Quilt One

11 Nov

Pattern: Attic Windows
Made by: Sarah
Quilted by: http://www.bayberryquilts.com

Advertisement

100 Quilts for Kids

8 Sep
 
I am linking up with www.swimbikequilt.com for the 100 Quilt for Kids project.
 
 
 
Swim, Bike, Quilt
 
I made this simple Four-Patch quilt.  I got the pattern off www.quiltsforkids.org, I really enjoyed this quilt because, while most of my quilts are slow-moving, I made this quilt top in an afternoon…instant results! 
 
 
The back is a cool light green fannel, which the lady at the LQS helped me pick out.  I would have never considered flannel,  it’s nice and cozy.
 
 
The Bargello Quilt was from a class I took, and it was a great experience.  I love the bright colors, and the backing fabric was my first fabric internet purchase, and I was very pleased.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 I’m not sure where I’m donating these quilts as I don’t think the meandering quilting is tight enough for www.quiltsforkids.org.  I’m going to check out the other link-ups to get some ideas, and try to find something local.
 
 
 

30 Days – August

2 Sep

What a great month!  It’s funny, my new job has caused me to work 52 hours a week this month, I think I got the most quilting done ever!  It’s like, the less time I have, the more wisely I use it. 

I finished my backing to the grey/pink ribbon quilt;

I think this will make really great binding when it’s turned over to the front!! 

I finished 1 baby shower quilt, and I am almost done with two more.  Twins!!  (I’ll post on that later!) 

I took the Mango Tango class with Laurie Shifrin, what a great experience, and it has now taken over my design wall…

Here is close up with the flanges…

Since I was short on fabric, I decided to make the quilt a tad smaller. 

I got four Quilt-Block-a-Day blocks done!

And I signed up for an Intermediate Accounting course at the local University.  I’m sad because the studying will take up much of my quilting time, but I’m really looking forward to it!!  Looks like I’m going to have to make some room!

Share Your Mistake(s)!

21 Aug

I’m linking up with Amanda @ Fabric Engineer for a Link party to share your mistake.

 Fabric

My mistake, was that when I started quilting I thought I could immediatly design quilts.  Go big or go home.  While I feel my projects were great, they were too complicated for my experience. 

So ONE of my mistake that I’m sharing with you is my Dresden.  I tried to make the “radiant” backing, it’s just something I wanted to do.  But I was sloppy.  I just thought the angles would come together…well they didn’t;

I took this pic laying down, that is all the excess fabric I am going to have to deal with.

This was my goal;

Urgh!  What a mess.  Then, after I designed it (and made the top), I realized I needed it quilted in a special way…which means no bringing it to the LQS to be machine quilted.  So, seeing as this will be a throw blanket for my bed, I’m going to suck it up and machine quilt it myself.  and maybe just fold over the excess fabric, sew it down, and call it a day.  It will be gentle reminder to think before I cut.

And to top it all off, I used fabric from my Mango Tango quilt, and left myself short!  I thought I could find it again, with no luck so far.

Mango Tango by Laurie Shifrin

13 Aug

I took a class last Saturday at www.quiltsandtreasuresinc.com with Laurie Shifrin.  She is the author of “Batik Gems”, “Batik Beauties” and “Batiks and Beyond”.  She taught us her Mango Tango quilt. 

This is the only thing I sewed;

I am actuall short on the brown backround fabric!!!  I used “some” of it for my no-go Dresden quilt, and left myself short!  So…the search begins!

The class was jammed packed with information.  I learned sooooooooo much. Laurie was a very thoughtful instructor.  She has a ton of experience and knowledge, and all she wanted to do was share all of it.  She got in so much info in I was completely exausted when the class ended.  Even though I only sewed one block.  I have complete confidence that I will be able to finish this quilt with ease.  She not only said what to do, but she warned us of mistakes that could happen. 

 We spent two hours inspecting everyone’s color choices.  It may sound boring, but it was extremely informative.  I went from this,

To this,

Looking at everyone’s fabric through different eyes, was a great learning experience.  We learned how to pick out the oddballs, and add colors, no one would ever think of adding. 

The cutting instructions were great.  The little tips and tricks were awesome.  I am now not afraid to cut threw multiple layers of fabric! 

When I got home, I did a lot of cutting, but am afraid to move forward without getting the rest of my dark brown fabric that I am short.  If anyone knows the maker of the dark brown fabric, that would help me along in my search!

Laurie teaches mostly at http://thequiltingloft.com/index.html in Seattle, Washington, and her website is http://laurieshifrindesigns.wordpress.com/.

The Past 30 days – July

9 Aug

It is amazing what can happen in 30 days!  I started a new job at my work, and it is very challenging…and time consuming.

