KatyQuilts

A Very Quilty Christmas Part 1

Posted on December 26, 2013 by katyquilts

Good Morning! I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas this year. I sure did. Mr. Wonderful, my hubby, was in cahoots with Daughters #1 and 3 and got me gifts even though we were not going to exchange gifts with each other this year. Remember a while back when I went to the antique mall with Daughter #1 and found this?

Well, I found it again, this time under my tree! Sorry for the bad pic, this was the closest I could come to having a clear space big enough to lay it out. The squares finish at about an inch and a half. I have lots of detail shots to follow.

The pink squares surrounding the center appear to be some silky fabric. It is the only fabric that appears not to be cotton.

The maker was very careful to make everything symmetrical. Where she didn’t have enough of a single fabric for an entire round, she added a coordinating print in the corners, carefully keeping them all the same.

See the pattern in the purple border? It is carefully repeated in the same place on each side.

Apparently, she even cut up parts of a kit quilt to use!

I definitely want to finish this. I will machine quilt it, probably in concentric squares. I realize to some that machine quilting a vintage 1930’s quilt top is sacreligous. However, if it is left to me to hand quilt this, it will remain a top to be sold at my estate sale! I want to put this on my bed and use it.

I will show you the second top Mr. Wonderful bought for me tomorrow.

This morning it is back to work at the library!

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Merry Christmas!

Posted on December 25, 2013 by katyquilts

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What a Quilt Wants…

Posted on December 24, 2013 by katyquilts

I have had a wee bit of time to work on my Farmer’s Daughter blocks. If you recall, I wanted this to fit in my foyer. It just won’t. It is already too big and no matter how hard I try to make it rectangular, it appears to want to be a square. Sigh… This is where I am at with it now.

Part of the problem is that I am loathe to not use all the blocks I made but I don’t really want to make any more so that it is big enough for a bed quilt.

Anyway, the setting triangles are cut.

I thought I would show you how I cut my sashing pieces with my die cutter. I need 1 1/2″ x 6 1/2″ pieces. So first I cut 6 1/2″ strips, then I lay thme across my 1 1/2″ strip die making sure the straight cuts are exactly perpendicular to the blades.

Here, I have two pieces ready to cut.

Easy peasy! I run them through the cutter and just like that, I have all my little sashes cut.

I am linking up with Connie at Free Motion by the River for:

Last night I gave grand dog Nahla her gift. It is a dog bed. Daughter #1 will put the stuffing inside at home. She will fill it with old t-shirts so it smells like her and her hubby. She looks happy!

Today will be filled with cooking, church, and family. Wishing you and yours a very happy and deeply meaningful Christmas.

For unto us a Child is born, Unto us a Son is given; And the government will be upon His shoulder. And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. (Isaiah 9:6 NKJV)

Posted in Accuquilt Studio Cutter, Civil War Repro Quilts, Uncategorized | 5 Comments

Design Wall Monday

Posted on December 23, 2013 by katyquilts

Did you guess what I was making with the diamonds and squares yesterday?

If you guessed another Pandora’s Box, you would be correct! I plan to piece this quilt in 16 patch “blocks.”

Here is my sewing lap table:

Remember when showed this little quilt that I made for my SQT swap partner?

I started thinking then that I would like to make these in a bigger size. In the swap quilt, the edges measure one much finished. In my new project, each side finishes at 2 1/2″. Each 16 patch is approximately 9″ finished. This is what the back looks like after pressing.

The QOV presentation that I was supposed to do today was postponed due to an ice storm in our area. That meant extra duties at church filling in for those that couldn’t make it also. The rest of the day was spent with family and the only sewing time I got in was while watching Elf tonight.

Here are some pictures from our yard.

It sure was pretty but many in our area are without power. I am thankful we are safe and warm and am praying for those in need today.

I am linking up with Judy at Patchwork Times for DWM. Check out what others are up to.

Posted in Civil War Repro Quilts, Design Wall Monday, Hand piecing, Uncategorized | 7 Comments

Slow Stitching Sunday

Posted on December 22, 2013 by katyquilts

Another blog I really enjoy is Kathy’s Quilts. Every week she hosts a link up called Slow Stitching Sunday. I so enjoy seeing what everyone is working on and it encourages me to slow down and do the same. Knowing this week would be crazy (understatement of the year!), I spent a little time preparing some bits for hand piecing.

It didn’t take long to cut these from scraps using these dies:

See my new little stitching kit from my SQT Swap partner? Can’t wait to use it!
My basket is packed and I am ready to stitch! You might have already guessed what these will become. If not, I will show you my progress tomorrow.

I am really looking forward to working on these but first is church and then I have a special delivery to make.

Today is the day these two QOVs will be presented to two brothers who both served in the Iraqi Freedom Campaign.

Check out Kathy’s blog to see what others are slow stitching today.

Posted in Accuquilt Studio Cutter, Civil War Repro Quilts, Hand piecing, Quilt of Valor, Uncategorized | 8 Comments

I won!

