Borders for Sunny Side Up

This quilt has been sitting on the counter in my sewing room for several weeks.  The top was pieced but it needed borders.  I was considering a couple of options for the borders but couldn’t decide whether to play it safe or use a little brighter green in the middle border to give it a little pop.  I ended up going for the brighter green and I’m still not sure it was the better choice.  I like it well enough though so it will stay like it is.  It took almost as long to cut and piece the borders (over 6 hours!!) as it did to make the quilt center.  The back is pieced, batting is cut and it has moved on to the quilting pile.

Technorati Tags: Sunny Side Up,borders,piecing

One Thing Leads to Another

On Monday I noticed we received the new Kaffe Fassett stripes in the shop.  Some people really love his fabric, collect and covet it but it’s not ever been anything I had to have—until I made the striped football table runner and started thinking about sewing stripes together with a 90 degree angle.  So on Tuesday I went back to the shop and bought those darn stripes and started cutting.  I have most of the blocks made and I’ll just put them together with sashing and cornerstones.  Then THAT will be out of my system.



I truly believe every fabric in the world calls my name!!

Technorati Tags: piecing,Kaffe-Fassett,stripes

Are You Ready for Football?

Here in northeast Wisconsin people collectively obsess more over the Packers than probably anything else.  The games are always a festive occasion and when this striped football fabric came into the shop I knew it would be perfect for a game day table runner.  This is the easiest runner ever—just a few cuts with a 60 degree ruler and five seams to make the top. I don’t even bind it; just pillowcase it and hand stitch the opening.

Karen Montgomery has a pattern for this called (what else?) Easy Striped Table Runner but I’m sure there are many online tutorials for making it since it is such a simple idea.

While I was in table runner mode I finished up this Spicy Spiral runner.  I think, FINALLY, this is the last class/demo sample that was unfinished.  It seems like I started a hundred of these as demos but it was probably only 20 or 25!  Luckily they are fun and easy to make.

Now it’s on to something else.  It’s rewarding to do a couple of fast ones in between some of the more time consuming projects. 

Technorati Tags: 2013 finishes,table runner,football,spicy spiral

Five Favorite School Supplies for Quilting

I’ve always loved shopping for school supplies even though it’s been a few years since I’ve been in the classroom!!  While selection is good and prices are low I always stock up on a few things I use for quilting.  Here are some of my favorites.

1.  Fiskars and/or Crayola scissors.  These are sharp enough to cut fabric, but blunt-tipped so you don’t accidently cut a hole where you don’t want it.  I mostly use these for clipping threads and trimming the “dog ears” off half-square triangles.

2.  Crayola Washable Markers.  Many years ago I was talking to Lora Rocke at Quilt Market and she said she used these markers to mark quilting lines on her quilts.  I wash my quilts after I finish them and the lines have always washed out.  I’ve never had any problems with them but you should always test ANY marker with the fabric you’re using under the conditions you treat and wash your finished quilts.

3.  Avery Dennison glue sticks.  I really like these for fabric.  The Avery Dennison glue sticks have silicon and glide better across fabric.  I use them to glue down the edges for applique and to hold applique shapes onto the background.  If the Avery Dennison glue sticks aren’t available I will use the Elmer’s in a pinch but I’m not crazy about the purple ones.  Again, I wash my quilts and I’ve never had any issues with residue from glue sticks.

4.  White board.  I usually pick up a couple of these during back-to-school sales because the marks tend to shadow after using them for awhile.  They are really cheap this time of year.  I use them to practice quilting designs and have a couple hanging in my sewing room to use for lists or keeping track of where I am on a project.

5.  Pencil case.  This is my favorite travel sewing kit.  I always have one in the car for binding.  It’s small and has a hard case so needles don’t poke through.  A needle case, scissors, thimble, thread, and a container of Thread Heaven fits perfectly.

I also stock up on little notebooks—love the quilty designs!

Pens—can’t have enough and I’m always color-coding stuff.

And calculators—I like to have them everywhere I might sit so I don’t have to go hunting for one!

What are your favorite school supplies for quilting?

