Nichole in Real Life

I did it!

2012-01-16T13:27:00.001-05:00

One of my main goals was to finish my dad's quilt before our baby arrived. Thankfully, I was able to have all but a few feet of binding left to stitch when I went into labor. Hooray! I was able to finish the rest up that following week and threw it in the wash on Christmas Eve to wrap and give my father on Christmas day - exactly one year late. It worked out perfectly actually since his actual gift for this year arrived in early December.

When my dad opened the box and saw that it was his quilt he was so excited and surprised. It was great! It felt so good to be done with it and to see him to happy to receive it. He proceeded to use it for the rest of the afternoon! According to my mother, he had been using it as often as possible since Christmas and does not let anyone else touch it!

All in all, this is one of the most time consuming quilts I have made. The finished size is roughly 70" x 90". That means there are 63 of those square in square blocks that required a lot of cutting, sewing, pressing and trimming. I'm quite happy with the look but I'm not sure I'll be making one of those again in the near future. If I do, I might consider being less anal retentive and forgo the trimming after each ring. I think the quilting looks perfect for the quilt. I don't have a photo to show it so you're going to have to trust me on this one! I did straight lines running 1/4" off the outside seam of each block and then one line diagonally through each block in both directions. It is minimal so it let's the pattern show and keeps it cozy. I initially wanted to stick to only horizontal and vertical lines, but I know that, even with all that trimming, the inner seams world never line up enough to make the quilting look straight(ish).

The blocks are made with various varieties of four different color combinations to represent my dad's favorite Detroit/Michigan sports teams: the Detroit Lions, Detroit Tigers, Detroit Pistons, and the Michigan Wolverines.

For the back I used licensed prints of all of the teams except the Tigers. Surprisingly, quilting cotton for the Tigers is not available. As expected, my father liked the back more than the front. Figures!

All in all, I'd say this quilt was a success! As many are aware, I was highly skeptical when I embarked on this endeavor. I'm glad it worked out that both me and my father were happy with the result.

2011: What Happened to You?

2012-01-08T05:20:00.001-05:00

2011 was clearly not a great year for this blog. I barely had any posts and, overall, that was pretty representative of the amount of quilting and sewing I accomplished. I did, however, accomplish one major thing that really has been the reason for such a huge lull.

This is the reason: I became a mom!

I found out I was pregnant in April and almost immediately was stricken with fatigue that barely let up my entire pregnancy. I had absolutely zero motivation to sew (or to do much else).

Towards the end of my pregnancy I began working pretty heavily on my father's quilt and I think the noise of my sewing machine was so noisy and startling to the baby the he kicked and squirmed almost the entire time I was sewing for the first couple times. Sad, right?

My son, Gavin, was born on December 17 and is now already 3 weeks old! Things have been going well and I feel so much better now that I am no longer pregnant! I have motivation to be crafty again- which is super exciting! I'm looking forward to settling into a routine with Gavin so I can start being creative again.

I did manage to accomplish a few things- like actually finish my dad's quilt! I'll be sharing those things with you here shortly. But in the meantime, here is some more cuteness.

Sporty

2011-11-20T15:22:00.001-05:00

I can hardly call this past year a year of quilting. Actually, I can't at all. I have barely done any! The sports quilt I promised my father for Christmas LAST year is a perfect example of this. Until last week, I only had about half of the blocks done. Sad, but true.

Last week I decided to really get in gear and focus on wrapping this thing up. I spent an evening sewing the pieces together while my husband won Husband of the Year for pressing the seams. The help was so amazing and made these surprisingly time consuming blocks move along much more quickly. So here you have it, a stack of 63 blocks made with colors of my dad's favorite Detroit sports teams.

Now I'm off sewing the blocks together and will hopefully be able to finish this! Wouldn't that be exciting?

Knock, knock. Anybody home?

