Monthly Archives: January 2017

Christmas Quilt – A Work in Progress

January 23, 2017Quiltsmymommycrafts

Prior to Christmas of 2016, I fell in love with the fabric “Town Square” by Holly Taylor for Moda Fabrics. I was drawn mostly to the color palate and the sheer classic Christmas feeling that I got from a lot of the prints. I purchased two charm packs of this fabric from the Missouri Star Quilt Company. I also purchased a coordinating Kona Charm pack in a gray color. I liked the way all of these fabrics melded together.

It took me some time to decide on a proper pattern for this quilt. I searched the web but could not decide. I really wanted something that would looks like snowflakes. I finally found a pattern called “Charming Windmills” from a book by Pam & Nicky Lintott; “More Layer Cake, Jelly Roll & Charm Quilts.” I chose this pattern because I thought that the windmill pattern reminded me of snowflakes.

In the following pictures I was making squares, each with a triangle of the printed fabric and the plain gray fabric.

Then I had to take the squares, square them up and then cut them in half. It was a lot of work, but I am happy how it all turned out.

One of the best things about this project was that I finally had a 1/4″ seam guide on one of my presser feet. I can say that this helped keep all my seams perfect. Which meant that I had a better chance of getting all of the windmills points to actually come together like they should. With out this seam guide, I am not sure that this quilt top would have come out as well as it did.

I then put my first border on this quilt. I had originally thought that this was going to be my binding only. However, when I actually finished this quilt top I thought that it was too small. I decided to start adding borders. I used this Maroon color for my first border and then went to the fabric store and bought more fabric for the next 5″ border. Now this quilt was a reasonable size for a lap quilt. I will use this Maroon color for the binding as well.

Now I am working on quilting this quilt. I chose to try stippling. It is going to take me a while, but it is fun to do.

Here is a picture of what I have done so far with Free motion quilting:

I will put up another picture once I finish the stippling on this quilt top.

Abigail’s Quilt Finished

January 5, 2017Uncategorizedmymommycrafts

Now that it is the new year, it is time that I finish some projects that I have started. I decided to finish Abigail’s Quilt first. I was finally able to finish free motion quilting the border with the butterfly motif. Free motion quilting with the Bernina Stitch Regulator is fun to use, but I have learned that it is not as easy as it looks. It does take a lot of practice. I am excited to begin another project where I can practice more.

I have just finished Abigail’s Quilt. I took a couple of days to try and decide how to finish the binding. I think originally I was going to piece a scrappy binding together with all the left over scraps, but I did manage to leave enough extra backing fabric on all edges to do a fold over binding. This is how my Great Grandmother used to do a lot of her bindings. Since my new Bernina 770 Machine has decorative stitches, I decided to use one of its versions of a blanket stitch.

I really like how this has come together. The machine does a great job. I did think about hand stitching the binding down, but I got lazy and decided that I just want this done so that I can begin another project. Not to mention that I really wanted another excuse to use my sewing machine.

Christmas Gifts- Pillow Cases

January 1, 2017Uncategorizedmymommycrafts

I am beginning this post before Christmas, but will post this after the Holidays.

Every year I enjoy making gifts. Last year I made small drawstring bags to go in everyones stockings. This year I decided to make a pillowcase for everyone. I was just going to make one pillowcase for each child and then use that as the wrapping. But this year as I started planning gifts, I decided that making a pillow case for most everyone was a better idea. Plus I got a new Bernina Sewing Machine as my Christmas gift from my wonderful husband, so I decided to put it to good use.

I did manage to make a couple more pillowcases for others, but I guess I failed to take a picture of them. Oh well…. I had a lot of fun making these.

Christmas Mug Rugs

January 1, 2017Quilts, Sewing, Sewing Crafts Postsmini quilt, mug rugs, sewingmymommycrafts

Seems as though this Holiday Season has come and gone quicker than it did last year. I did manage to make Christmas Mug Rugs before we had a house full of company for Christmas. I had a fun time making these mug rugs this time around. I got a new sewing machine as an early Christmas present, so I had a lot of fun exploring all the different options that it comes with.

Here are some pictures of the fun that I had: