Assembling a Quilt with Long Strips

The “Post-Cuts” quilt blocks have all been sewn together. There were actually enough scraps left from the face masks I’ve sewn to make a queen size quilt!

This quilt is assembled in strips of blocks. The strips measure 88 inches long. All the blocks are 6 inches wide.

There was a time when I would have just sewn all these long strips of blocks together and tried to trim the finished quilt top. Let’s just say that is a disaster. I did that to myself more than once! It’s almost impossible to square up a quilt top sewn from strips of random lengths.

However, take the time to measure each long strip and cut to the desired length and the result will be a perfect quilt. It takes a few minutes but it is so worth the effort.

I marked my floor with two pieces of Washi tape, 88 inches apart. Painters tape works well too. Then I laid down each of the quilt strips and trimmed them to be exactly 88 inches.

Once the strips are trimmed, it is important to pin the strips together before sewing. Put two strips right sides together. Pin the pair of strips at each of the ends first. Then ease the two long strips together, pinning every 5-6 inches. I don’t usually pin anything when I make quilts, but it is very important to pin long strips to prevent one of the layers from traveling during sewing and coming out uneven at the end of the row.

Sew pairs of long strips together. Then sew pairs of paired strips. Continue until the quilt top is done. the quilt comes together quickly in the end.

Checking to see if there were enough strips to for the length needed for a bed quilt. Not even assembled yet, and the dogs already approve!

Mask Scraps Quilt: "Post-Cuts"

In my last post, I talked about some options I was mulling over for making a quilt using the 6” tall left over scraps from making rectangular face masks.

Here’s what I decided.

• The scraps are sorted by colors.

• Three scraps are sewn together and then a 2 1/2 x 6 inch pastel divider strip. It’s very easy to sew this combination. Two scraps are stitched together in a pair, then one scrap and divider strip in a pair. These pairs are then sewn together to keep the colors organized.

I think I prefer the two light blue separator strips. They show up better. But the separator strips are scraps too, so I’m using up what I have. I think I will end up needing to a light blue green strip too.

I’m sewing the sections so that they will be wide enough to make a queen size quilt. But if I don’t have enough scraps to make the quilt long enough, I’ll re-cut the strips. I believe I definitely will have enough to make at least a twin size quilt.

And yes, this is one of those quilts that the dogs will be welcome to sleep on! Nothing precious about this one. It’s just a fun collection off fabrics that are “old friends’and come with lots of happy memories of many previous projects.

How to Use Scraps Left Over From Making Masks to Make a Quilt

I haven’t done any quilting since the beginning of the Stay-at-Home order for COVID-19. But I have been churning out lots of face masks for volunteers of one of the local food pantries to use. I’ve dug deep into my stash of fabrics and have used a wide variety of fabric colors and patterns.

Some of the rectangular masks have been cut from scraps but others have been cut from yardage. Either way, I often end up with a 6 inch tall strip of left-over fabric.

The symmetry of these scraps makes me want to sew a quilt from them. They are sort of like pre-cuts—but not. I’ve taken to calling them my “post-cuts”!

I haven’t decided what to do yet. So I’m more or less thinking out loud in this post. My current plan is to cut standard 6 inch x 2 1/2 inch strips of one solid color to use as a spacer between the prints. Here are some of the ideas I’ve been kicking around.

• Should the spacers come after 2 or 3 prints are sewn together? Or even less often in a row?

• Should the post-cuts be randomly pulled from the bag to create a completely scrappy quilt?

• Should I separate the post-cuts by their colors?

• Should they be grouped by their design—florals, dogs, sports, geometrics?

• What color should the spacer strips be? I’ve pulled out a light yellow. But pink or aqua would be good too. Or should I use a collection of different pastels? Whichever color(s) I choose, the spacer fabric needs to come out of my big stash of solids. Just making do with what I have on hand.

There are so many different ways this scrap quilt could be assembled.

No decisions yet! But I am having fun contemplating all the options!

Who else is making a quilt from mask scraps? Or even just thinking about it?

Peg Dolls: Foxes

Fox peg dolls. I’ve been thinking about making fox peg dolls. And here they are! These are standard boy pegs, 2 3/8 inches tall.

