Favorites

Friday, July 22, 2016

https://www.flickr.com/photos/7401290@N07/27854898203/
1. FO: Cabin for a whale by Jacey, 2. Photoshoot overkill - Poster in Coral by Debbie, 3. La Passacaglia by Ulrike Kittel, 4. Gatekeeper One Room Schoolhouse Finish by AnneMarie, 5. My #epicamhdrunklovequiltforjen top by Jen, 6. Seersucker Quilt by SunshineHandcraft, 7. Giant BearPaw Quilt by themakingsofjoy, 8. Raw I by Jayne, 9. Clover Patchwork Quilt by themakingsofjoy

Periodically, I go through my favorite photos on Flickr, and choose nine sewing/quilting related projects to showcase here. These photos and projects are not my own, you can find the original images and creators by clicking the coordinating links! If for any reason you do not want your project featured here, please email me and I'll remove it!

Happy Weekend!

Fantastic Quilt Voyage Traveling Bee Part I

Wednesday, July 20, 2016


Happy Wednesday! As I mentioned when I posted about Amanda's Buffy Quilt, for the past year and a half I've been a part of a traveling quilt bee. Our bee is called Fantastic Quilt Voyage, and you can see the blocks we've been making in the hashtag #fantasticquiltvoyage on Instagram. We each started our own quilt, and then it is passed along to each member and they add to it. Today I want to share some of the contributions I've made to member quilts so far!

Above is the start to my quilt. My theme was "make do", and all of these were orphaned blocks from my stash. I asked members to take the same type of approach and make something that suited their fancy, in cool colors. Here is the pinterest board for my quilt.


The first quilt that I worked on was Natalie's. The theme of Natalie's quilt was nature, but not necessarily a realistic interpretation. She asked for improvisational patchwork and sent a really fun and cheerful bunch of fabrics. The scrappy bear paw block above was her quilt start! You can see her Pinterest board for her quilt here.


This is the block I made for Natalie's quilt! I decided to do some pine trees for my contribution. I drew up the wonky geese block paper piecing templates in Illustrator, which was an easy way to make sure they were plenty improv-looking. Sort of a funny way about doing it, but it worked for me! I used lots of different low volume pieces she sent to piece together my little forest of trees.


The next quilt I worked on was Sara's. Sara sent lots of Kawaii (cute!) prints, which I was really excited to work with. She was going for a busy sampler feel. These were the blocks for her quilt when it got to me! Lots of little blocks with black and white to calm down the mix of prints. You can see the Pinterest board for her quilt here.


I made three small blocks for Sara's quilt! The start block is the final star in my Shining Stars Sampler Pattern. It was fun using lots of different prints for the background. I really wanted to use that cute penguin fabric, and I love a good disappearing nine-patch. Finally I made a simple block from Tula Pink's City Sampler Book.


Up next was Ara Jane's quilt. For Ara Jane's quilt, she wanted it to be urban and city-inspired, again without being too literal. Inspiration was drawn from maps, city views, architecture, linearity. These were the blocks that came to me! You can see the Pinterest board for her quilt here.


I was really inspired by this pin from her board. It reminded me of the Haphazard Chevron Pillow pattern from Christina and Diane's book, Quilting Happiness. I used the technique to make this block. It was really fun, and I love how it turned out! I pieced together some of the trimmings for the little block.


The next quilt I worked on was Melinda's. Melinda wanted a strip quilt in warm colors, with other small patchwork elements or blocks mixed in. This was the collection of blocks made by the time the quilt made it to me! Lots of different interpretations! You can see the Pinterest board for her quilt here.


Here is the block I made for Melinda's quilt! I forgot to take a photo of it, but Jacey was kind enough to snap this photo while the quilt was at her house! I first made a bit of strip fabric using small strips. Then I used that fabric to cut squares and make a few half-square triangles. These became the center cog in my block. I then framed it out with more strips! I loved working with these colors.

That's it for the first half of the quilts, I'll share the rest later this year!

Happy Quilting!

