Circle Denim Quilt

I was inspired to make this quilt by the rag quilts I have been making lately for our local Caring Pregnancy Center and by the quilt I have hanging in my room.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I made this quilt years ago and still love it!

This quilt is also a terrific way to use up all of those scraps of fabric that you just love! And all of those old jeans that someone has outgrown or now have holes in the knees… First cut out 30 6-inch squares from the denim.

Then cut out 30 4.25-inch circles out of 30 different prints. Also cut out 30 strips of 4”x1.5” from each of the prints for your binding.

 

Just so they stay put on the denim squares while going through the wash, iron a bit of fusible web onto the back of each circle and then iron the circles into the centers of the denim squares.

Sew each circle onto the square with a 1/4” seam allowance from the edge of the circle.

  Lay the quilt out how you want it to be and then sew the squares together. Then attach the rows to one another to make the quilt front.

this is my boys’ print quilt

When the front is all pieced together, layer the back, batting and front together and secure with pins, tags or basting spray.

First “stitch in the ditch” between all of the squares. Then quilt a second smaller circle in the center of the circles. I chose to only do every other block.

 

 

 

 

 

                                          You can also trace your circles

 

Now you are ready to do the binding.

Sew each strip together using a 1/4” seam allowance into one long strip.

Iron the seams down in all one direction. (Is that grammatically correct??? It sounds wrong but I can’t figure out how to fix it when I’m so tired… LOL)

You are going to iron the binding in half but not in equal halves. You want more binding in the back than in the front. I folded mine over my quilt to see how much I needed in the front and then finger pressed a bit to get me started.

Pin your binding onto the edge of your quilt and sew it on making sure to catch both sides of the binding. It’s pretty easy to do when your sewing on the front and there’s more in the back than the front.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

As you wash and dry the quilt the edges of the circles and binding will get that frayed ruffled look like in the quilt from my bedroom.

Have fun!

Basting Spray

I have to confess that I had never heard of basting spray until one of my FB followers told me about it when I complained about hating the layering part of quilting. But it sounded so intriguing that I took my JoAnn’s coupon down to the store the next day and bought me a bottle…

First lesson learned: I am glad I laid down a vinyl tablecloth. I wish I had thought to pin it down before I started. :o(

It was a WHOLE LOT FASTER than the traditional pinning but I will probably need a bit more practice before I have it down.

 I have to say that I was glad to have an easier way to layer it together because I had put a little more work into quilting this one than I have been lately. I normally have just been going to the “stitch in the ditch” method.

 

I really like the way it turned out!

 

Puffy Jar Lids

We got several jars of applesauce for Christmas from my husband’s aunt. Her lids were so nice, with just the perfect amount of “puff” to them.

I finally opened a jar on Sunday and discovered how she did it…

Round cotton cosmetic puffs. They are just the right size to sit on top of a wide-mouth canning jar lid!

Then cut out a 4-inch circle of fabric and lay it on top of the pads…

Screw on the band and you’re done! Super easy!!! Thanks for the great idea, Cyndi! 

Raggedy Circle Quilt

I had a whole bunch of leftover circles cut out from when I made round casserole cozies a couple of years ago… I know! I meant to use them before now, I just never got around to it.

Well, I took all those circles and wondered what they would look like as a quilt. And since I had just had a raggedy quilt class at church, I gave it a try…

First lay out your pattern.

Then lay the two circles on top of one another with wrong sides together and right sides facing out… I did all of the back in the same print. It makes it so much easier!

Then press them. Lay a 6” square, cut out of cardstock, in the center of the front circle.

Then press the edges over the square.

Your circle will look like this…

Next, sew an x in the center of each “square”.

Now you can start sewing the rows together…

Sew them together with the seams facing towards the front. Sew right along the creased side of your “square”. You will have very large rounded seams in the front of your rows.

Attach each row to the other the same way; wrong sides together with the seams facing out and sew along the creased lines of the “squares”.

Once you have all your rows sewn together, sew all the way along the edge on the creased lines.

Now you need to get rid of all those extra big rounded seams between each block.

I folded each row flat and cut off the edges for a 1/2” seam allowance from the sewn seams. I also did each block individually so it would be more even.

  Using a pair of scissors with a very sharp tip, clip the seams almost to the seams (DON’T CLIP THE SEAMS!!! You’ll be sorry!!!) about every 1/2”.

Wash in cold water and a short cycle and dry on medium heat. I’ll warn you now, you’ll have a lot of pretty colorful lint when you’re through.

You’ll also have a very pretty blanket!

Owl Block Quilt

I’ve had this fabric in my stash for quite a while just waiting for the perfect project… I finally made it! Simple block pattern, framed in brown, simple straight line quilting. Just what it needed!

All pieced together

I love the mod 70’s look to it!

I quilted it by stitching in the ditch and making 1-inch rows in the solid blocks

This is the coordinating panel that I made into a wall hanging…

Adds just a splash of color to our unfinished entryway… Think how great it will look when the entry is done!!!

Winter Decorations

Eighteen years ago I made a resolution to have all of our Christmas decorations put away before January 3rd. Our middle son was due on the 3rd and I wanted everything down before that day. Well, he came promptly on time and I’ve kept my resolution ever since!

But I just hate to see all the pretty decorations come down so soon and the winters here are so dreary in the PNW! :o(  So I decided to just put up a few pretty wintery decorations to get me through until Valentine’s decorations go up…

I am so glad I picked up these giant plastic snowflakes at the Dollar Tree clear back in November! They are just what my snow-less January decor needed!

I was also able to get some great after-Christmas deals on some not too Christmas-y stuff to go in my window display…

But my favorite just might be the little glittery paper houses that twinkle after the lights go out!

I got the pattern for the houses at HERE at Just Something I Made.    

Owl Text Ya Later…

When I got my iTouch I immediately knew I just had to have one of those adorable owl iTouch cases I’d seen all over Pinterest… Then I saw the prices!

I just couldn’t justify $40 or more no matter how cute it was.

But then I found the ideal solution!

First, a plain little case for a whopping $3.50 at Ross…

A simple background is best for this idea.

Then I picked up some stickers that I really liked…

 

The best part? When they get icky and worn, I just take off the old ones and put on new! I have a new cover whenever I want!