Technorati Tags: supplies,tools of the trade

Pillowcases for the Guys

Before Jen left to go back to school we made a trip to the quilt shop so she could get fabric for a few projects.  While we were there she saw this moose fabric and wanted to make a pillowcase for her boyfriend from it.  She ran out of time so I ended up making it.



We also found some “anatomy” fabric at the quilt shop and I couldn’t resist buying it to make a pillowcase for Bryan.  Being a med school student I’m sure he already sees skeletons in his sleep so this fabric is perfect because the bones glow in the dark! 



Over the years I’ve made a bunch of pillowcases but this one was a challenge.  The fabric is directional so I needed twice as much as usual to make it.  Then I realized that if I only used one seam in the body the print would be upside down on the back.  So there is a seam on both the top and bottom.  I had also selected a stripe to use for a contrasting flange and IT went in the wrong direction.  It would be a really expensive pillowcase to buy 1-1/4 yards of fabric to get a 2” strip going in the right direction so I just skipped it.  I made this more as a joke than anything else so I couldn’t justify any more time and expense.  I hope Bryan thinks it's funny!

I should be spending all day today sewing but I’m just not feeling inspired.  I have a couple of tablerunners cut out and ready to sew and maybe piecing them will get the mojo going again.  I sure hate to waste a free day!

Technorati Tags: pillowcase

DWM-Another Shop Sample

I didn’t get much piecing done on my projects this past week but I have the blocks sewn and hope to get the rows put together before work this morning on this shop sample.

The pattern for this is Wistful from Villa Rosa Designs and I used a jelly roll from the Moda line S’more Love by Eric and Julie Comstock. It was a really easy quilt to make.  I was even able to get quite a bit of piecing finished between customers at the shop the past couple of weeks.  This would be a good stash buster for all the 2-1/2” strips I’ve accumulated.  It finishes about 57” x 72” so it would be a good donation size.  Once all the pieces are cut it would be a GREAT leader and ender project.  Hmm…I think there’s another one of these in my future!

For a good dose of inspiration check out other design wall links at  Patchwork Times.  While you’re browsing, be sure to brighten someone’s day by leaving a comment!

Technorati Tags: DWM,Wistful,jelly roll

Week 34, 2013 Stash Report and Recap

The Ohio Star quilt is finished.  In the end I didn’t quilt the stars on the longarm.  I just wasn’t happy with how the continuous curves looked.  I really like this quilt and when it came down to it I didn’t want it to look like a practice piece.  So I took it off the frame and finished it on the Juki.  It’s not perfect but I’m happy with the results.

Here is a close-up of the quilting.

Many of the quilts I’ve made recently have a more modern look and are made from contemporary fabrics but when I finish one of these old UFO’s I love the richness of the colors.  It’s fun to work with both!

This was the only thing I finished this week.  I’m still working on the Double Nine Patch and a couple of other projects.  Hopefully I’ll have a lot of sewing time this week so I can finish August with a lot of fabric used!

My weekly stats:
Used this week:  20 yards (Ohio Star)
Used year to date:  265 yards
Purchased this week:  0
Purchased year to date: 88 yards
Net year to date:  177 yards used

Click on the links at Patchwork Times to see more stash reports.

Technorati Tags: stash report,Ohio Star,quilting,2013 finishes

DWM: Quilting Ohio Stars

This isn’t on my design wall, but it’s on the quilting frame and I’m trying to come up with a nice design to quilt in the Ohio Star blocks.  This is a UFO I recently found and it’s big--close to 100” square.  I quilted overall swirly ribbons in the sashing strips and cornerstone blocks.  Only the star blocks remain and I’d like to do a little custom quilting in them.  When I was quilting on my DSM, I would quilt continuous curves on blocks like these but I’m not sure my skills are good enough to do that on the big machine.  I need to come up with something that’s a little more forgiving. Haha!



I spent a little time with the whiteboard and I think I’ll try this (fortunately I can quilt better than I can draw!!).  It looks like it should be pretty easy and will carry out the ribbon theme that’s in the sashing.  I think it will really add a lot if I do continuous curves in the hourglass units so maybe I’ll give it a try.  There’s only one way to get better.



