Category: Quilting

Posted on in Household, Quilting, sewing, Uncategorized

Colorful Quilt Top

This quilt is an amalgamation of cloth, time, patterns, and my brain. I started making this quilt for a class using The Rabbit Factory’s Homespun Hill. The pieced blocks were fun and quick to put together. The color palette is dewy grass.

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I modified this quilt top by adding Carolyn Friedlander‘s Creativebug Polk block.  I’ve done some paper-piecing, and found this exercise to be helpful and inspiring. Paper-piecing is a great stash buster. Creativebug provides excellent instructions, visually and in print format (I’m big a fan!).

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The quilt top has batiks, prints, solids, and paper-pieced blocks. The fabric on hand became this quilt; in the past year my taste, knowledge, and understanding of fabric has become more robust, and I’m happy to see some old fabrics being incorporated into a quilt and removed from the stash. Sarah Watts’ Honeymoon made it in and some batiks my auntie gifted to me. I’m partial to Sarah Watts round lines.

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Honestly, sitting close to this quilt top since April, I don’t know if I’m ready to look at it as a whole. And really, it isn’t complete, because I have to add quilting, backing, and binding. Overall, I like the movement and the quilt top.

What did you make over the weekend?

 

Posted on in Free-Motion, Quilting, sewing

Scraps Tote

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This tote first started coming together in April, but was set aside for other projects. It caught my eye the other day. I scoped out the previous work, and found I was at the final steps of construction. The instructions are from The School of Sewing.

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Free motion quilting is the best, and I love working on improving my skills.

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Most of the scraps came from a baby quilt I finished in March.

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The fabric scraps are mostly from Lizzy House’s line Natural History. A great line with playful fabrics that I love.

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What have you been working on? Thanks for stopping by.

Posted on in Appliqué, Quilting, sewing

Applique Strips Basted

Basting after pinning applique pieces is one of my favorite parts of the craft and I like that the turned edges seem smoother when compared with my turning-on-the-line only applique. Basting may seem like it’ll away time from stitching, but trust me, it doesn’t, and I don’t worry about being stuck with needles. I love all parts of needle-turn applique.

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Pattern Name & Author: Aerial Grove & Carolyn Friedlander

Right before I started this I stopped myself from working on a needle-turn applique project I wasn’t enjoying. The project and I did not mesh creatively and when I realized this it was an easy decision to move on. Now I’m stitching away happily.

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I recently (today) had guests, and one was my sewing auntie; she helped applique one strip and I’m finishing up the second. When I first saw this quilt pattern I was excited to start working on it. The pattern is fun, graceful, and lends itself to great amounts of color play.

Have any projects you’ve moved on from?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Posted on in Appliqué, Hand Sewing, Quilting, Uncategorized

Summer Colors

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The morning light is soft, warm, and surprising. With all of the resettling here I surprised myself by cutting out squares for applique on a quilt top. The color palette is warm with pinks and oranges highlighted by blues, greens, and purples. Looking up from under the water reminds me of summer, and for me these colors reflect the interplay between sun and sea.

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Posted on in Appliqué, Hand Sewing, Quilting

Prepping to Applique

I find prepping applique pieces relaxing. After today’s beautiful sunrise, not unlike these colors, I am ready to get to work basting. A couple of quilts are in my future for the new apartment, because we moved when we were only staying for vacation: life has a natural flow and I can’t, and don’t want to, stop it.

The printed fabric is Kim Anderson’s Tidal Lace from Windham Fabrics. I picked it up at Super Buzzy last time I was in California. Both fabric and store are amazing.

What have you been making lately?

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Posted on in Improv, Quilting, sewing

Scrappy Quilt Top

This improvisational quilt top happened a few weeks ago when I was staring deeply into the ever growing stack of quilt scraps crowding different areas of the house. I felt a bit overwhelmed. What should I do?  I just sat down, started trying out fabrics, and boom: quilt top started. I was cutting and pressing and sewing away for a couple of days. Then I folded it up and put it away (except to snap thess photos so quickly I didn’t even press the fabric smooth!).

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Improving is a skill I come to naturally in quilting; the first four quilts I made never saw a ruler or felt pins, and I thought those quilts were the best. The ruler is my friend now, and I use it unsparingly, but what I learned is that I’m a person that likes to explore a craft and all the different approaches.

The quilt top’s colors and lines are playful. Watching the sunrise from the window is such a great way to start off the day, and this quilt top turned in to a compilation of a few different sunrises. For the borders I would like to push my boundaries and go for a big lush floral print, because the clouds here are often large and crowded.

