Doll Quilts

I've been busy with Christmas sewing. Pictured above are doll quilts and flannel blankets I made to donate to some group homes.
I failed to take pictures of a pretty tote and some coin purses I made for gifts.
I hope everyone has a Merry Christmas and a Happy New  Year.

Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy

2016 RSC November Week 3, Guild Challenge, Retreat Projects, Solavore Sport Oven Beef, Onions, Potatoes

I waited to show this guild challenge project. Earlier this year the members of my quilt guild participated in a challenge called "All in the Bag". Everyone that wanted to play along brought a gallon bag of fabrics and embellishments to our March guild meeting. The bags were then randomly passed out making sure no one received the bag they brought. Instructions were to use the fabrics and items in the plastic bag to make either a wall hanging, a table runner or a tote bag. One could add fabrics and embellishments from their own stash to supplement if they wished. Fabric scraps and remaining unused embellishments were returned to bag to give back to the owner. The big reveal was during our October meeting. I received a bag with a yard of chocolate brown fabric, a yard of turquoise fabric, a yard of white with a brown and turquoise print, some brown buttons, some white buttons, a roll of turquoise lace ribbon and a roll of black ribbon with gold spots. I made the items pictured. The guild member was pleased and most grateful. Success!!

All I have to show for a RSC finished project is a scrappy red oven mitt. I'm quilting my RSC Wonky Stars quilt and hope to have a picture Saturday.
Last week our guild's quilt retreat was held in Montreat at the Montreat Conference Center located in the small town of Montreat, NC. We had a great time. The food was delicious. Forest Fires nearby created air quality issues. Since our sleeping rooms, sewing room and dinning area was all in the same building, we didn't have to go outside unless we wanted.
My sewing buddy and I each worked on donation quilts and Christmas items. I quilted and bound the bear panel in the picture. I'll take it to guild meeting tonight.

One of our quilt members taught a class about making Christmas pillow covers with an envelope opening in the back. Mine is pictured. I made a Christmas tote and a Christmas table runner using strips of Christmas fabric sewed onto batting. The nine string blocks sewed together and laying on batting is my progress on a future Christmas tree skirt. I hope to finish it this week and post a picture later.

Saturday before last I played with my Solavore Sport Solar oven. After setting the solar oven in the sun to preheat, I filled one pot with chunks of sirloin beef and onions. The meat was covered with Steak and Chop seasoning. I didn't add any liquid. Scrubbed potatoes filled the second pot. It didn't take long for the oven to reach 220 degrees and I placed both pots in the warmed oven. That was around 10 am. The oven stayed about 220 to 230 degrees until about 4:30 pm when it dropped to about 180 degrees as the sun was being partially blocked by trees. I brought the oven and everything in about 5 pm and left the plastic lid in place until we were ready to eat.

I should have been faster with my camera. As one can see, my family had gone for the meat and onions as soon as I took the lid of the pot. The meat was fork tender, falling apart, HOT and delicious. All the broth came from the meat! Every bit was eaten. The potatoes were done, too. Delicious. Next time I'll wrap them in foil or put them in with the meat. This meal was definitely a big hit!

2016 RSC November Week 1, RSC Wonky Stars Block Quilt Top, Doll Quilt, Solavore Sport Solar Oven

Pictured are a two yellow themed scrappy pot holders to add to my collection. Also a doll quilt.

I should have finished my RSC Column/Row Quilt, but I decided to make more wonky stars blocks for a quilt with a layout of 4x5 blocks. I think I'll add a skinny inner border and a colorful outer border to both quilts. To see what others made with their RSC scraps, go here Saturday morning.

I bought a new toy, a Solavore Sport Solar Oven. Two pots with lids and a thermometer came in the box. There are several YouTube video clips available on the internet that show how people use them to cook.

While the solar oven was out in the sun warming up, I mixed up a Devil's Food Cake using a mix. When I went to put the cakes in the oven, it had reached 220 degrees. Yah!

Though the temperature dropped while I placed the cake pans in the oven, it warmed back up to about 220 degrees in 20 minutes. Ninety minutes later a tooth pick came out clean.

Here is my cake, baked by the sun, with a milk chocolate frosting. It was delicious. Success!

2016 RSC October Yellow and Orange Week 4, RSC Boxy Stars Quilt Finished

It's that time of year when we turn our RSC blocks into quilts. After making my yellow Boxy Star block, I needed two more blocks to have 12 blocks for a 3 x 4 block layout. After making two colorful, scrappy blocks, it was time to put my quilt together.

The backing is pieced from stash. It's quilted with a loose free motion meander and bound with a colorful print. After a go in the washer and dryer it finished at 49" x 63". Boxy Stars is a Bonnie Hunter pattern found here. I think I'll do this pattern again and make all the blocks colorful and scrappy.

