Quick Quilting Update

My project list is far greater than my skill level, amount of available time, or fabric budget. In fact, my project list is probably greater than all three of those other things combined. I have very clear ideas, visions, in my head of what each of these future quilts ought to look like, and very little idea of how to get them from my head onto paper and into fabric.  Luckily for me, people who love me are sending a present my way that should help with that part. (thanks, guys!)

Because part of my problem is fear which causes me to procrastinate and not start on stuff, I'm going to briefly (ha!) outline each one of the projects here. This way, I have to start them sooner or later. And you guys can pester me for updates to make sure I do.

In no particular order, the stuff in my "to make some day" idea folder....

The Brazil Quilt -- this one is completely my design, and will be based on the cobblestone mosaic patterns of the sidewalks in Brazil. The center will be a typical flower design, with the side borders (there is no top/bottom border) being the famous wave pattern. There will also be a bird or two, and probably some little favela in the corner. It will divide on the diagonal, top left to bottom right; the left/bottom will be in the colors of the sidewalks -- blacks, beiges, creams, tans. The right/top will be in the colors of nature -- blues for the waves, bright tropical colors in the flower, etc.  So far I have a rough sketch and have bought all the fabric for the quilt top.

The Writer's Quilt -- this will be the one I work on first, and is in fact already started. We'll highlight some of his own work (a comic strip he created), printed on fabric sheets that are 8 x 11. Each of those will be framed out in red, and the rest of the quilt will be black & white, with a pieced border in grays. The design will be oversized rail fence blocks; one side in all blacks, the other side in all whites, but the sides will interlock. The middle 2 columns will showcase the comic strip, and the seams where the halves interlock will be outlined in red. I was inspired by this quilt and then adapted it to fit. So far I have 5 of the black rail fence blocks done.

black rail fence blocks; laid out, not sewn
this is what 4 blocks will look like put together; each block is around 12 x 12

what the white ones will look like
same as above, not sewn yet, just laid out, 4 blocks, each 12x12

The Storybook Quilt -- this is way way way down the list, but it's going to be amazing when I ever get to do it. Simple rows, straight across like a bookshelf. The bottom row -- scenes from children's books, things like Goodnight Moon and that sort of thing. The top row -- scenes from grown-up books, like Lord of the Rings. Along the way, we'll visit Harry Potter, Narnia, the If You Give a.... series, and I'm really not sure what all else. I'm sure Pooh will be there somewhere. And probably a Mockingjay. At the bottom left I'll have a tiny caterpillar, cut from the trademarked Eric Carle Hungry Caterpillar fabric; at the top right, the butterfly from same. He'll munch his way through the books; a Books quilt block will separate each scene. I've got a few rough sketches of this, but I'm sure it will change and grow as my boys discover old favorites and introduce me to new ones. I have no idea how to execute this quilt, which is why it's in perpetual last on my list of quilts to make.

The Artist's T-Shirt Quilt -- The Artist gets attached to his shirts, particularly souvenir type shirts. He hates outgrowing them, because they have to be removed from his closet. So I told him about t-shirt quilts, and a pile is growing in the sewing room. When there are enough shirts there, I'll make this quilt for him using Jules' favorite t-shirt quilt pattern.

The Argyle Baby Quilt -- I've designed a baby quilt, inspired by a pair of socks, and prompted by a baby quilt contest. Only, I couldn't bear to spend the money on fabrics for a quilt with no recipient in mind so I am not entering the contest. Still, I'm excited by the design and just waiting for a family member to find out what she's having so I can go buy either pinks or blues. The quilt will be pieced, and more detailed than this drawing, but here's a basic drawing I did in paint. Colors subject to change depending on baby's gender. Quilters, I plan to do this by strip piecing and then cutting the strips into diamond shapes (or, squares but turned on the diagonal). The argyle fine line in the main feature will be either ribbon or rick-rack, depending if said family member is having a girl or a boy.

background will be a soft pink, not dull yellow
not sure the color for the ribbon/rick-rack
and if relative is having a boy, will be a soft green with dark blue & green.
Something like that. Will not be solid, but pieced from a few fabrics in the background color.

