Vintage Fabric Projects

 I always see adorable old quilt tops and old fabrics when I'm out in about.  I'm sure if I dug deep enough in my closet I'm the owner of some of these fabrics.
I was recently shopping at several stores and saw some really cute ideas for using these fabrics in fun ways.

 At one antique store, they took old quilt tops, cut them into triangles, sewed the edge with a zig zag stitch and then sewed them to seam binding to make a banner.

 I also saw this adorable yoyo banner. They made oversized yo yos and sewed a rough circle around the middle so it layed flat, and then sewed together the yo yos to make a banner.  I'm definitely going to be using this onw in the not too distant future.  It's so quirky and adorable.

 This is a quilt I made for my friend's nursery.  She bought these fabrics quite a few years ago when she was expecting baby number 1.  She had a girl and went with a ballet themed, but this go 'round she got a baby boy who could use these fabrics.

I bought a really soft material for the back side and had them measure it to a little over a yard.  I took all the fabrics she bought and figured out how to evenly divide them (they were long enough for the width I wanted).  In this case I cut each strip evenly into 5 1/2 inches.  I sewed each strip together.  I embroidered Holden's name on one side towards the bottom.  I sewed the top to the back, and then added some binding I made with blue fabric I had in my stash.  

I'll post a picture in the nursery with this little guy ironed and ready to snuggle.

TShirt Quilt

 This year for Christmas I made my brother a t shirt quilt.  He had a ton of shirts taking up closet space from sport's team victories and races he's run.  I used a plastic square to cut them all down to the same size. 

 I cut 2 inch strips and sewed them to the sides and then between each row.  This allowed me to be less than perfect.  The reality is I don't have the patience or talent to match up corners, so this is the most forgiving way for me to put together blocks...and it makes the quilt a little longer too. 

I bought some batting and a soft sheet for the back and I took it to a quilter to attach the two pieces together and then added some binding using the same fabric between each square.  Last,  I added some dog hair b/c no project is complete without dog hair. 

Chenille Square Quilt

OK...there is a reason I love chenille blankets.  First, how gorgeous are they?  Second, my Mom always tells this story about her grandparents who had a chenille blanket on their guest bed.  Her and her cousin would jump up and down and make the round chenille circles 'hop' around and yell "cookies."  She always reminds her cousin of this traditional jumping get togehter when we get together.  I knew I wanted to created a little throw for my craft room. The place where I put my seat is right next to the window, which means it gets a little chilly during both days of winter here in Texas.  

 I found a lady on Ebay who sells squares of chenille blankets she cuts into quilt squares.  She has all different combinations of colors, but I fell in love with these peach, pink, and white squares.

 I lined them up into 7x6  rows, making sure I spread out the darks and lights, and didn't put any of the same squares next to each other.  I then sewed each row of seven, and then the rows of 7 to each other.

 I got some really soft fabric at Joann for the back and pinned it all together and trimmed that down then sewed a big square to hold those two together.  Last, I cut strips of another pink fabric into 3 inch pieces, sewed them together, folded them over and made my own binding.

 I haven't actually 'quilted' this, but I might eventually add some ties to the middle of the squares if I end up having to wash it a lot and need to hold it in place.

In the mean time, I'll enjoy wrapping this around myself during that arctic blast this year, and then hanging it on the back of my chair the other 364 days.  

Alzheimer's Busy Quilt

 A gal I work with recently told me about these busy quilts that are being made/sold for people who have Alzheimer's. It gives them something to do with their hands, which helps them keep some muscle memory, and soothes some of their anxiety.  There were a lot of benefits she shared with me.  Her father has Alzheimer's and Parkinson and she was wanted to put something like this together for him for Christmas.  I agreed to do it because it hit the heart strings.  I lost my grandfather years ago to Alzheimer's and it was a cruel disease to say the least.    I'm all about helping comfort anyone in a similar situation.

 I searched some different ideas, and there are all sorts of things you can attach to keep someone busy, but I decided to start with a few ideas, and if he likes it, she can advance from there to more complicated quilts.  I used some printable fabric iron on I had.  I bought it as the craft store.  The only trick is (for this kind at least) you have to flip the picture before printing since you iron on the mirror image.

I added some colorful buttons around the grand kids so that he can run his hands along the buttons.  I then sewed this square to another piece of fabric with soft bumps (minky).  

 I added some ribbon to one side of another textured fabric, and then found a forth fabric with some ridges.  I sewed those two pieces together, then sewed both sides, trying to make them as close to center as possible.  My goal was to use scraps I had, and keep it as masculine as possible.

 I added brown tweed to the back, then used some fabric I had left over from a quilt binding to bind this small lap blanket.  I did take some string and stitch one tie in the middle to keep it from slipping around.  All in all I'm pleased with how it turned out, AND what a fun way to repurpose some scraps!

Baby Quilt

 I made this quilt for a nursery I put together this last fall.  I'll be posting all the details over the next month.  This is the quilt I made (and later ironed, whoops).  I went with a navy, mint, and gray heme, so I bought half a yard of a bunch of different fabrics/designs I liked.

 I cut the strips into 7 inch strips and sewed them together.

 I just did enough until it matched the length of the yard of soft white fabric I bought as the back.  I sewed the two pieces together.  It's OK to see the seam b/c I am going to cover it with binding.

 I cut 4 yards of three inch pieces of one of the fabrics for the binding and then I ironed it down the middle.  I matched the two rough edges to the rough edge on the front of the quilt.

 I sewed it all the way around (the fold will be facing the inside of the front at this point.

 It looks like this and then...

 Pull the folded edge to the back.

 Sew it all the way around the blanket again.

 Here's the finished front/back.  More details to come soon.

Patriotic Quilt

 I posted about this a few weeks ago (making the flying geese at least).  This is a quilt I made this summer, but it took me forever to actually get it quilted.  There is a lady who lives near me I love to go to.  She stitched some stars and swirls which I love.

I then sewed on the binding, and now I'm ready.  I've always wanted a patriotic quilt for July 4th, but it's just in time for election day as well.  I'll either wave my quilt in celebration, or crawl under it and cry tomorrow night.

Quilting: Flying Geese How To

I went to my annual quilting/scrapbooking retreat at the end of July.  This year I made a patriotic quilt.  I'll share more on that when it's back from being quilted, but in the meantime, here is a really easy and pretty fool proof way to make flying geese (which are normally really hard to match up, and I'm the last person you want trying to match corners and angles b/c I'm not known for being careful).  

For four flying geese you will need one square that is 5 3/4 inches (the brown one in this case), and four squares that are 2 3/4 inchese (the yellow squares in this case).  If you want your 'geese' to be larger or smaller, do the math and adjust accordingly.  I'll deal with that orange piece on another blog post.  

 Take two of the smaller squares and match them to two opposite corners.  The center will overlap a little.  

 Draw a line with a pencil down the middle.

 Sew a quarter inch to BOTH sides of the line.

 Cut down the middle where you drew your original line.

Press open and now add the third square to the corner of what is now a 90 degree angle of what is left of your original larger square.  

 Repeat the quarter inch sewing down both sides of this new lines.

Cut again down the line your drew.  Repeat with the other side of your original square.  

Press open.

 You now have four pretty perfect flying geese.