Category Archives: quilts

A Little Weekend Sewing

Posted on January 16, 2010 by ginabean • 6 Comments

Remember all those 2.5″ strips of Love I cut up last week? Well, I got them sewn together today. Yeah!! I also picked up the border fabric today, soooo… maybe tomorrow I can get them put on. I am using the same pattern I used to make this quilt. Three borders, yikes. My hubbers says it is a “crazy” looking quilt, but I’m kinda crushin’ on it. All the bright colors make me happy. This is totally random, but I am watching a movie as I’m posting this with John Cusack in it. Why is John Cusack just so darn cute? Love him.
Filed Under: fabric, patterns, quilts, sewing

A Gift

Posted on January 15, 2010 by ginabean • 5 Comments
I put the final stitches in this disappearing 9-patch and tomorrow it is New Jersey bound. This quilt is a gift for my 93 year old Great, Great Aunt Dottie. She might be 93, but she is one of the most active women I know. She is the matriarch of our family and an inspiration. I hope she enjoys it.
There is a lot of sewing going on here at the Allen house and as soon as I get a chance, I’m going to post pictures. Have a great weekend everyone!
Filed Under: quilts

2010

Posted on January 3, 2010 by ginabean • 4 Comments
A new year always means many things. For me it is a time to review the year that is over and think about the things I want to do and achieve in the new year. I have already made big plans for this year and my only hope is that this year doesn’t go by as fast as last year seemed to.
With Christmas over and the decorations taken down, I was able to fit in a little quilting time. Last night the final stitches were made on my first quilt top of 2010. I used the new Hope Valley fabric and this pattern from the Moda Bake Shop. I can’t wait to get it on the quilting frame. I have lots of new projects planned, but I want to also concentrate on getting many of the things I started in 09 completed. I mean, it is seriously sad the amount of things I have started and not completed. (I choose to blame it on what I feel is the nature of creative people to suffer from a crafting form of A.D.D.) I hope everyone has a great year and many happy days of sewing.
Filed Under: fabric, patterns, quilts

Another One Bites The Dust

Posted on November 25, 2009 by ginabean • 3 Comments
I got another thing checked off my list last night! I got the Advent Calendar Quilt done. Fletcher was really excited about it. Now I just have to get the hubbers to make me a way to mount and hang it and we will be all set.
We are heading up to the mountains today to get our Christmas tree. We usually do it the day after Thanksgiving, but there is a lot going on with family this weekend, so we thought we would do it today.

Filed Under: quilts

Merry and Bright

Posted on November 22, 2009 by ginabean • 3 Comments
So here it is….the finished Merry and Bright Christmas Quilt. Luckily it hasn’t started raining yet, so the hubbers was kind enough to hold it up for me. I mentioned that I had a lot to do on my list today, but so far I have been sucked into watching cheesy Christmas movies on ABC Family. From now until Christmas, ABC Family and the Hallmark Channel will be showing every cheese ball Christmas movie ever made and I find it very difficult to look away. I mean seriously, how could I with titles like Holiday in Handcuffs (get your mind out of the gutter people, it’s on the family channel for goodness sake) staring Mario Lopez and Melissa Joan Hart. Seriously!

But, before I got sucked into all the television drama and my butt formed a nice hinney print in the sofa, I did make some Chocolate Chip Cookies with my great little assistant, Fletcher.


He quietly waited and watched as the cookies baked.

And before I even got them out of the oven, his daddy had two glasses of milk waiting. These two turkeys never even let the cookies cool. We made them for my grandmother’s birthday. She loves them and what else do you get a lady that doesn’t want anything. Hopefully, there will be some left to give her.

Filed Under: family, life, quilts

Checkin’ Things Off My "To Do" List

Posted on November 21, 2009 by ginabean • 3 Comments
I’m getting things done around here. I’m like a dag’um machine. I got the blocks all trimmed up and put together for the Advent Calendar. I made a little mistake on it, but if you can’t tell where the mistake is, then I’m certainly not telling. Next, it needs to be quilted and the binding put on. I have, of course, made plans to do more things tomorrow then there is time, but quilting this is on my list. It could happen. I would like to get it checked off the list.
Check out these fab-bo fabrics. I picked them up at Karen Gray Design. I have been wanting to make a Red and Aqua quilt for a while now, so I thought I would start a little stash building.
Who knows what exactly the pattern will be or when this one will ever be made, but I’m kinda crushing on this quilt right now. This quilt is also a good possibility.

I put the last stitch in the binding on the Merry and Bright Christmas Quilt about an hour ago. It is in the dryer as we speak. I can’t wait to get that warm bundle of crinkly goodness out of the dryer. Ohhh, that’s my favorite part of the whole quilt making process. Love it.

