Quilting A.D.D.

Meow

2011-01-23T20:12:00.000-08:00

One of the magazines my grandmother had featured a nine-patch "blanket" on the cover of the magazine. My daughter saw the kitty blanket and had to have it. I figured that she'd forget about it after a day or so if I put the magazine away, but she was tenacious! Personally, I think it's super ugly.

I had some time today and threw it together for her. I learned a few lessons along the way:

Don't use fleece for backing. Really. It might seem like a good idea but it really isn't.
Make sure you're using the right size needle if you are stupid enough to use fleece for the backing.
It's okay to give yourself more than a 1/4" seam allowance when you're assembling your quilt pillow-case style.
Top stitch! Really. Don't forget it! ALL the way around. It makes life so much easier.
Did I mention not to use fleece? Just thought I'd throw that in again.
If you really wanted this to be a blankie for a child, don't use buttons for eyes and make your squares larger. I followed the instructions, against my better judgment, and cut 4 1/2" squares. The end result is a 12" block. I suppose Barbie or Strawberry Shortcake could use it as a blankie.

So here's the creepy kitty. I think it's frightening but I'm sure my daughter will love it.

creepy!

recycled one of my son's fleece baby blankets for the backing

My mom gave me my grandma for Christmas

2011-01-14T12:23:00.000-08:00

Confused?

My mom's mom was my best friend. She had so many admirable qualities and I just adored her. She passed away almost six years ago and I miss her terribly. She was kind, spirited, loving and hard working. She was an incredible role model.

My grandmother was an amazing - I mean AMAZING - seamstress! She sewed her daughters' wedding dresses and all their brides maids' dresses. She sewed her own wardrobe as well as for her two daughters. She sewed for all of us grandkids. The clothes she made always fit right and seemed flawless to me.

I don't know if she always quilted or if it was something she did more of as she got older. I do have a twin size patchwork quilt she made for me and a whole-cloth baby doll quilt she made for me. She quilted this amazing patchwork jacket for me when I was little. I look at it now (pictured on my own daughter) and am simply amazed. If you notice, the fabrics are symmetrical on each side of the jacket front. The arms match as well. That jacket astounds me!

To my memory, she mostly quilted preprinted panels, whole cloth quilts or simple patchwork. I think she made a wedding ring quilt for my cousin but I really don't remember seeing her do a lot of piece work.

For Christmas, my mom handed me a gift bag. Inside was a box of tissues. My 4 year old daughter thought this was a great gift. I knew it meant something big was coming. My mom slide a big present over to me. I opened it and it was one of those Sterlite containers with shelves. Okay. Um. What's up, Mom??

Each drawer contained a million treasures....

The top drawer contained blocks for a sampler quilt my grandmother started. Each block had a little piece of paper attached with the name of the pattern. Most were sashed and sewn into rows. I was speechless. My grandmother *never* did piecework like this!

The second drawer contained all of the quilting templates she used. She hand quilted on a huge rack. She would lay out the cardstock templates and trace them on the fabric and start hand stitching. For as long as I can remember, my grandmother's knuckles were bent at right angles from arthritis. It still amazes me that she hand quilted.

The next drawer contained lots of envelopes. Each envelope was labeled with the name of a block pattern. In each envelope was all of the paper templates for that block. Each template piece was labeled with the name of the block and was given a number so you'd know that they were all accounted for and none were lost. There were even plexiglass templates she had my grandfather cut for her.

The bottom drawer was filled with quilting books and magazines from the early 90's. This alone was a huge treasure. But it gets better..... each magazine was marked. She put check marks next to the blocks she wanted for her sampler and wrote "done" when they were complete. She made notes in the margins just like she used to do with her cookbooks... any modifications or thoughts about the recipe would be noted.

It was an absolutely amazing gift to receive. Seeing my grandmother's distinctive handwriting was enough to bring tears to my eyes. But seeing how she planned out this sampler and worked on it left me without words.

Right now, the sampler looks like it would fit a twin bed. I plan to go through the magazines and find the blocks she hadn't made yet and add to the quilt to make it queen size. I also want to have someone embroidery the names of each block onto the blocks. I'll never remember the names and I want to make sure the next person who receives the quilt has that knowledge as well.

