Film in the Fridge » quilting

crazy crazy, or crazy fun?

admin — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 12:16:29 +0000

I still can’t decide. Sometimes I think it’s just crazy crazy, but lately I’m leaning more towards crazy fun.

After realizing that my scrap situation was getting a little out of hand, I needed to make something that would use them up. I wanted to try to make a block where all the points met in the middle, somewhat reminiscent of a spiderweb block, but without the paper piecing (and without the eight-sided web part). I pieced these in an improv-style, grabbing scraps as I went, and not worrying about the sizes of each wedge. I pieced each half individually, then matched them with another half to make each square block.

I made a few blocks to test it out, and I didn’t think they were too bad, but I wasn’t getting a very good reaction from Morgan. Each time I’d make another, he’d wonder aloud why I was making more of them. It got to the point where he’d just shake his head when he saw me reach for the scrap basket. I thought he’d see my vision when it was all sewn together, but to be honest, I’m still not sure he’s feeling it.

You know what though? The more I look at it, the more I like it, and that’s all that matters right?!

But with that said, what’s your opinion? Crazy crazy? Or crazy fun?

(and speaking of crazy fun, this blurry action shot shows my mom using the quilt top as a cape!)

Update: I’ve just posted a tutorial showing my process for creating these blocks. You can find it here!

far far away 2 quilt (with the registered holsteins)

admin — Tue, 20 Jul 2010 11:47:07 +0000

I’m really really happy with this quilt.

(really happy)

I started it right after I finished my Flea Market Fancy lattice quilts, and it was that quilt that inspired this design – the reverse of the lattice quilt. I used Heather Ross’s new Far Far Away II line — I wanted to see larger pieces of each design, and this quilt design worked well for that. I cut each square on the bias so that the pattern design would be oriented correctly when I set it on point.

For the backing I used Kona Artichoke paired with the Kona Snow used for the sashing with strips of the remaining Far Far Away II prints (of course!).

I wasn’t quite sure how I wanted to quilt this one – it’s on the larger size so I wasn’t really relishing the idea of straight lines, but in the end I really felt that’s what it needed. And then to make it take even longer, I decided it also needed double quilting lines… But now that it’s finished I’m really happy I went for it. You don’t notice the quilting as much on the front side, but it really stands out and makes a great pattern on the backing.

Have I told you about one of my favorite parts of quilting? Taking photos of the finished quilts. (I think that’s partly what pushes me to finish quilts quickly!). I love driving around and looking for fun locations. This weekend we went to a tiny little town in New York to visit my grandmother for her birthday. During the two hour drive I worked on the binding of this quilt and kept looking up periodically looking for a spot to photograph this partially finished quilt.

We passed this barn on the way to NY and I was totally in love with the color, the weathered look, and that sign, but we had already driven by and I didn’t want to annoy anyone in the car. But of course then I couldn’t stop thinking about it. Luckily it was still light out on our way back home later that day (and by that time the binding was done) so we were able to stop for a brief little photo shoot. There was a house nearby where I’m sure the owner of this barn lived — I wonder if they were in there watching us and wondering what we were up to, or if perhaps we were so fast that they didn’t even notice us. In any case, thank you to the owner of this barn! If only it was located closer to my home – I’d be using it as a backdrop quite often!

Notes:

Original post about this quilt can be found here.

Looking to buy some Far Far Away II? Hawthorne Threads just received a few more of these prints, with more arriving in August. Fabricworm & Pink Chalk Fabrics also have some of these prints available at this time.

Oh, and for those who asked, I think this line is great for quilting, even though it’s a cotton/linen blend. I like the contrast in textures, and I really like the extra weight that the linen provides, especially in a quilt this size. It gets cold here in VT, so I’m happy to have a heavier weight quilt!

charmed…

admin — Wed, 14 Jul 2010 12:33:16 +0000

Now I realize that not everyone enjoys charm square quilts, but I continue to find them fun, if for nothing else than the fact that it gives me something to sew at that very moment and doesn’t require too much thought. Because sometimes I like to sew just for the sake of sewing. I think I tend to make these quilts when I’m working on a larger quilt that’s taking some time — these give me the satisfaction of a quick finish and then I’m better able to get back to working on the larger projects. At any rate, here they are -

A cute little one out of the new Urban Chicks Dream On charm packs I managed to snag on ebay…

a bold & fun one out of MoMo Odyssea -

and an old favorite, out of a couple of MoMo Wonderland charm packs I had set aside -

Oh, and the other good thing about these charm square quilts? They’re small and therefore quite portable. And if you know me, you know that I don’t like to waste a moment sitting around without simultaneously working on a project! Handsewing these bindings kept me quite entertained in the car this past weekend!

