Five Shadows

Here are three of my most recent creations.  I have been a fan of Jan Patek for a long time! Here is one of her wallhanging made with Lilac Hill Moda Fabric.

And for all the dog lovers in the world – isn’t this a cute quilt?! Go Fetch! is the pattern using Basic Grey Moda Max and Whiskers fabric line.

And how about some Sherbet Pips? I love this retro fabric and snowball pattern! Sherbet Pips by Aneela Hoey for Moda. Hmmmm. I’m seeing a Moda theme here.

I read somewhere that some gals like to see projects in progress, not just a photo  of the completed project. That sounded like a good idea to me. I must admit, I do like seeing the progress on blogs myself, and at least some explanation of the process. That said, here is a photo of a few items I’ll be playing with this coming week. I’m thrilled to get to try out  Leaves Galore quilting rulers created by Sue Pelland Designs. I’ll be making up some models for Fabric and Friends Quilt Shoppe, Roanoke, IN. And I love the Mistyfuse stabilizer! Have you ever used it? You need to use a teflon sheet with the Mistyfuse – oops forgot to put that in the photo!

I’ll try to show an in progress photo next. I have many ideas using these rulers swirling around in my head for quilts and also for paper crafting.

A little girl just might love this bright and happy bug quilt. Dancing Bug Fabric, Me & My sister Designs – Easy as 7 pattern.

This is a Ricky Timms pattern and fabric, line is Oodles of Doodles. 3D Flying Geese. This was a fast and easy quilt using the one-seam method to make the geese.

Sidelights Pattern, Orientals. I think this pattern would work great in a fussy cut kids print.

A soft Shannon fabric quilt (like Minky fabric) sewn with the sew and flip method.

And Purses! This orange print with black cats is a friend’s favorite fabric. She loves it! I call it the scary cat fabric. The pattern is called “Multi Tasker Tote.”

This next purse uses the “Peace Bag” pattern. But I did not put the peace symbol on the purse. Front, showing off the lady fabric:

Back of bag.

That’s all folks! Till next time!

Alas, my running record of 21 years without a rotary cutter mishap has just ended.   I was busily working away on a quilt, when Yikes! I shaved off the side of my finger with the rotary cutter. There are way too many capillaries  in one’s finger tips, I think.

Here are some quilt tops that might make you smile.  Hope so!

This quilt is made with Dilly Dally Fabric by Me and My Sister, the pattern is Got a Feeling by Abbey Lane. I like the large rick rack used as flower stems. Rick rack is making a come-back in the sewing world.

This fun quilt is made with Love My Dog fabric from the Playful Pups line by Benartex. The top is similar to a pattern found in the Fall 2010 Fons and Porter’s Magazine by Debby Kratovil. I just changed it up a bit.

And this quilt is made with Peek-a-Zoo fabric by Henry Glass Fabrics.

These three quilts are shop models for Fabric and Friends Quilt Shop, Roanoke, IN. 260-676-2149.

2010. My Fav quilt tops of the year.

Funky Monkey – Monkey’n Round Fabric line by Moda. The pattern is an enlarged version of Hullabaloo. They are sock monkeys! I think the finished size was 62″ x 62″.

And my second fav is another monkey quilt. Pattern by Blue Meadow Designs, Monkey Business Baby Quilt, Finished size: 38″ x 47″. This quilt reminds me of the old Barrel of Monkeys toy. Do you remember the red plastic barrel that came full of primary colored monkeys that could hand on each other in a long chain? I think this would be a fun toddler quilt in those colors along with a Barrel of Monkeys. The quilt is hanging in a quilt shop, half on the wall and half on the ceiling, so not the best pic but you get the idea.

Panels. Some quilters love them. Some quilters avoid them with a passion! I suppose they do come in handy for whipping up a charity quilt, or to make a quick baby quilt. I was recently challenged to come up with a variety of designs for a pile of panels. So take a look for yourself and let me know what you think. Do you like panels? Do you ever use them for a quick gift? Do any of these inspire you to use them, if they have been something you have avoided? I’m just wondering and would love your feedback. These are all now hanging in a quilt shop, so the photos are not the best. I just didn’t think to take pictures of them while I still had them at home!

Strip piecing around the panel with four patches in the corners.

Noah’s Ark, using coordinating fabrics around the panel and then pieced diamonds top and bottom.

Noah’s Ark, pillow panel. Cut into fourths, and checker board piecing separating the panels, coordinating fabric for the borders, with 4-patch in a 4-patch in the corners.

Not easy to see this one, but star blocks in the corners from coordinating fabrics. Jungle panel.

Christmas puns! Pillow panels say: Here comes Santa Paws, Merry Beary Christmas, Baaaa Humbug!, Kitty Klaus, Up on a Woof Top, and I Herd the Bells on Christmas Day. I cut the pillow apart and pieced in sashing with corner stone 9-patches.

This sweet bear panel is a soft flannel and makes a nice baby quilt. I added the blue border and then the pieced stars in the corners and used a coordinating print for the outer border.

Alphabet panel. I cut the bottom row into four squares and placed them in the corners with a coordinating print for the border. Simple as it gets!

There are a few more, but tis all for now.  Hope you enjoyed the show and tell!

Funky Monkey fabric by Moda. One pillow case, one jammy bottom child size 2, and one size 6.

Two ponchos. Child size 6 made from pre-quilted fabric.  Child size 4 made from 54″ wide fabric, lined.

I searched back to my years long ago in garment making to put a nice finished touch to the seams of the pre-quilted poncho. The photo above shows the finished look where one side of the inside seam allowance is trimmed to 1/4 inch, and using remaining 5/8 inch seam allowance, turn under to cover the seam and top stitch. You see the top stitching on the outside of the garment. I’m pointing to the top stitching on the red outside, and to the covered seam of the inside of the poncho.

To finish the inside seam of the hood, I used the bias-covered method. I made a single fold bias strip from a coordinating fabric, trimmed the seam allowance, and top stitched the bias strip over the seam allowance. The following picture shows the outside top stitching.

The lighting is not the best in these photos. But I think you can see the garments ok. I used bias binding to finish the outside edge of the hood, the hem of the poncho and for the ties at the neckline. I have not made a garment in years! And I have to say I had fun with these projects! But I think I’ll stick with quilting for my main outlet in sewing!

What a pretty white December we are having here in NE Indiana! It is continuing to snow flurry with maybe an inch of snow on the way today.

This quilt is a woodland winter scene panel with hour glass blocks in three fabrics pieced around it. Deb of Fabric and Friends Quilt Shop has a huge selection of panels and asked me to ‘do something with them.’ I’ll be sharing them  with you this month.

December greeted us with snow flurries and it has flurried on and off for 6 days now! We only have about one inch of snow, but it is pretty!

This quilt top  Santa’s Surprises, is a shop model for Fabric and Friends Quilt Shop,

126 West Second Street, Roanoke, IN 46783 Phone: 260.676.2149. Pattern was a free download. (Not one of my favorite, and a quilt top that could benefit from quilting.) (And why won’t my words go below the picture like I want them?)

Here is a fun quilt I recently made for a new quilt shop in my area.  Fabric and Friends Quilt Shop, Roanoke, IN.  Love the shop! Owner Deb Roehm has an eye for decorating and she has a huge selection of fabrics. Wool, fleece, flannel, batiks, and of course many lines of quilters fabrics! All in a lovely old Victorian House on Second Street. This quilt is hanging, part on the wall & part on the ceiling in what Deb calls her ‘batik’ room. Pattern by Blue Meadow Designs, Monkey Business Baby Quilt, Finished size: 38″ x 47″.