Minkey Binkey

Just wanted to share photos of the Minkey Binkey I whipped up yesterday for our little grandbaby Lily. Hubby and I went over to see her today, and naturally I knew she had to have another blanket from Nana!

These Minky blankets are fairly simple to make and I have made several over the past couple of years. I got started making them when a friend of mine wanted me to make a gift to take to a baby shower. She had seen the expensive blankets made of Minky in the baby boutiques, but didn't want to pay the exorbitant prices they were charging (and who could blame her!). Anyway, she took me to a baby boutique to show them to me and asked if I could make something similar. After looking the blankets over carefully, I said that I would come up with something. It didn't take me long to come up with a way to make the blankets and now I have them down to quite a science...takes me about an hour to make one. The trick to working with Minky is pinning...you have to pin about every 1/2" otherwise it it a little slippy to work with. But, if you pin it properly, then it is pretty easy to work with (it didn't take me long to figure this trick out!). You can buy Minky at a lot of places, but www.minkydelight.com has a great assortment of colors and textures of Minky...they also have some on sale (and this stuff doesn't go on sale too often at most places). Try working with Minky and let me know what you think!

These blankets make really great gifts, and I do them in "baby" size, but they could be made much larger for children or adults as well. For the one I made for little Lily I used the plush Minky, which is so very soft! I am sure that I will make her several more, because as you can see in the photos, she really seemed to like it!

Happy Sewing and Quilting!!

Lily's Minkey Binkey

Lily napping in her Minkey Binkey!

Confessions of a Fabriholic!

Yes, that's right -- I said Fabriholic -- that is what I am! There are people that like fabric and there are people who love fabric and can't get enough of it...that, my friend, is a Fabriholic! With that clarification, I now confess to you that I, Quilting Sue, am a Fabriholic! My stash grows by leaps and bounds and I just never seem to have enough fabric in it. But, I am excited about my new fabric purchase that I just made today!! In my new Irish Quilting magazine I saw an ad for fabric called "Emerald Isles" and just fell in love with it. Searching for it on the web didn't bring any results, so I had to resort to emailing the manufacturer -- Nutex. (Now, to some of you this might seem extreme, but to a Fabriholic...well, you get the picture!). Anyway, they responded with a list of retailers they had sold the fabric to, so after looking them all up, I found a source. I have ordered and paid for it (after consulting with hubby about the cost!) and now all I have to do is look forward to getting it in the mail!! Euphoria!

An old friend of mine came to town this week on business and we got together for the first time in probably 20+ years. We had lunch yesterday and she has commissioned me to make a baby quilt. She actually brought BOLTS of fabric to make the quilt from! So, as soon as I finish this other baby quilt for my other friend...then I have another one to make, which I am really looking forward to. It is pretty exciting to be asked to make quilts...and get paid to do it!

Speaking of quilting...gotta run to go quilt! Have a wonderful day and Happy Quilting!

Quilt Magazine Review

Good Afternoon! Yep, I am still up today...since 5 a.m.! (Shock...I know!)

Hubby and I made our monthly trip to Barnes & Noble this morning to look at our fav magazines and I picked up my new copy of Irish Quilting (my new favorite). As I was reading through it, I decided that you all should know about this great magazine too! I find that reading all of the U.S. quilting magazines is fun, but they tend to all run the same quilts, quilt patterns, ads, etc., and that gets really boring to me. Fresh ideas, new quilts to look at...that's what I want. So...I am recommending that you pick up a copy of Irish Quilting and see if you get some fresh ideas and look at different quilts too. You can follow their blog at http://irishquilting.blogspot.com/ or visit their website at http://www.irishquilting.ie/ and get inspired by something new and different. One of the things I like best about this magazine is they include so many fabulous photos of Ireland...such a beautiful place (no, I've never been, but would LOVE to visit!). They also run some contests that are different from the things we typically see here in the U.S. Give it a try and let me know what you think!

Sew get going!

Sew Early

Wow! Can't believe we were up at 5:00 a.m. this morning! Hubby and I got up, dressed and ran over to the IHOP to eat an early breakfast...no reason to be up that early, just were. Being currently unemployed, we have gotten used to sleeping in every day, so today was unusual. But, I am hoping to get a lot more done today...we shall see.

I have been going through my fabric stash, mostly trying to get it organized into my new plastic drawer system, but it is a good idea to periodically just sort through your stash just as a reminder of all of the wonderful fabrics you have. I always think I have a "fabric inventory" in my head, but I tend to forget those pieces that I buy at shows or shops or get from friends. It is fun to rediscover your fabric too! I was also going through my scrap bin (which is now just a large laundry basket under my cutting table) and cutting 5" squares out of the larger scraps. These 5" squares are commonly referred to as "charm squares" or just "charms". Knowing that I want to make more baby charm quilts, I was mostly cutting up fabric appropriate for baby quilts, but you can cut charm squares out of any scrap fabric. Then when you are ready to make a quilt in a hurry, you can skip the cutting part all together, because you have already done it! Plus, it is a great way to save your bigger scraps and have them ready to go. I will make a second pass through my scrap bin and look for scraps suitable to cut into 2" strips and also smaller squares. This will make other projects easier as well.

Well, it's 6:30 a.m. and I need to get cracking if I am going to get a lot accomplished today! Have fun going through your fabric stash and Happy Quilting!

Quilt in a Hurry!

Happy Hump Day everyone!

