WHO DOESN'T LIKE A LOG CABIN QUILT? WHAT ABOUT TWO LOG CABIN QUILTS?

This is what our challenge is for this month.....

LOG CABIN

I have always loved the look of a log cabin quilt and the versatility of it is amazing.

Now was my chance....Island Batik makes me step out of my comfort zone.

So when this challenge came up my sister asked me if I ever saw this ruler.

I said no, but was up for the challenge.

Here are my log Cabin squares.  I used a lot of scraps but I wasn't thinking, I've got my large scraps and didn't think at the time about how big I wanted to make it.  If I had thought this through, I would have just made it scrappy instead of each square the same..   Unfortunately for me, I ran out and was only able to make a baby quilt.  My sister, Jeanette, made a much larger one and I am so glad.  This quilt is so pretty and just knew it would be amazing bigger.  Just click on my sister's name and it will take you to her blog.

Isn't it adorable?????

It took me months to cut up my log cabin squares with the ruler, I was so afraid of making a mistake, even tho I had done a practice square out of random fabric scraps.  It wasn't until my sister, Jeanette, cut in to hers that I bit the bullet and did so myself.

Here is the You Tube we used.

Then I quilted it with Aurifil Thread.  I think this is my favorite color because I have another one similar in color and it is almost gone as well.

Well...this is a long winded post today. 

Taking a breath.....

 So...as I am tootaling along, I came across this fun fun you tube.....and yep...I just had to do it.

I had a Crystal Cove Island Stack (equivalent to a layer cake but Island Batik Fabrics).

This works up really fast using the Island Batik Stack.  It is always fun to work with Island Batik fabrics because as I am cutting I think...oh....I love this fabric, no, this one....

I had taken pictures of the process but can't seem to find the pictures, same with the other quilt above.   

Well, nothing like posting the last day of the month.

Have a wonderful Christmas Season!!

"BUT BABY IT'S COLD OUTSIDE!"

What do you do when it is cold outside?

Yes, it is cold here in Texas, seems the cold has come early for us.  Last week there was frost on the ground for several days.

This gal stays inside as much as she can, I am an island girl.

Well..Yesterday I made four of these cute dish towels.  If you are interested in this design, you can go to Embroidery Library  They have the cutest designs.

It took me four days of almost complete sewing to get this quilt where it is.  It is lacking two borders.  It is laying on my kingsize bed.  Thanksgiving came and I stopped.  This month Island Batik Ambassador challenge is the Log Cabin.  This log cabin is not Island Batik fabric but doing the challenge (haven't shown what I have done yet) has inspired me to do more log cabins. 

This week is the virtual cookie exchange hosted by Carol, Just let me quilt.  As you can see, my day is Friday.  I am so excited to share with you a recipe that I have been using for 30 years.  At this house we can not have a holiday without it.  I am more than excited to see what everyone has done...hope you join us!

November 27

Kwilty Pleasures

Tu-Na Quilts, Travels, and Eats

Songbird Designs

Creative Latitude

Ms P Designs USA

Gray Barn Designs

Alycia Quilts

Happy Cottage Quilter

Sew Many Yarns

For The Love Of Geese

November 28

Creatin' in the Sticks

Vroomans Quilts

It’s A T-Sweet Day!

Domestic Felicity

That Fabric Feeling

Home Sewn By Us

Karrin’s Crazy World

Adventurous Applique and Quilting

Bumbleberry Stitches

Melva Loves Scraps

Beaquilter

November 29

MooseStashQuilting

Pieceful Thoughts of My Quilting Life

Kathleen McMusing

DesertSky Quilting

Life in the Scrapatch

Ridge Top Quilt

Cynthia's Creating Ark

Bejeweled Quilts by Barb

Pumpkin Patch Patterns & Quilting

Operation Domestic Goddess

Just Let Me Quilt

SIMPLE PINEAPPLE BLOCK

I saw this video on facebook and just had to make a square 

You will have to forgive this first video, I couldn't get it off my blog....you want the second video.

         

Simple Pineapple block is what you want.


I didn't stop with just a square, I kept going as long as I found fabric big enough to keep going.

