Brian's Snow Pillows

Here are some pillow that I made my SIL's boyfriend for Christmas.  He is very hard to buy for so I figured I'd make him something this year.

Here is the front:

Here is the back:

My hubby and I found this great snowmobile fabric when we were in Maine in June at Knight's on Route 1 in Cape Neddick, ME.  I used my Accuquilt Holiday Medley die (#55043) to make the trees, snowflakes and snow.  I appliqued around each item with coordinating thread to quilt and secure all the small pieces down.  They are big 18" pillows for his house in Vermont!  I know that he will appreciate all the work that went into them!

My pillows were also posted on Accuquilt's Facebook page on December 23, 2014!  Check it out HERE!

Christmas Table Runner

Here is a Christmas table runner that I made one of my hubby's co-worker's:

I followed the directions from THIS blog posting!

Last December, I went through my fabric stash and cut a 2-1/2" strip off of each of my Christmas fabrics and then cut them into squares.  This year, I found the started project and completed it.  I also quilted inside each rectangle with a spiral and I went around the outsides of them also.  I really liked how this came out!

Copper's Quilt

When I was watching my MIL's dog Copper last month, he loved to lay on Hershey's quilt.  Well Hershey was not having it.  So for Christmas, I made Copper his own quilt.  Here it is:

I made this using my Accuquilt GO! Fabric Cutter and Triangle in a Square - 4" Finished die (#55409).  I love how it came out!  It is rather small but Copper is a mini Chihuahua so he will have plenty of room to stretch out! 

Winter Wall Hanging

Here is my second creation using my new Accuquilt Go! Fabric Cutter:

To make this, I used the Holiday Medley #55043 die to cut out the snowflakes, trees and falling snow.  Then I used the Value Die #55018 to make the half square triangles on the top and bottom.  The pattern can be found here!

Also, right now Accuquilt is having a great Black Friday sale.  They are offering 20% off all Go! dies until tomorrow (11/29/14).  Plus the Go! Fabric Cutter Starter Set is only $199.99, that's a $50 savings.

I saw a posting from Sturbridge Quilt and Sew that they are having the same sale (20% off all in stock dies) for Black Friday and Small Business Saturday.  I'm heading over there Saturday with my wish list to get some more dies.  I'd be there today but I have to work! :(

Happy AccuQuilting!

My First Accuquilt Quilt

Here is my first creation using my new Accuquilt fabric cutting machine.

 

I used the GO! Value Die only to make this quilt.  The inside blocks in light purple are four blocks of Road to Oklahoma to form a star.  The twelve blocks around the star are Double Four Patch quilt block.

 

I went through my fabric stash and pulled out pinks and purples to make this really girly baby quilt.  It is not for anyone in particular, I was just playing around.

Kyla's Birthday Quilt

Our friend's daughter turned 10 yesterday.  She was so excited to finally be double digits!  So for her birthday, I made her another quilt.  She received a baby quilt when she was born but she needed a bigger one now.

Here it is:

It is called a Friendship Braid Quilt.  It used the 5" half hexagon ruler from Missouri Star Quilt Company.  I love how it came out especially since it uses her favorite colors, purple and pink.

Here is a picture of the label on the back:

Then I also made her a pencil case with a zipper from the fabric left over from her quilt.

Here it is:

Happy 10th Birthday Kyla!

Morning Tides Jelly Roll Race Quilt

Here is my first (and not my last) jelly roll race quilt:

This was such a fun and quick quilt to make.  The directions on how to make this are HERE!

 

I brought this to work to sell my old boss bought it for his wife for Christmas.  I even offered to make him a label for the back of it.

 

He even asked me to wrap it for him, which I graciously did.  She loved it and is curled up under it all the time!

Swoon Wallhanging

I finally got around to making my Swoon wallhanging for my office at work.

 

Here it is:

 

I love these colors!  I may make another one with the same colors but reversing the position.  It came together very easily too!

Hubby's Handmade Christmas Presents

Here are the Christmas presents that I made for hubby this year:

 

The Ugly Hat

He asked me to make him an ugly hat that he could wear in the car on the way to snowmobiling.  I think I hit the nail on the head.

 

Snowmobile Pillowcase

 

I found this fabric in an amazing quilt shop in Chester, VT and I had to buy it to make him a new pillowcase for the camper.

 

Snowmobile Hot/Cold Packs

 

Hubby always has cold feet when he comes home from snowmobiling.  So I made him two packs, one for each foot.  I found the pattern on Pinterest, here it is!  The directions for the larger ones are near the end of the blogpost.

 

Zombie Placemats

 

I made these using the quilt as you go method that I learned at a class back in October when I made the snowmen placemats.  We needed some to use year round!

 

He loved everything!

Baby Gagnon's Storybook Quilt

Here is a super easy Storybook baby quilt:

I made it using Moda's Snips and Snails line, it was a charm pack with white on white borders!  I found the pattern on Pinterest for this storybook quilt.  Since the pattern was simple, I broke out my stencils and traced designs in the colored rows and then I stitched in the ditch around both sides of the white borders.  I am very happy with how this came out!

 

I made it for one of hubby's snowmobiling friends who are expecting their first baby in February!

My Big Brown Monster

Here is my big brown monster!

I have been working on this quilt for about 18 months.  It is so large that I would work on it and not see much progress so I would put it aside.  Finally, I decided to finish it up!  It is a king size quilt, 111" by 111", hence it's nickname!

 

I did not even attempt to machine quilt this one myself due to its enormous size.  Instead, I paid to have it quilted by Lucie at Lakeside Quilting in Holland, MA.  Lucie teaches several classes at Meeting House Fabrics in Wales, MA and does wonderful work.