2011-10-02T15:50:00.001-04:00

It has been over 7 months since I have updated here. I have often thought about updating this poor, neglected blog but the daunting task of catching up has prevented me. So, here I am. I just wanted to say hi and let you know I do still plan to update this thing. And soon. There is plenty of exciting things around here to update about. Maybe now that this first post is over it will be easier to let the others roll. :)

This is love

2011-02-24T09:53:00.000-05:00

The Bible says, "We know what real love is because Jesus gave up his life for us." If quilting had a Bible, it would say "We know what real love is when we receive handmade quilts using multiple, non-coordinating licensed prints."

This quilt attests to the fact that I love my dad. He requested a quilt showcasing all of the Detroit sports teams (except the Red Wings). If you are not from the Detroit area, let me show you what this entails. They don't match at all!

And it translates to this with licensed prints (the Tigers don't have licensed cotton prints).

After some serious procrastinating I had a conversation with Julie who suggested using solids only - brilliant! I saw this photo on Flickr, which is actually quite similar to the rough idea I had in mind already, so I went with it.

I now present you round 1 - Detroit Lions blocks.

I think they actually look pretty good! We'll see how this goes once the other three color groups are mixed in.

How to Maintain a Boring Blog

2011-02-21T15:34:00.000-05:00

I often have mental goals of where I would like to be on a project when I plan posts. Unfortunately, since things always take longer than I hope, this tends to lead to a boring blog. For example, I currently have 8 blocks completed for the Toyko subway quilt and have been holding off posting until I have 9 for awhile now. I just wanted to have the nice completed square! So here you have it - the 8 finished blocks!

I'm loving how this looks. It's so geometric and me. :) It's a shame these blocks are so time consuming. It really makes it difficult to gain motivation and momentum to finish this quilt. I had a goal to finish one a week that I was able to meet a couple weeks, but then I fell off the bandwagon. I have 8 of 25 done - not even halfway there. Sadness.

Alternate Uses for Quilts

2011-02-04T08:34:00.000-05:00

Indoor, candlelight picnics with Thai carryout and sparkling wine. Yum.

Softer Solids?

2011-02-01T21:31:00.001-05:00

Is it just me or does it seem like Kona solids are now made from higher quality fabric? This may not be a recent change (I haven't purchased solids for months), but this stack of fabric I just purchased seems softer and less coarse than other solids already in my stash. Has anyone else noticed this as well?

Edit: I also just noticed they're more expensive too. Boo hiss!

Hello, sunshine!

2011-01-27T09:45:00.020-05:00

Goodbye cold and snowy, Michigan!

Helloooooo, warm and sunny Arizona!

Photo by Greg McCown

I'm off to spend the weekend with my cousin for some wedding planning and a mid-winter thaw. It's nice having family in warmer climates. :)

New Challenge

2011-01-26T08:16:00.002-05:00

I decided to take on a new knitting challenge - a cardigan. I have never had much luck with sewing clothing, so maybe knitting will work out for me.

This will be a Shalmon Cardigan from a free pattern on Ravelry. A friend recommended it since it's an easy and quick knit. It's made with bulky yarn and big needles. I am trying hard to finish it so I can wear it before winter is over. So far I am on row 35 of 115. I think there is hope.

Hexagons, hexagons, hexagons

2011-01-25T10:51:00.000-05:00

It has been awhile since I had an update on my hexagon quilt. After making a significant amount of progress in our travels to and from Hawaii, I lost a bit of steam on the project. I tend to only work on my hexagons in the car, and since we haven't done a lot of traveling lately, my quilt has been a bit neglected. There has been some progress to report though.

I have 154 sewn together.

I have 17 flowers sewn together waiting to be added to the others.

And 1072 total hexagons completed!

Whole Grains

2011-01-20T13:15:00.000-05:00

Yesterday during lunch with one of my friends, she mentioned that she was attempting to transition to using all natural household and body cleaning products. At one point she mentioned that it was her goal to have it mostly figured out by the end of 2011. It was then that I had an ah-ha moment.

