back to the drawing board

quilting project #3 - a pillow for halloween. quilting project #2 is still in progress. it's a halloween table runner from the same fabrics as the pillow - i still need to quilt and bind it though. i'm sort of intimidated by how big it is - so after piecing the top of the table runner i decided to make something a bit smaller - the pillow. and with the pillow i was able to try out my new fabric die-cut machine and half square triangle die - i learned very early on in the cutting stage of quilting project #1 that i do not like cutting out bunches of squares by hand. and i used the following tutorials for my halloween pillow:

• in color order: vintage sheet hst pillow tutorial
  
• red pepper quilts: binding tutorial

supplies
front: [matilda/cosmo cricket] andover fabrics
back & binding: [black kona cotton solid] robert kaufman
die: [half square 3" finished] accuquilt

here's a simple garland i put together for the purple onion designs blog. i stamped a bunch of the caution labels onto halloween colored cardstock, cut them out & adhered them back-to-back with twine sandwiched in between.


supplies
cardstock: [fern, apricot, forget-me-not, smoky] bazzill basics
stamps: [caution labels] purple onion designs
ink: [jet black archival ink] ranger
fiber: [twine] papertrey ink

i suppose it's time that i start posting a few halloween projects. this card here i made for the jane's doodles blog. i used some halloween papers and a die-cut hat to turn the little bird into a not-at-all-scary witch.


supplies
cardstock: [white] neenah, [beetle black] bazzill
patterned paper: [spook alley paper pad] making memories, [undead/halloween collction] american crafts
stamps: [bird/garden friends set & sentiment/big sentiments set] jane's doodles
ink: [black tuxedo]  tsukineko, [pumice stone distress ink] ranger
accent: [black twinkle sticker] a muse studio
fibers: [black thread] ikea
tool: [grass border punch] martha stewart
digital image: [witch hat] silhouette store

i've wanted buy some old sewing patterns for a while - but just never got around to it. then labor day weekend we headed up to new paltz for a craft fair and stopped in at an antique store. and what do you know - i stumbled upon a big pile of old patterns. well not really that old - from like the 70's.


supplies
cardstock: [white] neenah
patterned paper: [the green stack] dcwv
other paper: [old sewing pattern], [manilla shipping tag] avery
fabric: [denim]
accent: [fabric brad] sassafras
stamps: [flower & pot/pot-a-flower set, sentimet/a little bird told me set] purple onion designs
ink: [black stayzon]  tsukineko, [strawberry] fresh ink, [barnwood mister huey's] studio calico
fibers: [black thread] ikea, [yellow embroidery floss] dmc
tool: [corner rounder] we r memory keepers, [tag die cut] quickutz
other: [mini dowel] loew cornell

quilting project #1 is finally complete - a very mini quilt following jeni baker's warm cool design. the piecing went fairly smoothly. then came time to do some quilting which actually terrified me. once i figured out how to correctly install the walking foot on my machine it was quite easy. and finally the binding - it took me 4 weeks to decide on how i was going to sew that strip of fabric on.

i read a lot of great tutorials throughout this adventure, but these two were by far the most helpful:

• quilt design - in color order: warm cool quilt along
  
• binding - red pepper quilts: binding tutorial

supplies
front: [punctuation & recess layer cakes/american jane] moda
back: [recess layer cake/american jane] moda, [grey quilters linen] robert kaufman
binding: [basics book note border manilla/basicgrey] moda
size: 20"x20"

happy birthday. i miss you.

supplies
cardstock: [desert sun, kachina, gecko, bitter chocolate] bazzill, [white] neenah
stamps: [hearts on a string, sentiment/hopscoth sentiments] purple onion designs
ink: [black tuxedo]  tsukineko
mists: [bonny blue, applejack, lemonade, barnwood mister huey's] studio calico
fiber: [black thread] ikea