I Spy Quilt Pillow

 Per my idea to sew some smaller things this summer, I made this little I Spy pillow to go with the recent monster-sized I Spy quilt I made.  The pillow is made up of 25 squares of 4 inches each.

 Even though it's quite small, there is lots of I Spy potential I think because I really tried to go for a good variety of fabrics.

 This little beaver is the kids' favourite.  I guarantee that "the beaver" is the correct guess if either of them are spying something brown.

-

Also in this photo, you can see the herringbone/baseball stitch I used to quilt it with.  I really like how it turned out and I think it added some interest to this little pillow.

 Here's the back. 

 It's bird, it's a plane, it's Super Pillow!

I am thinking this would make a perfect Christmas gift -- it is handmade, can be personalised by choosing very specific squares for each child, and doesn't take near the time a quilt does.  If I made it again I would try a slightly bigger pillow form, so I could use 36 squares.  With 36 squares I think there would be tons of I Spy fun packed into it. 

-

Thanks for stopping by.  Since it's Tuesday, I'm hanging with some other fabric-lovin' friends over at Fabric Tuesday.

-

Posted by Riel Nason on The Q and the U

Read more »

Attack of the Mutant I Spy Quilt

 Okay, somebody better call Guinness to see if there is a category for World's Biggest I-Spy Quilt. This thing is redonkulous. It is 106 inches long (!) and about 90 inches wide ... it is made of 538 unique four inch squares (no repeats) ...

-

Click any photo to enlarge if you wish.

 Here's a long shot to get an idea of the size.  It is on the upper deck of my parents' big old house.

 And yes, I'll be the first to admit that I went a little overboard, but oh well, life is short, my kids will only be little for so long, etc. ... And speaking of the kids, they are very excited it is done!  We will be taking this quilt along with us as we travel this summer -- to help make hotel rooms cosier and to serve as entertainment whenever the need may arise.

 I sent it out to be quilted by long-arm and chose an allover teddy bear pantograph.

While making this I mentioned that I used a different colour of Kona cotton to sash each of the 16 different 25 patch squares.  It helps the whole quilt look less busy and also serves as a "clue" to use when playing I-Spy ...

 This strange purple fabric is what I used for the backing.  It kind of has an I Spy feature itself.  Those are walking sticks on it.

 My handsome helpers.  My Dad and my husband Shane.

Thanks for stopping by!  I'll be having linky fun by going all out for my one post a week that I link up by joining in with  {Sew} Modern Monday, Manic Monday , Made by You Monday , Fabric Tuesday and a new-to-me linky Sew Cute Tuesday! 

-

And it is hard to believe but this is the final week of kindergarten for my son and next week is the final week of preschool for my daughter!  I'll be mostly away from the computer over the next little bit, finishing up some writing-related things before summer fun starts ... see you again in a week or so!

Read more »

I Spy Planet Hexy Quilt Top

This is possibly the strangest quilt I've made yet, but I think I LOVE strange.  My son Eli (he's six) and I decided together to call this quilt I Spy Planet Hexy.  Those tall pointy triangles are towers.  All the hexies are piled ever-so-carefully on top of them. (Click any photo to enlarge if you wish)

-

It is my own design.  I can't remember the thought process that led me to this, but it was a jump from idea to idea to idea before I came to Planet Hexy.

This quilt is for my son who will be finished kindergarten on June 24.  I must say I love a good milestone as an excuse to make another quilt.  *wink*

It is made all from scraps or stash.  I didn't buy any new fabric for it.  The hexies are I Spy scraps.  The towers are Kona scraps left from my I Spy mega quilt (back at my house now waiting for binding).  The sky background is fabric I had bought as a possibility for the background of The Selvage Snowman quilt, but it had been too light for that.  The grey rock fabric is some I had bought for a pillowcase but didn't use.

There are 146 one inch hexagons in it.  I'll probably add a few more to take it to 150.  I was wary of overdoing it with the hexies that are falling off the towers, but I think a few more wouldn't hurt anything, we'll see.

I am planning to quilt it myself.  I think I will do some very simple straight lines.  Unfortunately my sewing machine has had a bit of a bad attitude lately and has been throwing some thread-tangling tantrums, so it will need to go in for repair before I attempt any quilting.

You may remember that the I Spy hexies were supposed to be my summer travelling project.  Well, I'm still going to make more.  I have more ideas for them.  And my daughter Tess could always use her own hexy quilt.

Now an off topic message: Happy Birthday Dad!

And for some linky fun, I'm hanging out with other talented crafty sorts at {Sew} Modern Monday , Made by You Monday , Manic Monday ... and of course I have to party with Fabric Tuesday at Quiltstory.  Click any link to see piles of fabulous projects by bloggers from around the world!

-

Thanks for stopping by!  Happy Quilting!

Read more »

Sneak Peek: So About Those I-Spy Hexies I Was Making ...

 ... well, they got turned into a quilt.  I mean my son will be done kindergarten soon and he needed a quilt to celebrate that accomplishment, right?

 This quilt is nothing like the original idea I had for the hexies, but once I thought of doing this, the idea really took hold and I had to act!

 I'm not sure if the quilt is "high-concept" or just plain strange, but I do know my son and I both like it and it is certainly one of a kind ... you'll see what I mean tomorrow when I post the whole thing.  Fingers crossed the sun will come out later for some good photos.

Happy Sunday!  The yard is calling me!

Read more »

Giveaway Winner and Some Other I Spy Ramblings ...

Okay, well, by reading the posts I would say that everyone does indeed sew in the summer -- good to know I'm not alone.  And, without further ado, the winner of the Giveaway for the 40 I Spy squares is ...

