Apricot & Ash Lap Quilts

Last week I shared this finish.

The center fabric is Apricot & Ash.

Most of the other fabrics came from my stash.

I used some batting from my mom's quilting supplies.

With a little splicing I managed to get both quilts from the same piece.

Close up of both quilts all crinkly from a quick wash and dry.

Another look.

The backing is chenille on both quilts.

So soft.

Hope the recipients like the snuggle factor of chenille.

Close  up of the fabrics in both quilts.

The bunny, bird, cat, and flower fabric was the only piece I bought

to complete these two tops.

Linking up with Peacock Party if I'm not too late.

Have a good week.

 

A finish and a side trip

Finished one lap quilt.

This blue one is going to friend Stephanie S.

The wide peach sections have a bunny, bird, cat, flower repeating print.

I used some stash gray and white for the binding.

The center is Apricot & Ash appliqué print.

What to call it?

The backing is cotton chenille.

I had to stretch the backing to cover the whole back.

I hope it washes up nice and soft and crinkly.

Label is ready for details and dedication to Steph.

Clara Curtis aka Country Girls are blooming in our backyard.

I took a little side trip to make a T-shirt shopping bag.

This is a no-sew project I tried out for our pastor.

Washable, recycled, reusable.

Made from an XL shirt, so it is very BIG.

Next up the other lap quilt.

 

Applique Cheater Fabric Quilt Tops

When I saw Apricot & Ash appliqué cheater fabric I jumped right in and bought two yards of it.

I want to make houses with the appliqué designs as the side wall.

One yard has twenty-four appliqué designs.

Reality set in. There is no way I will make that many houses.

Next idea-make some quick quilts to share with friends.

Trying some border fabric below. 

I had all the finishing fabrics in my stash except one.

Most fabrics were from the 50 yards I won years ago from FabShopHop.

This top is my favorite with the blue border.

The blue has a little lime green that matches the center 

and blue is also in the floral in the 4 patch blocks.

The lime green with peach borders probably looks better for those who like things to match.

I was pleased with how the borders extended into the corner 9 patch blocks.

I'm backing both with white chenille so they will be cosy lap quilts.

The size is 60" X 58".

I posted both quilt tops to Facebook and Instagram and asked friends which one they liked.

The results was about even. Now I know which one to give which friend.

This play mat is on hold until closer to Christmas.

Lots going on around here. 

Trying to get a house ready to sell.

Have a great week!

 

Recent Sewing Projects

The backpack has a little engineers hat made from leftover fabric.

Little boy didn't leave it on long enough for a photo but it fit!

He's almost walking. Next time we see him he will probably be hard to keep up with.

Earlier in September I took 12 blocks to sew into a Quilts of Valor top.

After a little figuring I realized that 12 blocks were not enough for even the smallest size quilt.

Since I didn't have a large supply of appropriate fabric I did some more figuring to find a layout that required the fewest additional blocks.

Below is the on-point layout with six 9 patch blocks.

 

I bought a yard of navy and half yard of red and finished the top.

Received many compliments when I returned the top for someone else to quilt.

Working on Christmas presents...

I bought the PLAY panel and added a top and bottom section.

The plan is to make it into a draw string type bag for little boy to use when playing with

cars, etc. Hoping it will allow for a quick clean up. 

Will post the finish at some future date.

Happy sewing!

 

Cowboy Back pack for Kenton

Don't remember when I bought this kit for a small backpack.

Sweet DIL asked for a bag for our youngest grandson.

I remembered this unopened kit and started working on it for his first birthday. 

I have made 3 Wren Weekender Bags from VFT and have learned a few things about bag construction.

The pattern calls for a continuous middle zipper section but I had a different idea.

I read the instructions several times but didn't really understand how to sew in the lining.

I used double fold bias binding to attach the lining and I like how it turned out.

I resized the pattern to add a couple of inches to the width and length.

I also changed the bottom to a flat, boxy style instead of the curved one in the pattern.

I added tabs with D rings at both ends of the zipper.

The rings are handy if there are items to be clipped on the outside of the bag.

