boogaj

Pinned

Yesterday my Mom took the grand kids for a day of fun, so I was without the child.  And what did I do with my freedom?  I crawled around no the floor,pinning a quilt together.  I guess this means I need to quilt it now.  I wish I had more confidence in my quilting skills, but shoving this large-ish quilt through my little Pfaff sounds like it will be a struggle.  Cant I just skip right to the binding? 

Summer is for Quilting

I'm not sure why, but as the weather gets warmer, I start thinking about quilting.  Recently I took out the quilt I started working on last summer and got to work.  

 

The top is complete, and I have even purchased the binding and backing fabric, as well as the batting.  

 

I love all the fancy backs that I've seen around the blogs, but I think I'm going simple on this one.  There is already enough bulk where the points on all those triangles come together, so I don't want to risk adding even more and causing myself difficulties in the quilting stage.

Let's see if I can keep up the momentum.

New EQ7 Coming out in May!

I've been using Electric Quilt Software for ages.  In fact, I posted about EQ5 way back in 2006.  I loved EQ5 and I hope to get a chance to try out the new EQ7 and share the goodness.  In fact, they are having giveaways on 10 blogs, and I'm hoping I'm one of them!  Fingers crossed!

My first Liberated Quiltmaking block

I mentioned yesterday that I was loving Gwen Marston's new book -- Liberated Quiltmaking II -- and here's proof!  I took out the scrap bag and just started playing.  It's fun and seems to work best when you stop thinking too much.  My only issue is having the iron and sewing machine in two different rooms, which slowed down progress considerably.

Oh, and the Pfaff is having serious tension issues.  Any suggestions on a fix?  I was going to Google it today in an attempt to accomplish a home repair, but I'm afraid this means a trip to the sewing machine repairman.  Boo.

Loving: Liberated Quiltmaking II

Liberated Quiltmaking II by Gwen Marston

I Love Flea Market Fancy

I love Denyse Schmidt's gorgeous Flea Market Fancy fabric and wish I could get my hands on some more of it someday, don't you?  If you answered yes, then the Flea Market Fancy Freaks website is the place for you.

Pinwheel Concept

I finally got a chance to finish trimming the pinwheel quilt blocks and I wanted to lay out a few of them to get an idea of how the finished quilt might look.

I started with four charm packs, using two to make blocks that are mixed up and two to make single fabric pinwheels. I decided early on that I would stagger these two types -- kinda an ordered chaos type of thing.

Anyway, I'm looking forward to finding a spot to lay out all 80 blocks, which I think I have to do if I want to get a good distribution of colors. While I'd love to be able to pick random blocks and just start sewing, I don't think I can do it. Perhaps it's my need for control or perfection (oldest sibling issues -- can't fight birth order). I'm not sure this week will give me much free time, but I'm really looking forward to finishing up this quilt top.

Work In Progress

There is something that I find extremely appealing about a pile of fabric scraps. Maybe it's the feeling of having accomplished something, yet I don't think that's entirely it. Am I the only one that feels this way?

Being somewhat late to the game (a sports metaphor -- will wonders never cease?), I recently discovered charm packs. Well, not so much discovered them since I knew they were out there -- I just didn't think they had any real purpose. Was I ever wrong! My least favorite aspect of quilting is the cutting -- I demand perfection of myself and labor over each cut. These charm packs remove this from the equation almost entirely. I did still have to cut up the white fabric, but that was a breeze in comparison to cutting up squares out of 40 different fabrics. Yikes!

When I was at the quilt shop the ladies there told me about a fun little tool called the Quick Quarter, which led me to making lots of triangles which I decided to turn into pinwheels. After going through one charm pack, I decided that this was so much fun that the originally planned mini quilt was to become a full sized quilt and luckily the quilt shop had several more packs of the came fabric in stock.

I have a feeling that this will be done soon as I can't seem to stop working on it!

Maddie is making her first quilt!

As Maddie turned 4, 5 and 6, I started to introduce crafts to her. While I saw a spark of interest now and again, nothing really seemed to stick. At 7 I took a step back and waited. Now she's 8 and suddenly she's turned crafty!! First there was the potholder business ( which is still going strong! She's sold 4 potholders through etsy and now she's making some for Grandma.) and this past week she started sewing. Be still my heart.

