Last Post for 2013

Here are a few things that I've been working on this last week and something that needs finishing.

Late Christmas present for my mother in law.

(The points will have little bells on them when it's finished.)

Schnitzel and Boo Mini Quilt Swap.

Stitching by the fire. :-)

Backing

Finished.

Late Christmas present for my mother.

I was going to make her a Dorthy doll, but my felt has gotten lost in the mail.

Candy Dish pattern by Jaybird Quilts

Fabric: In From the Cold by Kate Spain by Moda

So happy with how my points met up!

Both pillow tops.

I finally made my first Frosted Pumpkin Travel Hoop bag.

Fabric: Crafty Chloe by Heather Ross and Kona Solid Sprout.

Giant Dresden of Awesomeness!

I am making this dresden for Patchwork for Paws. It is a charity scrap quilt that will go to keeping wounded veterans warm while they train with their service dogs at K9s for Warriors.

What a year it's been! Here's hoping that 2014 is much better!

The Misfit Quilter's Doll Quilt Swap

I had a lot of fun and a lil bit of a headache doing these blocks! I tried to pick ones that would not only be pretty with the fabrics, but also have a meaning behind them. I picked 6.5 inch blocks from the book Sylvia's Bridal Sampler. I used fabric from Sunkissed by Sweetwater for Moda. So, without further ado, here are my blocks in the following layout (left to right, top to bottom). I know some of these are going to be cheese, but that's just me sometimes. lol

Birds in the Air

I choose this block because you're never to old to reach for the sky or lay in the grass looking to the sky. I fussy cut the "birds" to read: plant, life, renew. You should always plant good habits, love, friendship, etc. Always remember to live your "life". Don't get weighed down by the past and negativity. Everything needs to be "renewed" once in a while.

Diamond Friendship

I fussy cut this block to read hope and its definition. We should all never give up hope. No matter how bad something might be, you are not alone and there is always hope. I thought that hope and friendship would go hand in hand.

Pinwheel

Ok so, really this one is just because we should always remember the kid inside of us. Remember the days when we would spend hours blowing into a pinwheel trying to see how fast we could make it spin.

Sister's Choice

Well, simply put, quilters are all sisters (or brothers) held together with a single common thread.

Weathervane

I kinda just thought this one was pretty. We must also be flexable and go where the wind takes us.

Bright Hopes

Same meaning as the "Diamond Friendship". We must always have hope for a better tomorrow.

Snail's Trail

In our fast paced, busy lives we must remember to slow down and enjoy the present. If we go through life too fast, we often miss the small moments that make up our lives.

Sylvia's Shooting Star

My gift to you, make a wish on your shooting star.

Shoo-Fly

"Shoo fly don't bother me." This is to remind you to swat away the negative and downers in life.

Rosebud

Here are some roses for you. Like many of these blocks, this is just another reminder to slow down and smell the roses and not to miss the little things.

Friendship Quilt

Just a thank you and I'm glad that we met and became friends.

Right Hand of Friendship

Last, but not least, I offer my hand to you. If you ever need anything, I will do my best to help (can't promise everything, but what I can do, I will try to do).

...and now, the whole quilt laid out.

(don't mind the mess)

Goodies

I have lots of goodies to share with you all. First off, I have to say that I love Shawna over at 1Choice4Quilting because she's such a sweetheart. She puts goodies in every purchase when she sends them to you. Here's one package of stuff I bought. The extra goodies are the Quilting Sewing Machine needles, Embry Board, and a mini Gripper for acrylic rulers.

I also entered a pin cushion swap and this is the cute pin cushion and goodies my partner sent to me.

Here's the pin cushion I made for my partner. I took the picture and then realized that I forgot the wiskers (yes, it had wiskers when I sent it out).

Here is the fabric basket I made for my partner in New Zealand for the Quilting Gallery swap.

Scrap Vomit - Plea for Squares

Squares for the poor...please sir may I have squares...

Oh, but don't worry, you don't really need to vomit on them before you send them to me. ;-) hee hee

I am so like a curious cat, several people have been talking about making a Scrap Vomit quilt on Twitter and my inner voice has been saying "you know you want to, just take the plunge, just one more project won't hurt anything." I guess you could call it peer self-pressure. Ok by now you're probably going "Scrap Vomit?!?! WTH??? It's where you take all your scraps throw them on the floor and sew them together the way they land. (Oh Lord, I hope I didn't just give someone an idea. *face-palm*) Believe me? No? Ok well, the truth is, you make a quilt using 2.5" squares. I guess it would sort of be like a postage stamp quilt (but sounds alot more interesting awesome!).

