It's finished! and I played.....

I got the t-shirt quilt finished today, so had some time to play around. I have been wanting to make one of the cute journal covers that Wanda and others have made. I didn't piece mine, but think it turned out cute.

I used a weekly planner for mine. It is about  5 1/2" x 8 1/2"  so could fit in a purse.  I love this fabric!

I then made something my daughter requested awhile back. She wanted to know if I could make a cute quilted coaster for her to use at work. So I used the same fabric and made that too.

I wasn't sure how big to make it, so it is a little bigger than a CD.  I really do love this fabric and if she doesn't, I will just make another one!

It's the weekend!

Ok, not technically, but my holiday starts today, so just imagine that I am cheering and jumping up and down! I really like my job, but love the time at home too. 

I am going to sew the binding on the t-shirt quilt today.  After that, who knows?

We will go to Earling tomorrow to celebrate Thanksgiving with my family. Several family members are coming that we don't see too often so it should be fun and a madhouse.

Better get busy!

Just stuff...

I got the t-shirt quilt quilted yesterday, so now just need to bind it and it will be finished. I also went up and got the displays all ready to hang. I couldn't  hang them yesterday as I hang the displays over the cutting table and they were really busy cutting fabric the whole time I was there. I have classes to teach tonight and tomorrow night, so hopefully can get them hung then.

We only have school 2 days this week  and then off for a long weekend...I am so ready! I don't have any classes for a week or so either so hope to get something done here at home.

Saturday class & other trivia

The Treetops Glistening Table topper class went well yesterday, I posted some pictures on my Flickr page if you want to take a peek. We spent most of the time on paper piecing the trees. They are so cute when finished.

I loaded the T-shirt quilt on the frame yesterday, so it is ready to go. I plan on starting it today. I also want to go up to the shop  and hang some displays for upcoming classes later too. I need to get them posted here too!This is one of the classes I will be teaching in February. It is called the Potato Chip Quilt. I first designed and taught it a couple years ago. At the time I was making the quilt for a friend, so have given it away. Bad idea when you teach classes...luckily my mom and sister each made one during one of our sewing days, so they are letting me borrow them to use as my models so I don't have to make another one right now. I would love to make another one, but time...there just isn't enough of it.

Here's my Potato Chip Quilt.

 I have a new Sampler  quilt in the planning stages that I want to work on as soon as I get the T-shirt quilt finished.

Quilting finished

I finished quilting my friend's Stack & Whack quilt yesterday so could give it to her during class. I really like this pattern and how it fills in...she did too. Now on to finishing the T-shirt quilt.
Here's the back.

The Lone Star Quilt class met for the 2nd time...lots of beautiful quilts in various stages of being done. I posted the pix to my Flickr account, so go check them out. It is so much fun to see them all come together.
My sister-in-law Denise finished sewing her circles together and brought her double wedding ring center to share. You might remember when I posted about her working on it when we got together and sewed last year. I have to admit, I had my doubts about this one getting finished, not because she is a quitter, but a DWR is a big project. She paper pieced the rings, which took a long time. She is going to put a border of people holding hands next...should be cool!

T-shirt Quilt and other Quilty news...

I am still working on the T-shirt quilt and hope to get it finished next week too. I had some questions about how I've made these. There are many ways to make a quilt out of T-shirts. I like to use fusible interfacing on the backs of the T-shirt squares so there is no stretching when putting the quilt together. It also gives a crisper look to the shirts, especially if they are getting worn out, which the favorite shirts usually are. Plus it makes quilting it easier too. I don't know if I could quilt it without the interfacing, I think it would stretch out of shape on the frame.

I cut my squares 14 1/2" so that they finish at 14". Some shirts have such large patterns that you need that big a block just to get it all in. For the smaller pieces I like to piece several together into 4 patches, or whatever works with what I have. Sometimes I use a sashing as in the above picture, sometimes I border each block (see previous post). These can be made pretty much any size you want. The one I am working on now will be about 90" x 90".

I have been working on quilting a quilt for a friend the last few nights. I hadn't done any quilting since I finished the Christmas Topper, so it felt good to turn on the machine and have a go at it.

Busy class

It was a very productive UFO class yesterday...I posted the pix to my Flickr account (see sidebar).
After the class was officially over several of the ladies stayed a little longer and I stayed and worked on the T-shirt quilt I am making for someone. It is coming along nicely. I have the blocks all sewn together, and tried to pick out a border for it. I got one, but not sure yet if I will use it. I have several choices here at home too and not sure if I like them either. Decisions, decisions....
Two ladies worked on the Lone Star quilts started last week in class. Here is one of them. I can't wait for next Saturday when we meet again to see everyone's progress.
I need a bigger design wall!

Books, books, books...

My bookfair was a success! In fact I think we might have set a record last night! I have to check my records when I get to school today. It was crazy busy fun while we set up, sold, and took down in 4 hours. Whew! My 2 daughters who live here came to help out, good thing they did! The booster club had a family bingo night, and it was a full house too. Probably the most popular book there was the 4th in a series of Diary of a Wimpy Kid books, Dog Days, by Jeff Kinney. It just came out last month and the kids have been asking for it ever since. It is a story of a boy's life in diary form, with some hand-drawn illustrations. It is funny and a bit irreverent, but in a good way. They can't get enough of it. I can't keep the copies of the first three in the library, as they go out as fast as they come in. I know they will be asking me for it all day today, as they won't understand why the copies I bought aren't ready to be checked out!
In other book & daughter news, Angie, my daughter in Seattle, recently blogged about Mennonite in a Little Black Dress on her blog, Small Pressures. She does book reviews as well as writing about living small in today's economy. It sounds like a great book so I will have to find a copy of that to read too (for me, not school!).

What's up?

I have my bookfair at school tomorrow night. That is always fun and hectic. Most schools have it for a week, but because the library is on 2nd floor it isn't practical or possible to take everything up there, so I just have it for one night. This year the Booster Club is hosting a Bingo Night too, so it should be fun (translate: wild).My sister got her Circle and Spin blocks sewn together last week. This isn't a very good picture, she sent it to me on her phone. I will get a better one when I see it.

Friday night is my every other month or so get-together with friends...we sew, eat and do a lot of talking. Should be fun.

Beautiful day in Iowa!

Today was a gorgeous day, about 60. I worked on a T-shirt quilt I am making for someone, then went for a bike ride.
The Lone Star classes went well yesterday. I can't wait to see them next time. They meet again on Nov. 14. Here are some sneak peaks at how they will look.
It is always interesting to see what colors everyone comes up with. I posted pictures of everyone hard at work at Flickr.