Misty Watercolor Memmmmmories…..

I finished the top of the pink and yellow spiderweb quilt I’ve been working on allllll month, but I am going to save it until I’ve quilted it and taken pics of it in the sunlight. Unlike this badboy, taken with my phone, at night. I have all these pink triangles left over from the other quilt. You use them as a guide to place the fabric strips over but then you cut them off. I probably have enough to make 3 baby quilts like this, or one big one, but I think I’ll just stick to this small one for now. I like it. It’s very soothing and calming.

Fabric Love!

It is no secret that I am obsessed with fabric. I have, on multiple occasions, attempted to limit my fabric spending, or even quit cold turkey! This usually lasts two days, if I’m lucky… The problem/blessing is that there is a great fabric shop 10 minutes away from my job… I often stop in on my break. Plus, every night I scour Etsy for new finds. Sales. Deals. French Seam I like because they usually have good deals on quilting cotton. And Etsy has sales and it seems like every day I come across a new fabric I’ve never seen… which gives me an idea for a new quilt or project… which makes me look for even more new fabric. It’s a vicious yet amazing cycle. The problem with Etsy is that you often have to purchase from multiple sellers, and paying shipping twice or three times.

Anyways, though I did buy some stuff at the quilt market, I think overall I’ve been keeping myself in check this month. Except for a few sales I couldn’t pass up. But, if I had an unlimited, or even slightly larger fabric budget, here are some new ones I’ve been eyeing lately…. I suppose my color preference is obvious!

Row 1: Cute foxes by Lizze Fox, Brown and White Beads by Moe3, and (awesome!)Aqua Herringbone by Joel Dewberry

Row 2: Flower Fields by Joel Dewberry, Cool Aqua Tribal print by Thomas Knauer, and Hearts and Arrows by Cloud9 (organic!)

Row 3: Raindrops by Tula Pink (on sale!), Navy Geometric by Alexander Henry (a fave), and Baby Elephants by Daiwabo

They’d even make a fun quilt all together, maybe mixed together with some solids… A girl can dream!

Zig Zag Chevron Quilt

A while ago I bought these fabrics on sale at French Seam. I really like the tangerine fabric, and the light pink with tiny polka dots (also seen in this craft). Most of the fabrics are Jay McCarroll (awesome Season 1 Project Runway winner, one of my all-time faves), but it is mixed with a few others and some solids.

Anyways, this is a bit larger than most of my quilts, its perfect for a throw over a couch, but would also be good as an extra blanket kept at the foot of the bed- its final measurement it 60″ x 60″.

I am happy with how it turned out, and I like the quilting lines a lot. I did them on either side of each seam, and then down the middle of each zig zag. On the back it makes a nice herringbone-esque pattern. And I accidentally made the binding waaaay skinnier than normal, and skinnier than I calculated for, but it turned out ok. It’s about a half inch on either side.

I hope you like it too!

And it’s not perfect, but I’d say more than half of my points stayed pointy, and most-ish of my seams lined up, so I was excited! Still not great at cutting out squares. And, now that I look at the thumbnails, it kinda reminds me of Missoni, which I like.

Cincinnati International Quilt Show!

Not a great day for driving! First up, the mishaps: Why is it soooo frustrating to get lost? Especially when you have a GPS? I might have gone a little bit nuts trying to navigate the fair city of Cincinnati. After the show I wanted to go to Old Navy to look at some pants I’ve been hearing good things about. My GPS kept pinpointing me at the wrong place, so I didnt know if I was going in the right direction or not. I got off the right street, and onto the wrong street, lots of overpasses and  construction and metal. Lots of metal and steel in Cinci. Plus the rain. Then I was trapped on a road that followed the river, and there didnt seem to be a way to cross said river. Little did I know that I didnt actually need to cross the river, but I thought I did.  All the houses were built into the side of a hill and overlooked a valley. I had no clue where I was. My GPS kept leading me deep into the hill. Higher up. More twisty streets. More decrepit houses. Boys carrying fishing poles. It was weird. Tiny alleyways. When I eventually found a main road, and travelled down it, it was only to discover that Old Navy is gone, and a Michael’s is now in its place. Ahhh! That was a frustrating hour of the day, I’ll tell ya what. But on to better things. The Quilt Show!