Some kind of Quilt for The Adventurer -- I want to do a quilt for each boy, but The Adventurer has no idea and neither do I. Maybe something Nintendo themed. Or fish/swimming themed. We'll see. Since we've neither one of us got any idea, his will come after The Writer's and The Artist's.

The Artist's Main Quilt -- I know I already said about the Artist's t-shirt quilt, but that's a years-later thing; I also want to do him a now quilt, probably cat themed or a simpler adaptation of the storybook quilt. He asked for something based on Warriors, a cat-themed book series, so I'm brainstorming and trying to come up with something he'll like yet not quite so specific to one particular book. He's my little bookworm, so hoping to talk him into something broader. We'll see. He is also the cat lover of the family, so cats work well for him too. His will be after The Writer's quilt, and maybe after The Brazil Quilt depending on if I figure out what The Artist wants before then or not.

A Songs series -- I made a small wall hanging as a gift for someone, based on a song that I love. I'd like to make a 2nd version of that for myself, and am debating doing this as a series of wall hangings based on other songs as well, or as blocks to fit into the border of the Diary Quilt, or as a separate lap quilt in & of itself. Still toying with that idea; we'll see what shape it takes.

And I still have to finish the Diary Quilt. Blocks are done, which I need to finish showcasing here, and I'm adding the setting triangles to turn them into the right size for the quilt size I want. I'll be finishing this one by hand, so it's easy to work on between other projects.

That's my list, so far. My goal is to have The Writer's quilt done by our winter -- June-ish. I'm not sure I'll make it, but we'll see. The blocks go together quickly, it's the finishing up that worries me. I've still never quilted a quilt before, so.....wish me luck. And keep asking how things are going. I need the accountability if I'm ever going to get any of these done.

Red White & Blue is DONE!

After a very long time working on this project, or rather, a little while working on it, a very long time not working on it, and another little while working on it again, it is finally done.

This was the first pattern and fabric I bought to try my hand at quilting. I had, at that point in time, barely managed to piece a single block for a friend's Guild President's Quilt. She laughed at me all through reading about that particular little project, because my skills were so insanely pathetic. Only she laughed in the most encouraging manner so that I didn't give up.

When I bought the pattern, I had two thoughts -- a jelly roll pattern (something using pre-cut long strips of 2.5" width) would be easiest, since I would only have to cut the strips to the right length, and I knew I didn't want any triangles. The triangles in my friend's block gave me fits.  It never crossed my mind to worry about anything else, which is the benefit of being clueless when you start --- you don't know enough to know what's hard and what's not, so you are willing to tackle anything. At least, I was.

The helpful staff at the quilt shop where I bought the jelly roll and the pattern were encouraging, until I talked to the lady who wrote the pattern I was buying, and tweaking. See, she wrote the pattern for a 4-color way jelly roll. It was meant to have four colors in it, plus the black for the background. I wanted to do the whole thing in red, white & blue. Even with light blue and dark blue, that was four colors total, including the cream that would also be my background. She wasn't thrilled at the prospect of a baby beginner like me, with no confidence at the time, rearranging her pattern. She was really worried I would not get all the tweaking just right and would wind up discouraged. She was wrong.

Still, she was helpful. She figured roughly how much extra of the other colors I would need to compensate for using one less color than intended, helped me think through what I was getting into, and very dubiously set me on my way. She was more than a little concerned about accurate piecing since I was so new and doing this all by hand. I took that as a challenge, ignored her doubts and vowed to do a fantastic job.

Mostly, I did.

Now, I won't be winning any awards or anything, and my quilt did turn out a few inches smaller all around than what it is supposed to have turned out, but it also ended up where all my seams but one match up pretty well and the whole thing is square. When you put the borders on, you are to measure across the middle, top and bottom and average the three measurements to determine how long to make your border, and then work the fabric of the quilt into fitting that length. I did this and was delighted to have less than a half-inch difference between top, middle, bottom each time I measured. Now, maybe a time will come when an eight-inch difference bothers me, but for my first project and having heard from my mentor friend that a customer quilt of hers had a 2 to 3 inch difference, I was thrilled.