It's taken me a while to write about this. Every time I try to write about it, I am so overwhelmed by the gift and find that words just aren't adequate. I love my Grandma and miss her every day. I'm a boo-hooing, runny nose mess now that I've written it all out.

Thank you, Grandma, for being such an amazing woman and role model. Thank you, Mom, for giving me a little of Grandma for Christmas and for knowing how much it would mean to me. I love you dearly.

My wonderful grandparents and my son

Must I de-stash?

2011-01-13T19:50:00.000-08:00

I've seen quite a few blog posts from fabricaholics who are determined to destash and/or use up their fabric stashes on projects this year.

Personally, I don't think I have an incredibly huge stash of fabrics. But when you compare how much space my stash takes up in this tiny apartment, it does seem like a lot. No, I'm not justifying my fabric love; I'm simply explaining that the ratio of storage space to fabric taking up storage space is a big skewed in this little apartment.

Should I de-stash? Probably. I know there are fabrics in there that I'll never use. But I said the same thing before making my daughter's quilt and ended up using one of the "ew" fabrics and love it in the quilt!

I did make an effort to organize my projects. I have shoe boxes and leftover Christmas boxes holding various projects; each box is labeled too! I'd love to have some (a million) Sterlite type containers to help with organizing but I'm okay with recycling the boxes I come across.

Are you committed to de-stashing this year? Using up your fabrics on projects? How will you get rid of the unwanted fabrics? I'm thinking about holding a giveaway on the blog maybe. I'll have to see what I can find to get rid of. I don't have a lot of designer fabrics - just remnants from other people's projects for the most part.

So... de-stash or hold on tight?

Glue your fabric??

2011-01-12T07:11:00.000-08:00

I was doing some random quilt blog surfing this morning and came across this amazing tip.

Have you ever been working on a project and realized you don't have a piece of fabric that fits your need? Just a little too short or mis-cut? (Not that I have ever mis-cut fabric!!)

Oh Fransson! posted a neat trick on how to piece your fabric together and save your sewing project. This is a bit involved for someone like me who has very little patience but I thought I'd pass it along because it's simply brilliant!

Rainbow bargello progress

2011-01-11T21:04:00.000-08:00

It started out pretty simply.... a request for a rainbow quilt. After researching high and low, I decided to use a bunch of fat quarter from my stash and sew a bargello.

I added a border but it just didn't look right. It was too narrow. Beefing up the width with borders wasn't going to work... they'd overpower the rainbow effect.

Yes, that's my striped sock peeking out

I set it aside for a month while I noodled through possible solutions. Nothing I thought of was do-able. Nothing clicked as the right answer. I finally spread it out on the floor of my best friend's kitchen and stared at it.

And stared.

Then I stared some more.

Then I ate an ice cream sandwich and stared even more.

And then it hit me! I had extra bargello "tubes" that hadn't been opened yet. I could open them, halve them and add them to the side without the border! That would give me another 5 or 6 inches of width!

I spent tonight sewing those extras. Tomorrow I'll attach them to the rest of the quilt and we'll see how it looks!

Cheater binding

2011-01-09T11:07:00.000-08:00

I cannot sew a whip stitch. I just can't. I try and I might get it to look decent for a few stitches but then it gets all wild and crazy again. It's like I have lost all control of my dexterity and my fingers have been taken over by Beetlejuice!

One of the ladies in my quilting bee blogged about a really neat way to "cheat" on sewing the binding. I must say... I'm impressed and very excited to try it out!

Check out her blog, Sewn, and spend some time trying out her binding cheat!

My first quilting bee

2011-01-07T12:07:00.000-08:00

I'm very excited to be part of a quilting bee. It's something I've wanted to do for a long time but lacked the confidence to take part. One of my resolutions this year is to not let fear of failure limit my dreams and goals. With that in mind, I let go of self-doubt, fear of imperfection, and self-deprecation; I joined a bee!

Finding an open bee that fits your style isn't always easy but Flickr Groups is probably the best place to start looking. I joined the group "A Twist on Tradition". I love quilts but I'm not too hyped about a lot of the traditional piecework. It's pretty and I can appreciate the effort that goes into them, but they generally don't make me giddy. I tend to gravitate to the more modern quilts so I thought this group would be a good fit for me.