For more inspiration be sure to check out the other design wall links at Patchwork Times.

Technorati Tags: DWM,quilting,Ohio Star

Week 33, 2013 Stash Report and Recap

Another drive, another binding.  Knowing that we would be going back down to Madison this weekend, I buckled down on Friday to get A Walk in the Park quilted and the binding sewn on so I could hand stitch it in the car. 

Since I was in a time crunch and I’m not sure what I’ll do with this one I just quilted an overall meander around the frames and some swirls in the centers.

Over the past nine years we’ve made the trip to Madison dozens of times.  It’s usually around 2 hours door to door so that gives me a good chunk of uninterrupted time for binding.  The drive is not that pretty so I’m not really missing any sightseeing.  Typically we head back home late in the day and I drive. Last night we were tired from a long day but truly enjoyed the drive home.  It was a magnificent sunset and the colors were beautiful.  Of course when the pictures are taken from inside a moving car it just doesn’t do the panoramas justice.

This ended up being a very productive week.  I finished three quilts so my totals are inching up.  I bought a little bit of fabric this week, but only white and off-white backgrounds.

My weekly stats:
Used this week:  26 yards (9 Heather Bailey log cabin, 10 blue and yellow UFO, 7 A Walk in the Park)
Used year to date:  245 yards
Purchased this week:  8 (backgrounds)
Purchased year to date: 88 yards
Net year to date:  157 yards used

Check out other weekly stash reports at Patchwork Times.

 

Technorati Tags: 2013 finishes,stash report,A Walk in the Park

You’re Gonna Miss This

My daughter is messy. I mean MESSY as in can't-stand-to-see-a-clear-surface messy. She’s been that way since she was a baby.  This summer she was in full mess-making mode with sewing projects, scrapbooking, painting, photography, etc., etc., etc.  And that’s not to mention the laundry, dishes, papers, books, magazines and other things she left everywhere.  It seems like every day I said, “the table needs to be cleared off so we can eat dinner” and “we have to have a place to sit in the family room.”

This week was particularly bad because she was in a mad dash to finish projects before she had to leave for school.  Just when I thought everything was packed up and ready to go she decided there was time for one last project so she rushed to Wal-Mart for Hanes white v-neck t-shirts and a tie-dye kit.  As luck would have it, the back to school packs have bonus t-shirts so she dyed seven of them! 



This whole week all I could think about was the Trace Adkins song You’re Gonna Miss This.  It was there on Tuesday as we moved her furniture and household goods from one apartment to another and it was with me as she packed her clothes and personal items for the final move yesterday.  It was in my head until the van was packed to the gills and the theme from The Beverly Hillbillies replaced it!! 

Anyway, we got everything down to Madison and spent the day unpacking, organizing and helping her get settled.  Jim put together furniture and shelves.  I put new shelf paper in the kitchen.  She worked on putting new photo collages together.  It wasn’t important to her at all that she couldn’t yet sleep in her bed—what was important is that she was surrounded by pictures of family and friends.  To her, that’s what makes her apartment “home.” 

Since she’ll graduate this year (and hopefully find a job!) she’ll probably never live with us again.  As the day wound down all I could think was I’m gonna miss this.  I’m gonna want this back.  I really wish these years hadn’t gone by so fast.

Technorati Tags: family

Moving Day

Yesterday Jim and I went down to Madison with Jen to move her into a new apartment for school this fall.  Madison is always an adventure on “Moving Day” and we lucked out a little bit this year.  Nearly all leases around campus run from August 15-August 14.  That means most apartments are being emptied on the 14th and belongings are being stored in cars, vans, motel rooms and the streets until students can move into their new places on the 15th.  This year, however, the owners of Jen’s new apartment allowed her and her roommate to move in a couple of days early so we could just move straight from one place to another.  It was so nice and we were able to get everything finished in one day.  Even the weather cooperated--sunny with temps in the low 70s. 

I have never been so happy to move one of my kids out of an apartment more than I was yesterday.  The place she was living is in deplorable condition.  I’m really not sure how they could even get an occupancy permit from the city in order to rent that place to students.  Anyway, she’s out of there now and living in the cutest little CLEAN house on the quiet side of campus. 
Woo hoo!