I finished all of the piecing and borders in time to take the quilt top with me, along with the backing fabric, to Colorado where Kim had a domestic machine and a long arm kind of machine and promised to help me quilt my quilt.

close up of the pantograph design we used on my quilt, "stars & loops"
I used Superior's King Tut variegated thread in a light to dark blue.

Turned out, having never used any machine before, I was not so good with the long arm. I managed most of one row, with several stops and starts, before deciding it really made me nervous.  Kim was just finished restoring a quilt for my grandma, and was to the point of hand stitching the binding down, which she graciously let me work on while she quilted my quilt. Whew! I was thrilled to have someone skilled driving the machine, and Kim was delighted to have binding work done. Bonus -- I got to "help" with the quilt for my grandparents.

the quilt, all spread out
the binding turned out, totally by accident, to be blue on the blue sides and red on the red sides,
except the side shown to the right which is half and half. Total accident, but lovely!

We sewed right up to the day I was leaving Colorado (having not started until the end of my trip; it wasn't a long project, but the restoration quilt was the priority, and rightly so) so that I still had to do the binding once away in Texas. But I did, and it's done, and my very own quilt is now laying over my couch, right there in the living room where everyone can see it and use it and I can think, "I made that!!" every time I walk by.

There are purists who will say that since Kim quilted it, I didn't make a quilt, I only made a quilt top. I'm okay with that (and the label, which is not on yet, will have both names; I'm proud to share credit with Kim on this one!). Seeing it on the couch, though.....wow. I kind of still can't believe I did it. Even part of it.

flipped so you can see the backing fabric, which I love.
We keep the quilt folded on the back of the love seat when not in use.

I have several projects waiting in the wings, which I'm sure I'll share about here soon. I need to finish up a few small items and then I'll get back to work on the diary quilt (yes, I know I still have a few stories to tell on that one; I'll get back to it soon) and then start on one of the others. My mind is full of ideas, my stash closet is filling up with fabrics I purchased for some of those ideas, and now I have a sewing machine to help things go faster.....hopefully I don't begin to bore you all with nothing but sewing talk!

Any new hobbies you have found this year? Or plan to start? Get back to? I'd love to hear about it. 

Stroke of Genius

First let me say I've been spending some time over at Pinterest.  Are you familiar with this? It's a virtual bulletin board, so that you can pin things that you want to remember instead of loading up your favorites or bookmarks. This is especially helpful for those things that are more just good ideas, not necessarily a whole website you want to bookmark.

You can also search through other boards and get ideas that way.

I've been using mine trying to find decorating ideas for the new house, and quilting ideas. Yesterday I spent a large portion of the day shopping my favorite  on-line fabric store (the Fat Quarter Shop) for fabrics that will work for the 4 or 5 quilt ideas I have rattling around in my brain. I made a separate board at Pinterest for each quilt idea, sort of a virtual design board so I can preview what all the fabrics will look like together, before I buy them. Will they work? Do the colors or patterns clash? Is it a harmonious grouping? Now I can answer that without buying the fabric, without leaving my chair. Then I can use the board, open in one tab, to fill my shopping cart in another tab. Beautiful.

Last night I made The Chemist look at all of the fabric finds. He was not quite as excited as I was, for some reason. But he did talk with me about the ideas, this quilt for that person, etc. and give me some direction on what project to start next.  Next being "after I finally ever finish the Diary Quilt" sometime next year.

And then I had it. The stroke of genius.

I've seen on Pinterest this great idea for saving kids' artwork --- take a photo of each drawing you want to save. Use your photo editing software or on-line photo ordering service to turn the photos into a large (poster sized if you like) photo collage, showcasing all the drawings in one piece to display. Brilliant.

example of collages of artwork
taken from my Pinterest board

I've also seen loads of printing on fabric, or iron-on image transfers, and beautiful quilts using these techniques.

example of printing on fabric
taken from Pinterest search results

Are you following me? Do you see where my mind went? I mean, it's obvious, right? Take the photos. Print them onto sheets of fabric (original size if you like, since you'll be making a bed sized quilt from it) or iron-ons. Assemble the fabric prints of your child's original artwork into a quilt.

something a little bit like this, but bed sized
image from Pinterest search results

I mean, it's genius, right??

