Blue Tape Time

It's blue tape time again.I've sewn half the block parts into "demi-blocks" and here I am just trying to get a sense of how the quilt will look, while matching up the "demi-blocks" to make full blocks.

I've got all the blocks matched into "demis" and about half sewn into full blocks.

I really tried to use each fabric only once (meaning I used 162 different fabrics) but I goofed. I found one fabric I used twice. Oh well.

I'm going to go out on a limb here, but I think I like the Slashed Squares design better than these bentos.

Demi Bentos

I've now completed 81 Bento box blocks. The blocks will be 12" finished and assembled in 9 rows of 9 for a king sized quilt. I'm pairing up the pieces and I hope to have the quilt top finished this weekend.

Tree Skirt Oops

I worked on my Christmas Tree Skirt. I made the quilt sandwich and tied it, then trimmed it out to a circle and cut the slit. But it wasn't until later I realized I had goofed.

How so? I have to add a ruffle to the outer edge.

Stay tuned.

Christmas Tree Skirts

This is my Christmas tree skirt. I made it way back in 1976, when 100% cotton fabrics were a bit hard to come by. It is more orange-red than real red and doesn't feel very Christmas-y. Plus it smells a bit mildewed.

I hate it.


I made this one a couple of years ago for my son. Each year I gave him a few special Christmas ornaments, and we kept them separate from our family collection. The idea was when he moved out into a home of his own, he'd have ornaments to take with him that would mean something. So I thought a Christmas tree skirt would be nice to have too. It's about 48" across, the same size as mine.

Last year I made this one for my sister and her family. She always has a very big tree, so this one is about 60" across.

This year, I'm making a new one for myself. Here is what I have so far. It will be the finished size of my original one, but the squares are 4", where the original had 6" squares.

Rub-a-Dub Dub

This past summer I agreed to do a swap with chickenfoot. She asked for "an aqua quilt for the bath." I knew I wanted to incorporate some wonky free pieced letters. It took me less than five minutes to figure out what I wanted to do.

I chose blue fabrics that had water-type elements. Fabrics that looked like bubbles or raindrops or seemed swirly. At the very last minute, I saw the fabric with the ducks.

Once all my fabric arrived, I started the letters. The white fabric was really a watery pale blue, but once I put it next to one of the ducks I knew I was toast.It just didn't look right.

Then I thought, maybe I should have a duck peeking out of the opening in the letter B. That looked really fun, so I decided to go completely overboard and just go for broke.
These looked much better.

Once the top was finished, I made the quilt sandwich and thought, how am I going to quilt this, since I don't have much machine quilting experience. But the idea of the water saved me. I quilted this in one continuous line, starting at the bottom and working my way up. No drafting lines for me, just completely wiggly and by eye.
I had a great time. I've been waiting for Susan to finish mine and send it, so I have been keeping it secret for two months. Now she has received it, so I can show you. (Mine should arrive soon.)

Here it is, the Rub-A-Dub Quilt:
It's roughly 21" x 25" or thereabouts.

More Stashbusting Gizzy Quilts

This Autumn-colored one is the prize in a raffle. You can click here to buy a ticket.

These next two are going to a couple of cats in Texas.


I'm not a fan of browns or beiges, but I really like this one. You can click the pictures to enlarge.

Stashbusting Gizzy Quilts

These are "stashbusters."
It's fun to make these up with only myself to please.

Gizzy Quilts

I finished up a couple of Gizzy kitty quilts yesterday.
My son really likes this Rusty colored one, and wants it, even though he doesn't have a cat.

This one is going to a Tuxedo cat who lives in Nashville.

Bento Bonanza

I have now completed 72 of the 81 Bento Box blocks I need. Here are some I finished yesterday.

Rejects

These are all my wonky free pieced letter rejects. I am saving them for Tonya.

Happy Belated Birthday, Tonya!

Back to Bentos

And my sewing room is nice and clean, neat and organized.

Sewing Room is Clean

The sewing room is CLEAN! Wow! The tables are clear of junk, the piles are gone. All I have to do is a little dusting and vacuuming, and it will be all finished. Pictures later.

Maybe before and after video, even.


This is a drawing I did of my son when he was 14. It is 3/4 life-size, so the head is about 7" tall. I have arthritis in my drawing hand, so I don't draw much any more. When you can do stuff like this, taking something apart to make it "better" is normal. So it's really hard for me to leave something alone when it didn't come out the way I planned.

Cleaning the Messy Sewing Room

I have decided that my sewing room has reached Critical Mess and needs to be thoroughly cleaned and neatened up.

Which is why I don't have much to post today, and no, I am not showing pictures. Well, I won a cute little camcorder last week and took a "Before" video. Maybe I will show you an "After" when it is nice and clean. But my son is coming over for dinner tonight, so it won't be tomorrow.

Here, though, is a design for a black and white bento box kitty quilt.And here is how it got sewn up. I do not know how it transformed itself so wildly.But I don't think I am going to take it apart. (I can hear Tonya cheering already!)

oh oh. I just figured out what I did wrong. Easy fix!

Swap Quilt 5 Finished

I finished the Doll Swap 5 quilt. It's 20-1/4" by 20-1/4".

It's a miniature version of the Slashed Squares quilt I gave to my friends.

you can click the picture for a bigger view.