How to make your own fox

• Paint the peg with orange or reddish brown non-toxic watercolor paint. Leave a triangle on the lower 1/4 of the face and an oval on the chest. Allow the paint to dry.

• Paint the lower face and the chest of the fox with non-toxic opaque white acrylic paint. Allow the pain to dry. Paint the tops of the legs. This can also be done after the legs are painted.

• Paint the legs with olive green or dark brown non-toxic watercolor paint. Allow to dry. Paint the feet with black paint. Add the opaque white paint if that wasn’t done in the previous step. Allow to dry

• Seal with beeswax polish. Allow to dry for several hours or overnight. Polish with a soft, dry cloth.

• Using a watercolor brush pen, add eyes and nose.

• Cut two triangles of matching orange or reddish brown wool felt for the ears. Attach with craft glue. (The grid behind the scrap paper pattern templates below is 1 inch square).

• Cut an oblong tail from the same felt as the ears. Cut small cream or white triangles and glue to the tip of the tail. If you drew a template for the ears, it can be used for the white on the tail too. Glue the tail to back of the peg, with the flat edge of the tail at the aligned with the bottom edge of the peg.

Have fun with your new fox friends!

NOTE: Due to their small size and tiny parts, these fox pegs are not appropriate for children under age 3 years.

Sewing Cotton Face Masks: Some Useful Hacks From the Quilting World

There are lots of cotton face mask patterns, tutorials, and videos available so rather than add another tutorial, I thought I’d share some of the hacks I’ve borrowed from my quilting skills that help speed the process, save thread and up-cycle left over quilt bindings.

I mostly sew the “Deaconess” style rectangular face masks, but do also sew some molded masks. These tips can be adapted to both style masks but are probably most helpful for the pleated masks.

I make masks in big batches of 30 to 50, completing each stage on all the masks before going to the next step.

Using a Quarter Inch Foot—a perfect seam guide

• Most sewing machines come with a quarter inch foot. Quilt piecing uses a 1/4 seam. Some quarter inch feet have a raised guide on the right hand side, others create a 1/4 inch seam by stitching along the right hand side of the foot. I’m using the later type of quarter inch foot.

• The rectangular masks can be sewing with a 1/4 inch seams. (Be careful if you are sewing molded masks. My molded mask pattern uses the 3/8 inch seam common in industrial sewing).

Sewing a seam with a 1/4 inch foot. This is the Bernina #37 foot.

Chain piecing—saving thread and time

• Piecing quilt patches, pairs of patches are run continuously through the sewing machine with a couple of stitches between each patch. The chain of pieced pairs will drop off the back of the sewing table in a lovely pile. This saves a lot of thread and it makes piecing a lot faster because there is no need to cut threads, or stop to hold the threads when you sew a new pair of patches.

• I am using “chain sewing” with the masks. Because the masks are stitched around the 4 sides of the mask, you’ll need to cut the masks apart as you sew so that the previous mask doesn’t get in your way. But that turns out to be easy to do. As you turn the corner on the new mask, the previous mask will flip around to the left of your machine and the connecting threads can be snipped. It just takes a second to stop and do that.

Note the thread connection between these two masks. This should be snipped at this point to separate the two masks.

Using a Walking Foot to Edge Stitch the Pleated mask

• This is my favorite quilter hack. I found it really challenging sewing over the pleated in the mask with a regular foot. Those pleats are 6 layers of fabric. So I put a walking foot on my machine and suddenly sewing was smooth sailing.

• The walking foot helps to pull the piece through on the top, augmenting the pull of the feed dogs under the piece. Walking feet are used to do straight machine quilting.

Edge stitching the pleated mask with a walking foot

Ear Savers from Left over Quilt Bindings—A fun and useful up-cycle

• There is almost always some left over binding after a quilt is finished. It’s the perfect width to sew an “ear saver”. If a mask is worn for a long time, the elastic tends to make the back of the ears very sore. The buttons on the ear safer take the pressure from the ear elastic, giving the ears a much needed break.

• Cut a binding remnant 13 inches long. Turn the short raw edges under 1/4 inch. Fold the remnant in half and edge stitch all for sides of the binding.

• Sew on 2 large buttons. 3/4- 1 inch buttons are perfect.

Ear Saver from made from a quilt binding remnant.

Thank you for sewing face masks, whether for an organization or for your friends and family! I hope some of these tips are useful in your sewing!