We stopped by the local fabric shop -- Robert's Sewing Center -- after a failed trip to an estate sale that was a total dud. We were looking at all the pre-cut Moda packs and she fell in love with the Fresh Picked fabric pack and I told her she could get it and try sewing on the machine. She was nervous at first, but soon she was off and running! She's sewed 3 strips of her 6 strip quilt already and has plans to make a pillow after finishing her quilt.  I'm so proud of her!

Quilt Inspiration

I recently found this zag quilt tutorial and haven't been able to get it out of my head. Perhaps I'll have to start cutting out some squares this week.

Cute Teapot Quilt Tutorial

I've been thoroughly enjoying the goings on at Pink Penguin lately -- everything from the whimsical teapots to the cute pincushions. So I was very excited to see that she shared a tutorial for the teapot quilt squares on her blog today! Really, you should stop by and take a look at her blog if you don't already subscribe -- very cute stuff!

Maddie's Quilt is Finished!

I don't think I've mentioned it here on the blog, but I've been making an effort to finish up projects that have been sitting around for a while. First there were the STR socks and now I have finished Maddie's Quilt! This was a long time coming as I started it back in July. (And sadly, called it a "quick quilt" -- 5 months doesn't seem very "quick" to me.)

It was a great way to use up a lot of FQ's and scraps and was very simple to make. I did learn that I need to find a new technique for quilting on my little Pfaff -- or I need to get a bigger one -- because pushing this monster through that machine nearly did me in.

And I changed stitches partway through the hand sewing of the binding. At first I was using some sort of blind stitch, I think. For the final stretch I changed my technique, sitting with the binding toward me and the back up and I worked from right to left using a ladder stitch. It was much quicker and looked just as neat. I'm also glad I went for the black binding, I think it gives it some nice contrast and a little more interest than it would have had if I went for another pastel.

Maddie seems to like it and that's really the best part about finishing it up.  And now I need to block out the Keepsake Shawl which is another recent finish.  Looks like 2009 is going to be wide open for new projects and this rate!

Coins Quilt Top Complete

Quilt #1 from Piecing the Piece O'Cake Way is complete!  Well, to be more precise, the top is complete.  I still haven't decided what I'm going to do with all these tops since my fear of machine quilting hasn't quite subsided.  Perhaps I'll find a local class that gets me more comfortable with it -- and maybe I'll bite the bullet and get the larger machine I need for quilting.  In the long run it would be less expensive then sending these quilts out to be quilted by someone else and the reality is that if I decided to hand quilt them, they would never get done. 

The final sewing -- with the borders and sashing -- went very smoothly.  Even though the size was off by 1 in. I was consistent in my errors so there were no adjustments to be made other than to cut the sashing and borders a bit longer than the pattern specified.  I'm already feeling more confident in my piecing and I'm looking forward to the next project -- a log cabin quilt!

Coins Quilt Progress

Last weekend I found some time to stitch together the strips for my coins quilt -- paying special attention to the seam allowances.  Despite my best efforts and the use of a 1/2 in. foot on my machine, my final strips are 1 in. too long!  Each step along the way I measured and adjusted and re-measured.  A little math explains the difference -- there are 26 pieces in each strip for a total of 25 seams.  So each seam is off by only .04 inches.  I suppose no matter how well I measured, this small difference was bound to go undetected.  And I can't really determine if the difference was in the cutting or the sewing. 

At least I can take solace in the fact that all of the three strips are the same size.  So I'll just have to cut the middle strips and side borders one inch longer.

Here's my question to all experienced quilters out there.  Is this acceptable?  Or should I be worried about this 1 inch difference?  In the end, I guess the simple fact is that I really did try to get the seams exact and I was still off, so I probably have to live with it.

In other news, thrifting season has begun!  While there haven't been too many garage sales yet, the church rummage sales are in full swing and today I picked up these sweaters for $1 each.  Two are cashmere and the other is 100% wool.  Combined with some thrifted sweaters I got last summer and the bag of colorful scraps I purchased from Betz, I'm ready to try out some projects from Warm Fuzzies!

There are a few more sales tomorrow, so we'll see what they bring.  Last weekend I missed out on 2 looms at a church sale -- and we arrived only shortly after the sale began.  Tomorrow we're getting up bright and early!

