Small Finishes

It's finally starting to feel like Fall here in New York.  The light is changing and so are the trees.  I've been working on some small items this past few weeks, hoping to get some gifts together.  It's been fun having fast finishes.  Also good for using up some scraps.

A small doll quilt:

Some JETS mug rug/coasters for football season:

And a bunch of key fobs:

Linking up with crazy mom quilts.

LIMOD Improv Scrap Swap

My guild had a secret swap this summer where we all brought a bag of scraps, picked one and had to make anything we choose as long as it used improvisation.  The scraps I received were all Kaffe Fassett which I had never worked with before.  It was a real challenge not having a project in mind to start with.  I 'made' fabric using the scraps and sliced and re-sliced the fabric as I went.  Another challenge was that the scraps varied between warm and cool colors.  Once I had a few improv blocks put together I found a fabric that had the same color in all the blocks.  I decided on a table runner for the final project.

 I made a template in a straight line spiral and quilted each block in a different coordinating thread.

I'm pleased with how it turned out.  I love the improv blocks.  I'd like to go further next time on the layout/design of the project.  I think the blocks and runner make the project more traditional and it would be good to keep the improv style with the whole project, not just the block parts.

And here are my scraps in a totally improv design by Kim of Leland Ave Studios....my scraps never looked go good!

Look at this amazing piecing!

Thank you Kim!

Linking up with crazy mom quilts.

Pincushion Craze

I've seen so many wonderful pincushions with the crazy mom quilts pincushion party.  I couldn't help myself and had to make a few. 

Here's an example using 1 inch (right), 1.25 inch (middle), and 1.5 inch (left) strips with this tutorial.  I made the smaller one first which finished about 3 inches square. Then I tried the 1.5 inch strips, which finished too big at 6 inches square.   I think the perfect size is the middle one which finished about 4 inches square! What do you think?

I made some stacked coins for these two and fussy cut the deer print for one of the backs.  I was inspired by this tutorial.

Check out my pincushion board for more inspiration.  Linking up with crazy mom quilts. 

Botanique Table Runner

This was a quick project for a friend from work who just bought a new house. Her house is very pretty and I knew that she purchased a blue couch for the living room which is open to the dining/kitchen.  This runner matched perfectly and she later told me it was Syracuse University colors, so that was a bonus!

I used Joel Dewberry's Botanique collection and cut five inch squares.  I quilted it on either side of the seams to make a grid.  For the binding I used a Lotta Jansdotter print from Joann. I like how it made a nice pattern on the edges.  I went for an ordered layout instead of random patchwork which really helped the design because the prints are bold.  Check out this post to see the other colorway from this fabric collection. 

Hope everyone who went back to school/work had a great week!

Linking up with Crazy Mom Quilts.