I Spy For Claire

 Name:  I Spy for Claire

Design:  224-4" squares with 4" border

Size:  56" by 63"

Fabric: I Spy Scraps and stash fabrics, binding is Timeless Treasures Clown Stripe in black

Quilted: by me with Aurifil 50 wt in white

A Christmas gift for grand girl.  Full of things for her to find.  Completed and gifted December 2018.

I Spy for Harrison

  Name: I Spy for Harrison

Design:  4" squares

Size:  56" by 63"

Fabric: Stash fabrics, Kona Medium Grey and Timeless Treasures Clown Stripe In black

Quilted: by me with Aurifil 50 wt in dove i

Backing:  Hoarded Little Golden Books fabric

So our wee grand boy is growing up fast and it was time to make him an I Spy quilt.  I have made a lot of these over the years but this is the first time I am making one for family and I have been saving some special 4" squares just for this purpose.  There are some hoarded Heather Ross fabrics and even some Pima cotton llamas from yardage I bought in Lima almost 29 years ago.  It is beautiful beautiful cotton and this was the first time that I cut into it!  I loaded this one with all sorts of stuff that our little guy is interested in.  Lots of owls and apples.  So much fun! 

Quilted in Aurifil 50 wt in dove and bound with Clown Stripe.  I used Golden Book fabric for the back.  I have been saving that for several years.  I stumbled upon it on a discount rack and bought the rest of the bolt.  Yep. 

This one is done and tied with a bow.  We will see him for Easter.  I cannot wait. 

I Spy for School

    Quilt stats

Name:  I Spy for School

Design:  224-4" squares with 4" border

Size:  56" by 63"

Fabric: I Spy Scraps and stash fabrics, binding is Timeless Treasures Clown Strip in black

Quilted: by me with Aurifil 50 wt in white

Backing:  OOP Ikea sheeting

My school has a carnival coming up and I had the bright idea that I should donate an I Spy quilt for the raffle.  The good news is that I do keep pre-cut I Spy 4" squares all set to go but the bad news is that no matter how organized I think I am, I never have enough different squares and I end up having to cut more variety.  Nevertheless, it here it is all finished.  We had a really rainy weekend so I was able to catch up on my quilting.  I was able to throw this up on the clothesline for some pictures when the rain stopped.  We even had a bit of sun this afternoon but look at the stormy clouds!  

I used some Ikea sheeting for the back.  I still have a wee stash of Ikea sheeting in a few different prints but Ikea doesn't seem to be carrying any sheeting weight prints anymore or at least that I can find.  Boo hiss!  I quilted either side of all the blocks in Aurifil 50 weight in white and bound in Clown stripe in black by Timeless treasures.  Bright and happy.  Hopefully it will raise lots of money!

An I Spy quilt and I really love 4" squares

   Quilt stats

Name:  I Really Love 4" Squares

Design:  224-4" squares with 4" border

Size:  56" by 63"

Fabric: I Spy Scraps and stash fabrics, binding is Timeless Treasures Clown Strip in black

Quilted: by me with Aurifil 50 wt in lt gray, #2600

Backing:  OOP Ikea sheeting

I find I Spy quilts are great donation quilts for organizations that are looking for raffle prizes.  I have made quite a few of these, let me tell you!  I whipped one up over the Christmas holidays to keep in stock for the next raffle prize emergency.  I always stick to the same plan and I have made quite a few of these that I have not even blogged about.  Shocker!  I have a container of pre-cut 4" I Spy squares.  I mean, if you are going to cut one square, why not cut a bunch at the same time?  This way, I can quickly throw up the needed number of squares on the design wall.  Cut a few more if I need variety and then sew them altogether.  It just works.  When I am dealing with scraps, I tend to cut 4" squares of anything I spy suitable and throw them in the container at the same time.  I have a stock pile of the yellow dots for the border and always seem to use the same Clown stripe binding.  This time, I used an out of print Ikea sheeting for the backing.  I bought metres of it before it was no longer available.  It makes a great backing for this type of quilt.

The quilting is simple, straight lines on one side of the blocks with a little bit extra around the border.  I used Aurifil light gray, 50 wt.  The gray blends really well with all the action in the I Spy squares.

I do this with baby quilts too.  4" squares are my go to, quick and easy baby quilt.  I have pre-cut 4" squares ready to go for those purposes as well.  This makes me feel very organized and virtuous.  Just saying.  These baby quilts were done with the 4" square method.  Here and here.  

And you can see we still have snow!  Brrr!  And this is my first finish for the year!  Woo hoo!

and I tucked the quilt up so you can see the back. Happy New Year!

I Spy Fabric all the way from Australia!

Today I recieved some fabulous mail all the way from Australia.  The lovely and generous Jan-Maree who blogs at the Cherry Red Quilter sent me I Spy fabric!!!!   Jan-Maree knew I was planning to make an I Spy Wall quilt for my office at school.  I thought it would be something for the children who get sent to my office to look at.  Jan-Maree's father was a school principal so she could relate to my plan.  I was just so tickled to see what a great assortment she included in the package.

Thank you so much, Jan-Maree!  Look at it all...

Jan-Maree even inlcuded some fabulous fabrics with Aussie animals and some New Zealand kiwi birds too!  So cute!  I lived in NZ for a year so the kiwis are near and dear to my heart and I would never be able to find this fabric here in Canada!  Awesome!!!!!  Now I have no excuses not to get busy with my wall quilt project!  Fun, fun, fun!

Check out Jan-Maree's blog!  She is always up to something.  She is always stitching something up for all sorts of charities and she bakes up a storm!

Have a lovely Tuesday and don't forget to enter my giveway!!!!

I spy... a rug!

My Mum is just so clever!  She takes olds sheets, and all sorts of cast off clothes, cuts them into rags with her way cool rag cutter and then weaves beautiful rugs with her antique Swedish Rug Loom.  I asked for a multi-coloured, old-fashioned rag rug recently and Mum delivered this when she came for a visit!  It is really lovely! I can find leftover bits and pieces of my quilts in this rug too.  I give Mum all my trimmings and little strippy leftovers.  Thanks Mum!  I must say it looks lovely on the floor.

I have an idea.  I am going to make an "I Spy" wall quilt for my office at work.  It will give the students who visit me in my office something interesting to look at.  What do you think?

These are the I spy-ish fabrics that I have gathered so far...

I think it is a good start!