Random Integer Generator

Here are your random numbers:

4

Timestamp: 2011-06-08 22:02:31 UTC

-

The person who left comment # 4 -- also known as Linda of Stray Stitches.  Congrats!  Linda has a great blog.  I love the format of her posts. 

 In other I Spy news ... I got a few more scraps from a friend, which will be perfect for my next I Spy quilt.  Thanks Tanya!

 And I bought the fabric above -- Little Golden Books.  It will be great for I Spy hexies too as the little animals are very small.  As a side note, I bought the fabric during a trip to Fabricville so that I could pick up some transparent (invisible) polyester thread.  I will say here and now, I will not be buying any more of it.  It was SO annoying to use that it should have come with a warning label "MAY CAUSE EXTREME FRUSTRATION".  It was hard to see, pulled, curled, broke, got stuck and was a tension nightmare ... it was likely just due to my inexperience, but I know I won't have the patience to become more experienced if I have to deal with thread like that ... ;-)

Okay, moving on ... I also bought a 1/4 yard of these eyes for a Halloween idea I have.

-

Any finally, just because I am obviously in need of another few hundred I Spy squares I joined this swap today.

-

Happy Quilting!

Read more »

I Spy Quilt Squares: Giveaway!

 In celebration of my 200th post, I thought I'd have a little giveaway ... for 40 I Spy Quilt squares cut from my stash.

These are 5 inch squares.  They are prewashed (there may be an exception or two in there), quilt shop quality fabric and I tried my best to cut them nice and straight. ;-)

These are all fabrics I either used in my current I Spy Quilt (at the quilters now) or plan to use in future I Spy Quilts (yes, I am addicted). 

-

Giveaway is open internationally.  Open until Wednesday, June 8 at 7:00 pm AST.

To enter just leave a comment on this post with an answer to the question: Do you sew in the summer?  One comment per person please.  Please be sure your email is either linked to your profile or that you leave it in the comment so I may contact the winner. 

-

Good Luck.
-
Comments are now closed.

Read more »

HNIC: Hexy Night in Canada

 I made some more hexies.  These are supposed to be my summer travelling project for in the car, but they also seemed like a good little project to work on while watching the Stanley Cup finals.

-

I added quite a few to my pile last night even though I put them away about midway through the second period.

 These are still for the I-Spy hexy quilt.  I am also adding some more abstract things to spy like shapes -- dots, squares, etc.

 I like that little pirate monkey.

Here are a lot of them on my design wall.  That little fussy cut school bus scrap is going in a mug rug I'm making for an end-of-year gift for the bus driver.

-

There is sun here today!  Yay!  We are heading out to a waterfall this afternoon.  I hope the woods are dried out enough that it isn't too bad a walk for the kids. Happy Sunday!

-

And P.S. This is my 200th post!  I will have a small giveaway to celebrate tomorrow!

Read more »

Hey There Hexy Ladies

 Last post I mentioned that a few days ago we travelled to PEI.  Well, it takes 3.5 hours to drive from our place to Charlottetown, so I needed a little something to do on the drive ...

-

Let me introduce these hexy ladies.  Those are 1 inch hexagons.

 I am making novelty I-Spy type hexies as my summer travel project.  They are just to make as we're driving somewhere.  I have an end project in mind, a hexagon I-Spy quilt.  It won't all be hexagons, but rather hexies appliqued in a pattern.  I have the idea in my head and I think it will work.  I probably need 192 hexagons for a good lap-sized quilt.

 It just takes the smallest of scraps to make these.  

Fun!  Do you have a summer travel project?

-

Happy Quilting!
-
I'm linking up with {Sew} Modern Monday and Made by You Monday
-
And since this is my summer travel work in progress, I'm linking up with WIP Wednesday.

Read more »

I Spy Quilt Top Layout

 It seems I have been working on this I Spy quilt a long time ... or maybe it just feels that way because the kids keep asking me if it's done yet.  I love their excitement about it.  And it is finally close to finished.

 This is the first time I've shown it with the large squares sewn together.  There are 16 blocks made of 25  4 inch squares each and sashed in 16 different colours of Kona solids.  The sashing is 2.5 inches wide. 

 Across the top I'm adding this band of squares along with the letters spelling "I Spy."  The fabric I had to fussy cut the letters from only had lowercase letters so I actually used the lowercase "l" as an uppercase "I."  I just couldn't use a lowercase "i" so thankfully there was a solution.  I am kind of old school and can't stand seeing "I" as a word as lowercase.  Know what i mean ... ;-)

 So the quilt is currently at 469 squares, all different.  I certainly used many of the same fabrics over (good ones with large repeats), but the exact image isn't the same in any square.  And I thought I was done, but I want another 69 squares to put a border across the bottom.  It will be just like the one on the top to balance it out and make the whole thing more rectangular.  I have almost enough squares cut now.

-

When I told my husband I was adding the last *few* squares, he said, "Why stop now, why not just go for 1000 squares? Then you could cover the whole room."  (Cut to me rolling my eyes)  I told him that smarty pants comments like that would end up on the blog. Anyway, as far as the quilt goes I will admit I am very much the sort to say, well I already put a lot of time in it, so what's a little more? It's totally worth it.  

Anyway, I LOVE it and hopefully within a couple of weeks I will be able to show it all quilted and bound.  (It will be going out to be quilted ... it is going to be about 90 by 108 I think ... )

-

I'm linking up to W.I.P. Wednesday. And I'm going to try two new linkies for fun -- The Sundae Scoop, and The Sisters Sunday Link Party!  Happy Quilting! 

Read more »

Wordless Wednesday: I Spy Quilt Block Progress

Read more »