A Few Scraps

This is for real

2012-01-13T23:32:00.000-08:00

I'll try my best not to choke you with punctuation, but it's hard because.... I designed my first fabric! Do you see how giant these "selvage" dots are? Some are almost an inch across!

I thoroughly examined my collection of selvages to try and insert all sorts of charming quirky details. I had a yard of it printed at Spoonflower. Now, do I make crazy lots of stuff with it or just admire it in this state forever?

I feel so happy seeing it. I made it on the iPad one sleepless night, inspired by Suzanne's comment on this post about "selvages on steroids".

I think I'd like the print on a smaller scale too so I'm going to resize it and print some of that on Spoonflower as well. This first one is already on sale here if you love selvages too!

Good ideas!

2012-01-10T23:00:00.000-08:00

I like all the ideas shared to improve free motion quilting. The most popular, by far, was... Practice! Including for #3, Eileen.

Congratulations Eileen, have fun practicing!

Modern Quilting Designs review

2012-01-09T16:49:00.000-08:00

Have you heard about this book that's about to be released? I was so excited about it that I sent a hopeful plea to Stash books and asked for a copy of Modern Quilting Designs to review on the blog and the answer was yes, with one to giveaway too!

I'm so thrilled for this book by Bethany Pease because there's really nothing like it right now on book shelves. It seems like there are a few books dedicated to continuous line pictorial designs (i.e. dolphins, cowboy boots) and some that show geometric patterns for blocks or borders, but not much in the abstract, all-over, continuous line category. Modern Quilting Designs is filling that gap!

The book is pretty much just sharpie-on-paper drawings of quilting designs. There is not much text, so you can simply flip through the book and take in the designs. I learn visually, so I like that. Most of the quilting ideas seemed like things I could use in my quilts, although there was a section of flowery block-based designs that didn't seem like designs I would use. I was also surprised to see some designs that were not continuous-line. These don't make up the bulk of the book, though.

The best part of this library of designs, and what this author seems to excel in, are all the "mash ups" she creates: inventive, organic combinations of basic patterns. Think feathers plus spirals, or wavy lines plus pebbles plus scallops, or flamboyant vines full of variety. This is good for me because I tend to get stuck in one mindset - quilting something completely in spirals, or making all my leaves on a vine exactly the same, for instance.

Now, one downside to the book is that there is no explanation of how to go about stitching the designs. Feather first and then the wavy lines around it? Wavy lines first then fit the feather inside? For this reason, I'd say the book will be best for someone who has started to improvise with their quilting already. You'll need to come up with your own approach to creating the more complex designs you see.

I thought a thorough review of a book would include "trying it out", so I decided to stitch a design and see how it went. I decided on the captivating design featured on the cover. It was fun and the results were great! I used the stitched piece as the outside of the sewing caddy.

I'm happy to have this book by my side, and happy to have one to send on to a reader! If you'd like to include your name in the random drawing, leave a comment on this post (and make sure I can contact you if you win!). In your comment tell me...what is something simple you could do to improve your free motion quilting? I'll draw the winner Wednesday.

***The giveaway is closed now, thanks everyone for entering!***

The quilter's caddy

2012-01-05T23:44:00.000-08:00

**Quick announcement! Another free motion quilting class is upon us! It's Saturday, January 14th at 9am at Fiddlesticks Quilt Shop in Vancouver, WA. Bring your sewing machine and a darning foot and jump in!**

This is the gift I made Michelle for the PMQG holiday swap. I think this is such a fun swap. The recipient chooses fabric scraps from their own stash, then the gift creator adds a single fabric and makes them a gift. People make stunning, lovely things. Like entire quilts. This is a bit more humble.

Michelle comes to our PMQG sewing days so I thought she might like a little kit for taking her quilting supplies with her. I love the combination of lime green and cherry red together so I was thrilled that Michelle had both those colors in her scrap baggie. I chose a muted shot cotton to let the happy fabrics pop.

This kit has room for shears, rotary cutter, snips, seam ripper and thread, as well as a little velcro pocket and a hinged binder ring for bringing bobbins (I was pretty proud of that idea). The red stuff is elastic for holding a cutting ruler.

The caddy is nice and stiff with some thin foam core on the inside. The outside is simple with quilting that I hope she likes. And a red button because I'm convinced that red goes with everything. A better look at that quilting design will be in my next post.

Thanks for always getting me sewing PMQG! Looking forward to another beautiful year with all of you...

Recharge

2012-01-04T10:31:00.000-08:00

We spent the holidays in Arizona. It felt so good, the family and sun, the grapefruit off my grandparents'
tree, seeing the cactus and sunsets and grackles...

We stayed kind of far out. Like "drive to where the streetlights stop and turn left" far out. So I got a little
sewing done, thanks to my grandma's cutting table and my mother in law's sewing machine and a cadre of
aunties to keep up with our little explorer. It's the double disappearing nine patch! I'll get a better photo soon.

This sweet, wonderful, smart, strong little kid is three now. Here she is getting the full fire truck
experience from her grandad!

Santa brought me some Aurifil thread and I am going to use it up this year.

Or at least, I'll use what I can before baby #2 comes in July, after which all bets are off. Aha! That's why I've been such a cruddy blogger and emailer and doer-of-things. Because my only activities are:

Do you think I can grow a baby on pinto beans and yogurt and tangerines and chicken wings? 'Cause I'm trying.

Luckily I came home to a bunch of stuff to blog about so I'm about to pipe up after a very quiet month. I
wanted to share this quote by William Morris: "Have nothing in your house that you do not know to be
useful or believe to be beautiful". I was thinking, how nice that quilts are both! Happy 2012! I hope it's starting off grand.

Zombie Mama

2011-12-08T17:39:00.000-08:00

A lot of you asked what I was going to do with my selvages. This is what!

I totally intended to enter this bag in the Bernina fall bag contest. The pattern is from PMQG's own super-kind super-talented superstar, Monica of Happy Zombie. Monica's advice was to shoot yummy shots of the bags with something in them. I dutifully did that.

I love this colorful little bag. I made a practice bag originally before diving in with the selvages. My daughter calls it her bag.

We glamour shot that one too. And then I forgot to enter the contest.

So that's about right, the best laid plans! Getting ready for Christmas, waiting impatiently for my husband to get back in town, hoping to sew with the quilt guild this Saturday... Thanks for all the sweet comments on my posts lately!

Pots will be held

2011-12-02T08:41:00.000-08:00

These potholders will live in Kansas City soon, thanks to the Portland/Kansas City MQG potholder swap. I made one for my partner and got to make some angel potholders too. I wanted my potholders to be thickish and also to have some FMQ. So I made two separate quilt sandwiches for each potholder and bound them together. The tops are foundation pieced log cabins (with batting as the foundation). And the backs are plain to show some free motion quilting.

Any guesses how I got such lovely geometric patterns? Oh, I can't keep a secret: print tracing!

These are the backsides of two of the quilted pieces.

Below is how I used the Ty Pennington print to make the circles. Wavy line around the circles one way, then a wavy line back the other. Whenever I wanted to add a flower I just went inside the circle off the wavy line I was on, and went back to the wavy line after tracing all the "petals".

Looking at my fabrics for print tracing potential is kind of fun. It's a new way of perceiving them. Here are some I pulled out that I think would be great for this technique.

I've read that some people do entire quilts this way but for me the technique is perfectly suited for smaller items. What do you think, is it something you'd try?

Modular Cathedral: Flora block

2011-11-25T19:56:00.000-08:00

Oh thank heavens I'm sewing again. Just a little modular cathedral block. You may be thinking what I was: Would it be easier to just piece this? Maybe. I'm certainly not afraid of curves. But I did want to try it this way, I like that there were no templates needed. And there's no denying that the rolled bias edge is delightful.

This block was made with:
four 5'' color squares
eight 3'' white squares
and the optional 1.5'' border strips (Finished block size with the strips is 11'', without is 9'')

Press all the white squares in half along the diagonal. Lay them in the corners of the colored squares and use a dab of glue at each corner to keep them in place.

Construct the block using a scant 1/4" seam allowance.

Then pin back the curves and topstitch.

A really straightforward, lovely block. Of all that I've made, this is my new favorite and I could actually see doing a whole quilt of this one. I'd love to hear if you try it!

Hope you all have been having a beautiful fall, and for my US pals, a great Thanksgiving weekend! I cooked my turkey upside down and burned it and we all still had a great time. It's possible that my years as a vegetarian left me with some crucial gaps in knowledge. Maybe I'll just stick to sewing.

Time warp

2011-11-16T22:49:00.000-08:00

So...my new hobby is napping. And that's how mid-November just sprung up on me out of nowhere.

Occasionally something happens between naps. Taught a fun free motion quilting class with a bunch of great ladies. Problems were solved. Beautiful quilting emerged. Utter delight!

Drove to see my sister play her first playoff game in NCAA women's soccer. Wish I could see the next one on Friday but that's in Memphis. I will be all over the live audio though.

Two of my quilts are hanging on the wall at the Art Institute of Portland. The show is called "Pattern Recognition" and it's curated by an artist friend. So exciting being included in this unique show! I told my friend it made me feel "like a real artist". What a telling choice of words. And how is this for humbling? He called them afghans. Twice.

Finally, beyond thrilling is seeing my first published pattern in the newly released "Colour" issue of Fat Quarterly. I have to admit that because I am intolerably...frugal...it's the first Fat Quarterly issue I've actually seen and I am happy to report I really enjoyed it! I feel like I got both knowledge and inspiration out of the issue, what a nice combination. Guess it's time to subscribe!

My contribution is the pattern for my Gradient Quilt. The pattern is written to be useful whether you want to make a similarly patterned quilt or to design your own unique layout. I will be so tickled to see quilts inspired by this pattern. Thanks to The FQ team for the chance to contribute to such a pretty project! I'm honored.

So, those are my headlines. I'll be back soon with actual patchwork and stuff. Right... after...zzzzzzzzzzzzzz

You know what?

2011-11-03T14:10:00.000-07:00

I am just as crazy as the rest of you.

Spiderwebs

2011-10-28T11:57:00.001-07:00

This kid loves/is terrified of spiders and spiderwebs. She can always spot even the tiniest spiderweb. Lately she's taken to drawing families of spiders. The mama spider is always the smallest. What does that mean?

Pyschoanalysis aside, today I put the binding on a little Halloween tabletopper, just in the nick of time.

I thought it would be cool not to stitch a spider on it, and instead place a little toy spider on top of it. But the little miss was ever-so-distressed at the thought of a spider-less spiderweb. So, with her on my lap, we added one together.

I hope you are having some Halloween fun too!

Remember Remember

2011-10-21T17:17:00.001-07:00

Remember, remember the fifth of November
A free motion quilting class taught
With a foot and machine
And a small bit of green
You'll be stitching a heck of a lot!

I could not resist that.

It's true. I'm teaching a free motion quilting class in SE Portland in a couple of weeks, on November 5 from 9:30-1. It's going to be fun. It started as a way to get together my friends who wanted to learn free motion quilting. And we have room for a few more!

So if you want to join the party, you'll bring your machine and a free motion/darning foot. The cost is $40, but if you're in Portland hopefully you're also a PMQG member and you can have the discount rate of $30. Email me at afewscraps@gmail.com to reserve a spot and get the details!

That day in the sun

2011-10-18T21:59:00.000-07:00

Guess what? I received a few photos from some fellow Burning Man participants.

Ariel and her boyfriend found the Black Rock Stitchery on the playa and stopped to sew.

Sorry I had to draw that shirt on ya, Ariel. Don't want Google mad at me for adult content!

I love that they got a picture of the official Black Rock Stitchery transportation...

and that they brought a gnome. There always seems to be a gnome around at Burning Man.

I got a sunburn in the pattern of those awesome tights.

Thanks for the photos of that beautiful day, Ariel!

Modular Cathedral: Big spinner block

2011-10-16T21:12:00.000-07:00

The modular cathedrals experimentation is still going. I got slowed down by summer vacation but I'm back in action.

This is constructed just like the "little spinner" block but the color layout creates a different effect. I'm calling it big spinner!

Eight squares - two squares of each color. Press one square in each color in half along the diagonal.
Lay them out to look like this and use a dot of glue in each corner of the folded squares to secure it to the background squares.

Construct the block (with or without a border) and pin back the folded edges.

Am I crazy enough to switch thread colors three times? No. Once? yes.

I really wish the curve was more pronounced, but what I've learned through this project is that there is only so far you can fold the edge back before the block puckers. Proportionally, small blocks will fold back farther than large blocks. I have been starting with 5 inch blocks and it's just a little too big. I think 4" might be ideal. But I started at this size and I'll be seeing it through just so I can have an actual finished project at the end instead of a bunch of random straggler blocks.

Now how about this beautiful project being made with modular cathedrals? Lovely!

Firey Meander Quilting

2011-10-12T23:04:00.000-07:00

Here's a sketch of the firey quilting pattern I used on the Gradient quilt, as requested!

This pattern is mostly vertical wavy lines. When the lines change direction they do so at a point or with a little flame lick. I quilted the pattern in vertical columns 8-10" wide, starting with the middle. Starting quilting in the middle is so great, because it's all downhill after that. Less and less quilt under the machine as you go along.