Here is a detailed picture of the machine quilting:

I also made the two shams along with two king size and two queen size pillowcases with the leftover fabric.  I always buy too much fabric because I am afraid of running out so I put it to good use!

 

My hubby said that this is the most beautiful quilt that I have made so far.  I'd have to agree!!! :)

Hershey's Quilt

Since hubby and I both have new quilts this year, Hershey needed one too.  Here it is:

This one is about 28" by 32", perfect for him to curl up on it.  Here's proof:

I made this one using Missouri Star Quilt's 5" Charm Pack Tumbler Template.  It was so easy to assemble and all the points line up perfectly by themselves!  I want to make another one of these quilts soon!

Jay's Snowmobile Quilt

After making myself a new quilt earlier this year (see my blog post My Jitterbug Quilt), my hubby wanted one too.  So while we were on vacation in Lancaster, PA in May, I stopped in my favorite Amish quilt store, Zook's Fabrics, and I found some snowmobile fabric.  I bought 6 yards of it with no quilt pattern in mind.

 

Here's what I made him:

 

He absolutely loved it!  It is 60" by 72", perfect to cuddle under on the couch after a long and cold day of snowmobiling!

 

The four squares in the corners are embroidered.  They say: "Eat my flakes", "Snowmobile junkie", "I'd rather be riding" and "If There's no snow in heaven, I ain't going!"  The block I made is called King's Crown.  I wanted a block that had a big center (6-1/2") so you could clearly see the details of the snowmobile fabric.

Quilt As You Go Placemats

Last month, I took a class at my local quilt shop, Meeting House Fabrics in Wales, MA for quilt as you go placemats.  Here are my finished projects:

 

And here is the other one:

For this project (I made 2 from these requirements), I needed about 1/3 yard of focal fabric (snowmen), 15"x19" fabric for backing, 15"x19" batting and 3 to 4 coordinating fat quarters.

 

I made these slightly off center just to be different.  The process is very easy and I love that once you have covered all your batting that you just trim it and bind it!  I am going to be making more of these soon, probably for Christmas!

Lazy Angle Ruler

I have been on a quilting kick lately, it must be the change in temperature because I have not touched my sewing machine since June.  I have been reading lots blog posts and looking for new patterns.  In my searching, I came across and really cool ruler called Lazy Angle Ruler.

I bought it as a kit, pattern book and ruler, from Soft Expressions which included a book entitled, Lazy and Lovin' It by Lazy Girls Design's Joan Hawley for $39.99.  If you know me, I LOVE new quilting rulers!  It's almost like an obsession!

 

I had some free time this weekend to try it out.  Here are my samples:

 

Lazy Star

Paddle Star

Hollow Star

I was playing around with some 5" scraps and I made these blocks.  They are very easy to make and assemble.  This is a fun ruler with lots of potential!  The pattern book has 250 blocks you can make using this ruler.  The possibilities are endless!  I'm so happy I bought it!

 

In case you are wondering what I am going to do with these blocks, they are going into Hershey's quilt.  Whenever I make a block trying out a tool or ruler, I put it aside for him.  When I am caught up on my projects, I will put them all together and he will have his own quilt made especially for him!

Hubby's Pillowcase

Well, since I made myself two new pillowcases for the bed, my hubby wanted one too!  Here it is:

 

His pillow is a king size so instead of cutting 27" of the full width of fabric for the body of the pillow, I cut a 36" piece.  It is now long enough!

These are so easy and quick to make, once you know what you are doing.  I think I am going to dig through my fabric stash and see if I have enough material left from my red and yellow log cabin quilt to make pillowcases to match.

My New Pillow and Pillowcases

This weekend, I bought myself a new bed pillow.  It is from Bed Bath and Beyond and it is the Brookstone Bio Sende Memory Foam Classic Pillow with Better than Down Cover.

It was rather pricey for a pillow ($59.99) but I love it!  I love memory foam pillows but sometimes they get too hard (even for me) without a down cover.  When I got home, it was too thick to use in my normal pillowcase, it looked like a sausage, so I had to make some for it.

 

Here they are:

 

 

And:

 

 

I had enough fabric of both the white and brown so I decided to make opposite pillowcases.  I really liked how they came out.

Have you seen how to make these?  Check out this video!

My Completed Jitterbug Quilt

OMG, I just realized that I never posted a completed picture of my Jitterbug quilt from the class I took at Meeting House Fabrics in Wales, MA in February:

 

 

Here is the back of the quilt as well:

 

 

I am very happy with how well this quilt came out!  It was finished just in time for spring since the color make you think of spring all year round!

Hubby's Pillowcase with French Seams

Here is a pillowcase that I made for my hubby:

I told him that I was going to use mine in the camper and he wanted one as well.  This was the most masculine fabric that I had in my stash without going shopping.  He said "Boats and lighthouses??"  I told him it was his "vacation" pillowcase!!!

 

While I was searching for fabric for hubby's pillowcase, I was matching up lots more.  I think that I am going to make some to sell in my Etsy store.  I'll let you know!

My First Swoon Block

In playing around on the internet, I came across the Swoon quilt pattern.  I feel in love with it instantly so I bought the pattern!  I love how one completed block is 24-1/2" x 24-1/2".  So I decided to make one block as a wall hanging for my office.

 

Here are the fabrics that I picked out:

 

For me, the brown fabric is my "grown-up" fabric but the blue is my bright colors that I love so much.  I found this fabric at Meeting House Fabrics in Wales, MA last weekend when they had all their fat quarters buy one get one free.  I was able to find 3 brown, 3 blue and 2 peach.  I am hoping to have enought fabric to add a checkerboard border to it with the brown and blue and binding it in peach.

Stay tuned for the finished product!  I just have to finish my king size brown striped quilt for my bed before I can start another project.