Peg Dolls: Front Line Medical Staff

Like lots of quilters and sewists during this COVID-19 pandemic, I’ve been sewing cloth face masks. I thought it would be fun to make some for peg dolls too. I initially tried making pleated cloth masks, but they were just too small very difficult to sew. So I switched to wool felt, the traditional material for peg doll clothing.

So here are my new friends. You decide if they are doctors, nurses, respiratory therapists, medical assistants, x-ray techs or whoever else might be.

These are extra large 3 1/2 inch tall peg dolls.

If you want to make some for yourself, here’s how to do that.

Paint the doll with non-toxic paint. Allow the paint to dry completely. See this post for some information on painting wooden peg dolls.

Mask

• Cut a square of wool felt, 1 inch square.

• Fold it in half and stitch the long open end closed. I used the sewing machine but hand sewing is fine too. Then edge stitch the folded side.

• Cut a piece of 1/8 inch elastic 4 inches long. If you squeeze the two long sides together, a “tunnel” will open and the elastic will slip through easily. Tie a square knot and pull it tight. Slip the knot into the center of the mask.

Surgical cap

• Cut a piece of wool felt 1 inch x 2 3/4 inches. On ONE side, stitch a running gathering stitch. If you machine stitch do NOT lock either end of the stitching.

• Pull the thread on BOTH ends to gather it as tight as you can. Tie a knot to keep the cap gathered.

• Turn the cap inside out so that the gathering will be on the inside.

• Using a doll that has already been painted, glue the hat to the head using a craft glue.

As dedicated as our medical friends are, and as much as they like their work caring for the sick and injured, it’s always good when the shift is over and they can go home to their families.

“Bye!” “See you later!” “Hi to the kids!” “Have a great day off!”

Thank you medical staff everywhere!

Simple Knitted Wig for a Waldorf Type Baby Doll

In my post of March 5, 2020, I discussed knitting a wig for a tiny Waldorf Type baby doll. It worked really well for doll whose head from forehead to crown measured 1 inch. But would the same technique work for larger Waldorf Type baby doll. The answer is a resounding—YES!

I used Smooth Mohair Doll Hair Yarn for both the tiny doll and this big boy, knitting with US size 3 straight knitting needles. I made the wigs by knitting a straight piece (like a scarf) to the length that fits from the where the ear would be on one side to where the ear would be on the opposite side.

I cast on 8 stitches for the tiny doll. This doll’s head, from forehead to the posterior crown of his head measured 4 inches. The tiny doll’s head had measured 1 inch, so I figured I could simply make this big doll’s wig 4 x larger. So I cast on 32 stitches. As I was knitting, it was quickly clear that there was a lot more stretch in 32 inches than there was in only 8 stitches. I had to start over twice before I got the correct number of stitches. Unfortunately, I’ve lost the scrap of paper I used to keep notes as I was working, but the final stitch count was between 24 and 28 stitches.

If you knit a doll wig, your stitch count may be different because everyone’s knitting varies a bit. Knit a sample, hold it up to the doll’s head and see how it fits.

Once the wig is the length needed (check by draping the knitting over the doll’s head, from side to side, NOT front to back), bind off.

Fold the knit piece in half and slip stitch the two halves together, just on ONE of the folded ends. This creates a little hood that fits nicely on the doll’s head. Pin the wig along the forehead and mold it bit as needed along the sides and back to make a natural hair line. Attach the wig to the doll’s head using sewing thread in a matching color and a regular needle.

If you find that the back of the wig at the top of the head was a little loose and has a little point, use the sewing thread and needle and take a couple of stitches to tack down the wig where it feels loose. A couple tacking stitches at the top of the head should be all that’s needed.

To give the doll a cow lick, take a piece of scrap yarn and threaded a yarn needle. Run needle and yarn through the peak of the stitched end of the wig and come back out about a stitch away. Cut the yarn about 2 inches long and tie a knot. Trim to the the length you want.

To give him bangs, thread a needle with a little looped piece of yarn. Run the needle into the front edge of the wig, leaving the loop loose. Using the needle, bring the 2 strands of yarn back through the loop, pulling it tight.

Looking down at the top of the head at the knitted wig

Finally gently brush the mohair wig with a wire dog brush to fuzz up the mohair. The mohair will undoubtedly felt some with lots of play. That’s to be expected. And it’ll still be cute.

