Raffled Quilts

A while back, I donated two of my quilts (the Raincheck quilt and Log Cabin Beads) as raffle items for a fundraiser for the Hair and Wigs for Cancer Fund. I'm happy to report that they raised over $2,000 between my two quilts, and one other one that was donated.

Friday Finish: Modern Buzzsaw

I was hoping to take this one to Seattle with me a few weeks ago to give as a host gift, but the quilting just didn't happen in time.

I finally finished it up over the past few days, and I'm happy with how it turned out. I did have a few issues with my backing not cooperating fully and puckering up in a few places, but I was able to "quilt it out" pretty well, and it's going to a male non-quilter. I have a feeling he won't notice.

I quilted this in a stipple pattern, with a loop in the first border, and swirls in the second. The backing and binding are the same fabric from Connecting Threads - it looks like a bandanna. I machine-finished the binding for durability. I've been doing more of that lately - I love the look of hand-finished bindings, but I want my quilts to last and be able to be tossed in to the washing machine or dryer without problems.

Cathedral Stars Quilt: Jacobs Ladder

Well, after months of posts about the Cathedral Stars blocks, I'm happy to report that I've moved on to the Jacobs Ladder blocks now. This quilt is made up of two different blocks - the stars (now finished!), and these Jacob's Ladder blocks. When you put them together, a nice secondary pattern emerges, which is one of the things that I found attractive about this quilt pattern.

The Jacob's Ladder blocks are really easy to put together - it's just four Half Square Triangle blocks paired with Four Patch blocks. I only have to make 26 of these, and I'm half way done, so hopefully I can start to sew this whole thing together SOON.

Quilted Bag Finishes

I finally buckled down over the holiday weekend and finished up the quilted bags for my sister. These were a learning process:

• I learned that adding zipper tabs to your zippers is useless if you don't do your math correctly and they get eaten up in the seam allowance
• I learned to make sure everything is sewn properly before you do top-stitching
• I learned that buying a new seam ripper is totally worth the $1.99
• I learned how to get a zipper pull back on a zipper after accidentally cutting it off
• I learned that nothing really great happens after 2 a.m. when it comes to sewing things.

Here are picture of each bag - inside, and out because I think the insides are pretty cute too! You'll probably recognize the fabrics, as each bag is made from scraps from finished quilts. I just have one more to complete, and then I'm finished.

From the Archives: Garden Party

I have a special fondness for the Missouri Start Quilt Company. Their tutorials were the first ones I found when starting to get back into quilting a couple years back, and their focus on making things easy and doable really resonated with me. About a year ago, they started publishing a magazine called "Block" and this quilt was in their very first issue.

I loved the big bold flowers, and I made my version using a bundle of V and Co fabrics called "Simply Style". I quilted it in an all-over stipple, and it now lives with my cousin.

Mothers Day Tote

For Mother's Day, I made my mom a quilted tote bag. She cried when I gave it to her, which is a very good sign.

The material was a dress from Old Navy that I didn't wear much. I've never worked with knits before, but I just interfaced the whole thing, and it went fine.

I didn't use a pattern, I just made it up as I went along, based off of bags I've done before. I made a pocket on the inside, and the closure is just velcro.

Now, I have to get cracking on the other eight tote bags that have to be finished by the end of the month!

Seattle and Inspiration

I'm back from my trip to Seattle, and haven't had a spare moment to sew. The tote bag deadline is looming, the Cathedral Stars quilt has dragged on for far too long, I have three finished tops that need basting and quilting, I haven't even started on the Craftsy Block of the Month and it's already May, and true to form, all I really want to do is just start a new project and ignore everything else. I have a bad case of quilters ADD.

Thank goodness, the Chihuly Gardens and Glass museum never fails to delight and inspire me. I always take picture after picture, trying to capture the size of the installations, the wild richness of the color, the sheer crazy beauty.

Being in a space like this challenges me to go deeper creatively, and explore new ideas with more freedom. I mean, there's obvious lessons to take away from Chihuly around color - why don't I pair orange and purple together more often? Or purple and red?

But I'm also intrigued by the collaborative team-based approach that Chihuly uses - part if this is by necessity, as an eye injury prevents him from blowing glass himself anymore. Part of it is just the way he likes to work, and I'm considering ways to translate that into my rather solitary quilting practice. 

I'd also like to explore the idea of inspiration more and how to incorporate those ideas into my quilts. I mostly follow patterns when I sew - I take other people's ideas and re-create them. I've always said I'm happy to be the maker, not the dreamer. That might not be completely true anymore.

Here's a story about Dale Chihuly: He was working on an exhibit in Finland, hanging big glass chandeliers on bridges over a river. He decided to toss one in the river to see what it looked like. He liked it a lot, so he tossed more glass in the river. He thought it looked pretty cool, the brightly colored glass floating in the river, so he had the people in his studio make a bunch of glass, just for the sheer fun of throwing it all in the river. Everyone was like, why are you throwing your glass in the river? And he had to explain that it was about seeing the glass in the water, the sun throwing different reflections off of it, the way inspiration comes in different ways. In his words "It was really nice". I love that story, and I'm not sure what the quilting equivalent is of throwing your glass sculpture in a river, but I'd like to do that.

From the Archives: Flower Box

I wish I had better pictures of this quilt, because the colors are just so pretty. I made this purely to play with the Heather Bailey collection called "Lottie Da". Heather Bailey fabric is all completely adorable, and I just loved the pinks and greens and oranges in this line - so happy!

This was only about the 3rd or 4th quilt I free-motion quilted, and I wanted to play around with some designs, so I did a big flower in the center of each block, a loop in the first border, and then a swirl in the 2nd. It was pretty complex for me at the time, and took me forever.

This quilt now lives with my friend Angela, mostly because I used her old living room curtains for the back and she felt that entitled her to the quilt! Unfortunately, I don't have a picture of the back...it's purple with big orange and yellow butterflies!

A New Sewing Room

It doesn't look great now, but just wait!

One of my housemates bought her own house and will be moving out in a few weeks. This means her room will become the guest room, and the guest room will become...My New Sewing Room!

I know I'm really lucky to have my own dedicated sewing area that I already have set-up in my bedroom. It's not a perfect space though - the lighting is bad, there's no place for a design wall, ceilings are low and slanted so I have to stoop over when I stand to cut fabric, and my storage options are pretty limited.

I'm so excited to create a new sewing space in this little room. Stay tuned...

Snapshots Quilt Along: April

You know how much I've been loving the Snapshots Quilt-Along - each block is just cuter than the next, and April was no exception. Look at this cute little puppy in a basket!

Right now, his eyes are just dabbed on with a marker - I'll embroider them on there later. I seriously want to make a whole quilt out of each block - wouldn't you like a puppy quilt with different colors of baskets, bows and puppies? I think that would just be the best.