I have been wanting to switch to using mostly whole grain our diet for about a year now. What typically happens is this: I buy a bunch of whole grain products and try to use them all at once. Inevitably, I end up confused, burned out, and back to where I started feeling a bit defeated. When my friend mentioned that she wanted to meet her goal by the end of 2011, I realized that I don't have to switch to eating strictly whole grains all at once. It could (and likely should) be a gradual process to learn what my husband and I like, what we don't like, and how to actually use them in our day to day diet. I could have a goal to get there by the end of 2011. What a relief! On a similar note, I would also like to make peace with beans. I usually don't like beans of any kinds, but they're so good for you and I really would like to enjoy eating them.

In honor of my desire to transition to more whole grains and beans, I made myself a quinoa and chickpea concoction.

I think the spices needed a little adjusting, but all in all, I'd say it was a success! Yay!

New Hobby

2011-01-19T09:49:00.000-05:00

While I was in college I learned how to know. It took me (at least) a couple years to finish a two scarves and I decided to call it quits after that. However, as I see more and more knit projects around, it makes me want to pick the hobby up again and again. I have been holding off for awhile now since I really don't need another expensive hobby. Finally, shortly before Christmas my grandma requested for me to make her some homemade dishcloths. She actually asked for crocheted dishcloths, but I took it upon my self to make knit ones. It's the same general idea, right?

So here we have it, my dishcloth experiment.

I started out by making her four. I chose four different patterns that allowed me to experiment a little on a new stitch or pattern style.

My first one. In the center, something got mixed up and the (hard
to see) diamond pattern become reversed. Whoops!

The standard checkered pattern. Easy peasy.

A "baby fern" pattern. This one gave me a bit
of trouble. But I conquered!

And my favorite one. This one turned out really well!
It has some texture that I think will work well on a dishcloth.

All in all, I think I'm hooked. I really enjoy knitting!

Waves for Noah

2011-01-17T09:18:00.000-05:00

In July one of my close friends had her first baby boy. She requested a quilt and of course I obliged. Her and her husband opted to not find out the sex before he was born. Naturally, I was running behind in the quilt making department, so this turned out to be good for me because it bought me some extra time to make a gender specific quilt.

I finished up the top and the quilting in early fall, but it sat untouched with the girly quilt for over a month with the binding pinned on. At the end of November I kicked my butt into gear and decided to finally finish the quilt.

I used the New Wave pattern from Oh, Fransson! I made the lap size version for a couple reasons - I bought the fabric for it before the version for the baby quilt came out and it also makes it a more versatile size. Room to grow into, right? :)

The binding is a grey mini dots pattern by Michael Miller that matches the Kona coal almost perfectly. I think the polka dot binding ties it together nicely.

All in all, I'd say it was a success. I love this pattern. I think I see another one in my future. That is, after I finish up all of the other projects on my list!

New Projects

2011-01-14T09:57:00.000-05:00

I love starting new projects. I love looking at a stack of fresh fabrics. I love sitting down and figuring out the pattern. I love math required to figure out how everything is going to come together. I love when I can begin cutting the pieces and laying them out together. I really love quilting.

To finish or not to finish

2011-01-12T10:36:00.027-05:00

I have been contemplating whether or not to make more blocks for my spiderweb quilt. In its current state, the quilt is 5 blocks by 6 blocks. This makes it roughly 50" x 60".

Please excuse this horrible photo. My condo has terrible natural lighting
and on top of that, it's dreary and snowing outside. Sadness.

The plan is to make the quilt a lap quilt to give as a gift. I typically like a generous lap size quilt, which this is. However, it's really only a one person lap quilt. If I add 2 more rows of blocks, it would make the quilt roughly 60"x70". That would make it a better two person snuggle quilt. It would also require me to make 12 more blocks. Although I do enjoy making these blocks, I'm not sure I have 12 more in me. That's a lot!

So, here is my question to you: what size do you make your lap quilts? Would you call it quits now and finish it up? Would you keep going?

A Long Awaited Return

2011-01-11T19:40:00.002-05:00

Welcome back, Rowenta Focus iron. Oh, how I have missed you (even if I would never purchase you again - ever). You are much nicer than the iron I used for those 3 months you were off getting repaired.

