A Few Things - Mini Mini, Kitchen Set, and Some Fun Quilting

I've been busy lately, believe it or not! I decided to take a few weeks off from my Etsy shop. Mostly so I could go on vacations (one to our cabin at Island Park, and another to the Virgin Islands with just the hubby), but also so that could work on some just-for-fun projects. And now I have more works-in-progress than I've ever had at one time. Haha. Ah well, they will be finished soon. Soon.
For now, I want to share a few smaller projects I made at the beginning of the sumber.
First up is my mini mini quilt. We were challenged by our local quilt guild to make tiny mini quilts to swap. The rules were that they had to be less than 10 inches square. I think mine ended up about 2.5" x 7".
Here's the sneak peak I shared on IG to show just how tiny it is:

And the whole thing.   I used a cathedral windows tutorial from Moda Bake Shop and I think I halved the measurements.

The back:

And some close-ups:

Next up is a set of hot pads and hanging kitchen towels I made for a cousin's wrong. I finished binding these in the car on the way to the reception. :)

It's always hard sewing for people who have different tastes in colors and fabric. I got a little bit of advice from the mother, so I hope these went over well!

And the last thing I wanted to show you is this little charity quilt I volunteered to quilt for the guild. The nice thing about charity quilts is that they are good for trying out new skills. 

For the pieced section, I tried out some Baptist fans: 

Then in the negative space I had lots of fun trying out some graffiti quilting:

I think I'll be using these FMQ motifs in the future!

Be back soon!

Hot Pads, a Thread Catcher, and Some Girly Bibs

Recently, I participated in a service auction with some of the women in my neighborhood. I donated a set of hot pads and a set of bibs.  In return, I ended up with an afternoon of babysitting AND a free haircut! I'm calling it a win.  Anyway, it's time for me to share what I made with you.  😊

My friend requested something with this blue/gray print for the hot pads:

I made them with hand pockets.  😏

For the quilting, I did cross-hatching, swirls, and outlining.

Oh, and I bound them by hand. These babies were THICK!

Next up, another friend requested girly bibs for her granddaughters, and since I didn't have very many in the shop, I decided to make a whole bunch and list the extras in my shop.

And lastly, another friend saw the little thread catcher/pin cushion I made WAY back when I first started sewing, and asked me to make her one for her sister-in-law.  I roughly followed THIS tutorial, because I wanted the hanging basket to be removable.

That's all for now! Thanks for stopping by!

Also, the bibs were one of my goals (#4) from this quarter's Finish Along, so I'll be linking up!

WIPs and Stuff

It's been a little while since I've shared something quilty here, so I thought I would let you all know what I'm in the middle of.  Things have slowed down quite a bit around here now that the boys only nap a couple of times a week.  Urgh.  But I have been making things.  I've had a few Etsy orders, which is great - it just means less time for quilts.  :)

First of all, I've been making lots of progress on my Christmas quilt.  I pulled all the leftovers from the front and pieced them together into blocks.  From there I asked my Instagram friends for advice (by the way, I'm on IG now!  You can find me here:  tiffsewinsomethin).



On of them recommended that I sew them into presents.  Turns out that will fit perfectly with the front, so that's what I did!  I spray basted this quilt and I am a TOTAL convert - love spray basting.  The secret is to iron it to set the adhesive.  And you can even do that while your quilt is still tacked to the floor!



By the way - here is the top of the Christmas quilt.  Now I'm about half way through stitching in the ditch for every block.  I don't think I'm going to do any fancy quilting on this one.  I want it soft.

I also got an order for three custom made Rummy Royal/Tripoley mats and have been plugging away at those:

And then there are my bee blocks.  All of these were on time, I just haven't gotten around to posting about them yet here.

July's block was for Sandra.  She just finished her quilt and it is AMAZING!  Check it out HERE.


August was Brittney's month.  She's making an ABC quilt using the Spell it with Moda patterns.


And September's block is for Jaime.  She's making a pixelated quilt, so this block doesn't look like much right now, but her finished quilt is going to be phenomenal!

I also spent some time making these custom hot pads for my shop.  My sister-in-law's parents just bought a cabin (and it's GORGEOUS - we were lucky enough to visit last weekend) and she ordered some new hot pads to match the new decor. 

 You've seen those hot pads with the two pockets for your fingers, right?  Well - my SIL's mom wanted something with a strap instead.  Something that is easier to slip your hand in quickly.  Genius, isn't it?  I'm surprised I haven't seen more like these before.  I should make a whole bunch for myself...

Linking up with Lee:

A Couple of Quilted Hot Pads and some Bee Blocks

Last week I got to go to a bridal shower for my cousin.  Now that I have learned to make things, I love going to bridal/baby showers.  I love having the excuse to work on a fun, small project.  I couldn't decide between oven mitts and hot pads, so I compromised and made these hot pads with pockets.  I love how they turned out, even though they took quite a bit longer than I planned..

I did some research and found out that the bride's wedding colors are going to be mint green and silver (how gorgeous is that going to be, BTW?).  I immediately thought of this Lizzy house Pearl Bracelets print and since I didn't have anything remotely close to "mint green" in my stash, I went shopping!  I was super excited to find this Lotta Jansdotter Bella print that matched so well. 

The binding is from my stash - it's a little more mint blue, but I think it works.  And as luck would have it, the bride told me that these are her favorite colors, AND she loves polka dots!  I KNEW the Lizzy House print was the best choice.

I decided that I hated the original print I had used for the lining of the hot pads, so in the end I added the green/gray prints to the inside - that's why they aren't quilted like everything else.  Trust me, it looks TONS better!

I quilted one hot pad with pebbles and the other hot pad with echoes around the letter W (for their last name) and the big flower.

I didn't have quite enough fabric for binding, so I got to include a little pop of lighter gray in the corners and I like how modern it looks.  I stitched it down by hand because I really wanted it to look nice.  OUCHIE!  My fingers were sore after stitching through all of those thick layers!

I even remembered to add a loop for hanging!  Go me!

In other news, I have finished all of February's bee blocks!  Brittney asked for Ribbon Star Blocks in warm and cool colors.  Here are my two blocks:

I decided that I didn't like my original warm block.  I used some fabric from my stash for the background and I think it was a cotton/poly blend because it didn't sew very well and got SUPER wrinkly when I ironed it.  Sheesh.  No more cheap fabric for me!

Anyway, I felt bad for sending her a crappy block, so I made a new one - this one entirely from scraps.  Even the center is leftover from my Hello Sun blocks.   I like this one TONS better!

Also, I've been going to a new guild in my area.  I'm so excited that the Nebo Modern Quilt Guild has been formed!  It is SO much closer and more convenient for me to attend than some of the other modern quilt guilds I have considered.  I love it, even though I am obviously the youngest one there and there aren't a ton of ladies in my age range.  :p  It's all good though, we still have something in common and that's that we love to make quilts.  We have started a BOM for 2014 and here are my first two blocks.  The flower was done using needle turn applique - a completely new technique for me.  It wasn't as bad as I thought it would be, and I might do it again, but I do love the ease and quickness of raw edge applique!  ;)  I'm using a couple of charm packs of Joel Dewberry's True Colors line that I won HERE.  It was an awesome win and I'm excited to work with the colors. 

The End.


Linking up: