Test Quilt Top Complete, With A Bonus!

When Emily asked me to test her latest pattern, I was immediately interested.  After all, she designed Harvest Sky, one of my favorite patterns.

I dug through fabric on hand and came up with a sufficient quantity and started sewing. 

Row quilt!  YAY!

Along the way there were some bonus half-square triangles that created this charming pillow. 

I have a back and binding and will be quilting this one myself. 

Emily is doing final proof on the pattern now, and it will be published and available to you soon. 

It is called This and That.  Watch for it.  You will like it!

S’more Bars

If you have not yet discovered the delightful cooking and philosophy blog Mennonite Girls Can Cook, it is time you did.  Here is a recent recipe from their daily collection, which I only altered in minor ways, doubling the size and reducing the flour and sugar just a bit.

S’MORE BARS

 http://www.mennonitegirlscancook.ca/2012/05/smore-bars.html

Ingredients:

• 2 cups graham wafer crumbs
• 1-3/4 cups flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup butter, softened
• 1-1/3 cups brown sugar
• 2 eggs
• 2 teaspoon vanilla
• 2 cups marshmallow creme, or about a 7 ounce jar
• 2 cups chocolate chips, I  use semi-sweet

1. Line an 9×16″ pan with foil leaving a slight overhang. Spray foil with cooking spray. Don’t forget this important step.
2. Beat butter and sugar until light, beat in egg and vanilla until well combined.
3. Whisk together flour, cracker crumbs, baking powder and salt.
4. Turn mixer to low and add dry ingredients to the moist ingredients mixing until well combined, as for a cookie dough.
5. Press half of the mixture evenly into foil lined pan.
6. Spoon marshmallow fluff on cookie base and gently spread it out, spreading it is easier if you dip the spoon in hot water.
7. Sprinkle chocolate chips over the marshmallow.
8. Scatter remaining cookie base over the top in clumps.
9. Bake in 350º for 30 minutes, until golden brown.
10. Cool completely, then remove from pan using the foil overhangs to lift it out.
11. Cut in bars and serve

These are rich and delicious. 

The reason I call Mennonite Girls Can Cook a “cooking and philosophy blog” is because of their weekly feature, Bread for the Journey. Here is my favorite entry ever: Greatest Thing Since Sliced Bread.

 

All Small Week Day 4: Pincushions

Oh Sew Tempting shared an interesting scrappy pincushion, so you know I was ready to go right away.

And, I had the perfect batch of little scraps…

Which quickly became this pincushion, an antique feel complete with vintage shell button.  I hope the person who receives it for Christmas will like it.

The whole project took only about an hour or so.  Another small project that makes a very satisfying finish.

The tutorial is no longer generally available on line, but  she has created a PDF pattern which is available in her Etsy shop.

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And, as one pincushion is not enough, and there was another style I was very interested in trying, I gave a cathedral window pincushion a go. 

Beautifully written tutorial with an abundance of pictures.  No complicated piecing.  However, it does require precision IRONING, at which I have very limited skill.

Part way through, it wasn’t looking very good.  Don’t you give up if you feel the same way.  I am glad I kept going,  because the final result is one I am pleased with. 

Thank goodness for buttons.  They are great for covering less than perfect ironing efforts.  I don’t think a whole cathedral window quilt is in my future, but I could give another one or two of these a try at some point in the future.  It is a good way to showcase small, treasured pieces of fabric.  Using a black background and bright solids would give an interesting stained glass or slightly Amish feel to the effort. 

Be aware that the stitching around the curved sections is going through many layers of fabric.  Slow sewing and a machine that can handle heavier-duty work is very helpful. 

So, that is it for Day 4.  Come back again tomorrow for another storage idea.  See you then.

ps–Here is the URL for the cathedral window cushion, if you want it:  http://gogokim.blogspot.com/2011/12/cathedral-window-pin-cushion-tutorial.html

All Small Week Day 3: Fabric Nesting Baskets

Here is a project that will allow you to use some of that polyester blend fabric you haven’t quite persuaded yourself to get rid of. Of course, top quality fabric is always an option, but this project practically begs for cheap. Curious?

Check out crocheted Fabric Nesting Baskets. 