Newborn Size Waldorf Type Baby Boy

Here’s Linc! He’s my newest newborn size Waldorf Type Baby dolls. He is based on a pattern found in Sewing Dolls by Karin Neuschutz. I altered the pattern slightly so that he will fit in commercially made baby clothes. His torso is a bit longer, his arms a bit narrower, and his feet a bit longer than the pattern in the book.

He is weighted with glass doll weighting beads. This is the third doll I’ve weighted using glass beads. I’ve found that making a couple little bead-filled cloth packets works well. A pair of weighted bags fit nicely into the bottom of the doll’s torso.

His hair is a knitted wig. I was really curious to see if the type of knit wig I made for a tiny doll works for a really big one. It does! More about that in my next post.

I just had to give him some eyelashes. Baby boys always have the best eyelashes. (I don’t put any eyelashes on my baby girl dolls).

Linc is a cutie—he looks like a real boy. He’s gonna steal some hearts!

Here is another photo of Linc and one of him with Lillibelle so you can see a boy and girl together.

Linc is wearing truck shortalls from Carter’s.

Linc and Lillibelle with a bunny cake made by my neighbor. I designed the pattern and made the dress Lillibelle is wearing. Linc’s shirt and pants are a thrifted outfit.

Knitting: "Little Jenny Wren Pinafore"

I really like this sweet knit pinafore designed by Jennifer Marshall. The pattern “Little Jenny Wren Pinafore” is available on Ravelry. She designed this pinafore for the Waldorf type Little Jenny Wren Dolls which she makes.

The turquoise pinafore has a simple stockinette bodice and border. The yellow pinafore has a seed stitch bodice and border. While the seed stitch may look complicated, it is simply created by knitting one stitch and purling the next across each row (K1 P1). You just need to pay attention to keep the the pattern consistent.

This pinafore is a great “next project” for someone who has already learned to knit and purl and wants to make something besides a scarf. The pinafore is small and knits up quickly so it’s perfect for a child. And it’s fun to make a new outfit for a doll It’s a perfect activity for these days when children are out of school due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

I don’t have a Little Jenny Wren Doll, so the dolls modeling the pinafores are from Bamboletta.com. I used the pattern for a 12 inch doll for both these pinafores. The pattern fit the chubby baby but was a bit too big for the leaner Cuddle down. So I went down a needle size for the Cuddle doll. I think I was also probably using a slightly heavier weight yarn than the pattern specified. As always, it’s good to make a test swatch to check your stitch count. (Something I confess I really don’t enjoy doing).

Felted Sheep from a Kit

One of the great things about the current Stay-at-Home order to try to contain the COVID-19 virus is having some time to try some new crafts. I decided to try needle felting.

I’ve made felted balls in the past but never have made any any felted animals. I decided that it might be good idea to use a kit initially. I chose the Woolpets Standing Sheep kit which I purchased from A Child’s Dream. It’s listed as intermediate in difficulty, but I figured that it would be fine given my experience handling wool roving to make Waldorf type dolls.

I do agree that this is an intermediate kit, not a beginner kit, because you do need to be able to finesse the loose roving a bit. But it’s definitely not difficult!

You’ll need a foam felting pad * which isn’t included in the kit. Other than a bit of black thread, the kit has everything to make one sheep, including the felting needles. There is enough wool roving to make at least two sheep, but just there is just one (silent) bell in the box. I was able to make this cute sheep in a couple of hours one afternoon.

The website recommends this kit for children age 10 and older. The felting needle is very sharp. Despite trying to be very careful, I did accidentally poked myself a couple times. OUCH!!

(* The loose wool roving is felted using a special needle that you move back and forth in the wool. The foam felting pad goes under your work. It’s there to help hold your work and also there to take the needle coming through so your good table doesn’t end up looking a termite came for a visit!)

Here are some more photos. Like many of my Waldorf type dolls, her head is turned slightly to her right side (I have no idea why that happens). I think it makes her look like a quizzical sheep! I love that!

Woolpets has a website where you can find a variety of different kits and other supplies.

Notice: This blog is not monetized: I do not use affiliate links. When there are links in a post, they are to give credit to another creative person, because I like or have used a product, or to help the reader easily find supplies for a project.

