::Snippet Improvisational Coin Quilt::

FYI, yesterday was National Kissing Day, so if you didn’t get your kiss on I believe today is the day to make it up.

Anyway, with all the family around there hasn’t been much time for quilting.

I managed to fill the calendar with classes though, one of which is a modern improvisational or traditional coin quilt.  With that needing to be done as a sample I did manage to get it basted today.

I’ve been in love with these little elephants snippeted in here since I first laid eyes on them.  I bought enough for the backing too.  I think I’ll just go loop-d-loop for the quilting.

I’ve made plenty of more traditional coin quilts, though not stacked coins.  In fact they were some of the first quilts I ever made and a good choice because of the simplicity of their construction.

I wanted the class to have the option of traditional or improvisational designs.  I think I’ll remake this one that I called the Colorway Quilt with my current fabrics for the traditional quilt sample.

I’ve made some where I fussy cut the fabrics, I guess you would considered it an I-Spy quilt.  I love any scrappy quilt that allows you to showcase your fabric stash.

Perhaps the easiest is the strip pieced method.  I prefer the fabrics all be different, but this technique is quick!

Now I’m thinking I might need a stacked coin example too.  Might be a cute use for those Heather Ross fabrics I’ve been stashing.

Hope you all had a great fourth!  I went shopping in my pajamas.

Check out the bounty from Pink Chalk Fabrics.

And speaking of Pink Chalk Fabrics, look what fun Kathy has whipped up for us all?  Click the button and see!

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::Summer Visits::

and gifting.

Family in town, no sewing, just fun.  But I’ve had some gifts building up.  Dad got a laptop cover as belated Father’s Day gift.

This is the second I’ve made.  I quite like Keyka Lou’s patterns and have a few more to try.

For my Mom and Sister-in-Law, roomy zip bags for traveling with their skivvies.

Clean:

With a lovely purple zip and this interior fabric that has been waiting for a home for a bit.  The lingerie print I adore and found on auction.  I’ll be making one for myself with it for my next travels.

Dirty:

Dark red just made sense.

Brother unfortunately has only gotten the tab for his Slurpee picked up.

I’ll find time through my students to sew this week.  I have a HST class on the books for Wednesday.

and Split Decision on Thursday.

Hope you are finding some time to sew this weekend.

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::Good-Bye Junuary::

First day of Summer and the sun has finally made an appearance in Seattle.

I did make it outside to work in the yard a bit and opened up the doors to mop so I could baste my appropriately named Dreamin’ of Summer Quilt.  Although it is made of flannel so maybe I should stick the word Seattle in its name somehow.

The blocks are left overs as I am trying hard to stick it out on finishing up dropped projects around here.  I think I’m done though, my brain is bubbling with too many new ideas.

Effervescent bubbles were suggested as quilting and I think I might start bigger at the bottom and go smaller as they raise and blow away.  That’s theory though, so don’t quote me.

Seeing as last day of school is today, sewing will take a back seat and slow down.

I loaded up the classes however, cause a girl has got to get out.

Hope you’re all getting some sewing time too.

 

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::Solstice Quilt Done::

I had a cramp in my right calf for two days after quilting the Solstice Quilt, seriously.

It seemed I spent as much time ripping out quilting as putting it in.  Either it was the free-motion design I didn’t like or the color of thread, but it is D-O-N-E and ready for its first picnic, parade or beach run.

I was thinking simple and then went crazy with the quilting.  I free-motioned squares onto the postage stamp blocks.

Went loopy on all the sashing around the postage stamps.

On the black sashing I free-motioned triangles.  Where they cross created a cool secondary design.

I hadn’t really given thought to what the back would look like with all the different stitching and I gotta say it’s a little crazy, but what-ever, it’s about to eat urban dirt anyway.

We have the family represented, Aquarius, Gemini and Cancer.

I did add pockets to the back corners to weight it down with stones as instructed by Erin at House on Hill Road.

I just love all the color.

A BIG thanks to my Cottage Quilting Bee friends for bringing it together for me!

I apologize if you don’t see your block.  Some where hidden under some fabric I was cutting for sashing and I sadly sliced right through them.