It took sketching about three or four big sheets of paper with this pattern before I was ready to stitch it. Stitching went smoothly and I rarely felt "stuck". It's a very forgiving pattern! Keep in mind as you go to vary the placement of your direction changes. Don't let them all line up with each other horizontally or you will get this weird little row of points coming together.

You could definitely make this pattern "hotter" if you wanted to, by adding more flame licks.

Pumpkin time

2011-10-10T15:01:00.000-07:00

I'm not thrilled about fall's arrival. But I'm doing my best.

I made some little pumpkin coasters this weekend, and some photos are below to show how. If you have a bit of batting and some scraps of fabric and trim, this is easy! What if you made faces on them? Jack-o-lantern coasters!

Make up a quilt sandwich about 10 x 20''. The backing of the sandwich won't be seen in the final coaster so use whatever you want to get rid of. First draw some pumpkin shapes. I drew my shapes around a glass to make sure they'd be big enough, and gave a 1/4-1/2'' clearance around each edge. Pumpkins aren't perfect, so make them different sizes and shapes.

Use free motion quilting to give your pumpkins ridges, then cut them out along the lines you drew.

Place the pumpkins face down on the backing fabric. For the stems, use a 2'' piece of trim folded in half, tucked under the pumpkin. Align the raw edges of the trim with the top raw edge of the pumpkin. Pin in place and sew around them with a 1/4'' seam, leaving a 1.5''-2'' hole at the bottom.

Cut away the excess backing fabric and turn the pumpkin right side out through the hole you left.

Fold down the seam allowance in the hole and then topstitch around the whole thing to secure it.

I like the way they look all in a row! The toddler likes them too. Lots of counting to five happening around here!

(Another!) Gradient Quilt

2011-10-03T00:01:00.000-07:00

I'm knee deep in the "This is the coolest thing I've ever made!" rush that you get when you finish a quilt. You understand.

Blammo. Like my last quilt but in color! I got it finished by letting my kid watch too much Blue's Clues. Yep. I also let her basically encase her bed in packing tape while I was putting the binding on. That's right. Mother of the Year.

I pushed extra hard to get this done for Project Modern Challenge 4. It probably sounds silly, but I enjoyed the thought of Denyse Schmidt seeing one of my quilts. Sure it'll be online and maybe just for ten seconds but it still makes me feel all warm inside.

The quilting is a pointy meander with a little flame flair thrown in here and there. I wanted an all over design that was up-and-down in direction and in theme with the warm-cool dynamic going on in this quilt. Love it love it love it. I also love that when you're six inches away from your quilting you can see every little wobble and inconsistency, and you get kind of frustrated with yourself and swear to never ever quilt after midnight again, but then once you get it out from under the machine and take in the whole thing all you see is lovely lovely texture. Magic.

It's twin sized. Backed with flannel, which is my new compulsion. I want my quilts to be extra inviting and I am happy to report the flannel hasn't been causing any difficulties with quilting. The quilt has been thoroughly stomped and snuggled. My husband asked "You're not going to give this one away, are you?". What a compliment. Ah....I feel happy.

Habitat log cabin

2011-09-28T13:20:00.000-07:00

I do love working without a pattern. But for the PMQG Habitat Challenge I adapted the shadow seams log cabin to create a 12 inch finished block.

I originally tried it with 3/4" shadow strips, like the original blocks I made with this technique, but there wasn't enough breathing room for all those loud prints. They were a jumble and the design was not coming through. The second time I cut my shadow strips at 1" instead (doubling their finished size from 1/4" to 1/2"), and liked it much better.

To make the block I used:
a 4.5" center square and
2" strips in varying prints, from 4.5" to 12.5" long
1" shadow strips (I cut two strips x WOF).

(To make it using the original 3/4" shadow strips you would use the same size center and cut your print strips 2 1/4" wide.) Photos and steps in the original post.

Meandering advice

2011-09-21T22:44:00.000-07:00

My friend Laura has been trying free motion quilting! We are time zones apart, so unfortunately I can't hover over her shoulder with encouraging words and hands on support, as I love to do.

Laura sort of hit a wall on meandering, which I think is a common experience when quilters first try this pattern. (It seems like it should be so easy, right?) She asked me about keeping the pattern even, how to see where you are going across the quilt when you are working one small area at a time. She said she felt like she was quilting an area and then drawing "a long lonely line" to get to the next area.

I emailed her my advice (this was, ahem, ages ago), and wanted to bring the subject up here too. Some suggestions I'd like to share:

Keep trying! Meandering looks so simple but it really takes a fair amount of practice. There are easier pattern for beginners to start with, so don't feel like you have to meander right out of the gate. If meandering is getting you down, stitch something else for a few quilts.
Sketch a lot. Every day. BIG sheets of paper if you have them. Paper is way cheaper than fabric and with meandering you have to get your brain used to figuring out where to go next while keeping the pattern curvy and consistent like you want it. This is just like any other skill, it improves with practice. Use a colored marker and you could reuse your sketch paper for wrapping paper!
Let the edges of any area you're stitching be curvy. That way when you stitch the adjacent area the "join" between the two disappears, and it looks like one cohesive unit instead of two separate areas. Stitch in blob shapes.
Make a plan before you start about how you will move across the quilt. Leah Day of the Free Motion Quilting Project talks about how she sections a quilt in this video. I like the way Elizabeth of Oh, Fransson plans her quilting, shown in this picture. Or you could just meander in wide (6-10") rows across the quilt, keeping the edges curvy on each row so the next row can nestle up against it. This lets you practice meandering while just moving in one general direction (to the right) instead of all over the quilt.
My own personal epiphany: when stitching, try to add twosies (two-lump units) and threesies (three-lump units) as you go to keep from getting into a crazy long wiggle. Whenever I get the feeling that "oh no! this wavy line won't stop!" I toss in one of these to get me off on a new direction.

If you've been stuck on meandering I invite you to spend a little time sketching, and see if the twosie-threesie thing helps at all.

Other snippets of advice:

If you get ahead of yourself and don't know where you are going next, STOP and take a breath and decide. I could save myself a lot of ripping if I always followed this advice.
My meandering, and probably most people's, tends to loosen up a bit as I go, with my curves getting bigger the longer I quilt. To counter this I try to purposely make my stitching bigger and more open as I start. And every 10 or so minutes I find the area I started with and hold it up against the area I'm currently working, to see if I am loosening up too much.

I hope these thoughts are helpful if you're on the learning curve for meandering. I know there are some really great quilters and quilt teachers reading this blog, as well as newer quilters who are finding out what works for them. So, what advice do you all have to add? What has helped you get your meandering right?

Desperate Housewife's Block: Linked Squares

2011-09-15T00:36:00.000-07:00

I got to design a block for Jane at Want it, Need it, Quilt! for her 50 week project, the Desperate Housewife's Quilt. These are all original blocks and there are some really creative ones being dreamed up. Check it out if you're in need for a challenge or inspiration. Mine is definitely one of the more tame! This block finishes at 8 inches, and designing it kept me sane for one of the four-hour sit-down meetings my job occasionally requires.

To make this block you will need:

Fabric A (large square) one strip 1.5" x 22"
Fabric B (small square) one strip 1.5" x 14"
Fabric C (background) one strip 4.5" x 12"

Cut fabric A as follows: one 1.5" square, three 4.5" strips and one 6.5" strip
Cut fabric B as follows: three 4.5" strips
Cut fabric C as follows: two strips 1.5" wide, two strips 2.5" wide and one strip 3.5" wide

Take one of the 1.5" x 4.5" strips of fabric C and cut off one inch, so that it is 1.5" x 3.5"

Sew together a 1.5" x 4.5" strip each of Fabric B and Fabric C, then subcut this into three 1.5" wide pieces.

Construct the block in four vertical columns. Column 1:

Columns 2 and 3:

Column 4:

Join Column 1 to Column 2, and Column 3 to Column 4, then join those two halves together.

And there you go!

Thanks Jane for inviting me to the party!

Homecoming

2011-09-11T23:19:00.000-07:00

Our time in Black Rock City was superb. I have been searching for my camera charger all week and meanwhile thinking about how to describe our trip. Finally found the charger today. First and foremost, the kid did great. Her grandparents were rock stars and tears (hers, mine) were minimal.

Where to start?

Black Rock City is 90% dust, 10% fun fur, and 10% fire. That's 110%, which is exactly right.

For one week, it is home to 50,000 people, across more than five square miles.

There is no email, there are no cell phones. The only cars that can drive here are "mutant vehicles". For example, a truck that looks like a praying mantis. Of course.

So we all bring bikes. Nothing makes you feel like a kid again like you and your sweetie pedaling around the desert together for a week.

No matter the hour, you always have dozens, if not hundreds, of gatherings to choose from. There are always big shows or dance parties happening, and you don't need a ticket for any of them. There are about two thousand bars, because it always seems like the right time for a drink in Black Rock City.

For the week we lacked watches, and told time by the sun, or, at night, by Orion's height. We danced till the sun rose. We sweated in the day and froze at night. We survived on far less food and sleep than we would normally tolerate (and, accordingly, we've been recovering all this week).

For the week the only thing we could buy was ice. This is one of the most important rules there: no commerce. So many things were shared with us, and we, likewise, were able to share as well. This is very good for the soul. Being on either end of a warm breakfast or ice cold juice feels just wonderful.

The scale of the art in black rock city is hard to describe. Flames that light up the desert a mile in all directions. A tesla coil taller than us. A yacht on wheels. Double decker party buses. Gigantic sound stages that make your bones vibrate. I mean, look at the temple below - do you see how tiny the people standing on the ramp are?

Words we used a lot: wow, beautiful, awesome, and whooooo!

Things were burned, safely and with much celebration.

The sewing machine was a hit. It totally held up, with a little tension funny stuff from the dust. I spent an afternoon in the spot below, and earned a terrible sunburn for it.

About ten people came along and sewed quilt blocks together. An uncountable number stopped to observe, photograph, or share stories of mothers, grandmothers and aunts who had sewn on similar machines. About half the people who stopped to sew were men, and a few people were even naked, to keep things interesting!
My husband was off with the camera while this was happening so I don't have any other pictures of that epic afternoon.

Humbled by my sunburn, the next two days the sewing machine and I hung out in the shade of the Black Rock Boutique, whose tagline is "let us slip you into something a little more questionable". I helped people alter the fabulous clothes they'd pulled from the racks, while grooving to whatever the DJ was playing.

Requests from my two favorite "customers":

"I'm going for an 80's Bowie meets the Vampire L'estat sort of look" from a tall blonde in a velvet dress.

And,

"I think this needs to show more of my butt," from a burly fifty year old guy in a lacy slip.

Hilarious, awesome, and so fun to help people feel wild and beautiful.

Some stuff just astounded us. This mechanical octopus vehicle was the belle of the ball and commanded admiration whenever it was about. This video of it in action shows why we would ride over to cheer it on whenever it came near. What an invention!

This participatory zoetrope "Charon" had to be seen at night to absorb its genius. This video shows it well, but trust me that it was far spookier in person.

And that is what this place is like, a bunch of people who take big ideas and make them bigger, who push the boundaries of what you can do with sculpture, light, sound, and fire. A human experiment that is complete exhilaration to be a part of.

Two stories really stick with me.

One night, 4am about, we rode far out away from the city into the dark desert ("deep playa") intrigued by a bright green light. When we arrived we discovered it was simply a small tube of plastic, shooting a green laser out in a flat plane over the ground. Chilled and our energy flagging, we felt underwhelmed. We searched the distant sea of lights to choose a new destination but became distracted by clinking sounds coming from a vehicle parked not far away. Then, the clatter of a pile of plates being set aside, wholly unexpected and curious.

We rode over and beheld the Dust City Diner. An oasis of light and warmth in the deep darkness. A mobile forties themed diner, parked and open for business, with its several barstools occupied and a few folks waiting their turn to clamber up.

Delightful smells of warm coffee and food enticed us to wait with the others. Music and snippets of conversations fell upon our ears. Soon we claimed a pair of vacated spots and after "ordering" the only two things on the menu, we were served grilled cheese sandwiches and pickles by spirited ladies in beehive wigs and uniforms. They brought us coffee, and we delighted at the silver creamer pourers and glass sugar jars. The clink of my spoon against the cup gave me chills; after all, I'd been drinking from plastic camp cups for three days. The coffee was refilled, this time with an optional splash of liquor. Our eyes sparkled with the pure magic of it all. A bustling diner in the middle of desolation. A good idea taken to the nth degree When we left we were enchanted and invigorated and ready to ride till the dawn.

This is the only time I've ever left a restaurant without paying, and it felt so strange to do so. We thanked the diner staff heartily and rode off to a new adventure. And that's how this place works. You receive magic and kindness and instead of exchanging money, you try to be magic and kindness for someone else. I think I achieved that when a young woman bounced up and down at the sewing machine the next day and exclaimed, "This is the coolest thing I've seen!"

And the other story: One day at a packed dance party a large man appeared in front of me holding a flat silver key in front of my eyes. "It's not mine," I shouted over the music, thinking he had found it on the ground. He leaned in. "You have to keep it," he urged, "It's the key to success." I wondered why he wanted me to have it, but this was clearly not the place for a conversation. So I took it from him and placed it on my necklace with the sewing machine's cabinet key. We each returned to dancing and I didn't encounter him again. After our return home this week, I received two bits of promising news, personal and professional (that are far too tentative to share here now). So who knows, maybe he was right? Maybe the key to success was waiting for me in the desert!

