Farm Girl Vintage Inspiration

Fridays are the Farm Girl Vintage Sew Along post day. This past Friday Lori posted information about the Crops Block and combining it with the Sunny Sunflower Block to look like leaves and stems of a sunflower.  Here is the link to her post

http://beeinmybonnetco.blogspot.com/2015/06/farm-girl-friday-week-seven.html

Since sunflowers are my favorite and I needed a new summer door banner I got started immediately on combining the blocks and making a new door banner. What do you think? I love how it turned out and will get it quilted up tomorrow and bind it for Slow Sunday Stitching

http://kathysquilts.blogspot.com

I also got caught up on last week's block and finished this week's. Here is my Country Crossroads Block from last week.

 And my Crops Block

 and the Egg Basket Block that were this week's task.

 I also whipped up two Whatcha Got? Bags from This & That Patterns. Here is the link for it
http://www.thisandthatpatterns.com/patterns_bags.php
I found this great fish fabric for $5 a yard at the fabric store the other day and thought it would make nice gift bags for Father's Day. I made the larger sized bag that finishes 10 x 14 inches. It is just as easy to cut two at a time, so I made two. My daughter claimed one to use for some goodies for my hubby and I will get some stuff to fill it up for my dad especially because I am not sure if his main gift will arrive on time for Father's Day.

 I also found a hook and a fish clasp at Joann's that I could use as zipper pulls.

I did not put the handle that the pattern recommends on them to hopefully make them more manly...Is it just me or is it hard to make gifts for men? I am going to make myself several of these bags to use as project bags--I am thinking of using some of my Bonnie and Camille fabrics I have been hoarding.

I treated myself to this Cottage Garden kit for my birthday. Here is the link http://timelesstraditionsquilts.com/normasblog.html

I want it to be my new handwork project, but I am planning to piece the base first and then appliqué the wool felt on because each block finishes at 5 inches which is pretty small and I would rather work with a bigger base. I will be digging through my scrap bins to make the scrappy 25 patches.

I am in total summer mode and stitching my days away!

Secret Sewing Americana & Nautical Pillows

Hooray! These pillow covers arrived today for my mother-in-law's birthday. Her birthday was actually at the end of May, but they were in Europe on a riverboat cruise and I waited to send them until they were back.  My daughter and I embroidered the designs for the Americana pillow covers with perle cotton #8.

We used coordinating fabrics and kind of reversed each pillow cover color way.

Next up I wanted to make some summery pillows for her too and I considered appliquéing flip flops, but that didn't seem like my mother-in-law. I decided to go with an anchor because it goes with the sailboat and she is a Delta Gamma and their symbol is the anchor.

The sailboat is adorable. Again, I coordinated the fabrics on these two.

The pennant fabric just tied the two nautical pillow covers together. All the pillow covers have these envelope style backs and are 18 inches square.

I have been very busy with other secret sewing, but that can't be shared yet. My two year blog anniversary is in a couple of weeks, so I think a giveaway is necessary. Stay tuned!

Tablecloth Quilts

I finished putting the binding on my tablecloth quilt on Friday morning, but I could not get any pictures taken until this morning because of two rainy days. This was my take on the Charm Square Sampler Quilt Along featured by Shannon here 

http://moderntraditionquilts.blogspot.com/p/charm-square-quilt-along-2015-block.html

I quilted it with red on the diagonal both ways using a wavy stitch on my Pfaff.  It kind of gives a diamond effect.

I have had several questions about the wavy stitch, so I took a picture of the screen on my Pfaff hoping that will help. I don't make any adjustments from what the machine has preprogrammed.

 The backing is a Robert Kaufman fabric called Metro Living. I picked up for 40% off at my LQS's Memorial Day Sale. 

I named this "Cherry Charm Square Sampler Tablecloth."

 I have had lots of questions and comments about using quilts as tablecloths. It was not my idea! We attended a family reunion about 14 years ago back in Springfield, MO. Part of the reunion was at an amazing 300+ acre farm with lots of different houses and they were using vintage/worn out quilts as tablecloths. It was very country and they looked fabulous with the vintage dishes, so I came back and made a quilted tablecloth. This is the tablecloth on my kitchen table right now. Large design quilts look great on tables.

