Tablet Sleeve

My son is in his first year of a New Media Technology program.  He’s learning webpage design, graphic design, photography and photoshop, videography, etc.  It’s quite an interesting program, and it’s fun to see him actually excited about going to school!

We bought him a tablet to help with the computer work.  It is the neatest thing – it looks just like a black, well, tablet – no screen.  Actually, it kind of reminds me of the slates they used to use in school in pioneer times.  He writes on it with a stylus, and  whatever he writes shows up on the computer screen.  He let me try it.  It’s harder than you would think! 

I was tickled pink when he asked me to make him a sleeve.  I found instructions from Elizabeth Hartman of Oh Fransson.  The instructions were really easy to follow, and it all went together really well.  I couldn't find fusible fleece, so I used batting and muslin and quilted it.

I have a bazillion fat quarters, so used a few of those, instead of just two.  The fabric is Wordplay by Michele D'Amore (Benartex).  DS didn't even mind that most of the words were quilt related.  I did think the black, grey and white were masculine.

Here are a couple other views.

I think I might be making myself a laptop sleeve next!

New Years Sew In

Well, it's that time again - what better way to spend New Years Day than in the sewing room!

If you are on Twitter, you can use the hashtag #NYSI to join in the conversation.  On Twitter, I am colleenquilts2 - but I have to warn you, I'm more of a listener than a chatter.  (Just like real life!)

Sandy, over at Quilting for the Rest of Us, asks us to send her our Quilting Resolutions.  I put mine in, but should have printed it off.  Now I can't remember what they were - but I'm sure they were good!  I'll have to listen to her podcast to see if she reads mine out.

I do remember my main resolution - and that is to complete at least two UFO's for every project that I start.  Good luck!  Last year, my plan was to only complete UFO's.  Well, two young ladies that I know were pregnant, so, of course I had to make them baby quilts.  And I had to try out the Twister tool from my last post.  And, there is another little project I started that I haven't posted about yet.   I have the attention span of a gnat!  But, I did get two major UFO projects completed, so I'm happy about that.

But, I've got so darn many UFO's and kits and patterns / purchased fabric combos.  And my sewing room is not that big!  I'm running out of space!  I don't have any pregnant friends or family members at present.  So, I am committed to keeping my resolution this year.

What are your quilty resolutions for 2013?

Trying out the Twister

Last spring, I bought the “Lil Twister” at a quilt show.  I’m always a sucker for new notions, and this one looked like fun.
 Around the same time, I won a charm square pack from AJ at I Knit n Quilt 2.  It was Martinique, by 3 Sisters.  Beautiful, soft browns, greens and pinks.
I finally tried out the Twister on these charm square fabrics.
First, I sewed all the charms together

Next, I had to pick a border fabric.  For some reason, I have lots in my stash to choose from!

Here is the Twister template.  It has lines on it, set on the diagonal.  You place these lines on the seam lines of your patches, and cut around the template.

Then, you lay out the newly cut pieces in exactly the same order that they were in as you cut them out.  Voila – twisted blocks!

As your border has become part of the twisted blocks, you need to add on another border.  Here it is unquilted

I decided to quilt it in diagonal, parallel lines.  The lines are about an inch apart.

You can’t see the binding very well, but I found a soft green stripe in my stash that worked well.

It finished up at about 30 x 33 inches.  Just a nice size for a table topper.
The Twister does leave a lot of fabric behind.  Being the thrifty person that I am, noticed that the pieces left included 42 squares about 2 1/2 inches in size.  I cut them down to 2 inch and added them to my leaders and enders.  Yes, they are cut on the bias, but I figure that they will end up sewn to lots of other pieces, so the bias won’t have any harmful effect.

Tree Skirts and Stockings and Whiskers on Kittens

OK, there are no pictures of whiskers on kittens. I admit it - I am a quilter without a cat.

