Getting things done

Hello Friends!

Hope you are all doing well and enjoying summer.  It has been unbearably hot here.  I have a few top finishes to share and a picture of my winnings from the Modern Mini Quilt Challenge sponsored by Quilt Expo and Nancy Zieman.

First I will show you the sashiko piece I finished.  I am hoping to turn it into a tote bag.  I think I will put the iron on vinyl on it to protect the stitches.

This piece is a light teal color so I thought the orange would really pop on this.  I am going to look at batiks for the bag.

 

When I wasn't working on this I was working on English paper piecing.  This is called Daisy Chain and I followed Rita-Red Pepper Quilts.  I think I need 150 to make a decent size quilt but I only have 15 done.  May end up in something modern at this point.

 

My friend Gael has opened a quilt store not too far from me.  It is very modern and just a wonderful place to gather.  If you ever get to Middleton WI check out Blue Bar Quilts.

Make sure to tell them that the The Turquoise Button sent you.  There are a lot of Amys in my guild that go to the shop so this way they will know who you are talking about.

They are having a grand opening next weekend and I am going to help with a make and take.  I found a pile of button forms in a drawer and decided to use them.  Also, all this paper piecing and Sashiko has had me needing one.  I had seen a tutorial online a while back and decided to make my own needle minder.  Of course nobody can make just one, or maybe that is just me.  It was a great way to use up those small scraps.

 

I even made little cards to attach them to.  I have already sold one and I am sure I will sell more.  I will be adding them to my etsy store soon.  I will add the link here when I do get them on there.

 

I feel like I have been pretty productive lately.  Late last year I found this BOM (block of the month) and thought I would give it a try.  I have been using my scraps and stash for about 2 1/2 years now and thought that would be a great way to use things up.  You can find the pattern here-Moda Be My Neighbor-Bear Creek Quilting Company

I think I will embellish this quilt after it is quilted.  I think I will put curtains in the windows and use buttons of different themes throughout.  Stay tuned for that.

Also late last fall I decided to make a quilt using Bonnie K Hunter's phone book pages scrap quilt idea.  She uses the pages for stability.  I found an old phone book at work and cut it up into 7 1/2 inch squares.  This was a lot of fun digging into the scrap bin.  At one point I sorted all of my scraps by color and was able to mix up and use better color combinations.  I made 72 blocks.  Some days I would make 5 or more and some days I made just one.  I have had the stack de-papered for a while just waiting to sew them together.  That part took about an hour and a half.  I realized that having everything cut to the correct size and using the same seam allowance really does help. :)

 

I am not sure if many people know this about me but I love all thing nautical.  I should have been born by the ocean because I love it!  When Blue Bar Quilts opened they had this line from Cotton and Steel that I just fell in love with.  I just had to make a baby quilt with this line.  I just need to quilt this and then it is ready for gifting.  Or for sale on my etsy store.

That light blue colored dot fabric will be the back and the red will be the binding.

 

At the beginning I talked about my winnings from the Wisconsin Quilt Expo-Nancy Zieman Blog Modern Mini Quilt Challenge

You may remember my fingerprint quilt.  This is what I entered and I received an honorable mention.  It may be the last quilt listed but it's mine and I am super proud and excited!

 

 

And this is my prize.  I was not expecting anything but I just love this book.  You will see a quilt or two from this book soon!

 

 

So, I have been pretty busy lately.  Still have a list a mile long of things to do and finish.  Hoping to quilt some of these before I start something else.

 

What are you working on?  I would love to hear how you stay organized as I struggle to even keep my sewing table clean.

 

Blessings!

Amy

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Is this a dream?

Hello Friends

Thanks for stopping by.  I have a lot to show you that I have been working on but this post is going to be quick.  Earlier in the month I saw a post for Quilt Expo/Nancy Zieman Mini Modern Quilt Challenge.  All they wanted was a picture of a 20x20 or smaller modern quilt.  I thought I would enter this fingerprint quilt:

 

They announced the winners today and I may have the last quilt listed but it is an Honorable Mention!  Yay!!!  I won a book from Martingale.  Here is the link-Quilt Expo MMQC winners

 

So excited that this little quilt is becoming so famous. :)

 

More pictures coming.  I had a very productive weekend!

 

Blessings

Amy

Hello Friends

Hello!

Hope you all have been well.  Sewing has been slow around here but I do have some finishes to share.
First off, I would like to thank everyone who voted and or left a comment on my Project Quilting posts.  I am truly blessed by your kindness.  It was a lot of fun but also a lot of work.  I am glad it's only 6 projects.  But I can't wait for the next round already.  Because I was able to finish all 6 projects I felt I deserved a gift.  Check out my new sweatshirt!

Check out Kim's site for other great clothing options.

