photo experts?

If you want to make a similar quilt, here are the fabric requirements: 19 10"x10" squares, 1 yard of solid fabric, 1.5 yards of chenille for backing.

This quilt was made for a friend who is adopting another little girl from China. Shh! Don't tell. It's a surprise.

I finished all the borders and the backing for the Ramblin' Rose Meets Jamestown king quilt. I put it on the living room floor to pin bast it and the size of it really hit me. I folded it up and called a long arm quilter. She said she could do it, so I took it over to her. I just don't see me doing a good job on something that big on my trusty little sewing machine.

On to the next project!

Roman Fabric Adventure

Just had to share some photos from our Roman holiday last week. Usually I research the location and have a long list of places I think we will enjoy visiting. This year I didn't have much time to figure out what to see but I did look into fabric shops in Rome. I found one blog describing this shop and found the shop's website. Below are some shots my husband took while I shopped.

The shop is on the first floor, what we call the second floor here in the USA. As you can see there is LOTS of fabric. I didn't count the rooms but there are at least 5 rooms with fabric stacked from the floor to the ceiling.

The windows were open to let in the breeze. It was a warm day.

I asked for the 100% cotton and was directed to the last room. We walked past all this fabulousness.

Here I am in the cotton room. I had my own personal fabric cutter. It was hard to choose from all the wonderful patterns and colors. I had read on someone's blog that they only took cash but my cutter said they took credit cards, too. That led to more cutting. I asked for fabric 'Made in Italy' and 100% cotton. I was pleased with the weight. Some was quilting quality and some was lighter. I got cuts of 1/2 meter. Most of it was 55" or wider.

Here are some of the other guys who are ready to cut fabric for customers. All of the cutters were men. The fabric included every type from silk, satin, oxford cloth, and suiting.

Here is the bag with the name of the shop.

We were surprised to find tea towel fabric-100% cotton and made in Italy. I plan to make tea towels for presents. I've never seen any in the stores here.

Here are the pieces I bought. The red with aqua is a little more than a meter long and the other pieces are half meter.

A closer look.

Daughter has suggested that I make a skirt for her out of the red/aqua. 

These two pieces are Liberty of London. I know they aren't made in Italy but when I get a chance to buy some Liberty, I can't pass it up. One day I will make something with all of this but for now I am enjoying looking at each piece and pondering how best to use each one.

If you go to Rome, check out Bassetti Tessuti. Their website is www.fratellibassetti.com. The store is on Victor Emmanuel across from a park. They do take cash or credit cards and they speak English.

One Final Qwillow

This may be my final qwillow. I haven't had time for much sewing these past few weeks. Another friend is retiring from teaching and I had this idea for an appliquéd pattern of blocks with hearts and hands for her. Below is my "design bed".

I decided to move the blue block after looking at the layout thru the camera.

Here is the finished layout.

The backing has words that are so appropriate for my friend. You can see the pocket hasn't been sewn down yet.

This is how it will look when the pocket is finished.

The finished pillow with the word side showing.

  

Unfolded...

Label.

Glad to have a long weekend to sew. I have two sets of blocks to make for quilt group. Then two days of work before a whole summer free to sew, read, travel, and swim. This is the first summer in about 10 years that I haven't taught in summer school. Looking forward to lots of sewing.

Art Gallery Zip Bags

I'm on a zipper bag kick. Can't stop making them. Art Gallery fabric was used to make two of these bags. Finally finding projects for the fabric I won last summer in the Fabshophop.

Tried a little embellishment for a change. Rickrack and lace plus different quilting patterns.

I used two found zippers and one of my new zippers from Zipit on Etsy.

                                          I love all the irises that are blooming now.

What are you working on? 

I will be out of town this weekend, so no sewing time for a while.

Finished Qwillow for Sylvia

Finally a sewing day with no interruptions. I finished this for a friend who is retiring from teaching. We don't teach at the same school. She is a music teacher and plays the organ and piano at church. We worked together in Children's Choir for many years. She plays/directs the Ladies Ensemble at church, too. We don't see each other much since I started going to a different church. I was inspired to make this quilt/pillow for her. I hope she will use it to snuggle her grand babies.

This is the folded up quilt.

This is the other side. The words on the fabric are so appropriate for someone who spent years teaching children.

I tried something different when assembling this willow. I attached the pocket when I sewed the two sides and batting together.

This is the other side. I posted about this earlier. Had to add a row to the top and bottom to make it long enough for the backing.

This is how it looked with the pocket sewn down.

The pieced side with pocket sewn down. Hope she likes it.

Zipper Bag 1.0

I needed a quick sewing fix, so I tried a zipper bag. Found a pattern at Noodlehead and decided to make the largest size she listed. I like how it turned out but as usual I didn't exactly understand the directions and so the bag turned out different.

I sewed the bottom larger than recommended. Instead of batting, I used the very stiffest interfacing I had. The last time I used this interfacing was for a the brim of a cap. The bag is very stiff and the seams don't lie flat.

I like the bag but next time I will make the corners correctly. I think I will try one of the smaller sizes.  Look for more bags. I can cut out and sew one in an evening.

Fabric shopping in Portland

Last week we went to Portland for a convention. I looked at quilt shops online and found one we could get to on the bus. We took bus # 8 to Modern Classics Fabric Shop on Alberta. (I think that is the right name.) They carry Liberty of London cotton prints. I bought half yards of two prints.

Mr. M found a fellow Chattanoogan worked at the shop and he enjoyed talking Tennessee with her.

The Liberty is on the left. I have 4 other pieces of Liberty that I bought in London at the Liberty store. One day I will find the perfect project for these special prints. 

I got some fat quarters to add to the stash. 

The post cards and quilt note cards came from another store.

Unfortunately we have to make up a snow day this Saturday, so I don't know when I will get back to sewing. I like to have a block of uninterrupted time to get in the sewing zone.