I'm linking up with Heather at Books and Quilts to show you my Christmas Tree skirt.  When I was a child, my mom had a roll of "cottin battin" that we used for a tree skirt.  That's how we pronounced it - cottin battin.  I had no idea that it had any use other than looking like snow under the tree.  We had a little cardboard village, with sparkly walls and waxed paper windows that we set out on the cottin battin each year.  My sister had, when she was about three, poked out all the windows.  So, for ever after that, the houses had no windows.  We also collected various plastic farm animals - of various sizes, so the chicken was as big as the cow, and spread them around the village.  There was also a plastic moose, as I recall.  What a Hallmark scene we created!

It wasn't until I made my first quilt, and opened up the package of batting, that I thought, "This looks an awful lot like the cottin battin that we used to... Doh!"

My tree skirt today is slightly more professional.  Here is the flat view:

And here it is around the tree:

I'm also linking up with Quilting Lines to show you my Christmas Stockings.  There isn't anything special about these - they were one of those panels you buy at Fabricland that has the stocking printed right on.  I just cut them out and sewed the two halved together, then finished the top and added a loop to hang them.  But, Mr. CQT loves them because they are pretty big.

And finally, one more little crafty item - well, six of them:

These little guys are each about 2.5 inches tall.  They are ceramic, and I painted them - back in the pre-bifocal days when I could actually see to do this kind of thing.  Sorry the picture is a little washed out.

To all that celebrate Christmas, have a Merry Christmas!

Look What I Found!

I admit it - I really am not a shopper.  Retail therapy - what's that?  More like retail torture to me.

So, Christmas is really the only time that I spend a lot of time in the stores, and, as a result, I usually run across lots of things that I would like.  I have to remind myself to focus on the reason why \I am there - to try and find a useful and/or item for friends and relatives that have just about all that they need.

But, last night, I lost focus for just a minute and splurged on this item for myself.

Isn't this just the cutest little ornament?  A quilters tote bag.  See the little tag in the front - Quilting Bee!  A bolt of striped fabric in the back.  A cutting mat.  A ruler and rotary cutter over on the right.  Scissors, pens - and what's that right in the middle?  One knitting needle.  I guess whoever designed it was one of those confused souls who think that we knit quilts.  Or, perhaps they weren't sure, so they put in only one knitting needle, not two.

Oh well, I love it anyway!  That is taking an up front position on my Christmas tree this year.

Here is another view - fancy designs on the sides.

I'm just going to sit and admire my little ornament for awhile.

Quilters Christmas Party

Sew Cal Gal is having a Christmas party, with lots of great prizes!

We had our office Christmas party last Friday.  Actually, this was party number 1.  Our team reserved space in a restaurant, and went out after work for drinks and nibblies.  It was great fun.  I work with a great group of gals!

Party number 2 is a building-wide lunch, complete with our IT guy dressed up as Santa.  What a hoot!  That is this week, I think.  (I have a ticket - I'll have to check that to make sure I don't miss it.)

Party number 3 is our monthly "special lunch" - that celebrates the month's birthdays.  Usually, we all bring our own lunches, and one person brings a special dessert.  This month, we are all chipping in for pizza, and the lunch will have a combination birthday / Christmas theme.

Lots of fun!

To keep this quilty, I'll show you my Christmas quilts.  (I can't show you any decorations, as I have none up yet!)

This is a tablerunner that I made from a Patrick Lose pattern.  I love the whimsy of it!

This is a panel that I used for my first free motion quilting class.  Sorry about the fuzzy picture!  I got really good at stippling when I fmq'd the sky.  Real good!   Too bad I didn't quilt the rest of the quilt that heavily - the bottom is wavy as a result of the difference in the quilting density.  Oh well - I learned a lesson and the quilt is still cute on the wall.

And finally, the tree skirt.

And that's it for my Christmas craftiness!   I'm looking forward to seeing what others have done.

A Quilter’s Proud Moment

My daughter (who teaches Grade 6) posted on my facebook page: 
“I used one of your quilts in class today to teach about angles.”

Awww, thanks!




She's got lots of angles to choose from with this one!