Our first batch of fabrics arrived in the mail around Christmas time. At first I thought, "Who do I know in UTAH???" and was even more perplexed when I opened the envelope and found a bagging of scraps. Oh yahhh... the bee has begun!

I had a pretty busy holiday so I wasn't able to work on my blocks until recently. The originator requested pinwheels inside log cabins. I've never done a log cabin before and have been told it's simple and one of the first blocks a beginner should learn. However, the intimidation-factor was pretty high for me. I felt all my fears of imperfection creeping back into my mind.... I'll never figure out how to layout a log cabin... What if it isn't square?? What if it isn't centered? What if mine looks shoddy?? I really don't want to disappoint the lady who sent the fabric to me!

And then, I sat down and just did it. I closed my eyes, did some deep cleansing breaths and got to work (with my eyes open again).

I had some moral support from my best friend who encouraged me and held my hand a little. And now that the blocks are done, I can say that I've done a log cabin and succeeded. I can't wait to see what the completed quilt looks like!

Some Christmas warmth

2011-01-07T00:00:00.001-08:00

I wasn't able to blog about this work in progress because I didn't want the recipients to see it before Christmas!

This ragged-edge Christmas quilt is backed with cream colored fleece and should be super cozy. I love that all the fabrics used were recycled from other projects. A good amount of the green fabric was given to me by a fellow sewing-mama here in Richmond.

Hope you enjoy it, Ray and Crystal!

Rainbow love

2010-11-25T11:30:00.000-08:00

In the midst of all the other sewing projects I have going on, I received a request for a rainbow blanket. Who can resist rainbows?! So I tossed my Cabin in the Woods to the side and got busy cutting.

This will be a rainbow bargello when I'm done. I'm going to use this as the width of the quilt and add some super chunky borders.

I'm not so good with measuring...

2010-10-12T18:30:00.000-07:00

It may not look like much..

2010-10-08T21:30:00.000-07:00

... but here's where things stand with the Cabin in the Woods quilt.

Today was all about cutting out a million different pieces and getting some of the basic assembly completed. There are three or four different types of tree blocks and I only have one type finished.

For being a scrappy quilt, it sure does require large scraps! I've had a hard time finding scraps large enough but fortunately I have some leftover yardage in a several prints. But I'm sure that before this is over, I'll be having to beg for fabric from Kellie or run to the store to buy more fabric.

I am loving this quilt! I think the fact that it's not the same exact pattern over and over ad infinitum that appeals to me. Each cabin is unique as is each tree. Block assembly is pretty random which also appeals to me. And it's just so stinkin' cute! I think this quilt demands a double layer of thick batting to make it a good winter quilt for curling up in front of a fire.

Now to work out installing a fireplace in my apartment!

I've been bored

2010-10-08T13:21:00.001-07:00

I have. I have been so SO bored lately. I finished Josie's quilt top. I finished Mitchell's quilt top. I finished the ragged edge Christmas present top as well as the table runner Christmas present. I'm trying to patiently wait for fabric to start on the charity quilts but in the mean time, I am bored.

Bored.

B. O. R. E. D.

I pulled out the quilting book my sister gave me and started digging into my scrap boxes. I have enough scraps to start so I'm working on a Cabin in the Woods top now. It's super cute and pretty easy. Now I need to dig out some green scraps so I can start on the trees! I have a feeling a trip to the fabric store will be necessary for the green fabric. Oops.

Fabric Love

2010-10-05T21:17:00.000-07:00

I'm not the type of person to go ga-ga over fabric. Sure, some patterns and colors appeal to me more than others. But, generally, I don't squeal like a school-girl or get all giddy about fabric.

Or, I didn't.

At least, not until I found Moda's Lila Tuller Eden collection.

*swoon*

Someone pass the smelling salts!

Go ahead, click again. You know you want to stare at the awesomeness. Click. It's okay.

I am now on a quest to find the most perfect, modern quilt pattern for this fabric. Because of the large prints, I am hesitant to use most quilt patterns. I want to show off this big, bold print! I want everyone who sees my quilt to be intrigued and engrossed with the fabrics.

