Sep
19
Mini-Quilt Monday #3
Filed Under Quilting, Sewing | 6 Comments
Might I present Mini-Quilt #2 for Mini-Quilt Monday #3. And my first entry for Celebrate Color!
Yo-yos. 100 of them to be exact. In, oh-so-untypical fashion, I tried something new in a small way. And boy am I glad of that. 100 yo-yos may not seem like much, but it took me a week (on vacation) to make them, and another week to sew them all together. I can’t even imagine how much work is involved in making a whole bed cover!
And I learned a bunch along the way.
For example. How to make a yo-yo. Ha ha. I had to ask Alexis. She’s made them before (taught by her grandmother) and I haven’t. My first few were obvious. You can see one in the middle of the third picture. It’s the yellow one in the bottom corner. I didn’t realize I was supposed to be “hemming” them as I went around the circle. Oh. Yeah. Pulling them shut after I figured that gem out was a lot easier.
Sewing them together. I had them sewn into rows before I figured out a better way to join them. Whip stitching. No. Blind hem stitch. No. Running the string through a small section on one, then through a small section on the other and then pulling it tight? yes.
Still. It came out well.
I think I will hang it over my desk, or over my sewing desk. Not sure which. Alexis told me she thought I should keep this one. Why thank you, my dear. It’s so nice to think mommy deserves something once in a while.
Sep
12
Mini-Quilt Monday #2
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At least, I think they are… What do you think? Are these acceptable colors for Celebrate Color?
I had to wander around the LQS forever pulling fabrics and putting them back. Do you ever have that problem where you know what you want, but you aren’t sure what it is? Maybe that’s just me. I finally came up with these 7 fabulous fabrics in colors that are so not my usual palette. But I’m really pleased.
I love the little skull & crossbones print (halloween!) from CW’s “Gone Haunting” line and the brown print’s squiggles sort of remind me of the shape of candy corns.
This little mini-quilt was my “travel” project (i.e. doesn’t require a machine or much else in the way of materials). I’m kind of surprised at how much progress I actually made as I usually forego anything productive on vacation. Perhaps it had something to do with the crappy wifi connection in our hotel room.
Unfortunately, I ran out of the brown fabric and couldn’t find any more at my LQS (and I don’t know what it is!), so I had to add that brown polka-dotty fabric to the mix. I’m actually really disappointed, but I guess the new addition works. I knew I should have checked out the quilt store in Sebastian, FL.
I am also bummed that I didn’t complete this mini-quilt for today, but I finished up the last yo-yo last night. Now I just have to figure out how to join them… hehehehe. I’ve never done yo-yos before. (In fact, I actually had to ask Alexis for advice since she has done them before.) I found it strangely cathartic. Also easily picked up and put down which is very important when you take a baby on vacation.
Next week I hope to show you both this quilt and the next one in the works for mini-quilt Monday #3!
Sep
8
Another thing off the list! Ever since I did the Built By Wendy Simplicity 3835 the first time, I’d been wanting to try it again with a couple of Chris’ old button down shirts. While I love the butterfly version, it’s just not practical for nursing the baby. The buttons certainly takes care of that problem.
There were lots of stumbling blocks this time around, and I wondered if I wouldn’t just end up with shredded men’s shirt at the end. First, the sleeves were really too small, then the hem didn’t line up on the sides, and then I couldn’t decide how to anchor the elastic in the neckline (I ended up just sewing it along each side of the placket). But once again, this awesome pattern produces wearable results without a whole lot of fuss!
Sep
5
Mini-Quilt Monday #1
Filed Under Quilting, Sewing | 8 Comments
A mini-quilt and a mini-quilt-model. The boy was dying to get his hands on this one, so I put him to good work.
Faith over at Fresh Lemons is leading a challenge to get us to expand our comfort zones and try some new techniques by making and posting about a mini-quilt each Monday in September.
This little mug rug (which is probably smaller than the intended mini-quilt, but oh well) was made using the HST from a tube technique. Only this time, one side of each tube was made from two strips of color, while the other was a solid white. I had thought about doing this previously when I was writing the HST tutorial, but finally decided to give it a go.
I also machine quilted it. Machine quilting is still new to me, and I’m not crazy about my results so far, but perhaps with practice they’ll be more acceptable. You can’t see it here, but on the back the starts and stops are just so visible as big blobs of thread. I’m not sure why that happened.
The backing is something Faith will recognize as I got it from a recent de-stashing of hers.
Another new thing for this quilt (it’s jam packed with new experiences for such a tiny quilt). I tried — desperately — to machine bind it. Four times I started, and four times I ripped it out. That’s a lot of teensy tiny blue and white threads all over my red tee-shirt! Finally I gave in and did the binding by hand like I always do. I don’t know. I guess I enjoy the process of binding by hand, so I really don’t have a whole lot of motivation — or patience — to learn to do it on the machine.
Anyway, this little quilt is bound (ha-ha) for Alexis’ desk. I think the boy-child will be most upset that it is not for him.
Sep
2
Color Me Fall
Filed Under Crafting, Quilting, Sewing | 2 Comments
Against my better judgement, I’ve decided to join in on several “group-along” projects for the fall. You know, in my spare time? To make things even worse, I’ve started thinking about NaNoWriMo AGAIN. Will I ever learn?
Over at Stitched in Color, the “thing-along” (Celebrate Color) is about fall colors. And the first “assignment” is to write a post about what fall colors are for me. As usual, I’m a day late and a dollar short. But here is my excuse. It’s only September. And it’s been one of the hottest (and driest) summers on record, with no signs of letting up any time soon so I’m not feeling very “fallish” yet.
Honestly, to me, fall doesn’t start until somewhere around Halloween. That’s about when all the leaves on the trees turn brown and fall off. No pretty colors here… well, not many anyway. Around here (normally) in September, the weather cools off enough and we get some (much needed) rain that the trees and plants turn green again from their dead summer brown.
And that brings me to this:
A little hand pieced, hand quilted scene I made a few years ago. These are the colors I think of in September. Clear blue skies, grass that is just greening up a little, and sunshine that isn’t so brutally suffocating. Not the most traditional of fall like colors, I know.
Later in the year, I start seeing the world in the warmer hues of orange and brown and gold, but still with a bit of green and red thrown in. On a side note, why is it that the colors for fall — when the weather is cooling off — are warm colors, and the colors for spring — when the air warms up — are cool colors like greens and blues?
I had planned to pull fabrics to show you what’s in the works, but found that nothing I had really fit the image in my head. I hate it when that happens. It means I have to go run over to the LQS. I mean, what a hardship!
I’m going to try to combine my Celebrate Color projects with some Mini-Quilt Monday posts for September. I hope that’s not cheating! So stay tuned. With any luck, they won’t all be epic Friday Fails!