Quilt Strips

As I begin to work my way through Piecing the Piece O'Cake Way the first skill I have encountered is rotary cutting -- specifically cutting strips.  Now I've done rotary cutting before and it seems that everyone has their own way to go about doing it, but I think that focusing only on the way in the book was good for me.  Before this I had my own method which was confused by the quilting teacher that I took a class from about 1 1/2 years ago -- leaving my method a mixed up, sloppy mess.  So I think it was good for me to really focus on this one simple skill without distraction. 

Next skill -- accurate 1/4" seam allowances.

Piecing step by step

I mentioned that I was awaiting the arrival of Piecing the Piece O'Cake Way: 17 Skill-Building Projects a while back -- well, it's here and I really like the look of it.  In fact, I've chosen my fabric for the first of those 17 skill building projects -- the Chinese Coins quilt. 

This book starts off with a lot of useful information about choosing fabrics, sewing machine usage, seam allowances, bindings, etc., and I was able to sit down and read through it easily.  There are plenty of photos to help explain things and I did learn a thing or two -- like that you should never pull the thread back through your machine -- always cut it off at the spool and pull it down through the mechanism.  I did not know this!

After the info, they present the quilts which are all made up in a manageable size (although they do provide instructions for sizing up) and are presented in several colorways.  As you would expect, skill level advances as you continue through the book with things such as curved piecing and complex stars toward the end.

I'm looking forward to working on the Chinese Coins quilt because it should be well within my comfort level and allow me to really focus on the details.  Progress pictures as soon as I get started.  I'm still recovering from the lovely stomach flu that hit me on Monday, so I need to take it easy this week.

Quilting Goals

Looking around the still torn apart spare room, I spotted something. . . a UFO that definitely needed my attention and soon.  Which brings me to today's craft:

Last year I did make some progress and actually finished a couple of quilts.  But the "quick and easy" quilt I was making for Maddie has languished.  (I started it back in July.)  The quilting was a *terrible* ordeal!!!!  My little sewing machine was not up to the task, but I ventured on -- machine quilting it on my little Pfaff.  Never again.  I'll either purchase a larger machine made for quilting or send out the next quilt because this nearly did me in. 

So, after an argument with Maddie in the fabric shop (this quilt was neither quick nor easy in retrospect!) we decided on the binding and I machine sewed it onto the front of the quilt.  Now I just need to hand sew it to the back and it will be all done.  I'm thinking this will be my TV project for the next month.

Other quilting goals include getting to work on the "quilt block a day" quilt which I have completely abandoned since around February of last year.  And I would also like to make a quilt for the family room that I can snuggle in while lazing on the couch.  (Using fabric from the stash, of course -- leading to another goal I'll talk about another day.)

Quick Quilt

Last week I washed a ton of my quilting fabric -- like 4 loads of it.  So over the weekend I had a lot of fabric to play with.  My goal was to make a quick, easy quilt top without using any pattern.  I separated out the pinks and blues and started cutting up strips.  The darkest were cut in 5 1/2" strips, mediums in 4 1/2" strips and lights in 2 1/2" strips.   After that I just started randomly sewing strips of the same width together.  It was very convenient that our bedroom floor is huge because I quickly outgrew the floor of the sewing (/writing/spare bed) room. 

After I arranged them how I wanted them -- making sure that no seams met anywhere by adding a bit to one end of a strip here and there -- I ironed the strips and started sewing them together -- taking 4 at a time and sewing 2 sets of two together and then sewing these to each other.  At the end I sewed the sets of 4 strips to each other and was all finished before dinner! 

I just need to find a backing and get this pinned and quilted.  Maddie has her eye on it -- flattering me by telling me how beautiful it is -- so I think it will probably go to her.  After all, if you know me and my color preferences (think autumn) you know that this would go absolutely no where in my house other than Maddie's room.  wish me luck quilting this monster on my little Pfaff!

Joel Dewberry Fabrics

The Joel Dewberry fabrics are up on the Westminster Fabrics site. There are so many that I love, but the one pictured here really stood out for me. I cannot wait to see this fabric in person!

Baby Quilt for TJQ!

My sister's baby shower was this past weekend, so I can finally show you what I've been spending a lot of my crafting time on!