Yes, it's a sick kind of love, isn't it?

A quilt with this fabric... she shall be mine.. oh yes she shall!

Turning 20 gone awry

2010-10-05T20:57:00.001-07:00

I really am not great when it comes to cutting fabric. I think I've lamented this fact on this blog before. But I really do stink at it! It's become a joke between my BFF and me that if I need fabric cut, she has to do it for me. It's embarrassing, really. I desperately need an Accuquilt Go! But that's another rant entirely.

Kellie let me borrow her Turning 20 pattern (well, she encouraged me to take it home with me, I declined, then found the perfect Fat Quarter's to make a quilt for my daughter and decided to make Turning 20 even though the pattern was still at Kellie's house *insert panting breath here from super long, run on elipticle whatever-you-call-it).

I was happily cutting along, squaring up my FQs. Then I measured. The pattern called for 18 1/2" wide. I had 17. Oops.

So. No Turning Twenty after all! Well. Who needs to turn twenty again anyways?

I looked down at all these cut fat quarters and refused to be discouraged!

I had cut some 10" squares. These became three huge 18" pinwheels!

I had 3 1/2" wide strips. These became stacked coins of varying widths.

I had 10 1/2" wide strips. I cut these down and made "bricks".

Layed out the rows and ...........

Until I have some extra money to buy fabric, the boarders and backing will just have to wait. This will go in the UFO pile until it's time to be quilted.

Blocky Beauty

2010-02-27T20:50:00.000-08:00

Yesterday, I finished sewing about 50 squares, cut them and then ironed the seams tonight. After patting myself on the back for a while and quietly fondling my stacks of pinwheel squares, I decided to lay them out on the floor as blocks to see how it would look.

I had almost twice as many squares that could be laid out at this point, plus just as many that still need to be sewn once I buy more of the rust-colored contrast material.

This will easily make a twin size quilt. If I add a thick boarder and sashing, I *might* be able to stretch it to a double. I'll have to do some measuring.

I loved looking at my blocks all laid out. Now I just need to sew all those blocks!!

So... what do you think of the quilt being named "Pocket of Autumn"? Like it? Hate it? Have a better idea?

Fabric lust

2010-02-21T17:37:00.000-08:00

I'm still in the beginning stages of my pinwheel quilt and already I'm crushing on new fabrics! Go ahead, click. Just click already! I'll sit here and wait while you drool.

SEE WHAT I MEAN?!!

I so need these fabrics! I haven't decided which ones I want, but if you know me then you know that the purples will be the main fabrics.

I love how soft and romantic the lines of these designs are! I love the greens mixed with the pinks, yellows and purples. Love, love, love!

Now I need to find a quilt pattern to use.

Don't worry, dear pinwheel quilt, I won't abandon you.

Yet.

Mix it up?

2010-02-18T12:12:00.000-08:00

I started ironing the seams on my squares for the pinwheels. Now, here's the question... should I make all the pinwheels with the same colors or mix them up? Opinions? Thoughts?

Oh how I love my rotary cutter

2010-02-17T07:10:00.001-08:00

I've been busy, busy, busy cutting out squares. Five inch squares. Everywhere. Then once they're cut, I match them with the solid material, mark them and sew my seams then cut them one last time to make triangles. So now I have squares and triangles everywhere.

See that untied stack of squares? As of last night, every single one of those was pieced, sewn and cut into triangles!

Today I'll be cutting more 5" squares of the solid fabric and matching them with my patterned fabrics.

Rotary cutter, don't fail me now!

It's pinwheel time!

2010-02-13T12:38:00.000-08:00

Using a super easy tutorial from V & Co., I'm embarking on my first pinwheel quilt today!

After an agonzing evening at the local quilt shop, I choose colors and patterns that are very much NOT me, but spoke to me. As soon as I saw this grouping of fat quarters, I had to have them!

Instead of using white as the alternate to the patterned material, I chose a rust color. Now I'm not so sure about that choice. Oh well.. we'll see how it turns out!

Now I need to think of a name for this bad boy. Any ideas??

