::Scattered::

Thanks for all the quilt names!  We did some rearranging yesterday and I lost a major storage spot.  The spot held a large tote full to the brim with unfinished projects.  As I was trying to reorganize I finally came up with the quilt’s name, Scattered.

The name seems to fit where I am with projects too.

This loss of space created a fire under my ass to reorganize further and work through those projects.  I’ve had a few small projects on my sewing table that were becoming clutter, beautiful clutter, but still clutter.  So I made a list and am striking some off instantly.  Clutter keeps me at a stand-still and I’m re-energize for sure upon checking off a few.

These small projects are created from fabrics that I’ve picked up locally.

This fabulous Anna Maria Horner velveteen that I got at  The West Seattle Fabric Company is finally an infinity scarf.  I’ve been matching the voiles with flannel or velveteen to make as gifts and was happy to see some of this type of fabric available in town.

I could procrastinate no longer on my delivery of my quilt to Quiltcon.  This required making a drawstring bag for its containment.  My boots will need something to travel in to Austin too and this Alexander Henry zebra print I got from Island Quilter is just so sassy.  I want to replenish its supply even though I have no project planned.

Island Quilter had this Alexander Henry fabric in a variety of colors.  I wanted to go with the black, but as an ironing board cover I thought it would fade.  I totally white-trashed the construction by tracing around the shape plus an inch or so, zig-zagging an inch down to the wrong side and pulling some elastic through the hem.  The elastic is pulled taunt and held tight by a toggle.  If I could do it with duct tape I would.  You just don’t see it so perfection doesn’t matter.

It could use some ironing.  This will surely happen.

I’m itchin’ to piece this Star-Bright Star-Light Quilt as a sample before the HST LOVE class on Saturday at Island Quilter and those diamond blocks are killing me.  I pulled it down to work on step outs for Jacquie’s and my Quiltcon Demo though.  Stick to the list.

Ok, ignoring the list for a second and dreaming of Valentine’s Day I couldn’t help but pile.  I’m always collecting fabrics for gift making.

This one from Drygood’s is my favorite this year!  I’m back to add this one too.

Here’s to a productive Monday!  We’ll see how long I can stick to the list.

————————————————–OPEN QUILTING STUDIOS THIS WEEK—————————————

This Wednesday we have Open Quilting Studio at Make*Do*Mend in Ballard from 11-3pm and at Island Quilter on Saturday from 4-9pm following the HST Love class below.  This is a great opportunity to take a class and then stick around to finish the quilt!

::Half-Square Triangle LOVE Class::

$85/Saturday February 16th from 10am to 4pm at Island Quilter on Vashon Island.

This versatile quilt block lends itself to endless designs. We’ll cover quilting basics such as picking fabrics, matching seams and create perfect points.  We’ll play with a layout that suites your style and you’ll walk away with ideas for a multitude of quilts. All level of sewists welcome.

::Improvisational Coin Quilt Workshop::

$85/Tuesdays, February 19th and 26th from 6-9pm at Make*Do*Mend in Ballard.

No two will be the same. Learn improvisational techniques like angle piecing and strip piecing while creating a modern coin quilt loosely based on a tradition Chinese Coin Quilt Design. A great quilt to feature your favorite prints. All levels of sewists welcome/machines and tools provided.

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::Shattered Again::

Pulling sample fabrics for my Shattered Quilt Starter Workshop tonight.  Wanna join us?  There are spots!

(Photo by Rendy Tucker)

I loved playing with the recreation of this quilt in Carolina Chambray and Osnaburg.  The texture is fabulous with the velveteen on the back.

But now it’s time to try something new.

I wanna stick with the textured fabric, so I’m going with the Essex Linen, but I have some ideas with all this Echino that I’ve collected over the years.

I won’t have time for this idea anytime soon, but it might jettison to the top of the list a little faster now that I have a fabric stack.

Maybe I will see you tonight.

Tomorrow I’ve got a quilt top to show you!

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::I See Stars In My Future::

I’m sure it isn’t an original idea with this fabric.

Or maybe I see Supernovas.  OH YES PLEASE!

I picked the Lizzy House Constellations up from Drygoods after my class yesterday.