Love,

Nichole

Surprise for me!

2011-01-10T10:22:00.000-05:00

A friend left me a message last night informing me that my pinwheel quilt has featured at Whip Up. So exciting! Despite the fact that it appears that I have regular followers (thanks lovely readers! :) ), I pretty much operate this blog and my Flickr page as if no one actually pays attention. This makes it even more surprising when my work pops up someplace else. Thanks for letting me gush for a moment. That is all. :)

Operation Christmas Child 2010

2011-01-10T09:02:00.000-05:00

I decided to make another quilt for Operation Christmas Child this year. Well, I suppose it was last year now.

I made some scrappy wonky stars based on this tutorial. The blocks are 6" finished and are slightly offset from each other with strips to make the quilt 15" wide x 18" long. I quilted it with lines randomly located.

The back is this fun owl print I found at JoAnn's and the binding is a golden stripe print I found on sale at a local quilt shop. I like sales. :)

The plan was to make a doll quilt and include a baby doll in the box. Unfortunately, I could not find a baby doll for less than $15 and having all kinds of "extras". Maybe I am just out of touch with the going rate of dolls, but it just seemed a bit expensive. Whatever happened to the simple baby doll? So, the little girl I made this for receive a nice lovie sized quilt for herself, not a doll. For next year's box I am going to have to start looking for dolls sooner and stock up for years to come.

Pinwheels for Christmas

2011-01-07T08:42:00.001-05:00

Ever since I gave my mom a quilt for her birthday last year, various members of my family have been requesting quilts. This year for Christmas my grandma was the lucky lady.

I started working on the pinwheel sampler early last year. After being sidelined for several months, I decided to finished it up for a Christmas gift. I love the prints in this quilt and the classic pattern.

The original sampler quilt-a-long only called for 16 blocks, but I think a rectangular quilt is nicer than a square one, so I added 4 additional blocks. I also decided to add those little pinwheels in the sashing. I am so glad I did too. I think they really add a little something special to the quilt. There was a lot of talk of how much of a pain in the butt they are to make in the Flickr group, but I didn't find them painful at all. I actually kind of enjoyed making them. After making all of more intricate larger blocks, it was a bit refreshing to whip up a bunch of simple ones - even if they were only 3.5" square.

I don't prewash any of my fabric since I like the crinkly look. This quilt washed up so lovely. Look at all those crinkles! Doesn't it make you want to just snuggle up in it?!

The backing and binding were prints of the same line that I found on clearance at the Fabric Shack for only $3.99 a yard! It was such a great find!

It's one of the more traditional quilts I have made, but I love it. I am so happy with how it turned out.

Christmas Traveling

2011-01-05T08:03:00.014-05:00

After Christmas Shawn and I spent some time with his parents in Michigan's Upper Penninsula. The UP is a beautiful place to visit. While we were there we partook in some fun winter activities.

First, we went and saw some ice caves and (partially) frozen waterfalls. They were impressive and beautiful! Here are some photos for your enjoyment.

Eben Ice Caves

Inside the ice caves

Wagner Falls

Ice covered bushes along Lake Superior

My mother-in-law and I spent an afternoon sewing together. As with most times I sew with friends, we didn't accomplish a whole lot. The truth is that it doesn't really matter how much was accomplished. I don't sew with people I like to be productive - I like to talk!

Shawn's brother and his family drove in from Wisconsin to join us for a day. We spent some time hiking on the frozen river, building snowboys, and having a snowball fight. And more photos for your enjoyment.

Drilling a hole through the ice

The frozen river

Frozen lake with glittery snow

Sunset over the river

More photos here if you are interested.

Girly

2011-01-04T08:42:00.001-05:00

When I first posted about this quilt, I affectionately dubbed it the "trial quilt" since it was, in fact, a trial run for the quilt I made for my adorable little niece. It sat with about 12 inches of binding unstitched for over a month, but I finally finished it up on our trip to Ontario.