This picture shows progress on my RSC Column Quilt. I sewed 1.5" white strips between each 55" column. Now it looks like a row quilt because it is 55" by about 70". No problem for me. I think I'll add a narrow white border and an outer border of green, blue, yellow or orange. Maybe I'l finish it this week. To see what others made with their scraps this week, go here.

2016 RSC October Yellow and Orange Week 2, Baby Quilt Finish, RSC 36-Patch Quilt Finish

After playing with October RSC scrappy colors I'll add some blocks to my collections.
To see what others made this week, go here.

It's that time of year when I start sewing my accumulated RSC blocks into quilts. I had nineteen colorful 36-patch blocks made with 2" squares completed and needed one more block for a 4x5 block layout. After making a very colorful 36-patch block for block number 20, I sashed all my blocks with 2" strips and colorful 2" square cornerstone blocks. For a framed look, I added some borders. A red and white strip print binding set it off nicely. It's quilted with a loose free motion meander. After a go in the washer and dryer it finished at 49" x 61".

My quilt guild buddy, Laura, gave me a panel to quilt up for donation. Panels make such sweet baby quilts! To give this panel some extra width, I added 3" colorful strips to two sides. It finished at about 41" square. I'll donate it at our October guild meeting. Thank you, Laura.

2016 RSC September Red and Yellow Week 4, Quilting Guild Mystery Quilt Finished

I had fun playing with red and yellow this week. I'll add a boxy square, four Happy Scrappy Houses and a small pot holder to my collections. To see what others made with their scraps go here Saturday morning.

This year our guild's members had an opportunity to participate in a mystery quilt sew along. Happily mine is all finished. It was supposed to look like sunflowers. Somehow I messed up, didn't read the instructions correctly. My sunflowers look like stars. I may donate this lap quilt unless someone in my family really wants it. Guys seems to like red, white and blue. Me, I like scrappy with lots and lots of colors.

2016 RSC September Red and Yellow, 2016 Wilkes Quilters Quilt Show

It's been a busy summer with so much going on ... blogging has taken a back seat. Still sewing, but not as much as usual. I finished up some purple and gray sewing from last month and made some headway into September's red and yellow fun. I'm hoping to have more fun with red scraps the rest of September.

Our annual quilt show was a big success this year! Lots of quilts and lots of visitors. I won a second place ribbon with a doll quilt in our Challenge Piece Division. The theme was doll quilts. Mine was made with men's fabrics, strips sewed onto squares of phone book paper. I left manufacturer shirt tags on many of the strips for fun and interest.

It was a reversible doll quilt. Pictured above is the back of the doll quilt. It was 2.5" pieces of men's deconstructed shirt fabric. The pocket on the back is also from a man's shirt. I made a tiny felt teddy bear to stuff in the pocket. He is loosely stitched into the pocket so he will not be lost during the show. After a go in the washer and dryer it finished at 32" square. I was soooooooo happy it won a 2'nd Place Ribbon!

Remember the Rainbow Sampler Quilt we made during the RSC a year or two ago? I used 90 of those blocks to make my quilt. Our quilting judge awarded it a Best Use of Color Ribbon! Thank you Angela for hosting the RSC and teaching us how to make all these colorful blocks.

I also entered Hopscotch Butterscotch and Nifty Thrifty, two quilts made with Bonnie Hunter patterns. Neither won ribbons, but everyone loved them.
I made several small items for the Quilt Show Boutique and most of them sold. Again, our little show was a big success!

2016 RSC August Light Purple and Gray Week 2, Voodoo Doll Pincushions, Doll Quilt, Tote

Another busy week and not a lot of sewing. Summer, life and family still the priority. Still I had some light purple fun. Pictured is another doll quilt. They are fun to sew.
Our annual guild quilt show is next month. I found several YouTube video clip tutorials about making pincushions. One was making Voodoo Doll Pincushions found here. They were easy, fun and cute. All hand work. I also make two rectangle pincushions using this YouYube video clip.
Money raised from Boutique sales buys supplies for our charity projects.

My oldest granddaughter has a birthday next week. I made a tote to hold the small quilt I made for her last month.

2016 RSC August Gray and Purple Week 1, Doll Quilts, Catching Up

This has been a very busy summer with not a lot of blogging the last few months. Things should be back to normal this fall.
Pictured are pink blocks,  mug rugs and pot holders. Had to play with more pink before I could move on to gray and purple.
August's gray and purple column for my RSC Column Along Quilt is all finished. Looking forward to seeing this quilt come together in the fall. Gray blocks and a gray pot holder finish out the picture.
Been sewing Scrappy Happy Houses, a Bonnie Hunter free pattern found on her Quiltville blogspot, for two years. I have 28 of the 48 blocks I need for a large quilt. It may be another year before this quilt is finished.

I love making doll quilts. Pictured are a couple pink themed ones.

