FO: 100% scraps throw quilt

The quilts I've sewn over the past few years have had lots of tiny triangles, points and little pieces. I'd finish them and then I'd give the quilts away, then start something else with lots of little points and pieces. This scrappy throw is a huge departure from that. It's scraps cut into big, plain 4-1/2" squares that I collected in a plastic shoe box. Sometimes I'd sew a 4-patch block and toss it into the box too. There was never a plan on exactly when it would get done. My normal project MO is to plot and plan and wrangle a quilt project to death with a feeling of urgency to reach the finished object deadline that loomed over my head from the get go. This throw happened on it's own peaceful time.

This is the most fun I've had sewing in years. I'm not a 'completely random sewer' so I played around with the layout to keep the same fabric pieces from ending up side by side and I spread out the white pieces.

There's an excellent tutorial (and many others) on binding quilts at Amanda Jean's incredible blog Crazy Mom Quilts for the same method I use to bind my quilts. Amanda Jean is always inspiring and TALENTED!

The finished throw is 40 x 60 inches: 150 squares cut to 4-1/2". I squeaked it onto the beige & red backing fabric with only a centimeter to spare on the width and maybe 3 inches on each end for length. I didn't want to piece more fabric into the back since my goal was to be as simple as I could make it. It's quilted in the ditch, not beside the seams a touch like normal in the ditch machine work, but literally in the seam.

We love this throw. It'll be well used, washed and worn. My husband doesn't want me to gift or sell this one. I've never felt as rewarded as I did to hear him say this one's a keeper. He's never said that about any quilt before. It's changed the sort of quilts I'm going to sew in the coming year(s). The reaction to this quilt when people see it tossed over the backyard deck rail or folded in the truck has been surprisingly positive. It's about colour and comfort, not skill or style. I'm going to enjoy the pleasure of simplicity in my quilts more now. More rustic and homey. More 'use-me' than 'be careful' with me quilts. I have 2 new shoe boxes on the go ~ one is a collection of 3" squares and the other is 4-1/2" again. I'll sew plenty more quilts like this one in the future.

Quilted knitting bag

Made from fabric scraps this little bag rocks for small knitting projects and socks. The squares are cut at 3-1/2 x 3-1/2 inches stacked in 3 rows of 4 on each side. There's a 3-1/2 inch wide strip for the bottom so this bag can sit up nicely. The quilted handles are comfortable and sturdy. I used fabric spray adhesive between the layers and quilted it in the ditch on my sewing machine while it was still flat before I lined it with the bull rush fabric. Next time I'll use a different fabric for each square for a scrappier look.


I'm stashing cut-to-size fabric squares to make more bags as gifts. Next time I'll add a magnetic closure and maybe a piece of plastic mesh in the bottom. I'll probably sew up some 5 x 5 inch square bags too. It's a fun project that can be finished in an afternoon to use up leftover bits from quilts.

Christmas Baking Recipe #2

Christmas cake ~ do you love it or do you hate it? This recipe is not the typical Christmas cake served as it's a light coloured cake. I've made this recipe every year that we're married except last Christmas. I thought people had had enough of it and last year we only baked cookies. I was wrong. My mom, brother and husband each asked me to make Christmas cake again and not miss any more years.

LIGHT CHRISTMAS CAKE

Preheat oven to 275 degrees Fahrenheit. Line 6 small 3 x 6 inch or 2 regular sized loaf pans with waxed paper.

In a large bowl combine:
2 cups slivered citron
2-1/2 cups Sultana raisins
1 cup candied red cherries, halved (for more colour you can use 1/2 cup each red & green cherries)
1 cup blanched, slivered almonds

Sift over the above mixture and toss until well covered with flour:
3 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt

In a mixer cream together:
1 cup softened butter
1/2 cup sugar
5 eggs (add one at a time until well combined)
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup undrained crushed pineapple

Add the wet ingredients by hand into the dry mixture. Combine well, spoon into loaf pans and press down to level. Bake at 275F for about 2 hours or until the cakes are lightly golden on top and a cake tester comes out clean. Wrap cooled cakes in foil and keep refrigerated until serving. They will be ready in 7 days.