Part of it was a gallery, like an art show, and part of it was a market, with lots of vendors. I’ve decided I need a long arm quilting machine. Anyone have $10,000 they aren’t using? From the show part (this was before I noticed all the No Photos signs…. Once I saw them I became a law abiding citizen…)

These quilts were from the Cincinnati Modern Quilt Guild. They are all modern interpretations of the “Ohio Star” block, which normally looks like this I guess.

I thought this one was neat because from far away the white squares to me looked light flashed of light, or some type of sparkle. But up close they were just some random small white squares. Cool.

This quilt was crazy! The first picture is a closeup with my hand for scale- each little square was probably only a centimeter. The picture on the left is the whole quilt. Whoa! So many tiles. I dont even undertand how it is possible to create this. Amazing. I also liked the hot pink and turquoise (duh). And the crazy chickens! (?)

Another one made of a million tiny scraps. But these seemed to be fused on top of each other, or appliquéd, rather than sewn into rows.

This was a crazy 3D art quilt. A map of Central Park in New York, with all the buildings around it.

This one’s colors didnt draw me in at first, but the DETAIL! Plus there were tons of awesome matryoshka dolls and mushrooms! And something I thought was so cool was that she had some little dolls peeking out past the binding. Now that’s thinking outside the box. I really liked it.

These were a couple more I thought were neat. The yellow flower one especially I thought did neat things with fabric.

And here are a couple shots from the market side. Lots and lots of thread. Some apparel fabrics! Brutus Buckey mini quilts. I thought it was kinda random that they had Buckeye stuff. But then like 10 hours later I remembered– I was in Ohio! And a neat “Love” quilt pattern/kit.

Plus, of course, MY loot! I had some cashola saved up for a straightening iron.. but I think my current one can hang on a bit longer. So I took that stash with me, plus used some of my recent Etsy funds. I don’t think I overspent. For the most part I tried to buy things I hadn’t seen before. Plus some affordable batting. And fabric dye, which is my new goal project. And I must be in a pink/yellow mood from the spiderweb quilt… oh, and I bought some awesome silk that was only $9.99 a yard. I hope I can figure out how to sew a pretty shirt with it. I plan to practice with voile. (It’s the pink with black bows). And that duck fabric!! It’s home dec weight. I’ve already tried scouring the internet for more but I can’t find it. I know the manufacturer is “kokka” a Japanese brand, but I can’t find it. It came in blue too. May be good for some babies I know

Thanks for reading! It was fun to wander around and think about sewing, and see what other people are doing.

Friday!

Finished! I love the colors and fabrics in this quilt. I will post better pictures of it soon, once I can take it outside into the sun.

Making progress on this quilt as well. I need to cut out more pink triangles though, I used up my first batch. Am having some trouble deciding on what size to make this one. Thoughts? It’s basically either stop now, as a baby quilt, or keep going and make it way bigger.

Happy polka dot bundle of fat quarters I bought at Crimson Tate during First Friday party last week. That would have been fun to go to with CARRIE!! Instead I went alone. Ah well. Trying to decide what project to add these to.

Also have some great clutches almost finished– brand new design! I love them. Can’t wait to photograph them and list them online.

Have also made a last-minute decision to head to Cincinnati tomorrow for the International Quilt Show since I am not able to visit grandma because poor old gal broke her foot. Hoping to get inspired….but I’m sure I will. Now I am wishing I had gone to the library for a book on tape to listen to in the car after all. Darn!

Hope everyone has a good weekend!

Day off

Plumbing trouble= Day o’ Sewing! When Aaron took a shower this morning the downstairs bathtub filled almost completely full with grey/black water that smells like a perm. A dirty perm. And then it didn’t ever drain. So I had to call the plumber/maintenance  guy and I also couldn’t shower, and I havent showered now since Tuesday night, so I also couldnt go to work this morning. So sad! It has been super slow all week anyways, but I do kinda feel guilty about having the day off. Especially because Aaron has been so stressed and busy this week.

But I have gotten a lot of sewing done! In addition to being more than half-way done now with quilting the zigzag quilt I’ve been working on. Moved my sewing machine out to the dining room table for some more room. I’ve also started making something using the spiderweb block tutorial that we learned at the quilt meeting last month! I really like making them, and I like how they are turning out.

And what quilter among us wouldnt be happy to be able to utilize such small scraps! Of course this is bad for my organizational skills since I now don’t think I’ll be able to justify throwing ANY scraps away. I guess less than half an inch?

These are the strips cut out and in a messy pile. I’m using a very light pink solid for the middles and a color scheme of pinks and yellow. And I have used nothing but pieces from my scrap bag!

