doll quilts throughout the year

Last year I joined up with the Doll Quilt Monthly club where I was allowed to make little quilts for a great group of ladies. Every month we were given a theme. You could roll with it, or not. That all depended on your partner. So far, I have had very easy-going, uncomplicated partners that have made some very stunning quilts.

I wanted to share with you the beauty and warmth I have received. Here are a few of my favorites!

 Lynn - "Diamonds are Forever"

"Citrus" from Julianne

"Pieces of my Heart" from Sher

"Through my Window" 

from Paula from Mud, Pies and Pins

"Stars and Stripes" 

from Vickie at Creative Notions

These ladies really deserve a great round of applause! They made some very fantastic quilts that I will cherish forever! Thank you!

Now, I would like to hear from you. What do you like and dislike about quilt swaps? Please share you thoughts with us!

let your kids go crazy

Last week was fall break in school, so the kids were with me all week. No vacation was planned, and we didn't go anywhere, the entire year. I will have to put that on my list for 2014. ;-) So, I tried to concentrate on housework and getting things back into order. I should put a cleaning lady on my list as well. My eight-year-old son told me that he wanted to sew! How cool is that? So, instead of taking one of his previously started projects out, I thought of a new one. I grabbed my tote of Christmas fabrics and taught his how to go crazy. He loved it.

He wanted nine blocks in his quilt, so we agreed on a 6 x 8" block, 2 x 3 rows. I cut a few foundation blocks, and we got started. My son really enjoyed picking out the fabric and making sure that we only used the fabric once in each block. He also understood the concept of contrast. It wasn't always easy to understand how to sew on the patch so that the first piece was completely covered, but I also had problems there. We managed to get one block done, and then he decided he wanted to pick out the fabrics, iron them and position them; it was my job to sew them on.

We now have four out of nine blocks, and I am looking forward to getting the other five finished, and that before December! He will have his first ever X-Mas quilt that he can share and remember - Mom and I made this one together.

I know a lot of you sewing fanatics have young children at home, and I would really like to encourage you to teach and share with your children this technique. It is great to use up those scraps (it doesn't have to be for Christmas either). It also doesn't matter if the sewing lines are 1/4" or 1/2"; they just have to be relatively straight.

Start with a small project similar to the one below using 6.5 x 8.5" unfinished blocks. The final size will be about 17 x 19 inches and a great size for a wall hanging, placemat, doll quilt, center piece or tote. Teach your kids how to sew, how to rip a seam, how to iron (correctly), and so on.

If you accept this challenge, I would love to see what you came up with, and we will have a little contest - first, second and third place winners. I look forward to hearing from you.

Get your patch on!
Karen