Just received this wonderful book as a giveaway prize by Krista at Poppyprint. It's a knockout! And look! It's autographed! I want to make just about every quilt in here. Thanks, Krista!
Best prize
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Wednesday, 20 March 2013 /
Follow my blog with Bloglovin
Just received this wonderful book as a giveaway prize by Krista at Poppyprint. It's a knockout! And look! It's autographed! I want to make just about every quilt in here. Thanks, Krista!
Just received this wonderful book as a giveaway prize by Krista at Poppyprint. It's a knockout! And look! It's autographed! I want to make just about every quilt in here. Thanks, Krista!
Bloglovin' bandwagon!
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Tuesday, 19 March 2013 /
What about Google Reader, eh? Like many of you, I was gobsmacked to hear it was going to disappear. It seems like many people are moving over to Bloglovin', so I've added a button the the sidebar of my blog. I have a lot of chutzpah, jumping on the Bloglovin' bandwagon, since I've not had a blog post this long age. I've been trying to limit my sewing in order to accomplish some of the necessary things to do with Real Job. I feel guilty if I give into my "want tos" at the expense of my "need tos" too often. I've not been totally idle, though. I cut a big whack of purple and blue FQs, and this fantastic Inkwell background, to make a Winding Ways quilt. I used the Accuquilt die on my Sizzix BigShot Pro.
I sewed a few blocks together just to get a look at how they are going to shape up. I think I'm in love! I started this for someone else, but after I had everything cut out I found out this person doesn't like purple for home decor. So I will keep it. You mustn't think I planned it that way - sometimes fortune favours us when we are trying to do a good deed for someone else. Never mind, I have started cutting for a different project for the would-be recipient.
My main activity has been working on this Rose Star EPP project. I wasn't sure how many of the star blocks I would need to make to make the quilt a reasonable size. When I got to 31 stars, I began to piece them together, and it looked like I would need another five blocks to make it complete. I'm using a print from the Ghastlies line for the 5" equilateral background triangles. Here's the current status of this project: the 31 stars are pieced together and I have made three of the remaining five stars. So I am really very, very close to the end of this project! I'll probably sew a border on it in order to even up the edges. It's going to look great, I think. As for my next hand project, I am just about ready to take the plunge into applique. That will be a whole 'nother kettle of fish!
I sewed a few blocks together just to get a look at how they are going to shape up. I think I'm in love! I started this for someone else, but after I had everything cut out I found out this person doesn't like purple for home decor. So I will keep it. You mustn't think I planned it that way - sometimes fortune favours us when we are trying to do a good deed for someone else. Never mind, I have started cutting for a different project for the would-be recipient.
My main activity has been working on this Rose Star EPP project. I wasn't sure how many of the star blocks I would need to make to make the quilt a reasonable size. When I got to 31 stars, I began to piece them together, and it looked like I would need another five blocks to make it complete. I'm using a print from the Ghastlies line for the 5" equilateral background triangles. Here's the current status of this project: the 31 stars are pieced together and I have made three of the remaining five stars. So I am really very, very close to the end of this project! I'll probably sew a border on it in order to even up the edges. It's going to look great, I think. As for my next hand project, I am just about ready to take the plunge into applique. That will be a whole 'nother kettle of fish!
The one where I broke up with AMH (A Monstrous Headache)
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Tuesday, 11 December 2012 /
I present to you, dear readers, the most difficult thing I have ever made. It is a quilt with velveteen hexagons on the front, bamboo batting, and flannel on the back. It looks pretty, I grant, but it is a monster. It took me nearly the entire weekend to quilt it, and I am still feeling it in my shoulder blades!
The top wasn't too bad to put together.The velveteen frays like mad, and I should probably have gone with a 1/3" or even a 1/2" seam allowance. But I went ahead with the quilter's quarter inch.
Afterwards, I seemed to remember that I had read a blogpost by Anna Maria Horner that warned of this - where are these insights when you really need them?
To ensure that the seams held secure during the normal usage of a quilt, I decided to stitch in the ditch using a wide zigzag. I was particularly concerned about the joins of the y-seams. I used a yellow Aurifil 28 wt thread for this. Upon scrutiny post-wash and dry, the seams seem to have held up well.
I do like the way the zigzags show up outlining the hexagons on the back.
Oh my word! Muscling this through the quilting on my little Pfaff was something else! Hercules and his labours had nothing on what I went through. I really thought it was going to send me back to physio - my shoulders and back were on fire with the weight of it. I took a break after each row to stand upright and swing my arms.
The hexagons are 9" across (I used the Marti Michel template to cut them) so I needed something to secure the centres. I thought about tying them, but decided to go with a decorative machine stitch. You can see if it you look closely in the centre of this hex.
