This and That

Bella's House

 

I made this quilt last year and finally got it quilted. I put the binding, rod pocket and label on Sunday and then photographed it in the sunshine on my deck. Yes, that pot of flowers is huge. Bought by my husband who is very tall and only does things big and tall. (That's why I have to label certain shelves in the kitchen with: Debby can't reach this shelf!)

The quilting was done by Kathy Gray - she did an awesome job!

Another quilt I got quilted recently is what I call Stars and Hexagons. No set-in seams. I love how wonderful a simple two color quilt looks. I'm hoping one or both of these get picked up by a magazine sometime soon. I'm keeping my fingers crossed!

Stars and Hexagons

While I am home for 2 weeks between shows, I am so busy with getting all my patterns and kits ready for my last two cities. I have family things going on and am trying to enjoy the last of the autumn sunshine. I really want to sew some new ideas.

Of course, I can't wait for the "For the Boys" hop next week. I have been enjoying the Wicked Hop but have been intermittent about visiting all the fabulous blogger sites. Work has to come first or I can't pay the rent, right?

Hope you enjoyed seeing some finishes I've gotten to. I can't wait to hang these up where I can see them (at least one will go in my sewing room).

Wicked Hop - Scary Things Go Bump in the Night

Nothing scary here for my grandson Miles

As a parent of 3 little girls (in the 1980s), I did not want to create nightmares for them - and sleepless nights for me and my husband - so we banished anything remotely related to frightening, scary or wicked when they were young. Hard to do with our Halloween-crazy culture. I feel the same way for my little grandsons. Hence, I searched high and low for a Halloween print that didn't have scary images - only cute ones. Love this fabric with dogs and cats (and yes, bats).

What did I do with it? Why, a little pillowcase! But I only had a fat quarter, but it's not enough; what to do?

Front of simple pillowcase; notice the orange rick rack

Found another piece of fabric (no scary images) and extended the animal print around to the back:

Notice how the front fabric peeks around to the back. I used EVERY SINGLE INCH of both.

I decided to make another pillowcase for Halloween. This uses a cat applique I had in one of my box calendars (I think from 2007):

Pillowcase: size of a travel pillow

Found an orange, green and black striped fabric for the main body. Added some leaf trim. And these glittery, scary spiders are from last year's Wicked hop.

Took a piece of black fabric and added fusible webbing to wrong side . . .

Drew the applique onto freezer paper, ironed it to black fabric, and cut out

Peeled off freezer paper for the simple shape

Used a simple zigzag stitch to join it to center of pillowcase fabric

Added a fussy cut owl motif to back of pillowcase. How do I get rid of these spiders?

Yes, these are very simple projects. I'm traveling again and sewing time is precious. But pillowcases are such fun for my grandson - he loves all the novelty print ones I send.

Would you like the black cat applique? I thought so. Here is the link to download a small pdf of the pattern:

Black Cat Applique Pattern

I'd like to thank Wendy and Mdm Samm for hosting and cheering on this hop.

Now it's time to HOP on over to my fellow bloggers to see what wicked things they have brewing! I share today's list with:

Tea Time Creations

Moosestash Quilting

More Stars in Comanche

Shape Moth

Selina Quilts

Debby Kratovil Quilts - (you are here)

Elizabeth Coughlin Designs

Robin’s Fabric Nest

Craft Nurse Quilt

Quilt Doodle Designs

Just Quilt It

Knitty Kitty Does Crochet - Technique Tuesday

Knitty Kitty Collection by Kanvas for Benartex Fabrics

I've done another tutorial for Benartex for their Sew in Love with Fabric blog. It's all about kitties, but I had to change the theme just slightly. I don't knit! These kitties are wearing knitted sweaters. But I can crochet, and so my theme is all about crocheting. So we have to imagine they are wearing crocheted sweaters.

Take a visit to the blog site and see what all the meow-ing is about.

Visit their Facebook page (those of you who have Facebook accounts) and let others know what you think of those kitties. Now, you have to know I am a DOG PERSON. But kitties are just fine with me, too.

This is Belle, just catching a few winter rays on the back porch.

There is a giveaway for those who hop on over to Sew in Love with Fabric and then come back to tell me what you thought. I have a bundle of fat quarters for the giveaway. I used every single inch of the fat quarter of the main kitty print, so I have none of that to share. But the other prints are mighty fine!

6 fat quarters of Knitty Kitty by Kanvas for Benartex Fabrics

Contest is over at midnight Sunday, October 20 (Eastern time, USA). I am on the road again, this time in Ft. Worth for 4 days, so I will mostly remain silent, except to the students in my 5 classes!

Sometimes Big is, Well - Big!

Blue Plate Special with prairie points between the wedges

First, just to let you know, I did have a winner in my Batiks Hop Giveaway last week. Jeanie of Ft. Wayne, IN won the bundle of 20 batik strips (2-1/2"). Congratulations Jeanie!

