Binding finish...

I made a pieced binding for the Honeycomb quilt using the lightest prints and short pieces of the lighter grays in between. I hoped it might bring out some of the lightness of the quilt.I got it sewn on to the quilt yesterday so it's finished. I want to make the label for it before I take it to the shop to hang.  I also sewed sets of strips together for a working model for this class and I am anxious to see how they look cut and on the design wall. Patience....

I got the Chevron quilt and backing ready to load yesterday, too, so that's first on the agenda today. It's very cold and windy outside today so I'm happy to stay inside and sew!

Family Sew-In 2014

We had our annual Holiday Sew-In at my parents house on Sunday. We've been having these sew-ins for about 5 or 6 years when my sister is home for the holidays.

My sister Sharon worked on some puff pillows. She made some as gifts and now wants some for her house! She does quite a bit of sewing and is fast!

We had some new sewers join us...they wanted to learn how to make T-shirt quilts. My niece Jessie got all of her shirts prepped and cut and ready to sew together.

My niece, Ashley, got a good start on hers too, and she didn't look up long enough for me to get a good picture! She got lots done too...that's her helper in the background.

My daughter, Wendy joined the T-shirt quilt group and got all of hers prepped and ready to put together too.

Everyone was working hard and chatting too! We know how to multi-task!

My sister, Nancy, is here from Canada for the holidays. She only sews when she is home, so we kidded her a lot about her 5 year quilt...but it's coming along. Here she is cutting out sashings.

Half of her blocks laid out.

Sharon finished two pillow tops...they just needed stuffing. She sews the puffs together and then slits the backs and stuffs later. It makes it easier to put together.

Mom cooked up some chili for all of us and helped when needed. We always call Dad the supervisor...he does whatever we ask him to do.

I spent a lot of the day helping the newbies with their projects, but I did get the border cut and sewn on this chevron quilt that I made awhile back for a demo on a special ruler. I'm going to give it to my newest great-nephew, Robert. I want to get the back sewn today and get it loaded on the quilt frame tomorrow. I made the binding Sunday too, just no pic!

Wendy's T-shirt blocks. We forgot to get pictures of the other girls' blocks before they left.

Nancy has half of her quilt center finished! She laid it out with her border fabrics. That floral border print is what she loved and chose her other fabrics to coordinate with it.

We had such a good time chatting and sewing...my sister, Deb, usually joins us, but she was sick so couldn't come. She needs to tie her 5 year quilt (*smile*) and finish by binding. Maybe we'll have another sewing day soon so she can get hers finished!

Sharon's pillows stuffed and beautiful!

I want to sew the binding on the Honeycomb quilt today and get the Chevron quilt and backing ready for the quilt machine. I am also teaching a sampler group tonight, so a full day of sewing! Happy Tuesday...hope you're sewing!

Quilting finished!

I spent Friday quilting the  Honeycomb Waffle, Too quilt. I am on a deadline since I am going to teach a class on making it in Feb. and need to get it hung at the quilt shop. I decided to use the Starburst panto...I've only used it once before and love the playful bounce of the stars. 

 You can see the blue backing fabric of the quilt as it rolls up on the frame.

 I made a multi-colored binding using the lightest shades in the quilt and some gray strips mixed in. I hope it looks good! I want to get the binding done today.

 My helpers are looking really comfy right now...how is a person supposed to get ambitious with these cuties lounging around?

And the Miss Tess Celebration Giveaway winners are.....

I chose the winners of the Miss Tess Celebration giveaway this morning...

$25 Gift Card to Fat Quarter Shop: Mara Capron 

One copy to two winners of America Loves Scrap Quilts:

Julie Hall Feldhaus

PK Solberg

One pattern from my Craftsy Shop to three winners:

Jackie Thompson

Joyce Mitchell

Schimmel Beavers

I have contacted the winners by email. Thanks to all who helped me celebrate the publication of Miss Tess in America Loves Scrap Quilts! If you make your own version of Miss Tess, let me know... I would love to see it! 

Miss Tess

Honeycomb Waffle, Too top finished and last day to enter the giveaway!

My original plan for the Honeycomb Waffle Too quilt was to use this gorgeous Stonehenge gray as fill in for the half blocks and triangles on the edges of the quilt. I think the dark edge helps bring out the depth of the other colors and the 3-D pattern. It's fun to play with layouts while a quilt is on the design wall, so I tried it with half blocks on the fill in spaces on the edges. I like it but still like a dark edge better. 