 This is the quilt tablecloth on my dining room table. I recommend using a thin cotton batting like Warm and Natural because it is low loft and lays flat. I also recommend using dark colors and avoiding whites and lights because of spillage and staining. Also use high quality fabrics if you expect the tablecloth quilt to last.

You can coordinate your tablecloth quilts to your dishes like I do with my Fiestaware and I also like to make seasonal and holiday versions. I wash the tablecloths often and have several to rotate them. Don't bother with hand quilting or hand binding a tablecloth quilt because they will be laundered at least once a week if not more!

This is one of the first tablecloth quilts I made. The blue sashing has faded greatly and so have some of the other fabrics.

This large hole was put there by my dog, Lola. She pulled the tablecloths off the table and ate holes in several of them that had especially delicious things spilled on them. Needless to say it was retired as a tablecloth and is now used as a utility quilt for dogs!

This is Lola, our border collie mix and the culprit, but she did the tablecloth destruction when she was young. She is now 10 years old and ill. She had an anemic crash last week and was diagnosed with cancer. The vet put her  on steroids and she is doing a little better and eating again, but is very lethargic. We will try to keep her comfortable as long as we can. This was a shock because it came on so suddenly and within weeks of putting our chocolate lab mix down.

Bella is trying to be a good buddy and not bother her too much, but she is very energetic and it is hard for her to have her pal no longer be able to play.

I did make my Farm Girl Vintage Corn and Tomatoes Block this week, but I still need to make my Country Crossroads Block. I have been working on some secret sewing projects too and hope to share them soon.

I will be Slow Stitching as we watch the Women's World Cup today and for the next few weeks. Check out other handwork here http://kathysquilts.blogspot.com for Slow Sunday Stitching.

My birthday was last week and I did receive some great quilty gifts, but I will save them for another post.

H2H Charity Challenge 2015 Quilt Donations

 Back in January Sarah put out the call for charity quilts as part of her Hands 2 Help Charity Challenge. I sent a woodland flannel quilt last year and decided to make at least two quilts this year. This is my Medallion Log Cabin Quilt. I made it from my scrap bins and used Kona white for the background.

 Here is the backing. I pieced it with a strip of blue from my stash. It is 54 inches square--a good lap size and not too big.

I did label it, so that way whoever the recipient is can look me up if they want to.

Sarah also published this pattern on her blog as part of her Sweet 16 Quilt Along. I loved the pattern as soon as I saw it and knew I had to make one. Again, I dug into my scrap bins and used Kona white for the background.  

I made a scrappy binding out of some other scrap strips. It is 54 inches square.

 I did label it too.

I just quilted it on the diagonal about every half inch with my walking foot on my Pfaff. It is such a cheerful and bright quilt.

I am donating both of these quilts to Happy Chemo. They are a good size to take back and forth for chemo treatments and I hope will be like a big quilty hug! These projects embodied two things I love: 1. making scrappy quilts from my stash and scrap bins

2. supporting people in need of quilty hugs

I have a few secret sewing projects to finish up before I get to the post office and mail them all at once. Check out what everyone else made for the Hands 2 Help Charity Challenge here

http://confessionsofafabricaddict.blogspot.com/2015/05/hands2help-big-reveal.html

Scrappy Sunflower Finish

 Scrappy Sunflower Finish--I finished this top last June, but was not sure what to do with it which means it ended up in my enormous unfinished top pile. I made it because it reminded me of sunflowers--my favorite flowers and I made it from my stash. Last week, I decided to keep it for myself, but I wanted to make it bigger. I added a 1.5 inch inner brown border and a 4.5 inch outer border.

I quilted it on my mom's longarm with loops and loopy five petal flowers. For the first time, I enjoyed using the longarm!

 The colors are much better in person. I had a few bees visiting while I had it outside taking pictures, so they were fooled by it. After washing, it measures 63.5 inches square.

This is the busy backing I found in the sale bin. I think it is an old Thimbleberries, but went with the green and yellow theme.

This was a mystery quilt featured on Butterfly Threads Quilting last year. I made it after the finished quilt was revealed. You can find the information here
http://www.butterflythreadsquilting.com/p/mystery-quilt.html
It looks great on my mossy green sectional in my spot because it is MINE!