So, that's our adventure. Now we're back to our cell phones and cars and there's no dust in our noses. And we are still holding on to the magic and remembering to keep working at being better humans. Thanks for all the reassurance, and for the delightful quilt blocks you sent with me. And if you hung in to the end of this post, wow. Thank you.

I'll be back to quilting in just a few days, see you soon...

True Stories

2011-08-28T23:45:00.000-07:00

Of five people in my house right now, I'm the only one awake.

Leaving our daughter (in capable, loving hands) for a week feels terrifying and kind of like a second honeymoon at the same time. I've never wanted medication for my anxiety until this week. It will be fine, I know, but...that's why I'm the one still awake.

I intended to have a few scheduled posts for you while I'm gone, but, much like weaving wool dreads into my hair, it just didn't work out. The party will go on all the same!

I did manage to precook three pounds of bacon to see us through the week. This is maybe enough to have bacon at every meal, and our house will now smell like bacon until the end of time.

We used to have two cameras in this house but today we discovered that one is missing. My husband swears it's buried in my sewing room, and he's probably right. He'll be carrying the remaining camera at burning man which means we'll come back with 800 pictures of sunsets and sunrises. I'll try to get him to snap some of Black Rock Stitchery happenings in there. Total count: 252 blocks!

And, finally: I was once an extra on ER when I lived in Chicago, and got to spend ten minutes chatting alone with George Clooney on an el car. Totally off topic but I've been wanting to tell you about it for a while now.

Have a great week everyone!

She wanted to sew

2011-08-18T16:55:00.000-07:00

We tried fabric and needle, but...OUCH! So we got new supplies.

Permathreaded a yarn needle with yarn.

And let her sew her "spiderwebs".

Seeing that needle in her little toddler fingers just melts my heart.

Thank you for the enthusiasm for the Double Disappearing Nine Patch! We've been burning through tissues and NyQuil over here, so sorry I haven't been able to respond individually to all your kind comments. Below, some recent additions to the Black Rock Stitchery. We have 210 blocks now, enough for seven quilts. You all are amazing. Thank you.

One block from every package I've recieved since the last photo I posted. I wrote down the names but can't find them now!

Double disappearing nine patch

2011-08-15T11:28:00.000-07:00

The name kind of says it all! I made nine patches.

Cut them in half both ways.

Then used those blocks in the corners of new, larger nine patches.

Then cut those up the same way.

I like that it looks more complicated than it is.

I think the potential for secondary patterns is broad (see the pinwheel in the white in the block below?). And depending how you orient your blocks in the second nine patch you could end up with completely different looks.

These blocks were small but I also tried some with charm squares. If you start with 5 inch squares, you will use 7 inch squares for your second nine patch, and end up with a block that measures 10 inches, for a 9.5" finished block. Have you tried this before? Is "double disappearing nine patch" the right name or is someone out there calling it something else?

The Black Rock Stitchery is heading to Nevada in two weeks! I decided to have a drawing for a fabric store gift certificate from among everyone who donated, as a thank you. If you have a block to send, please pop it in the mail this week. We are almost to 200 blocks, wow!

Casting about

2011-08-08T12:02:00.000-07:00

A series of pictures from my design wall.... (There are hops growing all over my windows so the lighting is going to be awful until we harvest them!)

This was what I tried first. A little bland. Hmmm...

Welcome to New Mexico

All it needs is a pegasus.

I kind of like it, but not sure what it's saying.

Odd.

Better, but...not quite.

Bingo.

It'll need some tweaking but this is where I'm going.

Black Rock Stitchery update: 146 blocks! My grandma Mary Ann is even participating! And I am learning all about sewing with fun fur.

A trip to the tile store

2011-08-02T09:54:00.000-07:00

We're home improving again. Shopping for tile is so much more fun if you're thinking about quilts and quilting patterns when you do it.

This last one in particular would make such a great quilting pattern!

Rituals

2011-07-28T16:07:00.000-07:00

This week I had a delightful addition to my morning ritual. After my typical activities (pawing through the basket of clean laundry for my clothes and running to the bus stop with wet hair), I tried a little hand quilting on my way to work.

Having spent the better part of this millennium as a free motion quilting zealot I was pleasantly surprised to discover how much I enjoyed this meditative stitch by stitch work. It feels so soft. I made two panels in this design as the front and back of my pouch for the "Pretty Little Pouch Swap". The great thing about that is I'm making a lined bag, so the backside of the quilting is unimportant. The perfect starter project. Can't wait to have a finished bag to share!

(Blocks received from: J in Australia, Viv in UK, Theresa, Barbara, Michelle, Lisa, Pat, Linda G and Linda K.)

Now my new afternoon ritual is coming home to find donated blocks in the mail for the Black Rock Stitchery! Thank you to all who have sent blocks, with a special thanks to Linda who sent a whopping 30. We have a total of 95 so far; that's enough for three 5'x6' quilts! Please keep the blocks coming (just comment or email for my mailing address). I truly hope everyone is enjoying summer. It's breathtaking over here, but I'm aware it will be over all too soon so I can't complain.

A trip to Joann's

2011-07-22T23:52:00.000-07:00

I was surprised to find so many fabrics that I liked so much!

Let's say this is for the toddler

2011-07-19T10:43:00.000-07:00

Purchased at a kid's store on Mississippi. It's this.

Reminds me of Jessica's project. They also make bigger ones. With triangles. Not sure I'll be able to resist!

P.S. Thanks for the heartwarming response to the call for quilt blocks! A few dozen are promised, and some are already in the mail to me from near and far. This is going to be a great project thanks to you. To borrow a phrase from Rachel, quilters rock!

Black Rock Stitchery call for Quilt Blocks!

2011-07-15T10:23:00.000-07:00

Hello to my favorite quilters! Today is the day I ask a favor of you and I hope you say YES!

Many of you know my husband and I are planning to lug a treadle sewing machine out to the middle of the desert for the Burning Man Festival in August. We're calling this project the Black Rock Stitchery and, naturally, it now has its own blog.

The Black Rock Stitchery is providing a working sewing machine for the inhabitants of Black Rock City, as well as quilting supplies to anyone who wants to use them. Those who start a patchwork project can take it with them or leave it for someone else to finish. It will be a fun experiment in collaborative art, and I'm inviting you to be part of the collaboration.

We need quilt blocks. Lots of em. ANY fabrics, ANY style, ANY pattern, ANY skill level. Size: 12.5" square (for 12 inch finished blocks). If you have a block that's not big enough, slap some borders on it! If you have some little leftover bits from a former project, mash em together. Have a block that got a bit too wonky? We don't mind. A project stalled? Experiments abandoned? We can adopt them. It's my hope that by welcoming the misfits and the leftovers, we won't be taking away from any charity projects that run on donated blocks.

Burning Man is a "leave no trace" event, so we are structuring our project to involve minimal cutting and no small pieces of fabric. Because of this, we cannot accept fabric or incomplete blocks. But making a block is so easy. I spent just two hours in my sewing room and I made 15, just by using random stuff that was partially pieced together. That's less than 10 minutes a block, and I got to put my stash of leftovers to good use!

I'd love it if you'd help. I know it's not your typical charity. But Burning Man is a powerful experiment in art and community, and the magic that participants experience there comes back out with them into the world for them to pass on. I really do believe it's for a greater good.

So... are you in? It can't happen without a big bunch of quilters saying YES!

Just email me at afewscraps {at} gmail {dot} com and I will send you my mailing address. We will be packing up the Stitchery August 21st, so please send blocks to arrive by then. If you can help spread the word and link to this post from your blogs or message lists I'd be so grateful. Thank you in advance for any contribution you make to this project. It's so fun to be quilting with you all!

Summertime

2011-07-12T23:33:00.000-07:00

My life is a glorious whirlwind right now. I have nothing to show for it. Summer's just like that.

We went to the Sister's Outdoor Quilt Show this weekend! I only managed to find about half of the people that I know were there. It was fun and can you believe my husband went with me?! PMQG was invited for a special exhibit and my Cascade quilt was included. I got to meet Lucy Mingo, a quilter from Gee's Bend. She's been quilting longer than I've been alive. I was a dork, and she was graceful and kind despite it being the end of a long day. I wish I had asked her more about what she was working on, what inspires her, but I didn't, dang it.

I took more pictures of my kid than quilts. Here she is about one minute before getting carsick.

And here she is in the new clothes we procured. Ice cream was daddy's idea: I'm not insane.

I took exactly one picture of a quilt before I decided that the camera thing was just not going to work.

So, it's not just me, right? Summer's crazy?

math

2011-07-02T09:57:00.000-07:00

new Juki + new iPad = quilted iPad pouch

It's my first project on the new machine! I offset the closure so I can charge it while in its pouch.

I really like this print. I think I got the last bit of it from Sew, Mama, Sew, and I am so happy with how extra fluffy the clouds look after quilting around them.

I didn't take tutorial pictures because it was so straightforward. The pouch is made of two quilted pieces and two lining pieces 9x11 (start with quilt sandwiches at least 10x12 and cut them down after quilting). Stitch the sides and bottom of both quilted pieces together with right sides together. Stitch the lining pieces together the same way, leaving an opening for turning at the bottom. Then turn the lining right side out and lay it in the pouch so the right sides are together. Then nestle a small elastic hair band in between the two layers. These are so useful and you get so many for $2!

Stitch around the top edge (I backstitch over the elastic for a total of three passes over it). Flip, press the edge and topstitch. Sew on the button and close up the inside lining. Fast. My husband asked for one immediately and I think most of you would agree that is a wonderful feeling!

Free Motion Quilting Designs: Branching Patterns

2011-06-30T12:50:00.000-07:00

I got some unexpected doodle time last weekend. I started with a little fairy godmother wand and soon it had branched out to this. I think I was under the influence of Leah Day's "Lollipop Chain" design.

I decided I wanted to draw more things-at-the-ends-of-branches and got these:

I suspected that the lines didn't need to be straight and drew:

I remembered that I previously had put this last design in the meandering category of quilting designs, feeling uncomfortable about it because it is clearly not a meander. Now that I got to know its cousins I can see it for what it is: a branching pattern!

Branching patterns are easy to create step by step.

Make a stem line. Put whatever you want at the end of it. Now backtrack along that stem line and branch a new stem off in another direction. Make a new stem or two off of that stem, and keep building new stems off old stems, again and again. If you start feeling crowded, make a really long branch to get you out in the open again.

It's so easy to go whichever direction you want. Travel along lines you've already stitched to get to the point you start your next branch.

I really like the botanical feel of these branching designs. I think they would make lovely border designs. The teardrop one feels flowing and gentle, I'd like to try that as an all over design. I nominate branching patterns as the thing you should doodle while on the phone with your bank this week.

See more Free Motion Quilting designs and tips on the Free Motion Quilting page.

I officially need an intervention

2011-06-28T09:41:00.000-07:00

There are four sewing machines in my house right now. Twice the normal complement. I know, I need help.

So first I got this beauty. I've been pining over an extended arm Juki for half a decade, and luckily all that dragging my feet allowed a new model to come out in the meantime.

There was an immediate free motion quilting extravaganza. Soooo much space. Soooo fast. Needle down! Exquisite speed control. This machine and I are going to be very close.

Then within a week I scored this treasure off craigslist. I spent a couple hours cleaning and oiling it. The toddler and I investigated the treadling and...it works!

It was only $65 and I'm over the moon about it. It's a late model treadle, a Singer 15-88, and it's surprisingly similar to the Singer 401a (which, sadly, will be getting the boot in all this hubub). The tension assembly, the stitch length, the bobbin, the bobbin winder.... all so familiar to me.

It even has the manual and a little key for the drawers. Which the toddler has already figured out how to use. And if I ever decide I'm crazy enough to FMQ on it, there is even a way to drop the feed dogs.

I love the art deco styling of the faceplate. And that decorative Singer emblem.

The manual is full of delights. The sentence describing how to operate the treadle: "Continue the motion thus begun by an alternate pressure of heel and toe, until a regular and easy movement is acquired, and the balance wheel kept in continuous rotation by use of the feet alone." Indeed!

I enjoyed discovering that some previous owner was also sewing with a little one about:

And this gem:

So I am in hog heaven and my silly idea of taking a sewing machine to Burning Man is coming true! My husband has already started to waver though. "Kind of a shame to take it out to the desert," he said. But I think it will be complete magic. Prior to me buying it, this machine was just sitting in someone's garage for 10 years. Far better to use and enjoy it and spread the love of sewing. More on that scheme soon.

How Should I Quilt This?

2011-06-26T11:51:00.000-07:00

Hey quilters! I've got an idea to share with you...

It's a place for showing quilt tops and asking for advice on how to quilt them. And it's a place for seeing beautiful quilt tops and giving suggestions on how they should be quilted.

How Should I Quilt This? is a new group on Flickr. Regardless of your quilting style, I'm hoping you'll join. Modern and traditional quilts are welcome. Soliciting advice for any type of quilting is encouraged. Whether you like to finish your quilts by hand or machine, straight line or free motion, I hope you'll be a part of the fun.