I am a left-handed mostly self-taught crocheter.  If I can do this, you can do this.

The most time-consuming part was prepping the fabric into yarn.  She called for the use of scissors to cut the fabric into 1″ strips.  Uh…NO.  I used my rotary cutter. That is the quilter in me.

The directions are easy to read and well written, as far as I can tell.  Unfortunately, I couldn’t get my gauge just right.  Perhaps my hook isn’t really a size M, or perhaps I am too tight in my work, but once I had the basic idea I just worked the baskets until they were about the correct size.

I finished them by singeing off a lot of the loose strings and then spraying the basket to damp with my ironing bottle.  Then I shaped them carefully and left them to dry.

It was so much fun I am making another set already.

Her method of cutting continuous fabric yarn is great if you are using a sheet, but I wanted to use that poly-cotton blend fabric I mentioned above for the next basket, so I used a joining method very similar to the ones in this tutorial: JOINING FABRIC YARN.  I didn’t turn down quite as much at the end, but the final result is very similar.

So what do you think?  Are there some small baskets in your future?

Check back tomorrow for Day 4.

PS–URL, in case you want it: http://www.petalstopicots.com/2012/03/green-crocheting-fabric-nesting-baskets.html

All Small Week Day 1: Business Card Holder

Because sometimes you need a small something, and this small something is suitable for persons of all ages, whether they use it as a business card holder, or for gift or store loyalty cards.

Melanie created this easy-to-follow tutorial. She includes abundant pictures. You can easily complete one of these card holders in less than an hour.

I did not precisely follow the tutorial as I used interfacing instead of fusible fleece, and narrow elastic instead of a hair band, as that is what I had on hand.

Do be aware that your final edge/top stitching needs to be VERY CLOSE to the edge or the cards will not fit. The tutorial works well, but only if you are careful with your seam allowances.

I enjoyed this tutorial so much, I made four. The two with the darling mouse fabric don’t have homes yet.  They were my practice items. The red/black one goes in my Christmas pile for Husband. I have even already slipped a few of his cards inside. The butterfly one is for Daughter.  Yep, that enterprising quilter even has business cards now.

I am having fun finally getting to some of the items on my  ”Hmm…I want to try that someday” list.  The projects are all SMALL in time, meaning that they require a few hours or so to complete.  Some, like this one, are also SMALL in size.  Join me again tomorrow for another All Small Week project.

ps–Here is the direct URL if you need it: http://craftycupboard.blogspot.com/2011/03/how-to-business-card-holder.html

A Shop Sample, Thanks To Judy

My LQS, where I occasionally work and teach, was looking for a way to highlight some of the pretty panels in the shop. You know panels–lovely to look at, but what do you do with them?

So, Judy Laquidara to the rescue.  Her most recent publication, 60 Pieced Quilt Borders is a valuable resource for those wishing to spice up their quilts.

She gives general guidelines for how to “make the math work” without making the math scary, then includes 12 complete quilt patterns and a total of 60 different borders.  What a great value for $26.95!

I used the Wild in Bloom Panel from South Sea Imports for the center of the quilt.  The borders are a variety of tonal/marbled fabrics.  Looking back, if I were to do it again, I would replace the taupe/grey section with something more gold, but all in all I am happy with the results.  It is always fun to learn a new technique. The finished size of the top is 52″x 58″.

I would like to try this again using a single yard of a large scale print fabric and adding borders.  I think it would make a lovely throw quilt that allows the large print and detailed piecing to complement each other.

Color Catcher To The Rescue

Daughter was recently working on a quilt and came to me VERY UNHAPPY.  As she was ironing the top she sprayed it as part of her pressing process and the orange batik scrap RAN!!!

A very noticable orange stain on her white background fabric.  (I wish I had a picture of it.)

At that point she had to make a choice:

1. Ditch the quilt.  Throw it away and pretend it never existed.

2. Tear it out.  Pick out the offending fabric and everything that was damaged and try again.

3. Develop selective blindness.  Finish the quilt, pretend the stain wasn’t there and hope no one else cared.

4. Forge ahead.  Finish the quilt and try Color Catcher.

She chose option #4.

