Dogs, dogs everywhere!

I've been trying to finish up projects from last year and this is one of them. I loved this fabric but didn't want to cut it up in little pieces so I just squared it up to 36". Then I added the borders and the squares. If you click to get a close up, you'll see all the fabrics were dog related. The quilt top was easy to put together but I couldn't decide on the quilting so I put it away and forgot about it. I finally decided to quilt on the diagonal with a neutral color thread. I really like the result. Here's a close-up of the middle panel. Some of the scraps from this went to make this quilt.

I just finished this quilt top for an organization called LDDR.
It's an organization that I've been involved in that rescues dachshunds and places them in good homes. I fostered two dachshunds for them and ended up adopting both of them (because I am a SUCKER!). We have a new dachshund that came in that needs major surgery so this quilt will be auctioned off and the proceeds will go to LDDR. I still need to make the backing for this.

Here's a close up of one of the blocks.

Here's a picture of my boys. Max is loving on Rocky. ( I tried to fix Rocky's red eye and ended up with a creepy eye!).

My newest addiction

I've joined a few virtual sewing bees and some of my fellow participants had requested the spiderweb block. I had seen this block all around blogosphere but haven't tried it because I HATE PAPER PIECING! I realized that I had better practice before I started working with other people's fabrics. Let just say that I was pleasantly surprised. These blocks are amazingly easy and addicting! This really is a great scrap project because it really uses the smallest pieces. This also may not be a good thing because my scrap piles are already out of hand. I can totally see myself keeping tiny pieces for this project. I used this tutorial.

I'm no fortune teller but I see alot of spiderweb blocks in my future...

Project Improv blocks

Here are my blocks for Project Improv. Nothing fancy but I'm really enjoying the whole improvised piecing thing. I'm also excited that I learned how to make mosaics on Flickr. I can't believe how easy it was. Me thinks there are more photo mosaics in my future.

CSI- VA Beach

The culprit: The evidence up close:

Rocky is such a little shit! He has gotten into more trouble this past week. He chewed through my pillow sham and I was going to toss it but I decided to repurpose it into a sleeping bag for him and Max. Dachshunds naturally like to burrow under things and these two love to be under blankets.

Here's a pic of the two of them in their new sleeping bag.

A close up:

The two of them in the sleeping bag. Here you can see Max's fat tush.

In the spirit of Valentine's Day, I appliqued a heart on the torn spot. The whole project took 20 minutes. It's lined with sherpa and only cost me $4.50. Not bad considering they sell it online for $40.00 and up. This is the third one that I've made for them. Rocky has already torn up another one. I wonder how long this one will last?

Yippee!!!

This is the first large quilt that I've stippled and DID NOT HAVE PUCKERS! I'm so excited! I think I might have FINALLY gotten the hang of it. This quilt isn't large. It's approximately 48"x58". Here's a close up of some of the blocks. I bought a Valentine's strip quilt kit last year and never did anything with it. It came with 7 one quarter yards. I added 3 more quarter yards from my stash and I'm really happy with the result.

For the backing, I used a Valentine's panel and framed it with red dots.

Here's a close up of the Valentine panel. February themed quilt done and now I need to start thinking about what I'll do for March.

Put your sunglasses on....

because this quilt top is BRIGHT!

$1.05...

is all I paid to make these blocks. They are made from mostly scrap fabrics. I did buy 1/8 yard of 2 orange & pink fabrics but the rest is scraps. I guess technically I paid for all the fabric at one point but some of the scraps I had intended to throw away but never got around to it. I'm glad I didn't. This is going to be a VERY BRIGHT quilt. I'm really enjoying improv piecing!

Valentine Doll Quilt

This quilt WILL be going to Ava. I made it with scraps from my February themed quilt. Because the quilt was so small, the stippling on this quilt was so easy. Here's the back. More scraps pieced together. Easy peasy! The finished quilt measures 21"x25".

Now I just need to get motivated to go to the post office!

Pieced Together Quilting Bee

I've joined a virtual quilting bee. Each month, the selected person sends fabric out to each of us and we create a block for her. Each person decides on what kind of block and size of the block. There are 20 women in this quilting bee so some months, we'll do two blocks. I think this will give me an opportunity to try new techniques and styles. I think someone in the group wants a paper pieced block. I'm not crazy about paper piecing and normally, I wouldn't try it so this forces me to practice and step out of my comfort zone. My month won't be until January of 2010. It seems like so far away but 2008 flew by for me.
The first block is for Katie. She wanted an improvised block. Let me tell you, I was sweating it cutting someone's else's fabric. I stressed a little when I started to put the block together but I stopped thinking about it and just started to piece scraps of fabric together. All the fabric in this block is hers except for the solid brown piece. The finished block is 12". I'm beginning to really like improvised scrap blocks.

