Sally Said Sew

I don't even remember turning twenty. Years of age, that is. But I recently completed a quilt for my other granddaughter, Courtney, that feels like it took twenty years to finish. I used one of the Turning Twenty patterns but instead of using twenty fat quarters, I did a smaller size with twelve. This is a quilt that made me want to pull out my hair from the get-go. At least it is finished and shipped off to Courtney to enjoy. I called this one Skittles because the colors in the fabric reminded me of the candy. Skittles

I whipped up another Quilts Beyond Borders donation, this time using fleece as the backing and no padding. I like the pattern the quilting made, but I am not sure is the quilt is heavy enough. I am sure it can be put to good use though.   Quilts Beyond Borders #3 Stitch Detail on Fleece Back

My mom sent me a quilt top and all of the fixins' to quilt together on my Voyager machine. I had a few issues but still good practice. I found I prefer to use an 80/20 batting. It is less puffy and easier to work with than the poly I received. Good to keep learning these things! Plus I enjoy seeing the tops my mom makes! I believe she is calling this one "Boxes of Treats for Someone Sweet". Loaded on the Frame Close up view of a Block Finished Quilt

My sister, Karen, came for a visit over the Fourth of July holiday. We got the biggest kick out of our similar purses we each had made. You'd would have thought we planned this but nope. Just genetics kicking in, I guess. Sisters (mine on the left, Karen's on the right)

I volunteered to make and donate two quilts for Quilts Beyond Borders , a charity that provides quilts to children in underserved areas of the world. I found this group through my Yahoo! Hinterberg Quilters group. I thought this would be a perfect way to practice on my new Voyager longarm quilting machine. My first two quilts are finished and ready to send. I found the Dr. Seuss themed fabric on the 50% off rack at the Bay Window Quilt Shop in Perham, MN. The inspiration was a panel that was supposed to be made into a soft quilted book, but instead I inset the "pages" into a quilt using Izzy's Quilt Pattern by Katie Hennagir. I made the border around the panels wider to get a bigger overall size suitable for the QBB quilts. Are these perfect? No, but for the children who receives one, I'm sure they will think it's perfect. That is all that counts! Plus, the experience I gained using my "new" machine was well worth the effort involved. Quilts Bey...

Hot off the sewing machine is my latest project - the Barbados bag by Pink Sand Beach Designs . My local quilt shop in Twisp had some great western themed fabric that I chose to use. This pattern, while it turned out a nice product, was a PITA to follow. Sorry PSBD, but it needs some work.  I had several instances where I pinned the seam to simulate sewing before doing the actual stitching because the directions did not make sense or seem to match the accompanying photos. I do like the bag however. It has an outside zip pocket, another front pocket behind it, two pockets on the back, and two pockets inside the fully lined interior. It is a nice size, too. The finished size is 10" wide by 10-1/2" tall. I still need to finish the zipper pulls. Think I'll hit up a craft shop back in MN for something decorative. Otherwise the fall back idea is to take a piece of leather lacing and make zipper pulls out it . Front of Purse Back of purse with two pockets Inter...

Sometimes you come across a quilt kit or piece of fabric that you know will be perfect for someone. That happened to me not too long ago in my "home away from home" quilt shop in Perham, Minnesota. I went into Bay Window Quilt Shop looking for something else but no sooner had I walked in the door when I passed by a new display of fabrics from Shelly Comiskey for Henry Glass Fabrics called Bee Happy . They had a couple of quilt kits cut and ready to go with an accompanying free pattern. It caught my attention and I thought of Heather, my friend and owner of The Quilting Hive in Twisp, WA. She always has a bee-themed fabric in the shop but I hadn't seen this line on my last visit. I bought the kit and enough fabric for backing and set to work on the quilt. It was going to be a gift for her. Using my inexpensive Brother machine in my hotel room, I was able to assemble the quilt top in no time. Then using the same machine (which was a bit more challenging), I quilted the ...