{Post 1,168} Sewing Today

Here is a burp cloth I made for my grandson tonight.  I am making one more that is identical.  The strip at the bottom is from one of my quilt shirts.

Here are some units behind my sewing machine.

This is the view from my sewing machine chair.  

These blocks at the top are what I was piecing earlier.  They are 9" square.  I saw a neat quilt I'd like to make on someone's slide show from a quilt retreat.  I don't have a pattern, but I'm making it up as I go.  These blocks are made from shirts.  Each one gets a frame of shirt fabric.  One piece on each end, then both sides (which are made from two fabrics...half the length of a side each if that makes sense).  I am trying to decide how wide to make the frames.

The littlel pinwheel blocks are made from double sewn flipped triangles.

Anyone interested in trading me a black 100% cotton shirt part for one of another color?  I have 2 black shirts and want a teensy bit more variety.  Contact me if you are interested.

{Post 1,168} Jeans to Skirt

I know many of you have been reading my blog for years.  You know I have 8 children, 4 of which are girls.  It may come as a surprise to you that this is something I've never done before.  I turned a pair of jeans into a skirt.  Yes, yes I did.

Here are the pictures.  I was just winging it.  Naturally I learned some things to make it easier next time.  I used the legs from one pair and the top from another because there wasn't enough length to use the same ones.  Maybe next time!

The skirt is not hemmed yet.  I have several other things going on today and could not get it finished in one sitting.  I did cut 2" off the length (from what is pictured) so Rachel would happily wear it.  You'll also notice that I changed the skirt from what you see in the second picture down.  After the sewing, neither of us liked the overlapped former jeans crotch look (I don't know how else to phrase that).  That was the way all the tutorials I saw online were done, but it's easy to make it a straight flat seam.

For Isaac

{Post 1,167} Tree of Life - One Side Bound

Finished the machine quilting on my Tree of Life quilt.  When I trimmed the backing, I had enough for binding without cutting any more strips.  While I was on a roll, I sewed the binding to the front and have one side turned to the back and machine stitched down.  

I stopped to make a label.  Whew--there's no stopping me today!

Heading back down to sew the label in place so it will be sewn in as I attach the binding.

A picture of the back first.  I am surprised this looks so light in the picture.  The binding in the second picture is the same fabric.

{Post 1,166} Quilting on Tree of Life Quilt Nearly Finished

I learned a new quilting pattern from the Pajama Quilter DVD.  It's called Echo Flowers.  

This afternoon I pieced a back for my Tree of Life quilt and started the quilting.  It has gone so fast.  I am nearly finished.  Wanted to take a break to watch a movie with the kids, so I'll try to finish it tomorrow.  I used a thread called "honey" color on the front and the back.  The backing fabric is dark (it looks light in the pictures because of the flash), so it really shows up, but that's OK.

Here are some pictures.

This is all I have left to quilt:

{Post 1,165} Recent Grandson Pics

{Post 1,164} Center Wild Geese Finished

All sewn and pressed!  Now for a one-piece outer border...

{Post 1,163} Wild Geese Webbed!

I decided against the cream cornerstones.  They stood out a bit too much, so back into the drawer they went.  In the next drawer up, I found a stack of golds.  I used them and webbed the top.  All the sewing is finished in one direction. I only sewed the top two horizontal rows together before I hit the wall, and here is what I have so far...

I like the somber color of the sashing...I think it makes the individual blocks sparkle.  But that's just my opinion!

After the rest of the horizontal seams are sewn, the quilt center will measure 52" x 62".  A good size for a throw.