So who has a quilt they'd like advice on? And who wants to help them out? Me! And you too I hope.

Modular Cathedral: Little spinner block

2011-06-25T14:21:00.000-07:00

A simple little modular cathedral block this week. The fabrics were pulled by a leprechaun. True story.

I've been finding my layers shift a lot while stitching the two halves together and so when I have seams to match with these bulky blocks I align them and start sewing the seam right in the middle where the points meet. I stitch to the end and then come back and sew the other half of the seam. It takes a little longer than sewing it straight from one end to the other, but not as long as ripping the stitches out and starting again!

Edited to add full block info/instructions:
The block finishes at 9 inches without a border, and 11 inches with a border. (I find it easier to roll back the bias edges with a border already sewn.)

Requirements: eight 5 inch squares, four in the focus fabrics (you will see relatively more of these) and four in the contrast fabrics (you will roll these back). 1.5 inch strips for border.

Press the contrast squares in half along the diagonal.

Lay a folded square over each backing square with the folded edge along the diagonal. Use a dab of fabric glue within the seam allowances at each corner of the folded triangles.

Sew the block together using an extra scant 1/4" seam allowance.

Pin back the bias edges and topstitch. I did this in two "S" shaped diagonal passes, from outside corner to the opposite outside corner.

Free Motion Quilting Designs: Kissing designs

2011-06-21T09:59:00.000-07:00

After talking about the all-over starburst I tried to file it in with my other quilting designs, and it just didn't seem to fit anywhere. That means: new category!

Kissing designs are patterns that flow from one shape to another. Each shape is connected to the next at a single point. The path the shapes take is up to you. Supreme versatility.

I don't know why it never occurred to me before to connect things this way. But it really does change the way I think about planning my stitching. Previously, if I wanted a row of hearts, or a block letter word, I would have connected them with a line on the bottom:

But a line isn't necessary if you have your designs kiss! I love the difference. It take a little more attention to stitch over a line that I've already stitched, to get to the place I want to start the next shape. But I think it's worth it.

To test the theory that kissing can connect anything to anything:

My favorite is still my first kiss, the all over starburst.

I am having fun with this family of designs. I hope you try sketching or stitching some too!

See more Free Motion Quilting designs and tips on the Free Motion Quilting page.

Modular cathedral: Sweet garden block

2011-06-17T13:35:00.000-07:00

This week's modular cathedral is my favorite so far!

With borders, it finishes at 11 inches. Without, it finishes at 9 inches. While we're on the subject, if you sew these you should use an extra scant 1/4" seam because you lose more than the usual length in the fold-over with all those layers.

Ingredients: twelve 5 inch squares, and some 1.5 inch strips for the borders. Set aside the background squares and press your top squares in half along the diagonal.

Arrange into four modules of backing squares topped by two folded squares. Glue down the corners of the folded triangles (within the seam allowances only!) and sew together.

The extra technique this time is using a zig zag stitch with the stitch length set to 0, taking several stitches to secure your two triangles together. I did this at 2.5 inches from each outer corner. You could vary the position.

Fold back, pin and topstitch. If you start at the center, you can stitch figure 8 style though each module and end up back at the center to go on to the next module.

I'm delighting myself with this little project, and like how it's going. It is just my speed to make a block a week. Sometimes it's all I get done but that's ok!

I wish I took better pictures. But I really like the way these are looking together!

Salvage

2011-06-13T14:33:00.000-07:00

On my last trip home my mom said she wanted to give me a quilt that my great grandmother had made.

She pulled this out and before I could even take it in, immediately sprung to her grandmother's defense. There were nicer quilts, she said, but those had fallen into her sister's hands and were lost or destroyed over the years. This was the only one of her grandmother's quilts that my mother had received, and here, in my thirties, I was seeing it for the first time.

The quilt is scrappy and asymmetrical, two things I very much enjoy. The hand quilting alternates from diagonal to straight lines, which is fun. The sashing fabric is rather bizarre and seeing it humbles me. I doubt it was her first choice. But it was what she had and what she used and that's a good reminder for me.

There is this strange loop of string hanging off one of the blocks. It looks like it was placed there intentionally but I can't imagine why.

This poor quilt...it's not doing well.

Despite quilting lines an inch apart, the batting has shredded into lumps on the inside. There is no block that does not have some of the thin fabrics wearing away on the dresden plates. The edges are a shambles. I looked it over with my mom, taking in the fabrics, the hand quilting, and, of course, the wear.

"I thought maybe you could repair it," she said.

I shook my head slowly. I couldn't lie to her. "There is no way I could repair this, mom," I said.

She looked so shocked and upset. Her cheeks were flushed. It was the way a person would look if you splashed them with a bucket of cold water. I felt like I'd taken her grandmother away from her in an instant.

I understood too late that our simple conversation meant so much more. It was about mortality, and loss, and loneliness. It was about a young person not understanding yet what it's like to grow older, to lose your parents, to suddenly find your treasured mementos crumbling to dust.

I told her I still wanted it. I wanted to figure out a way to salvage some part of it. With the batting in such shreds I don't think it would work to turn a block into a pillow or a potholder. And my mom has so much framed art already...I don't think that's the answer either.

So what I'm thinking about is taking pictures of the least worn blocks. But what should I do with the pictures? Print them onto notecards? Print them onto fabric and make a new quilt? I'd really love your creative ideas for this challenge, because I'm officially stuck.

Modular Cathedral: squared window block

2011-06-10T16:34:00.000-07:00

This week's modular cathedral intrigued me with the squared circle shape that comes forward when you don't have the contrast of white-against-color in your windows. Unexpected, and not what I was going for, but still kind of cool.

To make this block you need twelve 5 inch squares. The basic block will finish at 9 inches, but because I prefer sewing my curves after the seams are sewn, I decided to border it with 1.5 inch strips and now it finishes at 11 inches. I may do this for all my blocks.

To make the block, set four squares aside for the backing fabrics, then press the remaining squares in half along the diagonal.

Assemble four modules of backing squares topped by two folded squares. Use a dab of glue at the corners of the folded squares to hold them in place.

Arrange the modules and stitch the block together.

Pin back the curves and topstitch. I was able to do this in one pass, stitching the outside circle first and then moving to the inside window.

Hooray!

All-over Starburst quilting

2011-06-07T22:58:00.000-07:00

I used this quilting design on my bunting quilt but I never showed how I did it. It goes fast, and has a really dynamic, joyful feeling to it. It's also a terribly easy free motion quilting design. Very beginner friendly.

Make a star.

Extend a line outward to start another star.

Make a second star, using the line you extended as one of its points. Then, to get to a place you can start a new star, trace along what you've already stitched to get to an open space.

And start another star.

And so on. Stars touch each other just at the points. Each star touches two other stars.

It's kind of like pebbling, with stars!

Varied sizes and numbers of points work well. Precision is optional. Just the kind of design I love!

Burning Curiosity

2011-06-04T23:32:00.000-07:00

Any of you going to be a part of Black Rock City this year?

We're starting to make our plans.

Tickets, check.
Yurt, check.
Grandparents to stay with the toddler for a week, check.

For the first time since we started going to the Burning Man festival, the essentials are already taken care of and my mind is free to think beyond our typical gifts (lemonade) to some fun interactive joy to bring to the playa. Naturally my thoughts turn to sewing.

Is taking a treadle sewing machine to the desert crazy in the good way or the bad way? Would the dust just ruin it or are those things bomb-proof? Anyone with treadle experience (or a treadle they want to unload, or a Really Good Idea) chime in please!

I've got a project percolating... If you're going, let me know! We could collaborate or just try to meet up there. And for the people who aren't going, the plan I'm hatching involves you too! More soon, after I get my hands on a treadle...

Fabric pastels experiment

2011-06-02T23:15:00.000-07:00

I do some mental math when considering a craft project. Expected enjoyment divided by the time it will take to clean up afterward = my overall interest.

So wet projects like screen printing and fabric dyeing haven't made the cut yet. But I did enjoy some fabric pastels recently. Dry! No clean up! Only $3! Sold.

For this experiment I used a piece of freezer paper. I traced around a glass to makes some circles on the paper side, and then drew over those circles with a thick black sharpie.

I ironed it to a light colored piece of fabric so I could see the marks through the fabric as a guide. Then I used all the green and blue fabric pastels in the kit to draw the circles. The freezer paper was a great stabilizer and kept the fabric from shifting while I drew.

Afterward I thought the circles needed more definition so I traced around them with a fabric pen. Then I removed the freezer paper and ironed it all to set the colors. So far it's passed the vigorous rub test.

So I've entered the world of DIY textiles. I think a little bonus about this method is that freezer paper can be reused several times. So when you pull it off you could iron it again and again down a length of fabric to repeat the design. Neat! I think I'll get the kid involved next time.

Modular Cathedral: single window block

2011-05-31T15:09:00.000-07:00

Here's the first variation I'm trying on the modular cathedral window. This is a 9 inch finished block. To make it, you need:

-four 5 inch squares for the background.

-four white 4 inch squares for the curves.

-one square for the center that measures 4 and 3/4 inches (not shown, oops!)

Start by pressing the four white squares in half along the diagonal. Then lay one folded square in the corner of each background square.

Use a dab of glue or a glue stick to secure each corner of the folded white squares.

Arrange the blocks and sew together with a 1/4" seam allowance. (Midstream fabric change!)

Lay the center square in the middle of the block. Use a dab of glue to secure each corner.

Fold down each curve and pin. Starting at one corner, stitch along the curve edge slowly.

As you approach the end of one curve, raise the presser foot and coax the next curve underneath it. Lower the foot, stitch to the end of the curve and continue directly on to the next curve.

When I finished this block I realized you can hear angels singing when you see it all completed.

Modular Cathedral Windows experiment

2011-05-26T23:14:00.000-07:00

I recently had my head cracked open by a little zipper bag from Patchwork Notes. Holy smokes. The same curves you know and love from cathedral windows, but not in a cathedral window. It made me think new thoughts about getting down with rolled bias edges.

Since I saw that photo I've been pondering the different possibilities, and poking at one in particular over and over when I get a few minutes in the sewing room. Obsessing and making messes are what I do best.

I'm calling it a modular cathedral window. The advantage of this approach is that you can have different colors across the block and even different colors within the modules. It doesn't require calculations or complicated folding. It's great for using up scraps. And because each quarter of the block is constructed individually, it's easily adapted to variations.

Mmmm.....variations....

To make the base module you take three squares of the same size. Press two of them in half along the diagonal. Lay them over the other unfolded square, with the folded edges meeting along the diagonal.

I experimented with stitching along the module edges with a straight stitch and a zig zag and didn't like either approach. I also tried using a tack stitch in the corners where the edges met, but I don't even think that's necessary now. Instead, I am just using a dab of fabric glue to tack down the corners where they meet.

Rolling back the bias edge and stitching it down was easier than I expected. At first I did it as I completed each module, before stitching them together, but some of the rolls got into the seam allowances that way. So now I'm waiting to roll back the bias edges until I've stitched my modules together. I am not given to patience in the sewing room, so I'll admit that waiting to see the end result is hard. (Photo below prior to my glue and patience revelations)

The downside of the modular cathedral window is those seam allowances. Six layers of fabric coming together. The traditional cathedral window definitely has an advantage here. Press the seam allowances open and hope for the best.

I almost didn't show that last picture. I don't really know what a "good" cathedral window looks like so I'm not sure whether to be impressed or embarrassed with myself. Silliness. Not important. Just an experiment.

So what do you think, is it in your brain now too? I just want to keep playing with this so I'm thinking I'll post a new block using this technique every week or so. It won't have the structure of a full quilt along because I don't want to make all those decisions about size and yardage right now, but I can tell you: 9 inch finished blocks. Lots of five inch squares required. I'm buying a couple Kona charm squares packs to make it easy on myself, but I'll be cutting into yardage too along the way. I can't wait to show you some of the variations I'm cooking up. I'll start with the first block this week!

Single window block
Squared window block
Sweet garden block
Little spinner block
Big spinner block
Flora block

Hits and Misses

2011-05-24T19:52:00.000-07:00

Hit: winning this awesome bag from Kristen at Kmac Quilts. Kristen is a fellow PMQG member and hers is one of my favorite blogs to read. She's talented and hilarious and she is the only quilter whose cat pictures I get excited about. You'll see why. My husband is already tired of me talking about this bag but seriously, I can't stop.

Miss: Sew Mama Sew Giveaway Day. Apparently one month warning is just not enough for me to get my act together on this one.

Hit: witnessing my daughter's first "pre-symbolic" art piece. I got to hear her narrate, "snail eye, snail other eye, snail mouth, snail nose, snail curly hair...". I am totally blown away, I had no idea she was about to do this. Last week it was still all lines and circles.

Miss: My Bernina 830 record is doing it's overheating vintage pedal nonsense again. Back on the Singer slant-o-matic and planning to trade in the Bernina towards an extended arm Juki.

Hit: Cathedral window epiphany. Serious love. Coming soon, in great detail.

At it again

2011-05-15T23:57:00.000-07:00

This week I helped a co-worker finish her first ever quilt block. That's right: paper piecing! We are at it again with a group baby quilt and she found this paper pieced raccoon block on Etsy and I figured, why not go for it? We had several hours in my sewing room together and she totally picked it up. We did adjust the pattern slightly to eliminate some of the unnecessary details. And we used up just about all of that green and blue background fabric. I'm wondering if anyone knows what it's called? I really want more of it now!