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On my travels I was able to stop by the beach a few times. Growing up coastal, I always feel grounded when I’m near the ocean.

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What have you been improvising lately?

Posted on in Free-Motion, Quilting, sewing

Diamond Star Baby Quilt

This is a quilt for a special person: first nephew I’ll ever meet! He comes from very bright and sweet people. When I saw Lizzy House‘s fabric line Natural History I fell in love with the playfulness of color and design. She seems pretty awesome. Check her out on Creativebug too (I am a huge fan of Creativebug, but more on that another time). I consulted School of Sewing‘s instructions for a baby-sized quilt, but then added in my own arrangement. IMG_5648.jpgIMG_5642.jpg

Carolyn Friedlander‘s new line Caraki tones down the color and adds to a structured effect. Bones are the best. We all need bones and they are beautiful to look at. Caraki is beautiful and strong. Perfect!

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I wasted no time using my favorite FM curved shape while quilting. I love this quilt, and I’m excited to meet the little guy it is for.

What have you been sewing up lately? Happy end of March to everyone!

Posted on in Appliqué, Free-Motion, Quilting, sewing

Arcs + Free Motion Quilting

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The Free-Motion quilting bug caught me! Carolyn Friedlander’s awesome pattern Arcs  waited patiently to be quilted and with the new Janome now here I was more than happy to start quilting. The sun came out strong yesterday, perfect to sit down and sew by.

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Speed and stitch length are two of the things I am thinking about while quilting. It takes strong hands and arms to move the layers quickly under the needle. Sometimes I have a gap, but others I don’t move enough and the stitches are tiny. I am staying present! If my mind wands the needle wiggles! Quilting gloves may be helpful in this department by making sure for a more steady grip. Have you tried quilting gloves?

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The design translated prettily from the front to the back. My husband said it looks like an ancient calendar, and it certainly does! The scale was an easy and the most fun shape for me to make, with a swoop-away-and-back towards me. The thread is gold Aurifil, and didn’t break at all. For the background fabric I used Sarah Watts’ Honeymoon. Earlier I mentioned the front of the piece felt like a sunrise to me and this background fabric felt like night and how light time feels around those hours.

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The trees are blooming. Awhile ago I noticed this tree was shaped like a heart from growing around the powerlines and thought it would be magnificent in Spring. Here it is! The blooms aren’t in entirely, but this is a sneak peak.

What is blooming near you? Have a great weekend!

 

Posted on in Appliqué, Free-Motion, Quilting

Free-motion for the First Time

Yesterday held firsts. The Janome serger and sewing machine arrived! I’ve been waiting all month and it flew by. After  returning home safely, I wasted no time switching over needle plate, threading up, and trying out free-motion quilting; Lori Smith’s appliqued piece was my first choice.

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Complete satisfaction: I loved every second I spent trying out this new skill. The hours flew by while I stitched. I’m nowhere near steady, but am enthused to keep practicing; I want to quilt everything and am quickly on that path. Free-motion work is what drew me in to quilting for good: Fabric doodling! I was captivated by the work of other artists/quilters, and I couldn’t wait to join.

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Doodling is an activity I love. I wasn’t sure how I wanted to transfer my ideas from brain-to-fabric. Many draw with friction pens or use an overlay, but I was so excited to try out the machine and an eyeball worked best for me. The endless options are incredible!  Before I knew it, I had a sweet little table accented by a window. This stitching made easy with Aurifil thread.

The table was a little hard to see, and I wanted to play with texture, so in came some thicker thread paired with hand stitching and a great outline formed. All of the applique practice has paid off in the stitch regularity category.

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Happy Spring! It has been a busy and exciting March. The spring peepers are out and the trees are pushing to bloom. Have you been working on anything exciting?

Thanks for stopping by!

Posted on in Hand Sewing, Quilting, Snail Mail Friday

Snail Mail Friday!

Receiving mail is thrilling! Writing letters to my friends & family is one of my hobbies & I love having return mail. At nine I signed up for a pen-pal program & was given a writing friend located in Canada; we exchanged letters until age thirteen. Now I exchange letters with friends & cousins, but I also love to receive packages of fabric in the mail too!

Today some fabric arrived for future quilts & bags I’m planning to make. I ordered some of Lizzy House’s Natural History, Carolyn Friedlander’s Carkai & two more slices of Honeymoon from Sarah Watts. All of the prints are incredible, inspiring, & ready to be made in to something!

What are you working on this weekend? Receive any exciting mail? IMG_4915.jpg