Now to the BIG blocks I've been working on. I super-sized my Dresden Ruler from an 8" height to 12" and cut out these wedges from the new Raj Collection by Windham Fabrics.

Raj Collection by Windham Fabrics

This makes for a very, very BIG  block. From tip to tip, this circle of 20 wedges measures 24". I appliqued it to a 30" square background fabric. I think it's a WOW block, don't you?

What else did I make using my larger ruler? (I only have my prototype; haven't ordered them yet for my classes in the Spring)

Flirty 30 Buzz Saw; another 24" center.

I set it into a curved background and then added a center circle. There are other rulers on the market that make this sort of wedge shape, but there is a LOT of fabric waste. I figured out a way to slice a small triangle off the top of the wedge and insert a white 30 degree triangle. I call it my Flirty 30 Buzz Saw. What do you think?

Flirty Thirty Buzz Saw, ready for borders and to be quilted

One more quilt made with this 18 degree ruler. I don't like the technique I had to use to get these sharp angles. Again, way too much fabric waste. I might as well foundation piece these, but I thought you might want to see my 10 Points of Light Block:

10 Points of Light, appliqued to the background swirly print

I am a short woman who loves BIG blocks. It's fun to play with them and you have to admit, you can get to your quilt quicker with such large units!

Hope you enjoyed the show. I'm off to teach again, this time in Birmingham, AL. Then on to Ft. Worth, TX. My husband holds down the fort and my dog guards it! But neither one ever sets foot in my sewing room.

Twist with the 60s Blog Hop - Day 8

Fleur de Lis applique in batiks

What's in the Batiks Vault today, the last day of the Twist with the 60s Hop? This pair of pillows (I can only find one of these, btw). They go with the Colorburst Squares quilt that I've been teaching the past year for the Original Sewing and Quilt Expo.

Stack squares, make 4 cuts, sew back together to make 4 blocks

Beyond the Cobblestone block; these centers float all over the quilt

OK. The last bloggers to reveal their blast to the past. Go see the awesome creations they want to show you.

October 4

My Quilting Journey
More Stars in Comanche
Sarah Did It 

Read, Quilt, Cook, Pray...

BquiltinStudio

Sew We Quilt

Twist to the 60s Blog Hop - Day 7

Hearts on Fire - Cookie Cutter Series

What's in my Batiks Vault today? Yes, batiks with black. Half-hearts combine to make mirror image blocks. The first of my Cookie Cutter series. Loved making this quilt. Taught it as a workshop more times than I can remember.

Cookie Cutter Leaves. Alas, this quilt was stolen in 2005

I have several other shapes, all done with batiks. Why? Because it's raw edge applique and we don't use fusible webbing. The batiks have a wonderful high threadcount, so they don't ravel like regular quilter's cotton can.

Who's on tap for our hop today?

October 3

InGa
Hill Valley Quilter

Cherry Blossoms Quilting Studio

Sew and Sow Farm

Color My World
Secretly Stitching

Windham Wednesdays - and more of the Batiks Hop

Arrowheads Quilt using Windham Fabrics batiks

Today is Day 6 of the batiks hop. Windham Fabrics created a wonderful line of batiks about 2 years ago and I received one of every single color. What fun. I used them to create this new pattern and template set I call Arrowheads. Making a two color quilt is fun.

But before I give you the list of bloggers for today's hop, I wanted to show you a new fabric line called Downtown. Windham sent me a charm pack of the 21 fabrics. Can you really do something with just a few 5" squares? Of course! I never met a fabric I didn't like. These would appeal to the younger quilter who is coming into the quilt world through the modern quilting movement. I'm sure you can see why . . .

More hexies on their way to a few blocks

These are 2" hexagons. I have a plan to either stitch them into 3 single lines of 7 hexies each or something with added solids. Then I will applique them to a neutral fabric background. For now, they sit and whisper to me: "Hey, we want to become somebody, please?" Stay tuned to see what they will be when they grow up!

And today's bloggers are:

Grandmama's Stories

What About Rheema?

Pumpkin Patch Quilting

Kathy's Quilts

Stitching by the Beach

Twist with the 60s and Blog Hop - Day 5

Coffee Filter Fans made with batik scraps

And what's in my Batiks Vault today?

Yes, you read that right. These fans were paper pieced on a coffee filter for a foundation! I have taught this class more often than I can count. I keep wanting to retire it, but it keeps getting booked. But it is fun, quick and a great way to use up strips and scraps.

Let's take a visit to those bloggers today to see what they've come up with on this trip down memory lane, twisting with batiks!

Gracie Oliver Arts

How ART You?

Creatin in the Sticks

Sew Peace to Peace

Meadowbrook