::Thanks for the Quilty Love::

Wow everyone, thanks for the love on my Pantone Pop quilt.  I was able to battle the snow and get it to the shop as a sample for my Seeing Value Class coming up.

It seems that this quilt caught the eye of WordPress enough to make their Freshly Pressed page.

The quilt produced a flurry of questions so I thought I would address them here.

*Yes, it did snow and NO, I didn’t eat my quilt.

*Yes, I use equal parts of each color fabric.  I listed the colors in the original post.

*The key to perfect points for me is cutting down my half-square triangles, see here.

*Finished squares are 6″.

*I believe the Quilting Loft is kitting this fabric bundle up for sale.

*The arrangement is totally random.  After I finish the hts blocks I give them a shuffle and where they land is where they go.

*Information on how I make my dual layer quilt design wall is here.

*No, this quilt is not in the book.

*I’ll likely just quilt it in linear lines like I did for The HST LOVE quilt.  That will have to wait until I get it back from the shop.

*Need further information?  Come take the class!

We’ve dug out from the snow and are back on the usual program here in Seattle.  I’m just itching to show you all an adaptation of a quilt from the book, but will have to settle with just my family, that truthfully haven’t even taken notice of how cool it is.

I’m looking forward to a Sew-In on Friday night with the Seattle Modern Quilt Guild and quilting this puppy.

Here’s to Friday not coming soon enough!

 

::Pantone Pop Quilt::

I love orange and purple, but can’t say the rest of Pantone’s spring colors appealed to me.

I have a hard time working with colors I don’t like…or doing anything I don’t like or want to do for that matter, so I stacked some bolts on the counter at the Quilting Loft and kept changing them out until I found a color story that worked for me.

Seattle is not kind on light this time of year.  So I want you to know that the dark purple is a bit lighter than pictured.

I love it when I look at my design wall and like what’s there.  I even generally will smile to myself.  Who wouldn’t?

The half-square quilt design is not new (and certainly not original to me), but simply a redo of my HST Love.  It is pretty fun to mess about with different colorways.  I love the punch that this colorway creates.

The fabrics are:

granite ( I think this is the name), prune and tangerine shot cottons ( I love these shot cottons, but think they are a pain in the ass to iron after they have been washed)

the pomegranate color is Moda cross weave # 38

Kona solids in baby blue, white and petunia

This Amy Butler print would never have caught my eye, but when I started pulling fabrics for backing it spoke to me.  P-E-R-F-E-C-T.

After its time as a class sample for my Seeing Value class it will be a long overdue wedding gift to some dear friends of mine.

Hoping you are all having a good week.  From the media hype, Seattle is suppose to be blanketed in snow by 3am.  But I might eat this quilt before I believe it.

Bring it on, I’d be happy enough to be snowed in for two weeks or more provided I have power to my sewing machine.

::Messing With Triangles::

Have you been following the Modern Quilt Guild’s 100 days of modern quilting?

Some talented stuff out there.

The other day there was a great tutorial on half-square rectangles.  I thought to myself, I messed with those last year.  So I went digging in the land of forgotten projects in the bin under my bed.  I found the pillow top I made (it was all alone, so I’ve found some extra space to stash things).

Here’s the thing though, I thought I made them the way the tutorial does, but they don’t look the same nor are they pieced together the same.

I had to ponder it for a bit to remember how I created them and now maybe I’ll even push this up the list of unfinished projects in need of quilting.

 I would have liked to go larger with this, but I’m unfortunately out of both of these print fabrics and the ebony chambray is no where to be found.

And just because I seem to be a bit obsessed with triangles, I washed the floor and basted this last night.

I used up the scraps for the back and paired it with one of my favorite kid prints (it also found its way to the back of my Snippets Quilt), no good pictures so that will have to wait.

I’m off to work, but Sunday and Monday it is SEW SEW SEW for me.  I hope to have a class sample for spring inspired by this quilt.

Happy Saturday!

::Unknown Direction Quilt Top::

I seem to gravitate to the blue/green combo, but the gray is so calming and the white pops it all out.

I wanted to go larger and add some spikes to the top and bottom by alternating the colors with the white, but I’m trying to live within my fabric stash here.

I’m sad to see the last of the Carolina Chambray in the teal disappear.  The colors are getting difficult to come by.  Baby size it is.

I already have plans for the quilting, inspired by this design.

This was a practice run for a quilt I plan on making for my brother and wife.  Their home is lovely and neutral with pops of deep red.

I don’t seem to be the only one obsessed with triangles.  My friend Rachel just posted her scrappy triangles with a tutorial.  She was even inspired by the same quilt that I was and has a lovely picture of it on her blog.

I love the scrappy idea and would certainly cut strips of fabric if I was going to go that route.  Generally, I have a pile of fabrics in mind and I have to cut a few and place them on the design wall to see how they mingle. So I make a template from plastic and most of that experimenting goes into the scrap bin… or now into a scrappy triangle quilt!

I blunt the tip of the triangle template so it is a quarter inch wide.  This eliminates fabric and helps match seams.

When you place your triangles right sides together, place the entire 1/4″ tip on the base of underlining triangle, this way you know it is a quarter inch seam.

