Follow my blog with Bloglovin” target=”_blank”>Follow my blog with Bloglovin  I would very much enjoy your company over there.  🙂

Here’s what I’ve been up to for the past couple of weeks.  I experimented with a number of new (to me) quilting designs.  Wow!  Being a novice quilter such as I am, this was quite the time-consuming project.  The piecing went together quickly.  The pattern, Skipping Squares, is one that I purchased from Cluck Cluck Sew.  It called for ten fat quarters, but I had a bundle of twelve fat quarters that I purchased for 50% off a couple of years ago from the Fat Quarter Shop.  The fabric line is called Full Moon by Felicity Miller for Free Spirit Fabrics.  I used all twelve fat quarters and made my quilt slightly larger than what the pattern indicated.

I didn’t have a large enough piece of fabric from this line for the back, so I used what I had and improvised with a couple of other miscellaneous fabrics from my stash.  All those various quilting patterns show up nicely from the back side.

Speaking of quilting designs, here is a close up of some meandering hearts and some stippling bordered by a tree bark looking design.

I also used my embroidery machine to embroider a label onto one of the back panels.

The plan is to use this new quilt in our RV this summer and then it will come indoors to live for the winter.  The size is perfect for an RV queen size mattress.  I do plan to also make some kind of matching pillowcases or shams for the finishing touch.

Now on to some more garment sewing.  I placed an order with Mood Fabrics las week and I’m expecting my new fabric to arrive today.  Yay!  Have a terrific week.

Pam

Colorful Boy Quilt with a quick and easy pocket label

My favorite workshop at the Sewing Summit last week was Perfect Pockets with Deborah Moebes of Whipstitch .  That girl truly loves pockets and would like to see them on everything –  everything I tell you!  I signed up for the Perfect Pockets workshop because I avoid adding pockets to almost any and all projects I sew.  I think they add bulk to my already bulky body.  Deborah did, however, change my mind.  Her enthusiasm and humor were quite contagious.

As I was quilting my grandson’s quilt upon returning home from Sewing Summit, I began to think back about the weekend and all the lovely, lovely women I met and all the great teachers and speakers from whom I was priveleged to learn.  Deborah Moebes and her Perfect Pockets workshop jumped to the forefront of my thoughts and I pondered adding pockets to everything as she encouraged us to do.  I envisioned pockets on the quilt, but I am a very practical person and I needed a reason for those pockets to be there.  The quilt was already sewn and halfway quilted so I knew I would not be incorporating pockets into the design.  The only other detail left to add after binding it was the appliqued quilt label on the back side.  Eureka!!!

I added a flap pocket to the back of the quilt and incorporated my embroidered quilt label onto the pocket.  And yes, the pocket actually serves a purpose.  My original intent was to give my little grandson a tooth fairy pocket.  Last year, my daughter inadvertently threw away a tooth that my granddaughter lost, so I reasoned this would be a “safe” place in which lost teeth could await the tooth fairy.  Then, the tooth fairy could just put the money exchanged for the tooth into the pocket for safe keeping until morning.

But in addition to tooth-fairy duty, this quick and easy pocket label could also be used to store small “treasures”.  I did not put a closure on the flap.  I was concerned that hook & loop tape, a zipper, buttons, or snaps could be uncomfortable if my grandson rolled over on the quilt pocket while sleeping.