Rossie Made Me Do It

I've really been busy sewing since school started. It's a great feeling to be able to sit and get things done! Here's another finished quilt top to show for my hard work!This quilt, Rossie Made Me Do It, was made using my swiss chard blogger bundle for Pink Castle Fabrics. I got a half yard bundle and used two thirds of it. The pattern is Honey from Elizabeth Hartman's Modern Patchwork. I plan to finish my quilt with a zig zag border instead of trimming the side blocks.  I like the scrappy look to it.

I think this quilt would also look great as a real scrap quilt. It would be a bit more tedious to make, though. For this quilt, you sew the white to other fabrics together in strips and then cut them into triangles. For a scrappy quilt you would have cut the triangles and then sew them individually to the white "grout" strips.

I started this quilt while at a retreat with the Ann Arbor Modern Quilt Guild in August. I brought the bundle to work on but didn't have a plan yet. Rossie suggested that I make the quilt on the cover of Elizabeth's book. I think it was a good suggestion. Thanks Rossie.

Now, back to sewing. Today I'm putting together a king size Point Me commission quilt using Denyse Scmidt's pattern. I'm on a roll!

My unquilted tops pile is really growing though. I feel a big quilting session in the near future.

I Hopped on the Band Wagon

I've been seeing lots of frame purses popping up around the web. Katy has made quite a few and also taught a class on making them at the Fat Quarterly retreat.I finally broke down and drank the frame purse kool-aid. I ordered the The Easy Peasy Purse kit from U-handbag to get me started. I also stocked up on different size frames from a US seller on etsy.I used the pattern provided for these two purses but used a different construction technique to avoid a raw edge at the join of the purse.I drafted my own pattern to fit some other size frames. This sock monkey purse has an 8 inch frame. I also quilted the outer fabric instead of using fusible interfacing on this one.I love the wee little 3 inch change purse. P wants to put her milk money in that and use it with her matching lunch bag.Here you can see the finished edge at the join of the frame and bag.These purses are so fun to create. It is a great way to use fun fabrics and fat quarters. They are quite addictive. Really. Once you start you can't stop. I already have more cut and ready to sew.We still have enough of the Little Red fabric and super cute matching ribbon Brenda gave us to make another project. What should we make?

Brenda's Stars - tutorial

I finished and washed my latest quilt, Brenda's Stars. It is heavily quilted in the linen look background and the star centers. The sashing and star points are not quilted.Here's the full view.50 by 62 inches. It shrank a bit in the quilting and washing.The fabrics are from Pink Castle Fabrics. It was fun to browse through Brenda's great selection and put these fabrics together.Here are some basic directions for the quilt as I made it.Cut from the fabrics:large floral         - 20  6 1/8 inch squaresfat quarter spots - 50   5 1/4 inch squares30   1 1/2 inch squaresquilter's linen      - 80  4 1/2 inch squares20  5 1/4 inch squaresCut all of the 5 1/4 inch squares on the diagonals as shown to make quarter square triangles.Lay out the blocks as shown.You will be piecing the block into diagonal chunks. Sew the first groups together as shown. Be careful not to stretch the pieces as you sew and press.Continue sewing the pieces together into sections as shown.Sew the last two seams to make the block.Measure the size of your completed block (mine measured 12 1/2 inches). Cut 49 1 1/2 inch wide rectangles the length of your completed block (12 1/2 inches).Lay the quilt out the way you want it to be sewn together.Sew the top together, sandwich with the batting, and quilt as desired.