After the move was finished we celebrated the end of an era by going for pizza at Café Porta Alba.  After nine straight years, this will be our last college moving day because our baby is now a senior!

During the drive I managed to finish the binding on this log cabin quilt.  I just love the citrus colors of the fabric.  It’s from the Pop Garden line by Heather Bailey. 

I’m still working to improve my machine quilting skills and I tried quilting curved feathers in the setting triangles.  They’re certainly not perfect but fairly decent for a first try.

The diagonal stripe was just perfect for the binding!

Technorati Tags: 2013 finishes,log cabin,quilting,Madison

An Old UFO Finished

This quilt started as a sample for a demo I did on mitered borders.

This quilt is finished now, but it has a secret!  About a third of the quilting was finished when I ran out of thread and found out that particular blue and yellow variegated thread had been discontinued.  I tried to find a suitable replacement but had no luck so the project was abandoned.  Recently it turned up in a stack of UFO’s and I decided to just GET IT DONE!  I had a spool of Maxi-Lock blue and white variegated so I used it.  I don’t think anyone will know the difference.  Ugh! I should have finished this a long time ago!

The picture on the left is the original thread and the one on the right is the replacement.  The difference in thread may not be obvious but the difference in my machine quilting skills sure is!  This is a good example of how practice pays off.  LOL!

As I mentioned in the beginning, this was for a mitered border class. Usually I just add straight borders but after seeing this one, I may try for more mitered ones.  I sure like the way it looks, especially when there are three or more borders.  What do you think?  Do you miter your borders or do straight corners?

Technorati Tags: UFO,quilting,2013 finishes,borders

DWM: Double Nine Patch

I love nine patch quilts and have been wanting to make a double nine patch for quite awhile.  My original plan was to make a scrappy one, but then I saw this fabric and decided to just do a simple one with four fabrics.  The fabric is Moda’s Wintergreen by 3 Sisters.  The nine patches are going to be red and tan.  I have two black fabrics for alternate blocks, setting triangles and the border.  My original plan was to use the large black print for the alternate blocks and outer border and use the small print for the setting triangles.  The blocks will be set on point and as I was cutting the fabric I saw that the large print is directional and has flower stems and birds.  I think it might bother me to have these directional elements going in the wrong direction.  I’m really bummed because I had a certain plan in my head and I’m not sure it’s going to work out.

I cut a few blocks of both fabrics and auditioned them. 

Since it’s such a simple quilt, the fabric will really make or break it.  I guess I’ll do a little more piecing and then decide, but right now I sure like the large print better.

Check out what everyone else is working on at Patchwork Times.

Technorati Tags: DWM,piecing,double nine patch

Week 32, 2013 Stash Report and Weekly Recap

Another week, another finished quilt!  Woo hoo!  August is proving to be much more productive than the rest of the summer.  It really helps when I have tops all prepped for quilting:  pressed, backing pieced and pressed and batting cut.  That way when I take one quilt off the frame another is all ready to go.  Once the quilt is loaded I can usually finish the quilting in a day or two.

This is the Juggling Summer Wacky Nine Patch.  Now that it’s all finished I really like it.  It was a fun quilt to make.

I quilted this with randomly spaced straight lines.  I made sure to put a few of them really close together so it’s more obvious that they are various widths apart and not that I just goofed up.

This week I also finished piecing the “Walk in the Park” top and quilted the Heather Bailey log cabin and an old UFO.  I post pictures and count them in my totals when I finish the binding—should be later this week!

My weekly stats:
Used this week:  7 yards (Juggling Summer)
Used year to date:  219 yards
Purchased this week:  5 (backgrounds)
Purchased year to date: 80 yards
Net year to date:  139 yards used

Check out other stash reports at Patchwork Times.

 

Technorati Tags: stash report,Juggling Summer,nine patch,quilting

National Book Lover’s Day-Quilting Style

This is the first quilting book I ever purchased.  Any guesses as to what it is?

