I Spy Quilt

This quilt is one of my favorites, but it took a long time to make.  It is about lap size.  I wanted it to be bigger, but I wanted it to be finished even more.

I made this quilt several years ago.  I think it took me a year or more to finish it.  It was a quilt that I had thought about making many time.  I keep telling myself to forget it, because I required so many different fabrics or prints with many different things.  It also wasted a lot of fabric, since holes would be cut all over in it.  Then I saw a yard sale advertised that was fabric only.  How could I resist?  When I got there the lady had a big bag of fabric with holes cut out all over the fabric.  She had made an "I Spy" quilt and was giving her cut up pieces away.  No need to tell you where the scraps went.  I would guess about 1/4 of the hexagons came from that bag of scraps.

Each hexagon is individual cut, so that the desired design are centered as best as possible. This is called "fussy cut".  When sewing hexagons together you have to stop 1/4 inch from each corner so the next piece will fit properly.  That is the part that takes so much time.  FYI - all quilts are sewn with 1/4 inch seam allowances.

Here is another close-up of some of the hexagons.  This quilt was stippled with variegated thread on a quilting machine.

T-Shirt Fabric Scarf

This scarf can be made from a T-shirt.  I had fabric given to me, so I used that. Click here to see the video I sort of watched to learn from.

Here is how I made mine.

 Use a 9" plate for your template.  I tried a 12 1/2" plate originally, but there wasn't enough curl at the top when the piece was help up in the air.

 I used a disappearing ink pen to trace around the plate.

I cut the fabric two layers at at time.  Here is the first set of circles.  I then made a dotted line with the same marker.  I marked my cut lines 2" apart.  Make the line from zero to 2" from the edge a very gradual line.  I went almost halfway around the outside edge before I got to the 2" wide mark.  My first one was too sharp of an angle and it didn't hang nicely.

 Here is my circle after it was cut.

I placed the cut circle on the next section of fabric and cut it out.  I followed the cutting lines by slowly moving the cut piece away while I cut along the edge of the piece of fabric still in place.

 Still working my way around the cutting line. You will need Six spiral cut strips.

Here are my six strips cut.

 I cut another piece of fabric 4" wide and 3" long.

Make two stacks with 3 spiral cut pieces together in each stack and place  the pointed edges so they meet together on the fabric rectangle as shown above.

Fold 1/3 of the rectangle up over the stacked pieces.

Fold the top edge of the rectangle down to meet the bottom fold line.

 Pin all pieces together.

Sew around the edge of the rectangle and again in the center to secure all the pieces together.  The scarf is now finished.

 The completed scarf.

Making Infinity/Eternity Scarves

Infinity Scarf Instructions

Here is the one yard piece of wool I had.  I washed and dried my wool before making this scarf, so I can wash it later and not have it shrink.  I trimmed the ends and cut off the selvage edges and fold.  I ended up with 2 pieces of fabric that were 27" x 35".

Put right sides together (no right and wrong sides on this wool) and sew along the 27" edge. I used the edge of my presser foot as my guide along the raw edge.  This made the seam about 3/8 inch wide.  Then sew another seam closer to the raw edge.  A double seam is needed since the fabric ravels.

Do the same thing again down the long edge of the scarf.  Except start two inches from one end and stop two inches before the next end.

 Here is the long edge sewn.

 Now match the remaining 27" ends and sew them together the same as the other seams.

 Press the seams. Press one edge of the now 3 1/2 inch opening under the width of the seam allowance.

 Insert a narrow piece of Stitch Witchery that is cut the length of the opening.

 Spray with water to get the Stitch Witchery damp.  It won't stay stuck if  it doesn't get wet enough.

 Press until the fabric is dry.

 Here is the finished scarf flat.  It is 13 1/2"wide X 69" long.

Here it is how it will be worn.  I made this extra wide so it would keep my neck warm in the winter.  It can also be pulled up around my ears to keep them warm too.

Another Infinity Scarf.

This is the same size piece of fabric as the wool one.  This is some type of silky fabric that I bought about 10 years ago.  I cut it into thirds instead of half like the wool one was cut.

This was sewn the same as the wool one, except that the second seam was a zig-zag stitch since this fabric unravels even more that the wool.

 Here is the finished scarf folded in half.  It is 6 1/2 " wide by 101" long.

This one will be worn with three loops or maybe even four.

Fishing Lewis & Clark Quilt

This is my third Lewis & Clark quilt.  This one is a wide twin size quilt.  I took one row off of the side and the bottom of the original pattern.

A little bit closer view and a little different angle.  I backed this quilt with a tan full size flat sheet.  I trimmed the sheet to the size needed to back the quilt and have enough to fold to the front for a binding.  I machine stitched the binding with a straight stitch.

Here is a closer view of one of the corners.

 A close-up view of one of the blocks.  These squares and rectangles make a 12" finished block.

 The alternating 12" finished block is one solid piece of fabric.

My mom machine quilted this quilt for me.  The pieced blocks have these three fish swimming in a circle in each of them.

The one piece blocks have these fishing tackle boxes in them.

The borders have these fish in rows along them.

Iris Lewis & Clark Quilt

This is the second Lewis & Clark quilt I made.  This is a queen size quilt.  This pattern is great for fabric with large prints.

Here is a closer view of one of the corners.  The back is a king size yellow sheet.  I trimmed the sheet to the size needed to back the quilt and have enough to fold to the front as a binding.

A close-up view of the blocks.

The squares and rectangles make a 12" finished block.

The alternating 12" finished block is one solid piece.

This is the back side of the quilt showing some of the quilting detail.  My mom machine quilted this for me.

More quilting detail in some of the other blocks.

A close-up of some of the border my mom quilted.

Blue and Pink Floral Lewis and Clark Quilt

This the first Lewis & Clark quilt I made.  This is a queen size quilt.  I love this pattern.  It is very easy.  It was a free pattern on the Internet.  I searched for it today, but I couldn't find it.

Here is a closer view of one corner.  The back is a king size blue sheet.  I trimmed the sheet to the size needed to finish this quilt and folded the sheet to the front side and machine stitched it in place with a decorative stitch.

 Another close-up so you can see the blocks that make this quilt better.

Another close-up.  These squares and rectangles make a 12" finished block.
I put this quilt on my quilting frame.  Pinned it together and took it off the frame.  I quilted it by sewing diagonal lines through the center of each 12" block.  I followed this line from quilt edge to quilt edge.

The alternating 12" finished block is one solid piece.