Pinwheels in progress

Remember all my half square triangles?


Somewhere between class & work, I have managed to make a little progress.


You know the drill, squares into blocks, blocks into rows, rows into...

a finished top! Well, nearly finished, I'm going to add a border of some sort. I'm thinking just white... but maybe something in the corners. What do you think?

Lots and lots of little squares

I have a love hate relationship with quilting sometimes. At times I really enjoy the mindless & repetitive tasks.... in particular cutting out the pieces and then grouping them by color & size. I love chain piecing, I'll sit there and pin a whole stack of pieces while watching TV then zoom zoom zoom zoom through my sewing machine. Then I snip & stack the pieces, snip & stack, snip & stack. Love it. But then of course at some point in the process I'll realize "good lord, I've got about 25 more steps before I have an actual quilt."

When it comes to handicrafts some people are process oriented -they don't really care how long it takes to finish a particular piece, they just enjoy the process of working on it, and others are product oriented - these are the folks who like to write lists & check things off. I'm probably about about 30% process oriented and 70% product oriented. I enjoy the process up to the point when I'm piecing the top and it starts to get big. Then the desire to have the finished quilt kicks in and I power through to the end.

I'm in the first 30% of my next few quilts at the moment, but don't have much to show yet.

Way back whenever I'd found this "Rachel's Baskets" quilt pattern in a book I think it was called "Relax & Quilt" (pattern by Marti Michell) and wanted to make it for my niece Rachel.

I had a rather healthy stash of calicoes leftover from my first quilt, so I started cutting out little 31/2" squares out of what I had... picked up a few pretty fat quarters and as time went by with this quilt still in the 'someday' stage I'd cut the scraps from my other quilts into 31/2" squares as well.

You can imagine, I ended up with lots and lots and lots of squares. Lots and lots and lots of little squares.

Well 'someday' kept getting pushed back and eventually my little baby niece was much more interested in Hannah Montana than in cutesy, pretty, little girly-girl calicoes. Oh well. I made her another quilt and was left with all these little squares.

Now, I loves me some scrappy quilts, and am currently curled up under my very first calico quilt, but my tastes are changing and I really want to start transitioning my stash more into the batik world. But in order to do that I need to mentally and physically start clearing out some space.

To that end... all these little squares have to go someplace. I've got two ideas in mind.

1. A pink pinwheel quilt... I'm thinking lap-sized (or you know baby-quilt sized if any of my friends would actually have a GIRL for a change - I've made about 9 or 10 baby quilts and all but 1 were for boys!)

2. A calico / white half square triangle quilt something like this one from an appropriately named quilt blog "squares & triangles" :

And to that end I've been making little half square triangles like a mad-woman.

Matching and pinning.

Sewing and snipping.
Flipping and pressing.

Ah... and when you flip 'em and press 'em open you get the wonky little tabs at the corners. I guess I could leave them in, but then the seems would be thicker than necessary... gotta square 'em up.

Snipping and sorting.

So that's what I've been working on. And I'm at the point where I'm getting a weee bit tired of the repetitiveness and thinking "good lord I've got 25 more steps to go!" But I guess it's all part of the process.

Batik Bricks

I finished up Batik Bricks a little while ago.


I didn't do anything fancy with it, just some diagonal quilting, and what is becoming my signature (lazy) straight line quilting in the border. I think it turned out fine. I'm still not okay with the purple, but oh well.


Lesson learned... if I don't love the fabrics, I'm probably not going to love the quilt.


Oh... and in February I finished up this Pirate quilt, and gave it away on Saturday.

Somehow though, I completely forgot to take any pictures of it finished up! I did a thin black inner border, and I can't remember if I did a red outer border... or if I just finished it with red on the back & red binding. Gah... it looked pretty good, can't believe I forgot the finished shot. Oh well.

So I hadn't posted it in February, but it was finished, so that's 3 finished quilts in the first three months of the year. If I keep on this pace, I could conceivably meet the 12 quilts in a year challenge... but I'm not sure how hard I'm going to pursue that.

First FO of the new year!

Thanks go this three-day weekend, I was able to finish up my first quilt of the 2011. Technically I started it in 2010... but it was just a top, all of the quilting & binding took place this year.