 

I am a member of the Madison Modern Quilt Guild.  We meet once a month and I just love everyone in the group.  They are so encouraging and supportive.  One of the members and my friend, Natalie

is amazing!  She is so talented and makes the most wonderful things.  She made a zipper bag pattern with vinyl and glitter.  When I saw that at the meeting, I just knew I had to try it. This is one of the half dozen I have made.

I then decided I would try making a few other designs.  I am hopeful I will get the anchor bag done soon.  But that is for me so it always takes the back seat to other projects.
One idea I had was to make a bag for boys.  Glitter for boys?? Heck yes!  I thought it would be fun to do a road with grass on the back and a car on the front.  Then they can keep their cars inside the bag.  This is what I came up with.  Sewing on vinyl is not as hard as it looks.

I have 3 special little boys in my life and I filled these with cars for Easter.  They were a hit!  Thank you again Natalie for such a fun and easy tutorial!

I am still working on my Missing U quilt and my Moda Be My Neighbor quilt.  The blocks are done for the Missing U and I have 3 more to make for Be My Neighbor.  These are on the short list to get done.  I was also able to get all 72 blocks made from my phone book foundation paper strip quilt.

All of the paper has been torn off, I just need to lay them out and decide on a design and sew them together.

 

Stay tuned for an update on my word of the year and my new favorite quilt shop.

 

What are you working on?

 

Blessings

Amy

 

 

 

PQ 8.6

Hello Friends

Today I am sharing my final quilt for Project Quilting Season 8.  The theme this week was 'Time is Up'.  I have always wanted to try the Dresden Plate Quilt Block.  I was able to find a pattern with 12 blades.  I bought a burlap frame and got to work.  The burlap was too flimsy and the clock mount would not stay on.

 

And it didn't look like a quilt.  So I grabbed another color from Amanda Jean's fabric line called Good Neighbors and came up with this.

This is actually hanging on my wall in my sewing room. :)  And the clock works! I am linking up to Project Quilting.  Voting opens at Noon CT on Sunday.

 

Thanks for stopping by.

Blessings

Amy

 

Project Quilting 8.5

Hello friends,

Hope everyone is well. This week the theme is Well-dressed Man.  I have been addicted to Mad Men on Netflix.  So, I chose Don Draper (Jon Hamm).  Last year at the WI Quilt Expo, Kristy Daum had her quilt, Sherlock there. It was a pixel quilt. She took a photo and uploaded it to pic2pat and it created a pattern for cross stitch but she turned it into a quilt.  I have wanted to try this but never had a subject until now.

I took this picture and did the pic2pat

Then I had to find fabric. I actually had to buy fabric for this one.  Not once but twice.  The first time I made this I measured wrong . Each square was to measure 1.5 by 1.5.  So my thinking was 1.5+1.5 equals three, it doesn't it equals 2.5 when you take away the seam allowance.  Nothing was matching up so I decided to start over . So off to the quilt store again to buy more fabric.  

 Did I do it right the second time? Of course not. The brown I had chosen was way too dark and he look like a scary skeleton.

 He still does look a little scary up close but if you squint you can see his figure better.

He measures about 27x27.

Linking up to project quilting.  Thanks for stopping by.

Blessings, 

Amy

Project Quilting 8.4

This week's challenge is 'Brighter the better'.  I decided I wasn't going to stress about this and just make something bright. I found This herringbone quilt pattern from Maureen Cracknell.   I love her work and her fabric.  I used all scraps and stash for this. It measures about 61x61.

This will be linked up to the project quilting site. Voting will open on Sunday afternoon. 

This quilt is going to a special place. More on that next month.

Thanks for stopping by.

Blessings,

Amy

Project Quilting 8.3

Hello Friends!

This weeks Project Quilting 8.3 is Tuned in to Texture.  I really struggled with this one.  And then I cut my finger with my rotary cutter and thought for sure I wouldn't be able to participate.  But my finger is healing and I found inspiration.  The first thing I did was google 'tune in to texture'.  This is one of the images that came up:

 

 Bingo! A fingerprint!  Now how do I make this happen.  I really don't care too much for applique but I sure have been using it a lot lately.  So I found this image online:

 

 Perfect!  I printed it out as big as I could with the paper I had.  Then I put the Heat and Bond over the picture and copied the lines with a marker.  Then I ironed it to the black fabric and cut out each black line.  Then I took the printed copy and laid the white fabric over it.  I lined up the black pieces and ironed them on.  When that was done, I sewed on each piece.  Then it was time for the quilting.  I really struggled with this.  Free motion was not working and I didn't care for the straight lines either.  It was getting late and I needed to decide.  I just made a continuous circle all around it.  Here is a close up of the texture:

 

And here is the finished project: measuring 20x17

 

Thank you to Kim and Trisha for a wonderful challenge.  Voting will open on Sunday, you can check it out here-Project Quilting 8.3

 

Thanks for stopping by!

Blessings

Amy