I have been plugging along on my projects here between our family summer activities. This binding on this little quilt is almost finished and I've started quilting the liberated log cabin that I made a couple of weeks ago. I'm approaching the quilting in an improvisational manner making it up as I go. The quilting on both of these little quilts has been done while my husband reads chapters of Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban to us. It has been heavenly. My boys were just the right age when the books first came out and had to wait for each book until it was released. We read each of them as a family one chapter a day and savored that time. I thought we were teaching some good life lessons there. You only get to read them for the first time once. Two years ago we started the series with miss P. one book each summer starting on Harry's birthday. It is a slow pace for some but just right for us and faster than the boys made it through them. I think enough time may have passed that it isn't on everyone's mind and so far she hasn't heard spoilers from her friends. So far so good.
Yesterday I was a bit under the weather and spent the afternoon on our back porch couch with this quilt. I love the quilt but being feverish I really wanted to snuggle under it and thought it needed to be about eight inches longer. So, today, I started another log cabin that I hope will end up a little bigger than the postage stamp quilt I used yesterday.
I'm working with my blue scraps with a touch of gold. I like it so far but dang, these pieces are big! I'm hoping for a quickish finish so I'm pushing through.
It was started by her mother and lacked several blocks from being complete. She shared it with me and asked if I would like her to finish it for me.
This is the pile of tights we found that were too short to wear anymore.
Her cousin recently sent her a box of hand-me-downs that included a couple of pair of leggings that she has been wearing with her skirts and dresses. We decided to try converting the tights to leggings.It was easy as pie. I cut the foot part off and hemmed up the lower edge using a multi-step zigzag stitch on the sewing machine. I used the foot portion to test out which stitch worked best.P is thrilled to have new wardrobe pieces made from her old favorites.
She wishes that favorite brown jacket were a little bigger so she could wear that too! She squeezed herself into it for the photo.
I had a hard time deciding if I wanted to add the embroidery detail. Here is is with the first block before I added the antennae.
I have enjoyed scrolling through the #TheSplendidSampler hashtag on Instagram to see all of the different versions of the blocks. Come join the fun and add your photos.
You can see a few of them sprinkled in these little blocks.
I'm not sure where this is headed yet but I'm having fun making them.
The larger pillow is a block from Jane Davidson's Rock Pools quilt. The pattern is in her self published book 
The smaller pillow top was made in a 
I sometimes have a hard time squaring up large blocks so I want to share how I trimmed these pillow tops to size.To trim the large blocks I used 
Inside there are pieces that go together to build squares from 4 inches to 24 1/2 inches. This device makes it easy to find the center of a square without marking the diagonal lines.
I highly recommend this set for squaring up large blocks. It is well worth the price to know you are getting it right with little effort. 
Here's what it looks like after cutting. 
I can quickly separate the squares from the cut away trash. I had these quares cut and stacked in no time this afternoon. Since I'll be sewing these across from point to point and trimming one side to make half square triangles, I am able to use squares that are missing one corner.
I put five layers of white backgound fabric through the sizzix and cut one hundred squares at once!!! This new 
Now, I'm ready to sew miles and miles of tiny sawteeth strips!
I'm crushing hard on that strip of alternating teeth on the right.
After sewing all of these together I knit most of the foot of a sock.I call that a successful week away at camp! 
The featured quilt this week is Square Root, another from the gallery section of 
There are no patterns in the book for the quilts pictured in the "gallery." They are there to provide inspiration and ideas for the designs presented later in the book.I chose this quilt to share with you now, because my friend 
I bought the Sailor Top pattern from 
I love the thinner drapier fabric for this top.
The pattern is listed as a beginner pattern and went together pretty quickly.I love the narrow yoke at the top.
I know I'll get a lot of wear out of it.
I want to make a few more of these.I'm off to scout some pretty knit and rayon fabrics to try with this pattern. 
Last night I started cutting scraps into one inch squares and 1 1/4 inch squares. I'm not sure where I'm headed with this but I'm having fun.I'm reminded of my weakness for cute novelty prints.What are you working on this week?
I really enjoyed making these string pieced melons throughout last year. It was fun sewing and I was able to make some of them with the 
Here it is, all of that frantic and late night sewing last year was for this. A BOOK! I can hardly believe this is really almost a reality. My love of using scraps led me to write a whole book on scrap quilting!A huge thank you to all of you who encourage me to do what I love and try to use Every Last Piece of fabric in my scrap pile. There are scrap quilt designs in the book that you can use no matter how big your scrap pile is. The first quilts in the book are full on all scrap quilts. As you work your way through the book, the designs use fewer scraps the idea being that if you make all of the quilts in the book you can actually use up your scraps.The book, 
is now available on amazon for preorder and will be released next May. 
Miss P and her friends are at just the right age for learning to sew. SO, I was thinking that I could get back into teaching kids sewing classes and maybe even have a kids sewing camp this summer. I'd like to have five kids sewing at a time so I really need ONE MORE featherweight.Still, I need to get her broken in and make sure she'll be a good machine for classes.
See, I have a fresh spring colored project ready to go.I'll be making a baby quilt from Jaybird's Science Fair pattern. It's always good to have a few baby quilts on hand.
I'm hoping for this winter to melt away into the past and happier, sunnier, less stressful days for sewing to sprout up.
I made this king size quilt for B's parents back in 1999. B's dad had told me that he always wanted a handmade quilt on his bed but had never had one. I let him look through some of my quilt books and he chose this Dahlia pattern, Dahlia Delight, from 
by Leisure Arts.
The hand applique blocks made a nice travel project.
I hand quilted this one on a big frame in our living room and had a couple of friends who came over to helped quilt it. The boys also each put in a few stitches. They weren't very old then!
It is nice to have this one at our house now. M has been sleeping under it while he's been home for Thanksgiving break. It has a flannel sheet for the batting and is quite warm.
Miss P finished her costume last night just after bed time. Whew. She thought it was a lot of work and there may have been some unhappy words at the thought of HAND sewing the snaps and inner ties. In the end she did the hand sewing and was THRILLED to have done it herself.She told me this morning that she thought she was smiling in her sleep all night!
She put one of her dress up tutus on underneath to give it a little fullness at the top of the skirt; it was pretty droopy without the extra fluff.It is a good thing that the dress is long because we didn't have time to complete the look with period footwear.
A colonial dress has been on her wish list since our visit to Colonial Williamsburg two years ago. I am happy that SHE is happy.The 
Miss Petunia wants to make her own Halloween costume this year. She chose this pattern from my vintage collection and we ordered the paisley fabric online.My job while she is at school today is to make a "muslin" of the bodice so that we can have a fitting after school. She will make the final version herself.
Fun times, I tell you. I may be finished with the summer blahs and be moving into full fall sewing madness!It's a good thing I have have at least FIVE quilts started and on my project table right now. I'll be able to alternate between them. When I get the crazies from tiny triangles, I can switch to tiny squares!!! Bwahahahahahahaha!!!
We have had some lovely weather this week in Michigan. I've been taking advantage of the cooler drier air by spending time outside reading and even doing a little hand stitching. It's been like a vacation without the hassle of packing and driving.Paloma, of 
Now, I think I need to get some more of these bright tea towels to decorate.