As with all the quilts I make, I absolutely love this one. The fabrics make me sooooo happy. Thus, I'm calling it my Happy Batiks quilt. Went with my new favorite quilting technique - wavy diagonal lines. I'm really starting to feel like my quilting is improving.

*Just wanted to add that I want to show this quilt at the Sister's Outdoor Quilt show this summer. I'm also trying to decide if I want to offer it for sale there or not. As I was making it my intention was to try to make this one for sale, but then I got it all finished up and I just love it! Selling a quilt you've made yourself is almost like selling your baby, you know?

If I ever do decide to start selling my quilts, I think the key will be to make two identical quilts at the same time... and keep one for myself!!

Go Titans!

Having made a quilt for my niece, I felt obligated to make something for my nephew as well. Maybe not the purest of quilting intentions... but there you go. He's a boy... so it was rather more of a challenge. But my brother in law was telling me a story of how they went to a Titans game last year, but it was so cold they ended up leaving just after half time. So hopefully next time they go, they'll remember to bring this & get to stay for the whole game!
I used the same pattern I used for the puppy quilt I made a while ago. It only took a week, start to finish. Not the most amazing quilt ever. But I am happy with how it turned out. And my nephew liked it well enough. Not as much as the light up glitter ball I got him (from Brookstone), or the light-saber chapstick, but he consented to have it on his bed. ;)

Again, I used wavy lines for the quilting. Nothing fancy. I bought some of the fabric online... this was a first for me. One of them I ended up not using. I really really didn't like it. The quality was really low even though it was 100% cotton. I think in the future I'll stick to shopping in fabric stores... or at least only buying from big name manufacturers.


So that's what I've been up to.... finishing some Christmas presents. And now that I've gotten my obligatory family trip out of the way, I'm free to celebrate the rest of the season the way I want to! First up - Tuba Christmas in downtown Portland. =)

Floral Stripes - finished!

I just got back from Christmas with my family, and was able to give my niece and nephew their quilts. Here's the one I made for Rachael... I'm thrilled with how it turned out.


It's just a lap sized quilt, but it fits well enough on the top of her bed.


I've decided that wavy lines are my new favorite way to quilt!


And I feel like I'm finally getting the hand of machine binding. It's not absolutely perfect, but it looks good.

I love love love this quilt. And my niece liked it too. Which you know, is good. ;)

I should really be studying Spanish.

But I'm not... I've been just quilt quilt quilting away!

I had a bunch of tiny half-square triangle blocks left over from my Ruby lap-quilt. I didn't want to waste them, so I made a little wall hanging.

Nothin' fancy really, I used the same general light/dark pattern I used on the green quilt. The quilting is just wavy diagonal lines, which I think worked well. I'm really happy with the binding too. Binding is my least favorite part of quilting, and while I still hate it, but now I think I'm finally getting the hang of it.


Since this was intended as a wall-hanging, I decided to make a sleeve for the back... actually I made two. I sewed the top part in with the binding, and then hand sewed the bottom part, with enough give in it to allow me to put a rod through it.

I don't actually have a proper quilt hanging... dealie, so I improvised. This picture was taken before I'd tacked down the bottom part of the sleeves - they don't show now.

I really like it!

Emeralds

Do you remember this?

I finished it up a while ago, but I finally got to give it away. So here it is!


Yet another baby quilt. A very cute baby boy... the nursery is in greens & browns so this will fit right in. I really like how the contrast works in this one. The quilting is diagonal lines 1/4" outside the ditch, the border is just parallel lines.




Not much else to say actually. Except that I hope to make a quilt like this for myself some day soon!

Obsessed?

What makes you say that?

I have been quilting up a storm lately. Seriously, all I want to do is stay home and quilt... all day long. Which is a slight problem when one has... you know, a JOB and all.

But here's what I've been working on.

Valorie Well's Stripes for my niece - the quilting is well underway. I'm doing straight lines down the brown side stripes and wavy lines down all the other stripes. It's easy, and I'm liking the effect, but because I'm quilting it much than I usually do, it's taking a long time. I usually skimp on the quilting part, only doing enough to hold down the pieces... but I've realized how much I love tightly quilted pieces, so I'm going to start doing a bit more.