My friend texted yesterday to see if I had any small quilted items she could buy from me. Her daughter is going on an exchange to Japan this summer and needed little gifts for the host moms. I did not have anything already made, but I offered to make a couple of little quilted pouches. I whipped these up last night. I guess it is traditional to bring "American" gifts and what is more American than quilty goods? This week,  I am ready to work on my UFO pile and start something new...

Keeping Busy

 Friday was spent quilting on my mom's longarm machine. I am so intimidated by it, but I will not get any better with using it unless I practice. I was actually really happy with how this quilt turned out. I tried to quilt loopy five petal flowers and loops all over the quilt.

 Here are some up close pictures of the quilting.

 I bought a very busy backing in the sale bin at my LQS Memorial Day weekend. I like busy backings because they hide my terrible free motion quilting.

 The label shows one of my flowers pretty well. I am hand binding this now for Slow Sunday Stitching and hope to wash it and share pictures soon. See what everyone is up to here http://kathysquilts.blogspot.com

Now, I want to try this same kind of quilting on another quilt. I am thinking my Sugar Stars UFO would be perfect for this same kind of free motion quilting. This is a Lori Holt pattern where I used all Bonnie and Camille fabrics for the flowers and a navy Kona for the background. I needed a backing.

So, my mom, dad, and I headed up to the discount fabric shop a couple of towns north. I bought some more of the pink and red print on the right. I had bought two yards a week ago planning on using it as the backing for my baby chicks quilt instead I will use the pink and red chevron on the left for the baby chicks backing and the pink and red print as my Sugar Stars backing. The aqua in the middle was a splurge! All of these were in the flat folds for $6 a yard and are Henry Glass fabrics--very nice quality.

Saturday, I got caught up with my blocks for the Farm Girl Vintage sew along. Here is my Churn Dash Block

and my Cool Threads block. These are such fun blocks to make and I am in love with the book.

I have not decided what to do with my vintage sewing box. I found this one on Pinterest 

https://www.pinterest.com/pin/412853490817758173/ and was thinking of something similar in turquoise. I will get some other opinions first before I do anything. 

Our weather has finally gotten better, so I will also take some time to enjoy my book out in the sunshine!

Treasures

 Now that I am on summer vacation, I have been sewing, reading, and shopping up a storm! I ran down to the little fabric shop in my town and found some good fabrics for a quilt's border. Right around the corner from the fabric shop is an antique/vintage shop. I like to pop in there and see if there is anything I have to have. I spotted this sewing box there last summer and it was over $60 then, but today it was in the sale shed with no price tag. When I went into the shop, they said it was $24. SOLD!

 For that price, I figured I could just paint it--of course when I say "I," I mean my hubby! The sides are a pretty wood, but the top is not. My hubby checked it out and thinks I should just dust it which I did with some lemon oil. The lemon oil helped.

 He thinks it was handmade. It is pretty heavy. When collapsed, it measures 16 inches long, 9 inches wide, and 10 inches tall.

 Both sides expand out like this. The expanding cubbies are 2.5 inches deep and have an old laminate in the bottom--maybe from the late 1960's or early 1970's? The base has the same laminate and is 4 inches deep.

 There is actually quite a bit of storage in it.

 There were some old sewing odds and ends in it. Mostly vintage buttons and some really old fasteners with price tags for 25 cents. I condensed all the vintage goodies into one cubby.

Here is the view from the top. I like the glass knobs on the top and the sides. My hubby thinks they should be changed to something more industrial, but I think they would be cute if I painted it turquoise. He is not in love with the painting idea, but we will see what I decide. :0)

 I finished one of the Medallion Log Cabin quilts I made!

 I quilted it on my Pfaff with the wavy stitch both horizontally and vertically about every 2 inches.

 I pulled it out of the dryer this morning and ran outside to get some pictures.

 I pieced the back to get it wide enough.

 I did label it and plan on donating it to Happy Chemo as part of Hands 2 Help Charity Quilt Challenge 2015. It measures 54 inches square which is a good size to take back and forth for chemo treatments.

 I am usually not a fan of my quilting showing up this much, but I really like how it came out--so in this case I like it!

I am going over to my mom's today to use the longarm and quilt this top.  I am going to attempt free motion quilting with flowers and loops...