This quilting makes a nice and loose quilt, kind of floppy. It is a very strange shape, though. It's about 80" long and 50-odd inches wide (I have hung it sideways on the line in these photos).
The velveteen, flannel and cotton binding are all from Anna Maria Horner, who happens to share the monogram of this quilt, A Monstrous Headache!
Truly, by the end of the weekend, I was ready to divorce this quilt. I had mentally projected all my ill will onto it and even once it was finally washed and dried, all fluffed up, I was still feeling hard done by.
I was cranky about its odd shape and wondering what in the world had possessed a woman who is experiencing her own personal summer in the depths of Canadian winter to construct a quilt that weighs about 20 lbs. and heats up like a blast furnace!
However, I am starting to come around. Even though I swore that we broke up on the weekend, I am beginning to feel that we were only "on a break". I think we might have a chance to be happy together, after all!
The top wasn't too bad to put together.The velveteen frays like mad, and I should probably have gone with a 1/3" or even a 1/2" seam allowance. But I went ahead with the quilter's quarter inch.
Afterwards, I seemed to remember that I had read a blogpost by Anna Maria Horner that warned of this - where are these insights when you really need them?
To ensure that the seams held secure during the normal usage of a quilt, I decided to stitch in the ditch using a wide zigzag. I was particularly concerned about the joins of the y-seams. I used a yellow Aurifil 28 wt thread for this. Upon scrutiny post-wash and dry, the seams seem to have held up well.
I do like the way the zigzags show up outlining the hexagons on the back.
Oh my word! Muscling this through the quilting on my little Pfaff was something else! Hercules and his labours had nothing on what I went through. I really thought it was going to send me back to physio - my shoulders and back were on fire with the weight of it. I took a break after each row to stand upright and swing my arms.
The hexagons are 9" across (I used the Marti Michel template to cut them) so I needed something to secure the centres. I thought about tying them, but decided to go with a decorative machine stitch. You can see if it you look closely in the centre of this hex.
This quilting makes a nice and loose quilt, kind of floppy. It is a very strange shape, though. It's about 80" long and 50-odd inches wide (I have hung it sideways on the line in these photos).
The velveteen, flannel and cotton binding are all from Anna Maria Horner, who happens to share the monogram of this quilt, A Monstrous Headache!
Truly, by the end of the weekend, I was ready to divorce this quilt. I had mentally projected all my ill will onto it and even once it was finally washed and dried, all fluffed up, I was still feeling hard done by.
I was cranky about its odd shape and wondering what in the world had possessed a woman who is experiencing her own personal summer in the depths of Canadian winter to construct a quilt that weighs about 20 lbs. and heats up like a blast furnace!
However, I am starting to come around. Even though I swore that we broke up on the weekend, I am beginning to feel that we were only "on a break". I think we might have a chance to be happy together, after all!
Pinqua star finished
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Monday, 3 December 2012 /
What is "pinqua", you ask? Clearly, it is pink + aqua! I'm so happy to have this baby quilt finished - it's 48" square, which is pretty big for a baby quilt, I guess. I quilted it with Aurifil 50 wt in big looping swirls so that it would be soft and floppy.
And I backed it with pink minky, so it is very luxe! I'd never used minky before, but it was fine. The best part was that it comes in 60" width, so I didn't have to piece the back at all. I found it a bit heavy to maneuver through the quilting process, but overall, no problem.
I used the leftovers from the FQs to make a pieced binding. Each strip averaged about a foot long - what are the odds that at least one of those joins would end up on a corner? But the binding gods were smiling, and I dodged the bullet.
I do love the soft, washed effect of these HSTs. It is far from a colour combo that I would choose, but I think it's lovely for a new baby girl. My doc student and I made this quilt for another doc student in our program. Her baby is lovely - I get all broody for grandchildren when I hold her. Fortunately it doesn't last long after I return the little one to her mother, since my daughter is only 19 and a second year student at uni. I think I'm going to have to wait awhile. (I love this last shot, with my able assistant peeking out - it reminds me of that old cartoon "Kilroy was here".)
On to the next thing
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Tuesday, 27 November 2012 /
The next thing is this: a quilt top for a new baby. One of our graduate students had a baby girl recently. The student was supposed to be a guest lecturer in my class two weeks before she was due, and - cue Murphy's Law - she came early. Anyway, my doc student and I thought it would be a nice thing to make a quilt for the new baby.
We used the Big Shot Pro, a 3 1/2" HST die, and a bunch of fat quarters to make this sweet little quilt top. It's based on the Miss Rosie quilt pattern Chip, but we made our blocks a larger size and we didn't use a border. It's 48" square. In this photo, the greys look a bit brown, but they are really grey. I'm thinking some pink minky on the back.