And I've picked up a new (old) project. After being trapped in my apartment for 3 days by the approximately 2 1/2 inches of snow we got in 2008, I made my way to the fabric store to replenish my stash. I bought a bunch of bright & happy batiks to counter all the cold grey snow. Well, last week I picked up those happy batiks and took them from this:



to this:


and then, to this:

I don't usually like pieced blocks, greatly preferring scrappy one-patch patterns, but this pattern was perfect showcase for the fabrics. I've actually got the blocks all sewn into rows, and will probably finish up the top today.

The thing is, I'm kind of stumped as to how to quilt this one. I'm not even sure what color thread to use considering the high contrast between the white, the black & the colors. Maybe a grey? Any ideas or suggestions??

I've also started another new project, a wall-hanging made from the scraps of my Rubies & Diamonds quilt. This will be the first time I've made a quilt specifically for hanging on the wall - I'm going to make a sleeve for it and everything!


So, that's what I've been up to. As someone else mentioned, it feels like I'm making up for the year of no-quilting in Thailand, and it feels really good. Now that it's getting cold, I've pulled out several of my quilts, and I just can't tell you how happy they make me. I love the colors and the textures and the fact that *I* made them. Maybe I'm obsessed, maybe I've just really gotten into a creative groove. Either way I'm pretty happy. =)

Rubies

Here she is, my new favorite quilt!



I loves loves loves it. I'm absolutely absurdly happy about it.

The quilting is pretty simple, although it was a pain in the but to keep turning it through the sewing machine.


Yeah, it stayed folded up for like 4 seconds, but now it's on me. Even though it's a lap quilt, I think I'll be keeping it on my bed for the foreseeable future. =)

Air

Here is my second ever art quilt. It's actually unfinished in this picture - too lazy to finish binding it before taking the picture.


The theme is air and I've been thinking about it since I made my first art quilt, which was more of a forest-y earth theme. I've also got a water themed quilt in mind.

Things I liked about this quilt:
1. The idea was stuck in my mind and it was starting to bug me, so I'm glad I finally got it out.
2. I used a piece of felt instead of batting, and that made it easier to work with.
3. I think the freehand embroidery turned out pretty well.

The thing I don't so much like about it:
1. I rushed it, I was really impatient to get it out and got kind of sloppy. I do that a lot.
2. It was super hard to sew the feather down without just mashing it down, so that wasn't so awesome.

Overall, I like playing with my fabrics, I like embellishing, and I like doing little projects just for me. So I'm going to keep exploring the idea of art quilts... and next time dedicate a bit more time to it, so I can be happier with the quality of it.

Quilts in progress

I'm really happy with how much quitling I've been doing since I've been back. I've finished five quilts in nine months. Not bad... and I've got a few more on deck.

1. Mystery quilt #1: It's almost finished, I just need to add the binding. I hate binding. =( But I love love LOVE this quilt, and it's another one I almost don't want to give away.


2. Mystery quilt #2: Just getting started, I've cut out a few of the pieces, I don't think it'll take too long to finish up though.

3. Rubies: It's well underway, I've done about half the quilting. If I just sat and did it, I could easily finish it up in a week... but see projects 1 & 2 above for why I haven't.

4. & 5. Flying Geese & Stripes: Both tops are done, and both need to be backed, quilted & finished up. I'm seriously considering sending the flying geese one out to be professionally quilted, I just need to find a professional quilter & get an estimate of cost. I'm hoping to find someone who will just take it as is and not ask me to pin or baste it first.


The striped one should be pretty easy, I'm not planning on doing anything fancy with the quilting. My goal is to have it done by Christmas to give to my niece.

6. Well, if I'm gonna give a quilt to my niece, I need to make one for my nephew as well. I've got an idea... but that's it. I should probably get workin' on it!

7. Gaaaaah! This thing was supposed to be a flower basket quilt for my niece... and when I started it she was young enough to like a flowery girly quilt like this but now that she's a 'Tween... not gonna cut it. I don't particularly want a flower basket quilt and on top of that, I made some design changes between cutting out the blocks and starting to sew them together. If I keep going as is, there's gonna have to be math. I hate math. =( So I may just cut my losses here and re-appropriate the fabrics for another cause.

8. I really want to make more 'art quilts' for lack of a better word. Really I just want to play with fabric & embellishments on a small scale. I have some ideas and am excited to try them out.

So that's what's going on in my quilting world. I hope to have all of these finished up before the end of the year. Which may be a bit unrealistic when I start taking classes again. But it's good to have goals. =)

Playtime!