Just found out last night that I have a new deadline on finishing my friend's baby quilt...the week of Thanksgiving!! (gulp!) She gave it to me to finish for her...as she is traveling a lot now...so I said I would. Well, the baby was born last night and the quilt will be taken out to new baby in early December. Part of the quilt is being hand quilted...slower going...and part of it machine quilted. Worked on the hand quilting last night and found that it is going faster than I ever thought it would...but will have to work on it every day from now until it's finished.

Bought some purse handles today and am thinking of making some quilted purses to sell online. A friend of mine told me about http://www.etsy.com/ and it looks like selling on etsy, as well as EBay might bring more success. Worth a try!

Another beautiful day here! Hubby and I ran errands and ate at our favorite seafood place for lunch...$4.95 lunch special...best catfish I have ever had!! YUM!

Well...off to the sewing room! Hoping to see our beautiful granddaughter this week...hard to believe she will be 1 month old tomorrow!! They grow up so fast! :)

Later...

Vacation at the Coast

Ahhh...I just love the coast! Hubby and I went down to the Texas Coast for a few days last week and it was so refreshing for several reasons. First of all, just getting out of town and road tripping is great fun! Second, we just love to go down to the coast and breathe in that salt air...third, it was such a nice change of pace for us! It is always good to get home, but going on a road trip is a great adventure. We visited some really cool places too!

Okay...I admit I did find a nice little quilt shop along the way, so naturally that made the trip way more fun for me! I knew there was a quilt shop in Rockport, TX, http://www.quiltscapes.com/  but had never been to it (saw it online) and when we drove right past it, I knew we had to go back and give it a look! Of course I bought some fabric (you knew I just had to!). But, it was nice nautical and tropical fabric and I had not ever seen it before. The ladies in the shop were extremely nice and I definitely plan on going back the next time we head down that way!

Another interesting place we toured was the Fulton Mansion http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/spdest/findadest/parks/fulton_mansion/hist.phtml. It is an old Victorian mansion that has been restored and it was so much fun to tour. I took lots of photos because a new quilt idea it cooking in my head...can you guess??!!

The Fulton Mansion

The floors in the mansion reminded me of a quilt pattern!

Oh...and we also saw a replica of the Nina down at Corpus Christi, TX. This is a great reference for my pirate quilt (which is still in progress). I took a lot of photos of this beautiful ship! http://www.corpuschristidaily.com/article_detail.cfm?id=2817

Hubby sitting near the water at Corpus Christi.

We also went to the Texas Maritime Museum in Rockport, TX. http://www.texasmaritimemuseum.org/ They are currently part of the La Belle Expedition find (La Salle's ship). Of course, I took lots more photos...I have more quilt ideas cooking!! :)

Well, back to the sewing room where I have to sort out my new fabric!

Happy Quilting!!

Making a Quilt Sandwich

Hello and Happy Friday!

Sorry I have been absent for a few days, but have been quilting and then sick...bummer. Yes, I have actually been quilting...and finished a quilt for our little Lilly.

While I was making Lilly's quilt, I got to thinking about tips for making a quilt sandwich. For those of you new to quilting...the quilt sandwich is the finished quilt top with the batting in the middle and the backing. All of this gets basted together for quilting. This may seem like a very tedious step to some (and I know sometimes it seems very tedious to me), but putting the quilt sandwich together properly is very important in the overall process of quilting. Thinking back to some of the very puckered or saggy quilts I have seen in my time...not a pretty sight! If they had only taken the time to put the quilt sandwich together properly, those puckers and sags could have been avoided.

Example of a very puckered quilt back!!!

So I took some photos when I was basting the baby quilt for Lilly and hope this helps avoid those puckers and sags!

First, and probably most important is to lay your quilt back down (right side down), smooth it out (make sure to press first), and then tape it down tightly. I tend to use the seamstress (sewing) boards for laying out my quilt sandwich. These are made out of thick cardboard (more details on why in a minute) and prevent damage to whatever other surface (such as a table) they are covering. Purchase these at any JoAnns, Hancocks, Hobby Lobby or other craft or sewing store...they are about $10 each. (Tip: to lay out a queen size quilt, you will need 2 boards).

I use painters tape (green or blue) to tightly tape the back down to the board. Painters tape can be purchased at Wal-Mart, Lowes, Home Depot or anywhere that sells paint. I use painters tape because it won't damage the surface, or take the paper off of the cardboard. In fact, I use painters tape for lots of things in my sewing room!! It doesn't leave any sticky residue, even if it stays on for a long time.

Next, lay out the batting on top of the quilt back. Make sure to smooth the batting out from the middle to the sides. Get the batting as smooth as possible...this is very important! (Tip: unroll the batting and lay it out to "rest" for a day or so before making the quilt sandwich. This will get a lot of the crinkles and wrinkles out of it for easier smoothing. The batting can also be put in the dryer for a few minutes to smooth out the wrinkles a bit.)

When you cut the batting, be sure to leave 2-4 inches more than the size of the quilt top and back. As the quilt is quilted the batting will shrink up some, so you want plenty of extra.

If the quilt is to be machine quilted, pin basting is the easier and better choice. For hand quilting, always thread baste the quilt. Start basting (pin or thread) in the middle of the quilt and baste toward the edges.

Make sure pins are at least a handwidth apart or less. Some quilters use the three finger rule: basting pins or stiches must be no more than 3 fingers apart.

When you are done basting, remove the tape from the quilt back and go quilt! Remember to remove the basting pins as you quilt. If hand quilting, the basting thread can remain in the quilt until you are finished quilting, or it can be snipped as you quilt.

I hope these instructions for the quilt sandwich have helped you! Happy Quilting!!