The Madrona Challenge

I am a member of the IQG (Indianapolis Quilt Guild) and I joined them in a Modrona Road challenge. We were given some FQs of Madrona and told to make something from them. I loved these prints and was excited about using them. I thumbed through some books and found something I had to use. I opened up my Share Workshop for Quilters and there was the dream garden diamonds quilt. 

Isn't it pretty?? 

Here is the fabric I started with.  

I love how the burnt gold makes the colors POP and I got the cornflower blue (color as truck and barn) to use as the background. The piecing was outrageous. Final count was 314 squares and 142 rectangles!!

The plan for all of this was to take it home over the holidays to Ohio so that I had something to work on. 

Plan definitely worked and I was able to get the top completely done before we left!!

Good thing I have a tall husband! I had a ton of triangles left over so I sewed a few together and made a pillow top. 

And now a few words about the pattern and book. The book is very straight-forward and gives 60+ blocks focusing on different shapes. There are also a bunch of projects to go with the blocks. Not just quilts but table runners, a clock, and a body pillow. 

The pattern is only 2 pages long and has pictures for the steps. Very easy to follow, especially if you have worked with HSTs before. Would be a good project for an experienced beginner to try out. 

And now back to the quilt. 

I had all these neat ideas about quilting it. Then I realized that it was due at the end of January and I didn't want to do too much. I ended up stitching in the ditch around the squares and the diamond-like shape. I used a golden thread so that it showed up on the blue background. It came out awesome!!

I wash it and it is all comfy and warm!! I used 80/20 batting for it. 

I didn't actually have a pattern for the pillow so I just threw it together as I went. I used a 16-inch pillow form. I knew I wanted cording on it so I made some from the cornflower and used the envelope style for the background. I love it and might have to make a matching one!

Even if I don't get picked for this challenge, I love what I made and all the fabrics and colors I used!!

Have a great week and stay dry!!

~KIM

Feet, Feet, and more feet.....

So there is a dual reason behind this post. 
#1. Make people out there aware of the different types of feet out there and their uses
#2. Make me look at the feet I have so that I use them!

I was given my machine and all these feet and other accessories and I don't really know what I have. Just the other day I realized that I had a 1/4 inch foot and wasn't using it!! Don't even ask how I did my piecing!! 
Most of these feet can be used with other machines and not just Vikings. There are also one or two that I have bought that were a generic brand from Amazon but lists what machines it will work on. This saved me a few $$.
Here we go!!

This is a transparent foot...very clever in the naming! It is used for satin stitches and decorate stitch work where you want to be able to see exactly what and where you are sewing. 

This is a presser foot. It is what I have made almost everything with (except zippers) over the past 2 years. It is for use with heavier fabrics. The width is just over a 1/4 of an inch. 

This is an edging foot. It is for edging!! This is for finishing the edge of a item so that it doesn't fray or an edge that might curl. It has a teeny tiny wire (where the red fuzz is stuck) to help prevent the edge from curling.

 This is a edge/joining foot. It has a guide down the middle to help join 2 fabrics. Or, something I loathe right now, stitching in the ditch. This is when you stitch/quilt in the joint between where 2 fabrics are connected. The guide helps you stay in place.

This is an open toe foot. It is very open in the front in order to keep an eye on applique, satin, and decorative stitches. 

This is a piping foot. It can be used to put piping on an item or to make your own piping. I have used this once but I think that the piping I was using was too thick and it kept shifting. The foot has a groove in the bottom of it to keep it in line.

This is my NEW best friend. It is the quilter's 1/4 inch piecing foot. It will give a perfect 1/4 inch seam if the fabric is aligned on the edge. It also has marks for 1/4 inch and 1/8 inch for when you have to turn corners. 

This is the one that I bought. It is an open toe stippling foot. Raise the feet doggies on your machine and you can use this to sew in whatever direction you want to, especially stippling. A must have for anyone that quilts at home!!

This is a dual feed foot. Also called a walking foot. It is good for quilting straight lines over thick layers. It also comes with guides so that you are assured of sewing in a straight line. I have used it but I don't always quilt in a straight line so it is only a sometime thing. 

This is a free motion guide foot. Very similar to stipple foot. It has guide lines on it to help keep your sewing lined up. Feed doggies up again!

This is a zipper foot. It is used when attaching zippers. The edge is able to pressed in on the zipper or piping in order to get as close as possible.

Well I hope that this wasn't too boring!
Stay tuned next time for a book/pattern review along with the quilt I made for a challenge.
Take care, stay warm, and let me know what your favorite sewing foot is!!

Things to stay busy this winter

Here are some things going on in the blogging world so help us all stay busy this Winter....and year.

The first is a paper piecing block of the month. I love paper piecing and if you haven't tried it out, then you really should!!

Then there is this one over at Lucy & Norman. This is the perfect one to use up a bunch of your scraps or even that Jelly Roll you have been hoarding for a little while. 

If you have ever wanted to try a herringbone pattern, try this one. Even a chance to win a prize at the end of it. This is also a good one to use Jelly Rolls!

I will probably be trying all of these out, just to see how they work out. 

Let me know if you find any other sew a longs that look like fun!!

~Kim

Christmas Gifts

Now that all the Christmas's are over I can share some of the projects that I made for gifts!

Sara posted this tutorial and I had to make some of these for my mother-in-law, sister-in-law, and grandma-in-law (is that what my mother-in-laws mom is??). 

There is another one somewhere but I can't find the other picture! The fabric is all Amy Butler scraps from different projects I had. My sis-in-law love her a good 'tache so I had to applique some on hers!

After seeing the similar blanket that I made for myself, my mother-in-law hinted that she would like one so I got some fabrics I knew she would love and made her one! I love the apple cores!

I had to make my mom a blanket since her dog has taken over hers!

I would have like to quilt it more but time ran short and I had to make due with what I have.

Hope everyone had a wonderful Holiday season!!

~Kim