I made her this baby quilt.  Here's the back:

I had a lot of fun making this -- baby quilts are pretty managable and I was able to quilt it on my sewing machine much more easily than my first quilt (which I don't think I've ever posted a photo of!)  Here are some "in process" shots:

Back taped right side down to the floor.

Here's the whole "quilt sandwich".

I used masking tape to get nice straight lines for the quilting

After quilting I give the whole thing a nice trim.

Binding machine sewn on one side.

After this point I simply hand-stitched the binding onto the back of the quilt.  Okay, I say simply, but it took so long!  It was good practice though and I felt like I was getting quicker near the end. 

I was so happy with this project that I've decided I might make a few more to sell.  I need to see how much time it actually takes me from start to finish, so one of the next projects on the list is making another one and keeping records of time and costs.  I'm kind of excited about it!

busy, red fabric, henna questions

I've been busy with work -- packing up orders for Stamping Online (my rubber stamp store) and making patterns for Black Sheep Bags.  However, I did sneak in some time for a little fabric shopping.  Do you see that bag on the left?  Well, here's what's inside:

Those are some fun red prints for my next quilt project -- a red and white quilt.  I love the graphic loveliness of this combo and have been itching to try one, so I'm starting to collect 1/4 yards and fq's in different red/white prints.  Oh -- and I had to pick up that orange print and those little remnants.  I'm thinking there will also be a 30's, Aunt Grace-ish, quilt in the future too!

Time to get back to work -- more packing and shipping to do!

Two New Quilt Blocks & a note about Stitch-Cast

Two new quilt blocks in the Flickr set.

And I'm thinking of starting to record some new episodes of Stitch-Cast now that I have my crafting mojo back. I'll probably go with a bit looser format -- talking about whatever strikes my fancy each week -- but I'd love to hear any show ideas you have. Is there a craft that you want to know more about? I'm willing to go find out about it for you! Just leave me a comment or email me (email link is up at the top of the right hand sidebar.

Pieces

While I haven't completed a quilt block in the last few days, I'm all set to get one finished today (and hopefully several this weekend).  I spent some time cutting and have quite a few pieces to show for my efforts.  I'm looking forward to sitting down at the machine and getting some sewing done, but I need to take a trip out to the quilt shop to get some thread first -- a minor roadblock.

I've been thinking of sewing a lot lately (when I'm not thinking about cross stitch) and I wanted to share a new book with you.  I purchased this a few weeks ago and have been meaning to write about it, but time has gotten away from me:

The book is called Simple Sewing with a French Twist and is written by Celine Dupuy.  There are a huge number of projects in it -- everything from simple bags and aprons to upholstery and home dec projects. 

The first section of the book is an illustrated sewing guide that coveres everything from handstitching an opening to inserting a zipper.  French seams are covered too -- which I appreciate because I always have to search the internet to remember how to do them! 

The middle part is filled with the projects which are divided into several sections including a "First Steps" chapter filled with simple projects -- perfect for a beginner, but fun for even an advanced seamstress.  There are also projects for the kitchen, bath, bedroom and even the garden!

The final section is devoted to fabric selection and she includes a list of suppliers, which is very useful if you want to duplicate the projects exactly as pictured.

There is so much in this book that it is fun just to page through it -- many projects can be adapted as you wish and are an inspiration from which to plan other projects.  Lots of photos and diagrams make this a joy to page through and remind me a bit of some of the Japanese craft books that I love so much.

Speaking of Japanese craft books -- I need to find time to give you a peek into the stack of the ones I received last week!

Not Quite Block-a-Day

Well, I haven't made a block *every* day, but I'm still keeping up with it on a pretty regular basis.  (As always, all blocks are here in my Flickr set.)  In fact, I cut out some of the plain squares today so I could get a little glimpse of what the quilt will look like when I'm all finished.  What do you think?

I'm back!

Quilt Block a Day is not dead!  Yesterday I was sore from the accident (Very stiff and my neck was aching), but today I'm much better (still achy neck, but all other stiffness is gone.)  So I'm back to quilting -- yipee!

As always, all quilt block are in my Flickr set.