As you see, I used my Island Batik Scraps.

This turned out to be a 38" square

The next is the quilt I made with the curved ruler using Paisley Dots fabric by Island Batik and 

various fat eights for the squares by Island Batik as well.

                                                       If you want to know more, go here:

Now I am working on a Charity Project.

I used the Cancer Ribbon format by Craftistitch - these designs are free.

Once again I used Paisley Dots by Island Batik

I used the Island Stacks

Island Stacks are equivalent to the Layer Cakes but Island Batik makes these.

I love how they have turned out.

My only problem is, how I am going to put them together?

                                             I suppose I will have to think on it for a while.

            In the mean time have a fabulous day and stay warm...it is in the 30's here in Texas.

CAN MAKING A RAG RUG BE CONSIDERED EXERCISE?

There is a little gal at church that wanted to learn to do a rag rug.

It has been a while since I made one, so I wanted to refresh my memory.   When I was a teenager,  I made one for a boyfriend for his birthday.  He probably looked at it and went...oh, thanks!  

I am sure if he knew the amount of work that went into it he would feel differently?  Maybe...ok, maybe not!

Anyways, when I made mine, I tied all of the strip ends together so on the back you would have like a shag rug, but sparsely shagged.  That was a lot of work tying all those knots.  Then crocheted it.

This one, I sewed the ends together.  I found some 108 inch strips left over from backings, some pieces I cut off of my finished quilts.

I have to tell ya, this little rug sucked up a lot of fabric.

I cut 2" strips the length of the fabric, I did not care if it was straight of grain or not, just longer the better.  Then started crocheting.  There are many you tube videos out there on how to go about doing this, if you are interested.

I got some ugly fabric (if there is such a word), less favorable fabric from my stash, it is the red, black, and gray.  The outer border is from about three yards of fabric.

I need to learn to tie off better but otherwise I am very pleased.

This rug is 32" in diameter, it looks small in the picture but it is a nice size rug.

I do have to tell you that my hands started hurting part way through, then my lower arms and upper arms.

I went to bed last night with bio freeze rubbed all over my hands and arms.

This morning they ache some but not to where I am miserable.  So...

can I consider that exercise?

Then I am blanket stitching around 12 reindeer (Accuquilt Go Die).  I have four left.  I should be done by now but well....

you know, something else came up.

The reindeer is the "Check It Out" fabric by Island Batik.

I also have cut a bazillion 1" x 7" strips for my girls at church Activity Days, we are going to make wreaths this next Wednesday.  Took me about 3 days doing that.  I used up my Christmas Scraps. 

If some of you are reading this and think, wow, Barb has gone through a lot of scraps....

I can truly say I have but they keep multiplying.  Do you have the same problem?

Can you believe it is November already?  I can not!

CAN'T GET ENOUGH OF THOSE CURVES....

I made this fun table runner using the mini Quick Curved Ruler. 

The pattern comes with the ruler.

I used Eight fat eights - Mountain Meadow and Moon Shadow Island Batik Fabrics.

Oh....I just love these fabrics, the purple and blues go so wonderfully together.

Aurifil Thread just put the final touch in quilting this runner, very little fuzz and no breakage.  

I didn't like the empty space on the runner so I got out my trusty Accuquilt Go cutter flower die to take care of that problem.

It took me longer to quilt this runner than it took to make it but it was so fun and I do love doing curves....does that make me strange?

METRO RINGS PATTERN

I have to tell you that I love love this pattern.

My sister, Jeanette, from Inchworm Fabrics, sent me the Quick Curve Ruler.

We decided to to our November project for Island Batik together using this ruler.

I don't think I have had this much fun in a long time.

Finished my November Project and then started another project.

This Metro Ring quilt.

Did I need to start another one?

Do I have other projects that need to be done?'

Hummmmm

Fabric I used is Paisley Dots by Island Batik.

I will be honest, I did not use my first two squares.   Later when I ran out of fabric and was scrounging for more I tried to use my first two but........

For some reason measuring out the way she showed me did not give me consistent squares.   I am talking about when the ring was made, you have to re size it and then sew the two halves together.

