My Sewing Space Needs Some Work...

This weekend is going to be all about organization. That, and finishing up some things. I've got three quilt tops to be basted, fabric to pull for the Bonnie Hunter mystery quilt challenge, and a very dirty sewing space. Time to buckle down and put some of this stuff to bed!

I'm Back!

So, New York was fabulous. There was lots of this:

Wo Hop restaurant in Chinatown

And this:

Cheesecake from the Carnegie Deli

And a little of this sort of thing:

Culturally speaking, there was this:

And these:

Metropolitan Museum of Art

Museum of Modern Art

You know what there wasn't any of?
Quilting!!!

And I really missed it. It seems that some quilters bring some handwork with them when they go places, like hand-pieced hexagons or something so that they're always working on a project. I think it's good for me to step away entirely for a bit. Not that I was feeling burnt out, but is it good for me to sew ALL the time? Maybe not so much. Maybe it's OK to go on a plane ride, and I don't know...READ or talk to the girl next to me about how Taylor Swift and Orlando Bloom live in same Tribeca bldg as her friend, and maybe she'll seem them when she visits!!!

So, a little hiatus is a good thing, and now I'm ready to get back in the saddle again.

Wednesday WIP: Hopscotch...and a lovely new ruler

This Hopscotch Quilt is designed by Amy Smart, and was a kit I purchased from Craftsy (of course). After reading through the directions and seeing that most of the top is constructed from half-square triangles, I decided to bite the bullet and purchase a special ruler. Normally I try to avoid accumulating lots of different rulers and gadgets, but I really struggle when it comes to squaring up half square triangles, and after seeing Amy write about this ruler on her blog, I couldn't resist.

I've written about Eleanor Burns before, and how much I love her. And now, after using her ruler, I love her even more. You determine what the final size of your block will be, and put that number on the seam line of your unopened half square triangle. Two simple cuts, and thats it. You open it up, and viola! A perfectly squared block.

I couldn't believe how fast and effortlessly I was able to square up my blocks, all 160 of them. Something that would have normally taken hours took me only 45 minutes! And it was actually kind of fun!

This ruler cost me $16, and is worth every single penny. Half square triangles are no longer my nemesis!

Vacation Time!

I'll be in New York City for a little vacation. Back next week for more quilting updates!

Friday Finish: Front Porch

I quilted the Front Porch quilt in doodly figure 8's. I wanted a simple all-over design, and I think they fit the bill nicely. It only took me about 3 hours to quilt, and I'm a big fan of that!

The backing is pieced together with yardage from my stash. For the binding, I was supposed to use a print from the Front Porch Moda fabric collection, but I decided to use that in the back, and bind it in they grey instead. I thought the grey was a better accent.

This is going to a friend at work who just found out she's getting let go at the end of the year. She definitely needs a comforting quilt to snuggle up with.

Wednesday WIP: Hopscotch

This is a quilt designed by Amy Smart that I've started. I'm only at the cutting part, but the colors are so pretty! I never work in just solids, so this is something a little different for me...

My favorite thing is unfurling a Jelly Roll...

New Book! "Playful Petals"

Connecting Threads had their entire stock of books on sale for 40% off, so I took advantage of the sale and bought a few. The one I'm most excited about is Corey Yoder's "Playful Petals".

Usually with a quilting book or magazine, there'll be a couple projects that I want to try making, but this book? Literally every single project is on my To Do list now!

The whole process of fusible applique is outlined in the book, so I'm going to definitely have to get over my unfounded dislike for this technique, and dive in. There are 9 quilt patterns in the book, and each pattern has an accompanying pillow pattern too. So far, I haven't jumped on the whole quilted pillows bandwagon, but I might just have to with this book.

This is timely  for me, because my scrap baskets are getting a bit out of hand, and I'm thinking some of these petal projects would be perfect scrap busters! Stay tuned...

Sooo...I did a little shopping

Last week, I stocked up on battings and thread from Connecting Threads, and I thought, "There! That should last me through the winter, and I don't have to buy stuff for awhile."

All stocked up on battings!

Ha - silly me!

The day after I placed my Connecting Threads order, I got a Craftsy notification: Time for their big semi-annual fabric sale. Gulp.

Let's just say, NOW I don't have to buy anything for awhile. Like, probably a year.

Sugar Block Club: September

I'm a bit behind on my Sugar Block Club, as I just finished September's block. This was all made of half-square triangles, which definitely made the cutting easy:

I was very careful pressing this, and all went well. I liked the block, and I was thinking about making more of them. We'll see how this mystery quilt finishes, and maybe I'll add some additional ones of my favorites to make it bigger.

