Weekend Sewing: Bricks and Mortar

A couple weeks ago PB gave me two bags of gray and black fabrics to play around with.  I knew instantly that I wanted to pop it by adding in some obnoxiously bright fabric. This is what I sewed over the weekend.  And I'll tell you something: you ain't seen nothin' yet.  My wonderfully patient fiance has let me take over the dining table for this endeavor.  I am giddy over this project for the simple reason that I would never typically choose any of these fabrics, including the bright ones, to work into a quilt and yet here I am.  Feels good to break free from myself a little bit.

Sewing Update: Geisha Block 2

I was able to snap a quick picture of my second block on the Geisha quilt I started over the weekend.  I think the ginkgo s-curve I added in the middle of the block really gives it that interest that the first block didn't have.  Also, my corners line up perfectly, which makes me really happy.  Isn't this gorgeous fabric?  It's hard to tell from this photo, but there are metallic gold details in each of the fabrics except the yellow characters print and ginkgo leaves print.  Very elegant.  Can't wait to show you how it evolves!

A New Way of Sewing

Photo by PB

Saturday I took another class taught by Patricia Belyea called Doodle Quilting.  All the pieces were made using curves.  This was an exciting project for me because I have a good sized stash of Asian inspired fabrics that needed something more than just triangles or rectangles to really do them justice.

Using freezer paper and a whole lot of patience, after several hours I produced my first block in the series.  It laid perfectly flat and I didn't have to rip or resew a single seam.  See how proud I look?

photo by PB

My second block took even longer, but it's more involved and I think I like it better.  When I have the chance I'll snap a photo and show you my progress.

This class opened  an entire world of quilting to me.  I didn't know it was so easy!  I love traditional quilts, but there's something about the challenge of piecing a block of entirely curved seams that makes the accomplishment so much more of a rush.

I highly recommend Patricia's class to any intermediate quilter who's curious about this technique.  She'll guide you through the steps, challenge you, and give you the tools to take this further on your own.  I will never be intimidated by curved seams ever again!

Country Roads

A couple weeks ago I told you about the class I took on counterintuitive quilting, taught by Patricia Belyea.  It was very outside the box and I had a lot of fun.  We're having a follow-up class at the end of this month and I wanted to have something to show for myself, so I decided to take the parts and pieces with me up to Guemes Island this past weekend to make some progress.

When I had brought the blocks home from the initial class and laid them out for Andrew that evening, he said it reminded him of the countryside and some of the blocks looked like roads, so I took that as my inspiration and titled my quilt Country Roads.  This, however, did not come without consequences; throughout the entire weekend I had the image of Andy and Dwight from The Office singing "Country Roads" in the break room running on a continuous loop in my head.

Saturday afternoon and evening the wind was blowing hard and the rain was so heavy I was a little nervous it was going to uproot our house and carry it away, Wizard of Oz style.  To combat the dreary weather Abby baked a couple loaves of challah, which we had with Diane's home made freezer jam, and we opened a bottle of wine.  The hurricane-like gales were also a great motivator to get some sewing done, since we couldn't really even go outside, much less walk on the beach.

Currently it's about 55 inches square.  I'm not done with the top quite yet, but it will be a relatively small quilt. Some changes I'd like to make will address the bottom left corner. I will have a cohesive border around it with a little more green on one corner to balance out where it got a little green-heavy in this piece.

Overall, I'm pretty happy about this quilt and I'm excited to see it taking shape.  Stay tuned for more on this in a few weeks!

A Lot-a Yukata, Etc

This past weekend my friend Patricia had a trunk show at Fabric Crush featuring her vast collection on vintage Japanese fabrics.  It just so happens that the house I grew up in, where my parents still reside, is three blocks away.

Saturday afternoon I collected my mom and dragged her out to the show.  I knew I was going to at least buy a yard or two, but then something happened... We were talking about the nautical decor in my upcoming wedding (which I know I have promised will not take over my blog) when Patricia got out the bolt of fabric you see her holding in the above photo and oops!  I bought the whole bolt.  She gave me an amazing deal on it because of some areas she saw as flaws in the fabric (whereas I will call them character and not think about it again).

I'm so excited!  Blue and white stripes?  Check.  Artsy waves?  Check.  Helloooo table decor!

Afterward, we wandered over to Fainting Goat on 45th for gelato.  It's the best gelato I've ever had, and I'm not exaggerating.  If you're thinking, "well I went to Italy, and the stuff I had there..." stop right there.  Yep, it's better than that.  I got dark chocolate and salted caramel.  My mom got pistachio and hazelnut.  It was all heavenly.  I was especially impressed with the pistachio, which does not taste like that disappointing spumoni pistachio, but rather the real nut.  Amazing.  Check it:

Adorable logo and delicious product. I am in love.