Mistakes happen

2010-02-08T17:34:00.001-08:00

A super simple project - making a pocket warmer. Cut two pieces of material the same size, sew them with the right sides together leaving an opening to flip it open. Push out the corners, fill about 1/3 full with rice or beans, close it up.

How can you go wrong?

Oh. I found a way. Boy, did I find a way.

The problem wasn't the construction or even the sewing. The problem was with the execution. Let me offer you a bit of advice: when you heat up your pocket warmer, don't leave it in the microwave for three minutes. Really, it's not necessary; a minute to a minute and a half is all that is necessary.

Otherwise.....

You should probably click on the image to see the true horror of what happened. The rice swelled and almost burst the material. And it began to scorch the material! The rice was so burnt that I had to throw the whole pocket warmer into the sink and run some cold water over it to keep it from catching on fire. Then, nothing but brown, burn water can out of it. What a stinky mess!

So take my advice... enjoy your pocket warmers but a little moderation during the microwaving is in order.

Hello old friend

2010-01-04T13:47:00.001-08:00

Yes, it's been a long time. I have no excuse. Well, I have plenty of excuses including a bad back, moving twice in four months, etc, etc. Bottom line is that I haven't been sewing and I miss it.

I decided to start 2010 off with something fun, bright and easy. I'm making some hot pink elephant pajamas for my daughter. So far I've cut the pants. I'm going to cut a top in matching hot pink and give her a solid top and print bottoms. For some reason she has more bottoms than tops. I hate sewing collars and sleeves but I'll probably end up making as many tops out of these two cuts of material as I can.

Tonight, I'll sew the bottoms, hem them and put the waistband in. Tomorrow, sleeves and collars, oh my!

If I only had a....

2009-06-23T19:20:00.001-07:00

Two inch ruler!!

We moved in May and a lot of stuff had to go into storage. I tried to make sure I kept enough of my sewing supplies handy but there was so much confusion. A lot of our stuff had to go into storage, and since we don't have a lot of storage in the apartment, I had to get creative with in-home storage.

For the life of me, I cannot find that 2" ruler! I use it exclusively for marking my lines to quilt diamonds. I'm trying to quilt a purse for a friend but I'm at a stand-still until I can find that ruler.

Back to the machine

2009-06-17T21:48:00.000-07:00

Wow.. it's been a while! April was a very difficult month for me and included moving from our house to a two bedroom apartment. I haven't had a chance to sew since before the move and I have really missed it! I've been so stressed and overwhelmed that I lost all creativity. But...

This past weekend, a friend had a yard sale and was clearing out a lot of her fabric scraps. I love me some scraps! I was so inspired by some of these scraps that I had to sew something right away!

It's a little lumpy right now, but it'll even out as I rest against it!

A tote for Mom!

2009-03-18T21:55:00.000-07:00

For Christmas, I planned on making a reusable grocery tote for my mom. The plan was to print a picture of my kids on special fabric and incorporate it into the tote. Well, the special fabric was cream colored and could only be dry cleaned. Not such a good idea for a grocery tote. I was left trying to figure out a nice gift.

A few months ago, a fellow quilter was cleaning out her scrap stash and I bought some of it from her. Included was a set of squares already sewn together and some of the leftover material from those squares. The leftovers were the perfect size for a tote! Once I started playing w/ the materials, I found inspiration and a plan came together.

I used a tote I already had as the basis of a pattern; but mostly, I winged it. It's no where near perfect and the detailing is atrocious. But I adore it!! I really don't want to part with it! LOL

Sweet Pink

2009-02-27T15:11:00.000-08:00

My latest work in progress is this rose strip twist quilt for a friend's baby girl. My blocks are assembled, I added the sashing between the blocks and now have all five rows complete. The question is.... do I add the sashing between the rows or not?

I'm really on the fence about what to do. I like it the way it is now. I like that it flows together but the limited sashing gives your eyes a break. But then again, it flows together and is very busy. I equate it to Strawberry Shortcake puking everywhere! LOL I'm afraid that adding the extra sashing will stop the flow and make it too boxy.

I think I'm going to stop looking at the pictures and let it percolate in my brain for a while. Opinions are welcome!