Dotty About Nora

I wrote this blog in July of 2017 and apparently never published it.  I just found it in the "Drafts" section of my dashboard.  Enjoy!

Nora Kate was born a few weeks ago and made our friends grandparents - again.  Her big brother (Grampa's Little Genius) is two years old, so he was probably ready for a baby sister.  And, naturally, she needs a quilt. 

I had a "Just A Speck" layer cake by Moda that I thought would be fun to work with.   I used all the squares with white dots to make a disappearing four-patch.  The Missouri Star Quilt Company tutorial was all the pattern I needed!

I started by cutting the 10" squares into 4 pieces each and making four-patches with Kona white.  

Once I cut up each of the blocks .....

..... and put them back together in a different arrangement they looked like this.

Nothing in my stash worked for a border, so I had to make a trip to my Local Quilt Shop (poor me!)  I found a great dotted print in a dark pink. 

At least I thought it was dark pink until I got it home in a different light.  Now I'm thinking it might be red.

Either way, it works.  

Last but not least, some clip art and hand embroidery, and a label is made!

Two-Step Baby Quilt

I'm working on a quilt right now that is way outside my comfort zone.  When a lot of quilters say that they mean they're working on something bright, and artsy, and fun. When I say it I mean pastel, and simple, and sweet.   

A group of online quilty friends had a challenge quilt-along in July.  We were to make a quilt using the Two-Step pattern by Missouri Star Company's Jenny Doan.  You can see her video tutorial here.  I thought this would be a good opportunity to make a "put back for the great-grands" quilt, and I had a fat-quarter tower I had bought just for that purpose.  It's the Love & Friendship line by Verna Mosquera for Free Spirit Fabrics. 

See what I mean?  Not the sort of fabrics I normally work with.

The Two-Step block is simple and goes together fast .....

..... but, you do need to pay attention when you put them together.  All the blocks were supposed to look like the one on the left.  Thankfully only two of them had to be ripped out and remade because they were like the block on the right.  Whew!

Not too much arranging and rearranging before it was a flimsy .....
























..... and now it's basted and ready to hand quilt.  

The final step will be setting it aside for some special someone to love and treasure some day.  I know I've fallen in love with it.  Who would've thought?

Linking up with Confessions of a Fabric Addict

The Rest of the Retreat Story

I prepped all my projects ahead of time for retreat so I could just sit and sew and talk and not have to cut or think too hard or do any "dreaded math."  Each project was cut and put into a ziploc bag along with the pattern or instructions. The first thing I worked on was this "Cross Weave" pattern by Sweet & Simple Quilts from Martingale.

In case you haven't noticed by now, lately I've really been into using a complementary color in the sashing or border. I think it makes it more interesting.  (And different -- you must know I like my quilts to be different!)  I had a really cute backing fabric I had bought when I was in Paducah in April for the AQS Show.  

Except for the backing this quilt was made from stash and scraps.  In fact, this is my entire supply of oranges now. I've been doing some serious stash-busting!

The second thing I worked on was this pattern, "Easy Starburst", by Missouri Star Quilt Company's Jenny Doan.  

I had never made Half-Square Triangles using the method in her tutorial.  Starting with two squares, one print and one white-on-white, right sides together, I sewed a quarter-inch seam around the edges then cut from corner to corner to make four HST's.  It worked well and went together fast, but I ended up having to work with all bias edges which is not my favorite thing.  

(Note:  I used 7" squares instead of 10" squares in order to end up with a smaller quilt.) The HST's were then stitched into four large blocks, using the same layout .....

..... then, starting at the top right, each block was turned clockwise in order to create the star.  

I added a border and used fabrics from my stash for the back and binding. 

How about that?  Two finishes in one week!  Not only that, but two more quilts for Choose Life of North Alabama.  

See what happens when you get to go on a retreat?  

I'm linking up with Confessions of a Fabric Addict and Quilting is More Fun Than Housework.  Check them out and read about the projects others are working on.

Also linking up with Sew Some Love at Kat & Cat Quilts.

Play Time

I didn't get a whole lot done this week, but I did do something.  I played.

At the 2015 AQS quilt show in Chattanooga my friend, Denise, bought a "mystery" charm pack at the Missouri Star Quilt Company booth for $5.00.  Even though I was determined not to buy any fabric that year, she talked me into buying one, too.




















We both ended up with identical fabric from the Disney/Pixar Finding Dory line.  Denise thought we should do a challenge and each make a baby quilt from our charm pack.  That's what I played with this week.  

I started by putting a sashing strip around each block, thinking I would only use orange and yellow.  

But, no -- that would be too boring.  You know -- not colorful enough!  With such busy prints, though, I thought it would be nice to use all solids for the sashing strips.  I don't have a lot of solids in my stash so I decided to pull a few prints and see if the backs of the fabrics would work.   Some of them did!  

I managed to get about half the blocks made.  Not too bad for a half day of playing.  At least it's something. 

Did I mention that Denise's quilt is already finished?  I have some catching up to do.

I'm linking up with Confessions of a Fabric Addict. Another week earning a Whoop Whoop!  Check out her site to see what others are accomplishing!

A Weekend Challenge

Recently my online quilt group had a weekend challenge to "Make a Project From What You Have on Hand."   You may not believe this, but I have plenty on hand (aka my stash).  So, I figured I could make a great project.  And I did.  

The first thing I did was pull a couple of "Summersault" charm packs by Erin McMorris which I had bought from Missouri Star Quilt Company.   

These are really fun fabrics so I decided to make a quick baby quilt to either put back for a little girl or donate to charity.  (There I go with the baby quilts again!)

After I got the top together I looked through my stash and found a great dark pink batik that worked perfectly for the borders .....

..... and the binding. 

I went digging through my stash again and found this beautiful pink and orange and yellow fabric I had bought sometime, somewhere on clearance, and there was enough for the backing.  

I did some straight line quilting (I'm getting better at it!) and finished it pretty quickly.  Then I put the binding on and finished up stitching that down by hand, a nice relaxing way to finish a weekend of sewing.  

It turned out really cute, and it was a fun weekend project.  

Wouldn't it be nice if I could get that much done every weekend?