Here are all the blocks. There was supposed to be a bat too, but that friend just had her third baby and appliqueing a quilt square is waaaaaay down on her list. The theme for this group quilt is "nighttime creatures". There was some concern that with this theme the quilt would be "too dark" and as it turns out, all the squares are very night-like. I think it will work though. As with past quilts, the members bring me not only their completed square but also their scraps, which I then use in constructing the quilt. Having the scraps really ties it all together and seems to cushion us from the cacophony that could result from having no predefined color scheme.

I've put together several baby quilts for/from this group of friends, but I've never blogged the process. Having just seen all the squares together for the first time on Friday, I want to sort of document the path I go down with these. So far I've played with the blocks a bit to get the arrangement that seemed to balance the various colors and values around the quilt. The only thing I'm not sure about is that the moth and the dragonfly are each flying, one above the other, at exactly the same angle. Too weird? Next I have to figure out what to do for the missing square. I'm thinking a scrappy variable star on that solid blue. Star, nighttime, it seems like it should have at least one star in there. Maybe stars in the corners too?

I still have some strips hanging around from the Cascade quilt and on a hunch I pulled them out. They really sing with these blocks. So the plan right now is, sash the blocks in white, and construct a scrappy string border. I think the border will alternate the solid blue strips with scrap strips from the block fabrics. I hope this comes together quick! (Quick in my house is two months, so I think Project Modern round 3 is out of the question, too bad but kind of a relief). I hope to have some progress to show on this in a week or two.

Shadow Seams Log Cabin experiment

2011-05-06T19:45:00.000-07:00

I may have seen one too many quilt-tops-in-sunny-windows pictures. They always make me gasp. Jen just did one here. Wow.

I tried to get that without the sunny window. What I used is a simple stained glass technique. And with Susan Beal putting log cabins in my head, I couldn't ignore the fact that a log cabin would fit the bill perfectly for a pattern-free block that could be built easily with this technique. Susan's bohemian mixes of fabric are fresh in my mind, which may be why my fabrics are such a joyful jumble.

So to do this you'd want to choose your fabrics and cut them into strips the width you desire. I tried to choose fabrics that had a luminous quality to them, like the sun might be shining through them. You also need a shadow fabric that's darker than the others. I chose a muted eggplant. Cut this fabric into strips 3/4" wide.

Set aside a few pieces of your prints to use for the centers of your blocks. Then prep: sew a shadow strip to each of your print strips using a 1/4" seam.

Now choose a center piece for your block. This starting piece should not have a shadow strip on it. Sew one of the prepped print strips to one side, along the shadow edge, using a 1/4" seam. Trim the edges even.

And work around the blocks. Every strip you add is being sewn along the shadow edge.

My squares were two tier, ending up around nine inches. If you start with a consistent size for your strips and center pieces you will get a consistent finished size for the log cabin blocks. But I think you know I don't work like that at all.

So that's my latest experiment. Sewing things together with 3/4" strips between them. I only sort-of achieved the effect I was going for but I do like how they look! I think I needed a different, (slightly lighter?) color for the shadow strips. I'm sure I'll play around with this some more. It was fun.

Free Motion Quilting Tips: Faux Meandering

2011-05-04T11:12:00.000-07:00

I wanted to mention some designs that can be used instead of meandering, but with a similar effect. Sometimes meandering feels overwhelming for new quilters, and a simpler pattern is needed while learning to coordinate the hands and the stitching speed.

These patterns require fewer decisions to make as you quilt, so if you want a simple non-meandering pattern for your next quilt, check them out. Worked in a low contrast thread they give off the same initial impression as meandering on the finished quilt, but can be worked straight across the quilt in rows. You can use strips of masking tape laid across the quilt to help keep your rows an even height as you work across.

Loops

Lazy Eights

Wiggles

Free Motion Quilting Technique: Print Tracing

2011-05-01T19:48:00.000-07:00

I've been thinking lately about the things I love the most about quilting, and it comes down to two things: experimenting and free motion quilting. I've been missing the free motion quilting talk on the blog lately. So today starts a new rash of it. You've been warned!

So, do you think I have the drawing skills to freehand this little vignette? No, I do not.

Am I crazy enough to carefully trace it onto my fabric and then stitch it? No, I am not.

Do I have some fabric from Thailand? And did I sneaky-stitch along the lines of the print from the back? Yes and yes!

My words of advice about this technique:

Choose a big print. If you think the print you're considering might be too small, it's too small.
Avoid very frilly flowers and really detailed leaves. The little veins on these leaves were a pain.
Make sure your tension is great before you start. What's on the bottom as you stitch will be what's on the top afterward!
Try to stitch with a thread that contrasts with your print so you can see where you've stitched. I wanted a dark thread on that light green fabric but it made it hard to see where I'd already been while I was stitching.

Print tracing is kind of fun and can be a good beginner exercise because the design is laid out for you, allowing you to focus on the speed and the movement of your hands. Just don't take it too seriously. Consider the print as a guide for your stitching. You aim to follow the pattern but you won't always hit it. That's ok, you won't be able to see the print on the front and so you won't be able to tell where you did and didn't follow the lines.

A whole lotta pink

2011-04-30T08:24:00.000-07:00

It's safe to say I have a difficult relationship with the color pink. But I just got this quilt from my grandma and hardly even noticed the pink, it's that awesome.

My grandma says the quilt is an antique. I'm not sure how old that means, and there's no label or anything. It's an alphabet sampler that's been in my grandma's possession for at least 20 years. It used to lay on a twin bed in my grandparents' guest bedroom and I remember studying it for long stretches of time as a girl, figuring out the pictures, and discerning how they were made.

Seeing it again fills me with emotion. I can't wait till our daughter has a bigger bed (it dwarfs her teeny toddler bed) so she can use it. I'm so honored that my grandma gave it to us. When I received it I checked with her that she was ok with us giving the quilt daily use, knowing that it would inevitably see further wear. She said, "Well, I don't see much point to this whole thing if no one uses the quilts we make." I love it! My thoughts exactly.

I think about my own style of applique and how surely this quilt was one of the first appliqued quilts I'd ever seen. I love non-fussy pictorial applique and maybe this quilt has something to do with it. Primacy is powerful.

The piecing and applique and embroidery are all done by hand. It is machine quilted. I wonder about the person who took all these tiny stitches by hand. Was she making it for someone she loved? Did she get to complete her quilt or did the top find its way into another quilter's hands?

The fabric is so very soft, as old quilts get. Most of the colors are still vivid but the green of this tree has faded away completely.

My daughter is already enjoying identifying the pictures. And hiding under it.

I recently learned Grandma's visiting the blog regularly now, so I want to say again, thank you so much Grandma! What a beautiful, loving gift. Thank you for introducing me to the world of quilting, for sending me your scraps, for knowing about everything cool before I do, and for always being so encouraging about the quilts I make. I'm so lucky to know you, learn from you and be loved by you.

Meaning

2011-04-29T15:05:00.000-07:00

Everything around me seems to have meaning right now. Even the uncomfortable stuff. I feel like I am in living a giant poem. I don't know how long the poem is or what the rhymes will be, but I expect it will turn out beautiful and perfect somehow.

You are allowed to remind me of this next week when I whine about the things that I whine about.

I enjoyed reading and responding to the thoughtful and intriguing comments on the words quilter and artist. If you have time you might want to read them all here. If you left a comment and didn't get a response from me you are a no-reply blogger! If you want to change that, here's how.

I had a hand stitching marathon and the top of the wedding quilt is finished. With all this stitching I've really gotten back in my applique groove. My stitches got faster and smaller as I worked! I can tell by looking at the back which ring was stitched first and which last.

Next I need to complete the quilt back. My intent was to use the rest of the odd sized wedding fabrics for the back. That is going to be soooo much more work than just using yardage. I really want to complete this by July for our anniversary and I do need to leave time to quilt it. I'm going to decide on the back this week and get busy either way. I hope you are all having a good week, quilters, artists, quilter/artists, artist/quilters, quilter/engineer/artists and human/friends.

Quilters and artists

2011-04-28T00:23:00.000-07:00

I said I would make this, and I did! Alas, it came out the wrong size. I fear I cannot be trusted to print things correctly off the internet. Oh well.

My grandma recently said something to me about my quilting. It went like "You can do that sort of thing because you're an artist". I asked if she thought of herself as an artist and she said "I wasn't raised that way". It made me stop.

Hmmm. What do you think quilters? Are we artists?

I definitely consider myself a quilter, because it gives me a sense of kinship with all you other quilters. It connects me to the quilters who came before me, and the ones who will come after us. It means something. I make quilts. I am a quilter.

But I also like thinking of myself as an artist. It gives me a little breathing room. It lets me give up whatever assumptions about quilting don't suit me. That quilting must have precision. That quilts are always made of blocks. That if you don't know how to do this or that then you're not a "good" quilter. When I think of myself as an artist it allows me to define my art form, my standards for my work, whether or not I am advancing, and in what direction.

I've seen and used and loved my grandma's quilts and I'd say she's an artist. How about you? Are you a quilter, artist, both?

Tutorial: Fabric envelopes

2011-04-25T22:07:00.000-07:00

I've made these fabric interoffice-style envelopes with one goal in mind: FLATness. All the methods I've employed were to make them flat flat flat like a real envelope. Feel free to adapt it to your own needs and do what works for you! (a post about my inspiration is here)

In addition to your standard sewing supplies you need:

A mailing envelope opened up to use as your pattern
A pen or pencil
a fat quarter of fabric for the outside of the envelope
a scrap of fabric about 4 x 10 inches for the inside flap
A fat-quarter sized piece of stiff fusible stabilizer. I had some Pellon decor bond so I used that.
Steam a Seam 2, 1/4" wide, or other skinny fusible web
Fabric glue
A bit of string or ribbon about 13" long
2 buttons

Trace around your envelope onto the non-fusible side of your stabilizer. Cut out. Don't worry about wrinkles or folds.

Iron the stabilizer to the wrong side of your main fabric, making sure there aren't any little threads between them that might show through. Trim off the excess fabric.

Now find the middle of the top flap and make a mark there on the stabilizer. Glue one inch of your string here.

Now you'll be gluing down your contrast fabric for the inside flap. I put glue all around the flap edge and along the bottom of the scrap of fabric. After this picture I smeared the glue thin with my finger using a light touch so the glue wouldn't soak through.

I pressed it to make sure it was as flat as possible. Then I added a little glue along the sides where they weren't already glued down.

Flip it over so you can cut off the excess lining fabric without chopping off your string. Use a close zigzag to finish the edges.

Then start folding. I would suggest pressing down the top flap first so you get it nice and flat without having to iron it over the other stuff. I figured this out after I'd already missed my chance to do it this way.

Use the Steam a Seam to join the center seam and then the bottom flap.

Sew your buttons by hand, one to the top flap, one just below. It's easier to keep your stitches neat on the reverse if you use two-hole buttons.

I'd say it took me about an hour to make one. Well, one hour and one week because I didn't like any of my buttons at home and had to make a special trip to the sewing store.

I am trying to think of something awesome to give to someone awesome in one of these awesome envelopes now. If you make one I hope that you feel like a rock star when you use it!

A tactic

2011-04-23T15:15:00.000-07:00

Today I figured out a way to get a straight on picture of a largeish quilt without the cooperation of any tall people.

Mother nature's cooperation is still required. And one must impress upon all short people present the necessity of staying off the quilt for just-a-minute-while-mama-takes-a-picture.

But it works! I didn't want to keep the discovery to myself - hope it helps someone else!

Modern Log Cabin Quilting book winner

2011-04-21T22:57:00.000-07:00

It's MissMary of Lillian's Stitches blog!

Thanks again to Susan Beal and Potter Craft for hosting the giveaway. The Portland Modern Quilt Guild got to hear Susan's great presentation on the history and possibilities of this block at tonight's meeting and it was wonderful!

I've spent most of this week burning grilled cheese sandwiches and sewing things up at the wrong size so I'm gonna go drown my sorrows in some strawberries.

Modern Log Cabin Quilting

2011-04-18T06:00:00.000-07:00

Today is a blog tour stop for the book Modern Log Cabin Quilting by Susan Beal.

Susan is a new friend and fellow member of the Portland Modern Quilt Guild. When she asked if I would like to host a stop on the blog tour I said yes on one condition: that I could hold her adorable infant son at the next PMQG meeting. Susan played along with my crazy baby holding schemes and I'm honored to get to share her book with you!

The book includes an exploration of the log cabin block's history, variations and settings. Basic instructions for log cabin blocks are included, and then projects with specific instructions follow. This quilt is one of my favorites:

Susan brought it to a guild meeting, and the group gasped when she showed it!

The book includes large quilts...

and smaller projects...

Susan embraces a variety of patchwork styles and skill levels. I enjoyed her eclectic use of fabrics and surprising settings. Susan helps you see just how versatile the log cabin block is for its ease and speed and shares some variations you might have never considered, like the quilt on the cover. Yes, it's made from log cabin blocks!