I've been putting a fair bit of work on gift quilts and really needed some time to play. There was an inspiring article in one my old copies of Quilting Arts Magazine (February/March 2008) about collage quilts, basically embellishing quilted panels with a variety of objects. It's like the perfect play-time project to do with some of the scrap fabric I've been collecting. I designated Tuesday night as play-time and I can't tell you how excited I was about it.

On my way home from work I collected all of these goodies.

Then I sewed up some of my favorite green batik scraps, aiming for a 3" x 5" postcard quilt size.

I added the found objects using a kind of animal/vegetable/mineral concept. You can't hardly see the 'animal' component - it's the wool yarn tying the rock down. Then I embellished it with some embroidery threads.

I got most of it done on Tuesday... but finished up some of the embroidery and the binding tonight. Verdict = SUPER FUN! And I think I can call this my first official "art quilt" - whatever that means. ;) I already have some ideas for the next couple I want projects I want to do.

Snips and Snails...

Although I haven't been posting... I have been crafting. But again, more gifts (I have extremely fecund friends) ... so I haven't wanted to post them until I gave them away.


In addition to my friends reproducing like rabbits, they're all bringing little boys into the world. Which is lovely and all... except that my quilting stash leans heavily in the girly-pink-floral direction. I was really stumped about this particular quilt. I knew I'd need a quick and easy pattern, and I knew it couldn't be a 'scrappy' quilt because I just didn't have enough fabric for that.


So I'd been popping into quilt shops here and there looking for inspiration. It finally came when I visited the Oregon Coast back in... uh... May maybe? There were all these puppy prints in half-yard and yard cuts already wrapped up. The couple happens to have to dogs, and you know... snips & snails & puppy dog tails seemed appropriate. I picked up a healthy stack and called it good. Then I headed to the library and flipped through a whole stack of quilt books until I found this, basic, but really useful pattern. I may have even bumped up the size of the blocks a bit so it would make up faster. Yeah yeah... I'm such a cheater.

Anyway, no more chatting... here are the pictures. Here's the full quilt on a bright sunny day.
The puppy paw prints went well with the larger dog prints, but the doggy toy print didn't really go. It was too cute to pass up though... so it makes good backing fabric!
Close up of the doggies... I set them every-which-way so they wouldn't have to worry about the right side up, they could just throw it on the floor & it would be interesting from every direction. Yeah, that and I'm lazy. ;)
Despite picking an easy pattern, I still didn't have it done by the baby-shower, not by a long shot (stupid work & Spanish classes taking up all my quilting time). I finally mailed it off last week, and lo & behold she went into labor. The new dad sent me an email yesterday, when they came home from the hospital the package was on their doorstep. So I got it in just under the wire! He sent me a picture of the baby with his quilt. Which cracks me up because he's soooo small right now, he makes the quilt look gigantic. I guess he'll grow into it soon enough. =)
I hope he likes it!

A little less conversation a little more action please.

My mom (like most women of her age) was a serious Elvis fan. So while I am of course familiar with his music and I've seen the clips of the women screaming and fainting in the aisles...I never really got into him. He was just someone my *mom* liked ... you know, he was (or would be) OLD! But I was just watching some clips of Elvis in his prime and dude - HE WAS HOT! Like, seriously seriously hot. I get it now.


Anyway... my point being, in between clips of Elvis and all, I've been pretty busy in my real life and haven't been taking the time to update my blog.

I'm still plugging away at the red batik quilt... toying with the name Rubys & Diamonds, I'm maybe halfway done with the quilting, if I really sat down with it, I could finish it in a weekend. But I get tired of having to move the entire quilt around every time I turn a corner... so I'm taking it slow.I pulled together the leftover fabric from my Valerie Wells funky squares quilt and made up a quilt top that I like vastly more than the original quilt.
Still haven't gotten my good camera fixed, so the colors aren't great in this picture.




It's a bit narrower than I'd like it to be, but I'm about out of fabric. As it was, I was kind of improvising with the solid brown stripes on the sides. Fortunately my niece is a very skinny little girl, and I think this one will be right up her alley with the bright colors and floral patterns. Still gotta decide on a quilting pattern... something with long straight(ish) lines! But there's no reason this couldn't be done in time for either her Birthday (in July) or Christmas. We'll see.

I've picked up some knitting WIPs too recently, although I haven't made much progress on anything.