KatyQuilts

TBThursday ~ 1930s Repro Quilts Part 1

Posted on July 26, 2018 by katyquilts

When the first 30s retro prints came out, I immediately fell in love with them. And I made lots of quilts from them! Since I haven’t been sewing as much, I thought I’d share a few. I soon realized I had enough for several posts! This first little quilt was one of my first attempts at hand appliqué. I found some vintage fabric swatches and reduced Sue to a size that would work with the swatches.

Sue ended up being just over 3 inches tall.

Mr. Wonderful bought me a little FQ bundle of the first Aunt Grace line and I remember feeling like I had won the lottery! I hand pieced, quilted, and appliqué this little quilt from them.

Then came this little quilt pieced while waiting for Daughter #1 at her dance lessons. She was four and now has three babies of her own.

I can’t take a lot of credit for this one. I bought a vintage block on eBay, added borders and quilted it.

This is about 30 inches square, so more f a crib quilt. I purchased the vintage blocks from a friend, added the sashing and corner stones and hand quilted it.

Next Thursday, I’ll share a few more from the archives. Have a lovely day!

Posted in Doll Quilts, Throwback Thursday, Uncategorized | 5 Comments

More UFOs

Posted on July 25, 2018 by katyquilts

I’ve been doing a bit of organizing in the sewing room and found a few more UFOs. You’ve seen this first one. I started working on it when I was in Arizona. I’d like to get back to this soon, if my hand will let me.

This next one is a few decades old! I think I intended to make a strippie quilt. Each panel is about 14 inches wide and 70 inches long. It is all machine top stitched.

This one is even older. I believe this is where I gave up on curved piecing. Lol! I’ve never had the heart to throw it out. It might be fun to use for some machine quilting practice.

It is only about 30 by 30. I don’t really see myself adding a curved binding. Maybe I should straighten the edges and add a border. I’m not sure anyone would appreciate these colors in a baby quilt. I wonder if I’ll find anymore UFOs.

Have a great day!

Posted in UFOs, Uncategorized, What was I thinking | 9 Comments

Finish It Up Tuesday?

Posted on July 24, 2018 by katyquilts

Yes! I actually have a finish! I set my shoo fly blocks together and quilted it on my Pfaff.

Rotary cutting is out for me right now, but Mr. Wonderful came to my rescue when it came time to square things up.

I decided the binding had to come from leftovers. I initially thought red, but maybe the pink was better?

I ended up going with this taupe piece. It isn’t old or retro, but it didn’t scream for attention either.

And here it is!

It’s just big enough for this doll bed.

My hand is getting better every day and today, I get my stitches out. Progress! Thanks to all who have asked.

Have a great day!

Posted in Doll Quilts, Finishes, Vintage Fabrics | 13 Comments

DWMonday ~ Shoo Fly

Posted on July 23, 2018 by katyquilts

Most of my commenters were trending in favor of an on point setting for my little shoo fly blocks.

So I went in search of some options for the alternate blocks.

Both of the fabrics above are from my vintage stash. I think I’m leaning toward the first option.

Have a great day!

Posted in Design Wall Monday, Uncategorized, Vintage Fabrics | 9 Comments

Little Shoo Fly Blocks

Posted on July 21, 2018 by katyquilts

Thank you for all the sweet comments on my little Jeep quilt! It was the last thing I finished before my surgery. I’m not back to that level yet. I wish I was!

I did finish piecing the six blocks I had cut out. It is slow going working with one hand. Pressing is the hardest part.

Now I need to decide how to set them. Maybe on point?

Or maybe with alternate blocks?

Or maybe I should cut pieces for a few more blocks. I’m so thankful for my Accuquilt die cutter. Using scissors or a rotary cutter is not possible for me at this point, but I can accurately cut pieces with my die cutter, cranking with my left hand. Hooray for that!

From now until July 25th, you can use the promo code EASYCUT for 40% off studio dies and die bundles. Clicking here will net you free shipping on purchases over $25.

Have a great day!

This post contains affiliate links.