So busy -- bad lighting

I was so busy today that I didn't get my block made until just now and it's already dark -- thus the lousy photo w/ flash. Today I didn't have any cutting to do (thank goodness!) and this block took very little time to put together.

I'm enjoying doing the quilt block a day thing even more than I thought I would. It's like I have a little something crafty to show for my day even on a busy day. It's just a little thing to do one block and I'm having no trouble fitting it into my schedule which is nice.

Oh -- I've posted more chocolate bar reviews over at the chocolate blog -- curry & chocolate is today's theme!

Now this is fun!

Okay -- something a little different!  Today I made my first "complicated" quilt block.  I can hear the seasoned quilters laughing at me -- but it's the trickiest block I've made to date so I am calling it complicated.

My biggest fear was getting the corners to line up properly and I guess my insane quest for prefect cutting paid off, because everything lines up nicely.  Whew!

My second worry was that my seam allowances wouldn't be right and the block would end up too small.  All is well though -- I actually had a smidge extra to cut off to square it up and the block now measures 12 1/2 X 12 1/2.  Whew, again!

While these are a bit more work than the blocks for my other quilt, they don't take all that much time and I feel like I could have this quilt top finished up before long.  Yeah!

And on the 7th day. . .

I made strips.  No quilt blocks today, but really the whole idea was to get me quilting/sewing every day and I definitely put in my time today.

For me the worst part is the cutting -- I get so crazy over it!  I try to make everything perfect, but I have a terrible ruler (must put that on my list next time I visit a quilt shop) and I get stressed out.  I also don't have a good cutting table, so I do it on my packing table which is too low -- back pain ensues.

But after all that cutting I got to sew together these strips and that was the fun part.  I should have plenty of strips to get me through the week, so stay tuned for my attempt at some 4 patches!

Study in browns & golds

Block #5 looks a lot like Block #2, so I thought today I would spare you the quilt block photo and instead show you a little something I've been working on.  (All blocks are in my Quilt Block a Day Flickr set.)

I mentioned a while ago that I have EQ5 (Electric Quilt v5) and that's what I used to design the quilt that  I've been working on lately.  The blocks are very simple because it was the first quilt I designed and only the second quilt I have made.  Now I'm starting to think that I need something just slightly more challenging -- so I worked up a new design!

This isn't much more difficult, but there will be some corners that have to meet in a nice lined up way -- so it's a step forward for me.  I'm using more Denyse Schmidt fabric -- but this time I'm pairing it with Espresso Kona Cotton (vs. white -- well, "Snow" is the exact color if I remember correctly.)

So hopefully some new blocks soon.  I'm just waiting for the Espresso fabric to go through the wash -- why I didn't wash it the moment it entered the house, I don't know.  Now I have to wait -- maybe this will make me learn my lesson.

I know they look the same. . .

I promise this is different than yesterday's block even though it looks the same.  (If you want to see all the blocks -- they are in my Quilt Block a Day Flickr set.

And if you are interested in hearing about the Coffee Crisp than stop by the Chocolate Blog.

21 days?!?

So it sounds like it takes somewhere between 21 days and a month to form a new habit.  Well, I'm on day 4 so I guess I have a way to go yet.  This is actually quilt block 3 which I made yesterday -- so I'm still on track with the block making but I'm behind with the posting already.

I've had a question about the pattern I'm using.  I actually made up the design myself and posted about it way back in April of last year.  The fabrics are Denise Schmidt Flea Market Fancy paired with Kona Cotton (the solids). 

I realize that these block are a bit boring since they are just a square in a square.  I'm thinking about starting up a second quilt so that I can have something a bit more challenging to work on when the mood strikes.  Looks like it's time to pull out the quilting magazines for some inspiration!

Quilt Block a Day - Day 2

I made it to day 2!  How many days does it take for something to becaome a habit?

Quilt Block a Day

I have a new project -- Quilt Block a Day. As the name suggests, I plan to make a quilt block every day this year. I'm starting a bit late, but I had a pile 'o blocks:

from the quilt I started last year. And I'm not much for the New Years resolution thing, so I'm starting it today (well, yesterday really.) I'll also be keeping the quilt block photos in a Flickr photo set.

