Modern Half-Square Triangle Quilt-a-Long Block 18

Welcome! If you are just joining us, information about materials can be found here, and here are the previous blocks: Block 1, Block 2, Block 3, Block 4, Block 5, Block 6, Block 7, Block 8, Block 9, Block 10, Block 11, Block 12, Block 13, Block 14, Block 15, Block 16, Block 17.

Materials:
8 3.5" squares of Color A
8 3.5" squares of Color B

*note* these are the essential materials for each block, so you can cut several blocks worth of fabric at once to save time!

Create your blocks, following the same procedure as last week. If you need help making your blocks, please see this post. You should end up with 16 2.5" squares. Ready to lay out your block? Here we go!

ROW 1

ROW 2

ROW 3

ROW 4

After you have sewn your squares into rows, press your seams. I like to press odd numbered rows to the left, and even to the right. It helps to use a small piece of paper to number your rows. I like the tiny post-it notes. 

After pressing, you are ready to sew your rows together! Pin, if necessary, but I find that these short rows don't require pinning.

Press one final time, and voila! Another finished block! Only 54 to go! Pat yourself on the back! Remember to add your blocks to our flickr group!

The Year Ahead

So I haven't finished sharing my 2012 projects, but I wanted to share my 2013 plans with you before it got much later in the year!   The big news is that we are expecting our last baby this summer, so since I foresee much sitting for the next few months, I wanted to have some projects that were 'couch appropriate.' I have long been wanting to try English Paper Piecing, and I've had fabric stashed away just for a hexagon quilt. On Tuesday, I sat down and tried it out - I'm afraid this will be quite the addiction!



I also plan to do lots of cross-stitch this year. I have several long-lingering projects that need to be finished, so I want to start with them. I also purchased the Kawaii Winter Wonderland pattern, and have one square completed, but that didn't stop me from buying the Woodland Sampler too!

I do have a few baby quilts to make for friends and family, and my quilt guild is participating in the Madrona Road Challenge. I have fabric stashed that I've decided wants to be a quilt now, and I'm sure more will pop up. (Plus I'll have to make this baby a quilt as soon as we know the sex!)

I also joined the skill builder Block of the Month, and Elizabeth's Lucky Stars BOM.

I have a few baby sweaters to knit up as well, and the other kiddos will need new sweaters in the fall. I'm planning on ripping out a few knitting projects that were started for me, and I'm just not loving anymore.

I think that's enough to get me started! What about you? What are your plans?

Sewing gifts

I drew my sister-in-law's name in our annual gift exchange, and she loves to sew, knit and embroider, so I knew I wanted to make her something!

I made her a zip pouch for her knitting, but really wanted to make her something for her embroidery/cross stitch. I remembered that I had pinned (and bought vinyl for!) this tutorial and decided to try it out!



It was so easy! I 'made' my own quilted panel for the middle and used up what bias tape I had in the stash. I also left off the strap/handle. I didn't have the 'right' kind of snaps, but I think these work fine! I think I'm going to try to 'upsize' it and make one a bit larger for me!

I also made her a simple needle book to keep inside her new bag. I sewed two pieces of fabric together with a layer of batting in the middle and top stitched the outside. I cut two rectangles of felt and sewed them in the center - voila!

Finally, I made her a pincushion. I don't have a picture of hers, but I used the same tutorial (but different fabrics) as this one I made for our guild's gift exchange.

Gifts for the kids

Of course, I made several gifts for our kiddos and my nieces/nephews and friends.

One big ticket item I made were dinosaur tails. I used this tutorial, which is great!



I made five tails and used two giant bags of poly-fil to stuff them all!

I also made 'letter' wall/door hangings for my niece and nephew. Somehow I only got a picture of one of them! I also want to make these for my kiddos as well. They were a nice way to use up cute scraps!



