I Finally Finished The ORB Quilt!

Y'know, I can't even remember what year it was that Old Red Barn Co hosted a quilt along where the prize was a Janome 6600. Let me look....Ah, yes. It was 2009. And here it is 2011 and I have finally finished quilting and binding the quilt top! Here is my only photo of it:

I used an extra loft 80/20 batting and quilted it with a criss-cross pattern. It turned out really nice and the extra loft batting made it perfect for snuggling up in. I hope whoever wins this quilt loves it.

A man I know at work participates in the yearly Ride For AIDS so I donated this quilt to his team so they could auction it off. I hope it raises a lot of money! Ride For AIDS is a two-day, 200 mile bike ride. You can read about the organization here. The ride is this weekend (July 8 & 9) and if you want to donate money, it isn't too late.

I wish I had taken more photos of the quilt, but it's huge and was difficult to photograph indoors. I need to set something up outside so I can easily take photos of large quilts. I see a lot of you use a clothesline outside. Perhaps that's what I'll do because my kids aren't tall enough yet to hold up a large quilt. And they're much too goofy. Knowing my kids, they'd roll themselves up like a tamale in the quilt before I can snap a photo. :)

Have a wonderful weekend!

Some Charity Pillowcases

One thing I love to do is sew and knit for charities. I have also been looking for ways to quickly de-stash some of my fabrics and one of the best ways is to make pillowcases. They are quick and they require a yard of fabric.

I made two of the pink/white pillowcases. The fabric is an older Amy Butler print that I love. It's so vibrant! And some little girl will love the princess pillowcase.

I also made two of these Lightening McQueen pillowcases:

I don't know a 4 yr old who doesn't love Lightening McQueen. :)

I have my own method of sewing pillowcases and follow the general rule that a finished, standard pillowcase should measure 20"X30". If you need a tutorial, there is a great one here on Film In The Fridge, or here on Made. The quickest way to sew them is to use a serger, but I've also sewn pillowcases with french seams. French seams are the prettiest, in my opinion, but a serged seam is pretty darn nice (and quick!).

Here are three pillowcases that I made for charity, but were stolen from my sewing room!

Luke said he loved this one and wants a quilt to match. I don't think it's the pirates so much that he likes, it's the map. He really likes maps. If I can still find this fabric (I know I got it from Joann's), I'll make him the quilt he requested.


And Ellie still loves monkeys (although they are slowly being replaced by a love of horses), so she took the above pillowcase.

And then there's Sunny. Sunny, Sunny, Sunny. This girl is still dog crazy. And it's so cute. And it still drives my mother-in-law nuts that Sunny wears, lives, and breathes everything dog.

I didn't use a contrasting band on this one and I would've liked my topstitching to be more prominent, so next time I'll use a topstitch needle and a 30 wt thread.

I'm not sure which charity I'll be sending these to. I have three others to sew up and then I'll pick a charity. It will probably be ConKerr, but then someone at work told me that "the cancer kids always get stuff and the transplant kids get overlooked." That made me feel bad, so I'm going to try to find a charity that gives pillowcases to kids awaiting transplants. Do you know of any? Let me know if you do!

I have two quilts to show, too, but I need to finish one binding and take photos.

I also re-organized and rearranged my sewing room (again!) and I love how I have it set up now. The only problem is that I have less room for fabrics. So, that's why I'm trying to quickly de-stash. I also want an industrial sewing machine and a long-arm on a frame (an Innova), so I need to make room. I "test drove" the Innova at the Sewing and Quilting Expo and WOW. Just wow. Its an amazing machine. The machine itself is fabulous, but I think what really makes it great is the stitch regulator and the frame. The rollers on the frame move the machine like it's moving through butter. No jerking and you never felt like you were fighting the machine to get it to move. Just beautiful. And beautiful stitches.

Have a lovely day!

What Do You Get A Teacher For Christmas?

I have to buy a gift for Luke's Greek school teacher, but don't know what to get. Any ideas?? I was thinking I'd buy her a nice ornament.....?????

Here are some of my latest projects...

First up is a stack of hats going to charity. The lovely Sea World Barbie is kind enough to present these....

Since July, I've knitted 22 hats for charity. Hopefully they'll find heads that fit them. Now I need to knit a hat for myself because it's getting COLD out!
Here's another hat that is going to charity...it still needs a button to hold down the flap.

It's the Robin's Egg Blue Hat pattern on Ravelry. I love this pattern and am thinking of knitting myself one of these hats!
I also knitted this scarf to go with it:

This pattern is the Feather Scarf from the book Twinkle's Big City Knits.

These are for ME:

I didn't think I'd like knitted face cloths, but I do! They feel so nice on your skin.

And last, but not least is a baby quilt top. I couldn't get a good photo of it because two little girls I know wouldn't stay off of it long enough for me to snap a decent photo. ;)


See what I mean?

They couldn't resist jumping up and down on it. Little stinkers! I'm going to back the quilt with flannel and do minimal quilting. It measures 36" X 56". I don't have a recipient for this quilt yet, so I'll hang onto it for a while. Or maybe I'll give it to charity. I don't know yet.

So, back to my original question.... What's a good gift for a teacher????

More Knitting For Charity

This blanket & hat combo will also go to the Children of the Pine Ridge Reservation. If you want to donate hats, blankets, mittens, or whatever you'd like, there's a group on Ravelry that lists addresses and the needs of the Native Americans who live on the Pine Ridge Reservation. They need items for all ages. One particular need is for mittens for kindergartners this fall/winter.


My kids aren't babies anymore, so I don't have a baby model to show these off. The teddy bear will have to do!


The pattern for the blanket (it's actually a hoodie blanket) is here at The Thrifty Knitter and the hat pattern is published in Last Minute Knitted Gifts by Joelle Hoverson. I used Caron Simply Soft yarn...it washes well and is nice and soft.

Now I'm off to watch the second half of Soylent Green with the husband (while I knit, of course!!). It's funny that I was only 3 yrs old when this movie was made! It's a great movie and I recommend it. Especially in this day and age where food is becoming more and more engineered.