Friday, April 29, 2016

Camie's Trees!

Ok! I forgot to post my trees for Camie. I sent them to her...but I never posted them.
Camie, I am excited to see your finished quilt.


Tuesday, April 26, 2016

loved this block

So quick and easy!

baby quilt

I wanted a quick and easy baby quilt for a friend having her first boy after three girls.  She told me the colors she wanted.  I just noticed the picture is upside down. :)  My sister is having her fifth baby in June so I'll be finishing up that one very soon.


Wednesday, April 20, 2016

Mardie's Heart Quilt

Here is my heart!

I found this quilt on Pinterest (http://pin.it/T0kG26w). I  really do hate to violate copyright laws, so I worked hard to find the pattern in order that I could purchase it. I failed. The first link was to "Tula Pink". It was supposed to be in one of their books, which I could not find. I found another "Pin" that resembled the one I liked so much. It was from "Craftsy". Then I found a kit that was put together by our very own "Stitch'in Post"! But it was sold out! Not to be deterred, I got out pencil and graph paper and started creating a pattern for us to use. Here is the result:
 
I looked at the individual square on the right and thought..."Good heavens! That's 36 tiny little squares and HST's! That is too much!" Anyway, I pruned it down to a much more reasonable square.

Here we go. You will receive fabric for your square in the mail. Two pieces of red fabric, 2 pieces of turquoise fabric & 4 pieces of gray fabric.  (The color in my photos is really off Sorry.)

Trim your pieces to:
Red:     One 12 1/2" X 6 1/2" rectangles
Turquoise:    Two  6 1/2" X 6 1/2" squares
Gray:    Four  2 1/2" X 2 1/2" squares
(Some of the pieces that I am sending will not need trimming. It depended on how I needed to cut off the fabric I had. PLEASE check them all for accuracy.  Don't make any assumptions.)

To create your HST (half squared triangles) start by drawing a pencil line diagonally on the back of your turquoise and gray squares. 


Then lay out your two heart pieces. It's hard to see in the picture on the right, but it is assembled so that each half is a mirror image of the other

Pin turquoise squares at bottom corners as shown. Pin gray squares as shown at top of red piece. (Hopefully you can see from the diagram above, that when stitched along the square's diagonal lines, there is the formation of a heart. )
Stitch along the diagonal lines. Please secure stitches with a few back stitches. Sometimes on a diagonal line, my beginning stitches get bunched up when I back stitch. I like to start in a few stitches and back stitch first before proceeding. 


PLEASE USE A 1/4" STITCH!! The more uniform we can be in our cutting and sewing, the more uniform the squares that we send to each other will be. (I'm finishing a quilt with many squares sent by others. There were several small squares. I had to "square" the rest of the squares down to the size of the small ones. Unfortunately, it messed up the design that was to be created when all of  the squares came together.)
As you can see, 1/4" is a bit less than the 1/4" hash on the foot. PLEASE measure your stitches.We can't rely on the measurement of the presser foot.

Next, Trim your diagonal seams to 1/4". 

After sewing your diagonal seam and trimming them, your heart will look like this:

Press the seams open.
Pin the 2 heart sides together. PLEASE carefully match up the top and bottom of the heart.
Stitch the center seam of the heart.
Press open.


Here us the finished heart. The gray on top and the turquoise on the bottom work beautifully into the overall pattern of the quilt. My pictures definitely do not show the beauty of the colors.

Thanks for helping! I am excited!
Love,
Mardie

IS IT REALLY APRIL???

Here is my heartfelt apology:

I am so embarrassed! It is MY month to post a new square and it is the 20th! You may think that I would be on top of that issue...But, lol, I am not!! Thank goodness we have 2 months for each square right now! I actually thought that I was posting in June. Finally, I have chosen and am working on the tutorial. 

Anyway, I love seasonal quilts. I have one for several of the Holidays. But I need one for Valentine's Day! Certainly, if I start now, I will have a completed, lovely, heart quilt by 2017!

Here is my inspiration..


Image result for pictures of heart quilts

For a clearer picture check out this Pinterest site:     http://pin.it/T0kG26w

I am so excited. I am now running upstairs to see if the pattern that I made will work!

Love, Mardie

Wednesday, April 13, 2016

Emolyn Wilson...my favorite sister!

Oh, my goodness! I have LOVED reading all about everyone! Thanks for sharing.

I am introducing my sister, Emolyn Wilson. Actually, I will let her introduce herself in an email she sent to me:

Dear Mardie,
     As I think back I can hardly remember a time when I wasn't surrounded by fabrics, either my Mothers or my own.  My Mother used to sew almost all my clothes for school and church as well as for herself and my sister Mardie.  I know she sewed stuff for our 3 brothers, but not as much as for us girls.  She used to have a great stash of fabric and my Father put up a sign that said, "She who dies with the most fabric wins!"  I've seen that sign in the homes of other seamstresses as well.  
     I used to sew for my children (3 girls, two boys) until I realized that it was often less expensive to buy off the rack as prices of patterns and fabric climbed . . . .and climbed!  Then I sewed for special events like lots of Prom dresses, vests and cumberbuns and bow-ties for the boys, 3 beaded and pearled wedding dresses, grand-baby blessing outfits, costumes, etc.  (I even made a baby quilt for Mardie's first baby Jacob and darn if someone in her University apartment didn't steal it right off the laundry room line!  You'll have to ask her the story.😢)
     All along the years my stash grew as well and I started thinking about quilts as a way to use the fabric.  I also started ordering quilt books.  I love the feel and look of all sorts of fabrics.  Fabric stores and books stores were my greatest shopping temptations.  Lately I seem to find some nice quilting fabric at garage sales of all places.     
     I look forward to getting to know all of you.  I feel like I already know you a little as I've been stalking your blog for a few years now just to keep an eye on Mardie.  Hers and your quilts have been amazing!  
     This will be "sew" much fun!
Emolyn Wilson


Emolyn, and her husband Gordon, have 5 children and (Oh, this will tax my brain...) 15 grandchildren? (Oh, oh... I hope I am right!) They have served several LDS missions. Bolivia as mission president and Argentina as president of the MTC. She collects Teddy Bears and Nativity sets.

I love her dearly. She is amazing.
Welcome, Emolyn!

(I forgot to ask her for a recent picture... I was going to find an old one to embarrass her, but my photo library is failing me.)