Katy, over at i'm a ginger monkey, came up with the idea. Her quilt is a 70" x 98" twin size quilt. It is made up of 1,375 2.5" squares of fabric. If you're interested in making her quilt, head on over to her blog for all the details.

  

Brie, over at Little Creatible, is doing her version of Katy's Scrap Vomit Quilt, except she is using doubles of each piece of scrap fabric. So he will have 688 different types of 2.5" fabric squares in her quilt.

Thomas, over at Thomas Knauer Sews, is doing another version. He is doing a queen sized, no-repeat quilt. I forgot that he had changed the size. His goal is 3,500 total (he needs 3,136), but wants to make sure that he has extras so that he doesn't have any duplicate fabrics.

If any of you would like to join in, follow us and let us know you're going to join and help. Follow us over on twitter: Me (@KleineSchatze), Katy (@ImAGingerMonkey), Brie (@LittleCreatable), and Thomas (@WayCoolKid).

Now, what I need from you. I'm kinda diggin' Thomas' idea of a no repeat queen, but I don't think I want to tackle that right now. So I am going to do a good sized twin (but if I get enough to make the queen, I will go ahead and use them all). So I would love to have any 2.5" squares from your scrap bin that you wouldn't mind parting with. Please only swap cotton fabrics. I will send you some in return for your quilt, just let me know what size you need.

I'm going to add a little bit to mine. I would LOVE to have a 4.5" square of whatever light colored fabric or design you choose for a signature block. On the 4.5" square, I'd love to have your name, where you're from (ie. state or country), and anything else you'd like.. I just want to add a little personalization from everyone who donates scraps. If you're interested in swapping scraps, please leave a comment (and make sure I can get back in touch with you).

Happy Quilting!

The Search for the Great Camera and the Mysterious Mug Rugs

Wow. What a crazy week. LOL Yes, my life seems to be both non-eventful and crazy at the same time. I had been looking for my camera for a couple weeks and Tuesday my son finds it. Yay! I go to take a picture and the battery is dead. Not to worry, I'll go charge it....uhhh...phoey...the battery charger is no where to be found and my camera is so spiffy it doesn't use normal batteries. *sigh* My phone's camera handled the pictures (though I wish it would have shown the colors better). I tweeted for luck this morning and 10 mins later I find my battery charger! Whoever sent me luck, I owe you one! So, look for more detailed pictures to come.

Meanwhile, in the Oubliette (AKA my sewing room).

The search and creation of the mysterious mug rugs continues. Many poor pretties were sliced and diced for their creation and my surgical assistant helped me bring life to these few mug rugs. While their size is small and compact I believe that there is still more to be discovered and many more variations of their design to be found. The few that I have discovered are pictured below.

(I got carried away with my orange french knots. hehe)

(*waves hands Jedi style* Those are not pins you are looking at. They were taken out before the picture was taken.)

I'll post a picture of the goodies my swap partner will get later. hehe

Mug Rug - Valentine

One of the designs that I created today. I still need to sew the outlines in black and sew it all together. I designed about 5 others just today (my mind is full of ideas). Hopefully I'll finish this one tomorrow and have another one or two started/finsished.

QG: Mug Rug Swap!

Mug Rug by Michele Foster

(more examples can be found here)

Let's start the new year off small and work our way up! Quilting Gallery is hosting a super-mini quilt swap. This is great for any level of quilter. Click on the link below to go to QG's page to register and get in with the Flikr group.

Beginners: this is a super easy swap for you. A great way to get your feet wet! You'll work with small pieces of fabric (fat quarters would be great for this).

What is a Mug Rug? It is a super cute super-sized coaster for your coffee, hot chocolate, drink to sit on with room on the side to put yummy cookies or snacks.


Registration closes on January 18th to hurry over and sign up!

Sweethearts Swap Mini-quilt Beginning

I just thought I would show my progress as I made my Sweetheart Hearts. This is just where I placed the pieces together so I can get an good idea of what it will look like before I sew it together. I just can't decide on the boarder for the quilt (left or right fabric?). I bought the beautiful batik fabrics from Batiks by Design. I'm all about supporting small local businesses! This is a fellow Kentucky owned business.

Sweethearts Rock! Swap 2010

Pat Sloans' Death By Quilting

Sweethearts Rock! Swap 2010

Well, today I recieved my Swap partners info and ordered some awesome fabric (which I can't really show you due to I might give away the surprise). I'll just say it's really pretty. LOL I can't wait to get started on this! So many options are running though my mind.

This is my first swap so I'm super excited! I hope this goes well! If so, I'll probably do more.

Well that's all for now.