And here is a very poorly lit camera phone picture of the first few squares lined up together on the floor. I have no more batting to stick them to, and my wall is very bare! I’ll have to get some tomorrow. If I can ever shower again! I also really have to pee but the plumber is doing stuff with the pipes so I feel like I shouldn’t. I am planning to use Aaron’s fancy camera and do a quilt photo shoot outside in a few weekends to get some good pictures of stuff. Maybe Holiday Park, which is a really cool spot in Indy.

I’ve also been reading (devouring) the book “Room.” Have you read it?? It has totally sucked me in. I’ll probably finish it tonight, and I just started it yesterday. Another book I heard all about but keep not reading. When will I learn?

New Favorite Project!

So I am finally finished with this quilt! It was inspired by this one, but I like the look of some blank space better than filling the whole quilt with stars. Either way is cool thought.

 It really didnt take that long, I just spread out the time that I was working on it. And the way I quilted it took a while. And then I was planning to try hand stitching on the binding… so I gave that a whirl. And it was super NOT fun at all. So I stopped after a couple inches. I was worried forcing myself to do it would end up making me hate be fave quilt! No good. So instead I machine quilted it, which I believe still looks great, and it only took about 10 minutes. Sweet! Here are some along-the-way shots:

All the squares cut out with the points of the stars sewn on.

Squares trimmed and ready to place on my hanging piece of batting, which is extremely usedful for laying out quilts, because the fabric just sticks to it! Who knew! (Answer: lots of people.) Since these stars line up against one another, you can’t make them as individual blocks, or there’d be white space all around them. Well, you can do that, you just end up with a different look (like this)

So I layed out all the stars first, and then I filled in the rest with plain white blocks. Every block was 3 1/2″ square. After that, I broke the quilt down into sections and sewed those into blocks. About 6 x 6 squares at a time. And even though I did that, a lot of my lines still don’t exactly match… I’m still working on that. I think it’s a problem with my cutting. Maybe related to my rotary cuter… I should probably just splurge on the Gingher one I’ve been eying!

And here’s a close up of the quilt, blue the fabric I used as the back, a fun Anna Maria Horner fabric. And I like the binding fabric too.

ANd there she is in all her glory. Slightly bigger than the other quilts I’ve made, but still on the small side (not so for the other quilt top I just finished: 60 x 60… that’s big for me). This one is about 44 x 52. Good for a lap or a baby. Hope you like it too!!

Super Sewing Saturday

Spent yesterday having lots of fun in the sewing world! It was really a great, energy-boosting day, and left me feeling very inspired.

Early afternoon was the Modern Quilt Guild meeting in Noblesville at a quilting shop I had never been to before. Yay! New fabric to look at! It’s called Always in Stiches. It was huge and they had a great selection. Lots of neat fabrics I’d never seen before, and a bunch of good solids too. The lady at the cutting counter informed me of problems with last years cotton crops, which are causing fabric prices to rise. I will have to research that. Interesting to learn though. The star quilt below is hanging in the store. I think it’s a pretty awesome use of solids, and I really want to learn how to make those little stars in the corners. Anyone know what they’re called?

The meeting itself was great too, lots of amazing projects during show and tell. I love seeing how other people have used the same fabric I’ve used in the past. I love seeing all the different skill levels and how at every level you can achieve something really cool. Seriously, I always love every show and tell thing at the meetings. Even if the colors arent something I’d normally use, I like seeing the work that went into something, or hearing the story behind a project. Plus I always get lots of ideas when I’m at the meetings. From color combos, to squares, to sizes. This week we also were taught how to do a block, and it was one I’ve had the tutorial for it (here) pinned on my Pinterest Quilts Board forever, but never got around to it. So, I’m planning on making a baby quilt I think in pinks and yellows, with a light, baby pink solid I bought yesterday as the center.

Also at the meeting, I won the “traveling stash box”! It’s a box people contribute fabric, patterns, thread, etc to, and then one person gets to take it home for the month, use whatever they want from it, and then bring it back with a few new items in it. I NEVER win things, ever. Have never won money on a scratch off. Never win raffles or contests. I think I won a clown pencil in first grade at the Fun Fair (literally the last time I won something!). So I was pretty pumped! Above is a picture of some of the cool stuff that was in the box. I’ve been wanting that bike fabric forever!