Notice I forgot to topstitch one side of the zipper panel. Oops!

The appliqué is fused on and stitched around the raw edge.

Front and zipper panel finished.

Inside the bias tape was sewn on after the two pieces are attached to cover the raw seam.

I thought I could skip all the repeated sewing of the same area but it didn't work.

I guess all the stitching will make for stronger seams.

I clipped the curves and trimmed a little in some places.

The pattern called for 1/2 inch seam allowance but I sewed about a 3/8 inch seam.

Inside out before the bottom piece was added.

Finished back with padded straps before the bottom was sewn on.

The webbing is dark brown-looks black in the photo.

Finished front without bottom.

I thought about ways to sew the bottom without extra bulk in the corners and decided to cut

square notches on the corners of the front, back, and sides.

Then I stitched each side.

Last step was sewing on the bias binding.

I ran into trouble sewing through all the thickness, thought I had broken something in my sewing machine.

Rethreaded, changed the tension, finally called a halt in frustration.

After stepping away for a day, I was successful in binding the last bit.

I will need to hand sew around the corners.

There was just no way to sew through all the thickness even with the corners cut out.

Above is the finished cowboy backpack.

Below I added ribbon to the zipper pull.

One last pic - I love the binding covering the raw edges and holding the lining in place.

Very tailored look.

Next project is a little Halloween wall hanging.

What are you making this week?

 

Charity Lap Quilt & Small Wren Bag

Since my last post I have made a charity quilt from supplies in my stash.

Our quilt group asks each of us to donate one lap quilt each year.

Another quilt group I have been visiting had received many containers of scrap fabric and

I impulsively took a stack of fat quarters and some remnants that looked like yardage.

I used the fat quarters to make a rail fence lap quilt.

The colors are not quite true but one of the light fabrics is a purple and green floral.

There were two remnants of this yellow floral.

I sewed two similar lengths together for the backing.

Just making sure the back was big enough.

The green border picks up the green in front and back.

The binding was another green print.

Above is a back view after trimming.

I quilted it on my domestic sewing machine.

View of the front after trimming.

Quilted in the ditch vertically and horizontally, then on one diagonal.

Below is a small Wren bag made from the leftovers of Miss Ava's princess dress.

The handles were extras from another bag. (Somehow I cut too many handles.)

After making two middle size bags I investigated another way to finish the lining.

This time I sewed the bottom on last. It was much easier to sew the sides and zipper section.

The birthday girl is going to be 5.

She is going to school every day and I thought a cute hand sanitizer unicorn would be useful.

I added a strap to the bag so she can be hands-free.

This pic shows the matching dress.

Inside I made a sunglasses case and tissue holder.

More hand sanitizer choices.

Too many for me.

Hope you are well and safe where ever you are.

We are waiting for hurricane Ida to come ashore.

Linking up with Peacock Party if I am not too late.

 

 

August Sewing List

The first days of August have flown by. 

I have been working on sewing for grands. 

This week I completed these two items.

First finish was this romper/short overall for baby Kenton.

He is only 10 months old but wearing 18 and 24 month sizes.

I made the size 2 to be sure it will fit.

I altered the pattern to be fully lined and had no problem until I sewed the leg openings.

A little ripping and rethinking how to finish with snap tape.

I made this pattern many times when sewing for this guy's father.

Happy with the finish.

Little Miss Ava requested this navy check fabric when she saw the photo of the Violette Field Threads

pattern. This is the Harriet pattern. I had not made this one before.

It has a sort of circle skirt that was interesting to cut out.

Above shows the button shoulder tabs.

The dress was not hard to construct.

I washed and ironed the fabric before cutting out the pattern.

Look how the side seam lined up! 

Serendipity... and the other side is almost matching.

When I cut out the two skirt pieces I tried to line up the pattern at the same spot on the fabric.

Two more dresses to go for Miss Ava's birthday in a few weeks.

This week I also hand stitched the binding in the bag shown below.

My poor fingers hurt when I finished. 

I was wishing for a thimble or something to help push the needle through the thick places.

Linking with Wendy.

Have a good week!