NICKI'S PRIZES

I spent the entire weekend sewing!  I was in class Saturday from 10:30 a.m., till 4:30 p.m.  Needless to say, I was pooped.  But I learned some cool tricks with Regina Bernina, so I'm really excited!

Sunday, I made Nicki's prizes from the blog giveaway.  Since she was the only person who signed up, I made coasters and my first mug rug.  Still not digging the name "mug rug."  Just sounds weird.  How about "snack coaster?"  Or "mug mat?"  Anyway, the giant coaster/mini placemat turned out REALLY cute.  Totally going to have to make more of those!

Here are the coasters, front and back.  I switched it up a little and used different fabrics for the backs.  Usually, you use one of the fabrics you make the coaster fronts out of, but I ended up with five coordinating fabrics, and I totally had to use them all!

I used gray thread to do the quilting, and this time I used a longer stitch.  It turned out really well!

The backs are so cute!  I love these stripes!  So fun!

And now to the mug mat.  Sorry, just can't do that rhyming thing.  At least not in this case.  Anyhow, I used the two stripes as backing and binding.  Nicki's initials are NH.

Now no one else can walk off with it and claim it's hers!  Nicki really likes the backing.  Love it!

I really enjoyed making this mini quilt.  So easy and so cute!  It was great.  I'm totally going to make more of these.  I think my momma would like one.  And Nicki absolutely loved it all.  She said the fabrics will coordinate PERFECTLY with her living room decor.  She goes, "I can't wait to take them home!"  Yay!

WIPs, WIPs, AND MORE WIPs

Actually, it's just two WIPs.  Two I've discussed before.  And to announce that only one person signed up for my giveaway, and that was my friend Nicki from work.  You've bummed me out, people!

Anyway, here's the first WIP.  It's the Vintage Ribbons Table Runner from Moda Bake Shop that I've been trying to complete for a while now.  Pretty much almost finished other than sandwiching, quilting, and binding.  I have a three-day weekend coming up, so I'm going to do a lot of sewing!

My camera still sucks right now.  I need a new one.  I'm hoping I can talk my sister into upgrading and giving me her old one!  Anyway, I tried a few "high-in-the-air-directly-overhead" shots of my WIPs.  Seemed to work okay.

The above shot is a little wonky, but I think it shows the colors really well.  The pattern called for solids, and I just don't care for them.  At least not right now.  But the binding will be solid red.  I think that will provide some nice contrast.  I added the aqua because my living room colors are red and aqua.  Works really well, I think!

And now to more baby stuff.  I got the top sewn for Eli's ribbon blankie.  It's looks so cute that I turned it into my work computer's desktop background!

How fun is that?!  I used my favorite prints and tried to be as random as I could.  I'm very visual, and therefore I have a really hard time with random patterns.  I can't do it.  I had to throw them all in a bag and pick them.  And I still rearranged quite a few!

COASTER MADNESS -- 50th POST AND GIVEAWAY!

Holy crap!  It's my 50th post!  And I'm having my first giveaway!  So read to the bottom to find out how you can win a cute set of coasters!

Some friends from work, who are engaged to be married, bought a house together earlier this year.  Their house warming is this evening, and last night, I put together a set of coasters for them.

I've made about four or five sets of these coasters since I got Regina Bernina.  Needless to say, they are stinking easy to put together and look pretty darn cute when they're done.  The pattern is the Sidecar Coasters from Connecting Threads.  Very cute.

I have no idea how they've decorated their house, so I went for something that was sort of mod but still has some old-fashioned flair.  Their house is in an older part of Boise, so I didn't want something too modern.  Forgive the fuzzy pictures.  My camera had an encounter with a bottle of coffee creamer a while back.  Don't think it's recovered.

I like these because you just cut stacks -- almost a Stack-and-Whack -- and then simply shuffle pieces and put them back together.  My favorite fabric is the gray with the big yellow dots.  It's the backing because it's the biggest print.  Love it!

And yesterday, I received a present in the mail!  From Allison at Cluck.Cluck.Sew!  My layer cake of Swiss Chocolate.  Yay me!  I'm going to make all kinds of fun stuff with it!  Woo-hoo!

  

For the giveaway, I'll give you a few chances to win a set of six quilted coasters:

1. Leave a comment telling me your favorite fabric collection.
2. Become a follower of the blog and leave another comment letting me know.
3. Follow me on Twitter @hattjam1008 and leave yet another comment letting me know.
4. Like Mad Hatter Quilts on Facebook and leave a comment letting me know.

I'll close the giveaway in five days, Feb. 16, and pick a winner by random number generator!  Thanks!

WHOLE LOTTA CUTTIN' GOIN' ON

Nearly a month ago, I said I was going to my first craft retreat.  Due to crappy Internet service, I've been unable to share everything I got accomplished at that retreat.

One of the big things I got done was my stitch sampler.  I'm in a class to learn all about my new machine, Regina Bernina.  One of our homework assignments, as it were, was to complete a stitch sampler.  I felt pretty lucky compared to most of the ladies in the class -- I only have 85 stitches.  There's one woman who has THE fanciest machine Bernina makes.  She has over 1000 stitches she has to sample.  Whew!  Glad I'm not her!  Anyway, here's the result:

It was a lot of fun to do, and one of my friends, whom I call Crazy, watched over my shoulder the whole time.  I asked her if she was bored at all.  She said no!  Too fun to watch!

And I did a TON of cutting.  I'm 5'10" and I own a very short table on which I cut.  That means I can't cut for long periods of time without getting major back pain.  The house we had the retreat in had a huge kitchen island that was nice and tall.  I set up cutting shop on the island and cut the fabric for an entire table runner for myself.