2016 RSC June Pink and Green Week 2

This has been such a busy summer with not a lot of time for sewing, blogging or blog surfing. I finished some turquoise items and then moved forward with pink and green scraps. Pictured are two columns, turquoise stars and pink chevrons, for our RSC sew along column quilt. A pink boxy star, two 36-patch blocks and four 16-patch blocks made it into the picture. To see what other made with pink and green scraps, go here.

Pictured is a turquoise themed baby doll quilt and a couple turquoise 8"x 10" batik mug rugs.
RSC turquoise May was a FUN month. A RSC pink June is going to be FUN, too!

2016 RSC June Pink and Green Week 2

This has been such a busy summer with not a lot of time for sewing, blogging or blog surfing. I finished some turquoise items and then moved forward with pink and green scraps. Pictured are two columns, turquoise stars and pink chevrons, for our RSC sew along column quilt. A pink boxy star, two 36-patch blocks and four 16-patch blocks made it into the picture. To see what other made with pink and green scraps, go here.

Pictured is a turquoise themed baby doll quilt and a couple turquoise 8"x 10" batik mug rugs.
RSC turquoise May was a FUN month. A RSC pink June is going to be FUN, too!

2016 RSC Aqua Turquoise Weeks 1-4, Laura Burch Cat Quilt and Media String Quilt Finishes

It's been a busy month. Though I like to post at least once a week, this month I'll only do one. Pictured is a doll quilt, a pot holder, two 36-patch blocks, a wonky star block, and a boxy square block in RSC aqua/turquoise.
Four QOV blocks and two pot holders in tan and pink print squares made it into the picture. They will be turned in during this month's quilt guild meeting this week.
To see what others made with their aqua/turquoise fabrics go here.
My plans are to do more RSC sewing this week as I didn't sew my aqua/turquoise RSC column, Another doll quilt,  pot holder and a couple mug rugs are on my sewing "to do" list this week.
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This small quilt has been in the works for a few years. It's made with Laura Burch fabrics. The 12 cats were cut from a panel. Narrow strips of colorful fabric are around each cat. Finally the blocks are sashed with 2.5" strips. This quilt has not been in the washer and dryer. It finished at 38.5"x 54". Will be a gift.

This is a close up of string quilt that has been planned for a few years. Lots of movie and cartoon novelty prints here.

Above is a picture of the finished quilt. 1.5" string were sewed onto 7.75" pieces of phone book paper with a 2.0" string of Kona white in the centers of each square. The setting is 7x10 squares with a 4.5" blue border and green binding. It's quilted with a loose free motion meander with loop-de-loops here and there. After a go in the washer and dryer it finished at 55"x 76.5". This quilt shrunk big time while in the washer and dryer. Though I love this quilt, it will be a gift.

2016 RSC May Green Week 4

The last RSC week of playing with green scraps and I'll add two 7"x 10" batik mug rugs, a super scrappy hot pad, a green and blue 16-patch block and a green and blue 36-patch block to my collections. Looking forward to a new color. Can't believe it is almost JUNE! Where did the time go. To see what other made with their green scraps go here Saturday morning.

There is a picture showing progress made on my media themed string quilt. Only 19 string blocks left to make before I start sewing all my blocks together and adding a border. I would like to have this TVquilt finished in two or three weeks.

2016 RSC May Green Week 3

This week I worked on a green RSC column of flying geese. All my other column blocks were loose so I sewed them together. I wanted to audition my colorful RSC columns. So far, looking good! To see what others made with their green prints, go here.

A grandson requested a string block quilt. Since his birthday is in August, I thought I'd start making blocks for a media themed quilt. I'm sewing colorful 1.5" strips of fabric on 7 3/4" square pieces of paper torn from a phone book. The centers are 2" strips of Kona White fabric. I using a lot of super hero, movie, cartoon and tv themed prints.

2016 RSC May Green Week 2

Another week playing with green and I'll add a doll quilt, a wonky star and a Boxy Star block to my collections. Four string QOV blocks made it into the picture. A few teeny tiny zipper purses were out the door before I thought to take a picture. I'll start making more for my Christmas gift collection. I'm working on a couple quilts I hope to have ready for pictures soon. To see what others made with their "greens" this week go here.

2016 RSC May Green Week 1, Charity Baby Quilt and Charity Doll Quilt

I Love Green. Especially after a long winter time when trees have lost all their pretty green leaves. This week I pieced four 16-patch blocks, one 36-patch blocks and a super scrappy pot holder to add to my collections. To see what others made with their green scraps go here.

When one wants to make a fast and easy quilt, nothing works better than a panel. My sewing buddy, Laura, gave me a couple baby panels to turn into baby quilts earlier this year. The backing for this panel is a soft lemon yellow cotton. It's quilted with a large free motion meander and bound with a colorful striped print. It finished at 34.5" x 42". I'll take this little quilt to this month's annual guild meeting.

Little doll quilts are such fun to sew. Addictive! This little quilt finished at 21" square. I'll donate it later this year.