Memory Pillows for a Friend

One of the awesome things about sewing and quilting, versus other mediums of art, is that it helps make memories tangible.  You buy a fabric while on vacation, and it will always hold that memory for you.  If you inherit fabrics from a friend or from family, no matter what that piece ends up in, it will always remind you of that person.

In this case, the fabric was a shirt from my friend Kim's late father.  While her dad has been gone for a few years, it's still been a struggle dealing with his absence for her and her kids, particularly for her daughter.

So with her daughter's birthday rolling around, she asked me back in January if I could make a pillow for her daughter out of a shirt she had saved, an a matching one for her son.  Of course I could!  All she asked is that somewhere I could put a patch that said...

So I did. 

She said I made her daughter cry!  I'm glad to know that they were happy tears.  

Baby Quilt

I got suckered in to making a baby quilt...and my first t-shirt quilt. Suckered isn't right...my friend Sarah asked and I said yes, mainly because I have no problem saying "no" to grown ups but I am absolutely incapable of denying an infant pretty much anything (within reason of course).

So I go over to her house and she literally hands me a bag of onesies to make a quilt out of.  What did I get myself into?  I have never made a t-shirt quilt, what thee proper hell am I going to do with these 30,000 onesies?  Make a quilt of course!  I took as many as were useable (meaning, the design wasn't a quarter inch from the seams etc), stabilized them and then cut them all as close to 7" as possible.


There were some REALLY cute ones in there. I love the T-Rex!



Since not all of them could be cut to 7", I had to make them bigger. These are the fabrics I chose to add to the too-small blocks.



Blocks done!



Quilt top, done!


The border fabric is better than anything I could have asked for. I love it when a plan comes together!

It's off at quilting now.  I showed Sarah, and she loved it! I'm really glad. After the last baby blanket I made for a friend, I stopped doing them because of how coldly it was received...I still never see it in pictures being used or anything, and so the fact that a quilt I made for their child has gone unappreciated hurt.  Luckily Sarah and her husband Casey love the quilt and I know their baby will too as he gets older.  Feels good to do good for a friend :-)

Freedom!!!!!! Well, kind of.

Now that the holidays are over I can go back to doing what I do best....starting too many projects at once and going forth with a "I'll finish it when I feel like it" attitude.

Right now I've got a comfort quilt that's been pushed to number 1 priority.  After having a rough few months, everything came to a head for a dear family friend when his wife an daughter got rear ended by a drunk driver going 70.

Here's my public service announcement about that... Don't drive drunk.  Seriously.  If you drive drunk, you're not only selfish and entirely moronic, but dangerous to everyone on the road.  Don't do it.

Luckily, the story has a happy ending and no one was seriously hurt, but after everything else...let's just say they need a quilt. They're outdoorsy folks so I made this for them from a pattern by Aardvark Quilts:

I was going to add a border but...after trying a few different borders...eh.  It looks better borderless. Hopefully it'll come back from the quilter soon and I can send it to them in the next month or so.  I take FOREVER to bind things.

Then...during a slow moment at the shop I got bit with an idea, another out of that Modern Quilt Blocks book and I decided to do my first truly "Modern" style quilt, by stepping out of my box and going with solids.  I'm not thrilled with solids.  I know a lot of folks love them...but I don't.  The colors are beautiful, but the lack of even one iota of texture makes them boring to me. Just, blah.  But they're getting really popular again with the Modern Quilt Movement, so I thought it was time to give that little tree a twirl.  And as you guys know, I like playing with odd color pairings so I went with ochre and yellow paired with dark and light purple.  I couldn't go 100% solid, so there are 2 complementing and subtle prints in the center of the blocks. I'm pretty satisfied with it, I have to say.

I Love the Holidays...but Thank God it's Over.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know...captain diligent blogger is at it again.

Anyway...Christmas.  I know I say this every year, but man...never again!  This year, with the exception of my boyfriend (for whom I bought a Playstation 3, and who has several quilts already) and my aunt who requested an ornament exchange, everyone got made something sewn.  I made more wall hangings, table runners and tablet cases than you can shake a stick at, and yes, I even quilted (and bound) them myself.  I have a wicked callus on my right middle finger...from binding, not from road rage, I swear.

And the thing is...I have next to no pictures to prove it!  Damn the bad luck, I had to do a factory reset on my phone and because I am techostupid, I managed to lose a good chunk of my pictures between the phone and Picasa...who the heck knows where they are in cyberspace now.  I guess it's a good thing I don't have naughty pictures on my phone, huh?

Here's the few that I DO have...