After the meeting I was driving home, feeling energized, and remembered that Saturday evening was also Open Sew at Crimson Tate. Basically you just bring your sewing machine and a project and hang out with other people who are sewing. I stopped at home, saw that Aaron was planning to just lay on the couch, and decided to head downtown. Crimson Tate is a great modern fabric shop downtown Indy on Mass Ave. It was so fun to work in a new space, which I’ve never done before. I loved how sunny it was in there, from the whole front wall being windows.  A very relaxing, spacious, and encouraging place to work. It was also great to see even more projects that people were working on.

I brought the green fabric for the rest of my Dresden Plates (the others are in a aqua color palate) and got the fabric ironed, cut, and 2 plates done. Just have to finish up the last 2 today. Something else I love about the Quilt Guild, and the Open Sew, is how generous others are with their praise for your work. Everyone is always excited to check out other projects, and there is never any weird jealousy or negative energy, really just sincere well wishes, and I think that’s really great. I know I’m a person who requires a fairly high amount of external feedback/praise–it acts as a great motivator to me, so I value it highly, and am grateful I found these spaces in Indy.

Being at Crimson Tate made me start daydreaming about one day having my own shop/studio. I am taking the Praxis test to get certified to teach English, but I’m really just doing it because it’s responsible and I feel like I should try to get a full-time, reliable job/income. But I am not exactly suited to be a teacher. I love teaching, sometimes. I prefer one-on-one, and I prefer teaching about things I really care about. I do think I have strengths as a teacher, like being able to explain things many ways, and be clear and concise. But at the same time, it’s not in my nature to stand in front of a class, with all eyes on me all day long. Having to always be “on.” It is exhausting. NOT the way I get energized. Which is why I’m not sure about teaching full time. We’ll see. I’ll take the test and go from  there.

But for now, I pledge to dedicate more time to sewing, and getting started on this ridiculously long list of projects I have! I even have the fabric for most of them! So, I’ll keep you updated on what I’m working on. My white star quilt is almost finished, just need to do the binding, so I’ll post more on that this week!

Hope everyone else is having a fun- and inspiration-filled weekend as well!

Freezer Paper Printing: Easy How To

This month I completed my second project of attempting to learn something new/use a new medium: I made labels for the insides of the bags I sell on Etsy! It was actually incredibly easy, and I really like how they turned out.

The first thing I did was buy this freezer paper. I think you can buy it in rolls, like wax paper, but I couldn’t find any, plus you are going to need to cut it down to fit in your printer, so this was easiest.

This first thing you do is place your fabric on the ironing board, then place the freezer paper on top, shiny side down. Then just iron them together. The iron melts the wax and the paper sticks to the fabric. Once they are connected, trim off the extra fabric so you have a piece of fabric/paper that is 8 1/2″ x 11″.

The next step is to prepare whatever it is you want to print. I just opened a Word document and typed the name of my store in the font I use on my Etsy page. I did it in a few shades of grey and a few shades of turquoise because I wasn’t sure which one would turn out the best.

The next step is to just load it into your printer, making sure that the fabric side faces whichever way your printer feeds through to print on. Once it prints, you have a sheet of paper/fabric with your pattern on it!

All you have to do then is just peel the freezer paper off and you are left with just fabric.

I cut mine into labels and then sewed them to the linings of some bags I am going to post in my shop soon.

Like this awesome and bright one, made of 2 kinds of silk- hot pink raw silk and a slinky grey/cream polka dot, both purchased from French Seam. Oh, and I just remembered their silks are 40% off this week, so I will be going there tomorrow after work. Yay!

So, this project only took about 15 minutes, and I think there are so many options for things to print. I was thinking of printing outlines to then embroider over, or printing pictures to incorporate into a quilt. Even printing a pattern onto a small piece of fabric to use as lining or something. But I like using it for labels too, super easy, and much cheaper than the sites I’ve seen where you custom order fabric labels… No need!

Chicken Quilt!

Finished this quilt order today, for a friend of a friend. I really like how it turned out, even though it is very earth-tones-y, which is not my usual palate. But I like the wonky log cabin squares on the front, and I like the use of muslin. I like muslin because it has little flecks of natural cotton that hasnt been bleached away. Or, I don’t really know what the flecks are, but I do know (know=I’m pretty sure) that muslin is unbleached cotton. Whatever it is, I like it! And I like that the quilt has little chickens and sheep and birds and hedgehogs and I think it works well for a boy or a girl. I also like the little vegetable family on the back, which was inspired by this quilt here. I hope Cathy’s friends love it!

Oh, and here’s a picture of me at the Quilt Guild show and tell, before the binding was put on