We are lucky to have Susan presenting at this month's PMQG meeting on April 21st. If you're in town you should join us! In town or not, I'm pleased to say that Potter Craft is sharing a copy of Modern Log Cabin Quilting for me to give away here. To enter the drawing, please leave a comment below! I'll draw the winner on Wednesday April 20th.

A Monochromatic Quilt: Construction, Quilting and Reveal

2011-04-07T10:28:00.000-07:00

So in the last installment our heroine had arrived at the end of a path that she knew well (piecing things together wildly and then rearranging them for days) and was looking down a path she didn't (sewing with precision a bunch of stuff that doesn't line up nicely). Throughout this process I ended up saying two things over and over to myself.

1) Stop obsessing
2) Why do you have to make such complicated quilts?

I had a lot of time with those strips to ponder that second one. And I think I came to realize that I simply enjoy the process of discovery. I think if I knew exactly what a quilt would look like before I set out, then constructing it would feel to me like merely a set of tasks. If I discover the quilt as I create it, overcoming challenges along the way, I feel like I'm on an adventure. It can be a painful adventure sometimes, and it certainly takes me a lot longer to make a quilt than other quilters, but I feel a thrill at seeing how it all plays out. Now, I'm not valuing my process over that of someone else who likes to go by a precise pattern. I'm just sharing insight into my own approach and motivations in this art form. So maybe the next time I get lost down a rabbit hole I'll be easier on myself about it.

This picture doesn't even make sense. But it's the only one I took during this stage and I just can't stand paragraphs and paragraphs without pictures. So there we are.

My main process for constructing the top was to pick two pieces to sew together. I would start by making sure the two pieces were the same width or height as necessary by adding background fabric as needed. Then I would measure the distance between them, add one inch for seam allowances and sew them together. And repeat. I hope I made that sound really really slow, because it was.

All the pieces remained on the design wall unless I was sewing them, and when putting them back on the wall I referred regularly to the picture on my phone, so things shifted as little as possible. The way I constructed it, the strips held their same absolute position on the wall, but of course when piecing with the background fabric, the strips got relatively smaller due to seam allowances, and the spaces between them got relatively larger. I was anticipating that when I laid them out so I had tried to crowd them together a bit closer than I wanted them to end up.

I constructed long columns, and sewed those columns together. Sort of like this:

It was all indigo as far as the eye could see. Strips of all widths, varying by as little as 1/8".

I guess I never took a picture of the completed top before quilting. When I thought about how to quilt it, I knew I didn't want to quilt over those strips. I wanted the light colors to be gleaming and sort of pop out from the dark, and I thought quilting over them would make them recede and flatten out. I decided to quilt with straight vertical lines in the indigo. But anytime a straight line traveled against a pieced strip, I would take the quilting off into each little indigo section I passed. This pushed the darker fabric back and let each blue pop forward a little bit: a subtle effect, but worth it I think. That technique is why I decided to use free motion quilting for the lines. It worked well enough for my needs, though there are plenty of wobbles. You can see the quilting pattern more clearly on the back.

I like this picture because it shows that "pop" that the blues are doing. Oh, and the kid is pretty cute too.

And that's how it turned out! I know, another floor picture. I swear it's as good as I could get with all this interminable rain and the shortage of adults and good lighting.

I love it. I kind of babbled about it when I brought it to show at the Portland Modern Quilt Guild meeting. It meant so much to me for other quilters to appreciate it. "It turned out great!" "It totally looks like the Matrix!" Another quilter even hugged me over my excitement about this quilt. It feels so good to have people to share this kind of joy with. It's fun to share it here too for the same reason!

A few of my friends called this "the waterfall quilt", so because of that and my warm love for the Pacific Northwest that is our home, I've named the quilt Cascade. It's 65x80 inches. I'm looking forward to seeing it on the wall tonight at PNCA with so many other beautiful quilts. (Who knows, maybe I'll even get a straight-on picture!). Thanks for all the love and good vibes about these process posts, I'm so happy to not have any secrets from you anymore.

A Monochromatic Quilt: Design

2011-04-06T12:49:00.000-07:00

This is the second of my posts on making my latest quilt. The first one is here.

When I was done piecing my strips my husband told me they looked like paint chips on the design wall. I realized that I needed a dark background to work with in order to visualize the layout. I decided to replace my normal flannel-backed tablecloth design wall with some black batting, and then use the batting for the quilt. So I went the the store and discovered that if a person wants black batting, that person will have two choices: polyester or polyester. I momentarily mourned the loss of shrinky rumpliness but went on ahead with the polyester. I'm in a mood for experimenting with different battings anyway.

I pinned the batting to my wall and tossed the strips up there. Much easier to see the design come forth. But that layout was not at all right. I made uncountable changes and took hundreds of pictures that basically looked exactly the same. I'll spare you. I couldn't get a layout that had everything I was looking for: depth and sparkle and motion. It seemed... flat.

I started to freak out and considered abandoning the idea. Like so:

But I gathered my wits about me and tried again. This time I focused on the lightest squares at the end of the strips, working to distribute them in a pleasing configuration. This worked.

It's only looking at it now that I see the obvious differences between my original rough sketch and what I came up with on the design wall. It just didn't have the "pow" factor for me without those large empty spaces on the sides.

Now big news! The finished quilt will be on display this month in Gallery 214 at the Pacific Northwest College of Art. There's a first Thursday celebration there tomorrow April 7, from 5:30-7:30pm. If you're in town I hope you'll come by to see some great modern quilts from the Portland Modern Quilt Guild and enjoy some food and drink, including my lemon ginger cupcakes. The show will stay up until April 21st.

Up next: Construction.

A Monochromatic Quilt: Inspiration

2011-04-05T13:51:00.000-07:00

This is a three part series going through the development of my latest quilt from start to finish. I made the quilt for submission into Project Modern Challenge 2. Now that the entries are all in I'm ready to share the quilt. I want to blog about it while I still feel like it's The Most Awesome Thing I've Ever Made, which means before all the Significantly More Awesome And Completely Humbling entries are revealed on April 15th.

For the first couple of weeks after the challenge was announced, I felt complete distress at the idea of a monochromatic quilt and figured I just wouldn't enter a quilt in this round. I grasped pretty early on that this was sort of about color but very much about value. I just couldn't think of anything I thought would be better as a monochromatic quilt than a multicolored quilt. I toyed with a few ideas, none of which interested me. Until one day I saw this at the local taco cart:

I was intrigued with the sparkly look and thought it could make a neat cross quilt. I liked the idea of crosses sprinkling downward. I sketched out something but it didn't have oopmh.

I thought it might be more interesting if the stars were falling in columns. "Like in The Matrix" I thought to myself. And I stopped. And it dawned on me. The Matrix. The image of code streaming downward in sparkling columns was vivid in my mind. And I forgot all about the crosses, and about the contest even. I knew in an instant how I would approach it. I picked words to describe what I wanted: depth, sparkle, motion.

I decided on blue as my color after seeing this picture during my research, and picked a range of Kona solids that would read as a single gradient. It wasn't seamless. But as luck would have it, I found in my stash some gradient blue fabric that filled in the gaps well enough.

For the background I chose Indigo, which was so dark it might as well have been black. Maybe a lighter blue would have been more in the spirit of the contest but I had that vision and I wasn't about to water it down.

The piece of gradient print I had was 9 inches wide so I cut all the other fabric into 9 inch strips as well, from 3/4" to 2.5" wide. I laid the indigo in the middle of a shoe box and the other colors in progressive order over the edges and just pieced them together rapid fire into columns that went from light to dark.

Sometimes I used two of each color before moving on to the next color. It was all very intuitive and non-rulesy. There were small columns and very long columns. I only took one picture of that step, and the only thing it shows you is that I hate pressing.

Eventually I ~~got bored~~ decided I'd pieced enough and stopped, (with plenty of strips remaining in that shoe box). I pressed them and sliced them and tossed them up on my design wall. Next: Design.

Memo

2011-04-03T00:12:00.000-07:00

To: you
From: me
Re: making things out of fabric that aren't normally made out of fabric

My inspiration for this little project was a simple fabric envelope that was made by Nireko Ohira (from Lecien), out of fabric designed by Monica of Happy Zombie. Monica enthralled us awhile ago at a PMQG meeting and included Nireko's envelope in her parade of beautiful fabrics and quilts. It made quite an impression on me.

I used interfacing for a papery stiffness and buttons to make it look like an interoffice envelope. I love those things. Winding the little string around just gets me.

I took some pictures of the process but they are haphazard at best, so I'll make another one to show you the details soon(ish).

Party in the back

2011-03-27T22:53:00.000-07:00

Over the past few days I've asked three friends and two friendly strangers to hold this quilt up for me to photograph. And what do I do? I show you a picture of it on my very orange floor. Does this make me a jerk? Say no.

Baby quilts are easy to photograph. Big quilts are work to photograph.

I know one person who didn't mind though. (I know it looks like she's falling but it's really just run-of-the-mill toddler wildness because there's a quilt on the floor and I'm totally rolling on it!).

So this is the back of my quilt for Project Modern. It's 65x80 inches. I put hours and hours of work into the top and I threw the back together in about one tenth the time and I'd say I like both sides equally well. Figures! The back incorporates some of the scraps from the front. My first instinct was to make it just all gray, but I've been noticing that around our house the backs of quilts are facing up just as often as the front, so I'm glad I took a little time with it.

For some reason this reminds me of some of Brian Eno's music, the way different patterns align with each other in a progressive fashion. Ok, that doesn't make sense. But it still reminds me of his music.

I simply had to free motion quilt the lines instead of using a walking foot. I think it was worth it, but there were a couple puckers and a little pulling on the right side of the quilt. I'm sure it will feel just perfectly snuggly at bedtime though. Ahhhh....It seems this blog has slowed to a trickle lately and I'm pretty sure I'll never catch up on my own blog reading and emails, but I hope you're all doing well!

Stacks

2011-03-22T23:10:00.000-07:00

I would have never predicted this. My fabric is all folded. Weird.

I came home from an all-day sew with the Portland Modern Quilt Guild (which was super fun) and after the kid was asleep I went right back to playing with fabric. This kind of thing only happens in the lull between the end of one project and the start of four more. I guess seeing enough of you orderly quilters with your neatly folded stacks is rubbing off on me!

A hundred times

2011-03-18T23:51:00.000-07:00

I didn't make this. But you may see something familiar here.

A very kind blog reader named Pam emailed to ask if she could use the design from this quilt for a charity quilt she was making. And I said "of course!" and in what seemed no time at all, this picture was in my inbox. This is about a hundred times more amazing than my little doll blanket. I love the colors, the free piecing, everything! I mean my goodness, that cat! I never even thought of that. The quilt is called "Crazy Animal Stars" and is 55" square.

Pam doesn't have a blog so she said I could feature her photo here. I'm feeling awash with the magic of connecting online. Thank you Pam!

Back in the saddle

2011-03-15T14:12:00.000-07:00

I'm quilting in my new sewing room for the first time. I'm happy I've learned to prewind some bobbins before I start stitching. It makes me so much calmer when one runs out to have another ready to go.

There's something so comforting about getting the gloves on and placing the scissors around my neck on their elastic. It's my quilting uniform. This time I'm also wearing a tape measure to periodically check the spacing of my lines.

My new space is working really well. This table is much more stable than my old drafting table. It doesn't start shaking when I get clipping along! I also slid my ironing board underneath the table to support my quilt on the left side, which means less battling the weight of the quilt. The ironing board isn't made to sit this low so it's being propped up by a little side table on one end and a drawer on the other!

A shot of the back side. Quilting with variably spaced straight* lines and little extras thrown in for interest. My machine Bernie and I are having a nice time of communion now that her pedal is not overheating. She starts skipping stitches to remind me to clean out the fluff. She'll break the thread if I'm putting too much stress on the quilt. I'm 2/3 of the way done and planning to bring it to the Portland Modern Quilt Guild meeting on Thursday. I hope your quilting is going as smoothly!

*lines may not actually be straight.

Put five birds on it

2011-03-10T22:22:00.000-08:00

I cut out a bunch of pattern pieces to make some Spool birds ages ago. And when we put the tree on the toddler's wall I figured some birds were called for. So I dragged them out and let her pick out the fabrics that she wanted.

These birds are kind of fussy. Hard to turn, hard to stuff, hard to close up their ever lovin tails! But the end result is so sweet...

We'll hang them up soon. And by "we", I think I mean "my husband". I'm busy finishing up my Project Modern quilt. It's killing me not to blog about it, but I feel like I need to wait.... everyone's being real hush hush about their submissions, I'm gonna pretend to fit in. So that's all the sewing I've got to share for now!

Bliss-ful union

2011-02-27T23:55:00.000-08:00

As we all knew it would, the flickr bee eventually came around to paper piecing, with these Union Jack blocks. I'm not sure I had enough red fabric to feature those white flowers in each strip, but I can't say I thought about it very hard before cutting either. Dang.

The pattern was made available to our group as a favor from Lynne at Lily's Quilts, but it's not available online. Even though paper piecing is painfully slow and wastes a bunch of paper, the process all makes sense to me. I got a little giddy seeing how super duper flat everything turns out too! Now I'm rarin' to have a go at the "colorwheel geese" pattern at Piece By Number. That's my plan for the PMQG April swap of 12 inch solids-only blocks. Now to choose my colors!