I made a tool belt for Ben and a baby doll quilt for Ellie, but failed to get pictures of those. I made two baby doll carriers - one for Samantha and one for my niece, using the pattern from Little Things to Sew, but also failed to get a picture of those!

Finally, I made this bag for us to use when we take small toys somewhere. I actually made this because my guild did a challenge. We all received canvas bags/pillow covers and we were to turn them into something else! There were some great entries! I did a sort of 'quilt as you go' technique to attach my fabric strips, resewed it together and added the zipper!

Modern Half-Square Triangle Quilt-a-Long Block 17

Welcome! If you are just joining us, information about materials can be found here, and here are the previous blocks: Block 1, Block 2, Block 3, Block 4, Block 5, Block 6, Block 7, Block 8, Block 9, Block 10, Block 11, Block 12, Block 13, Block 14, Block 15, Block 16.

Materials:
8 3.5" squares of Color A
8 3.5" squares of Color B

*note* these are the essential materials for each block, so you can cut several blocks worth of fabric at once to save time!

Create your blocks, following the same procedure as last week. If you need help making your blocks, please see this post. You should end up with 16 2.5" squares. Ready to lay out your block? Here we go!

ROW 1

ROW 2

ROW 3

ROW 4

After you have sewn your squares into rows, press your seams. I like to press odd numbered rows to the left, and even to the right. It helps to use a small piece of paper to number your rows. I like the tiny post-it notes. 

After pressing, you are ready to sew your rows together! Pin, if necessary, but I find that these short rows don't require pinning.

Press one final time, and voila! Another finished block! Only 55 to go! Pat yourself on the back! Remember to add your blocks to our flickr group!

Christmas Catch up!

I have been neglecting this poor blog! If it weren't for the weekly Quilt-a-Long posts, I would wonder where I was! :) But I'm here - just been too busy creating Christmas gifts, and then not able to blog about them until they had been gifted! But all have been received now, so I can slowly catch the blog up!

I made several pillows this holiday season. I had received some mini charm packs and thought they would work up into great pillows. I had one set that matched my Dad's living room, and one that matched my mother-in-laws! Perfect! I added some sashing to dads and some borders to the other, and voila! A pocket closure for the backs and a pillow form and instant gifts!





I also made some pillows for teacher gifts. I wasn't sure what to make Samantha's two teachers this year. Last year I made some lovely voile/flannel scarves, but then it wasn't ever really cold enough to wear them! So I wanted to make something else this year. I dug through my stash for some inspiration, and found these panels that had been part of the panel for the tree skirt our small tree has. I added some borders to bring them up to size using small bits of random holiday prints, and an envelope closure on the back.





I also made several zip pouches for friends using Noodlehead's Open Wide Pouch Tutorial. All of these are destined to be knitting bags, so I think the 'open wide' feature will be appreciated! They came together very fast and are pretty cute. I made three of the medium size and one large. Two have a stiffer interfacing, and I think I like those best - something I'll be doing again the next time!







I also made an ipad cover for a friend who was getting her first ipad! I used this tutorial. Next time I might cut it a little bigger and add another layer of batting. I used one of the buttons she has been coveting from my stash. I'm such a nice friend! :)



Many more projects to come! And I've been thinking lots about what I want to work on in the new year as well!
To make them a bit more personal I had Samantha write her name with a fabric marker on these little 'labels' I also found in the stash, and I wrote her teacher's names too. I think they turned out pretty cute!

Modern Half-Square Triangle Quilt-a-Long Block 16

Welcome! If you are just joining us, information about materials can be found here, and here are the previous blocks: Block 1, Block 2, Block 3, Block 4, Block 5, Block 6, Block 7, Block 8, Block 9, Block 10, Block 11, Block 12, Block 13, Block 14, Block 15.

Materials:
8 3.5" squares of Color A
8 3.5" squares of Color B

*note* these are the essential materials for each block, so you can cut several blocks worth of fabric at once to save time!

Create your blocks, following the same procedure as last week. If you need help making your blocks, please see this post. You should end up with 16 2.5" squares. Ready to lay out your block? Here we go!

ROW 1

ROW 2

ROW 3

ROW 4

After you have sewn your squares into rows, press your seams. I like to press odd numbered rows to the left, and even to the right. It helps to use a small piece of paper to number your rows. I like the tiny post-it notes. 

After pressing, you are ready to sew your rows together! Pin, if necessary, but I find that these short rows don't require pinning.

Press one final time, and voila! Another finished block! Only 56 to go! Pat yourself on the back! Remember to add your blocks to our flickr group!

Modern Half-Square Triangle Quilt-a-Long Block 15

Welcome! If you are just joining us, information about materials can be found here, and here are the previous blocks: Block 1, Block 2, Block 3, Block 4, Block 5, Block 6, Block 7, Block 8, Block 9, Block 10, Block 11, Block 12, Block 13, Block 14.

Materials:
8 3.5" squares of Color A
8 3.5" squares of Color B

*note* these are the essential materials for each block, so you can cut several blocks worth of fabric at once to save time!

Create your blocks, following the same procedure as last week. If you need help making your blocks, please see this post. You should end up with 16 2.5" squares. Ready to lay out your block? Here we go!

ROW 1

ROW 2

ROW 3

ROW 4

After you have sewn your squares into rows, press your seams. I like to press odd numbered rows to the left, and even to the right. It helps to use a small piece of paper to number your rows. I like the tiny post-it notes. 

After pressing, you are ready to sew your rows together! Pin, if necessary, but I find that these short rows don't require pinning.

Press one final time, and voila! Another finished block! Only 57 to go! Pat yourself on the back! Remember to add your blocks to our flickr group!

Modern Half-Square Triangle Quilt-a-Long Block 14

Welcome! If you are just joining us, information about materials can be found here, and here are the previous blocks: Block 1, Block 2, Block 3, Block 4, Block 5, Block 6, Block 7, Block 8, Block 9, Block 10, Block 11, Block 12, Block 13.

Materials:
8 3.5" squares of Color A
8 3.5" squares of Color B

*note* these are the essential materials for each block, so you can cut several blocks worth of fabric at once to save time!

Create your blocks, following the same procedure as last week. If you need help making your blocks, please see this post. You should end up with 16 2.5" squares. Ready to lay out your block? Here we go!

ROW 1

ROW 2

ROW 3

ROW 4

After you have sewn your squares into rows, press your seams. I like to press odd numbered rows to the left, and even to the right. It helps to use a small piece of paper to number your rows. I like the tiny post-it notes. 

After pressing, you are ready to sew your rows together! Pin, if necessary, but I find that these short rows don't require pinning.

Press one final time, and voila! Another finished block! Only 58 to go! Pat yourself on the back! Remember to add your blocks to our flickr group!

Modern Half Square Triangle Quilt A Long Block 13

Welcome! If you are just joining us, information about materials can be found here, and here are the previous blocks: Block 1, Block 2, Block 3, Block 4, Block 5, Block 6, Block 7, Block 8, Block 9, Block 10, Block 11, Block 12.

Materials:
8 3.5" squares of Color A
8 3.5" squares of Color B

*note* these are the essential materials for each block, so you can cut several blocks worth of fabric at once to save time!

Create your blocks, following the same procedure as last week. If you need help making your blocks, please see this post. You should end up with 16 2.5" squares. Ready to lay out your block? Here we go!

ROW 1

ROW 2

ROW 3

ROW 4

After you have sewn your squares into rows, press your seams. I like to press odd numbered rows to the left, and even to the right. It helps to use a small piece of paper to number your rows. I like the tiny post-it notes. 

After pressing, you are ready to sew your rows together! Pin, if necessary, but I find that these short rows don't require pinning. 

Press one final time, and voila! Another finished block! Only 60 to go! Pat yourself on the back! Remember to add your blocks to our flickr group!