"Snowflake" Quilt Completed

Spring has arrived and my version of Nicole Daksiewwicz’s quilt “Snowflake” is finally done!

Look back to my post of February 20, 2020, to see more about this quilt and how I pieced the background.

I used a walking foot to quilt it. Because of the varied block sizes in my background, there was a lot of stopping and restarting. I quilted along the seams of the blocks in the background but ran long lines of stitching through the white snowflakes. I followed the angles of the white blocks which created lots of intersecting lines. So the snowflake has lots of interest and texture.

It took me almost a week to quilt this lap quilt. I had lots of “are we done yet?” moments. But the end result was worth the tedium.

Quilting detail of snowflake. And yes, the diagonal lines are intentionally asymmetric.

So, it was a lovely warm March day when I took the photos shown. But I couldn’t resist adding a couple photos taken a few days later, the day I wrote this post! Gotta love Spring in New England!

“Snowflake” quilt on a snowy day!

And this one…just to be show it really is snowing!

This was a great project. But if I ever make it again, the background blocks will all be the same size to make the quilting easier.

This pattern and other patterns designed by Nicole Dakseiwicz, and be found at her website, Modern Handcraft.

Notice: This blog is not monetized: I do not use affiliate links. When there are links in a post, they are to give credit to another creative person, because I like or have used a product, or to help the reader easily find supplies for a project.

Farm Girls Waldorf Type Dolls

Having been gifted, now I finally get to show these two cuties who I made earlier this year. Both these Waldorf Type dolls were made using a pattern in Making Waldorf Dolls by Maricristin Sealey.

These dolls are the classic Waldorf type dolls. The torso and legs of these dolls are constructed using a single pattern piece. The legs are not sewn on separately. Classic Waldorf type dolls don’t usually sit very well, but I don’t stuff them tightly and try to leave a bit of ease in the hand stitched leg “joint” so they will sit with some encouragement!

Both these dolls have dresses made from 1930s reproduction feed sack fabrics, and have aprons to coordinate. It took me a couple tries to get it right but I finally found straw hats that fit their heads.

They were so much fun to make. The doll at the top of the post was donated to yearly charity event called HAIRraising, which raises funds for Children’s Hospital, Boston. The event is scheduled for April 26, 2020. If you are interested in purchasing raffle tickets* for this doll or a tiny 5” baby doll (see photos below) you can contact the salon Stilisti Boston. Due to the COVID-19 virus pandemic the salon itself is currently closed until March 28, 2020 but you can reach them via email at info@stilistiBoston.com.

Here’s her cousin! The doll below, wearing the brown dress, was a gift for a friend.

13 inch Waldorf Type Doll

Here’s the 5 inch tiny Waldorf Type Baby doll which is also being raffled HAIRraising to benefit Children’s Hospital, Boston. She comes with her carry cot, a sleep sack, a dress and a sun suit.

*NOTE: I donated these two dolls, but I am not involved with the actual raffling of items.

Altering the "Springtime Top" to make it a Dress

I friend sent me this fabric showing a London scene, hoping I could make this border print fabric “Britannia” into a dress for her daughter. I had exactly 1 yard—less actually a little less because once it was washed and sized, I lost about a inch getting the grain of the fabric straight.

I really like the “Springtime Top” pattern in the book Little One-Yard Wonders by Rebecca Yaker and Patricia Hoskins. But this child likes dresses NOT tops and pants. So I needed to make this a dress.

For size 4T I cut across the two skirt pattern pieces at about the mid-point and added 4 inches to the length using a piece of paper. The pattern pieces won’t all line up with the added section, so line up the sloping side of the 2 cut pattern pieces. Using a ruler, draw a line to connect the sloped side of the pattern. You’ll need to add another piece of paper to pattern to redraw the straight “Cut of fold” line for the now wider bottom half of the pattern.

I then added 2 inches of width to both the front and back skirt patterns to make the dress a bit fuller. I did that by pinning my pattern piece 1 inch away from the fold before I cut it. You could also add a 1 inch strip of paper to the pattern on the “cut on fold’ side before you pin the pattern on the fabric.

I didn’t need to make any changes to the bodice of the pattern.

It just took two simple alterations to make this top into a super cute summer dress.