Oh, this all came about because I was showing Pete the Gammill website and threatening to purchase a quilting machine. He said that if I finished 10 quilts this year, I could get one. Okay, I still probably wouldn't buy a Gammill -- they are a bit out of my price range. Although I love the pink one! If this comes to pass, I'll probably opt for a short arm like the Pfaff GrandQuilter. Hey, I can dream, right?

Quilt Obsessed -- please help!

Yesterday Material Obsession had this post which shows a bunch of beautiful completed quilts. Well, the one at the top just blew me away! It's from a pattern called Candied Hexagons that was in an issue of an Australian quilting magazine called Quilters Companion. Here's the issue with the same quilt right on the cover:

Now I think this is issue #18 maybe? And I want it!! I would really like to make this quilt! I've been looking for a quilt that I could hand piece -- a TV project that I could work on a bit each night. I think this may be just the thing. I can't stop thinking about it. If you know how I can get a hold of this issue, or if you have a copy you are willing to part with, I would love to do a trade or something!

Whoa, I love that quilt!!

WIP Confessional

It's time to lay it all out.  Well not all. . . I know I have more wip's than I'm showing here, but these are the ones I'll probably finish.  (Well mostly. . .)

Keepsake Shawl knit in many colors of Koigu.  I started this in 2004, I believe and I came up with a great system for knitting it so that I could just pick it up and remember exactly which yarn to use and which row I was on.  So why does is sit?  Who knows.  I really want to finish this one up, so I think I will make it my #1 knitting priority.

Ingeborg, oh Ingeborg.  I started you back when the knit-along began.  Was that 2004 also?  And every winter I pick you up and get re-invigorated . . . for about 15-20 rows.  Maybe this will be they year that you get finished!

Trekking socks started for the "Trek along with Me" knit-along.  I never did take a picture of me trekking along.  Is it still going on?  I'm *awful* with knit-alongs (see Ingeborg above) and should never, ever join them.  These socks will get finished though.  I love Trekking yarn!  It just takes me several months to finish a pair.

New felted bag design I'm playing around with.  It's a smallish bag and I'll finish it up in the next week or two.

What is this thing????  Why am I making it?  Okay, this is the Amineko and I decided to make it with Encore from the stash.  I should have gotten a different yarn.  I didn't really want a red cat and I don't really care for this yarn, so I never work on this project and the featureless head is all that has been made.  Time to rip this one out and start over with a new yarn, I think.  This was my only crochet project in the works and it's a failure.  Ugh!

Oh!  My quilt!  I love these fabrics and want to get back to work on this soon.  The last month has been so busy and I really need time when I want to quilt, so this has been neglected.  I know that cooler, quieter weekends are on the way though, so it will progress!

Mountain Colors woven scarf.  I love how the weaver's wool from Mt. Colors is sort of striping, sort of not in this scarf.  A free hour or two and some good podcasts to listen to and this will be finished!

I'm still making good progress on that lovely pink fiber from Blue Moon Fiber Arts.  The third bobbin is well on it's way to getting filled up and then it's on to plying.  I have no doubt that this will be finished up very soon.

Paradigm Lost cross-stitch sampler.  I often want to work on this but there are several impediments to my progress -- First, I don't have good lighting pretty much anywhere in the house and I really need it to work with this dark thread on linen.  Second, it's in a small basket, so I have to keep it stored off it's stretcher bars.  So I can't just pick it up and stitch a bit -- it requires set up time.  Third, my eyes get tired at night and that's usually when I find time to craft.  Hmmm. . .

Elsa Williams Jacobean Crewel Embroidery.  Not sure why this has stalled, other than the fact that I have so much going on. 

I realized that I haven't listed the Kumihimo braid I'm working on either.  And I'm sure there are other things.  Maybe posting photos of my wip's on a regular basis will get me excited about them again.  It seems to have worked.  I'm already looking forward to getting in some rows on the Keepsake Shawl!

In other news, guess what tomorrow is.  It's not my birthday, or wedding anniversary, but it is *an* anniversary for me. . .

Sewing results (with some chocolate and a kitty on the side)

On Saturday I cut, pressed, sewed, pressed, sewed, pressed, sewed some more . . . you get the idea.  Pretty soon it was evening and I realized I hadn't eaten or anything!  (And had a terrible migraine to show for it -- yikes!)  But I did get a good start on my quilt. 

