Calico Days topper

 I used calico days fabric in this topper for my cube organizer with wicker baskets....
the same fabric I used for my charm box mini wallhanging....
I also added to the space a metal box that I painted in a class 10 years ago........

 I have been wanting to do straight line quilting again because it is so fun......
It finishes at 10 x 11½............

 I needed to do some more straight line quilting so I decided to do a quilt as you go placemat...
it is in progress I am not sure what I will do to finish........

 Sew Sampler for June...

 Quilty Box for June,,,

Block I made for an online friend who wanted Halloween stars with oranges, blacks, lime green, purple with bright white background.

I used Pat Sloan Little Wishes pattern..........

Linking to crazy mom quilts    finish it up Friday

Linking to free motion by the river....Linky Tuesday

Smiles and hugs...........Caryl

Christmas tablemat 12x12

 I finished this little tabletopper last night during halftime of the Aztec basketball game.  The game was way too exciting to do any quilting during the game.  And our Aztecs won in a thriller!

About this Christmas mat...I used four-patches that I had left over from 2011 when I made a mat that was similar but it is bigger.  The four-patches were made from charm squares.  I needed a 12x12 mat for an end table with a Christmas theme.  This could also be used as a candle mat.
The fabric is 12 days of Christmas by Kate Spain.

Closeup photo before I did the hand quilting.  The machine quilting is decorative stitch #332 on my
Bernina at default setting (5.5 x3.2).  The thread is varigated Yuletide by Superior and for the hand quilting I used aurifil 12 wt #5006 (tart finishing set from Fat Quarter Shop).

I am linking to crazy mom quilts finish it up Friday.....
And to Linky Tuesday...Freemotion by the River

Smiles and hugs....Caryl

Halloween D4P mini quilt

Simple disappearing 4 patch from Pumpkin Party charm squares.

I am using it as a tabletopper. 

It finished at 12" x 12".

Machine quilted in a spiderweb pattern. 

Quick and fun!

giddy 4 patch pillow tutorial

Today I finished a pillow to match my giddy postage stamp quilt I made 3 years ago.........

Here is a tutorial for those who might be interested in how I made this...
For beginners....this would be a fun way to learn to do a project....
I started with charm squares of 8 light and 8 dark....
Pencil lines on the back of the light halfway each way.....

 I used my 34C foot on my Bernina and moved the needle 5 clicks to the right...

Then I had the red line on the foot to follow the pencil line....
Sew on each side of just one of the drawn pencil lines....

 Next cut along the pencil lines....each of the charm pairs makes 4 twosies....
then make them into 4 patches.  You will have 16 4 patches..

Here is a possible layout of all the 4 patches....

I ended up NOT using this layout....the photo really helped me decide I didn't like that one....

I squared each 4 patch to 4½" and sewed together.....it is 16½" square...
I then quilted with the same turquoise thread I used on the quilt.

The back is cut 16½" x 22" and cut in half....then folded the edge under ½" and stitched..
For the envelope opening right sides together and stitch all around....
Very easy and fun to make.  Let me know if you use this tutorial.

Smiles and hugs....Caryl
Linking to Needle and Thread Thursday, finish it up Friday and Link a Finish Friday
Also linking with Connie at Linky Tuesday.

quilting fun

I have been putting photos of my projects on instagram and you can check out what I have there...
my instagram is carylquilts.............

I am stopping my fun quilting this afternoon to do a quick blog post.
I will do another blog post another day with photo tutorial.
Link to Connie linky party Tuesday

Smiles and hugs....Caryl

D4P block

I finally got my sewing machine back from getting a tuneup!  3 weeks is a long time!!  A reminder to myself not to be without my sewing machine in November.....take it in earlier!

This is Pat Sloan's birthday month and she has requested blocks for her birthday and I decided to make a D4P block.  I used 4 charm squares out of her batik Bobbins and Bits fabric.  Here are the photos:

 I did a D4P tutorial in June 2010 on my blog.