 <-- A wall hanging for my grandmother, who loves elephants.  She also has a fondness for the colors of 30s prints.  The pattern is from a Modern Quilt Block book, but without the embroidery.  I drew out an elephant and hand embroidered it in the center for her.  I hate hand work, but love my grandma, so I
did it.

 My cousin Sam is a big Doctor Who fan...and since I didn't have the cash to get him some Doctor Who thing, I made him one.  For this I printed out a picture of the Tardis, used spray adhesive to affix it to the fabric, and stitched over it in varigated thread. Yep, I'm a tracer! But it turned out really well and he loved it.  I echo quilted around it in black. Yeah...and my toes are there for size comparison

 My uncle Tom (Sam's dad) is also a huge Doctor Who fan, which is a large part of why Sam is a fan.  There's an episode where there are these weeping angel aliens who are going around and killing people (I'm simplifying it a LOT, go watch the episode if you want the real scoop), and they are super creepy.  He'd mentioned getting a weeping angel christmas tree topper, and so I decided to make him a weeping angel wallhanging.  I took an open domain paper piece pattern for the Doctor Who weeping angel, and had it blown up by 250%.  Even at that size, some of the pieces were stupidly small.  But I am really proud of how it turned out, no matter how teeny those pieces were...I'd hate to have done this as a 12" block like the pattern was designed for.  Yeesh.

 Dad of course is a lifelong gearhead, so of course he had to have his cars and bikes.  He loved it, and asked why I chose to fussy cut the car I did.  I had fussy cut the yellow car because I needed to pull out some more yellow...I really had no reason for it.  As awesome coincidence would have it, that is his favorite year model of that car, and has had his eye on one.  Whelp...let's just say I totally knew that and picked it for that reason...not because it was a yellow car.  Yep.

 And for my friend Isabelle, I stitched her up this while I was watching the movie Insidious (you know, a classic Christmas movie...ha).  She has a lot of stress with work and school, and when I saw this is my "Subversive Cross Stitch" book, I knew it was perfect for her.  Besides, everyone needs this reminder once in a while...whether you enjoy the language or not.  I tossed it in a neat frame I found at Goodwill and voila...foul mouth cross stitch for a foul mouthed girl (she's not too bad...I'm worse, lol)











I made several more things but yeah...the evidence is lost.  I need to try and get more pictures of them to repost someday but you know...we'll see :-)

Lovely Frankenstein's 31 Days of Halloween: Bone Chillers Soap

 

The ladies over at Crafting Rebellion have brought us a really nice tutorial on how to make these cute little skull soaps. Personally, I have never attempted making soap, you know, ever....but this makes it look pretty easy.

CLICK HERE for the tutorial.

Man, having a social life really cuts into my quilting time :P

Hello again! Yes, I'm back. I know it's been a while but I'm sure my readers can forgive me, right? Lately I've had an upswing in the ol' social life, and wouldn't you know it, that tends to cut into the quilting time just a wee bit. That being said, my roommate just moved out and headed back to the east coast. It's a real bummer, but I suppose it was pretty inevitable. So for close to the past month she's had a friend from VA here to visit and they took a road trip, and had to get all packed and leave. She just left on Wednesday. Plus, on a brighter note, my time is also getting tied up by a new guy in my life, which isn't a bad thing at all! He's a smart, sweet, good looking guy who fire fights and appreciates quilts. I think I'll keep him :-)

So on a related note, what have I been working on? Well, a few weeks ago my boyfriend was asking (knowing I'm an avid quilter) where he can buy a cheap bed quilt. I was waiting for him to just ask me to make one so I told him a few places and told him, "...but you know you're dating a quilter, right?" I finally was just like, "do you want me to just make you one?" We all know what the answer to that question was! I asked him what he wanted, and bless his heart he told me to pick something I liked and he'd be happy with whatever I made. But you know how it is when you make a quilt for someone; you don't think about what you want, you think about what you think they'd want, which is exactly what I did. Granted, I've been looking for an excuse to use the focus fabric I chose for months now, so I was happy I could finally use it somewhere. It's not been without its frustrations in terms of assembly (oh holy crap!) but I'm really pleased wht the colors....it's just a matter of getting them distributed well which has been, to this point, easier said than done.

Great basic quilts that are perfect for toying with color

I chose to do a quilt out of the City Quilts book, basically a quilt set on point with a bunch of multicolored snowball blocks with a square in the middle. They look almost like donuts, but the books says they were inspired by the Houston, TX roadways (what, empty?). I think I'll stick with the donut theme, thanks.

