The Switch

I've packed up the Parade of Zebras quilt for it's trip to the City of Angels, so I put Fruit Loops over the back of the couch. It looks really nice with the yellow pillows.

I've attached the hanging sleeve and the binding to the Magic Carpet quilt. Now I will sew the rest down by hand.


If you want to make a quilt like the one on the back of the couch, you can get my tutorial here, at my Etsy shop. It's an instant download, so you can get started right away.

Fruit Loops is Finished

The Fruit Loops quilt is finished. You can get the tutorial for how to make these here, at my Etsy shop. The file is an instant download.

It was raining when I finished the binding, so I couldn't bring it outside of any beauty shots. In the meantime it looks terrific on the back of my couch.

Blindstitching

I can't imagine the binding for this quilt as anything other than black and white. With the French Open at Roland Garros starting today, I'll have plenty to watch while I hand sew the binding on this quilt.

Binding Fruit Loops

I've chosen this black and white striped fabric to bind the Fruit Loops quilt.

 I like the way this is looking. Regular readers know I sew my binding to the back of my quilts and do the finish hand sewing down on the front.

I already like this a lot.

Fruit Loops, Quilted

The first scrap slab triangle quilt, Fruit Loops, has been quilted. I love the zig zag quilting! It's so much fun. I'll be finishing this up over the next few days. I know I'll have fun taking this out for beauty shots given the colors are very spring-like.

Scrap Slab Triangle Quilts

Here are the three scrap slab (trying saying THAT three times fast) quilts:

Fruit Loops, Nov-Dec 2016

Treasure Trove, Dec 2016

Snow Day, Jan - Feb 2017

All are made with one block, a colored scrappy slab built triangle and two side triangles in black on white.

And I used these templates.

A reminder that you can click the photos to enlarge, and then click again to supersize so you can see all the gory details.

Backing for Fruit Loops, the Tent and a Funny.

I usually like big prints for the back of my quilts. I think small ones are kinda boring. I couldn't find any one big print that seemed to have the bright fruity colors of the Fruit Loops flimsy.

I found this print in different colorways, above. The print is large and it varies, like an organic shape. Well, if I can't have one print, I can have fun with different colorways of the same one, so I bought two yards of pink, gold and green. The white with black print at the bottom will be the binding.

I also bought a bunch of black and white prints for the side triangles of the next slab triangle quilt.

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Oh yes, the tent...

Here's the pattern for the tent I made for Millie. I made it back in 2007. I don't know if the pattern is still available. I'm not willing to part with mine.

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Funny story:

We had our annual open enrollment for health insurance today at work. Every year the admin of the health provider gives away five $50 Visa gift cards.

Five years ago I won one.

The next year I won again.

The next year everybody wanted to sit next to me, hoping my luck would rub off.

Last year, nope.

Today the CEO announces the raffle and says, "The winner can't be Angel or Lynne."

So who wins the first one?

Angel.

Then they pick the next three names. One winner is in my row. And which number comes up fifth?

Mine.

I threw my head back and laughed as I held my ticket up for "verification".

The CEO shook his head.

This and That

It's always nice to see a quilt outside, so you can get a sense of its true colors. Here is the Fruit Loops flimsy on my front steps. I ordered fabric for the backing of this quilt, and I am eager to see it finished.

About a year ago I made a quilt for my son and DIL to give to an internet friend of theirs who was fighting cancer.
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Imagine their surprise when she showed up at their house for a visit yesterday.  My son texted me "It was like meeting a celebrity who loved me." My DIL wrote, "She made us feel really special and she made sure to tell us how much we mean to her."

It's just another reason why we make quilts - because they help form bonds with people and spread love. I've said it before and I'll say it again, you can't give a better gift than a quilt. Quilts are magical.

Tongue Twister

The Fruit Loops flimsy is finished (you try saying that three times fast). Here it is draped over the wing chair in my sewing studio.

Here it is stuck up on the design wall. I'll bring it to work tomorrow so I can maybe get a picture of it outside. 

I am really happy with this and am very eager to get started on one that has light to medium blues and teals (blue greens). I have a vision of another one in dark blues and deep raspberry and purple. For some reason, the working title of that one is "Blueberry Buckle" even though I haven't cut into fabric yet. Too Funny.


In other news, my Chicken quilt, Too Much Chicken, has been accepted into the AQS show in Daytona Beach Florida early next year.

Halfway There

I've got half the Fruit Loops flimsy sewn together. It's amazing to think the colored pieces of these blocks came from the little scrap bins.

I have twenty-one little bins, and I cleaned out five of them. Guess I have at least three more quilts in there!!!

Fruit Loops Grows

I sewed more of Fruit Loops together last night. That big panel of 36 blocks on the upper left is all sewn together.  It's coming together quickly.

I changed the needle on my sewing machine and it no longer makes that banging sound. The thread cutter now almost never cuts, but that's what scissors are for. Thanks Mary, for suggesting I call the guy and ask when I can bring the machine in for a quick fix and if he can wait a bit longer after hours for me to pick it up. I'll do that.

I've also been sewing the binding on the pink Deco Rose quilt while "watching" TV. I want to get that to the prettiest granddaughter in the world by Christmas. 

Her mother is pretty too!

Busy Weekend

This is my pal Kathy French, one of the SSOBB members, who visited me on Saturday. She and her husband stopped by on their way home from Vermont. We had a nice visit. Isn't the color of her jacket terrific?

I sewed a few of my scrappy triangle blocks together. The bottom photo is back side of the block.  All the backs of my quilts look like this. Neat, with no straggly threads.

My sewing machine has to go back to the shop. It doesn't cut the threads consistently and it makes a noise when I sew like two pieces of metal are banging against each other. Bummer. The guy opens and closes within my normal work day and isn't open any evenings, so it means a Saturday visit and a week without my machine. Argh.


I spent a lot of the rest of the weekend organizing a calendar of my quilts for 2017, doing a bit of online shopping, paying bills and reconciling the checkbook. I've been neglecting the avalanche of paper on my desk, and at least now I've made a dent in it. The shredder will be getting a workout soon.

Oh, and whoever asked about making "slabs," here's a link to a blog post where I talk about how I do it.

Not Skittles

I spent Friday morning cutting the side triangles for the scrap slab blocks, and the afternoon and evening sewing the blocks together. There they are at the bottom of this photo.

I started arranging the blocks, and soon got to this. I had a lot of blocks left, so I made it bigger.

This is it, and finished it will be about 60" x 72". I'll sew the blocks together in the next few days. Looking at it, I also realized it has new name.

Fruit Loops.


Yes, I will continue making scrap slab triangle in other colors, cleaning out the little accessory bins. I really liked the red layout in yesterday's post. I'll definitely use that one for another version.