I wondered how it would look to make pieced half blocks using three grays. So I used the Stonehenge gray and two others to make some sections to try it out. I really liked this as it gives the depth I want plus adds the fun of the half blocks. 

I finished sewing the top together Tuesday. The pattern didn't call for a border, but I added a  border using the Stonehenge to finish it off. I think it evens out the grays on the edges. I want to start working on the quilting today. I bought a mottled blue print for the backing...it's all ready to load!

Sometimes when I look at the pictures of this quilt, my eyes see the center squares inverted, but when I look again or move my eyes over the whole top, it goes away. Has this happened to you as you've read this post? Just curious!

 I thought it would be fun to see what it looks like upside down and it's interesting this way too! 

Upside down, in case your eyes weren't already mixed up!

Today is the last day to enter the Miss Tess celebration giveaway. Just go here and enter before midnight tonight. Please add your email to your comment if you are a no reply blogger or if you are not sure. I won't be able to contact you if you win without an email.

Hottie Hotpads and the giveaway is still open!

I spent a little time the other day making some hottie hotpads for a Christmas gift. I had used this print a few years ago to embellish some towels, and had these pieces left. They are a very simple design and easy to make.

I backed them with this apple print and used the leftovers to make another hotpad with a pocket to stick your hand into.

Hopefully they will make cooking a bit more fun!

I don't always get to see the finished quilts from my classes, but here are two finished Miss Tess quilt tops. The celebration giveaway continues until midnight Friday... you can enter here. Remember that if you comment and you are a no reply blogger, I don't have your email and I can't contact you. So please enter your email in the comment if you are not sure. 

Notice that these quilters used the same fabric for their half blocks along the top and bottom, which adds a different look. I love it when quilters take a design farther!

Lots to do today. I finished the Honeycomb Waffle, Too quilt top yesterday (pix soon!) and want to get it on the quilting machine today. I also have packages to wrap....where did the time go? My daughter is coming over tonight to celebrate Christmas and open gifts and we are going to try to skype with my other 2 daughters while we do it. Might get interesting.

Have a wonderful Christmas!

Miss Tess published and a giveaway!

I am excited to tell you that my design, Miss Tess, is appearing in the winter issue of McCalls America Loves Scrap Quilts! I'm intriqued by tessellations... identical pieces fitting together without any gaps or overlapping. I love scrap quilts...so much fun choosing as many fabrics as you can to make a quilt. So this was a really fun and interesting design to make.

Like their Facebook Page!

After figuring out the design itself, I had to figure out how to make it happen. That meant taking the shape to its basic form and figuring out what pieces I needed to cut so that I could sew it together in rows. I decided to use lots of bright fabrics with the same centers, a small black and white dotted fabric.  Once I started cutting the pieces, I couldn't wait to try them out on my design wall to see if it worked. 

I loved it, but my design wall isn't large enough for a queen size quilt, so I had to move to the floor. I could only lay out about half of it at a time, so once I had the first half sewn into rows, I laid out more rows. I had a few glitches along the way as my helpers decided it looked like a playground.

No one fessed up, but I have my suspicions....

I numbered all of the rows so that I wouldn't make any mistakes when sewing them together. It's a lot of rows, but they are easy to piece. The hard part with this many fabrics is where to place them!

I took it along to my family sewing day last December so that I could attach the borders.

I had chosen a deep blue border so that the colors would shine and the outside edges of the shape would show up when they came out into the border.

I chose this multi-striped fabric for the binding as I loved that it was scrappy too, and striped bindings are my favorite!

I used a larger black and white dotted fabric for the back. You can see, my helpers love every aspect of quiltmaking, even attaching the binding! 

I made a second, smaller version of the quilt that is being displayed at Cut Up and Quilt now. They will also have the magazine for sale after their Christmas holiday break. They would be happy to hold one for you...just give them a call today!

Now for the giveaway! I'm excited to host a giveaway with these great prizes:

A $25 Gift Card to Fat Quarter Shop!

Two copies of the magazine, America Loves Scrap Quilts, for two lucky winners!

Your choice of one of my patterns available on Craftsy to each of three lucky winners!

I'm going to make it easy this time, and have one Rafflecopter tto be eligible for all of the prizes. The giveaway will be open until midnight, Dec. 27. Thanks for celebrating with me! 

a Rafflecopter giveaway