All Blue Woven Quilt from Patchwork Essentials

Monday, July 11, 2016

Woven Quilt from Patchwork Essentials: The Half-Square Triangle | InColorOrder.com
Happy Monday! I'm really excited to share one of my recent quilting finishes with you today! Earlier this year I was approached by Pat Roche, owner of Triangles on a Roll, asking if I'd be interested in trying out her products. Christina has been using and talking about triangles on a roll for years, and I had always wanted to try them. I had been thinking about what quilt I wanted to remake from Patchwork Essentials: The Half-Square Triangle, so Pat's email was perfect timing!

Woven Quilt from Patchwork Essentials: The Half-Square Triangle | InColorOrder.com
Woven Quilt from Relative Scale Chapter. © 2015 Lauren Hunt for Lucky Spool Media. 

I decided I would make the Woven quilt. This is one of my favorite designs in the book, and both half-square triangle sizes matched up with roll sizes. You can get half-square triangle rolls in eleven different sizes. Use the half-square triangle finished sizes provided with each quilt in the book to decide which size rolls you need!

They also make rolls for quarter-square triangles, flying geese, braids, and other triangles! Find them all here.

Woven Quilt from Patchwork Essentials: The Half-Square Triangle | InColorOrder.com
I recently reorganized all my quilting cotton fabrics and realized I have a very large stash of blues. In an effort to make a dent in my blue stash, I decided to make an all blue Woven quilt. I didn't have enough of any one fabric for the background, so I used low-volume light blues for the background, and navy blues for the "print" portion.

Woven Quilt from Patchwork Essentials: The Half-Square Triangle | InColorOrder.com
I needed one roll of each size to make my half-square triangles for this quilt. That kept things nice and simple. I wanted this quilt to be super scrappy, so I cut squares from my stacks, but it would have been a lot more efficient to cut strips (which is what the instructions say to do!). Next time I use the rolls I'll do that!

Woven Quilt from Patchwork Essentials: The Half-Square Triangle | InColorOrder.com
So how do you use Triangles on a Roll? They're basically rolls of foundation paper that you sew through and then trim down to size to make your half-square triangles. I pinned the paper to each pair of squares, then sewed on the marked lines through the paper. After that I cut around the outside lines as indicated. Finally I pulled off the papers and pressed. The half-square triangles are now the perfect size and ready to go.

Woven Quilt from Patchwork Essentials: The Half-Square Triangle | InColorOrder.com
Woven Quilt from Patchwork Essentials: The Half-Square Triangle | InColorOrder.com
After making lots and lots of half-square triangles for the quilts in my book, it was fun trying out a completely different piecing method. I enjoyed mixing it up, and I would definitely use the rolls again! I have some left of both sizes so I'll be able to make something else too.

Check out some of my other favorite half-square triangle and quilting tools here.

Woven Quilt from Patchwork Essentials: The Half-Square Triangle | InColorOrder.com
I tried really hard to have no two same prints touching each other when I pieced all the blocks together and I *think* I succeeded! It required a little block surgery since I found a couple when the top was already mostly pieced, but it was worth it.

Woven Quilt from Patchwork Essentials: The Half-Square Triangle | InColorOrder.com
Ta-da! When I first started this quilt I was unsure that I would have enough contrast throughout the quilt to really let the pattern shine. I almost ditched some of the more muted dark blues and the darker light blues. Thankfully, Jacey talked me out of it! I am so happy with the range of colors and pattern.

Woven Quilt from Patchwork Essentials: The Half-Square Triangle | InColorOrder.com
I sent this quilt and my Blockade Quilt to Melissa of Sew Shabby Quilting for quilting. I love this Peacock Feathers pattern she had, this was my first time choosing it. I think it adds nice movement to the geometric design.

Woven Quilt from Patchwork Essentials: The Half-Square Triangle | InColorOrder.com
I pieced together a backing from navy yardage I had on hand, and bound it up in the same Luxe in Bloom print that I used for Amanda's quilt.

Woven Quilt from Patchwork Essentials: The Half-Square Triangle | InColorOrder.com
Melissa finished quilting my quilts right before I left for Ohio last month, so I asked her to ship them to my parent's house. I was able to bind and photograph both quilts while I was home. There was no shortage of helpers and testers around!