Posted in Uncategorized | 5 Comments

Finish It Up Friday ~ My Jeep UFO

Posted on July 20, 2018 by katyquilts

I finished my little Jeep UFO!

I used Superior Thread’s Mono-poly thread on the top. It was the first time I’ve used this in Friday and I was pleased at how well it behaved.

Here’s my little buddy, Pierre. I miss him.

I kind of wish I had made this Jeep the same color as my Oscar, but honestly, this color makes for a better composition.

I bought this fabric on one of my trips to Phoenix. It was perfect for the back!

My mitered borders turned out okay and I think it really does look like a frame.

I’m really pleased with how this turned out. Losing the trailer was definitely the right thing to do.

And here it is in its new home, just above my collection of toy Jeeps in the sewing room.

Have a great weekend!

Linking up with Quilting and Learning, Busy Hands Quilts , Confessions of a Fabric Addict , Sew Can She

Posted in Finishes, UFOs, Uncategorized | 22 Comments

UFO Progress

Posted on July 19, 2018 by katyquilts

Thank you for all your kind thoughts and words! I am trying hard to take it easy. Sitting still is not my strong suit.

Remember this UFO? I bought the kit for this from a quilt shop last summer. It was part of a row by row project. I was only interested in this part because of the Jeep and the dog.

I made the dog white instead of brown so it would look like my Pierre. The sign was supposed to give directions to a quilt shop. I struggled for ages with what to do with this long narrow piece. I finally decided to get rid of the trailer. It’s cute, but I don’t have one in real life. I decided the lake was Lake Huron, about 15 miles from my house, so I lettered the sign accordingly.

I like this much better! I decided to frame this like a photo. I found this old bit in my stash for the frame and mitered the corners.

I like this so much better now. It’s a good memory of my Pierre too.

Come back tomorrow to see the finish. Have a great day!

Posted in UFOs, Uncategorized | 9 Comments

Moving Slowly

Posted on July 18, 2018 by katyquilts

On Sunday, I cut out enough pieces from my vintage stash to make 6 of these little blocks. On Monday, this happened:

Yep, darn carpal tunnel surgery! But all went well. Mr. Wonderful has taken good care of me. My good friend, Donna, loaned me a stack of Quilt Folk magazines to read. What a great publication! By last night, I just had to see if I could sew a bit one handed.

It worked! Yes, that is black thread. It was in the machine and I knew I couldn’t thread it left handed so the black stayed. These little snips helped too.

I got a couple more done. It took forever!

Then it was time to head back to the couch for more reading and elevation of the arm.

It was so very satisfying! I have more blog posts coming that I scheduled ahead. But responding to your wonderful comments probably won’t happen for a while.

Have a great day!

Posted in Uncategorized | 15 Comments

Leather Pouch

Posted on July 17, 2018 by katyquilts

Thank you for all of your comments on our reupholstery project! After working on that, I came home anxious to try a small leather project myself. I bought a bag of leather scraps a while back at Good Will so I pulled them out.

I found a smaller zipper in my stash.

It didn’t take long to make this little pouch. It is about 4 1/2 by 6 1/2.

It is far from perfect, but I learned a lot doing it. These are the needles I used.

And this is the machine I used.

While I had the leather out, I decided to experiment with the metal stamps.

Again, not perfect, but this technique has potential.

It made a good zipper pull anyway.

Have a great day!

Posted in Crafty Things, Uncategorized | 5 Comments

Reupholstery Project

Posted on July 16, 2018 by katyquilts

Daughter #3 loves Mid Century Modern style. She has long wanted an Eames Lounge chair, but with prices in the thousands, it wasn’t in her budget. However, she found this 1963 Eames knock off made by Plycraft on Craigslist. It is from 1963 and knockoffs were much better made back then!

This chair still had the original leather upholstery.

So she bought a leather cowhide and we went to work. We replaced all the old foam.

SIL was a fantastic help.

I’m no expert when it comes to upholstery. I still can’t believe she trusted me to help with this. We sure learned a lot! It was scary cutting into that expensive leather.