New Baby Embroidered Blanket

I currently have 2 great nieces and now have a new great nephew. He's an early bird but doing well. He came about 2.5 - 3 months early but he is doing well and is holding his own.


Since he is in another area of the state, a cake made of diapers was out of the question. So, I turned to the next best thing and embroidered a baby blanket for him. I always debate whether to add the height and weight to the blankets. This time I did since he was such a small weight baby. Here's his blanky. I smudged the last name in the photo.

I also had the die cut machine (Silhouette) cut out a quick baby boy card. This turned out better than I had expected. Only a few areas of the cut out were difficult to remove.

Thanks for stopping by!
~*~Trish~*~

Rapid Rag Quilts - Part Two

Now that you have your blocks cut and sewn with the X on the blocks, you simply assembly sew the blocks together in your chosen design. The whole time you are sewing you just want to make sure all your seams are facing the same way. Be sure to use a 1/2 inch seam allowance to allow for snipping.

The hardest part for me is deciding the layout. I usually turn to my Electric Quilt 6 software to quick change the layout until I find one I like. Here's the design I chose. I don't even care if the fabrics match completely in the software, I just pick fabric colors that are similar to mine.

Next, I sew my assembly sewn block pairs into rows. From there, it's just joining the rows until you have your quilt. Now you are ready for your snipping of the seams. These are my favorite scissors to cut the quilts. They are a little heavy but they are built to spring open after you snip and all you do is squeeze close to snip. Let them spring open and squeeze down to snip. I find my hand doesn't get as tired. I bought them on eBay a couple years ago for a lot less.

When snipping, I fold the row back on the quilt to only expose the seam, then just snip along until the row is completed. It is monotonous and I tend to take several breaks. I make my snips pretty small about 1/8" wide. Once the rows and columns are cut, the quilt will lay alot straighter in the seams. Here's an intersection that's already been cut.

After it's all completed, I try to take the quilt to the laundry mat to wash and dry. I do this because I caused my washer to overflow with all the fibers that come off in the first wash. When I give them as gifts, I make sure the recipient knows that the washing/drying will give off many fiber strands for a while. Here's the assembled quilt 51" x 68". I still need to snip the seams.

Time for me to start on the second rag quilt that is already cut. If you dedicate time to complete these, they can easily be finished in a weekend. I just loose interest too easily and need a break to do something else.

Thanks for stopping by!
~*~Trish~*~

Rapid Rag Quilts and Lazy dogs

I started working on a few Christmas Quilts which will end up being rag quilts. I love snuggling under rag quilts. They are so warm. I found that I can relax more making rag quilts as well. Perfect cuts are not required. I can cut out a large quilt in a 1 or two hours. All it requires is a sharp rotary cutter. If you are dedicated, you can easily complete these in a weekend.

I start with my purchased flannel and then I bring the two folded cut ends of the fabric together. This gives me four layers of fabric. I then fold this over to make eight layers of fabric. (image a) I lay my 9.5" square over this and cut a strip to match the length (image b). Then I cut off the ends and move on to the next set. I know this creates some larger scraps. I try to cut one side close and leave the other side larger(image c). This gives me larger strips to sew together for some quick crafts. Before you know it, you have a huge stack of cut squares.

I pretty much do the same with my batting. Although I usually use leftover batting cut off from quilts. I try to make them 8.5" square. If I only have 7.5" square, I use that too.

I sit watching my favorite program and quickly layer the squares and batting into sandwiches. Next thing you know, I have a large stack of sandwiches ready for assembly sewing. I assembly sew one center line on each square and snip each one apart. Repeat the process for the second line in the x on the square.

Next stop, I'll be doing the quilt assembly and snipping the edges over the weekend. Before you know it, you could have 100 squares ready to make 6 x 8 block quilts. Using the 9.5" square and 1/2 inch seam, this makes two quick 51 by 68 quilts. Great lap quilt gifts to give.

Lazy Dogs...

Beyond the fabric cutting, we've just been enjoying little day trips here and there while we are on vacation. Not only DH and I but the dogs as well. Nothing says relaxing more than two lazy dogs. One usually sleeps wherever she can and totally crashes and the other needs to be buried in a blanket. We always need to be careful where we sit with this little one.


Thanks for stopping by!
~*~Trish~*~

Ties that bind the cake

This past week during vacation we made a trip to Pittsburgh to visit with family and to complete some errands. The first errand was to drop off some cakes for two baby showers.

One cake of diapers was made for a new little girl and the other was made for twin boys. Simply roll up your diapers individually and rubber band them lightly to stay rolled. Create three layers of rolled diapers one at a time and then compress the layer with a fabric tie. Decorate with all the beautiful things available for babies these days!

The way I keep the layers tight is with a fabric band. It is simply:

• Two 3.5" strips sewn right sides facing and then turned right sides out. To make it extra simple, I sew one end straight across when inside out.
  

• I use this side to turn right side out. Then I turn the other side in and sew a 1/4 visible seam.
  
• Now, just turn the ends to make a point and sew all directions.
  
  

The bottom layer I make a strip 66" long (1.5 times the length of fabric) and the top two layers are 44" or 42". Tie tightly to compress the layer and form a bow. Whala...

Thanks for stopping by!
~*~Trish~*~

October - My Favorite Month

I love the month of October! From the weather to the events, I always look forward to it. It starts with the cooler weather and then moves into our Anniversary tomorrow. Then, as we do every year, we take two weeks off for vacation sometime in the middle. Sometimes we go on a cruise or trip and other times we stay local. Since we were in Las Vegas in May, we'll be sticking locally again this year. But, there's a long list of "to dos" to be completed.

One I can check off my list as completed is the FALL Moda Gobble Gobble fabric quilt. The more I look at this quilt, the more I love the fabrics. They are the perfect fall colors. I finished it with a very soft chocolate flannel for the backing. Just makes you want to snuggle up. I also picked up a 12" pillow today at Joanns for the leftover block pillow case I completed. Joann's is having a b1g1 free sale on their brand of pillows.

Here's the end results. Of course I had a model in the last photo as well. This is Mindy, our larger Yorkshire terrier who loves to smile for photos :-) Also, in the last photo you can see the binding is chocolate brown as well on the bottom of the quilt.

Thanks for stopping by!
~*~Trish~*~