Thousand Word Project - Warm and Comforting

Come in from the cold and cuddle up,
The warmth of home is best.
A warm quilt and warmer cup,
And then a time for rest.

MES

A Simple Denim Rag Quilt

Photo property of Simple Inspirations.

Here is a link to instructions for a simple denim rag quilt. This is posted at the blog of "Sister in the Mid-West" - Simple Inspirations.

Denim Rag Quilt

This quilt is a good way to use up denim scraps, old clothing, and other fabric scraps as well. I'm not sure, but I think you could make this with corduroy in place of the denim, although, that might get a bit messy, and you might not want the super bulky types. :-)

Random Acts of Blogging - Photos and Stuff

I haven't been feeling very well this week, but I wanted to schedule a post for today, so I'm just giving you some random pictures to enjoy and a few verses that my sister-in-law in Australia posted this week.. :-)

I think this is stork's bill. These grow on our property.

These are blackfoot daisies, so called for the little "foot" that sticks out at the center of each petal. They have bloomed nicely this year around my dad's driveway.

Part of the vegetable garden in 2017. These are sweet potato starts. My dad's strength is much reduced this year so I don't know how much garden we'll have since he is our chief vegetable gardener on the property. The slats of wood and the PVC pipe frame in the background were to help hold up plastic or old tablecloths and blankets to protect the plants from late frosts. We can get them as late April here.

I think this may be spider wort. This photo was probably taken by my husband when we were on a visit to the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center.

And here I am in the apron my mom gave to me for my birthday in April of 2017. It was the last thing that she sewed for me. I have it in my kitchen still. I have used it some, but I knew even then that it was probably the last, so I haven't worn it as much as I would have under different circumstances. It has musical notes and bluebirds on it. My sister-in-law helped her with the project and also made the quilt behind me (which belongs to my dad.) :-) Every piece in that quilt represents something from my dad's life in some way.

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1 Chronicles 29:10-13 ...Blessed be Thou, LORD God of Israel our father, for ever and ever. Thine, O LORD, is the greatness, and the power, and the glory, and the victory, and the majesty: for all that is in the heaven and in the earth is Thine; Thine is the kingdom, O LORD, and Thou art exalted as head above all. Both riches and honour come of Thee, and Thou reignest over all; and in Thine hand is power and might; and in Thine hand it is to make great, and to give strength unto all. Now therefore, our God, we thank Thee, and praise Thy glorious name.

Berry Fun Friday - Strawberry Pincushion Tutorial

Here is a tutorial for a cute and easy strawberry pincushion brought to us by the Gourmet Quilter of New Zealand. A simple hand sewn running stitch can be used to do the gathering around the top. Another option would be to zigzag over a bit of string, yarn or fishing line.

I used a different pattern to make similar berries. Instead of using felt for the tops I made yo-yos from green fabrics and sewed those over the opening.

This would be a great way to use up scraps of reds and pinks.

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Sew Happy Wednesday - Some Helpful Sewing and Quilting Tips

Here are some helpful tips about sewing, things that you may not know even if you have sewn for years. Some of these tips are general to all sewing and a couple are more geared towards quilting. However, even the two quilting tips may apply to some other sewing projects. I learned some things that I didn't know before despite the fact that I've been sewing for around 30 years. I hope you learn something useful too. :-)



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Sew Happy Wednesday - Two Quick and Easy Quilt Tutorials

These tutorials are not as in depth as some, but the information is enough to make the quilts if you already have some quilting skills. :-)

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Sew Happy Wednesday - Easier Granny Square Qtuilt

Just a friendly reminder that I'm only posting three days a week right now, so I've made this a Wednesday post instead of the previous "Sew Happy Friday."
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Jenny Doan of the Missiouri Star Quilt Co. shows an easier way to make the Granny Square Quilt.

Note: I don't recommend buying lottery tickets - even if you're having a "lucky day."  :-)



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Sew Happy Friday - Disappearing Pinwheel Tutorial

Here's another fun quilt tutorial from Jenny Doan at The Missiouri Star Quilt Co. You could use this pattern to make a very scrappy quilt with leftover 10" squares.

Enjoy! :-)

Sew Happy Friday - Scrappy Jelly Roll String Quilt Tutorial

This quilt is a version of the jelly roll race quilt. It's a great way to use up scraps. If you enjoy making this type of quilt but don't like cutting all the 2" strips at one time, you can cut the strips ahead of time by cutting up your scraps from other projects as you do them. You might store the strips in containers by color. This way you can later select a pleasing mix of colors, or if you have many from on color group you can make a quilt from one color as this lady does in her demonstration.

If you don't want to do all the trimming of angles, you can make this quilt by just sewing the strips end to end. However, if you do that be sure to trim away any selvage edges first. Also, the angle cuts are what give the interesting points in this.

Sew Happy Friday - Quilt As You Go Blocks Tutorials

Here is a tutorial from the Gourmet Quilter in New Zealand. She shows us how to use up scraps of fabric, batting, and strips of fabric to make quilt-as-you-go blocks to make a quilt or tote bag or whatever project you want to make. These blocks could also be made over a period of time using up scraps, then making a very scrappy quilt at some future date with all your blocks.

NOTE: Beware of ironing blocks with synthetic batting. I have melted synthetic batting before when ironing a project. It will go "very flat" as she says. I prefer to use 100% cotton batting now because it doesn't have this limitation.

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In this second tutorial she shows how to sew the blocks together into a quilt or project. If you want to see the instructions for the borders and the rest of this specific project, please check out her YouTube page. I am mainly interested in the basic blocks and joining them. The edges can be bound in any typical quilt binding method you prefer.