Your end result will be super straight rows.  If your rows are straight, you are more likely to have a square quilt top in the end.  Of course with this top you will have to square the sides for some half triangles.

Make sure to leave an extra 1/4 inch so they look right when you put on your binding!

Now I’m off, because my only goal in life today was to wash my floor and baste Unknown Direction, instead I’ve made another mess of triangles.

Can’t wait to see the next load of triangle quilts out there in blogland.

P.S. I found this brilliant tutorial too!

::Ring It In::

With the holidays and working retail there hasn’t been much time for sewing, but when I added up the 16 quilts I created this year on top of the 30+ Jacquie and I made for the book I felt a little better.

Granted some are small, but I did fit in a few twins, a major amount of lap quilts and one mama-jamma king size.

Just like last year I am reinstating my rule of finishing one unfinished quilt for every one I start.  It seems to work for me and keep my creativity sparked.

Looking back at these quilts I think how I still love myself a half-square triangle, anything scrappy and that I never tire of prints.  I always wish for a neutral palette in my home, but my love of color always wins.  I’ve also enjoyed my pattern of mixing improvisational projects with traditional design.  It gives my brain some resting time.

2011 was great.  We finished Quilting Modern and I finally dropped my feed dogs for some free-motion quilting.  If you’ve been procrastinating this advance in your quilting, make this year the year, because it is fr*#! ing load of fun.

Just for fun, here’s some finished quilt tops (except for the raindrop whole cloth quilt that just needs more appliqued raindrops) that WILL be quilts by 2013.  How weird to say that year when I haven’t even written the current.

Happy New Year everyone!  It’s going to be good!

::Third Time’s the Charm::

Anything Goes is finally a finished quilt top.

I actually might have cut this puppy apart 4 times, but I am officially happy with the layout.  With all the traditional work I’ve been doing lately it felt good to flex the brain with some improvisational quilt design last Sunday.

It’s impossible to photograph, the purple chambray really is lovely with the linen and print.

I think I’ll add a few inches to the right to widen it.  Now onto the hard bit, how the heck do I quilt it?

All the hollowed out log cabins need light colored stitching to make them more present and then there’s all that background space.

I’m thinking of a free motion combo.

Some flowing shape in the squares and graphic squares/rectangles perhaps in the background.

I’ll let it hang for a bit, the floor desperately needs a cleaning anyway before any basting can happen.

::Leftovers Quilt Top Done::

Well, my computer has been in the shop for the week which means I was actually a productive sewist.  Mind you I also practically lost my mind since I couldn’t even look up a phone number.

Now my camera has decided that “close-up” mode is all that is needed so this is as good as it gets for a full shot (ignore dreary Seattle backyard mid-December too), but Eeeekkkk… L-O-V-E  this simple charm quilt!  It’s twin size.

Went with the orange peel free motion again and will likely revisit it when I get to another charm quilt with the grays I’ve been collecting.

The back is mostly Alexander Henry Whispering Wings, a print I want to keep on my shelf forever.  It was too perfect as backing for this quilt though.  I have a hard time with that sometimes.

I only had so much of it, so I added a few extra squares to the back.  It showcases the quilting a bit I think.

I went with the green binding.  I wanted to try to pick up on the small bits of green in the butterfly wings.

I think I’ve mentioned my need to switch between traditional and improvisational work, so when it’s a little bit brighter in these parts I have a “new” quilt top to share that steps away from this traditional squares stuff I’ve had so much fun producing lately.

I’ll certainly need some suggestion in quilting it, but I’m going to let it hang a bit for my own imagination first.

Happy Sunday Everyone!

 

 

 

 

 

::Grandma Goobin’s Christmas Gift::

We call my husband’s grandma Goobin, the details are fuzzy as to why.

But every year I make her a zip pouch for her ciggies.  I save a few sample blocks for this purpose.  This block is a cast-off from a quilt somewhat in production mode.

The story this year is a little sad and a whole lot funny.

You see, I always include a strap to attach the pouch to her walker, like this one last year.

Well, with old age we forget things and apparently Grandma Goobin has forgotten she smokes!  So I guess not all is downhill when it comes to losing our memory after all.

So this year I didn’t add a strap.  She can leave this in her room, no need to venture outside for a puff.

This pouch from last year is still my favorite ever, though for the smell it likely should be burned.

Wishing my Bernina had this triple stitch, possibly the only redeeming characteristic of the Pfaff that I practically lost my own mind using.

So, that’s one checked off the list.

How are you getting on with gifts?  My list is short this year for lack of time.

 

 

::Tilted Quilt Found a Home::

Welcome Baby Thea!

The Tilted Quilt has been waiting patiently for a home.  It’s a sweet little quilt I made last March with some leftover squares.

Some of my favorite prints by Heather Ross are there with a few more neutral to balance it all out.

Smitten Kitten just makes me happy.

Hope your new home is happy too Thea!

::Cover Girls::

Interweave sent out the 2012 book catalogs and guess whose quilts made the front cover?

That’s right, Jacquie and I have quilts that are cover girls!

It was wonderful to finish up the final edit last week with all the photos and diagrams in place.  A true look at the finished product!  Our jaws dropped at the sight of the finished book.  Interweave channeled our vision to perfection!

You can take a peek at the table of contents and some projects from the book here.

Come on April, get here already.