I have decided to put away my more difficult projects.  I don’t know what made me think I could design quilts 2 months into starting to quilt.  It brought much frustration, and very little progress.  My Dresden is a no-go.  The brown backing is a “radiant” design, like this;

Why I couldn’t just use 4 quarter panels, is beyond me…Because of my bright idea, the quilt does not lie flat, and because of this, I don’t know how I’m going to quilt it.

I love the idea, and I will eventually come up with a way to salvage this.  But I need to put it down for a while and come back to it.

My Bargello is ready to go to the quilters!  I got this great backing fabric from www.hawthornethreads.com;

and my Four-Patch is also ready for quilters!  This is an old pic, but I’ll post a new one when I get it back.

I only did 2 quilt-block-a-day blocks this month 😦 I’m still on February!!

This month I’m taking the Mango Tango class.  I’m going to stick with classes, and patterns for the next few months, rather than “designing” :).  And I hope to try to get into the March quilt-block-a-day…seeing as it’s August!

The Ironing Board(s)

5 Aug

On August 15th, I’m linking with Amanda at Fabric Engineer to tell my story of my ironing board.  Yet another great topic by Amanda!

Fabric

It has come to my attention that grubby ironing boards are normal!  Yeah!!!  So with pleasure I’m presenting my own grubby ironing board!

I also have spot right next to my machine for intstant pressing;

This consists of some scrap pieces of warm and natural, covered withe muslin.  I love this area right next to my machine. 

Sometime in the future, I would like a taller ironing board with more area to iron, and possibly one of those “tv tray” ironing boards I see tutorials for on some blogs.  Hoping to get some ideas from Amanda’s Link Party!

Bargello – A Love/Hate Project

25 Jul

I have mixed feelings about my Bargello Quilt. 

LOVE:

I loved sewing these sections of the quilt.  I used the pattern from the book, “The Bargello Quilt Book”, by Piecemakers.  Their method of ironing each seam in opposite directions was great.  After “unsewing” the strips, and sewing them back to make the pattern, the seams actually “locked” into place.  I am still amazed at this.  I probably only pinned a few times, mostly with the 7/8ths strips…which leads to my…

HATE:

The 7/8″ strips.  While sewing these, I said I would never do this again, but as I kept putting the quilt together, it really was quite simple. 

This particular quilt is going to www.quiltsforkids.org.  Their size limitation is the size of this quilt, so I will not be putting boarders on it.  I ordered a fabric today from www.hawthornethreads.com, that I’m hoping will make a great backing…and binding.

All and all, I would like to do another Bargello quilt again, the next time, I will use the traditional light to dark fabrics.  The reason I didn’t with this quilt is because some of the fabrics came from my stash, and I knew it would be for a child, so I really wanted the bright colors. 

I will just remind myself to be PATIENT with the smaller strips, because, in the end, it really makes a great looking quilt!

Fat Quarter Resistance

21 Jul

I have resisted using Fat Quarters since I was introduced to them about 20 years ago when I worked at JoAnn Fabrics.  The mark-up was pretty outrageous back then, they were like pre-packaged food, more money per unit. 

For 20 years I never could wrap my head around fat-quarters, besides being overpriced, they were a tease.  What could you possibly make with a half of a half of a yard? 

So in the spirit of trying new things, (and the fact that a lot of the giveaways consist of fat quarters), I broke down and bought 4 fat quarters.

The challenge:  what can I do with these Fat Quarters???

Slow Progress and Moving On

15 Jul

 I think I made a mistake. I read two different instructions on Bargello Quilts, one said press the seams all going one way, and the other said press every seam in opposite directions. Since I wasn’t making those particular patterns, and designing my own, and just getting the gist of the Bargello quilt style in general, I went with what I know;

Yes, all those seams are pressed open!

And I think I’m beginning to realize why this quilt top is taking so long!!! I feel like I have been working on this quilt for three weeks!

So I decided to put this quilt away, and come back to it fresh…and maybe with a little more experience.  Since then, I finally feel like I’m making some progression with other projects

First I took a Bargello class (after I attempted to make my own), and learned a great way to iron seams;

The directions of sewing each seam in opposite directions actually work great!  When I sewed the strips together, the seams actually “locked”, it was quite amazing!  (The book is “The Bargello Quilt Book”, by Piecemakers).  And the only time I needed any pinning was with the 7/8 inch strips.  Here is (almost) a third of the quilt I completed in class…

This is one of the quilts I’m donating as part of

Swim, Bike, Quilt
 
Along with these cut pieces for a simple Four-Patch quilt;
 
 
I also completed 3 quilt blocks from my quilt-block-a-day calendar (I’m still on February).  These aren’t meant to match, I’m just using scraps.
 
 
 
I wasn’t going to include the one that looks like a tree, because I’m not proud of the colors, but I wanted to be “real”  and show you my crummy work also 🙂
 
I am now working entirely on my Dresden quilt for the Dresden quilt challenge.  I’m real excited about it, and most important, it’s moving right along!!! 
 

← Older Entries
Newer Entries →