Knit Wig for a Tiny Waldorf Type Doll

A lot of Waldorf type dolls have hair that is a cap crocheted with mohair yarn for doll making. But there are some makers who knit wigs. I probably could crochet a wig but I’m much more comfortable knitting. So I decided to try knit a wig for this tiny 5 inch tall Waldorf type baby doll. There’s a pattern for a knit wig on the sleeve of De Witte Engel mohair boucle doll yarn but it creates little pseudo pig tails and I just wanted a smooth wig. So I decided to try and make my own pattern.

I used smooth mohair doll hair yarn. ThIs doll has a 4 inch head circumference (measured around the head at eye level).

Here’s what I did:

Using size 3 US knitting needles, cast on 8 stitches. Using a garter stitch knit until the piece is long enough to reach from chin level on one side of the face to chin level on the other side of the face. (I didn’t count rows, I just checked the knitting on the doll until it was the right length). Bind off.

Fold the rectangular knit wig in half the long way. Sew the two halves together on just one side, leaving the other side open. Fit the wig on the doll’s head. The sewn seam should be at the center back of the head. Pin the wig around the face and around the back of the lower head. Adjust as needed. Once you are happy, sew the knit wig to the doll’s head with a tiny running stitch with cotton thread.

The bangs are several scraps of yarn that I sewed to the doll’s head before I put the knit wig on the doll’s head.

This worked beautifully for this tiny doll. I’m wondering if there might be a bit of a point a the upper back edge of the wig with a bigger doll, but I haven’t tried it, so I don’t know.

Life size and Tiny Waldorf Baby Dolls

Here are two dolls that I made in the past week. They are the largest and smallest Waldorf-type dolls that I’ve ever made. They are both baby dolls.

The tiny baby is 5 inches tall. You can read more about tiny babies in my February 6 post. The doll pictured above is the second tiny baby I’ve made. I got some mohair doll hair yarn and knit a wig for her. (More about that in my next post).

I remember saying a year ago that I’d never make a life size Waldorf doll. But when I found a great pattern in a book that was already on my shelf, I figured it would be fun to try. The pattern “Olga and Ollie” can be found in Sewing Dolls by Karin Neuschutz.

My doll is the size of an average newborn,. She is 20 1/2 inches long with a head circumference of 14 1/2 inches. I used glass doll beads to weight her and she weighs in about 3 lbs.

I did alter the pattern in the book so that purchased baby clothes will fit her. Here’s what I changed.

• I lengthened the torso of of the doll pattern one inch so that a purchased one piece snap play-suit will fit perfectly.

• I lengthened her foot by an inch so that she can fit into newborn size socks and shoes

• I lengthened her arms 3/4 inch

• I trimmed a bit off the width of both the thigh and the upper arm. The pattern made a doll that was just a bit too chubby for a newborn.

As you can guess, half the fun of having life size baby is being able to dress her! She is just about a perfect NB size. Though maybe her legs could be 1/2 inch shorter!

Despite saying I’d never make a doll this large, I had so much fun doing it! Here’s another photo of this doll and a picture of the first newborn size doll I made a couple weeks ago.

Checking out the snowdrops

The first life size Waldorf baby doll I made

"Snowflake" Quilt

The sky was dark with an impending storm as I sewed the last two rows of the “Snowflake” quilt together. I hurried and ran outside and hung it up on the not-quite-tall-enough-fence to get a photo before the weather hit. It seemed appropriate to be photographing this quilt on a February day when the sun wasn’t shining!

This quilt pattern called “Snowflake” was designed by Nicole Dakwiewicz and is available for purchase on her website, MODERNHANDCRAFT.com. You really do need the pattern to make this quilt. More than once I got lost in the design, even with the pattern right in front of me! But don’t worry, that was just me—the pattern is well written.

Nicole has instructions for 3 variations: One-color (plus white) , Three-color (plus white), and Scrappy.

I picked the One-color version but planned to use a stack of blue and green fabrics. But I didn’t want to have a background of squares like the scrappy version. I struggled with how to use my collection of fabrics, but eventually choose to improv-piece the background, using pieces cutto similar sizes as pieces found in and around the white snowflake. It took me a lot more time, but I really like it. This is a very popular quilt pattern, but the background makes this quilt uniquely mine,

As you might image, there are a lot of quirky seams in this quilt. In each large block I pressed some seams to one side, spun some of them like a four-patch block, and opened some of the seams flat (as in garment sewing), trying to get a the flatest block possible. But in the final quilt assembly, I ended up with a number seams that just couldn’t be nested. If I made this quilt again, I would press all the seams open. I almost never do that with quilts, but I think that will give the best results in this pattern.

