Halloween Fun

I've been busy making some fun Halloween coasters to give or send to friends and family with their Halloween cards.  This coaster was the inspiration -- sent to me years ago in a Valentine card exchange.  I use it for my water or soda in my sewing room.  You can see it is worn and faded.

I made 40 of these the other night while watching one of my favorite movies.

So, you can see these go really fast after the prep work (cutting and pressing) are done.

I learned to do them on a tutorial at www.allsorts.typepad.com.  If that link isn't just right, I found it by "googling" coasters.

I just mixed and matched fun Halloween fabrics.  Here are the stacks.

Happy Halloween!

Another Older Quilt

This is the second of my beloved, older quilts, made in 2003.  It's called "Aunt Betty's Attic".  I made it in a class that used a magazine article for the pattern and I don't have it anymore.

This quilt was made with some fabrics used to redecorate our bedroom all those years ago.  Some of the fabrics were decorator fabrics with some Aunt Grace prints added. 

This is one of the decorator fabrics I used for the backing.  Isn't it sweet?

This is a close up of one of the blocks.  This was another of the decorator fabrics.

This is a close up of the scrappy border (with a ruler sticking out from under).

The really special thing about making this quilt was the people in the class.  I discovered two of my dear friends there.  One I knew before but we didn't know we were quilters.  She was there with one of her best friends.  We now sew monthly and take quilting travel adventures.  That was a great class for me!

New "Listen"

This is my latest book on CD:

It sounds like a fun, easy listen.  There's a little mystery and romance thrown in, a great combination for me.  Easy to listen to and sew.

An Older Quilt

I decided to focus on a few of my older (but much loved) quilts.  They are now folded up and put on a shelf in our bedroom as my decor has changed.  But they are a few of my favorites.  The first of them is shown here.

This quilt is called "Pumpkin Seed".  I used the Quiltsmart printed interfacing to make each "seed".  Then the seeds were machine appliqued using a blind hem stitch and clear monofilament thread.  The fabrics are all the Aunt Grace prints and solids.  I just love those fabrics and have made too many quilts using them.  We used this quilt on our bed for a couple of years.  It was finished in 2003. 

Here's a close up of some seeds.  The blue floral is one of my favorite fabrics of all time.  I used this to make my daughter an adorable dress when she was four!  I've bought many more yards of it over the years.

In fact, here it is as a border in another of my quilts.

This is part of the scrappy backing.  Another of my favorite Aunt Grace prints.

October Book Club

This is our October selection:

It's a good story so far, kind of a cross between When Harry met Sally and Same Time, Next Year.  It's about a young couple that are great friends and seem like star crossed almost lovers at times -- don't know what happens yet as I'm about half way done.  I still have a week to finish and should get it done in time for our meeting. 

October Finished UFO

My pace is picking up to get these 19 UFO projects finished.  This quilt pattern was called Tic Tac Toe and I think it's cute.  I used scraps for the background and blocks, bought the sashing and border fabrics.  It's been hanging out for about a year waiting to be quilted.  I finished the binding last night, had to wash it to get the marking lines out.  It's a little puffy and it seems something went wrong.  This will definitely be a charity quilt.  It makes me happy to think it will keep someone warm at night -- someone that doesn't have a nice warm blanket.

This really was an easy quilt to sew together.  Might have to make another one -- I certainly have enough scraps!  Here's a better picture of a block:

Happy sewing to you.

Wedding Wishes

Some  friends just got married and requested no gifts at their reception.  Theirs was a "destination wedding" and they are having a cocktail reception with no gifts specified.  Well, we have to give them something so I found a scrappy quilt in my stash for them.  They are big campers so it will go in their RV just fine.  Here's a picture of the quilt:

It's a French Braid quilt -- I LOVE this pattern.  It's made with 2 1/2" strips with alternating light and dark rows and is totally random.  I sort my strips into light and dark piles and just grab the next one as I sew.  I've made several of these quilts over the years and will continue to make them.  They are the best scrap quilt I've ever done and I make lots of scrap quilts. 

I added another treat to their package:

This is a fun embroidery project, quick and easy as the look is primitive.  The pattern is by the same designer (Two Blonde Mice) as my baby prince and princess finishes and the Christmas family piece.  It fits in a document sized frame which limits your choices.  I try to buy gold or silver when I can find them. 

This is all wrapped up in a pretty package and my husband will give it to the new wife tomorrow.  We want to honor their no gifts request at the reception but just had to honor them and their new life.