W.i.P. Wednesday: Kicking Off Summer

Today's our last day of school/my last day of freedom so I've been trying to get all my projects to a point where I can work on them with snippets of time.

I finished up this Going Coastal flimsy and after 3 trips to Quilter's Way for more fabric got a back pieced together.

I also finally cut into the Mendocino bundle I've been hoarding and made this chevron top.  Once my backing fabric shows up I'm hoping to get them both basted and ready for quilting.

And I've been prepping more La Passacaglia pieces for all those inevitable road trips.

What will you be sewing now that summer has arrived?

Another Round

I really didn't mean to make another Briar Rose project...  I just wanted something to tryout my new Drunkard's Path templates and the scraps were just sitting there on the edge of my cutting table.  Next thing I knew I had a stack cut out and I was on my way.

There are a million great tutorials out there on curved piecing.  For these 3 1/2" squares I had the best results pinning using Amanda Jean's technique.  In no time at all I had them pieced together.

For the quilting I just decided to do a spiral.  It's a little wonky in the middle but it gets easier as you work your way out...  quilting it was definitely giving me the spins.

I found this pretty pink binding leftover from my Ruffled Argyle so I was ready with some handwork in time for family movie night (The Martian - not as good as the book but Matt Damon;-)

And here's the collection...  3 pillows and 2 quilts from a fat quarter bundle.  I finally busted into my Mendocino this week...  I've got full yards of that one so be prepared.

Until my next bender...  Chillin' with this week's Finish it Up Friday by Crazy Mom Quilts.

Pillow Stats:
Finished pillow is 14" x 14"
Fabrics: Briar Rose by Heather Ross. Binding Wee WoodLand by Keiki.
Batting: Quilter's Dream Orient Bamboo.
Thread: 50 wt. Aurifil in  Natural White (2021).

Let It Go

This one has been done for awhile but I was waiting for some water for the photoshoot:-)  When I was finishing up my Keeping It Together Again quilt I found a set of extra 9 patch blocks.  I'm really not in to batiks these days and wanted to pitch the whole lot but my inner-hoarder couldn't let them go.   I decided as a compromise with myself that I would use the blocks to make a charity quilt and then I could donate the rest of the fabrics.  I had a large piece of the stripey blue fabric but in the end it turned out I was one block short for the intended layout.  Not to be thwarted I made a 4 patch for the center block and went with it.

This was a great quilt for more free-motion swirly practice.  I quilted this at the BostonMQG retreat, the perfect post-cocktail hour project:-)  

I got some great new tips on blocking quilts from Meadow Mist Design and the amazing Caro of Splityarn that I tried out on this one and I got to use my new giant ruler that I won.  I usually run a basting stitch around the edges of my flimsy before I baste the layers together but I think from now on I'll take another pass around the edge when the quilting is done to hold everything together before throwing it in the washing machine.

I am happy to report this has been delivered to someone who will actually appreciate it and my studio is now batik free:-)  As Amanda Jean says, "It's all just fabric"!  How do you break up with fabric you no longer love?

Hanging around at this week's Finish it Up Friday by Crazy Mom Quilts.

Quilt Stats:
Finished quilt is 38" x 54"
Fabrics: Assorted batiks from stash.
Batting: Quilter's Dream Orient Bamboo.
Thread: King Tut Suez (#915).

W.i.P. Wednesday: Conservation of Sewing

The Conservation of Energy principal states that energy cannot be created or destroyed, but can be altered from one form to another. The same law also applies to gift sewing... what I didn't make in teachers' gifts this year I made up for in graduation gifts for Audrey's friends.  With 5 gifts to make I fell back on an old favorite, the cup cozy.

Audrey raided my stash to pick out fabric combos for each of her friends.

And I got to use up some more of that Insul-Bright I picked up at Marden's.  2 yards seemed like a good idea at the time...  I should be able to make roughly 486 more cup cozies:-)  Any suggestions for using it up a little faster?

These are so quick and easy to whip up I was able to finish all of them in an afternoon.

And I was having so much fun I made an extra one for myself:-)  Only two more weeks of school left for us.  Let's see how much more I can get done before I become the family cruise director.

