Promised finishes

In my last post I mentioned a couple finishes.

I had to spend time playing with my photo editing in order to show this one.  (Speaking of....I must be more committed to including my name on each picture.  While it gives me a little thrill to see my work show up on Pinterest....I'd like credit!)

A friend was celebrating her 70th birthday so I created a wall hanging that featured her grandchildren.   I played around with the pictures and the applique idea and came up with this.  The green vine is wool so there is a little depth. 

I never ever cut corners but time was running out so I machine sewed the binding on the back...which came out successfully with no evidence on the front...BUT....wouldn't you know it?  When it was passed around the room SOMEONE knew what they were looking at.  Drat.  The recipient is none the wiser but shoot.  Oh well.  It's a one of a kind, can't be duplicated, gift that the recipient was over the moon about. 

My next finish is a baby quilt for a baby due in a few weeks. 

My 'go-to' pattern:  Just Can't Cut It, reduced by half, comes through once again. 

Can you see the quilting?  Rubber duckies and bubbles.  So darn cute.  I used Minky on the back, too.

Does everyone know how to change the size of a pattern?  So simple. 

If you want to reduce the size by 1/2.... SUBTRACT 1/2 inch from the cutting size then divide it in half then ADD BACK the 1/2inch.  Make sense?  Just know that when you reduce the size by 1/2 your quilt will come out 1/4 the area of the original.  Think about that.....  picture graph paper with 4 blocks filled in.  That would be a square 2X2.  If you half it you would look at only 1 of those squares filled in. (2 by 2 divided in half would be 1 by 1)  So if you want to make a quilt smaller maybe you really only want to reduce the cutting instructions by 1/3.  Just ALWAYS subtract 1/2 inch before dividing by whatever number you want then ADD back 1/2 inch....that part NEVER changes.  That's your seam allowance and no matter the size...you need 1/2 an inch for the seam allowance. 

Too early for a math lesson?  Use graph paper or go here for a much more detailed explanation including blocks that involve angles. 

Time to get the day started.

Pam