I ended up with a difference in the last seams and I tried to pull them together...
so now a decision....
rip it out and hope it improves with a new seam?
just leave it?  I am tempted to leave it as in the past when I change something it gets worse!
Anyone reading this....what would you do?  Thanks for any suggestions.

Smiles and hugs....Caryl

Update:  thanks for the input...I did send this block to Pat.

Pumpkin Party Runner

 Finished Halloween runner...this photo without flash..
For the squares I used a charm pack by Deb Strain called Pumpkin Party.

 I used the 4-patch tutorial here     ....the tutorial I did was for a square table topper....
After sewing them into 4-patches I squared them to 4 1/2" each....

 For this project I wanted a rectangle runner so I used 18 charm squares...9 light and 9 dark...
I figured out a desirable placement....taking a photo and checking it before sewing helps to decide...

Here is a photo with flash....

 Closeup of the bottom area...

 For the back I used an old Debbie Mumm fabric....

Closeup of the bottom....
This is a reversible runner for fall..... and Halloween.
It is very easy and very fun to make!

Smiles and hugs....Caryl

I will link to Linky Party Tuesday, finish it up Friday, Link a Finish Friday

Christmas HST runner

I finally finished this tablerunner....
I started this project in September when I tried out the Easy Triangle Tool and blogged here

Then in October I blogged about it here

In November I did the spirals from the FMQ Challenge and I blogged here

I put words in the lighter colored areas...
joyful...family...memories...love...celebrate...jolly...noel...angels...holly...

 

I used a variegated thread for all the quilting.  It was fun and easy!
I am linking with crazymomquilts for finish it up Friday.
Smiles and hugs....Caryl

another D4P tutorial

 In June 2010 I did a tutorial for D4P....
Yesterday I did a slight change in that method...

 I started with 4 Christmas fabric 5" squares...
I sewed them together....
Here is the difference.......... I cut them 1 1/4" from the seam lines instead of 1"....

I finished the same as 2 years ago....
Keep all the corners in place and move the center outside sections...
L to R and R to L and top to bottom and bottom to top...
then turn the center 180 degrees...
and then sew all the sections together!
This is a fun and quick block to do with 2, 3 or 4 different fabrics in each block!
Be sure to let me know if you try this!!
Smiles and hugs....Caryl

projects, roses and a finish

 Here is a springy tablerunner with Eden charm squares I finished today...

 I blogged about it before in October....

 I changed the quilting with each square and some I followed the fabric design..

 I took a photo of my roses today..the name of the rose is Paradise Found...

 here is my batik rail fence quilt with center quilting started....

here is the same March FMQ Challenge sample with the paintstix I blogged about this week...

but now I used Smooch taffy on the heart...

and on the flower to the right of the heart I used twinkling H2Os fuzzy peach...

I was checking to see what I liked the best....

Actually I like to work with all three of these items!!

Smiles and hugs....Caryl

 



 

 



 

 

November FMQ Challenge

The SewCalGal blog has Sara Vedeler this month for the tutorial. She has an excellent tutorial on the spiral. I practiced a little bit on paper and then did spirals in the border around my Roman Holiday HST tablerunner..... I wish I would have not used the red, green and white thread. It would have been better to use all of one color. It is really fun to do and I plan on using this sprial in more projects...................................... Go check out this tutorial. Smiles and hugs....Caryl

Must get creative again

 I haven't been quilting much lately and it feels good to get back to machine quilting today...

I also have a new computer and it has a different way to download photos...

In my last post I was checking how to post with this computer...

Since May I have been doing the hard work of losing weight and it has used up a lot of my energy...
Tracking every bite I eat and exercising more than I have in a long time!!!
I have been blogging at the WW site and it is time I devoted some time with this blog!
Smiles and hugs....Caryl

Quick HST table runner

Last week I showed the easy triangle tool... I used 10 light and 10 dark charm squares...

I alternated them in a zigzag pattern....

I sewed them in long rows.... close up of the rows....

Then I sewed the rows together...

I added some red fabric for borders.... This is soooooo quick to make.... Smiles and hugs....Caryl