French press cozy

 

On a recent glamping trip, I discovered a favorite quilt shop had closed. So while visiting another quilt shop in the area, I felt the desire to give it a little extra help staying in business. I purchased 5 fat quarters of fabric. Two of them lighthouse and pebble) were used to make this French press cozy for our trailer. We make French press coffee when we are camping without electricity, and it's always a special treat for me.

 

I made a quilt sandwich and did some free motion quilting, then cut the size and shape I needed and put binding on it. Lastly, I added some Velcro to close it up under the handle. A quick little project that will be fun to use.

Wander quilt for travel trailer

I couldn't resist this "Wander" fabric at JoAnns, so I made it into a quilt for our travel trailer. Finished it just in time for our upcoming glamping trip.

The pattern is Twisted Happy Blocks Quilt, a free pattern from MaryQuilts.com. (Check out her website for some great free quilt patterns.) I adjusted the block size to accommodate my fussy-cut squares. Merwin had a 9" plexiglass square cut for me at a local shop. They only charged him $1, and it was perfect for me to use to square up the blocks.

The quilting is SID and ruler work. I used the Westalee Sew Steady 5.5" Spinning Wheel 36 template to stitch the centers of the blocks.

Knit afghan

I made this afghan for my nephew and his fiancé who will be married in June. In looking at their gift registry, I saw a lot of white, pure white! I hope they like it.

Yarn: Bernat Baby Coordinates (4+skeins)
Weight: Light #3
Pattern: Tilted Block (multiple of 16 stitches +1)
Needles: Circular Size 7

I cast on 187 stitches, knit14 rows of moss stitch for beginning and ending borders, and maintained a 9-stitch moss stitch  border on each side (slipping the first stitch of each row and knitting the last stitch). I used a picot bind off and continued the stitch around the perimeter of the afghan.

Mother's Day cards

For Leslie

(Chart from Lesley Teare "Butterfly Beauties")

Time for Mother's Day cards. Need to get them in the mail. I send them to my daughters and to a friend.



For Emelie

(Chart from Durene Jones "Bird in a Nest")




For Shirley

(Chart from Maria Diaz "Beautiful Bird Cage")

Tissue box cover

I made this tissue box cover for a friend. She made valances with this fabric, so it will coordinate nicely with her décor. I will give it to her for her birthday in June.

I used "stiff stuff" laid flat (cross-shaped) for the basic form and my "slice package opener" to score the top edges where I wanted it to fold. Then I adhered the fabric to it and cut away 1/2" from the edges with my pinking shears. As a precaution, I used fray check around the hole where I cut and clipped the fabric for the opening, and also at the corners where I clipped the fabric.  I used glue stick to hold the fabric where I wrapped it. I then top stitched around the outside edges and around the oval opening. Lastly, I hand stitched the sides together. I'm pleased with the result, and I think my friend will like it, too.

Wander pillow covers for travel trailer

Here are some pillow covers (14") that I made, one for myself and one for a friend (for our travel trailers). I used a technique for angling the corners to make them appear more square. At a seminar I attended recently the presenter showed a large ruler for this purpose. Although I like gadgets and gizmos, I don't like spending that much money on rulers, so I Googled a tutorial and found just what I wanted.

http://www.sew4home.com/tips-resources/sewing-tips-tricks/quick-tip-how-tapered-corners-make-square-pillows

These pillows are made with orphan (leftover) blocks from a quilt I'm working on. I hope to have it finished in the near future.