I had never tried Color Catcher myself, but had heard about the product and decided it was worth a try.

So, one box of Color Catcher.  (Did you know there are 24 in a box?  I thought that was a pretty good buy.)

A very nervous wait for the washer to cycle.

The moment of truth!

Plenty of color on the Catcher. None on the quilt. (OK–Make that CatcherS. I was worried and put two in. One would have been enough.)

RESCUE!

This quilt is now a finish. 

And it has a cute back and label.

Thank you Color Catcher.

PS–This is not a paid review, and I am not affiliated with Color Catcher in any way except as a satisfied customer. And relieved mother.

Quilt Tested

The big fear when writing patterns is that I will make a mistake.  A boo-boo.  A whoopsie.

And, it will cause problems for you.  You might cut your last piece of your favorite fabric and the whole thing will go poof! into a hole because a dimension was off.

I test myself.  Usually, I make two versions before I post anything, just to make sure.  But, you never know.

It is a great relief when the first person lets me know that the directions worked for them, too.

“It was fun to make and all of [the] measurements and instructions were perfect.”

Thank you, Lillian.  Your version of Sew Small Sampler is lovely!

OK, if you have been holding off and saving that special scrap, now is the time to jump in.  The pattern is officially declared safe.

REVIEW: Harvest Sky Pattern

Some of you have followed the progress of the Harvest Sky quilt.

So, after using the pattern, here are my thoughts:

1. Great directions!  She guides you through cutting, building components and assembling blocks with precision.

2. The pattern makes one size quilt, about a twin size, but could be easily changed up.  Just make a few more of each block.  In my case I wanted a large throw and left off borders.

3. Squaring up isn’t my favorite, but it does improve results.  Some of the components are to be squared up to a certain size.  Don’t skip this step.  It produces puckers.  It takes longer to rip it out than it does to do it right the first time.

4.  Scrappy love!  This is a great scrap quilt pattern.  Sometimes it is nice when you can just cut all your scraps to a particular size, say, 5-inch squares,  and go for it.  But, the pile I started with this time would have had a lot of waste.  If you have a variety of scrap sizes, this is a really good pattern to use.

So, all in all, I really like the pattern.  It is a keeper and you might expect to see another Harvest Sky quilt here in the future.  The designer, Emily Bailey, is a Utah girl, so I don’t know if her patterns, Aunt Em’s Quilts, are available in your area, but you can check them out on her blog/website:  Em’s Scrapbag.

REVIEW: Scrap Basket Sensations

I have been talking about Scrap Basket Sensations on and off for quite a while now.  Since I have completed my first quilt from the book, I guess it is time for an official review.

Scrap Basket Sensations is the second published book (that I know of) by Kim Brackett of Magnolia Bay Quilts.  Legal mind by day, quilting wizard by night, Kim has produced another wonderful collection of patterns all focused on a single idea:  2-1/2″ strips.

The book contains 18 patterns, which look surprisingly different from one another considering how closely they are related.

Kim Brackett has designed over 36 quilts using 2-1/2″ strips.  Doesn’t that get boring?  No way!  I have her first book, Scrap Basket Surprises, too.  This book isn’t a boring re-hash of old ideas.  It is full of new ideas and great designs, still based on the same, simple concept.  Simple, yes. Boring?  Definitely not.

In fact,  have chosen my next project:  Blessings From The Hollow. To the best of my recollection, this will be the first time EVER that I have made more than one quilt in a book.  And I doubt I will stop at two.  After all, there is a lot of scrap fabric in my life waiting to be used, and there are more quilts waiting:  Lake Cabin, Summer Daze, Flower Boxes…

Kim gives directions using yardage, precuts or straight scrap.  I used scraps last time, but think this might be a good time to use those two batik rolls you see up there.

If I had a complaint about the book, it would be that most of the quilts are lap sized.   Kim’s directions make re-sizing easy, however,  and the quilts convert larger or smaller, depending on your preference.  I like big quilts, so I added some to Nova and was very happy with the results. 

At the end of her introduction to Scrap Basket Sensations, Kim invites you to “dig into your scrap basket, throw in some precut strips and stash fabrics, and sew along with me!”  I invite you to do the same.  You will be glad you did.