wonky log cabin table runner

Fall is one of my favorite seasons. New England has one of the best falls around, the colors are so vivid and beautiful. It definetly is sad to see it go! To celebrate fall this year, I decided to add some color to my dinning room table. I had purchased "The Modern Quilting Bee Block Party" and decided to do a few wonky log cabin blocks. I think it turned out great! To complete the back, I added a little twist by joining left over strips. I love the way it came together.

Gift Idea: Snowman Wall Quilt

One of my goals for the year was to work on Christmas gifts throughout the year to minimize the stress during the holiday season. I've been aiming to complete 2 projects a month, and I've been pretty good with keeping to it.

My quilting experience is pretty minimal, so to improve my binding skills, etc I wanted to find a small project that wouldn't be too overwhelming. I also wanted to learn Applique, so this was the perfect project. YouTube is a great resource to watch how to video's on binding and needleturn applique. Little did I know, I used hand quilting thread which is very thick, so for my first applique project it was more fussy than it needed to be. I finally asked my friend Joanna who is amazing at Applique and Quilting for some advise. She blogged about it here.......

As for the tree's in the wall quilt, they were paper pieced together.......These three were the best of 6....each one taking 30-45 minutes, so you could say I was getting pretty frustrated. If I were to do this project again, I may omit the trees! Or come up with something easier/less time consuming.

I think the Snowman Wall Quilt turned out pretty cute:)

Patchwork Jean Quilt

Grandma Hodgen was amazing at quilting and everyone in the family has treasured their quilts they received for high school graduation. She was so thrifty she would transform jeans, khakis, shirts into beautiful quilts. She would always talor it to your likes and add things to make each one unique. My quilt that she made has all the patches from the name brand jeans I had in the 80's and 90's such as Pepe and Z Cavaricci. Incorporating the pockets was always my favorite part of Grandma's quilts, making it perfect to hold the remote while watching TV.

For Christmas this year, I drew my little brother, Brad's name for our family gift swap. Beings that Brad never got a jean quilt from Grandma Hodgen, I decided to make one for him. Even though it's not as great as Grandma would have made, I hope he can cherish it for many years to come.

Taking some old jeans and khaki pants we had kept, I cut the jeans along the seams. From there I cut the jeans into either 4 inch, 8 inch, and 10 inch widths with varying lengths. I then got 1 yard of patterned fabric that helped pulled the blues, browns, and khaki together and interfaced it to help make it the same weight as the jeans. Once I had all the squres cut, I layed out the pieces. Within each row (vertical rows), I then sewed all the pieces together. Once I had the vertical rows completed, I then sewed them together to compete the front. I then basted and finished it up with brown corduroy backing.

As you can see, I think he is enjoying the new quilt!

Quilting Update

Well I've finished 2 more squares! Only 4 more to go.... I am making progress and can't wait to start piecing the front together:) Hopefully next class I will be able to get the last 4 squares done:) Will keep you posted.

Quilting Update

Well I think I have found my new stress-relieving activity! This week I have finished 4 blocks for the sampler quilt that I'm making. So with the other 2 completed, I am halfway done! It is a wonderful feeling to see the blocks come together. Last night I worked till midnight, and since it was a busy night at the hospital, I had a hard time unwinding. So instead of tossing and turning I completed another block. That definitely helped and I was still in bed by 1:30. Here are the 4 that I completed:

Quilting Update

Last month our first quilting class was spent cutting all the blocks. It was a very organized class, thanks to my friend Joanna! We cut each fabric into strips and from there we cut our squares, triangles, and quarter triangles. As we cut each piece, we placed in piles that were numbered 1-12. Once all the fabric was cut, we numbered each plastic bag and put each block in a bag. It took a total of 3 hours of cutting, but will be a huge time saver as we piece together the quilt. Here are my blocks in yes, my cute pink bags!


Our second quilting class was today and it was so much fun! The sewing machines came out and we were put to work! Piecing them together is a lot easier than I thought as we are pretty much sewing straight lines. Here are blocks 1 & 2 place on what will be my binding fabric:



Block 1:



And Block 2:


I am so excited for my fabrics! I love how they are coming together! Thanks Joanna for all your help! To check out her finished quilt with this pattern, click here & here.

First Quilting Project

Well, now that the scrapbook is complete, I'm off to another project. Thanks to my husband he found me a great deal on a Kenmore sewing machine! I am so thrilled, I can't wait to use it! The first project with the awesome machine is going to be a sampler quilt, under the direction of my friend Joanna. Check out her amazing work at Applique Today. This past weekend, I made it to a fabric shop and picked out my selection. I hope it turns out good:)
I will keep you posted on my progress! The first class is this weekend, I can hardly wait:)