I hope to get some good pictures of it tomorrow to share with you. It is supposed to be rainy and cold here tomorrow, so getting good pics could be problematic, but it is certainly perfect weather for a day of sewing.
Filed Under: fabric, quilts, sewing

Slacker

Posted on November 20, 2009 by ginabean • 3 Comments
I have really been slack about posting on my blog lately, but it is only because I have really been busting things out in the sewing department. I got the borders put on the Christmas Quilt I was telling you about. I even got it quilted and the binding sewn on. The only thing left to do is to sew down the binding by hand. (Which I really enjoy doing, by-the-way.) I’ll be working on doing that in the evenings. I’ll have some better pictures of it when I get the binding all done. I made the quilt using a Merry and Bright jellyroll from Moda which I bought last year.
I have really gotten far on the Sew, Mama, Sew! Advent Calendar Quilt, too. I have all the blocks done. They are ready to be trimmed and sewn together. My goal is to work on that today and hopefully have it ready to be quilted by the end of the weekend.

I still have to finish the two knit stockings I am making for my nieces before Christmas gets here. Actually, I have to finish one, which is just about done and completely start on the second. I think someone told me yesterday it is five weeks away. Surely that can’t be right! Christmas can’t be that close. I haven’t even thought about what to do about Christmas shopping. Ahhhh.

Filed Under: quilts, sewing

And Where Have You Been?

Posted on November 12, 2009 by ginabean • 2 Comments
Is it me, or does time just seem to be flying by these days? Where are all of my days going? It seems like I blinked and all the sudden another year is almost gone.

Some major sewing and quilting has been going on around here. Last Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday I was lucky enough to spend time with some really great ladies at a quilting retreat at Black Mountain, NC. Talk about inspiring! It seemed like every few minutes someone was finishing up a beautiful quilt. The made me feel so inadequate. I worked all weekend and hardly got a quilt put together. It seems that focusing became kind of a problem for me. I had a hard time deciding what to take to work on, but I settled on a Christmas Jellyroll I bought last year. I still have the borders to put on it and I hope to do that tomorrow. I am eager to get it done before the holidays are here. As you can see from my table, I have a few quilt projects I’m juggling. I would also like to make the Advent Calendar quilt by Oh Fransson! on the Sew, Mama, Sew blog. I spent last night machine embroidering the numbers on my squares. The original has appliqued numbers, which look much better than mine, but I just don’t see applique happening for me at this point. Especially if I plan on getting it done this Christmas. I don’t know about you guys, but I am already thinking about holiday baking. Working on all these Christmas quilts has really put me in the mood to make cookies and fudge and all those sugary, fatty things I love this time of year. Usually I restrain myself from baking until after Thanksgiving, at least, but I feel the urge to bake now.

I also feel the urge to make a ton of fab things from this book that was waiting for me when I got back from the retreat. 101 things to make using 1 yard of fabric. What could be better! I have already made the origami inspired box, but I’m on the fence about weather it to show it to you guys. Let’s just say that it’s not my best work.

It’s flu shots for the whole family tomorrow. Well, for me and hubby, at least. Fletcher gets the FluMist. Lucky kid. Then it’s off to the mountains for a little family time and for the hubby’s continuing quest to get what we refer to as “monsterbuck.com”. Have a good weekend everybody.

* I found an error in the tutorial*

If you printed it out before yesterday, it should say to cut one of your 7″X 13″ pieces of Peltex down to 6″ X 13″ to use on the exterior bottom.

It is now corrected on the pattern.

Filed Under: life, quilts, sewing

Good Folks Love

Posted on November 3, 2009 by ginabean • 1 Comment
I lusted after Anna Maria’s Good Folks ever since it came into Karen Gray’s shop and I said I wasn’t going to buy anything new, but I gave in. I am making another disappearing 9-patch for my class out of it. I mean I had to get it for my class, right? It was for class, not for me, for class. Right!?!
And every season calls for a new handbag. So really I was saving money by making one and not buying one of those expensive ones I would have normally bought. Right. Totally justified. Yup, totally justified!
Filed Under: fabric, purses, quilts

Get’er Done

Posted on September 28, 2009 by ginabean • 4 Comments
I told you it was going to be a busy weekend of sewing and now I’m going to prove it. I somewhat stayed focused and I got quite a bit done:
Pair of Drapes = Done
Sheer Door Treatment = Done
Embroidery for my friends quilt for her church = Done
2nd Baxter quilt top = Done
Start Disappearing 9-Patch for class = Done
Quilt Strippy quilt = Done
Binding on Strippy quilt = Done (just have to sew it down now)

Start Knitting Christmas Stocking for my niece = Done (That’s right, I said knitting. It’s been a while, but I can knit, too.)

And in the middle of this sewing frenzy, I was even able to spend some quality time with my fellas. Imagine what I could get done if I stayed completely focused.
This week is starting off no different from the weekend. I still have plenty of things on my list to check off and I am hoping to get as much done this week as I did over the weekend. I feel like it is going to be a good week.

Also, if you read my blog, you are aware of my sweet tea addiction. Well, Thursday is October the 1st and I’m thinking that that would be a pretty good day to go cold turkey. Yes, I’m putting it out there. October One, I’m off the juice. I was thinking that by announcing it on my blog, you guys could help keep me honest. Sound good? Sounds good! (side note: does this just sound completely insane of me to seriously state that I am addicted to sweet tea of all things and enlist the help of a “support group”? Yes, I believe so.)

Filed Under: life, quilts, sewing