There was a minor set back when I realized that my strip cutting method was not as accurate as I hoped.  I can sew a lovely seam, but the cutting part freaks me out!  They always seem to gloss over that part in the books and classes and I still haven't figured out how to get it quite right.  So after Squaring up, my blocks were 1/4 in. smaller than I planned.  That's okay though, I'm designing the quilt, so it's not like I have to adjust things to fit a pattern. 

I have quite a few blocks finished.  And to tell the truth, I'm not sure how many I'm going to make.  I want to make this large enough for our queen size bed and there will be sashing between the blocks.  (You can see the original plans here.)  So I guess I should do some calculating.

In other news, Amy sent me a wonderful gift of chocolate! 

They are chocolate covered cacao nibs from Scharffen Berger Choclate.  As usual, I'll give a full review when I finish them -- all I'll say for now is that they are highly addictive.  Thanks, Amy!

And I leave you with a picture of Spike, who has been my constant companion this past weekend.  Here he is sleeping on the bottom shelf on the bookshelf in my office (yes, I actually cleaned off an entire shelf in my office!)

Big Plans

I've got a four day weekend laid out before me and I've got big plans.  We'll see how far that big ol' spool of thread takes me.

Fabric Mail!

Not much time for posting today.  The new Spring stamps arrived over at my rubber stamps store, which means lots of website updates and orders being packaged up and shipped out.

When I returned from the post office I was rewarded with an inconspicuous package sitting on the doorstep.  When I opened up the plain white plastic parcel, this was inside!  A few of the Kona Cotton colors I wanted were backordered, but there is enough here to start playing.  Looks like the quilt might get started next week -- I'm very excited!

Quilt Study - Denyse Schmidt Fabrics

I've been having some serious fun with some new software.  I bought Electric Quilt 5 (which you may have heard me mention on my podcast) and I'm addicted!  I spent a little bit of time importing all the Denyse Schmidt fabrics and all the Kona Cotton Fabrics and I've been making all kinds of electric quilts. 

Now I'm still hand sewing the binding onto my first quilt, so I didn't want to pictk anything too tricky for quilt number two.  I figured it was risky enough that I was designing it myslef.  So I found the most simple blocks I could and started messing around.  So far this is my favorite design.  Each block is just a square of a solid color with four pieces of the DS print in a block around it like so:

I'm thinking that I should definitely be able to do this.  The only daunting thing is the finished size -- 104 in. X 104 in. 

So, that's my idea for my next quilt.  What do you think?

I'm in iTunes

First of all, I'm in iTunes! (It's not pretty though -- I updated my feed trying to fix that, but not sure if it took. iTunes seems to take *forever* to refresh.)

And today I sewed the binding on my quilt!! I have to hand sew it onto the back, so no photos yet. Quite exciting -- this means it is nearly a real quilt! If tou want to see a real actual quilt, look here.

Quilting Class Homework

On Sunday I thought I would try to do a little work on my quilt. . . well, it turned into a whole day project.   I just couldn't stop!  That first picture up there is the "quilt sandwich".  (Sorry for the skewed view -- I was standing on a chair and holding the camera up over my head.)   You lay out the backing (which I had to piece together) and smooth it out.  Then you lay down the batting -- I chose a cotton -- smooth that out and then the quilt top and, you guessed it, smooth that out.  Of course you have to iron the back and the top too so it all takes longer than you would think.   But look how flat it is when you are all done. . .

Isn't that cool?  (Okay, maybe only to me, or to another quilter who has done this before.)

After that I put something like 300 safety pins in the thing to hold it together.  Yikes!  My fingers were sore.  I couldn't find the plastic things that you put on the pins that are supposed to be so wonderful, so I soldiered on.  Here's the quilt all pinned up and partially quilted. . .

And a close-up so that you can see how I quilted it. . .

I machine quilted this and the quilting pattern I used was really not very smart.  See, when you machine quilt you have to move the whole quilt around, so every time I turned a corner -- which was about 1000 times, I had to move the quilt.  My shoulders were aching!  I didn't know any better though -- this is my first quilt after all.

I finished my quilting at class last night and if I have any time today (doubtful, since it's my nephew's birthday and I still need to get his gift) I may try to get started on the binding.  I'm really obsessed.