All three are for sale in the shop.

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Timber!

admin — Mon, 12 Jul 2010 12:58:47 +0000

Remember this quilt? These colors always felt beachy to me, so I figured it was only right to take photos of it at the lake. This one is made from Jessica Levitt’s Timber line in the breeze colorway.

The pattern is my take on the quilt pattern used in Randi’s ‘On the Road to Spring’ quiltalong. I changed it up a bit by altering the size of the rectangles, adding in the thin white strips on either side of the solid green squares, and adjusting the placement of the blocks.

One of my favorite prints from this line is this larger floral, so I used a large section of it on the back along with a strip of rectangles I had left over from the front. (and yes, the green is the same on the front and the back, though the color certainly looks different depending on how the sun hits it!)

I always had it in mind to bind it in the same green solid that’s used throughout the quilt, but as I was quilting it I kept thinking about purple instead. One of my favorite Kona solids is Raisin – I pulled a piece out after I was done quilting it and was pleased to see that the raisin went quite nicely!

This one ended up measuring about 60″ x 66″ or so – a great size for a throw! It’s listed in the shop, (sold, thanks Kaz!) should anyone be interested…

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Notes:

Some of the Timber fabrics can be still be purchased at fabricworm or at Hawthorne Threads

The solid green fabric is Moda Bella Pistachio and the binding is Kona Raisin.

I’m nothing if not predictable (another FFA2 quilt)

admin — Mon, 28 Jun 2010 12:07:16 +0000

Because if it’s not a patchwork square quilt, it’ll probably be a strip quilt!

I know, I know… try something new already! That’s pretty much what I say to myself too, but then I find myself once again making another strip quilt. Because if I’m perfectly honest, I really love them. I’m pretty sure that I could make a patchwork quilt and a strip quilt out of all my favorite fabrics lines and continue to be quite happy.

I originally planned on making a second patchwork quilt out of the remaining Far Far Away 2 fabrics I had left over, but at the very last second decided to go for strip quilt instead. I’m happy I did, because I think the strip quilt works well with these designs — you get to see a little more of Heather‘s fabulous designs this way.

I added in some Kona Snow and some Essex linen blend (in putty, I think?). The back got a couple extra strips of the prints along with some more of the Essex linen. I really love the texture and extra weight of the linen/cotton blends. And to add to the predictability, I used my favorite lime green binding. Of course.

I’m not sure where this one will end up… I’m kind of tempted to keep it, but we’ll see! I do know that I’ll first spend some time fixing a little error I just noticed. (photos always show you the errors that aren’t blatantly obvious when you’re just looking at the quilt in person, don’t they?) Well, I just noticed in these photos that one side is clearly not straight, even though I remember making sure it was square… (hmmm…), so I think I’ll spend a little time ripping out that section of binding so I can trim that little bulge down. Good fun.

I’m on a boat (with a quilt)

admin — Mon, 21 Jun 2010 13:09:59 +0000

A trip across the lake for ice cream… you’d bring your quilt, right?

Of course!

I finished up the binding while on the boat (not recommended! the waves and the speed tend to hinder progress) and so of course had to take the opportunity to get a couple shots while in this tiny little town.

I bought 1/4 yard cuts of most of the prints, and then used squares that were 4.5″ for this patchwork quilt (that way I have enough for a second quilt, should I be so inclined!).

Since some of the prints are a larger scale print, I did have to cut right through the designs, but I think it’s ok in this type of patchwork – it’s kind of fun to see a slightly different little picture in each of the squares.

The back is predominantly pink, with several of the extra squares from the front. I was most pleased that the quilting lines actually go through the diagonal on the squares on the back as well (this of course was not skill, just pure luck!).

It’s now been washed and dried and measures 46″ x 52″. Many of you asked about quilting with this fabric since it’s a linen/cotton blend – I found it to be quite similar to the Etsuko Furuya Echino fabrics – it’s a nice weight, not too heavy, and I think it gives the quilt a great weight & feel. Since it’s made of a linen blend, it’s not as soft as a regular quilting weight cotton, but I enjoy the texture the linen provides, and I imagine that it would continue to soften up with use and with additional washes.

This quilt will be listed in the shop shortly! Sold, thank you!