The Writer has a whole stack of cartoons he's drawn, so those will become his quilt. He's even thinking about drawing new ones just for the quilt.  The Artist will be given the choice between an artwork quilt, a t-shirt quilt, some other random quilt, or any combination of the two (bunk beds....I feel compelled to make him 2 quilts for his room.....). The Adventurer will likely get a Mario themed quilt, with some of his Mario drawings mixed in. I can hardly wait to get started.

Now I just have to figure out the best way to get photos onto fabric....

(oh, and we move soon. We'll probably lose internet for at least a little while after that; hopefully not as long as last time. I'll post when we're back on-line.....)

Red White & Blue -- Closing in on Done!!

After working on various small projects the past few months, and working diligently on piecing the borders for the red white & blue quilt, I'm finally putting the borders on the quilt top.

Thursday I got the inner border, a plain cream/white strip, put on. I was very impressed with myself for managing to start and end with a quilt that actually measures more or less square, both at the middle and at the edges.

inner border -- at this stage, the quilt measures 40.5" x 40.5"

Yesterday I procrastinated most of the day, scared to take that next step and actually put the pieced border on. It just seemed so......daunting. What if I messed up? What if it was too long? Or not long enough?? So, I stalled. I played on the computer. I did laundry. And dishes. And played on the computer some more. And finally, I sat down and started pinning.

I used lots and lots and lots of pins. To be safe and keep the border absolutely still, I put one pin in every seam in the pieced border. I started pinning in the center and then went left, right, left, right one pin at a time working out from center until I pinned all the way to the edges. Whew.

Finally, when that was done, I marked my quarter-inch line and started to sew. I only got one side done last night (it takes me about an hour to do the 40" length by hand.....) but it looks pretty good. Well, I've not pressed it yet (and didn't press the border strip before I put it on, other than finger pressing the seams.....), so it's kind of wrinkly. But other than that, I think it looks good.

the 1st side of the pieced border
other than the wrinkles, looks pretty good!

This morning I laid out the next side --this border goes on clockwise instead of opposite sides-- just to see how it will look with the blue on as well. I like it.

fuller view of the quilt, with the 1st side of the pieced border (red)
and the 2nd side laid out to preview before being pinned & sewn on
(pretend you don't see the dish towel and other mess on my dining table....)

Since the photo, I've pinned the next side (which is, amazingly, the exact right length....) and am ready to go sew. I still can't believe I'm getting this close to having the top done. Now that it's so close, I just want to finish. Can't wait to see what it looks like when all the sides are on and the top is complete!

My Sister's Kindle Cover...

My little sister got her package yesterday (hooray!) and so I can show you the Kindle Cover I made for her.

closed
note the (subtle) detail stitching on the front flap

open
I did a wrap-around binding for this project
the Kindle does fit all the way in, but is shown partway out just for display purposes 

I had so much fun making this -- my new favorite technique is to make stuff with these strips of fabric like this. What you do is to cut a piece of fusible stuff or thin batting and sew two strips at a time (right sides together, laid on top of the batting; sew down the far edge and then fold over the top strip) until you have covered the whole piece of batting. Such a nice, finished, polished look for such little effort!

My mom helped me choose colors, and we more or less matched our choices to the lining fabric. We doubled up on the maroon because my sister is a Texas A&M fan.  We included one strip of burnt orange because others in her family are UT fans ;-)

For a little finishing detail, I outline stitched one flower from the lining so that the quilting stitches showed, subtly, on the front flap. Just to give a little extra.

Here's a link to the Bookkeeper pattern I used*, from Moda Bake Shop. If you craft at all, check out that blog. Tons and tons and tons of tutorials, free to use, and beautifully easy to sort through. It's my new first place to look when I need an idea for a project.

Tomorrow, back to talking about Brazil.....The Chemist and I are trying to get our Brazilian driver's licenses, which is proving to be a multi-day process, just to transfer our US licenses to some kind of valid thing here in Brazil. Today we did several sets of photos, fingerprints and a medical exam; tomorrow a psychological exam and turning in the paperwork......but, that's tomorrow's story.

See you tomorrow afternoon!

*if you try making a bookkeeper, note that I used 10 strips, not 9. Not sure if the problem is my math, my cutting, her math, her cutting, or ??? 

What was in the packages...? Come and see!

