Full Hearts Table Runner

 I finished up a table runner the other day, and I'm fondly calling it Full Hearts.

 I spotted these lovely red fabrics at a quilt shop over the holidays with the idea of making them into a patchwork Valentine's project (I bought pre-cut fat quarters without selvages, so I don't know the designer - apologies!). After a bit of plotting, thanks to my graph paper, I had a plan in mind. So I got out my trusty Bloc-Loc ruler (one of my favorite toys), and whipped up a number of HSTs to make these patchwork hearts.

Once the top was finished (4 hearts in all), I FMQed the squares using a design that was new to me. I'm not sure the official name, but I called it Potato Masher, since that's what it looks like to me! :) Then I used some of the leftover prints for the binding... love that scrappy look!

I'm really pleased with this runner, and hope it will be a nice Valentine's Day decoration next month - thanks for stopping by!

[Linking up to Crazy Mom Quilts]

Ice House Quilt

As I suspect many quilters did, I gave away a couple quilts for Christmas, including this Ice House Quilt.

 
This quilt was a special gift for my Grandma. She and my grandpa lived a couple hours away from us growing up, and visiting them was always fun. Sometimes when we'd visit in my childhood, we'd take a trip to the Ice House, a fabric/quilt shop in her area. I don't remember buying anything to sew at that age, but I do remember getting supplies and stenciling canvas drink coasters... fun memories!

Well, this summer my family and I were vacationing a few towns away from the quilt shop, so my mom and I stopped by for a visit. I purchased some purple-y floral prints, as well as a few coordinating batiks. Later on in the year, I picked a few more batiks and nature inspired prints, and ended up making this throw quilt.

 The braided panels were really fun, though I had a hard time with the "random" fabric placement... yet again... As for the quilting, I stippled it using a pale lilac Aurifil- you can see it best on the darker fabric strips.

I had lots of fun making the quilt, and I think my grandma is enjoying it!

And now that the "real" photos are posted, I also need to share these outtakes. Again, my brother was a great quilt holder...

But he had a few photo ideas of his own, as well.

I think this one was supposed to be "Quilt in Motion."

And this was "Dancing Quilt" maybe?

All in all, he was a good sport about the whole photo thing - thanks for your help, buddy!

[Linking up to Crazy Mom Quilts]

Go Blue! Quilt

 I was really excited for Christmas this year, because I had a special treat for my little brother: this Go Blue! quilt:

As a University of Michigan grad, I wanted to use my new quilting obsession to make a fun, scrappy quilt for him.

Lucky for me, the school's "block M" easily translated into a quilt design I could tackle. 

 The quilt is a generous throw size (60x80), which I hope comes in handy on these cold winter nights in the Midwest (hello Polar Vortex!).

 The blocks are all different versions of string blocks, though since I'm still learning I went ahead and paper-pieced these babies... all 224!

 To top it all off, I backed the quilt in Minky. It wasn't easy (I was thankful for my steam ripper many times), but in the end it was worth it for such a comfy gift.

And, the best part: the fabrics! I had a blast picking up fat quarters and other small cuts of different fabrics from about 10 different LQSs. Some of the fabrics are batiks, and others are cool prints (like a map of NYC or the Declaration of Independence).

I had an absolute blast making this quilt, and I hope my little brother enjoys it! Thanks for stopping by![Linking up to Crazy Mom Quilts]

Autumn Runner

To surprise my mom on Thanksgiving, I made her this Autumn Runner.

This summer, on one of our fabric shopping sprees, she helped me pull together 12 different autumnal prints, so I used them to make big maple leaf squares.

The runner ended up being about six feet long (whoops), but it fits perfectly on the dining table at my folks' house.

 I didn't want the quilting to compete with the bold shape of the leaves and the busy fabrics, so I stuck to a basic 1/4" outline of the leaves.

 And I think my mom was pretty pleased with the outcome!

 Speaking of pretty pleased, I just have to share these "outtakes" as well, as they make me crack up every time I look at them!

 My little brother was a good sport about holding the runner so I could photograph it, and couldn't resist hamming it up for a the camera after a while - isn't he the cutest?

Thanks for stopping by - hope you have a great weekend! (Linking up to Crazy Mom Quilts)

Coffee Sleeves

Talk about a scrap-buster! The other day, I whipped up a handful of Coffee Sleeves using only scraps from various projects... what fun!

You see, there's a craft bazaar at my hometown church, and my mom is hosting a table. A while ago, she mentioned that if I had anything to add, she'd be happy to put it on the table... so I finally finished up some projects and shipped them off to her, and these babies were in the box!

As someone who enjoys Starbucks treat everyday every now and then, I've used my fair share of cardboard coffee sleeves. While those are fine, I'm pretty pumped about these handmade versions: not only did I use Insul-Bright (an insulated batting), which keeps the heat towards the cup and away from the holder's hand...

But I also added a strip of elastic, so these cuties can fit most sizes of to-go beverages (as well as pint glasses, my clever brother informed me after I sent him an early demo).

Finally, each sleeve was made with scraps leftover from various quilts I've made, so they're all really colorful and pretty, in my humble opinion! :) Hopefully the shoppers at the bazaar will think so, too!

Thanks for stopping by - have a great weekend! [Also, I'm linking up to Crazy Mom Quilts]

Dusty Diamonds

 I finished up this baby quilt the other day, and I've decided to call it Dusty Diamonds.

I wanted another chance to use my diamond ruler, and these sweet fat quarters from my stash seemed like the perfect pairing.

As a new quilter, I've been working on accurate piecing, and this was a perfect practice project... and  I'm proud to admit that many of those angles actually line up!

In terms of photo location, this mural graces the wall of a business in my neighborhood... how fun, right?

I'm linking up to Crazy Mom Quilts - thanks for stopping by!

Autumn Pillow

The other day, I pulled together a few scraps autumn-inspired fabrics to make this pillow cover.

I don't know what it is, but I'm totally in love with HSTs still; this time, I broke up the randomness of the triangles with a band of neutral fabric.

Thanks for stopping by and happy November!