Easy Street part 5

This week's Easy Street Mystery step was pretty simple.

 

 

Does anyone else have a problem with the fabric bunching up when adding the second wing when chain piecing? If so, how do you prevent it?

As long as it doesn't bunch past the 1/4" point it seems to be OK once you iron it flat.

 

 Can't wait to see every one's progress!

Happy Holidays!

No matter where you go or what you do, I hope everyone finds peace this Holiday season.

Amy

East Street part 4

Loving this weeks step on the Quiltville Mystery "Easy Street."  I was excited to get to the greens!  Also, getting quicker with the piecing.  Instead of pressing with the iron between each piece of the Flying Goose, I just finger press at the sewing machine after the first wing, add the second wing, then take it to the ironing board once they're all done and starch the heck out of 'em.

Here's a handy way to organize fabrics and strips in one place and be able to spot them at a glance. Its part of an old playpen (i think) that I spotted at the curb on the way home one day. I found it, but I talked my guy into going back to pick it up. (He's the best!)  

There are four equal sides, all wood, and probably not very safe for babies which makes me think it must be old. I cleaned them up and they work great for displaying quilts or as a make shift doggy gate. You could use an old ladder or thrift store crib side as well. In between steps, I just lean it up against the wall behind the door.

Just thought I'd throw a pict of this little fella in there too, I use him as a door stop. He was on the deep discount shelf at a small hardware store and I couldn't resist. It's a Jim Shore piece and apparently he makes all kinds of stuff with quilt patterns on them. 

Can't wait to see how everybody's coming along!

Easy Street part 3

Here is my progress on Bonnie Hunter's Mystery Quilt "Easy Street." 

(thought this layout looked kinda cool)

I feel better about stitching and ironing on the bias- the "Easy Angle" rulers are a big help.  I still measure and square up when I'm cutting off dog ears, but it's a lot better than it was.

  And here are all the steps so far...

Thanks again, Bonnie for sharing all of your hard work and talent. Can't wait to see what's next!

I have a secret...fabric organization

If you were to happen upon my guest room it looks pretty good most days...

 But if you open a drawer...

I am addicted to thrift store cotton shirts. There, I said it.

My other regular fabric collection is pretty organized already and can be contained in my quilt room.

So, my goal this season while I have some time off is to organize this disaster. The fabric in these drawers consists of mostly shirt fronts. I keep the backs with my fat quarters and cut up the sleeves and smaller parts and store them in strip bins. But the fronts are too big to cut up and too small to go with the fat quarters- you see my dilemma? So I figured I would try to fold them like I do fat quarters.

Shirt fronts.

Here, I just flip it over, use a 4" ruler and fold it up.

 If there's a little extra flap at the top, I fold it down,

 and slide the ruler out the end.

 Then you just fold it into a neat little square and tuck under the raw, uneven ends.

I thought this navy Nautica was neat!

Now my fabric drawer looks like this...

I still have to organize it by color, but first I'll get to work on these...

I love to see fabric and craft room organization if anyone wants to share!

Hope everyone has a great weekend!

Easy Street part 2

Here is part 2 of the Quiltville mystery quilt "Easy Street."  It is pretty easy so far. These are not colors I usually use, and I had to go shopping for purples to add to my stash- Don't ya just hate that?  : -)

I have to admit, I square up my Flying Geese units. My seam allowance is just not up to par and they come out a little crooked when I'm sewing on the bias. Does anybody else have to do this? They turn out OK, but its just an extra step.

In between the steps for this quilt, I am working on blocks for Ocean Waves.  I thought I had tons of half-square triangle units, but once I got started, not so much...So, I'm making triangle squares (and squaring them up) until Friday. Happy quilting!

Hexagon Quilt Progress

I have been working on a hexagon quilt inspired by this quilt in the Nebraska State Historical Site .

I began making the hexies in Oct 2010, so two years now. I work on it mostly on the go- when I'm riding the car, or waiting at the doctor's office or on my lunch hour. 

A few more than half of the blocks have been put together for a queen sized quilt. I figured out I need 31 stars, 76 circles and 18 little 3 and 4 patches for the sides.

The original quilt is a top only and doesn't appear to be finished or maybe it has deteriorated around the edges. In order to have a straight top and botton edge, I plan on filling them in with 3 patches.

 Here are a few sewn together...

If anyone is working on or has finished a hexagon quilt, I'd love to see. Or if anyone has any idea on how to finish the edges, I'd love to hear about it

Thanks for visiting! 

Easy Street part 1

This is my progress so far on Bonnie Hunter's mystery quilt "East Street."  Last year's mystery, "Orca Bay" was my first and it was so exciting and easy to stay on track. It was not the type of quilt I would have attempted had I seen the whole thing from the beginning, but its broken up into steps, making it more manageable. The top was finished really quickly, and as with most of my quilts, it hangs in the guest bedroom closet waiting to be quilted.  I have really been looking forward to this one.  So far, it kinda reminds me of a newspaper. 

Here are my 2-patches. By the time I finished the 4-patches, the light wasn't so great for a pict, but you get the idea.

I was a little worried that some of the white backgrounds were more cream or ecru, but decided to just go for it.

Thanks for stopping by!

Quilting Cart

Just wanted to show off a project that I think turned out really great!  I was looking for a portable cutting surface that I could move around and put away when I didn't need it. I found this microwave cart on Craigslist for $60. It was solid wood and sturdy and just what I needed (except for the color.)

Here is the before. (I had already tried out the new pulls.) The finish was really splotchy and scratched.

I used Krylon satin spray paint in "Periwinkle" and I found the new pulls at a discount hardware store for 50 cents each! Also, I just used the old hinges with a new coat of "Brushed Nickel" spray paint.

Easy to move!

These "s" hooks work great for keeping tools.

  

And here's the final product! It's a perfect height for cutting, ironing and hiding junk. It will fit in the closet in case I need the room for guests. Also, I can roll it into the family room if we're watching a not-so-exciting movie and I'd rather be working on a quilt.

Thanks for stopping by! 

Star Baby Quilt

This is a string quilt (55"x55") made for a friend's baby due in January. (I'm ahead of schedule!) It's a suprise, but I'm pretty sure she won't see this. Her colors are brown and blue and I just copied some patterns that I found when I did an internet search for string quilts. I used phone book pages for the foundation that measured 6 1/2". It's hand-tied #1 because I am not a good machine quilter, and #2 because I wasn't as careful as I should have been ironing and the top was a little lumpy. Mostly the fabric I used is from scraps- leftovers from other quilts and thrift store shirts.There's even some Washington Redskins fabric if you look close!

I am interested to see if anyone else does mostly hand-tied quilts and if there is a secret to making the knots good and sturdy. I took two stitches and made double knots, but am nervous about it falling apart!



First Blog Post... Carolina Christmas

Ok, so first post. This is a quilt that I made for my mom. Its called "Carolina Christmas" and its from the book "Scraps & Shirttails II" by Bonnie Hunter. Enjoy!