Kaiya's Quilt

I wanted to make a quilt for Kaiya, my oldest son, Mitch's girlfriend. Back in January Mitch and I talked about one for her birthday in May. Time was running out, so I decided to do a tie quilt. He suggested solids in purple, yellow and turquoise. I backed it with a cozy pink backing I had been saving. It's lap quilt sized for two! ~ meaning it is long and narrow. I tied it all over with perle cotton embroidery thread.

Duke has been loving all of the sewing going on lately.

Kris :)

May Stitch that Stash Block

Hello friends, it's been awhile. Today I am posting my pick for the May Bee Block for our sewing bee, Stitch That Stash. I am thinking ahead to Christmas and chose a simple tree block.

I usually put lots of colors in my quilts. Not this time! I am going with green and turquoise in any shade (value) from light to medium to dark. It can be solid or have a pattern, as long as it reads as one of these colors. I pulled a stack of my own fabrics to give you an idea of what I would chose if I make this many. The tree trunk can be any brown. The background can be white or cream...any low volume fabric will work.

Here is how it looks! I will be adding some solid blocks like this in between the tree blocks. About the pattern....I tried the measurements given on this purl bee post and though cute, it was too small for me. I made a larger pattern. Here's the difference:

Here is a link to the pattern. The block is very easy to make. The fabric cuts will yield two blocks so from your first cut to your last stitch you will be done with 2 blocks in under an hour. By the way, when they say to be sure to cut those diagonal cuts in opposite directions, they mean it! Otherwise, your triangles won't come together to form a "tree".

Just replace this page with the same page in the pattern ( you can see it on the left up above). I drew it just like the pattern page so that you will see exactly what to do. ** when you sew your bottom tree trunk strip to the tree portion, just center the trunk under the tree. It will all trim up nicely to 8 inches wide with plenty extra to square up. When I squared up the block, I left a 1/2 inch above the top tip of the tree, to preserve the points with "extra" space above them when joining the blocks.

I'm thinking of using the red trees in a Christmas pillow since I axed them from the quilt. I hope you enjoy the pattern! Super simple this month!!

Kris

Happy Valentine's Day

Linking today's post to Finish it up Friday at Crazymomquilts.blogspot.com

Hello again! It's been awhile. I thought I'd share my Valentine's Day inspired zipper bags and pot holders. It all started with a beautiful piece of home decor weight flowered fabric that I received in the mail from my Aunt Pat. I thought it would be great for zipper pouches. Once I started, I made a bunch and ended up selling them all! Maybe I should have kept one. Oh well. I can always make more! The pot holders were a custom set for my friend who requested them to give to other moms who assist her in teaching. I did keep that last pot holder and it's all finished.

I made two other pot holders for my Mom and MIL for Valentine's Day but I forgot to take pics. My Mom's is above in the third tray down. My MIL's was very similar. For these two, I did some free motion quilting! I'm getting a little better. (That bottom tray is a coaster I made for Mitch's girlfriend.)

Yikes, I know...this one is kind of a mess. It's just a practice scrap but you get the idea. A friend suggested practicing on paper to get the flow of where you are going with the design. It doesn't always come naturally. And the needle needs to be traveling at a consistent, almost fast, pace to keep the stitches even, so you have to have a plan in your head! Here's my practice page with pens.

Mitch and his girlfriend got a little valentine's day surprise from us.

Jack got a Seattle Seahawks t-shirt for Valentine's Day along with some sweet tarts --- did you hear they won the Super Bowl?!!!

This was his outfit for Spirit Day the Friday before the Super Bowl. He won top 20 most spirited at his middle school and went on stage for a treat. We made the hat! :-). How about some photos of Duke?

He and my friend's dog get along so well! We've been to the dog park a lot lately.

Wishing you a happy valentine's day!
Xoxo, kris

Holiday Sewing

I love English paper piecing and happened across a new shape, the rounded thimble. It's refreshing, creatively, to work with a new shape. Since this shape forms rings, it also takes less of them to create the desired end result. I can see myself making more variations (crossed rings, half rings, rings with solid centers, rings with diced up centers) in the near future. For now, I wanted to make a table runner before my parents arrived, which was just the motivation I needed to stick with one project and finish it, while watching Homeland or Scandal. The pink block was a personal preference to keep it "not so red and green" and I'm happy with the color combination.

I made a pillow for Mitch, who is now a Kappa Sigma. There will be more Kappa Sigma presents under the tree. His Great Aunt gave him a Kappa Sigma bow tie for his birthday last month (he LOVES bow ties!) He thinks they're cool. :-).

After making little Duke I decided to make another and change the face a bit. I think I like the small felt pieces versus the stitched ones on the doll faces because they show up better. I still want to change the eyes. Eyes are difficult to get just right. Jack's class was collecting toys and he said, "Mom I know just the thing I'd like to take but I don't know what you will say because you worked so hard on it." My sweet boy. Off it went!

Duke is doing really well! He had blood work done Friday to see what level his meds are at in his system. We find out the results today and may be able to lower the dose. He has adapted really well to them. I see a slight balance issue with standing on one hind leg to pee, but that's about the only difference to how he was before the seizure weekend fiasco. The medicine has made him more hungry and what do ya know....he has gained 10 pounds this month. Oops! He was slim before so it was hard to notice. We've come to the conclusion that everyone in the house can't give him treats all day long. He will stand by the dish and bark, and we all obey!

Here's hoping all of you are enjoying your holiday preparations ~

Kris