Melissa's Ice Pop Quilt

I have been busy, busy, busy. I've got a bad case of insomnia right now so I'm not sleeping well at all. When I can't sleep, I sew. It's completely calms and soothes me. Right now I have 2 quilts that need binding and three that need to be quilted. I've also been making blocks for three other quilts I'm working on.
I just finished a quilt for my friend Melissa. Melissa is the coolest chick. She has the best personality, a great sense of self and an open heart. This past summer, she used her vacation time to go Africa on a mission trip. She spends most of her Sundays after church at a nursing home visiting "her ladies". She doesn't just talk the talk, she walks the walk! She, like me, also loves to travel and has been to some great places like Antarctica, Spain, Greece and Italy. I wanted to make her a modern quilt with colorful colors but her living room is neutral so I went with neutral colors.
I wanted to try Denise Schmidt's Ice Pop Quilt for a while. The only problem was it required templates and I hate templates! I've done alot of improv blocks lately and it has given me the courage to just wing it. I cut 2.5 inch strip for the middle and just added strips until I had a 15x20 inch block. I then added 6 inch borders and the result was a 56"x71" quilt. I quilted it on the diagonal again and I think I finally got it right!

For the back, I recreated one of the blocks from the front only larger. I wish I had made the middle brown strips longer but part of sleep deprivation is mush brain. I love the end results for both the front and the back. I've been calling this quilt the "2fer" quilt. It's almost like having two quilts. She can display the front or the back. Also, Melissa's birthday is on the 16th and she just moved into a new house. I hope she likes the "2fer" quilt as much as I do!

Doll quilt vs the dryer....

And the doll quilt loses! I'm not sure what happened but the quilt must have gotten caught in the dryer somehow. When I pulled it out, it had a small hole and a huge burn mark. I brought it over to show Mali and Mason said "Oh, you brought me a new blanket!". He took it and laid it on the ground and had a picnic with his M&Ms. The blanket is now Mason's. I guess it was really too big to be a doll blanket. Here's Mason sleeping with the burned quilt. At least he's enjoying it!

Doll quilt

This little quilt was made using scraps from 2 baby boy quilts that I helped my friend Maribeth with. I was going to give it to my sister for my newest nephew who is due in the spring, but it's really small. It measures 27x31 . I decided to give it to my little friend, Ava , who is three and loves to play with dolls. I don't know if her dolls have adjusted to the cold Minnesota weather but a quilt might keep them warm, regardless of the color. I quilted on the diagonal again and I'm getting better. The lines on this quilt were much straighter.
The back is just a piece of a really pretty blue swirly fabric.

Here's a close up.

I really like making small doll quilts. It's nice to be able to start and finish a quilt in just a few hours. I have a feeling Ava's dolls will be getting more quilts.

Who let the dogs out??!!

I know I say this about all my quilts but I really love this one. The individual blocks are all made from scraps. I had some really cute scraps of dogs that I didn't know what to do with but they were just too cute to throw out. I used them for the center of each block and I just kept adding fabrics. I didn't worry about making everything even until the end and I trimmed each block down to a 10" square. This was my first improvised quilt and I really am going to do more of these. It was really freeing to just add fabric without pre-cutting the exact measurements. I really like the off set ones. I couldn't get a good picture of the quilting. I quilted concentric squares around each block and I really like the result (Click on the picture to get a close up).

Here's a close up of some of the blocks.

This one is my favorite one. For the back, I used a piece of flannel that had really bright flowers on it. This back is sooooo soft!

Here's a close -up of the fabric.

The quilt measures 46x56. I'm going to have a hard time giving this one away.

Neat & Tidy

The pattern for this quilt is called "Neat & Tidy". It's made with 8 fat quarters , 3/8 of a yard for the inner border and 1 yard for the outer border. I bought this quilt kit at the Quilt show last year because I liked all the fabrics in this kit and that was the only way to get it. I put the quilt top together sometime last year and promptly forgot about it. I do that sometimes. I remember there were alot of little 2.5" squares and I just wanted to be done!

Here's a close up of some of the fabric. Sooo pretty!
The back is just a large piece of a frosted pink. I stippled the quilt and had some issues with puckering. After I washed and dried it, you could barely see the puckers so I was happy.

The binding is a brown polka dot fabric. I love polka dots for bindings.

Even though there were alot of small squares, I don't think it took me long to put together. If I remember correctly, I think maybe less than a day. I'm faster at it now. I have more confidence so I may try this pattern again and see how long it takes me now. The quilt measures 50"x59".