But his quilt is done up in rust, orange, brown, burgundy, ice blue and teal. When you see the focus fabric, it makes more sense than just listing the colors. The focus fabric is what you'll see in the setting triangles.

Here's the quilt I chose. I have to say, I do NOT like their version of it at all. I'm not partial to quilts using all solids (they're pretty, but not my thing) and I don't care for how they blocked the colors...but the best part about quilting is you can do whatever you want. To the right is my focus fabric. The picture doesn't do it justie, it's a really beautiful batik with teal and ice blue running through the rust.

Color choice part 1. The blue isn't as intense as shown here, and the focus piece is third from the bottom. After this and the following picture was taken, I realized I didn't pick enough fabric and had to go stask diving at mom's house for a few other pieces I didn't have at home.

And here are the others. At the top, of course, a firefighter has to have a wood print (duh) and then the bottom southwest print is going to be the border (which isn't called for in the book).

The beginning of what has got to be the most frustrating experince I've had yet in color placement. Ho-ly crap.

More blocks

The colors have moved around some since this was taken, but hey, progress.

Aaaaand assembly has begun, where I learned that I may have stretched the bejesus out of parts of the blocks, necessitating the use of nothing less than 30,000 pins. lol. Okaaay maybe not that many but good grief they don't want to go together cleanly.



Well, i was going to keep it's progress a secret from John so he would be totally shocked and awed when he saw it done, but I was too excited and showed him a picture anyway. He loves it so far, which makes me happy. My goal for today is to get the rest of the inside of the quilt top pieced, by which I mean all of the blocks, and then while he's away this weekend, get the borders put on and call Frances to quilt this thing for me. I want to have this thing done by Valentine's Day so I can give it to him then, but we'll see.

Anyway, after all the flooding that's been going on around here, I hope everyone has been safe and dry! 

Tippy Tuesday, only on Wednesday

Well, life has been crazy lately (and not in a fun "Barrel of Monkeys" way). Too much time has been spent in hospitals and at doctors appointments, and I've been triple-timing it at work so my time for anything more than work and sleep has been extremely limited. But we did finally get some good news - Mom doesn't have a heart problem. Her heart attack and related issues were not caused by a faulty ticker, but because of a thyroid disorder called Graves Disease. Don't worry, it's named after the doctor who discovered it in the 1920s, not after where you end up if you have it. Luckily it is easily treated and hopefully life will return back to normal for all of us soon. Needless to say, everyone in the family and at the shop are so very relieved it isn't anything more serious.

So, now to the tips. Since I haven't had a whole lot of time, I haven't gathered that many so I'm gathering while I'm writing. I haven't been able to test any of these out so they mayt or may not work for you but hey, it never hurts to give it a go on scrap or test fabrics/notions. Here we go!:

* Flannel works as a good batting subsitute if the quilt you're making is thick enough on its own (a Minkee quilt, for example) or if you want to keep your quilt really lightweight. Back in the day flannel was often used as "batting" because batting of a good quality wasn't always available where flannel was easier to obtain.

* Dishwasher utensil baskets make a great notion storage device - they are narrow and compact so they stay out of the way on your table, and they are easily hung up on the wall to be out of the way entirely. So if you're getting rid of a dishwasher, save that basket! Or, you can purchase one relatively inexpensively.

* If you're binding a quilt, and it's getting too warm to do while it's draped over you, move your ironing board to where you're seated and lower it to just above your lap. Drape the quilt over it and continue binding. The ironing board prevents the quilt from overheating you, and there is a nice draft between the quilt, board and you.

* While you're working on a project requiring several bobbins, stick a Q-Tip in the spool of thread, and then the bobbin through the Q-Tip. If you run out of thread, you will quickly know whch thread you used for that bobbin in case you forget.

* Keep inexpensive makeup brushes (eyeshadow and eyeliner brushes work best) as well as the fuzzy dental picks in your sewing kit. They are great for cleaning your machine when needed, and get into the nooks and crannies better than the brush your machine came with.

* If you have a cat or small dog, fabric scraps (apparently) make good chew toys. Tie a knot in it and let 'em at it. My chihuahuas can hardly wait until I start having scraps falling. I give them the big ones I know I won't use later, with the knot tied in it and believe it or not it gives them literally hours of entertainment gnawing on that thing. Sometimes they'll steal away the smaller ones and chew it to bits after it falls from my cutting board and I don't always catch it until it's been in their slobbery little mouths for a bit. They just shred them up, so it's not really a choking hazard, but it could be - stick with larger pieces.

