May
6
Next up
Filed Under Geeking, Quilting, Sewing | Leave a Comment
Ok, so this is an obligatory eye-candy/fabric-stash post. There has been a bit of — err — conflict in the quilt blog-o-sphere about this kind of post lately. So I’ll just say that it’s not often that I go out and glut myself on fabric. These two stacks were just begging to be photographed. And since they are so pretty I wanted to share them with you. I appreciate a good bit of fabric porn occasionally (fairly often even). I didn’t arrange them, they’re just where they fell when I was moving stuff out of the reach of tiny hands (and mouths).
Not a whole lot to say about these stacks that the pictures themselves don’t convey. (ETA: Yet, I still managed to go on and on and on…)
This first stack are the fat quarters that I’ll be using for Alexis’ new quilt. They’re a combination of Moda and Kona solids. Pay no attention to the Moda charm pack that snuck into the pile… I know it just wants to join the party. I suppose in a way it will because I used it to find the backing fabric for her quilt. Of course, I seem to always change my mind on the backing after the top is pieced so I might just have a big giant 3.75 yards of Aqua Andrea from Moda’s Sugar Pop. It is the third fabric from the top in the stack below.
And speaking of the stack below above, I ordered it from Sew, Mama, Sew. It was my first order and I was blown away by the package I received. The fact that they took the time to carefully fold each fabric and then tie them with a strip of one of the prints I ordered was almost more than I could take. I think I actually squealed when I opened the package. It took me almost a week to open the cellophane bag they came in, and I only did that because I needed to get the Kona Coal out (4th one down) for the back of the Mystery Quilt. It’s like they knew exactly what was aesthetically pleasing to me. :)
I haven’t figured out exactly what I’m going to do for the top of Alexis’ quilt, but I’m going to start with 4 inch half-square triangles. As I discovered before, they can be arranged in lots of cool ways.
May
5
Mystery Quilt (and giveaway)
Filed Under Quilting, Sewing | 5 Comments
I posted a question about appliqué quilting on facebook recently and got interest in the project. But I’m not ready to reveal what it is. However, since it’s kind of a — ummm — different piece, I thought it might be fun for you guys to try and guess what the appliquéd part is. I couldn’t find any other examples on google images or flickr, so I think it will be pretty unique when all is said and done.
I meant to take lots of pictures along the way, but most of the time I was working on it, the sun wasn’t out and pictures were all dingy, so here are some closeups (almost) after the fact.
And I know getting the bragging rights for guessing correctly is enough, but I want to send something out to the first person who guesses correctly anyway. So these little beauties below are the “prize”. Two tiny (about 2″ square) lavender filled sachets. Made from the scraps of the pencil roll I made for Alexis a few years back (she still has it and uses it!). I found the botched (meaning too narrow) rainbow pieces when I was cleaning out my scrap box. And as I’m a sucker for all things rainbow, I knew I had to use them up somehow.
So the rules — All you have to do is leave a comment on this post with your guess. I don’t expect anyone to get it from this first picture, so I will be posting wider and wider views over the next week or so. Post your guess as a comment on those posts as they appear. (I will lock the comments on each thread as the next “clue” goes up). First person to guess correctly gets the rainbow sachets above. (Be sure to leave your email address in the comment form — it doesn’t show to the public, only me — so I can contact you!)
Now don’t be shy!
May
4
May
2
Sasha’s Quilt
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I finished this little beauty more than a year ago. I even started the draft of this post back then too, but I guess I got distracted having my own baby. Anyway, Sweet Sasha is now a big one year old… and I still haven’t met her in person! That makes me so sad. They grow so fast. I hope she loves her quilt though.
I chose solids again for this particular family, because I have this overwhelming need for things within a family to “match”. Or maybe it’s just me trying to be fair (even though my ultimate philosophy is that life isn’t fair). You’ll recall her sister’s quilt. Only, I didn’t know her sister would be a girl. I’m glad her parents didn’t put me through all that guessing again. Picking gender neutral colors is a big pain in the butt!
So this time around knowing it was a girl, and knowing that I would use solids again I went looking for inspiration. I think I knew I wanted “girl colors” without being TOO girly. So I chose the orange/yellow/pink combo. And I found this quilt on flickr to use as my inspiration. I had planned to do the same layout of the blocks, but got to playing with them and accidentally came up with the layout above. I love it!
You can see the hand quilting in the above photo as well. I’m really pleased with the way it came out. I’m also glad I didn’t go nuts and try to do some sort of floral motif in each of the big white squares. I think that would have been over the top girly.
I also struggled with the backing for this quilt. You might also remember that I originally had chosen a different backing fabric. However, the dots and circles just didn’t have the right vibe to me, and I found this lovely floral flannel in my stash. There was literally just enough of it for the backing. I think I trimmed one inch off of on of the short sides when all was said and done. I’m so pleased to have come up with the perfect use for one of my favorite fabrics of all time!
It’s interesting that I was so apprehensive about using solids when I did the first quilt. I think I was worried that they wouldn’t provide enough interest for the eye. But they have really grown on me, and I’m about to embark on my next project using solids. A quilt for one of my own kids! Gasp! Yep, Alexis has grown up in to quite the little lady, and is ready for a move from her “baby” decor. (Ha! I say “baby” because the fabrics I chose for her room before she was born were lovely Laura Ashley fabrics without a single hint of baby in them.) So we’re still in the planning stages on that quilt, but we have a good start. I’m sure she can’t wait to see it posted here!
Oct
17
All purpled out
Filed Under Quilting, Sewing | 3 Comments
I posted some of the pictures of this quilt on Facebook already, but just for consistency (and in case any of my readers are still out there after this giant hiatus), here they are again.
Willy Wonka (the womb name) was born yesterday and this is his quilt. Can you tell his mom likes purple? I have to admit, I was very leery about making a purple quilt. I was worried it would be too purple. It really almost is, and I doubt I’ll use purple fabric for anything in the near future, but overall, I’m pleased with the outcome.
For the stars, I used a stack and whack approach. I started with 9 inch squares of fabric and these blocks ended up just over 6 inches when I was done. I kept swearing to myself during the first round of stars (I did 8 at a time) that I would photo the entire next set for a tutorial. Unfortunately, I ended up trying a different method on the second set. (If you look closely you can see that in some of the blocks, the points extend all the way to the edge. Those are the first batch.)
There were definitely not enough tutorials (here’s one and I can’t even find the other one) on how to do this out there, and I still have two stacks of squares left, so maybe — in my copious spare time — I’ll get around to making more blocks. Would anyone want those when I’m done? Because, I don’t know that I could bring myself to keep them. I’m just all purpled out. Gasp! Maybe I should have a contest!
Wow, that looks even ickier typed out than it did in my head. A contest? really? Someone call a doctor.
And just because I’m feeling daring, here’s the next project on the blocks (ha ha… no pun intended). Someone is having baby number two. I think she just wants another quilt.
You can see just how not purple it is.