Since the backdrop looking over Lake Erie is so pretty, I figured I should take some photos there to show it off. Unfortunately, the lighting was a bit off since I took them a bit too soon after sunrise. It was freezing and Shawn and I were antsy to make our snowy drive home.

The pattern is my own - using 8 prints in various sizes of squares and rectangles. While reorganizing my fabric I realized I have a large stack of pink prints and have never made a pink quilt! I chose these prints to remedy that situation. I still think I need to make about 10 more pink quilts to reflect the amount of pink in my stash! The white sashing is this bamboo cotton blend I purchased inexpensively by the bolt a couple years ago. I like it because the price is right, it's softer than Kona cotton, and threads don't show through like with muslin.

To go along with the pink theme, the back in a pale pink Kona solid. I think it's pale flesh. Since some of the pinks are pretty bold in the top, I wanted to be a little more subtle for the backing. The binding is from Good Folks and I think it makes a great binding.

All in all, I'd say this trial quilt was a success.

Lacking Inspiration

2010-12-21T16:40:00.000-05:00

As if you haven't noticed, I have been a bit absent. I mean, do I even have any readers anymore?! It has been months! I envisioned my time of unemployment (yes, still unemployed here!) to be a fantastic time of sewing and crafting. That has unfortunately not been the case. I have been lacking inspiration and motivation. When the stars do align and I get some sewing in, I end up feeling guilty most of the time. Shouldn't I be looking for more jobs? Shouldn't I be cleaning more? How can I do something so self-centered to enjoy this time of unemployment when __((anything else))___ should be done?

So, here's a little most about what I have been up to these past two months. Besides cleaning and looking for jobs, of course.

I spent some time with my new niece. Isn't she just the cutest?! Ok, she may be scowling a bit in this photo and it's one of the only ones we have together, so you'll just have to trust me on this one. She's adorable!

I visited a great friend in Colorado and enjoyed wonderful company and 70 degree temperatures when everyone else was freezing in Michigan. Yes!

Started drinking green smoothies. Yum!

Planned to run a 10k but accidentally ran a 5k on Thanksgiving Day instead. Don't ask. But, look at that fabulous sparkle skirt I wore. I was inspired by this wonderfully obnoxious skirts at Team Sparkle. I couldn't bring myself to paying $30 for a skirt to wear over my running clothes, so I made one myself for approximately $7. I am quite confident that the workmanship is much higher on the real sparkle skirts, but I figured I was running and it didn't matter if the ruffles were attached perfectly.

And then, most recently, I celebrated my wonderful husband's 31st birthday with a long weekend getaway to rural Ontario. We rented a home right on Lake Erie and enjoyed relaxing by the fire overlooking the snowy lake. Just beautiful.

What kind of birthday cake do you make for your husband who eats two peanut butter and jelly sandwiches a day? A PB&J cake, of course! :)

We may have built a snowman while it was blizzarding too.

So now that I have the dreaded catch up post over, maybe I'll keep you updated with some more sewing projects soon. I actually HAVE finished a few quilts.

Experiment

2010-10-26T18:01:00.000-04:00

Today I decided to experiment with making my own vanilla extract. I had all the ingredients and was feeling adventurous, so why not?

I filled an old wine bottle with vodka, added 12 split vanilla beans, and corked it. Simple enough, right? I'll let you know how it works out in 2 months!

Operation Christmas Child

2010-10-22T10:21:00.000-04:00

Every year my church participates in Operation Christmas Child. If you are not familiar, Operation Christmas Child is a program organized by Samaritan's Purse that collects shoe boxes filled with items to give to children in impoverished countries.

Last year I made a doll quilt and mini pillow to include in my box and I plan to do the same this year. There are so many things I love about doing this. I love being able to use my quilting skills to send a personal and love-filled gift to a little girl for Christmas. And if sending a homemade gift to someone wasn't enough, it's also a great way to use up some scraps!

How amazing would it be if we made hundreds of these boxes with dolls and homemade quilts? If you are interested in participating, it's really easy! Samaritan's Purse has all of the information on their website and has drop off locations all over the country.

So, are you up for joining in the fun too?