One thing you can do to break up the "string" blocks is to make some blocks to mix in that are just a solid square on each side in the same size as your other blocks. Make a sandwich of the three layers and then machine quilt them however you like. She made some with applique stars on them, as you can see in the video.

Sew Happy Friday - Prairie Point Table Runner Tutorial

Here is a fun, easy table runner made from 5" squares (charm squares). This could be a fun way to use up complimenting scraps or to add a pop of color to your home with a favorite charm square collection. (Don't forget that it is easy to cut 10" squares into quarters to make 5" charms.)

This runner finishes quite long at 52 inches, so if that is too large for your table you can shorten it by reducing the number of horizontal squares from 11 to whatever you need it to be. You could also use 4" squares instead in this case because the instructions wouldn't change, just the measurements. You may have to arrange the prairie points a little differently, though, to get them even.

When closing the opening left for turning the runner, Donna just stitched it shut on her sewing machine leaving a visible thread line. This can be made to look more a part of the overall design if you top stitch around the entire runner making sure that the opening on the bottom is closed as you do so. I think this will also provide extra security for the prairie points.

Sew Happy Friday - Tutorial for the Summer Camp Quilt from Jenny Doan

Here is another tutorial from Jenny Doan at the Missouri Star Quilt Co. This is a cute and easy quilt to make with 2" strips. This would be a good way to use up scraps. The way she shows it here the pattern would not be necessary, unless you need more detailed instructions for finishing it up. The diagram is linked below.



Here is the link for the diagram that she mentions.

Memories - My Grandmother's Mystery Quilt

This beautiful vintage quilt belonged to my Grandma Van Nattan. I'm sorry to say that we do not know who made it or what its story is - as with many handmade things that were passed down to us from her. It may have been made by my great-grandmother (or some other relative from that era) because these fabrics would have all been from before she died. It is highly unlikely that my grandma herself made it as I never knew her to sew projects of this type. It also could have been given to my grandparents as a gift from one of their supporting churches when they first went to be missionaries in Africa. The timing would have been right for that as well since a lot of scraps of this vintage would have been available at the time. It might have been a wedding gift, but I'm going to say I think some of the fabrics *may* be too recent for that.

I also don't know what the pattern is. I would describe it as a cross between the "Dresden plate" and a "card tricks" block. Maybe a reader can tell us.

Just a word of advice: Be sure your family knows the stories behind heirlooms or other items of particular interest that you will leave behind when your time comes to go. We have a lot of heirlooms, especially from my dad's side of the family, of which we know little other than that they were owned by my grandparents for some reason. If it's important enough to hold on to and pass on, it's important enough to leave the story with it. If you have too much stuff to tell all the stories or write them down for the family, then you may have too many things to leave. Just sayin'... :-)

Sew Happy Friday - A Tutorial for Memory Projects with Jenny Doan

Here is a tutorial from the Missouri Star Quilt Co. where Jenny Doan teaches how to make some memory quilt items with your loved one's clothing. There is also instructions for a simple pillow to make with a shirt. I suggest putting a pillow form inside rather than stuffing it directly with the poly-fiber filling because then you can take the outside cover off and wash it (it is made from a shirt, after all).

Also, remember that a lot of ties are not washable, so you may wish to make a wall hanging rather than a table runner if the ones you are working with require dry cleaning. Table runners used on the dining room table are more likely to get dirty and need to be cleaned.

This would be a nice way to use up clothing that you no longer use that still has a lot of wear in it as well. If you have some things that you especially like that you can't or don't wear any more, you could make a memory quilt of your own (or any family member's) clothing.

Fabrics that cannot be ironed are not a good idea for this project.

Sew Happy Friday - Patchwork Shower Curtain

Photo property of Better Homes and Gardens

Here are the instructions for this pretty patchwork shower curtain. This would be a great way to add color to a dull bathroom. Also, the curtain without the plastic shower liner could be used for a light weight, colorful curtain at a sliding glass door or large window. (You would need to adjust the size appropriately.) By the way, this would be a nice way to use up some larger scraps of fabric leftover from other projects.

GO HERE for instructions.

Sew Happy Friday - An Easy Four Patch Lattice Quilt Block Tutorial

Here is a short tutorial from the Missouri Star Quilt Co. showing how to make a lattice four patch block. This could be a good way make a scrappy quilt with a variety of 5" squares, or smaller or larger squares. As you will note in the last image, the points may not all come together neatly in the centers of the blocks. If this is a problem to you, you may want to try another pattern, or find a way to make it work out better. Enjoy!

Sew Happy Friday - Scrappy Log Cabin Quilt Tutorial

This video is a little longer than some that I have put up, but this lady gives a lot of instruction which might be helpful to the beginner or someone who has never made a log cabin quilt with scraps before.
The tutorial is produced by the National Quilters' Circle.

Sew Happy Friday - A Really Scrappy Quilt Tutorial

This is a great way to use up scraps. Pre-cutting the pieces when you're working on other projects will also make it go faster. I also like her idea for exchanging scraps with friends. :-)

Sew Happy Friday - Dutchman's Puzzle Tutorials

Here are two tutorials for the Dutchman's Puzzle block or quilt. One is a quick, short tutorial. The other is a longer more in-depth tutorial for the same block with Jenny Doan. Both of these tutorials are from the Missouri Star Quilt Co.

Here's the long version.




Here's the short version.

Quicker, Easier Scrappy Four Patch Tutorial

Another quick and easy tutorial from Jenny Doan at the Missouri Star Quilt Co. This one is for scrappy four patch blocks.

You could also do this with 10 inch squares (layer cakes) and get a quilt much quicker. As long as your squares are all cut the same size you could use any size fabric squares, but really large ones might become awkward to handle.

This could be a great way to use up those stray 5" "charm" squares from other projects as well. Doll quilts and baby quilts would be quick projects.