And in case that isn’t enough photos for you, then there’s the pulled from the dryer quilt love.

I added a little rainbow edge to the binding too.

Do you think it goes with its Solstice Parade inspiration?  Our neighborhood parade is right around the corner.

This quilt will see a ton of use before the end of summer for sure.  Now we just need some good weather in Seattle or I’m going to be wearing this quilt more then sitting on it.

I’ll hang it up tomorrow for a better shot.

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::Solstice Quilt::

Roan was born on Solstice weekend.  Around my neighborhood, which is home to the Fremont Arts Council, that means he gets a parade for his birthday, naked body painted bicyclists and all.

We always brunch and then walk to the end of the street to find our spot.

We’ve needed a Solstice Parade/Picnic quilt for ages now to stake out our territory.  So yesterday I pulled out the bee blocks from my Little Blue Cottage Bee and started sashing them.

In the evening I placed them on top of the black cross-hatch with some darker edging and called it a night.

This morning I decided that the Alexander Henry Heath fabric lost the drama of the squares.  I need more contrast.  Black it is.

For some unknown reason my brain says, “Go square.” on the finished size of the quilt. Not something I’m usually into.

I’ve got two backings in mind, both Alexander Henry of course.

I’m leaning towards the Star Sign though.  I wanna be able to put this down on a city street or a grassy lawn.  This one’s dark and fun.

The Star Sign is also one of Roan’s favorites.

I like the direction it took and it’s fitting bright colors, just like the parade.

At some point I’d like to make some postage stamp blocks with the traditional layout of all sewn together with no being or end.  I like the idea of on-point and cutting some into triangles to complete the square.

Because these were made by so many different people they just wouldn’t fit together properly and that just wouldn’t work for this perfectionist.

Do you all have dreams of a picnic quilt?

EDIT:

Three short of the finish with the black sashing.  Excuse to go buy fabric in the wash as I type.  I also might pull that red block with the yellow sashing and recut it.  It looks out of place.

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upcoming classes-zip pouches and quilt finishing

destash

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::Contained::

I have a thing for order and containing.  I even have a thing for recontaining objects.  Sometimes what they come in just isn’t pretty enough for me.  Maybe I’m a control freak, but I live in 860 square feet.  Dropping your scivvies on the floor can downward spiral the whole system.

Some examples:

Syrup bought at Costco in a jug can be poured by a six year old at a 5 parts syrup/one pancake ratio.  Or you can let Aunt Jemima do it with a pourer (p.s. you can have one too).

Not into pancakes?  No problem.  We’ve got you covered at this house with some cinnamon and sugar sprinkled on your french toast?  Let Little Bear do it.  I use a funnel to fill him.  He was one of a set of salt and pepper shakers on sale at Anthropologie.  Gave the other to a friend.

Couldn’t pass up the egg cup on the Easter sale table.  Now toothpicks for checking the muffins are right there and sure cute.

I channeled Gollum, muttering, “My Precious.” when I saw these in a magazine.  Perfect graphic to go with my Fiesta.

Then there’s kid room containment, this is never ending.  I like tins.

Trust me, if I could cut that globe in half and put something in it I would.

Scraps live in these.

Then there’s DOUBLE Containment, or contained and then contained again.

This is big in the Livudio (studio/living room) because we are trying to make one room function as two with harmony.

Bathroom gets the containers contained with trays.  Think I went a little crazy for Orla Kiely?  I did.

The bedroom also contains the home office within a secretary desk.

And the ultimate reuse of containers…

eggshells and those cute Easter Egg containers you thought had no use after Easter.  Plant yourself some seeds, water and cover with plastic wrap until they sprout in your sunny window.  Then just plunk the eggshell and all in the garden.

Now my whole point of this container rant is…I made a container using this pattern and it turned out fabulous.

I made some interfacing changes and I messed up on the directional cutting of the outside, but it looks awesome.

Love Factory Girl fabric.  It’s freaky weird.

Do you contain?

and thanks for all the hst love on yesterday’s post, I feel the same!

