I was at a quilting retreat in Temecula over the weekend and put this quilt together using seven shirts.  Actually, the green fabric was a pair of shorts, but the inspiration came from something I saw on Pinterest.  Here is the link to a great site: http://thethriftyquilter.blogspot.com/2009/06/seven-shirts-seven-steps-one-thrifty.html  I like the instructions for this quilt. They are very thorough and easy to follow.

Here’s the back of the quilt.  It was supposed to be out of the backs of the seven shirts, but I had some short sleeved shirts and some not quite full shirts, so I ran short and added my own homespun to the sides.  The charming part of this quilt is that the labels and pockets are part of the quilt and just fall into place as they may.  I have another box of flannel shirts that I think may have to get processed into one of these oh so cozy quilts!

Now, really switching gears, I made this quilt from fabric donated to me by my friend Michele. She knows I can’t let anything go to waste. I’m not a huge fan of brights, so I did this simple little child’s quilt for her granddaughters.  It’s a great pattern, it looks complicated but is easy as pie to do. It also lends itself to some odd sized blocks which allowed me to get the very most I could out of the fabric I had.  It sure was fun!    That’s all for now, it’s time to clean up my studio.

(The pleated arms are not so nice in my opinion.)

Next, I stuffed the Memory Bears that I sewed earlier.  They turned out really cute. I always love working with plaid, and this was flannel, so they are super soft.  They got shipped off today to Washington state.

Then I finished up this skirt for a special little 4 year old.  The only thing left to do was make the casing for the elastic and insert it.  Sometimes I wonder why I wait so long to do the simplest of tasks. I just need to chip away at projects one by one and FINISH them.

Although it doesn’t look like much, this is a really cute tote bag with a button and loop from side to side–which is a little different, and it is an excellent size. I put a pocket in the inside and made a little zipper pouch to go inside for small things.  I made another one using two dish towels, but still need to join the top edges together on that one. It’s a matter of changing thread in one of the sewing machines. Why do I resist that so much???

I made a couple of hot pads to match an apron that I did much earlier.  My girls are here for another day and I wanted to send something with them as a remembrance of this trip.  A tote bag and hot pads for one of them, and this cat–”Puff” with clothes on (I couldn’t send it back to Minnesota naked) for the other one.    OK. I’m going to change the thread in a sewing machine now.

I made up four Lemoyne stars to cement the method into my brain.  I took a class at Road to California last Thursday with Jo Morton. Her technique was new to me, and a bit challenging.  I tweeked the method to suit me better and feel quite successful. The centers are nice and flat, thanks to no stitches going through the middle.

Going around the room to the right, you can see Skeezix almost completed, resting on the fabrics chosen for the other Lemoyne stars.

And still further to the right, the projects waiting in que. . . a love seat to upholster, a cape to reinforce, a basket of wool to complete the cats, and a long arm sewing machine begging to quilt another quilt.

And lastly, a dozen baby burp cloths for a baby shower on Thursday.  I tackled one of my “to do right away” piles, and it sure feels good.  I also used 4 yards of fabric to reduce the stash by 212 yards (copying Mary Huey).

When the fellows came down the side aisle to handle my quilts, the guild members cheered and gave a couple of whoot whoots to show their enthusiasm.

The large quilts can get quite heavy to hold after some time.  For guild members to have to hold them up, it can become quite tedious.  And usually, it’s only 2 guild members doing all of the holding, so there is no break.

I showed big quilts, small quilts, old quilts, newer quilts, all cotton, all wool, and mixes of cotton and wool.

I showed mostly traditional quilts, mostly primitive quilts.  Don’t they look nice?  (The quilt holders!)

This is called “Shotgun wedding at midnight.  I love that name!

The one to the right is Primitive Primer, which usually has a place on the wall in my living room.

All in all, I showed about 30 some quilts.

The quilt holders would bring the quilt to the stage folded in half, then drop the bottom half and . . .

Voila!

They were quite the entertainers. . . really now?  A 3″ x 9″ quilt that needed two strong men to display it???

This one didn’t need two people either, but I think is was so much fun having those debonaire guys presenting my quilts.

All the ladies from Canyon Quilt Guild were grateful to have you at the meeting.

Thanks Vince, Sam, Jerry and Thom!

I didn’t really like them when I got started, but by and by they grew on me until I almost hated to see them done. They really were fun.  I got the binding on, but by then my holder was gone, so I show them without the binding.

This one is slightly different, but using the same fabrics.  I figured since two little boys would have the same theme, they needed to be different enough so they would definitely know which one belonged to whom.

All that was left was to complete the pillow shams, and I didn’t know what to do, as I had scraps of all the fabrics and not a lot of any one.

I took my inspiration from The Company Store bedding

Simplicity turned out to be the key. This was a good lesson to learn:  when the fabrics are bold or busy, keep the other lines simple.  I did straight line quilting every 1 1/2″ that ran vertically.  I was really pleased with the results.  I wish I would have taken a picture of the back of the lap quilts.  It was a sheet from Land of Nod with really large robots that was soooooo very cute. R2D2 would be jealous!

First of all, the backing fabric for the quilts was only 54″ wide, and the quilt is 60″ wide.  So I spliced down the middle and added what I needed to make it fit.  What I didn’t think about was that I was going to load it on the machine sideways.  I didn’t plan for a lot of extra fabric at the top or bottom (they were actually the same size)  I did add plenty of extra fabric for the sides, which I didn’t need because of the way I pinned it on.

I also cut the batting to what I thought was 4″ wider than I needed, but turns out it was just the right width, not a cotton ball extra.

Here’s what I trimmed off.  That’s cutting it way too close.  The second one had similar issues, the backing fabric was just the right length, not  more than 2″ longer, and I loaded it the same way.  I managed to waste nothing and ended up with virtually no waste.  I like when that happens, but I don’t like it.  Too tense!

The projects to the left were gifts to my Wednesday night sewing students.  Two bird pin cushions and a tomato pin cushion are filled with crushed English walnut shells.  The two birds also have lavender inside.  The sewing kit was a fun thing to make with scraps of wool and cardboard fillers to give it some body.

I’m going to pin another quilt on the Gammill now and then we’re off to celebrate the last day of 2011.  Happy New Year everyone!

Check it out. It is in it’s infancy, but I’m working on adding more all the time.