A new gadget

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We quilters love gadgets. We’re always seeing something new and just have to have it! So, at this years lock in, one of the ladies showed me a new thing that she had made and I thought it was really cool so I had to make one. Here’s what I needed to make it. 

First I needed a piece of wood. 

 Then I needed a piece of sandpaper that would fit onto the wood. 

 I then painted around the outside of the board and glued the sandpaper onto it.
  
Now you might be wondering “why” I did this……well, it’s for when you have to mark those diagonal lines when making half square triangles.

  
You lay the fabric square on the sand paper and it doesn’t move while you mark it. How cool is that?

  
After you’ve marked the line on your fabric, you can rub the sand paper and the pencil line will be erased.

  
Awesome!!

I don’t know where she heard about this from, but I think it’s really cool. I’m glad I finally got around to making me one of these! Now I need to make a quilt that requires marking half square triangles!! 😀

Theresa

Design wall 3/28/16 strings again

On By alwaysquiltsIn Blogroll, Hobbies, quilts, Uncategorized4 Comments

I have all the string blocks made that I need for my next string quilt up on the wall today.  I have a few of the small blocks sewn into bigger blocks but I took the picture prior to getting them made.


I didn’t get much  done with it over the weekend and with other obligations this week, I’m not sure how much time I’ll have to sew on it this week. We’ll see.

To see other design walls check out http://www.patchworktimes.com

Theresa

2 UFO’s finished 

On By alwaysquiltsIn Blogroll, Hobbies, quilts, Uncategorized2 Comments

Woohoo! I can mark 2more UFO’s off my list. I quilted both of these a while back and finally finished the bindings today. It’s our pattern called Daydream. The quilts were made for a mystery class that Sharon and I taught several years ago. Funny thing is that I turned one of the pieced borders around (accidentally) and didn’t realize what I had done until it was pointed out by one of the ladies in the class.😳

After class I decided that I needed to make it the right way. I had enough of the turqoius fabrics to make another one, although I had to switch the placements of them. I didn’t have anymore of the background fabric so I used a different gray print. Although they look different, the center part is the same on both of them.

They are now both finished which is the main thing.

Tell me, Which one do you like? The one on the left or the one on the right?


I like them both especially now that they are done DONE! 👏🏻

Theresa

Design wall 3/21/16 string blocks

On By alwaysquiltsIn Blogroll, Hobbies, quilts, Uncategorized6 Comments

I’m back once again covering my design wall with string blocks. These things can become addictive! I’m planning to make this quilt smaller than the last string quilt I made so it won’t use as many blocks. That’s good because I already have the next one planned.😊

 That’s it for my design wall this week. Check out what others are working on at http://www.patchworktimes.com

Theresa

Strings and a new quilt top made.

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Today  was National quilting day and I decided to spend the day sewing. I started out sewing strings together for a new string quilt I want to make. I was happily sewing strings until I couldn’t get to my strips easily……..


I decided not to disrupt Beau so I let him sleep. Strips can wait.

I decided to go through some fabric I had on the shelf and found a piece that I had bought years ago to make a Stack-n-whack quilt. Well, that quilt never got made and when I saw the date on the edge of the fabric I decided that it would NEVER get made.


Yep, If I haven’t made the quilt in 18 years………it’s not going to get made! So, I decided it was time to use that fabric in something else.  I chose to use one of the patterns from my book.


The pattern actually calls for 15 assorted strips but I decided to change it up a bit by using 3 sets of 5 colors. I also decided to time how long it took me to make the quilt top. So, start to finish, cutting to complete top was 4 hours and 10 minutes.


Well, that’s how I spent National quilting day. How’d you spend the day?

Theresa

A good day is when you find the perfect fabrics!

On By alwaysquiltsIn Blogroll, Hobbies, quilts, Uncategorized2 Comments

We were on the road today and stopped by The Blue Top quilt shop in Lamar, Missouri. I’m so glad we did as I found just the fabrics I’ve been needing. I made this cat print quilt a few weeks ago and it’s been hanging on my design wall waiting on me to decide what to use for a backing.  

 Today I found a cute black and white paw print fabric that is perfect for the back. 

 Now I just need to get it pieced together and quilt it. 😊

The other fabric I wanted was something that would go along with this license plate fabric that I bought last summer. 

 The plan is to make a quilt based on the technique in my book, but make it bigger. So I needed another fabric to work into the mix. Here’s what I found today. 

 Perfect!!! 

That’s what I call a good day. 😀

Theresa

Design wall 2/29/16 -strings

On By alwaysquiltsIn Blogroll, Hobbies, quilts, UncategorizedLeave a comment

I have my sisters quilt hanging on my wall today. I finished quilting it and hung it to take a picture of it and since I won’t see her until Sat. I decided to leave it there. It’s one of our past Lock in quilts, Stormy Weather.(pattern available in our Etsy and Craftsy shops)


I’ve been busy getting things ready for this years Lock in which is coming up this Sat. I have my quilt made and I quilted it over the weekend. I attached the binding before taking it off the longarm, so I just need to fold it over and get it sewn down, which I’m doing by machine in order to get it done. I need to run up to the UPS store and get all the instructions printed off today so I’m not sure if I’ll get the binding finished today, but it will be done before Sat.😀

I’m still on a mission to use my stash and that includes scraps. So whenever  I get a few minutes, I’ve been pressing and cutting strips for string quilts. I have several string blocks made but the pile of strings keeps growing!!😳

  
Guess I better keep sewing…..

Not now though. I’m off to the printer then back to binding.

To see what others are working on check out http://www.patchworktimes.com

Theresa

Yvonne’s quilt

On By alwaysquiltsIn Blogroll, Hobbies, machine quilting, quilts, UncategorizedLeave a comment

Sometimes it’s hard to decide just how to custom quilt a quilt. Since feathers are my favorite thing to do, I always look for places to put feathers first. I don’t always know what I will put in other areas or exactly  what kind of feather design I’ll use when I get started but as I start quilting and filling in the blocks, everything starts coming together. That’s how it was with Yvonne’s quilt.

The quilt is a medallion style, so  I knew I wanted feathers in the corners and around the center square. I love filling in the areas with freehand feathers.


The blocks got a continuous curve design and the rest of the spaces got filled in as I went.  The quilt is big so I couldn’t get a full shot of the whole thing.


I love it when everything falls into place. The quilt is currently on it’s way to Yvonne, so I hope she likes it.

Theresa

Kelly’s Midnight Magic quilt

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They say the older you get the faster time flies. I think that’s true! I can’t believe that this years lock in is only  2 weeks away.  It’s also hard to believe that this will make Sharon and I’s 15th year of hosting it!! 😀 

Kelly joined us last year for the first time. She won’t be able to attend this year but is hoping next year will work out for her to come again. She told me she finished her mystery quilt and since she can’t show it at show and tell this year, she sent a picture so we could see it. She came in as a new quilter last year as this was only the 2nd quilt she’s ever made. Looks great!!!

 

Midnight Magic pattern
 
It’s always fun to see how everyone’s choice of fabrics come together. Kelly used a cute whale print for her focus fabric.  Love it!!  Thanks for letting me share your quilt Kelly!

I can hardly wait to see more of last years quilts at show and tell! 

Theresa