Notes: We brush some of the loaves in rum every few days or wrap them in cheese cloth soaked in rum before wrapping in the foil.
This recipe doubles extremely well and can be kept in the freezer after baking for a few months.

I've also being doing some knitting and sewing. My sock got frogged back to the heel turn and I'm working on that again, love this yarn! It was too big for my tiny feet so I've got a much better fit going on now. My Urban Sweater sleeve is slow going, I seem to just get started into it and something else keeps coming up. I intend to wear this sweater soon so it's going to get more attention in the next few days. Like Kelly at Celtic Cast On I would really like to finish up my started projects before the end of 2008.

Sewing has produced 19 blocks and there's 11 more to sew. I've been calling this my Latte quilt because there's a coffee bean motif in some of the fabrics. The black/brown colour combo is a pleasure to work with. The black fabrics are kept diagonally on the left side and brown fabrics are on the right. This block has a traditional log cabin centre with star points and then 2 more rows of log cabin on the outside. I plan to assemble the blocks with a 3-column sashing and 9-patch corners. The finished top will nicely cover a queen sized bed.

Only 2 more weeks until the kids are on Christmas vacation! Yeah!! The Christmas cake will be aged and ready to eat by then.

It's started

I collect Christmas CD's. Martina McBride's "White Christmas" is the best. Give her a listen ~ she's wonderful. I'll wait here while she puts you in the Christmas mood. This year she's released a "Blue Christmas" with Elvis Presley. Get a load of her hair! It really looks like they're singing live together even though Martina was only 2 years old when this footage was actually recorded by Elvis.

It's started. Decorating for the holidays in earnest. I switched out the swag my grandmother bought us as a house warming gift 14 years ago for a big wreath that I'll add live evergreen sprigs to. The garland lights give the room a lovely glow. I've collected ornaments for about 35 years and buy them for the kids to start their own unique collection.
In the evening when the stove is on with the garland and Christmas tree lit and candles are flickering it's the coziest place in the house. There's a glass sliding door on the wall opposite the quilt. We turn on the outdoor deck lights while it's snowing and the room turns into a winter hideway.

We're hosting our first Christmas party here on Sunday so this week we'll be decorating more inside and out. It's stayed cold so it's still white outside with more snow in the forecast. Looks like it will be a wonderful White Christmas this year.

My Favourite Quilt Shop & a LYS

Everyone has a favourite place to shop when they have something specific in mind. When I need more quilting fabric I head 20 minutes up the road to the small town of New Hamburg. It has a delightful little historical strip of shops and restaurants. I've been a patron of Heart'n Home Creations since it opened and Esther's store has become the only fabric shop I frequent.

She has an incredible inventory of quality quilting fabrics, patterns and notions as well as gifts and scented candles. I can't leave without at least a few fat quarters, even when I'm just passing through town and really don't need anything. There's always something new and wonderful to find and a welcome stool to pull up to the counter and visit. Esther is friendly, knowledgeable and extremely helpful, she makes you feel at home as soon as you walk through her door.

There are all sorts of interesting nooks and crannies of merchandise and fabric bolts in this store. It's a sensory delight. If you're in the region this is a destination shop worth stopping at.

On the quilting front here at Chez Koch there has been sewing. Some of my friends were interested in the quilts I make and I've taught them to piece tops. I've also gotten a few of them reaquainted with their forgotten passion for knitting. We try to get together once a month from fall to spring for a day of sewing, lunch and scoot to Esther's shop if time permits. It's great to get together with so many talented and enthusiastic friends for a day of fibry indulgence. What a great way to spend a day! We're talking about turning these sewing days into a weekend retreat.

There's a new LYS opened just a short walk from Esther's called Shall We Knit. Karen's store is full of lots of yarny goodness. We're planning a weekend of a pajamas sleep over, great meals, sewing, knitting and carrying on. We have so much fun when we get together ~ there's as much laughing as there is stitching. I have fabulous friends ~ I am truly blessed.