Stitching

2011-02-22T22:44:00.000-08:00

I'm doing it. About 30 minutes at a time. I estimate it will take about 5 hours total of hand stitching and I'm about 1.5 hours into it. Stitching through those seam allowances is not my favorite!

Goose in the Corner block tutorial

2011-02-21T12:36:00.000-08:00

Even though one of these blocks alone is kind of ugly, I was surprised that I've never seen the block before. It's very simple, so it seems like it should have been done before, you know? But failing to find any evidence of that, I'm going ahead and naming it the Goose in the Corner block. If you do know about an established name for this block, please please please let me know!

I made my original Golden Goose quilt with wonky blocks, but I buckled down and engineered a proper goose for this tutorial. This goose should meet up nice and pretty at the points. If you don't like precision piecing, you could do wonky geese, and I'll talk about those at the end. But I have to admit, the method I found for proper geese is so easy, the wonky geese seem slow and wasteful by comparison.

So: the proper goose. You make this block with two squares. In this example I use a 9.5 inch foundation square and a 5 inch square for the goose. This makes a 9 inch finished square, as well as a bonus half square triangle block from the leftover fabric that would otherwise be cut away. I'll describe the process and then show you how to calculate the size of your squares to make any size block you'd like.

You're going to draw two lines on the backside of the smaller (goose) square. I used a pencil. The first line goes diagonally from corner to corner.

Then, draw another line 1/2" away from that line, using your see through ruler as a guide.

Arrange the squares right sides together as shown. Pin to keep them in place if you'd like, then sew along the drawn lines.

After both lines are sewn, cut between them using your rotary cutter.

Press open your blocks. Ta da!

Sewn together these geese met up almost perfectly at the corners without any pinning or fretting from me. You can see maybe 1/16" space between mine. That's close enough for me.

If you'd like to calculate your own Goose in the Corner, do this:
Desired finished block size: x
Size to cut foundation blocks: x + 1/2"
Size to cut goose squares: (half x) + 1/2"
My graph paper assures me this works for all size blocks. EQ7 was absolutely no help in the matter, in case you were wondering.

Are there other ways to measure and cut this block? Yes, but they didn't give as consistent results as this method, the math was trickier, and the measuring and cutting were complicated. Furthermore, I love that the above method takes care of the leftover foundation square triangle right from the outset, and you get a premade HST block for whatever you want to use them for in the future.

Gwen Marston and Freddie Moran refer to this as having a "parts department" and I love that concept. If the extra HST blocks sound like a bad thing to you, you could draw and sew only the corner to corner diagonal line, then trim 1/4" from the seam and discard the leftovers. Or you could even develop your own approach to the block!

And how about that wonky goose?
Desired finished block size: x
Size to cut foundation blocks: x + 1/2"
Size to cut squares for goose triangles: (half x) + 1 to 1.5 inches. Precision is not important. Go ahead and cut it out with scissors if you want. Cut this square in half along the diagonal for two triangles to make two separate blocks.

I start by laying my triangle on the foundation block, angling it the way I want and making sure it extends beyond the foundation block by 1/4" or more on each edge. (oops! Fabric change!)

Then I move it about 1/2" outward, toward the corner, to allow for a seam allowance. Or, I should have moved it 1/2" outward. Looks like I only moved it 1/4" here though.

At this point I gently flip the triangle back, so the fabrics are right side together and the goose is pointing away from the corner. I sew along the edge of the triangle with a 1/4" seam allowance.

I press the block and trim the excess goose fabric using the foundation square as my guide. Then I flip the goose back again and trim away the excess foundation fabric 1/4" away from the stitching.

Sometimes, despite taking those above steps to avoid this, I find that I just barely didn't cover the entire corner with my goose triangle. If it is just a bit off and the gap won't extend beyond the seam allowance, I usually go with it instead of redoing it. And, instead of cutting away the corner of the foundation block from underneath I leave it there, to act as my true edge when piecing.

Wonky geese may overlap or not touch each other at all. I enjoy that kind of variation.

So that's it; simple instructions for a simple block! Of course, try a practice block or two before you dive in with yards of fabric. Please feel free to ask any questions about this tutorial, I'm happy to help you enjoy this versatile block! Need ideas for using this block? See this post.

The Snack Mat Swap

2011-02-20T00:49:00.000-08:00

At this week's PMQG meeting we swapped mug rugs/snack mats. I've been a little suspicious of this trend, but I was happy to try it out, in the spirit of playing along. I made this one from my orange scrap bin, it's about 8x7 inches. Loved how skinny and perfect that single fold binding turned out!

And I received this one!

Now would you believe that out of 40 or so people, we each happened to draw each other's? Cosmic! I believe my swap partner was Beth, but as PMQG members can tell you, all my brain cells aren't necessarily firing at the meetings, so I could have just totally screwed that up. Anyway, I love the organic leafy echo stitching!

This thing came just in time because lately our kiddie table has been getting caked in Play Doh. Now I have something pretty to look at and the kid isn't ingesting her craft supplies at snack time!

The Goose in the Corner

2011-02-17T00:09:00.000-08:00

I designed my Golden Goose quilt on paper, with a fair amount of grumbling.

And I decided to put EQ7 on my wishlist, which I know Santa checks. And he did!

One of the first things I did was to put my design for the Golden Goose into the program. And it only kind of worked, because the program doesn't think anyone would ever want a seam in the corner on one end of the quilt and triangles in the corner on the other. I felt both irked at EQ and pleased that my brain-and-paper technology was so capable.

Anyway, I drew my block and made the quilt:

And then I made the logical variations (again with the corner issue):

And then I just couldn't stop:

And I imagine there's even more variations to be tried. Anyway, once I saw how very versatile that simple little block could be I wanted to show you all about it! So I'm planning to share a little "goose in the corner" block tutorial soon.

Time to give...

2011-02-15T22:26:00.000-08:00

Thanks for all the book recommendations! I knew you all would have some great ideas. I can't wait to choose some to add to our collection of books, hopefully this weekend!

It's only fair that I share my recommendations too. My little one has a serious love for the following books (and I like them too):
I Like it When
Little Pea, and its brother, Little Hoot
B is for Bear and any other book with stuff to feel or flaps to lift
Doggies and Opposites, both of which she knows the words to now
No No Yes Yes and Quiet Loud by Leslie Patricelli
How are you Peeling and its out of print cousin, Baby Food

Oh.... and congratulations to the winners:
For the GO! and one die: #49 Colleen
For the two dies: #129 Robin (RsIslandCrafts)

Hope everyone is having a LOVEly week!

Go around again!

2011-02-10T23:04:00.000-08:00

Three years ago I felt very lonely as a quilter. I wasn't having much luck connecting with like minded experimental quilters through my LQS. In a fit of hope I started this little blog. Fun fact: my very first commenter was Tonya of Lazy Gal Quilting. That just totally warms my heart.

First slowly, and then quickly, I found myself connected, online and face to face, with impassioned, inspiring quilt artists. You make me look normal instead of obsessive. You give me goals and ideas and challenges. I'm looking forward to going around again with you this coming year.

To celebrate, how about we give away that Accuquilt GO! cutter I've been talking about forever?

I'd like to draw two winners: One gets an Accuquilt GO! and one die of their choice. The other gets two dies of their choice. That way if you've already got a GO! cutter you can play too. And yes, international entries are welcome. Thank you so much Accuquilt for this great giveaway!

To enter the drawing, leave a comment below telling me whether you're entering for the GO! or the two dies and ALSO tell me about a book you'd recommend for little ones 2 and up. I'm trying to get out of this Go, dog. Go! rut we're in and learn about some obscure books we might not find on our own.

Entries welcome through February 14th. I'll pick the winners by random number generator. If I don't have your email address I can't contact you about winning though, so if you're one of those no-reply commenters (or if you're not sure) you should leave your email in your comment.

A room of her own

2011-02-07T16:23:00.000-08:00

At two years old, our kid finally has a room. Blame it on the cosleeping and the ever-constant home renovation, but her mattress has laid in the nook outside our bedroom door for the past year. No longer, my friends. Witness:

Everything cute that you see here was my husband's concept, design, and work. Except that tree. I dreamt it and painted it, with guidance from our daughter about leaf placement. I had almost forgotten how fun painting is. That sweet little houses quilt is from my grandma. Shown in full here.

My handyman-by-night husband turned the closet into a little private nook/pillow playhouse. He also made a cubbyhole over the drawers.

He even found an old window, secured it in plexiglass, and trimmed the whole house out to look cuter than anything I've ever seen. I mean, real doorknobs for goodness sakes!

The attic access door was turned into a chalkboard, a decision that we regretted immediately. Only first time parents make these kinds of mistakes. Most days I keep the chalk out of reach in the cubbyhole.

The kid loves it. It took three times longer than we thought (doesn't everything?), but, for a while at least, we've shed our "slacker parents" vibe. Yee haw! We just had our first weekend not working on this project, and it meant more sewing time for me! A wonderful surprise was that the kid now sleeps through the night, waking at 5 or 6 instead of 1 or 2. Uninterrupted sleep...how I've missed you.

Just keep pinning

2011-02-05T23:49:00.000-08:00

Here's where I am with the wedding quilt. I've got the arcs together, seam allowances pressed under, and pinned to the whole cloth top. This thing is ginormous. 105" wide. Honk!

I didn't like my original layout as well once I laid down the actual arcs, so I played with them until I came up with this arrangement, which seemed "right". When I stepped back again after pinning I realized it looks more like a loop-de-loop than two rings. But my compassionate husband said that it looks like two rings to him so I will continue forward on my path.

I have some hand appliqueing ahead of me. Which will give me time to ponder my quilting options. I do enjoy a good ponder.

Accuquilt: Bunting Quilt Tutorial

2011-02-03T13:54:00.000-08:00

This post is all about how I made my bunting quilt with the Accuquilt GO! Cutter and the Triangles in Square die. Geez, that is a lot of links.

I was only using the triangle (A) part of the die, not the half triangles (B). The area of fabric needed to cut the triangle part is 4x6". So for the white fabric, I used three strips 4 inches across the width of the fabric. This seemed like the way to waste the least amount of fabric, as opposed to cutting lengthwise strips as Accuquilt advises. A few of the white triangles did seem a little stretched out compared to the other triangles but it didn't seem to affect my final results.

I layered my die, fabric and cutting mat. It makes me a little crazy to send the die through the cutter without using half of the die, since those blades are cutting into the mat anyway and deteriorating it over time. But I didn't really want any half triangles hanging around so I just cut the whole triangles and sent the die through without any fabric over the half triangles.

There was not much fabric wastage as I cut the white triangles, because the trailing edge of the first cut could be lined up with the leading edge of the next. The only significant waste was at the beginning and end of the strip. Three strips gave me about 54 white triangles.

Of note, my sister called me as I was about to cut the white triangles and I was able to cut all of them while talking with her on speaker phone. I don't think I would have tried that if I was cutting these triangles with a rotary cutter! This is all that was left of my strips after cutting my white triangles.

Then I picked some fabrics for my flags. I made myself a little template and used it to cut 4x6" rectangles from 25 different fabrics. Then I stacked those up and cut them, four layers at a time, for a total of 8 triangles per pass.

Using individual rectangles instead of strips resulted in a little more fabric wastage, but I think you'd have most of that cutting it with a rotary cutter too, simply because the triangle shape leaves odd scraps.

This kind of gave me chills. They look so beautiful and perfect! They stack up quick.

Piecing triangles does not come intuitively to me. But with these dog eared corners, anyone with a pulse and a sewing machine can get it right. Why not have a margarita? No, wait. Two margaritas.

I started by piecing 50 units of one white and one colored triangle each. I think this would make a great "leaders and enders" project. That was my original intent but I ended up grabbing it on my way to a guild sewing night at Modern Domestic and doing it all in one sitting. You do need to make sure you piece the units consistently (white on the left, colored fabric on the right, for instance).

After piecing all the two piece units, press seam allowances toward the colored fabric. Then piece the units into four strips of about 12 units each.

You may want a little helper to figure out your preferred arrangement. Lengthen or shorten the strips as needed. Use the remaining white triangles to add to the ends that need them.

Lay out a single piece of white fabric, about 36"x44". Lay your bunting strips where you want them to go. Then slide your fabric ruler 1/2" underneath the top edge of your first strip, then carefully lift the strip up and mark the cutting line on the fabric (I used a regular pencil). Replace the strip and repeat along the bottom edge, marking a line 1/2" above the bottom of the strip. The fabric between these lines will eventually be discarded. Repeat, marking lines for each strip.

Cut and sew these seams one at a time. Do not try to cut them all at once. Even cutting one at a time you will have some crazy bias situation and pins are the answer to that problem. Pin it to death before you even pick it up. This is coming from someone who almost never pins anything, so you know it's serious business. Sew with the pieced strips on top to reduce stretching in the bias edge.

Square it up, congratulate yourself heartily, and finish that sucker.