Notes:

Solid colors used in this quilt -

Konas – Sage, Woodrose, Eggplant, Petal, Stone

Robert Kaufman Essex cotton/linen blend – Natural, Putty

Moda Bella – Pistachio, Mist

(I don’t know the color name for the solid orange though I believe it was a P & B Textile solid.)

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Whip Up Mini Quilts – a review and a giveaway!

admin — Thu, 10 Jun 2010 12:16:14 +0000

I’m so pleased to be part of Kathreen Ricketson‘s blog tour for her new book, Whip Up Mini Quilts, published by Chronicle Books.

I enjoyed this book right from the very beginning. While I typically breeze right through introductions and info about sewing techniques, the information in the front of this book grabbed my attention, especially the stitch dictionary (I know nearly nothing about handsewing!). Kathreen also provides great information about the history of quilting, how to select colors, a bit about various quilt designs, and a section on applique and other decorative elements. I love that she provides a nice overview of all these topics all in one place. I can see myself using this as a great reference.

And how about those quilts? This book contains a number of beautiful quilts, contributed by some very talented quilters. There’s such a great variety of quilts and I’ve been enjoying just flipping through and admiring the photos of these gorgeous quilts. I love that there are many different techniques used – applique, curved piecing, improv piecing, Shibori dyeing – as well as different types of quilting, and even many different methods for binding, including a piped binding, which I’d really love to try!

I haven’t made too many mini quilts (even when I’m trying for a small quilt, it always ends up being larger than I expected!), but this book inspired me to give it another go..

Inspired by this quilt above, which uses a single shape, some linen and a bit of hand stitching (something way out of my comfort zone!) I pulled out some small scraps of Far Far Away II left over from my last quilt.

I used a nice Essex cotton/linen blend for the background and appliqued (something else out of my comfort zone!) 2.5″ squares of the Far Far Away and a few corresponding solids. I used some perle cotton to do a bit of hand stitching – some Sashiko stitches (I learned that from the stitch dictionary!) around a few of the squares.

My handsewing still needs some work, certainly, but I’m so happy that this book encouraged me to actually give hand stitching a try! I’m not sure I see myself hand quilting a larger quilt, but maybe another mini. And this photo of a wall full of beautiful mini quilts definitely has me inspired to make a few more (Morgan doesn’t like quilts on the wall, but maybe he won’t notice?!)

(photo from WhipUp.net)

___

Anyway, would you like to win a copy of this book? Chronicle Books has generously donated a copy for one lucky commenter. Please leave a comment here to be entered. It’s not necessary, but if you want to, maybe you’ll let me know what you think of mini quilts. Have you made any? How do you display them? And if you have made any, do you wash them? I’m curious…(and trying to figure out if I should wash the one I made!)

I’ll select and post the winner on Friday.

Edit: Comments are now closed. I’ll select and post a winner shortly!

And here are the other blog stops – be sure to check them out for additional information about the book and about mini quilts!

6/1 - Craftzine – essential quilting tools
6/2 - Crafty Pod – book review & giveaway
6/3 - Chronicle Books – Behind the making of the book
6/4 – Indie Fixx – Designing your own mini-quilts
6/7 – Craft Sanity – Piped binding tutorial
6/8 – Handmade by Alissa
6/9 – My Love for You Background on Mini Quilts
6/10 - Film in the Fridge
6/11 - The Haystack Needle Decorating with mini quilts
6/12 – West Coast Crafty

a flea market fancy lattice quilt

admin — Mon, 07 Jun 2010 11:47:06 +0000

This quilt is a marriage of two loves – string quilts and Flea Market Fancy. It’s also one that I’ve wanted to make for ages… ever since my first string quilt. I think I might have been under the impression that it was too easy, so I never bothered, but you know what? Sometimes you want a nice easy project. Instant gratification is a good thing from time to time, right?

(please ignore all the piles of mess! clearly I did not pick up before taking these photos!)

I decided to cut into my Flea Market Fancy stash for a queen sized quilt for our bed. I used the same string quilt method but rather than using the white strip through the center of each block, I used a wider strip of one of the FMF prints. Then I bordered each strip with solid white.

I really love this simple, clean look and the way it really highlights the FMF prints. The other nice part is that it didn’t use a ton of flea market fancy, while still giving the look of a flea market fancy quilt.

I’d really like to do some straight line quilting on it – to add a bit of a pattern to those solid white squares – though I’m totally afraid of how long it might take! I made up a baby version just so I could test it out (same pattern, but slightly smaller starting block size).

And it turns out that I do love the quilting, but it really took some time, even on this baby sized quilt. I’m not sure if I have the patience to do the same sort of quilting on a queen/king sized quilt!

