Coffee Cups Cozies and Mug Rugs

I finished up the Teacher Gifts Wed. night for delivery today!

 Four sets of coffee cozy, two mug rugs, plus an assortment and tea and coffee, and one reusable coffee cup.

 You can find the link for the cozy pattern here.  I only loosely followed the directions. 

 I did not use fusible fleece.  Instead I quilted the front of the cozy to just the batting, then sewed the backing and turned.

 I also just used plain elastic instead of hair elastics for the closure.

 The mug rugs are essentially mini quilts at 6" square.  Making and sewing the binding for these is probably what took the longest.

 Guess what?  The sleeves didn't fit the coffee cups I bought.  I almost cursed.  Thus, I will have to make a note in the gifts that they are for takeout cups.  Grrrr.

Camp Pillows

Blog posts may be a bit spotty for the next week.  We are preparing for a Wilderness Camping Trip as a family.  Yep, 4 kids ages 2,4,6,8, me, and Mr. Riley.  It will be either Horribly Wonderful or Wonderfully Horrible.  I'm banking on the latter.

Anyway, one thing about backpacking is that you want as little weight and bulk as possible - so I whipped up some stuff sack fleece pillows for me and the kiddos.

 The idea is that you pack these small, light weight sacks along and stuff them with your own clothes for a pillow at night.

 It's just a piece of fleece about 12" x 26" hemmed, folded, sewn and then 2" of velcro to help hold it closed.

 Mommy's prerogative - two layers of fleece :)  I didn't bother to hem - just zigzagged the edges together.

The next project up: a sleep sack for Si.

WIP Wed 5/23/12

I am here!  Frantically sewing teacher gifts today.

 Why frantically?  Because today is the last day of school

 Can I get four cozies and 8 coasters done before 2:30?

 Probably not.  My back up plan is awards day on Friday!

 Why do I procrastinate?  Why do my children have four teachers when there are only two kids?


Check out more productive people here:

Blogger's Quilt Festival Entry

I couldn't decide which quilt I've finished recently that I wanted to enter in the Blogger's Quilt Festival.  I thought that the Windows Quilt might be visually stunning, but I've decided on the Ruby Hexagon Quilt, instead.

 As part of the entry, I'm supposed to talk about why I made it, why its special, and what I learned.

 I made this quilt for a friend who was expecting her fourth child:  a girl after having three boys!
 She chose a hexagon and diamond pattern and the Ruby line from Moda.  I made it happen.  I did all the math myself! Oy.  But it worked out!  The hexagons were machine pieced into chains and then I hand pieced the diamonds in.

Why do I love this quilt - it is a demonstration of all my quilting skills - including things that I never thought I'd try before.  I really enjoyed the hand piecing parts of the quilt and am thrilled with how much precision you can get!  This quilt has a lot of inset seams!

The backing is flannel and so soft, perfect for a baby girl!  I free motion quilted flowers and leaves with my domestic machine.  A pattern that I made up myself.  The hexagon on the back is the label - we were still waiting for the arrival when I was taking photos of the quilt.

 What did I learn?  Well, I learned how to hand piece, and I think I was pretty skilled at it by the end of the quilt!  Perhaps it was the hand piecing that reinforced the idea that sometimes you have to slow down and take the time to get things right.

 After all the work I put it in, it was definitely one of the hardest quilts to give away - but it couldn't have gone to a better home!
 

Fabric Finds

In general this year my goal has been to only buy fabric for specific needs.  And I've been really good about it.  In fact, until yesterday I had only 'slipped' once.  Let me show you what I found.

 Now, to be fair, I went in on purpose to get the yellow.  There is a lovely little Thrift Store that I have found that regularly has fabric.  Measured and bundled and for a really great deal.  The yellow was labeled 'pieces' $.50.  There are two pieces that put together easily equals a yard of fabric.  I also got the orangey-red.  I've discovered that I would like more solids in my stash.

 Then I spied this one all rolled up and marked 'piece' $.25.  It's at least a fat quarter - yay!  100% cotton by Northcott.

 And four yards of cheater cloth for $4.00.  A pre-made palate for charity quilts!  No information on the selvage, so I've no idea of age.  Put it's pretty - and very useful.

It's fun to find fabric at this Thrift Store.  They bundle them up and sort by color.  Content isn't labeled, so its a bit of a guessing game - but I think I'll have to stop by whenever I'm looking for something.  They even have one cubby full of Christmas fabrics!

WIP Wednesday 5/16/2012

I did not get to the paint yesterday, as Mr Riley is under the weather, as is Miss E.  But that did give me a chance to get some quilting done!

 Number 5 from the pile above is quilted.

 And of course, you've seen my finish of Si's Windows Quilt.

 So, the list:

Tops quilted waiting for binding:

Charity quilt #5

Tops basted:

Charity Quilts #1, 2, 7, 8

Tops completed ready to baste:

Charity Quilts #3, 4
Barn Raising Quilt
Made in Cherry Quilt Along
Pioneer Sampler

Tops waiting completion:

Ombre Quilt
Asian Quilt
Mini Windmills
Lighthouse

Blocks in progress:

Sips of summer
Blueberry Quilt

Finishes: I did finish my hexie projects from last week.  I'm just not quite ready to show you yet!
If you're interested in more pictures of my WIPs you can go here.
Other people's can be found here:


What are you working on today?

Mish Mash: quilts, plates, and paint

A few random things going on here at the Life of Riley

 I found 12 pieces of my china at our local Goodwill last night.  And it was half off!  All this for less than $10.00.  I always check the china area in every antique/thrift shop I'm in since both my everyday dishes and china are vintage/antique.

 I finished 8 quilt tops between Thursday and Saturday nights.  Why the craziness, you ask?  #6 is the quilt that I finished first, it was on last week's WIP list.  Then I read our guild newsletter where they are trying to collect 200 quilts for children whose military parents are being deployed this summer out of Wisconsin.  I really wanted to help, and since I have nothing 'pressing' (we won't talk about teacher gifts) I whipped out some tops.  Actually I find it lots of fun.  I just grab my boxes of fabric, see what I have and see what I can put together.  It also gives me a chance to use some of the novelty prints I wouldn't otherwise use.  You'll see what I mean as I complete them and share.

Three are basted, so far.  They will have to wait one more evening, however.

 I have a date with this upper garage room

 and a large bucket of paint/primer.

 I can't wait to see this project finished!