Well....I figured out for myself, how to cut and get consistent halves, if that makes sense.  A lot easier for me at least.

Finally finisfed my ballerina quilt and am quilting it as we speak.

Trying to get  a lot of projects done, I have two blog hops coming up.

WHAT NOT TO DO WHEN PAPER PIECING!!!

This month's Island Batik Challenge is as you see below!

At the first of the year when we get our yearly challenges, I go through and pick out what I want to do for the month's challenges.  Of course, I usually don't have the first box of fabrics yet so it is just the idea and the fabric comes later.

I am not a paper piecer.

I searched the internet for hours looking for something that struck my fancy.

Couldn't find anything.

As I was going through one of my many piles I came across this fabric.

There is a story to this fabric....you have the time?

One day in Church an older woman gets up and I am just in love with her puletasi (Samoan dress).  I start sketching on the program the design.

Later the Older lady was asking what I was doing and I told her.  Well....before I left the island she gave me a piece of the fabric from her puletasi.

I have carried this fabric around and put it in a pile of to do's.

So as I was cleaning one day trying to decide what to do for the paper piecing when this fabric showed up.

Yea me!

Now...the designing part.  I haven't a clue so it took another few days of thinking of how to make it work.

I was never good at math...trust me.  People who know I quilt think I am...oh no.....no..no.

Originally I had two designs, but my husband didn't like the second one...so out that went.

This is where I made mistake number one.......

we have two printers.  We have one that has a lot of ink still in it but does a horrible job in printing.  I decided to use this printer even tho it distorted the lines.  I thought...

Mistake number two

I thought, oh well....I will make it work, I can sew a straight line.  See me pounding my head against the wall?

Mistake number three

Ignoring that little voice that said, you have gone to all this work to design the pattern, use the better printer.

We are going to skip the printer saga for now.

I chose to use

Dear William fabric line

And also the Island Batik White Basics

It just yells ISLAND!!!

So, I had my fabric chosen, my pattern ready and printed out.

If I thought about it, I could tell you how many of these I have made....but nope....brain is tired.

I started this back in July and would work on it off and on...off and on.

Had to deal with this mess below.

That is the problem with paper piecing, is the pulling the paper off and boy, the mess I can make.

I know there are a lot of people who love paper piecing but I am sorry, I can give or take it.  Does that make me a bad person?

Here is the back of the squares after they are sewn together.

Thank heavens for HGTV....kept my mind off of this job.

                                       
                                                           More pulling off paper.

                                   Mistake number 4

So............... I like the end results but my practice square in non Island Batik fabrics made it into this quilt and I didn't notice it til it was too late.  AHHHHHHHHHH  the frustration.  I wanted to throw this quilt away, that was not the only issue.  So, I took two of the triangles that matched the rest of the triangles  and just blanket stitched them over the practice piece.  Oh my Gosh....what more can go wrong?

                                                Mistake number 5

I noticed that when I came back to my triangles that they seemed to be smaller than the first batch...or was it my imagination?  I should have STOPPED  then.
                 Are you judging me yet?

So....I had to ease in some of the blocks....Oh the frustrations,  the disappointment.  I was in love with this design.  So I eased the fabric in and then when it came to quilting it I had to just stipple to take in some of the excess fabrics.  Oh yes....you heard it here.

I did not originally want to stipple the design.  By this time I am ready to throw in the towel and just do another paper piece project for Island Batik.  Truly can it get much worse?

                                                         Mistake number 6

Do you feel my pain????  Here it comes......

HERE IT COMES!!!!


so on the back, the very bottom is some crinkles in the backing.........................HOW CAN THIS BE HAPPENING!!!!   By this time I look like I just had a bad perm.

That all being said, don't you just love these fabric?  I do love this quilt even tho it almost ended up in the trash bin.  My husband had to talk me off the ledge a few times but it is done and the end results I am happy with, if I ignore all the issues.  My husband said that I am too hard on myself, maybe he is right but a gal has expectations and when they are not met.......yep...time to talk me off the ledge!

Thanks Island Batik for the wonderful fabrics and the awesome challenges that stretch my imagination and abilities.