Whew! I can honestly say I only did this project because I had the Accuquilt GO! cutter. If I'd had to learn how to cut all those triangles on my own I'd still be in the design stage for sure. The GO! cutter made a somewhat challenging design more doable. I'd say it's a pretty handy tool. A handy expensive tool. If mine disappeared and I had to decide whether to buy a new one, I'm honestly not sure what I would do. I might take the middle road and get the GO! Baby because of the big price break between the two. The GO! cutter does seem like a quick way to get scraps cut into usable consistent sizes and that's how I've been using it lately. I keep some squares I've cut handy so we have something to use when my toddler heads to the sewing machine saying "Mama, sewing?".

I really think one of these cutters would be a good thing for a group of quilters to share. Unless you're pumping out a quilt a week, this thing is going to sit in your closet most of the time. I'm hoping to make mine available at guild sewing events, and PMQG members, if you have a project the Accuquilt GO! could help you out with, talk to me about borrowing mine!

If you make a quilt using these directions, I hope you know I'd be tickled pink to see a picture! Now let's see about getting an Accuquilt GO! into the hands of one of you lovely readers... soon, soon, soon!

Accuquilt: First Impressions

2011-02-01T15:27:00.000-08:00

Way back when I learned I was getting an Accuquilt GO! cutter, I also learned I could choose three dies to go with it. I took that decision very seriously. Like, obsessing about it for two weeks seriously. I even woke up once in the middle of the night thinking about it. No joke.

Mostly this problem occurred because I am a weirdo, but I also had a hard time figuring out from the Accuquilt site how their dies fit together. For instance, with the chisel die they tell you that another die will finish the shape out to a rectangle, but is there a triangle that you can sew to the shorter side to finish it out to a half square triangle? They don't say, and their information about the shape doesn't give you the height of the short side, so you can't even go researching their other triangles. Trying to figure that kind of stuff out took way too much time and energy.

Finally, after I woke up thinking about it in the middle of the night, I just made myself decide. My first decision: no strips and no squares. I occasionally do bonehead things with my rotary cutter but can generally be counted upon to manage these straightforward tasks. So, angles and curves only. Yes, I know I could do these things with my rotary cutter too. But, let's face it: I'm lazy and I probably won't.
I chose the triangle in a square. It seemed versatile.

And the isosceles triangle. I like the idea of making a kaleidoscope quilt.

I also chose the 7 inch drunkard's path. I read Heather's review and got excited about the little notches to help you match the curves up. I'm kind of impressionable.

While waiting for the Accuquilt GO! to arrive, I tried to figure out what I was getting into. I watched some of Accuquilt's YouTube videos. They cleared up the general confusion I had about how the cutter worked. The one video that stuck with me was "Lee's Stripper Tips" (you can see why I had to click on that one). I dare you not to laugh while watching this.

When the box was delivered I busted it out right away, and grabbed some scrap fabric to try it out.

When I unwrapped the dies they looked like big pieces of dense dark foam. The blades are under the foam. I followed a tip I saw on SewCalGal about marking the cutting lines with a silver sharpie, making them easier to see. I also used the sharpie to mark the size of fabric piece necessary to make the cut, so I wouldn't need to remeasure it every time I went back to use the die.

I tried the cutter out like I'd seen in the videos. You make a "fabric sandwich" with the die underneath the fabric and a cutting mat on top. As the sandwich moves under the rollers, the blades are pressed through the foam in the die and cut the fabric against the cutting mat, upside down compared to how you use your rotary cutter.

The dies are supposed to last, but the cutting mats will give out eventually from repetitive cuts. When you run the die through the cutter it leaves cuts in the mat each time.

Reading the instructions I learned that for accurate cuts you are supposed to feed the fabric through the cutter along the lengthwise grain. If you are working with a scrap and you don't know which is the lengthwise grain, Accuquilt has some tip about how to yank on your fabric and listen to which direction makes a higher pitched sound. This totally cracked me up. My rotary cutter does not ask me to listen to my fabric! I have a lot of scraps and I am not really into precision piecing so I decided I would probably ignore this advice, for my sanity.

I loved that I could cut fabric with my toddler crawling all over me and the cutter without anyone getting hurt. But the first few times I tried to pass a die through the cutter I couldn't get it to go through and I honestly thought it was broken. It took more strength than I expected to get the die to catch under the rollers. Soon I figured it out and after a few cuts I felt familiar with the routine. So I embarked upon my bunting quilt. And that's what I'll show you next time!

Bound and determined

2011-01-30T21:46:00.000-08:00

Time flies. The Free Motion Quilt Along quilt is bound and sitting in my sewing room. It's a little stitch library, a fun piece to show the possibilities of free motion quilting.

What an experience this project was! I'm still not an expert. But working through different pattern families was a good exercise to help me think more clearly about quilting designs. And it definitely improved my quilting.

Mostly this post is to say thank you. Some of you have commented, or emailed, or mentioned to me in person, that this series was helpful to you. I can't say enough how wonderful this made me feel. These words buoyed me through the weeks.

Feeling like I had something to share was powerful. It changed the way I thought about myself as a quilter. Thank you for helping me grow, with the magic of your words! And thanks for coming along with me on this ride, whether you actually stitched along or not. Thanks for sharing your quilting photos on your blogs and Flickr, for telling your friends, for being patient when I got behind.

You rock! Happy quilting!

A lot to love

2011-01-25T17:09:00.000-08:00

My new sewing space, 5 feet south of my previous sewing space, is bringing me much joy. For one thing, it's about twice as bright as the other room. For another, check out this part of the setup: a mini pressing station right behind the sewing machine, and a swivel chair between.

This makes pressing WIPs so much quicker; I just spin around, press, and turn back to the machine! I used to have to cross the room to press and I sometimes would lose steam from the extra effort required. (I walk all over the clinic every day at work so hopefully that means I'm not being totally pathetic here).

The mat is a portable Omnigrid thing that has a pressing surface as well as a small firm backed cutting board, for taking with you wherever. I've never used it to go sewing outside my home but I get lots of use inside my home - it's great for doing some cutting on the floor! I have the cutting mat folded under since I don't need that right now. I'm so glad I took the time to really ponder how I could set up my space better, having this little station is great.

Put a bird on it

2011-01-21T11:38:00.000-08:00

Everyone I know is frothing at the mouth about tonight's premiere of Portlandia on IFC. If you haven't already watched this teaser I can recommend it highly.

"Dunthorpe" by Rachel Ann Austin

Now, I don't buy for one minute that birds are a Portland thing. I think birds are popular throughout the DIY crafty community and here in Portland we have a really strong craft culture, so you just see a lot of them! I thought I'd dedicate this post to the local artists who are putting a bird on it, by showing ~~all~~ most of the bird art in my house.

"Ostrich Imposter" by Brent Wear

"Helicopter Bird" by Brent Wear

Keep the birds coming artists; I will buy them!

"Four Crows" by Cheryl Ferguson

Wedding quilt progress

2011-01-18T12:35:00.000-08:00

I've finished strip piecing the arc sections for the wedding quilt. Here they are placed end to end. The sections are not sewn together yet, so that's why the curves aren't quite right. To get over my dislike of some of these fabrics I added a few others. A couple shot cottons, and a few fabrics collected on international adventures.

Here's a section on the background fabric I picked out a year or two ago. I used my new Kona color card to identify it as Stone. I wonder if it is a little dreary but I am officially done obsessing about this quilt. I decided that there are lots of worse ways a wife could disappoint her husband than by making him a less than awesome wedding quilt. And anyway, if he doesn't like it that much then I get to make another quilt for our bed instead. Win-win.

A shot of the back to show how I'm doing it. The "s" is for "small". I used both the letters and different foundation fabrics to help me tell the arcs from the larger and smaller circles apart. I started at one end of each arc section and added strips in a sew and flip method, pressing after the addition of each strip. Next I'll trim them with a 1/4" seam allowance and sew the sections together. Then assemble a backing and applique the arcs by hand. I can't wait to see how it looks all laid out!

In non-quilt news, we seem to be a part of two concurrent experiments:

-What happens to a family when a toddler coughs all night at 45-second intervals.

-What happens to a family when the song "Tiki tiki room" is played all day at 5-minute intervals.

If these were real studies they would never have cleared the ethics board.

Quilt Halo: winner and tip

2011-01-13T11:27:00.000-08:00

The winner of the Quilt Halo is number 38, kwiltmakr.

And you should know that two commenters mentioned something I hadn't thought of: hanging the ring on the machine arm if you want to switch to using your hands without cutting the thread to get the ring out. Genius! Thanks to Katie and Kitty for sharing this tip!

Quilt Halo review

2011-01-10T12:43:00.000-08:00

Have you heard of the Quilt Halo? While investigating tools designed for free motion quilters, this one caught my eye. It is so simple; a plain, red, weighted circle with a rubbery coating that lightly grips a quilt top. The minimal design makes it look like Ikea had a hand in it (it was actually designed by quilter Sharon Schamber). The Quilt Halo is intended to help you grip and guide your quilt without gloves during free motion quilting. I asked the makers for a Quilt Halo to try out and they agreed! I tested it with some practice stitching and off and on for the quilt along.

To use the halo I slid it under my darning foot. I was excited to be able to start quilting without having to figure out where the toddler took my quilting gloves! I immediately noticed that my hands felt more relaxed than when I flatten them against the quilt surface, as I do when quilting with my gloves. It seems just as easy to maneuver the quilt with the halo as it does with my hands, and sometimes I felt that I had better control with the halo than I do with my hands, probably since my hands were in a more natural position. There is a wider area to work within the ring than with how I normally place my hands, so I didn't need to stop and reposition as often as is typically necessary. This lent a nice flow to my stitching.

While stitching I occasionally found that the ring would bump into the back of my darning foot even when it seemed like there should be room for me to stitch. Remembering to allow for some space in the back between the foot and the ring was hard for me but I did get better over time. The picture below shows the point at which the foot would begin bumping the ring.

The only serious difficulty I had with the halo was how it behaved at the edges of the quilt. To stitch along the edges of the quilt one side of the ring would be off the quilt top. The grip along this edge was therefore reduced and sometimes the batting would slip out from the halo's grip, making it hard to keep the top flat. Additionally, while the halo exerts downward pressure on the quilt top, it is not possible to apply outward pressure as I can with my hands. This made me feel nervous if I worked in an area with seeming extra "fullness" in the fabric. While no puckers actually developed during my test drive, it made me feel apprehensive to not have the same amount of control as I do with my hands. Again, this problem was worse on the edge where part of the ring was off the quilt top. The perfect solution for this problem would be to only use the halo in the center areas of the quilt and to use my hands on the edges. That's fine if you're working with borders but my quilts often don't have them. And unfortunately, once you've started stitching with that ring under the foot, you'll have to stop and cut the thread to get it back out.

I did not have any problem with the halo bumping against the right edge of my machine, but if you have a smaller space under your machine arm you might encounter that issue. Also, I was only quilting a small quilt so I don't know if there are any problems that might arise with a larger quilt, where you have more bulk under the machine arm.

I enjoyed the opportunity to use the Quilt Halo, but I didn't feel it improved my stitching. I would recommend the Quilt Halo for someone who is not satisfied with the grip they currently have on their quilt top while free motion quilting. If you suffer from joint problems or pain, the Quilt Halo might allow you to be more comfortable or to quilt longer. You'll have to figure out how to manage the quilting along the outermost edge of the quilt though.

If you'd like to be entered in a giveaway for your very own Quilt Halo, leave a comment below. Make sure I have a way to contact you if you win. International entries are welcome. I'd be interested in hearing if any readers have tried the Quilt Halo. What did you think?

Entries for the giveaway are now closed.

Bike gear shirt

2011-01-06T14:11:00.000-08:00

I took a shirt and made it cooler for my husband.

I used freezer paper stencils that I made by tracing some photos of chain rings. The only hard part was cutting precisely around all those teeth.

I really like the final result. A bike enthusiast friend suggested that I should have just spray painted over actual chain rings. I hadn't thought of that, but I don't think my husband would have approved of that approach.

Hard to get a good picture of the whole thing. He was really pleased with this one. Freezer paper stencils are so easy, why don't I do it more often?

I made this

2011-01-04T00:42:00.000-08:00

Oh lordy this kid is 2. And I'm proud to say that she knows what a hexagon is. My work here is done.

So, then, it's only appropriate that I made her this little pillow. I meant it to be for her doll but she's not too into that. She wants it. Can't argue with good taste.

The hexagons were pieced together during a medical conference. I detest sitting still so I bring hand sewing to keep me calm in lecture situations. I got to use a sweet little hexagon needle book that Megan made for me. She has a rocking tutorial on how to do it yourself. This is so much better than sticking my pins in a fabric scrap.

I also turned my hexagon critters into a little doll blanket. This is by far the cutest thing I've ever made. I busted it out super quick, and the piecing is quite imprecise. I really hope she likes it though. I hope that someday she will appreciate that it was made with love.

The bunny and frog were the most recent hexagon critters.

But the hedgehog is still my favorite.

I just love those little guys. Oh....I'm having a moment: hedgehog birthday cake?! Where the candles are the quills? Not so impressive if there's only two quills, but if there were, say, thirty five, that would be something. I'll return to this subject in May, no doubt.

For 2011

2011-01-02T00:49:00.000-08:00

I'll be enjoying my new sewing space. I even put up a design wall!
I'll be the closest one to the Show and Tell quilts at the PMQG meetings.
I'll @, # and RT my way around my new Twitter account.
I'll make some bigger quilts. Seriously.
It's gonna rock.