Yellow and Gray Quilt

 Stash fabric is getting used!  Yay!

This quilt began with the gray grunge fabric.....because it wouldn't play well with other attempts to include it.

The gray then chose yellow to go with it.  Nice choice.  I've been wanting to make a yellow quilt.

I'm sure there is a pattern for this design, but I didn't use a pattern, so I wouldn't know the name of this design.  I "think" someone mentioned something like Falling Something or other.

During the process though, it really needed something for oomph.  Hence the black and white stripe.  Always a favorite choice of mine.

This quilt measures 74" X 56"

It brings thoughts of warm weather to come.  I can't wait!

Ill try again...

Hocus Pocus Quilt

I gave up blogging because I could not figure out how to get my photos to show up within the post.  But now I'm ready to try a different way to access and post photos....

In the meantime I've recorded and posted my sewing and paper crafting makes on my Instagram (annies_musings).

My most recent quilt finish is this Hocus Pocus pattern designed by Margot Languedoc Designs.

I changed some details of the pattern to reflect my own style for this quilt.

For me, I wanted the pumpkins to look more real and more patchy.  I first added some subtle pinwheels to some of the pumpkins.  I then added small pieces of fabrics over the top of the original piecing and raw edge appliqued them to the pumpkins.

I also changed the small star blocks into sunflowers and gave them stems.  I think the sunflowers each need a leaf, but they aren't getting one.  Maybe in the future at some point, but for now I just needed to be finished with this quilt.  (I do not have UFOs)

Lets talk about the BIRD!  I stitched that pumpkin first to see how the bird would work out.  I'm so not disappointed.  He's my favorite part of this quilt.  

You probably can't see it, but his little eye is a stitched heart.

This is my only quilt that I did not quilt myself.  I only enjoy straight line quilting and I was at a loss for how I would quilt this design.  

The quilting was done by Mickey in her shop, Sew Many Pieces, Hubertus, WI.  She stitched a pumpkin design using monofilament thread.

I had the quilt finished before Thanksgiving, but you have to get in line for longarm quilting by an outside source.  I'm okay with that.  I'm all ready for Fall of 2025!

Baby Twister Quilt

My stash held this lonely “Totally Tropical” charm squares pack. It has been quite some time since I’ve made a Twister Tool project.  I had in mind a baby quilt.  (Maybe someday my friend will be a Grandmother).

So I laid out the squares and stitched them together.

And added the borders.

Then cut and twisted the little squares.  The piece started out measuring 35” X 32”. After sewing the twisted pieces together, it then measured 25” X 22”.  (I cut my borders larger than was necessary, so those are approximate measurements). The layout is always a surprise…it never looks the same after the squares are all twisted together.  

The quilt top still needed to be larger, so I then made border twister strips and corner blocks. 

All the fabrics for this quilt came from my stash.  Including the batting. Yay, another stash buster!

This quilt finishes at 39” X 42”

Now we wait for a baby.

Dark Squares Scrap Quilt

My previous scrap quilt was made with all the fun bright scrap squares I cut. Now I had a lot of dark squares left. 

Dark Squares Quilt

I had one yard of this colorful print that could be sashing.

I began sewing the squares to sashing strips.

Then cut them apart to sew them all together. 

I wasn’t coming up with any good ideas to make this small pieced section into a larger throw quilt, so I decided it would be a lap quilt. It measures 52” X 43”

I let it sit on my design wall for weeks…..not liking it much. Funny how a thing like that grows on you and changes your mind.  

It was fun quilting it once I decided how I wanted to do that.  The length for the quilting was simple, just stitching from one end to the other.  

 To quilt across, I stitched across a square then turned the quilt at an angle to either stitch up or down to get to the next square to stitch across and then repeat going from one side of the quilt to the other. 

Except for the outside border, every fabric (including batting scraps stitched together) came from my stash.  How good it always feels to lighten the stash load!

Scrappy Nine Patch Quilt

After working with the guild challenge scrap bags, I was ready to clean out my own scrap bin. My bin is not large but it has gotten quite stuffed.

I cut a lot of the scraps into 3.5” squares.  As I was laying out the pieces, it seemed that mostly brighter colors were what looked best.  I stitched together nine patch blocks with a black square in each center.

I have had this rainbow stripe fabric in my stash for years and years.  I think it was a good choice for the binding on this scrappy quilt.  And I am so thrilled to have finally used “most” of it.

It turns out to be a nice throw size quilt at 52” X 64”.

As I’ve never been much of a fan of scrap quilts, this was an adventure outside my comfort zone. But I’m rather pleased with the results.  



Now I have the darker fabric cut squares to deal with.  Yes, there is a plan developing.

How nice it is to have a not-so-stuffed scrap bin too!

Second Scrap Bag Quilt

I enjoyed making the first scrap bag quilt, so at guild the next month I brought home a second bag of scraps to have another go at scrappy piecing. 

Although I’m not as thrilled with this one, I still enjoyed making it as a charity quilt.  This quilt turned out larger than the first one measuring 51” X 70”

I did purchase the outside border fabric and the backing fabric. Two great sale finds.

I have never made quilts from scraps before. But I always have a stuffed bin of scraps. These two scrappy quilts got my fingers itching to see what I could do with my own bin of scraps…stay tuned to see how that goes!

Japanese Inspired Quilt

A Japanese inspired quilt.

These fabrics were so nice to sew with.

The colors are so rich and bold and laced with gold.

The backing is a quilting cotton, not a Japanese fabric.  With the gold speckles, it went with the Japanese fabrics beautifully.  It’s a lot of red, but so pretty.

There were enough scraps to make a pretty 20” pillow cover.

**the cover is just lying over a pillow for the photo**

More of the scraps make up the backside of the pillow cover.

With still more scraps, I made a snap pouch and wristlet keychains.

The fabrics are a bit heavier than quilting cottons, so they make into a nice weighted throw quilt ready to cuddle under.



I’m trying to avoid continually accumulating scraps.  There are just some bits left.  Enough to make a postcard or two.

Free Spirit Quilts

Free Spirit Quilt #1

This brightly colored quilt is made from 4 charm packs.

The fabric line is Free Spirit by Kaffe Fassett.

I added a solid of “Apple” Cotton Shot by Amanda Murphy for Benartex.

The charms are 5”.  I cut 3.25” squares from the Apple fabric.  I sewed from corner to corner chain piecing all the charm squares.  

I then stitched again 1/2” away so that I’d have 2.5” half square triangles already made from the cut off corners.

    


    

I arranged the blocks for the design and stitched them all together.

Poor color in this photo but it shows the layout design.  I don’t know a name for the pattern.  I don’t buy patterns.  I just figure out how to create the design from looking at it.  No, I can’t do that with every quilt design I see.  

It’s been awhile since I made a quilt bright and colorful.

It’s not a large quilt.  Measures 49.5” X 64”.  A nice size throw quilt.

It has a fun backing fabric for a fun whimsical look.

So with the left overs, came

Free Spirit Quilt #2

Baby sized at 34” X 48”

I stitched all those cut off half square triangles into pairs and set them in all directions.

With a 5th charm pack I added a border.

And finished it with a really fun backing fabric.

Still there are left overs!!!

A pair of placemats were sewn.  They will be donated for charity to brighten someone’s meal time.

    

There were still some fun scrap pieces that looked perfect for a set of fun Halloween postcards.

I stitched the bird first after seeing greeting cards on Pinterest made by Beret Nelson, On The Trail Creations Blog.  I decided the other designs didn’t need the buttons.



Those five charm packs were finally exhausted!  But what fun they were to play with!