Also, I was fairly restrained on the fabric front during the Thanksgiving commercial frenzy, but I did indulge in some heavy lifting on the Sizzix front. Joann's was having a 50% off sale on Sizzix products. They were mostly dies for paper crafting, but I did get some flower dies and cutting pads. Then the Canadian retailer Stitch in the Ditch had a massive clearout of Sizzix dies for 35% off, including some of the strip dies, HST dies, etc. I bought a LOT of dies. And although it was not on sale, I bought this Rose Dream die, as well. Can't wait to try this beauty out! I'll take pictures!
We used the Big Shot Pro, a 3 1/2" HST die, and a bunch of fat quarters to make this sweet little quilt top. It's based on the Miss Rosie quilt pattern Chip, but we made our blocks a larger size and we didn't use a border. It's 48" square. In this photo, the greys look a bit brown, but they are really grey. I'm thinking some pink minky on the back.
Also, I was fairly restrained on the fabric front during the Thanksgiving commercial frenzy, but I did indulge in some heavy lifting on the Sizzix front. Joann's was having a 50% off sale on Sizzix products. They were mostly dies for paper crafting, but I did get some flower dies and cutting pads. Then the Canadian retailer Stitch in the Ditch had a massive clearout of Sizzix dies for 35% off, including some of the strip dies, HST dies, etc. I bought a LOT of dies. And although it was not on sale, I bought this Rose Dream die, as well. Can't wait to try this beauty out! I'll take pictures!
Zip It!
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Tuesday, 6 November 2012 /
I couldn't touch my sewing machine during September and the first half of October since I was writing a grant proposal. But as soon as I was finished I had the urge to sit down and make some quick finishes. I made four cute zippy pouches - different from the ones I have done before. This one is my favourite - I love this Martha Negley feather print. It is a perfect size for storing my EPP pieces.
I didn't use a pattern for these, but I was inspired by something I saw on the internet ages ago that stuck in my head. Alas, I don't remember where I first saw the inspiration, so if it rings a bell for anyone, let me know and I'll put up a link.
I gave this last one to my daughter - I took a quickie photo with my watch in to show her the clear front, but the watch stayed on my arm.
These are lined with batting, which I attached with spray baste. I used a 6- or 10-gauge plastic vinyl that I bought at the local chain fabric store. The backs don't show in these photos, but they are the same print that you see through the front. Super easy, super fast.
P.S. It's election day today and I would appreciate your vote! I was nominated in the best quilt photography section of the Bloggers' Quilt Festival. Go here, and scroll down to the Quilt Photography section; vote for Stitchliterate - if you click on the thumbnail you can see the original post and more photos of the quilt. Thanks to all who nominated me!
I didn't use a pattern for these, but I was inspired by something I saw on the internet ages ago that stuck in my head. Alas, I don't remember where I first saw the inspiration, so if it rings a bell for anyone, let me know and I'll put up a link.
I gave this last one to my daughter - I took a quickie photo with my watch in to show her the clear front, but the watch stayed on my arm.
These are lined with batting, which I attached with spray baste. I used a 6- or 10-gauge plastic vinyl that I bought at the local chain fabric store. The backs don't show in these photos, but they are the same print that you see through the front. Super easy, super fast.
P.S. It's election day today and I would appreciate your vote! I was nominated in the best quilt photography section of the Bloggers' Quilt Festival. Go here, and scroll down to the Quilt Photography section; vote for Stitchliterate - if you click on the thumbnail you can see the original post and more photos of the quilt. Thanks to all who nominated me!
Everybody's Doing It!
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Monday, 5 November 2012 /
Voting, that is! Tomorrow is Election Day in the US, and won't we all be glad when that is over! Even the Canadian news is awash with polls and pundits weighing in on the presidential election. Well, here's another election you can vote in, and this one is for everyone around the world!
My quilt, Summer Wedding, was nominated for best quilt photography in the recent Bloggers' Quilt Festival. My BQF post where the quilt is featured in full can be found here. I am tickled pink! So if you care to vote for it, please go to this link and scroll down to the section dedicated to quilt photography; you'll see this photo above my blog name, Stitchliterate. Give us some clicky love! I would be grateful for your vote!
My quilt, Summer Wedding, was nominated for best quilt photography in the recent Bloggers' Quilt Festival. My BQF post where the quilt is featured in full can be found here. I am tickled pink! So if you care to vote for it, please go to this link and scroll down to the section dedicated to quilt photography; you'll see this photo above my blog name, Stitchliterate. Give us some clicky love! I would be grateful for your vote!