* Clean your blades, both rotary and scissors, with rubbing alcohol to keep them gunk free and cutting smoothly.

* If you are thrying to thread a clear monofilament through a needle and not having much luck, there are two things you can do: first, thread it against a dark fabric since that makes the thread easier to see. or color the very tip of the thread with permanent marker so you can see it to thread it and then snip it off.

* Making cloth napkins and coasters are a great way to burn through your scraps/stash and they make nice gifts for people.

* Speaking of cloth napkins, if you have a theme decor in your dining room, buy cloth napkins that complement your color scheme or dishes and use them in a table runner. While the fabric quality may not be the same as quilting fabric, it's an inexpensive way to tie your room together. Plus, it's not a piece to be washed regularly so using the napkins is just fine. A heavier weight napkin tends to work a little better than the lightweight cotton ones.

* The edge of the selvedge tells you more than just the line and manufacturer. Those colored dots tell you how many different dye screens were used to make that whole fabric. As such, those are the individual colors that will match and blend nicely with that piece of fabric. So if you're stuck on the color choices with your go-withs, that selvedge is a great place to start looking!

Who says a quilter can't do some hilariously, awesomely strange stuff? No one, if they know what's good for them ^.^

So my friend Marc challenged me to make him a quilt of himself just for shiggles. Thinking he was just joking (it was a statement made while we were joking around about something...don't make me try and remember what about, lol) I teased him back, giving him the stipulation that I would only make him one IF I could do it as an applique of him doing the Steve-O, as seen on Steve-O's back tattoo.

Which if you haven't seen it...here it is...

Any of y'all who know me in real life (as opposed to the virtual me here in the wild, weird world of the internet blogging community) know that I have a soft spot for tattoo art. Hell, I even have a tattoo. But this one? Fuggetaboutit! How just, bizarre and funny is this?!

And, apparently, I am making a quilt of my friend Marc doing this face, complete with thumbs up. Oh dear Lord. This will be epic. I don't think...no, I KNOW...there won't be another quilt out there quite like this. Maybe for good reason...lol.

No, this will be hilarious. Now when will I get to this? Who the heck knows. but one day, Marc will be the proud(ish) owner of his face on a quilt. lol

I feel like I should probably be doing something else...Oh wait...

Catching up on all of my older projects on here is a bit of a pain, I gotta admit. But I said I would do it...that and my persnickety ways want all this stuff in one place. So in one place it shall be :-)

So my friends (who don't know each other, by the way) Bethany and Christy had babies just weeks apart, and I promised them both baby quilts before they were due. Well...it wouldn't be me if a bunch of other stuff didn't get in the way (school, work...) so they got them late late late!

Christy had a little boy, but wanted unisex baby stuff. I have to admit, that's a real trick! So many kids' fabrics out there are really, REALLY gender specific. Sometimes I wish there were more gender neutral things out there. After a couple months of agonizing, I finally settled on some puppy fabric because, hey, what kid doesn't like puppies?

So that's what each block looks like. A star, variable in persuasion, I think. Anyway. They were THE DEVIL. I had to block each and every one because they were all stretched and horrible. Pieceing just isn't my forte...give me raw edge applique any day!

I was definitely happier with it once I got the blocks together. Still a little wobbly, but hey, I've done worse lol.

So here is the "finished" product. Really, it's just the quilt top. I think it turned out to be about 45" square. I love the doggies in the cars!

I did crosshatching quilting on it. Our manager at the shop, Debi, showed me an easier way to get the lines straight than what I would have done, lol. Line the painter's tape up where you want it, and put the left side of the foot along the right edge of the tape and sew. Fail-proof straight lines!

Christy and Ben were really happy with it. I got it to them just in the nick of time...a week and a half later or so they moved all the way over to Denmark.

Bethany had her little girl just after Christy had her boy. So that little cutie needed a quilt too! I ended up doing a twofer for her...she has a young son too so you can't give one something without the other! Understandable. So I made 2 quilts, one for baby sister and one for big brother.

The colors are a little skewed...they are much clearer and brighter. It's a mix of cottons and flannels. It's an open domain pattern from...some website...I can't remember...lol.

This is the Prairie Window pattern from the shop. Bethany said he likes, cars, guitars and blue....so this is what I came up with. lol. It's deceptively big. I forgot how large the lap size is! When a pattern says lap size, who knows what size it'll end up being ... it's either be like, elf sized (like Santa elf, not Lord of the Rings elf...yes, I know, I';m a nerd, haha) or Andre the Giant sized. 10 points to anyone who gets the latter reference!