The Pay it Forward packages have been received and it is now my pleasure to show you what was inside each one. I'm delighted that the recipients were pleased -- I love giving gifts to people and finding out I chose (or in this case, created) well. Makes my heart sing to give a gift that someone loves getting!

Inside this package....

BoonieSooze's package

....was a set of photo note cards that I made just for Susan!

homemade photo notecards
if memory serves,  I made 10 full color, 10 sepia

I used various photos that I'd taken during the Project 365 I tried to do last year, things I thought would be of general interest. I turned those photos into a collage using Picasa photo editing software, and made one version in color and one in sepia tones. Then I chose card stock papers from my scrapbooking supplies, and light colored papers for the insides and sandwiched everything together into a decorative card.

I made different sizes for different needs that Susan might have. My only regret is that I didn't have envelopes to send along with it; hopefully they are standard enough sized that she can use regular envelopes (sorry, Sooze!).

Inside this package....

June's present

..was a set of wine slippers for June, The Mendon Foodie. She and a group of girl friends get together for wine & food nights, and when I saw this pattern over at The Quilt Show pattern page  I just knew it was  perfect for June. (note: you have to be a member, though basic membership is free, to view the full pattern)

the wine slippers

I took the advice of the pattern and made each one a different combo of fabrics so that they can serve as wine glass identifiers, too; just remember your color combination and never loose your wine glass in a sea of glasses again!

with a wine glass, for sizing and scale

The pattern made zero sense to me when I first read it -- I could not wrap my brain around how it was going to work. Still, I trusted the pattern maker and just did what it told me to, one step at a time, and it worked beautifully! It had seemed way to easy, and it was very easy to do, and made such a lovely finished project. I'm planning on making sets of these for Christmas gifts this year, so if you use stemmed glasses at all and think you might be on my Christmas gift recipient list, speak up!

close up so you can see how the slippers slide onto the base of the wine stem

Oh! and don't you just love the wine glass itself?? That was an unexpected and delightful gift I received this past Christmas, and it is such a treat. I love to pour a glass of grape juice or iced tea during the day and sip from my wine glass.....it feels like a secret indulgence when I drink from this glass, even though it's just iced tea. Some people I know might receive a glass for Christmas, too.....there are all kinds of designs, from 95andSunny, aka Bottoms Up designs. Fun, fun, fun. 

Now I'm waiting on my sister to get her gift, and on camera batteries to charge so I can take a photo of the iPad cover I made for The Chemist. I can't wait to show those to you too! I'm still working on my larger quilt projects (the diary quilt and the red white & blue) but these little things are fun breaks for when I'm bored of one fabric, plus this sort of sewing fills my need for giving gifts and for completing a project.

It's so nice to take a break, spend two days doing something start to finish, wrapping it up and sending it on its way and then get back to the big sewing I have waiting on the side. Love that!

Do you like to give gifts? Have a favorite gift you love to give? Tell me about it! 

The First Present Made It!!

I'm so happy to share with you one of the presents I sent off. It was the next-to-last present that I made, was not for the pay-it-forward but was just because, and was hard and fun and wonderful.

My mentor, Jules over at And Sew On...., has frequently gone above and beyond in email teaching me how to sew and quilt, and I wanted to finally thank her in some tiny tangible way.

She also recently started a Long Arm Quilting business and has had business cards made to promote that. Alas, she has --had-- nothing to carry her business cards in.

I hopped on-line and searched free patterns until I found the one I wanted -- an Amy Butler Business Card Keeper free pattern.  

I'd seen a picture on Jules' blog, about what her office would look like if she had an office. Modern, black & white with hot pink. Hmmmmm..... I sorted fabrics and found just the right choices in my stash.

Then I got to work...

Open -- the flaps inside hold business cards in place once it is folded closed.

 ....and made that pesky button hole.....

button hole close up

different view

...and did some detail stitching as an accent....

it's a little blurry, but I did black outline stitching around the pink flower on the back of the card holder

...and finally sent this off,

...all wrapped up, so that Jules can showcase her business cards in a nice fabric card holder. She can explain that a long-distance student she's never met made it for her.  That ought to spark some interest....

Have you ever received an unexpected gift? Or sent one? What was it?