I found a great blue fabric with a large linear design for the quilt back. Still thinking about how to quilt it!

Snow in the Quilting Forecast

There hasn’t been much snow here this winter …. yet!! But there is definitely something snowy coming along on the sewing machine!

I found a great pattern that is perfect for some beautiful stashed fabric which was a gift: the spiraling dots on a varigated background in the central half square triangle above.

I should have more to show you next week!

Tiny Waldorf Baby Doll and Carrier

A friend wanted a tiny Waldorf type doll for her daughter so I decided to draft a pattern for one. This tiny baby doll is just 5 inches tall. That’s about as little as I can imagine making a doll! It’s definitely a great way to use up odd bits left from making bigger Waldorf type dolls!

The carrier is based on a pattern in the book, Making Waldorf Dolls, by Maricristin Sealey. I downsized the smallest size carrier to fit this little doll. I used leftover quilt binding to finish the raw edges on the carrier. I sewed the binding on before I cut out notches to create the sides of the carrier. The book has all the details about how to make the carrier.

Here are some more photos. I made her two dresses and one sleep sack. And a very tiny pink peg doll so this doll will have a tiny baby of her very own!

Because the hand stitching is a bit lumpy around her shoulders think I’d try to sew her arms in by machine the next time. I also a little length to the legs in my pattern.

Overall, I’m pleased with my experiment.

Gnome and Rainbow Strip Quilt

This is a fun quilt I made for a child who loves forest animals, happy gnomes and rainbows.

It’s an fast and easy quilt to make. It could easily be a weekend project.

I cut 2 1/2 inch strips WOF (width of fabric) from my stash Kona ® Cotton fabric. I added prints where I needed additional colors. I actually think that makes the quilt much for interesting.

The gnome fabric is a Spoonflower print “Gnome Sweet Gnome” by Lisa Kubenez. I fussy cut the strips to get as many as I could from the yard of fabric (5 strips) which meant trimming off bits of the design. But I cut the center strip slightly wider to include the full motif. I wanted to see the entire design at least once in the quilt.

The quilting is primarily straight walking foot quilting across the strips. I added decorative quilting in the top and bottom strips of the quilt and in the red patches I used to lengthen the gnome fabric to match the length of the other strips.

The quilt has gone to it’s new home and is already a much beloved item!

Birds and Prairie Style Blocks Quilt Completed

Here’s the finished Charlie Harper © “Bird Architects” with the Prairie Style Blocks quilt. I’m really pleased with how it all came together.

I was initially baffled about how I was going to quilt the symmetrical prairie style blocks and the large fussy cut bird blocks. I ended stitching in the ditch between the large blocks and around the bars and central diamond in the prairie blocks. Then I switched to a pale yellow thread and stitched long lines like sunbeams across the quilt catching all the bird blocks and bits of the prairie blocks.

I did those long stretches of walking foot stitches along stripes of painters tape stuck to the quilt. I’ve used in in previous quilts for diagonal stitching and it works beautifully. Just be careful to stitch alongside the tape, not through it!

Two tips if you want to give stitching along painters tape a try.

1. Don’t try to apply more than 2 strips at a time. The strips tend to lift off the quilt and stick to each other when you are quilting.

2. Apply the tape, stitch the quilt, and promptly remove the tape. It’s a stitch-and-go technique. Even when used for painting, the tape isn’t supposed to stay on the wall for long periods.

Painters tape on the quilt, providing guideline for stitching on the diagonal.

I was amused when my birdy field-line English Springer Spaniel took a liking to this quilt!

My Springer napping on the quilt while I was basting it

The back of the quilt…with my field Springer photo-bombing the shot!

(The Charlie Harper © “Bird Architects” fabric I used is apparently no longer available by the yard on The Charlie Harper Art Studio website but some may be found “in the wild” with an internet search).

The Pairie Style Blocks are “Cross 7” from the Electric Quilt 8 Block Library.