Since halftime will likely be full of wardrobe malfunctions, go on and skip it to do some sale shopping.  Drygoods is having a 25% off sale fabrics, some hidden 40% off items and a chance to WIN a FQ set of this line!

Details here.

If you’ve been putting off a class, sign up in store and receive 15% off.  Hint Hint.

I’m pretty psyched to watch football and sew.  Already got one quilt top done this morning that I’ll get some photos of when the weather perks up.

Happy Superbowl.  My family will be sad that the season is over.

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::Center Zip Pouch Class::

What 7 year old boy doesn’t need a place for his Pokemon cards?

And what girl doesn’t need some new fabric?

So I merged these two ‘needs’ so that I could reacquaint myself with teaching the centered zip pouch which will take place this Thursday.

I love teaching pouch classes, they are always full of fun people that walk away happy with a finished pouch or two and a skill within three hours.

And guess what’s just around the corner that requires gifts?  I won’t tell you how many days you’ve got.

 

::Centered Zip Pouch:: $45 Thursday October 27th from 6-9pm at the Quilting Loft in Ballard.

Come learn the ins and outs of constructing a professional looking lined centered zip pouch.  Once you know the ropes you’ll be a production machine. Pouches make great gifts and are perfect for all levels of sewists.

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::Enter Scrappy Sunshine::

It’s been an odd summer here in the Pacific Northwest.  I thought it time to produce some of my own sunshine.

Enter Scrappy Sunshine Quilt.

This quilt originally started with cutting up all my Flea Market Fancy by Denyse Schmidt.  It just needed to happen, but when I put it up to create blocks, it was just bland.

Well you know what they say about best laid plans…

I pulled the duller colors and threw in the Amy Butler Lotus (thanks Heather for the pink!),

and then the Alexander Henry Aviary which I always wanted to have together with the Lotus in a quilt.

The Heather Ross campers were an afterthought and I had just enough for a few blocks, so perfect for a summery quilt.

I think I bought Pink Chalk out of these little Japanese flowers in every color way when they went on sale.  They are printed on the same soft fabric as Heather Ross’s stuff.

Of course I can never make a quilt purely from stash so I ordered this print in each colorway when I found it for $5/yard.

It all makes the Flea Market Fancy seem like an afterthought.

The layout doesn’t have any rhyme or reason.  I just grab blocks from the piles and lay them on my cutting mat in a square or rectangle and piece them.

And look what decided to make an appearance this morning.

Hello Sunshine!

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::Peace Out Kitty::

Today was one of those dreamy Sundays.

No one around, just me, a pot of tea, sunshine and a sewing machine.

I finished up some girl gifts today.  The peace out Hello Kitty fabric was purchased specifically for these Keyla Lou clutches in mind.

As always her patterns deliver, now if I could only focus on properly reading directions I would have the projects finished lickity-split.

I popped some Anna Maria inside and used the lobster-claw clasp from the Hello Kitty key chain to attach the wristbands.

My friend Amanda said it right, you never really out-grow Hello Kitty.

One went on today as a birthday gift and the other will make it to Northern Ireland for my niece.

I’m off for a slice of peach blueberry heaven, quite possibly topped with whip cream.

I told you it was a dreamy Sunday didn’t I?

———————————

String Block Class on Wednesday.

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::Welcome Guild Baby Number…::

The Seattle Modern Quilting Guild welcomes Ingrid, our newest baby addition.

I’ve been waiting for Ara Jane to have a spare moment to post the postage stamp quilt the guild made her little girl before I shared it here.

I’ve been picking the blocks and colors, which is the most fun and no one seems to mind.

The rest is a guild effort.  Those that can make a block do.

We’ve all taken turns putting the quilts together.

Melissa pieced this one and added the snowdrop jar block.

Snowdrop was the nickname Ara Jane would use around us for the baby when she was pregnant.

Sandie is our go to baby quilt quilter and always so sweet to finish up the binding as well.

Ara Jane’s pictures are much better, not to mention sweeter with baby action shots, so make sure to go take a look.

——————————–

Spaces available in my invisible zipper pillow class Wednesday.

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::Modern Quilting Everywhere::

First I found the modern block of the month that Handmade by Alissa is doing over at Sew Mama Sew.

July’s block finally gave me a mission for my Flea Market Fancy.

I always wanted to make a simple charm quilt out of it (which I cut for too), but this block seemed fitting.