That's all of it!  It was so nice not to be in pain when I was done with cutting!

After the stitch sampler was finished, I worked on my mom's table runner, which is going to be bargello.  I love bargello, and I've made one before.  It turned out pretty darn good.  So I had a honey bun of Blessings that I'm turning into a runner for Mom.  I already have the tubes finished and ready to cut.

There's four different tubes that I'm going to use.  It's going to be a lot of fun to put together.  I'm even thinking about trying to cut really small strips, like 3/4" to see what happens!  Wish me luck!

And here's an action shot of Regina Bernina because it's awesome!

I'll post pictures of my table runner when it's done -- just have to add the borders and do the quilting and binding!  Woo-hoo!

THANKS, ALLISON!

I'm so excited!  I checked my email this morning and found I won a the Swiss Chocolate giveaway at Allison's blog, Cluck.Cluck.Sew!  How cool is that?!  I picked the layer cake.  Fun times!  Thanks again, Allison!

NAP TIME IN CENTRAL PARK

One of my dear college friends is having a baby boy in May.  Eli has been wanted for years, and we're all so very excited for his arrival.  His mother LOVES green and she's decorating his room with grass painted on the walls, frogs, turtles, etc.  Sounds like a perfect match for Kate Spain's Central Park!

I'm a HUGE Kate Spain fan.  I love her collections.  I'm so excited to play with this one.  Last summer, I made the cutest baby blankie and squishy block for a friend.  I'm going to make an even bigger blankie and a squeaker, squishier block for Eli!  Excitement!  Can I just say that I love the Moda Bake Shop?!

FIRST CRAFT RETREAT!

So, for the first time in my life, I'm headed for a craft retreat!  My dear friend Elena is celebrating her birthday by hosting an all-day crafting bonanza at our friend Robin's great big house.  I work till five, and the crafting/movie watching begins at six.  And because I'm riding with Elena, I had to give her all my stuff last night, including the new sewing machine, which I have now christened Regina Bernina.  Because pretty much anything that costs over $1000 needs a name.  Anyway, I have to say I was a little sad to let Regina go with Elena.  It was kinda like letting a kid leave on his first over-nighter.  'Course, I don't have kids, but . . .

I can't wait to get crafting!  I'm hoping that Robin has a table that's taller than mine, and I can get a TON of cutting done.  That's the part that kills me -- I'm 5'10", and I cut on a really small wooden table.  Can you say, "backache?"  And while I can't afford a new table, I need to get a new cutting mat.  Mine's getting a little brittle.  Hee, hee!  I have honeybun strips to sew into bargello tubes; I have to create a stitch sampler for my machine class (that's project numero uno).  I have fat quarters to cut for this pattern: http://www.modabakeshop.com/2009/10/vintage-ribbons-table-runner.html.  I have charm squares to quarter for tiny baby blocks.  Lots to do!  We're spending the night tonight, then crafting all day tomorrow!  I'm quite excited.  I will post pictures when I come back!

HAVING NICE TOOLS MAKES A DIFFERENCE

Now that I have Regina Bernina, my new 350 PE, I have been sewing like a demon!  It used to be such a fight to sew, but now it's fun to sew again!  I haven't had this much fun since I learned to sew when I was 11!  I've sewed nearly every night since I got the sewing machine.  I've made three sets of coasters, a candle mat, started a table runner, and started three shopping bags.  I'm really excited to sew each time I sit down at the machine.  What a great feeling!

SMELLS LIKE NEW SEWING MACHINE!

So, I finally got a new sewing machine.  I've been balking at sewing for a long time because I was getting very frustrated with my 35-year-old machine.  Can you imagine?  I have been saving up for a new Bernina, a B 350 PE to be precise.  I don't need all that fancy stuff -- yet.  But I wanted a 1/4"-inch foot and some quilting capabilities.  I now have them!

STACKED COINS LAP QUILT

This past weekend, I finally started the stacked coins lap quilt for my youngest sister.  She and her husband, who is back in the country for her graduation, leave for Sydney, Australia, on August 23.  Needless to say, I haven't much time to finish.

However, I did decide to attempt speed piecing, a technique I've seen frequently, but was always scared to try -- I just didn't think I could pull it off.  I pulled it off!

Isn't that a lovely string of coin pairs?  I was so very proud of myself!  I finished all five columns of coins in about three hours.  If I hadn't breaked here and there to talk to my mom or have something to eat, I probably could have done it even faster.

Here's how the columns progressed:

ConnectingThreads.com collections usually only have 20 fabrics in them, so there are repeats in each strip set.  My very orderly brain has a real problem with being random when it comes to design.  Speech, notsomuch, but that's a different blog altogether.  Anyway, I just can't be random, so I decided to make it very rainbow-ish.  And kinda bargello.

Can you tell what my design wall was on Sunday?  Oh yes, it is a closet door.  I have yet to find the perfect wall for my large piece of flannel.  I think it might be on the wall next to this door.  Permanently.

A pattern is emerging!  Of course, it'll be broken up nicely by the sashing, which is also already cut.  That was a pain!  And I brain farted and started cutting the sashing up for the backing instead.  Oops!  Thankfully, I figured out my mistake before it was too late.  Whew!

I love it!  I think it's looks great.  I can't wait to get the sashing done.  I have to square up the strip sets first, but before I do all that, I have to bake a cake for work, cook some ground beef before it goes bad, and go all the way to Pocatello, ID, which is four hours away, for my sister's graduation!  Sheesh!

At least all the coin sets are put together!  And the sashing is cut!  Hooray!