Posted on December 22, 2013 by katyquilts

Last week, Cindy at Live a Colorful Life informed me that I was a winner for the Sew Mama Sew giveaway on her blog! When I got home last night, the most wonderful package was waiting for me.

See all my goodies? A charm pack of California Girls, two of Cindy’s patterns, the 100 Quilt Blocks Winter issue, and a calendar panel from Modern Yardage! Thank you Cindy!

I have already looked at the Jammin’ Jelly pattern and decided it is perfect for a QOV.

If you haven’t yet seen Cindy’s blog, I encourage you to visit. You are in for a treat.

Happy Sunday all and stay safe!

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REAL Studio Tour!

Posted on December 20, 2013 by katyquilts

Today is the final episode in Vicki’s REAL Studio Tour. Check it out here to see the link up to the sewing rooms on tour. And without further ado:

Welcome to my happy place! I sew in our finished basement and actually have two areas. The room for my long arm is shared with my hubby. He has his computers and exercise stuff, we have a sitting area, and I have my HQ Avante. Here is my area:

My storage under the frame:

Everything else happens in the sewing room. I will warn you, this is the REAL tour so it is messy! I didn’t clean up for your visit today! I will start from the door and move to the left around the room.

This is my ironing table. It is made from a vintage lab table from a high school. My dad gave this to me and I LOVE it! Dad had added a Formica top and I covered that with a couple layers of cotton batting and some Teflon ironing board fabric.

To the left of that is a vintage metal cabinet I picked up at a yard sale. I have rulers, cutters, and scissors in the basket on top and some paper crafting and vintage sewing items inside. The wire lines above are curtain wires from IKEA.

Going around the corner is the bulk of my fabric collection in wire baskets, again, from IKEA.

I do most of my piecing on this Featherweight and my rotary cutting is done here also. I love these vintage enamel top tables! The cabinets behind hold tons of stuff. Here is a peak at a couple:

You can see some of my vintage toy sewing machines above.

They are great for my studio cutter dies.

From here you can see my embroidery corner and my computer monitor.

This is my Bernina 1030. She mostly gets used for bindings these days. My hubby modified this steel case desk so I could put the machine in it. You can read more about it here. Love this!

I love my studio cutter! Behind that is another design wall. Big problem with this set up, I can’t reach it because I am too short!

And that takes us back to the beginning. You can see some of my vintage machines under the ironing table. I have more in the closet.

Still with me? I hope you enjoyed my little tour. Please check out the other studios at the link up on Vicki’s blog.

Posted in Sewing Room Pics, Uncategorized | 19 Comments

Tiny Knitting

Posted on December 19, 2013 by katyquilts

No sewing so far this week but I hope to change that today after work. I did finish knitting a tiny pair of socks for one of the grand babies that will soon be here.

I made a tiny pink sock earlier that ended up way too small. I decided to turn it into a tree ornament for my daughter.

I keep thinking she will have a girl though I have nothing to base that on. They will find out in late January.

I haven’t been knitting much lately but I think I need to start a new pair of socks to work on over the holidays.

Linking up with Live a Colorful Life for Really Random Thursday.

Posted in Knitting, Socks, Uncategorized | 2 Comments

Pandora’s Box

Posted on December 18, 2013 by katyquilts

My swap partner for the Small quilt Talk Secret Santa Swap received her gift so now I can share the little quilt I made for her.

The pattern is called Pandora’s Box and I found it years ago in a vintage Aunt Martha publication. I don’t remember the size of the original but it is simply squares and 60 degree diamonds with equal sized finished edges. In this little quilt, the edges finish at 1 inch. I have made this pattern a number of times in different sizes.

I finished my Christmas shopping and shipping yesterday so no sewing got done. This morning I am scheduled for a hair cut before work.

But I keep thinking that I have the dies and it would be so easy to cut pieces for a big Pandora’s box quilt….

Posted in Civil War Repro Quilts, Doll Quilts, Small Quilt Talk Group, Uncategorized | 3 Comments

Such a great day!

Posted on December 17, 2013 by katyquilts

I had such a good day yesterday! First of all, it was the day to open our Secret Santa Swap gifts from the SSS on the Small Quilt Talk Yahoo group. Ann from Florida had my name and I had hers. She sent me the loveliest sewing kit! It is seriously beautiful!

Isn’t it amazing? I think I will get out some hexies so I can use this. It sure beats my plastic pencil box!

Hubby, Daughter #1 and I had a great time shopping at Ikea also. I wanted to find some storage units for under my long arm frame. I wanted some place to put finished quilts before they went to their new homes. The units I thought I would buy were 2″ too long. Hubby thought he could modify them but I decided to keep looking. Daughter found some perfect units in the closet organizer area. They cost more than I planned to spend but they are so much nicer.

They fit perfectly!

Great pantograph storage.

And quilts.

And I still have empty drawers!

There is also room for storage on top of the cabinets. I love how much neater this all looks now. I still have three plastic storage drawer sets for thread and templates but all the broken mismatched ones are gone.

I feel blessed!

Linking up with Connie for:

Posted in Sewing Room Pics, Small Quilt Talk Group, Storage, Swaps, Thankfulness, Uncategorized | 5 Comments