I Save my Selvedges

Sometimes I think I save too many fabric scraps. Those bits of triangles that are trimmed off of flying geese units? Do I really need to be saving those?  Or that 1/2 inch of fabric that gets trimmed off when you square up your yardage? What can you possibly do with that anyway?

Turns out there's a whole other aspect of fabric-saving that I wasn't even aware of - saving selvedges! For those of you not in the know, a selvedge is the tightly woven strip that runs along the fabric's lengthwise grain. They usually have the manufacturer and fabric designers name printed on them, along with swatches of the colors used in the fabric.

Up until a few years ago, people trimmed these off and threw them out, but lately it's become trendy among quilters to hoard them and make other projects out of their selvedges - anything from a little zippered tote, to whole other quilts.

Of course, I hopped on this bandwagon once I discovered it existed, and have been sewing my selvedges into sets of strips for some scrappy spool blocks, idea courtesy of Jacquie Gering. 

I have a long ways to go, but it's satisfying to see something come together out of what would normally get thrown away. I like that waste-not want-not thing.

Craftsy Class Review: "Quilt-As-You-Go Patchwork Bags"

Craftsy is a website that has online classes on just about every kind of craft and hobby - knitting, sewing, crocheting, woodworking, painting, cooking - you name it. They have a robust selection of quilting classes, featuring well-known designers and teachers. Each class features a series of videos and includes printable patterns and instructions, and message board interactions with the instructor and other students. You can take classes on your own time, and the content is available to you indefinitely.

I have learned so many new techniques from the classes I have taken, but so far my favorite one has been "Quilt-as-You-Go Patchwork Bags" with Tara Rebman.

Tara's teaching style is practical and fun. She has a good sense of humor, and just seems to make things very easy and attainable. She's also very encouraging to her students and quick to answer questions or provide clarification.

This class, made up of eight lessons, is very comprehensive. It starts with a potholder project, just so everyone can get the hang of the quilt-as-you-go technique before moving on to the main project, the Tinker Tote. I think the design of the tote is just the cutest thing - it's retro and modern all at the same time. It's small enough to carry as a large purse, but large enough to use as a gym or grocery tote.

I learned so many fun things during the class - how to install a magnetic snap, how to make bias binding, and just about bag construction in general, such as boxing corners and making closures. Along the way, Tara gives plenty of ideas for variations or changes in design choice, such as a leather bottomed bag vs. a canvas one, different types of pockets, etc. so there's plenty of room for flexibility.

I'd recommend this class to confident beginners and up. The technique is easy, but it does require a few trickier things like binding, and being able to maneuver multiple bulky layers through your sewing machine.

 I've made three of these bags so far - two as gifts for friends, and one I sold. I just received requests for two more, so more Tinker Totes are definitely in my future!

Friday Finish: Raincheck Quilt

I'm so happy to have a Friday Finish to share this week! It seems like some bloggers have something to show off EVERY SINGLE WEEK, and I felt bad that I didn't quite measure up. Then I realized that most of those quilters count any stage of the creating process as a finish. "Finished Piecing My Blocks!", "Finished the Top!". I'm a little more of a purist. I don't get to post a Friday Finish unless the quilt is damn well finished!

So, this is the Raincheck Quilt, all bound and complete. I had so much fun quilting this one. I did a different design in each umbrella, and it was a great chance for me to practice a few other free motion designs and techniques, like pebbling:

Or flames: (Very tricky. I had two tries as the first one didn't go so well)

Or some good old standbyes like stipples or loops:

Sometimes I just copied what was in the fabric design:

The back and binding of this is a Ana Griffin print that I really love, from SR Harris.

This quilt was finished just in time to snuggle up with on a cold, rainy day!

Wednesday WIP: Front Porch

The Front Porch quilt is one that I've been working on for awhile. This is a Moda fabric collection and pattern, designed by Jan Patek, and I liked the slightly more traditional prints.

The pattern used eight charm packs and I was able to piece the top pretty quickly. The only problem was, the whole thing bored me to tears. The stars are made by sewing a 1/2 square triangle unto the corner of each block, and let me tell you, that gets pretty old after the first 100 or so. I liked how it turned out, I was just sick of it by the time the top was finished, so I set it aside and moved on to something else.

Now, a few months later, I'm ready to finish this up. I basted it last night while catching up on the last season of Scandal (gotta get ready for the premier!), and now it's ready for quilting.

I'm going to attempt Elizabeth Hartman's method of the Orange Peel pattern for quilting, and I'll let you know how that goes...