Sewing Update: Baby Quilt Delivered!

Saturday afternoon I went to a baby shower for my cousin Katie, hosted by her sister in law.  It was a beautiful shower.  Everything was pink for a baby girl.

Growing up, Katie was always like a big sister to me; we both lived in Seattle, went to the same grade school and high school, and spent big family holidays attached at the hip.  It's nice to have a girl cousin close in age.

(yep, I'm pretty sure those are matching hats)

Since she and her husband announced they are expecting their first baby, I knew I wanted to give her something special - something handmade for the occasion.  A quilt, naturally.

I've been very into pennant flags recently, and a subtle carnival theme sounded fun.  The wide gray and white stripes reference the old timey circus tents without being too literal, and the rest is pretty on-the-surface.  I think it turned out great.  The flags are interactive, being only attached at the top edge.  They will fray slightly over time, giving it a nice worn in look.  It's hard to tell from the photo, but I embroidered a loopy little string on the fly-away balloon.  Super cute.

Stay tuned for more baby quilt goodness - this will be quite the year for babies among my friends and family!

Weekend Sewing: Pennant Flags

I am apparently a crazy person.  For some reason I thought it would be no big deal to make a bajillion pennant flags (double sided) for a new quilt, which I started on Saturday.  The base of the quilt was easy enough and took me a reasonable amount of time, but now I'm dealing with my brilliant idea of having strings of 1.5" x 2" flags all over the quilt.

In a fleeting moment of sanity I made the wise decision to use fusible to sandwich two pieces of fabric together, so there will be no clipping and inverting of these flags - they're finished with an unfinished edge.

It looks great, but now I have to figure out the best way to attach them all.  I have a feeling this will be extremely tedious, no matter what route I take.  I'll show you a picture of the finished product once I give it to the person for whom it is intended.

More Sewing - Sunshine Mortar

I worked a little bit more on my bricks and mortar blocks.  This time I used a bright sunny yellow.  I love doing these intricate blocks two at a time.  Right at the time I am ready for a break, all I have to do is put the borders on and then I can leave it alone for a while.

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.

Crazy Quilting

On Saturday I went to an all day quilting class taught by Patricia Belyea of Okan Arts titled "Counterintuitive Quilting."  In this class we were encouraged to abandon all habits of quilting efficiency and instead scissor-cut each piece, creating one original block at a time.  We went through three stages of blocks, letting each one evolve differently.  Often I found myself sewing together a block, slicing through it with my scissors, and then changing it completely.  I felt a little out of my element at first, but once I got going I really enjoyed the process.  I pushed my limits and, with a little gentle guidance from Patricia, created something I wouldn't have done otherwise.  It was really great fun and it felt good to get back behind my sewing machine for the first time in what feels like months.

Quilting!

Okay, so I haven't actually sewn a stitch, but I did get all my pieces cut out for my patriotic / nautical quilt(s).  Hundreds and hundreds of half-square triangles.  I usually gravitate toward a quilting style that evolves as I go, but I'm trying something new: traditional planned quilting!  I actually cut everything out ahead of time and (loosely) counted my pieces.

See?

I love the navy/white stripe fabric best.  It is actually an old sheet I bought at Good Will during Katie's visit.

Then, I auditioned various layouts before sewing.
1)

 alternating red and blue

 (the rest were taken with the camera phone to text to abby in real-time brainstorming. Please excuse the graininess and coloring.)

2) 

thick diagonal stripes of three, alternating

3)

red and blue horizontal layout

4) winner #1:

red with a random smattering of blue

5) winner # 2 (my personal favorite):

blue with a random smattering of red

I'm pretty sure I have enough for two coordinating twin bed sized quilts.I'm really liking the freshness of the blue and white with little red surprises.

DBC Weekend

What a weekend!  It was DBC-tastic.  Kate, our San Francisco outfit, was in town Thurs night through Sunday evening for some quilty fun, but we didn't limit it to just sewing.  We spent all day Saturday up in the Skagit Valley with the Seattle moms enjoying the annual Tulip Festival.  I thought I'd take you on a little floral parade through the highlights...

...and of course a group photo of the DBC members.  Poor Kate and Abby were trying to stay as dry as possible. I, on the other hand, felt invincible in my rain jacket and boots.

What DBC reunion would be complete without a fabric store excursion.  We visited The Quilting Loft and Fabric Crush where we picked up some beauts.  Here's my loot:

Sunday was absolutely gorgeous, so we spent the morning photographing our finished quilts to be uploaded onto our etsy shop.  We still have to edit down, but here's a sneak preview of our hard work:

That's Kate looking positively nautical on our dock.  She's such a great quilt model.  A couple of hours later we relaxed on that same dock with barbecued chicken and a few Mexican bottled beers.  The sunburn on my shoulders was totally worth it.

Feeling Quilty About Not Guilting... Wait...

I've been working on some things...

Finished the top of my latest baby quilt, and it's currently our art piece on the "dining room" wall.  I really like how it's turning out.

 

Then I got out this old project and started pinning it so I can quilt it and be done with it already.  It's three vertical panels with random pieces, a geisha in each, and some koi applique.

I feel neutral on this one.  I love all the fabrics, but I'm not in love with the design.  This'll go on our website for sale unless my brother claims it.

More Quilting (2 Projects)

I just wanted to show you a little more of my progress.  I got this sucker quilted...

I got the binding attached....

...and I started to finish it.  The fabric for this binding makes me so happy.  I just love it.  But that's not all I've  been working on.

I've listed them here from most favorite (at the top) to least favorite, but I think they'll all look fabulous together in a quilt.

My idea is to make blocks like these where I inverse the fabrics, so the thinner part will be a printed fabric and the thicker ones will be white.

I hope to have it done before DBC gets together mid-month.  That's a pretty lofty goal, though, considering how slowly I move on quilts.

I'm loving it so far!

Baby Quilt Progress

You know how some quilts are sort of lack-luster up close, so you really have to stand back to see how beautiful it actually is?

Well, this baby quilt is the exact opposite.  It's beautiful in vignettes, but as a whole, it sort of loses something.  I love all the fabrics - the colors, the patterns, the variation, the playfulness, and then I step back and....

Whaa-whaaaaaaa. (that's the Debbie Downer sound effect for those who are wondering)
Luckily baby quilts move quickly, so I can finish this, fold it up, and ship it off to the expectant mother.  I'm not saying which one, in case I change my mind about who gets which quilt.  There are quite a few ladies in my life with little ones on the way.  I guess I'm getting to that age...

I was on a roll last night, so after I finished the top, I decided I'd just go ahead and sandwich and pin it.  I took a cue from Patricia over at okan arts, and pinned the heck out of it.  I actually ran out of pins before I finished, so I decided to just take it to a point where I could pull it off the floor.  As I've mentioned before my apartment is quite small and floor space is at a premium.  I'm going to have to pick up a box of pins on my way home, I think.  I can't wait to test out my new sewing machine needle.