Woven Quilt from Patchwork Essentials: The Half-Square Triangle | InColorOrder.com
I know the last quilt I finished is usually my favorite, but I really love this one. This is my first monochromatic quilt and I think I'd like to make more. I wish it had eaten up more of my blue stash, but I did use up a total of 11.5 yards making this quilt! I used so many different fabrics, including some precious hoarded ones. It's fun to see many years of fabrics mixing together in one quilt. Yay for stash diving!

Pick up a copy of Patchwork Essentials here.

Happy Quilting!

June 2016 Report

Wednesday, July 6, 2016


Since I already did a bit of a catch-up post for June last week, I wanted to talk about the first half of 2016 in my June report. First of all, how is this year already half over? Seems crazy that it's already July.


I wasn't sure how I'd like working through my stash goals or if I'd completely bail on them. I'm happy to say that for the first time this year, I am in the negative for my fabric stash! YAY! Now I just have to stay strong and continue to bring in less than I use. I've loved the organizational side of it. I have a spreadsheet where I track everything that comes in and out of my stash. There is a field for what the fabric is, what project it's for, amount and cost (if it's coming in). The tracking part has been really fun and I get excited when I finish a project and I can log the yardage. It's totally dorky, but it's working for me!

*Edited to add: I've uploaded a blank version of the simple spreadsheet I use to my google drive here, if you're interested! Under the fabric column I often simply write stash if I've used more than one fabric for a project. When I buy fabric, I write stash in the project column too. I only use the price column if I buy fabric or if I destash it, I count it as negative.


It's also been nice having project goals in general, I think I'll definitely do this again next year and keep up the tracking too. It's been really satisfying and has encouraged me to sew more. I can't believe how much progress it's pushed me to make on long term projects like my double wedding ring quilt.

As I've mentioned, to keep myself accountable I'm tracking my yardage for both yarn and fabric. Here is how I did in June:

June Fabric
Used up: 59.25 yards
Brought in: 19.5 yards
Net: -39.75 yards
Year to date: -21.625 yards

June Yarn
Used up: 0 yards
Brought in: 750 yards
Net: +750 yards
Year to date: +1087 yards


I am really excited that I have finally dipped into negative on my fabric stash this year! I still brought in more fabric that I planed, but that's okay. Between vacation fabric shopping and the The Sewcial Lounge closing, I feel like I was pretty restrained. I used up most of this month's fabric by finishing two quilts and destashing 25 yards worth of solid scraps! I never would have guessed I had that many. No knitting finishes this month. Picked up a little yarn while I was home. Itching to get back to knitting more regularly. I did start a new shawl last month!


Considering I was in Ohio for two full weeks of June, I am happy with my progress towards my goals. I finished up two quilts and took photos of them. I sewed heart blocks, finished my Mom's Maker's tote, sewed a drawstring bag, a hallway curtain, and finished another knit Linden Sweatshirt. I didn't work on any other garments this month, but I did get completely caught up on my double wedding ring wedges! So now May's and June's are done and I am over halfway done with the wedges for the quilt!


My big goal for July is to finally sew up my Archer Popover. I've had the pieces cut out since March, so I'd love to get that off my plate. I would like to baste and quilt my scrappy trip around the world quilt, which I finished the top for last month! I have a few work related things to sew too and I'm hoping to work on a few new patterns too. We'll see what I can get through this month!


George bunny, looking extra cute!

Happy Sewing!

Happy Fourth of July!

Monday, July 4, 2016


Happy Fourth of July from George, Jeni, and Michael!

Favorites

Friday, July 1, 2016


1. Handmade for Leslie by DeeRoo G, 2. Human (quilt back) by Rae Arnold, 3. Mountain Scene warm by Quiltachusetts, 4. T-Pink & Orange Glimmer by Linda Miller, 5. Rainbow "Cumulative Effect" Quilt by Stacey O'Malley, 6. Continuing my beequilt by Anne @ surelynotanotherproject, 7. Paper Cut No. 1 - Mini Quilt by Stacey O'Malley, 8. Winged block quilt by Rachel @ liketosew.blogspot.com, 9. Desert Rose by Melissa Corry

Periodically, I go through my favorite photos on Flickr, and choose nine sewing/quilting related projects to showcase here. These photos and projects are not my own, you can find the original images and creators by clicking the coordinating links! If for any reason you do not want your project featured here, please email me and I'll remove it!

Happy Weekend!