Stories of family, creativity, and diverse distractions.

Category: Quilts Page 1 of 3

Quilts and other fiber arts.

Adding flash to a simple quilt border

When you are designing a quilt, there are several parts of the process. The main body of the quilt is one part. Borders are another part to design. I often wait until the main part of the quilt is done before I decide on a border. Sometimes, I like to add more to the design than a simple border.

Pick up sticks – another scraps quilt project

Over my Christmas break, I had the flu. I wasn’t feeling well enough to do much of anything, but I did wander up to the studio towards the end of the week. I had a pile of scraps sitting by my sewing table and decided to stitch them together and see what happened.

Repairing a belt loop on jeans

Jeans are generally a tough item. They hold up fairly well to most use, eventually becoming ragged and worn. One place where I have noticed frequent failure on jeans is the belt loop.

A Trip to the Jungle: Another Flannel Baby Quilt

The first baby quilt I made in flannel was a jungle themed quilt. I was making it for a co-worker. She was doing a jungle theme for the nursery, so I did my best to come up with a fun quilt. This was another quilt where I didn’t have a pattern, just some sketches of jungle animals.

Get On Board! A Train Themed Baby Quilt

I have made many kid quilts over the years as gifts for friends, family, and coworkers. Only once have I made a quilt that was a commission. I had made a quilt for a co-worker and they loved it so much they had me make one for their older child.

The little guy I made this quilt for was big into trains, so this was my design.

Making something better by accident

Sometimes when you start on a project you have an idea of what the finished product will look like but end up with something entirely different. Several years ago, I was planning a spinning stars quilt from a block I had seen. I had chosen some fun and funky fabrics. I packed them up and headed off to a quilt retreat. It was January, and it was the year that the Indianapolis Colts won the Superbowl.

Organization is key to not confusing yourself – laying out a big quilt

Image shows several colorful arcs of fabric on a black background
There are 104 pieces of fabric in this one section

I have only made one large quilt in the past. Most of my projects are wall hangings or throw quilts or baby quilts. When I started working on a quilt for our bed, I knew it was going to be a bit of a project to keep it all organized.

Just one section has over 100 pieces pieces! So it was a lot to keep it straight as I worked. Fortunately, the pattern was very good at helping keep it together during the cutting and initial sewing.

More creative gift wrapping

I’ve talked about some creative ideas for gift wrapping in this post. I did another creative packaging idea with a treasure chest for my niece. I was sending her some beads and beading tools.

Image shows a green and purple fabric box shaped like a chest with a curved lid. Beads are stitched on spelling the name Lorrie.
I did decorative stitching on the lid and added her name in beads.

Creative crafting as gift wrap

I try to find gifts for people that work well for their interests. Walt and I also do some creative gift wrapping. Several years ago, I made boxes of fabric to “wrap” gifts for my sister and mom.

Image shows two boxes made of fabric, one triangular in shape, the other is diamond shaped.
The smaller box went to mom, filled with quilting fabric. The taller box is a yarn holder for my sister who crochets.

What to do with leftovers – from a quilt!

Sometimes you have some odds and ends left over from a project. This can be something you cooked or something you made. Here is an example of using the cut off parts of a quilt I made a few years ago for a cousin’s grandbaby.

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