Anyway, the back of this one is a nice solid green, with a hint of the lattice pattern (or maybe an “x marks the spot”). I really love the pattern the quilting creates on the back!

Now that I see this one done, I really want to get that larger one done! (though to be honest, the thought of all that work makes me want to set it aside and work on something else instead!) Hope I’m not the only one daunted by quilts of that size!

a 2008 quilt is finally finished!

admin — Thu, 03 Jun 2010 12:46:21 +0000

It seems rather appropriate to have just finished this quilt, just in time for my 2 year blogiversary, since it’s one of the very first quilt tops I made. This happens to be another one of those quilts that I started way back when (according to the original post about this quilt, that would be in August of 2008), long before I actually knew anything about quilting. If I recall, I saw some version of this quilt on Flickr and decided I should make one. I wanted a scrappy quilt, so I used one piece of each fabric I owned at the time (I ended up having to buy a few scrap bags so as to not duplicate any!)

I do specifically remember that I wasn’t sure this sewing thing was going to stick, so I was really against investing in all the “quilting tools” which would have made my life easier. (Morgan finally talked me into a tiny cutting mat and a teeny tiny rotary cutter).

At this point in time I would look at a piece of fabric and would have absolutely no idea how to go about cutting it – either in a straight line, or in any shape I might want (even a simple shape like these rectangles!). I had my brother come over and cut several rectangular templates for me out of a file folder. Then I used my teeny tiny rotary cutter to cut around this paper template. The template got smaller and smaller as I kept trimming little slivers off each side (oops!). I convinced myself that wouldn’t really matter in the end, so I just kept going. Of course, we all know how that ended, right?

After I started sewing the rows together it clearly wasn’t lining up correctly and I got a little tired of it. I put it away for a while and then periodically pulled it out and considered finishing it. Each time I pulled it out I remembered why I hadn’t finished it. I was pretty convinced I wasn’t going to finish it and I almost cut it apart to get a few pieces of my favorite fabrics back.

Fast forward to about a month ago. I pulled it out (again!) and decided that it deserved to be finished. If for nothing else than to remind myself about how I started. So it’s done, and while it’s certainly not one of my favorites, I’ve decided to embrace it in all its wonkiness! And speaking of wonky, want to see that part?

Oh, here’s some!

Oh, and here’s a little more wonkiness… (and yes, those little slivers are supposed to be full rectangles. In order to square the quilt I ended up just hacking the bottom off!)

But if nothing else, this might show you how a little quilting and a trip through the washer and dryer can make things look a lot better. And once it’s all rumpled on the couch I don’t even notice how it doesn’t line up correctly!

goldfish squared baby quilts

admin — Wed, 26 May 2010 11:59:06 +0000

I showed you a few of these goldfish blocks recently and now I’m happy to show you the quilts they ended up in!

This Heather Ross goldfish fabric lends itself so well to fussy cutting, and I knew I wanted to use them as the centers of each block. So I cut them up into single goldfish and pairs of goldfish, framed each with a thin border and then surrounded that with other fun prints and solids.

Originally I wasn’t sure about adding the Kona Stone into the mix, but after using it in the twin strip quilts, I loved it so much that I wanted to use it in these twin quilts as well. I ended up using the same design I used for my munki martians quilt and my munki in the middle twin quilts (I must have a thing for twin quilts!), framing each individual block with white and sashing them in the Kona Stone. I love how the blocks pop off the neutral background.

I kept the backs pretty simple – more Kona Stone with a little pieced section to add a bit of fun -

I quilted it on the diagonal with double straight lines and since I loved them so much, used the same stripey bindings as on the previous quilts.

They each measure 33 1/2″ x 36 1/2″ and are listed in the shop!

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Oh, and of course (it goes without saying!) thanks so much for all the nice comments about my new table! I’ve been using it for a few days now and I must say that having this much space on a tabletop is fun, though I have to keep reminding myself that just because the space is there doesn’t mean I should fill it up!

To answer a few questions – the blue wall color in the den is Overcast by Glidden. The butterfly and crab framed paper art in this post was made following this tutorial. I don’t yet have a chair to use while sewing at the new table, but I’m thinking I’ll probably get a couple backless stools so that I can put them under the table when not in use. And speaking of sewing, my main machine is a Pfaff Expressions 2036. I also have a Pfaff Grand Quilter which I keep upstairs. Answers to other FAQs can be found in the FAQ discussion thread over in the FITF flickr group. (Did I get them all?!)