Strawberry Fields Forever

I feel like I've talked about this quilt so much in the making that there isn't much left to say.  I started it on the Boston MQG retreat in March and it's been amazing to watch a stack of fabrics transformed into a quilt.  I have to admit this wasn't my favorite Heather Ross line but I love how sweet it turned out.

And I'm still ridiculously pleased with how this butterfly quilting came out.  It truly makes the quilt!

After using up pretty much every last scrap making all the things with this collection I was a bit stuck for what to use on the binding.  Nothing I had left was working for me so I dug into my stash and came up with this Joel Dewberry woodgrain.  Perfection!!!

Hanging out with this week's Finish it Up Friday by Crazy Mom Quilts and a finish for Q2 of the 2016 Finish Along.



Quilt Stats:
Finished quilt is 60" x 60"
Pattern: Adapted from Jedi Craft Girl's Stair Steps quilt.
Fabrics: Briar Rose by Heather Ross, Michael Miller Cotton Couture in Soft White.  Binding Joel Dewberry Aviary Woodgrain in Orange.
Batting: Quilter's Dream Orient Bamboo.
Thread: 50 wt. Aurifil in  Natural White (2021).
Quilting: FMQ inspired by Flutter Bys pantograph.

 

W.i.P. Wednesday: Beach Bound

I finally got a chance to dive into my Going Coastal bundle this week.  I'm not sure why it took me so long, I've been talking about this quilt since this year's Boston MQG retreat.  It's basically the same premise as my Briar Rose Mash Up except this time I'm using 8 1/2" blocks.

Cluck Cluck Sew has a fabulous free pattern, Squares and Strips that gives great instructions to effectively cut FQs to make a similar quilt.

I started out using her patterm but then veered off course and added some QSTs, Penny Patches and fussy cut blocks to the mix.

In general prefer to make blocks bigger than needed and trim them down.  I love this pile of leavings:-)

I've got a whole stack of blocks and I'm ready to start working on layouts.  I'm hoping to get this finished up to use as a beach blanket this summer.  What summer projects are you working on?

Shoot for the Stars

It's hard to believe but this is probably my last year making teachers' gifts.  Dex is graduating from elementary school and at the Jr. High and High School with multiple teachers it isn't done as much.   One of Dex's favorite units this year was on astronomy.  Talking about it reminded me of these adorable embroidered constellations by Miniature Rhino and I was off a running...

I did get off to a rocky start with this idea...  I initially planned to use Dritz transfer paper but none of the colors made visible marks on this Ebony Carolina Chambray.  Next I tried using a light box and chalk pencil but now I couldn't see the dots thru the dark fabric.  I thought about making a plastic template but wasn't wild about having to punch out all those stars...

A few people suggested I change course but this is the fun part so after brainstorming awhile I came up with the idea of printing the pattern on these Wash-Away fusible applique sheets.  Since the design was simple I just fused the reversed version of the pattern to my fabric and worked from the back.  I find these sheets a bit too thick for quilting but this was perfect and saved me the step of adding fusible after I finished the embroidery.

After my success embroidering my old school cursive pencil bags with Aurifil 12 wt. I knew it would be perfect for this project also.  I love the sheen it has and it's so much easier to work with than multiple strands of floss.  With a plan in place I grabbed a glass of wine and kicked back for a relaxing afternoon of stitching in the sun:-)

Once I finished my stitching I loosely followed the pattern for my Patchwork iPad cover but sized it down a bit to fit the latest form factor.  For the back and flap I upcycled an old wool dress that's a bit too short for my current style and for the lining I had to use some precious Lizzy House Constellations.  She's a really special teacher:-)

I used this as an opportunity to try the new Pellon Flex Foam Fusible in place of the fusible fleece.  It bonds like a dream and is amazingly easy to sew thru.  My only complaints are I can't stack multiple layers to cut and it's very difficult to pull thru a small hole if you are using a pattern that births your bag.  It definitely provides a bit more protection for your electronics so I think I'll keep using it and switch to using a bound edge.

It's a bittersweet ending but I'm sure I'll find new excuses to make stuff;-)  What's your go to handmade gift?