Red, white and blue patriotic quilt finish

 This is the quilt I finished last week!!

 This is the quilt top before quilting it.  AND three photos of closeups of top, middle and bottom.

 I quilted with the serpentine stitch 4 vertical and 5 horizontal rows...I wanted to do minimal quilting.

The next photo shows how I finished the quilt.  I cut off the batting close to the quilt and then cut 1" beyond the quilt of the flag backing fabric.

 I pressed the edge of the backing in half and folded over the top and held it with clips.

 I used red, white and blue thread for the quilting and binding.  AND I used #332 stitch on my machine for the backing/binding.   You can see it in the foreground on the next photo.

 Next....the finished quilt showing the three photos I used for the first photo in this blog post.

I started this many years ago and put it away........and I finally got it done!  9½" x 34".


Smiles and hugs....Caryl

Friday finish dissappearing jelly roll rails

Today I finished another mini quilt like I made a year ago.  I did a tutorial then of my accidental design.
Link to that tutorial is here 
The following photos show the way I did it this time............

 Start with 9 strips about 17" and sew them together thinking about where each strip will end up if you are making the mini quilt like the photo above.

Cut every other strip down the center.  Cut into blocks.

Lay out the 4" blocks to check the design.

This is the photo I put on instagram of quilting....I really look forward to the straight quilting 1/4" next to the seams.  For some reason...it makes me happy!!  I try to figure the best way so I can quilt in a continuous line as much as possible!

I will link with crazy mom quilts and freemotion by the river.

Smiles and hugs....Caryl

projects and food photos

 The time is flying and here it is September already!
I worked on 8 different quilty projects in August but no finishes.  The top photo shows some of the Strip Maze blocks. I have 30 blocks done and squared and ready to lay out and sew together.
The next photo was a mystery that I have to this point....and it is ready to quilt.  I just have to decide on how to quilt the star centers.  More photos when I actually finish some projects!!

 ~~~~~~~~~~~Weight Watchers lifestyle~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 WW is unique...not a diet but a lifestyle...a method to  choose foods that are smart.  They call it smart points!
Denny's Wild Alaska salmon skillet is very delicious and is one of my choices when we eat there.

 This is my English muffin egg breakfast that I have twice a week.  It is 5 smart points.  I use 1/4 cup of Jimmy Dean turkey sausage crumbles, ReddiEgg 1/2 cup, and fat free cheese on a Thomas Light multigrain English muffin.

 El Pollo double chicken avocado salad 9 sp with light creamy cilantro dressing 3 sp.

This is a really filling lunch that is really good.  Papa Pita with pb fit and banana and broccoli and balsalmic.  Also apple pieces.  All for 7 smart points.  I usually just have 1/2 banana and pbfit on a light piece of toast with apple slices for lunch most days. AND that is only 2 smart points.

The most important thing when going out to eat is to have a PLAN.  Know what you are going to order before you get there.  AND if you don't know the menu before you get there....be sure to check the points BEFORE ordering!  The WW app on my iPhone is great and has helped me so much.

There are so many good ideas for delicious low point foods and so many websites with recipes.  Another day I will add some links.

Smiles and hugs....Caryl

Disappearing Jelly Roll Rails quilt

 A Friday finish this week........will link to finish it up Friday crazymomquilts...
I did the hand stitching on the binding this week while waiting at the hospital during my DH knee replacement surgery.

 I did a tutorial on making this quilt in an earlier post  http://carylquilts.blogspot.com/2017/03/disappearing-jelly-roll-tutorial.html

I used the binding tool for the first time and watched several videos for how to use it....

I mainly took the photos for myself to remember next time..........

I will also link with Connie at Freemotion by the River for Linky Tuesday.

Smiles and hugs....Caryl

Disappearing Jelly Roll tutorial

 Are you looking for a project to use up some jelly roll pieces?
This is a tutorial and a story of how this quilt came about!!

Last weekend I was making a charm box mini quilt....very similar to the one I made last summer that was smaller...It is a pattern from Fat Quarter Shop....

AND I got an idea to use jelly roll strips.....so I started another project!

 I dug in my scraps and used 9 jelly roll strips, each about 17" long, and sewed them together...
I  put the zigzag strips at the 1st 5th and 9th positions....no particular reason, just balancing the look...
Then I cut down the center of every other strip starting with the first strip...
The above photo just shows the start of cutting one group....

Then I cut each of the 4 groups every 4" using my Stripology ruler....so I had 4" squares...
My idea was to use these 4" blocks and mix them with strips and squares.

BUT I started putting them in an alternating pattern and before long there was a pleasing pattern!
AND I ended up with a 14½" square miniquilt top!  Now to quilt it and bind it....
Smiles and hugs....Caryl

October Full Moon and Log Cabin Loonies

Because it is full moon again...........
it is time to share more about log cabin blocks........
This month I am sharing what I made last year at different times during the year..

 Foundation quilting is sooooo fun and easy and quick....

I am still working on the blocks I have shared in earlier posts....but not close to done yet...

I am linking to JulieKQuilts with the other Log Cabin Loonies......

Smiles and hugs....Caryl

Charm Box quilt mini

 I finished this cute little charm box quilt that I started in January....hanging in my kitchen!
Fat Quarter Shop showed the top 10 videos from 2015 and this was one of them.

 I used calico days mini charms and fabric by Lori Holt.

 I did hand quilting on most of it and FMQ heart leaves on the border,

Here is how the top looked when I finished it in January...very quick and fun.  I changed the measurements so it is not exactly like the free pattern.  It finishes at 15x15.

Linking with crazymomquilts finish it up Friday
and freemotion by the river Linky Tuesday

Smiles and hugs....Caryl

mini quilt and 4 coasters

 I really like making these foundation pieced mini quilts and I just had to make another one.  It is similar to the one last week and this is a little larger.

 I do simple quilting around the blocks and I used varigated thread.

 Here is the back before I quilted the front....

 Here are four coasters I made from some string blocks I made from scraps of fabric.  Some strips were only one inch wide and ended up ½" in the block or less.  I usually like the look of straight line quilting but didn't like it on the first coaster....so on the others I changed to the #4 stitch at 3.5 wide and 1.5 length.  The fronts and backs are each quilted separately and then right sides joined together and turned and top stitched.  Very fun and very easy.

Here are the backs of the coasters....

Linking to crazy mom quilts finish it up Friday
and Connie at Freemotion by the River Linky Tuesday

Smiles and hugs....Caryl

Christmas mini quilt and coaster

 Blissful happy sewing................this mini quilt is so fun to make....
I needed a Christmas mini in the spot where I had a Halloween mini hanging!...

sewing on a muslin foundation and no exact measuring of pieces....
finger pressing after each strip....such a delightful sewing project!

 Photos of the front and back before quilting...Laurel Burch fabrics.............

 photo of when it was in progress........

 Coaster where I quilted front and back separately....

 the back was a charm square quilted....separate batting on each piece...

photo before I put the top right sides together and stitched and then trimmed the excess...

So I had two finishes this week (small ones).....a nice break from some of my other larger projects

Some of the other projects I am working on....Allietare (Quiltvile............Another Part of Me (FB Gudrun's Quilt Crew)......Little Wishes (Pat Sloan).....Sloanie swap blocks......

Linking to crazy mom quilts finish it up Friday...
and Connie at Freemotion by the River...Linky Tuesday...

Smiles and hugs....Caryl