Crazy logcabin blocks!

Today I decided to use some small scraps that my friend Lis gave to me. We're in need of a new small quilt for our new table and I thought I would try to make a few crazy logcabins! :)

I think the first one is simply adorable with the little cat in the middle.

I will make at least one more, then 2,5" red sashings to go with it. I am thinking of a thin border made of the black flowery fabric to go around it... Will post more pictures when I have sewn some more. :)

Quick and easy baby blanket!

2012 is here, and I was eager to sew something as the very first thing I did this year. Since it's winter here, I decided to make a quick baby blanket for my daughter. It took me 2 hours to put all of this together, so it is really a quick and fun project for when you don't have enough time for sewing a whole baby quilt, or for when you have some cotton fabric you don't wanna cut. :-)

For this quilt I used:

• 1 yard of cotton fabric
• 1 yeard of fleece
• Matching thread

First I cut my fleece fabric so that it was just a tad bigger than my cotton fabric.

With right sides together, I sewed 1/4" seam all around the borders leaving a 7" opening (backstitch in the beginning and the end).

Then I trimmed the fleece so that my baby blanket was straight and nice. I cut the edges as shown below, so the corners could get more pointy after I turned it inside out.

I like to top stitch the blanket twice, so I can get that opening closed by machine and so that it gets a more quilty look to it. :-) But it is also possible to close the opening by hand afterwards, I just chose not to this time.

And voilá, you got yourself a new cute baby blanket in no time at all.

This blanket is a very forgiving project: if you don't get your seams completely straight or exactly 1/4" it won't matter that much, because as soon as you turn it inside out, no one can see your little mistakes. :-)

I had some excess fabric and maybe 45 minutes to spare, so I put together a cute strippy pillowcase to go with the blanket. Isn't it adorable?

Pillowcase

My mum in law has asked me to sew some pillowcases for her when I get the time. I had a beautiful layer cake from Moda Fabrics lying around, so I thought I could do something fun.

I got 4 of those 10" squares, and cut them twice on each direction, so I ended up getting many different sized squares. I switched them around and made this beautiful pillowcase.

I did some quilting 1/4" from the borders in every other square, so I got a nice effect. I think you can almost see the quilting in this close-up picture, but it's nothing like taking a look at it here at home. :-)

This is a technique I will use again in the future, for sure. I thought about using smaller squares, maybe 6,5" - 7" - so that I will end up with a somewhat smaller pillowcase. :-)

So many projects!

It's amazing how many projects I have in my thoughts. I don't think I will ever be able to do them all in this lifetime. I get so inspired everytime I see other people's work and I can't help but thinking of sewing more and more.

I've checked out Calico's shop for new exciting offers, and I think I will purchase a pack of 7 15x110 cm fabrics called Provence. Funny that it does make me think of France when I look at it. :-) I don't think I am allowed to copy and paste the image, so here's a link, if someone wants to check it out.

I am thinking of making another Square Dance quilt out of this pack. I've done some calculations (which I am pretty good at, if I may say so myself), and I -should- end up with 56 5" squares of 7 different fabrics. If I use 49 of them, I can get a 7x7 quilt of 5" squares, which will make a darling little Square Dance quilt. The only thing I need to check is if I can buy some of those fabrics separately, so I can add 2 nice borders to it.

The last Square Dance quilt was made out of 6" squares, but I have ordered a Lil' Twister Tool from the US., which should make it easier to cut out of 5" squares + 3" border. I have no idea when I am going to get my package, since it's Christmas time and all. I also bought a Baby charm pack to make a 6x6 5" square quilt for my husband's friend's girlfriend (!), who is pregnant. Their baby is due to come in April, so I have enough time to sew it if I actually start right after I get my order home. :-)

Square Dance pillowcase

Finally I got to try out my new walking foot on my square dance project. I had some fatquarters at home - a mix of batiks and one "flowery" fabric I got from my friend Lis. So I rushed to cut them into 6" squares and sew them all together.

After that I sewed a 3½" black border, so I could use my Square Dance template on all corners and get a nice effect :-) I forgot to take a picture of the squares with the border, but it ended up being a pretty big pillowcase before cutting the smaller squares - about 23" x 23". The final pillowcase is 15" x 15", so as you can see the Square Dance template sure eats up a lot of fabric.

After that I only had to sew the back, put my pillow inside and finish it off by hand!

I think I don't need to say how proud I am of this pillowcase. :-) For a beginner like me, this is a huge achievement!

Finished coffee table quilt for my aunt

I finished this project many weeks ago, but never took the time to actually publish a picture here. I made this small coffee table quilt for my aunt Carol (yes, we share the same name!) for her birthday last June.

The strips are 2½" wide batiks and I fell totally in love with the colors in this quilt. The strips are part of a jellyroll by Princess Mirah, but I can't remember which one. They're all fabulous though. :-)

I got one more jellyroll at home, but I haven't found out what I want to sew yet...

New toy for my sewing machine!

As the title says, I got a new foot for my sewing machine. It's a clear quilting foot and it has a 1/4" seam guide, it's just so great.

I totally recommend it. Maybe because I am a beginner, but I just see how much more precise my work has become. Gotta post a picture of it later on.