So guess what I finally did?

That’s right, chopped it all up.  Eekkk…it was a little scary, but the reality is there will always be more fabric I want and this has been sitting for…oh about 7 years.

The quilt will likely loose its modern edge with the more country feel of the line, but I thought that might make it stand out from what others make.

I just need a background color now.  Suggestions?  I was thinking Kona Pond or Ice Frappe for a fresh, but more traditional look.

I’ve been trying to design a quilt based on this above and wasn’t getting results so the timing couldn’t be better.

Deciding on a layout adds to the fun.

On the same day Alissa Haight Carlton and Kirsten Lejiniek’s book Block Party landed on my doorstep.

And then my life became an info commercial, “but wait there’s more!”

I received this mail virtually from the Modern Quilt Guild.

Hop over and check out the guidelines for submissions.

Truthfully, the timing of all this couldn’t be better.  I’ve been feeling rather uninspired lately, struggling with anything coming together on my own.

Well, sometimes you just need a little juice from others to get you moving.

Last night in my improv triangle class the juice kicked in and I came up with an idea.  This morning I did some mock up blocks and think I figured out how to make the vision a reality.  So I think, yeah, I have a potential submission.

Are you joining in?

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::A Little Rain, A Little Shine::

The day started with rain and ended with a little sun.

It seems fitting this summer in Seattle to be appliqueing a raindrop here and there.

My Sheets of Rain whole cloth quilt has a few now and has become my companion as I sit on the sidelines at various kid summer lessons.

I have a puddle full of raindrops made to add.

I’ve enjoyed picking the scraps from my favorite long gone fabrics for each raindrop.

You can see the process I use to applique them here.

Those appliques come in handy for covering up the free-motion-quilting mistakes.

I love the little bit of shine the yellow flannel adds.

Here’s what it looks like so far.

I’m looking forward to seeing how the rain shower grows.

Though I’m far from ever teaching free-motion quilting I see this as an addition to my whole cloth quilt class with applique potential follow up.

My students and I had a load of fun in my whole cloth quilt class last month.  I made this chevron style one right along with the students to show them the various steps.

The orange stitches sunk into the pink flannel nicely.  I can’t recall the maker of this flannel, but it is super buttery and thick.

The stripe and binding fabric are old Amy Butler’s that had lost their appeal for making their way into a pieced project, I’d just had them too long I guess, but worked perfectly in this quilt.

Now I have another to add to this one as my class examples or for that next special baby.

I’ve enjoyed making these so much that I created a Whole Cloth Quilt Group to showcase them.  I hope if you make one you’ll add it.

Now I have plans for one on my bed!

 

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::Summer Pop Quilt::

The name changed on this quilt.  I finished up the binding on Thursday during some waiting room time.  I was calling it Summer Effervescence, but ‘effervescence’ has been replaced with ‘pop’.

Three reasons for this:

1) Bubble quilting.  Super fun to do.  Jeffrey said he thought I was going to loose my mind doing it, but it’s kind of addicting.  Highly recommend it if you are a newbie to free motion.

2)  Pop Music. The waiting room solidified my distaste for Pop Music, so the word ‘Pop’ stuck in my head.

3) Soda Pop.  I actually drank not one, but two pops as we call it where I come from in one day.  This is unusual for me, but we went all American and had pizza for lunch and cheeseburgers for dinner and pop is the libation of choice with these foods.

The bubbles worked wonderfully on the flannel.  Pulling it out of the dryer was the most joyful experience.

I was concerned that the quilting canceled out the prints, but I actually ended up liking the effect.

By the end I certainly had my stitch length down, thank goodness for flannel, washing and drying to meld all those stitches together.

Plain ole solid binding worked out fabulously.  I think this is Kona Ice Frappe.

Now I need to vacuum up the dust, and LOOK sunshine!  Seattle has only had something like 74 minutes of 80 degree weather this year…polar opposite of the rest of the country eh?

I always like to do a little clean up before I move onto the next project.  It might look something like this.

Pulling from the strips scrap bucket.  It’s too balanced in its blue/orange.  I like to go more one color or another if it’s not scrappy.  Although, now that I’ve seen this wonderfulness I want to abandon it all together.

Do you have proportions of color you aim for or a formula that works for you when choosing prints?

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