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destash

classes

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::Cracked Ovals::

We’re mastering curves in the second half of my improvisational patchwork class this week.  I thought I’d grease the wheel since it’s been a bit since I’ve created anything with a curve.

My friend Meagan was having a birthday and it lent itself the opportunity to create for someone that might possibly appreciate a handmade gift.  Zip pouches are perfect for bits of patchwork and using up those scraps of favorite fabrics.

This could be for scissors and other sewing tools to travel to guild or a home to sew.  I added some hex papers and hardware to make a curvy clutch.

Inside I used the cracked oval I didn’t like so much.

I have a few more quilts on the list and some class samples to finish up and then it might be time to play with some cracked ovals.  I envision some cute kids quilts.

The sun is shining here!

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out of print destash going on!

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::Hers and His Pillows::

I needed to make demonstration samples last week for my Add Zip to Your Pillow Class and Roan needed a birthday gift for a classmate.  Two birds, one stone…

For Sofia’s new pink bedroom.  Little girls seem to still appreciate the handmade.  Little boys, not so much.

Last time I tried to make a pillow for a boy gift Roan’s response was, “Oh, a pillow?!  Can’t we just buy a toy?!”  Add a whining tone to that.

Skip the gift wrap, that’s what all those selvedges are saved for.

And that two bird thing?  Roan needed a new pillow cover and I had just a bit of this Alexander Henry fabric left from the back of his quilt.  Still reminds me of the A-ha video.

My couch is still in need and I’m waiting patiently for this fabric to arrive.

In the meantime the floor was washed and this was basted.

Now, off I go, I have a date with a quilt and I’m happy to report the sun is shining in Seattle.

Happy Wednesday!

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p.s. In light of the past few days, I found this video on Ted is worth a watch.

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::Whole Cloth Quilt and Quilt Finishing Class::

I’ve had this simple quilt sandwich basted and rolled up waiting for its addition of scraps and stitchin’ to make it into a ticker tape.  I got to thinking about our limited basting space in the class room and that a simple, modern AND most importantly small quilt could do the trick for teaching the basic threes to quilt finishing.

Stuff Three’s:

• Quilt Top
• Batting
• Quilt Back

Do Three’s:

• Baste
• Quilt
• Bind

The end result, this modern baby quilt!  We’ll cover the three’s in the class, and discuss what straight stitched quilting design to execute, plus centering and squaring a quilt and troubleshooting.

The design of the stitching is really seen from the solid front.  I think this is Kona Pond.  I straight stitched some gentle curves and left a space to straight stitch a third in.  I added a few lines of red.

 It’s bound in one of my favorite Cake Rock Beach dots.

And the backing is one of my stockpiled Alexander Henry Raindrop Stripe.

I think it will be a super fun class.

I’ve got Add Zip To Your Pillow class next Thursday if you need some new Spring flare.  I have my fabric all picked out.

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::Mom’s Birthday Gift::

So, years ago this quilt showed up on my doorstep from my Mom to me!

I use it daily.  Each butterfly is hand appliqued with hand-stitched antennas.  I love it.

I’ve never made my Mom a quilt and with her on the traditional side with fabrics and design and myself loving modern fabrics I came up with a plan.  Design the same quilt she gifted me with its big blocks and corner stones, except with one of my favorite fabrics as the focus.

There was no way I was going to free-motion this mamma jamma, so when my friend Sandie stepped up with an offer to use her long arm, I quickly stepped right in.  It needed curves and she thought the orange peel quilt design was what we were looking for.  She was right!

Just like little wings.

The quilting doesn’t distract from the butterflies at all and is best seen on the sashing and the back.

Couldn’t help myself with the letters.  The Alexander Heath print was pulled straight from the Whispering Wing Butterfly fabric I swear, so I knew instantly I would use it for the back, what good timing.

And I used it for the binding.  This back design is quickly becoming my go to.

All washed and pufted up, it makes me want to take a big nap.  Mom’s the napper though.

Happy Birthday Mom!!!!  (don’t tell her Dad!  It’s in the mail this week).

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Destash continues here.

New Classes here.

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