Like many other people, my first quilting book was The It’s Okay If You Sit On My Quilt Book by the inimitable Mary Ellen Hopkins. 

When I heard of her recent passing I thought back to the elation I felt at being able to actually make a quilt and realized that much of my excitement was due to the enthusiasm and charisma of Mary Ellen. She taught us that simple blocks, “kindergarten blocks” as she called them, could make beautiful quilts and ANYBODY could make simple blocks. She embraced the idea that quilts were to be loved to death and then be replaced by another quilt. That was all the encouragement I needed so I started making quilts, lots of quilts. Now, 25 years and nearly a thousand quilts later, my passion is greater than ever.

Looking through this binder was a fun trip down memory lane. Along with the book, there are class handouts from my first quilting classes with another quilting icon, Jackie Robinson. Other fun things in there are fabric swatches from my early quilts, ideas I jotted down for future quilts, practice drawings for machine quilting and more. You gotta love the country blue and dusty pink palette!!

After all these years of quilting, I still find inspiration in books. I love to sit down with a new quilting book and dream about my next quilt and then the next one and the next one and….

Recently my focus has been on donation quilts.  Kim Brackett’s Scrap-Basket series has been perfect for stashbusting while making some lovely quilts for charity. The piecing is not difficult and there is a variety of techniques so I don’t get bored. So far I’ve made almost all of the quilts from Scrap-Basket Surprises and will probably work through both Scrap-Basket Sensations and Scrap-Basket Beauties.  All three are great books.

So what quilting books are your favorites?  Do you tend to buy project books or technique books?  Or are you like me and buy them all?   

Be sure to stop by Moda's Cutting Table Blog to check out other favorite quilt books. You can sign up there to win one of six new quilting books!!

With so many great quilting books available I hope you can find your inspiration in one.  

Technorati Tags: inspiration,Moda

Wacky Nine Patch Tutorial

Last night I pulled the Juggling Summer Wacky Nine Patch off the frame and I’m pretty happy with the way it turned out.  It is such a simple pattern and will be great for donation quilts.  I’m sure this isn’t original (it’s too easy!) but it’s a fun way to use a layer cake.

All you need is one layer cake for a quilt that ends up about 52” x 60”.  To finish your quilt you’ll need 3-1/3 yards of backing and 1/2 yard of binding.  You could add borders if you want to make it bigger.  If you add borders, you’ll need more fabric for backing and binding.

For my quilt I used a Moda Juggling Summer Layer Cake by Zen Chic.

Make two cuts through each fabric square so you end up with three strips.  I cut my strips 2”, 3” and 5”.

Cut all 42 squares the same way.  I layered my up and cut six at a time.  Keep each size of strip together in a stack.

Now you’re ready to sew. Select one strip from each stack and sew them together.  Mix up your fabrics so you have three different ones in each block.

It doesn't matter which order you sew the strips.  Mix it up and make different strip sets.

The order doesn’t matter as long as you have one of each size in every strip set. When all your blocks are sewn, go to the ironing board and press the seams in any direction.  You won’t be matching seams so you don’t have to press in any certain direction.

When you’re finished pressing, take the blocks back to the cutting table and again make two cuts in each block so you end up with three strips again.  Make sure you cut perpendicular to the seams.

Again, cut all 42 blocks like this and keep the strips together.  When you have them all cut, take them back to your machine and sew the strips back together like you did before.  Voila!  A wacky nine patch!

Sew these strips together in different order too.  Just make sure you have one of each size strip in every block.  When your blocks are sewn, press the seams.  Again, it doesn’t matter which direction your press. 

You will end up with a variety of different blocks.  Here are a few of my variations—yours won’t necessarily look like mine.

Now lay out your blocks in seven rows of six blocks each.  You can rotate the blocks in any direction you choose.  Sew the blocks together into rows, the sew the rows together.  Now just press the seams and your top is finished. 

I quilted mine in straight rows random widths apart.  When you’ve finished quilting, bind and enjoy your new quilt!

Now I’m off to sew binding!!  Hope you have fun with this project.

Technorati Tags: Juggling Summer,wacky nine patch,piecing,tutorial