2019 in Review

I have a few things that got completed in 2019.

Here are the table runners I finished.

6 reversible table runners

I also made a few mug rugs.

I made several baby quilts in 2019.

1st Churn Dash

backing on 1st churn dash

2nd churn dash

yellow (not white) backing

I made 2 of these

satin & flannel blankets

I made a few project bags.

backs of the two below

I made a pillowcase and a bag/purse.

runner's pillowcase

bag/purse for my mother

I made some matching pin cushions.

4 pin cushions

I made 3 fabric books.

And I made some quilts.

Crazy Ladies quilt

String Star

smaller Hobbit/Lord of the Rings quilt

larger Hobbit/Lord of the Rings quilt

Fat Cats in the City

Not too bad.  Hopefully I'll get even more finished in 2020.

Happy New Year!

Monkey Wrench Tutorial

I'm writing this tutorial for my Treadle On group, for a block exchange.

Rules for the TOBE (Treadle On Block Exchange):
Background fabric is muslin
Monkey Wrench fabric is 1930's reproduction fabrics
*All fabrics MUST be pre-washed, no starch (allergies)
All blocks must be made on a treadle or hand crank sewing machine.
8 blocks is a set, maximum of 4 sets (different fabrics for each set)


Monkey Wrench 10 inch block (10.5" unfinished)

10.5" unfinished Monkey Wrench block

Cut:
Muslin (background fabric)
2   5 1/4" squares
1   2 1/2" x 20" strip
1   2 1/2" square

1930's Reproduction fabric (Monkey Wrench)
2   5 1/4" squares
1   2 1/2" x 20" strip

Make 4 half square triangles. 
Draw 2 lines, 1/4" from the center across both 5 1/4" muslin squares, diagonally. 

lines drawn 1/4" from center on both sides

With right sides together, stitch on each line.  Using a rotary cutter, cut diagonally to separate the triangles.

stitched on both lines, then cut

Finger press open, with the seams towards the reproduction fabric. Iron.

Trim to 4 1/2" square. 

Sew Strip units:

Sew the 2 1/2  x 20" muslin and 1930's reproduction strips right sides together.  Finger press open, then iron towards the 1930's fabric.

From the strip, cut 4 units, 2 1/2" x 4 1/2".  You will have extra fabric (I had enough to cut 8 units).

Sewing the block together:

Lay out the pieces, making sure that the muslin is facing the outside of the block, and the 1930's fabric is facing inwards.

laid out, ready to sew

Sew the top row together, then the middle row, and last, the bottom row.

Press like shown in the photo below (towards the middle on the top and bottom rows, and towards the outside edges for the middle row).

Sew the rows together.  Press both rows towards the middle.

back of block, showing seams pressed

Your block is finished (but you aren't).  You still need to make another half square triangle for your signature block.  You'll be making another 4 1/2" HST for your signature block, using the same fabrics as in your first block.

for signature block

Now, make 7 more blocks for a set, and a signature block to go with each block you make. 


Here is a link to a PDF of this tutorial.
 

Fat Cats in the City is Done

I finished stitching the binding down on Fat Cats in the City on Christmas Eve. 

my quilt holder hubby

up close

This is the 2nd completed Fat Cats in the City quilt I've made.  The first one was for a special friend, Ms. Betty. 

Ms. Betty with her quilt

The pinks in the quilt are different, but everything else is the same.  Here are some up close shots of the cats.  Each cat is wearing a different tie.  I couldn't get a good photo of the hand quilted cats in each of the brown squares.

I started the Fat Cats in the City quilts back in 2011.  The quilt tops were made pretty fast, but I stalled on doing the hand quilting on them.  Betty's was finished in 2013, and Kay's languished until this November. 

 I finally took a photo of one of the board game quilt tops that is done.  All of the circles and stars are hand appliqued, along with the semi-circles in the center square.  There is still another star to be appliqued on the center square, but I want to quilt the semi-circles before I add the stars.  I'll add the stars when they are quilted and bound.  I still have 3 more board game tops to stitch together (six board games in all).  One of these has to be finished before March, since I've entered it in my large quilt guild's quilt show.

20" x 20" board game quilt top

I came up with a new idea to use with all of the striped circles I've been making.  Some of them will become a shadow box quilt.  Christmas afternoon I cut out the non-fusible interfacing and the black squares for the 117 black circles I need to make.  I got the circles traced onto the black and pinned the interfacing on yesterday.  They are now waiting by my sewing machine to be stitched for the next part.

117 black circles waiting to be stitched

Hopefully I'll get some stitching done on these after work today.