My Magic Loop sock made some progress today during my car knitting time. I'm almost the the heel portion. Will see - the true test if I like the Magic Loop vs. my dpn's will happen between the start of the heel and finishing the gusset... I'll let you know how it goes.

My first Quilt

I've always had an affection for quilts. When my husband and I were first married we went to an Apple Butter and Cheese Festival that also held a Mennonite Relief Quilt Auction. While I'd always liked quilts ~ that was the day I realized I loved them. I had to have one - or lots - eventually. Annual trips to the International Plowing Match (IPM) found me in the Hand Crafted tents drooling over the quilts on display. Winners and entrants in the various categories all hung up for me to enjoy and women wearing white cotton gloves turning them over for anyone who wanted to see the stitching from the back too. The quilts were the reason I went along each year although I did enjoy the other displays, especially the horses in the plowing competitions.

Six years ago I was standing in the aisle looking at a quilt at the IPM . It was done in the colours I'd chose if I knew how to make a quilt. My husband was standing back further on the opposite side of the aisle waiting for me and I though he and I were alone. I told him I wished I could make a quilt like that one. An old woman with a scratchy and annoyed voice over my left shoulder said, "Well learn, dearie!" She startled me speechless. As she walked off Don grinned at me with a 'she sure told you' look on his face. I couldn't stop thinking about what she said. Learn? Me? To make a quilt? Why not?? Why couldn't I realize that myself, I needed a stranger to tell me to do what I really wanted to do? I was in a class within a month.

I love fabric: the colours and endless combinations and the idea of creating something that will wrap someone else in warmth made by me with love. I enjoy every part of the process of making them. Some projects weren't my thing, like stained glass. I was happy with my finished objects, but really wasn't keen on the making them part.

This is the first quilt I ever made. It's a scrappy Twisted Log Cabin in browns and earthy tones made for my son Ryan when he was 11. He helped pick out some of the fabrics and chose the backing. We drove to my favourite quilt shop 'Heart'n Home Creations' owned by Esther. I can get lost in her little shop for hours. I sit and visit with Esther when I go to New Hamburg and feel the inspiration seeping into me from the bolts of fabric and finished quilts on display.

Ryan asked me to hang his quilt it in the front entrance so it doesn't get wrecked or worn. It was machine pieced on my old Singer sewing machine. If projects are a reasonable size I machine quilt them on my Brother now, I've done some hand quilting and more often then not quilt tops are sent out to be long arm quilted. I've made lot of quilts since this one, learned a lot and improved my skills, but this one is my favourite. It makes me smile when I look at it and remember that woman's voice and what she said. She was the kick in the butt I needed to stop mooning over other people's work. This quilt wasn't even done yet when Nicole and I were out picking fabric for me to make her a quilt too.

My goal is to own my own long arm quilting machine with a stitch regulator. I need to convince Don that our living and dining room would be great if we added French Doors, removed the furniture and made it into my sewing & knitting studio with my own Gammel...

Vibrant Reds for Autumn

My favourite colour is green. Most of my projects are green, blue, brown or neutrals but when autumn arrives I feel the need to use vibrant reds. Knitting with dark red Tahki Donegal Tweed this time of year just feels right. This sweater and the throw-sized quilt are satisfying works in progress.


My Scottish Isles pullover has a front, back and a started first sleeve. I still need to blind stitch the binding on the back of the Bear Paws quilt. I'm going to use it as a dog crate cover. When I have a crate set up in the house or at a show I like to drape something nice to look at over it while it offers my dog privacy.
Most of my sewing is intended for gifts, but this autumn red quilt is a keeper.
I'd like to say a sincere Thank You to the people who have left such wonderful comments on this new blog. It's a thrill for me to realize that maybe I won't be the only person who ever reads it!
I can't wait to finish my sweater and quilt binding so I can post Finished Object pictures...