2 Weeks of Busy

Today is the last day of my vacation. For the past two weeks, I have indulged myself senseless; tomorrow, I return to reality. Though I do look forward to going back to work, I am ever so thankful for the respite, because I Had A Ball!! I spent 3 days in Clovis, NM visiting my youngest daughter and her husband, then drove to Oklahoma to visit the oldest daughter and her family. My bottom half was not used to so much sitting, but the visit was sooooo worth the horrendous drive. Got home the day before the major ice fest that hit the Dallas Metroplex, which forced me to stay home, stay inside, enjoy the fire in the fireplace, and sew. I have been a busy bee these past 10 days, and I want to take a minute to share my creations.

I begin with a fun and colorful crib quilt:

I found the fabric on the markdown table at Joann's and thought this would be a stunning, eye-popping baby quilt or lap quilt. The blocks are 5" in a 9 Patch Pattern with black sashing to picture frame the colors and make them "pop".
Here's another shot from further away:

The backing will be a medium shade of purple solid. I bought some quilting fabric online with the last Hancock's sale that may work for the border. It's a black and purple batik done in wavy stripes. I plan to wait until the quilt is quilted to make my final selection since the wavy may be too much and detract from the simplicity of the quilt pattern and the fun of the colors. We shall see. Anyway, this was project number 1--my completed quilt top.


 Next, I wanted to try a tutorial for wine bottle gift bags. I found a super easy tutorial online (darn it, I can't find it right this second but promise to post when I do). I have tons of scraps that need to become something--anything. This pattern doesn't take much time or fabric, but the results are good. Here, I used some old cotton scraps with a knit for the contrast at the handle. I think it turned out pretty cute:

 As always, I shared with my neighbor across the street who immediately loved the style. She had a baby shower coming up and wanted to put French wine in a Paris themed wine bag. So she chose this fabric:

And here are the results:

I think they are great, though on hindsight, I wish I had quilted the one on the right like I did the one on the left. The trimmed handles are a black cotton out of my stash. It takes about an hour and a half per wine bag (including the cutting). Not bad for a personalized gift. I think the addition of a monogram or machine embroidery design would be super-fun, functional, and highly appreciated. The neighbor loved the set, which is always the most important aspect for me.

Last, I began the dimension quilt that will be a surprise gift for my youngest daughter. She HATES homemade, homespun, and anything that even vaguely smells of country chic. Enter:  Hello Handsome; a quilt I found in Quilty magazine back in the spring:

I love the dimensional appearance of the quilt and decided it would be a fabulous wall hanging for her office. So off to Joann's I trotted to buy fabric. I got 1 yard each of cream (very light and almost white), light gray, dark gray, and 1 1/2 yards of black, Kona cotton.

This is a picture I took of the magazine photo:

And here are my strips stretched across the couch cushions:

Isn't the contrast absolutely stunning. And LOOK:  my corners are lined up pretty well. I am so proud since this is my second pieced quilt and only the 6th quilt I've ever done. I think she will like it.










Well, time to get back to work. I plan to finish the Hello Handsome top before the end of the day today.

I'll keep you posted,

Marvel

Can I be a quilter? Let's find out.

Most of my life I have been a garment sewer. I sewed primarily for my daughters until they were grown and gone. I never had any interest in quilting. Instead, I knitted, crocheted, and tried my hand at counted cross stitch. Then I hit middle age. Somehow, sewing for myself isn't very much fun. I have trouble fitting patterns by myself and recently, I find myself not overly pleased with my final projects. So, I started looking at other options.

I went back to knitting for awhile, but that didn't seem to give me the creative joy that sewing does. So I began looking at quilting. I have written before about the owl quilt for my daughter and ballet quilt for the neighbor. Now, I've decided to play with quilting and see what shakes out.

Earlier this week, I started my first pieced quilt. I began with a simple 9 Patch. I am really intrigued with the Hidden 9 Patch, but I settled on a simple 9 patch as a beginner quilt. Here are my fabrics:

I found these 18x22" bundles 1/2 price at Joanne's Fabrics. There are 2 packs of batiks and 3 of bright solids. I coordinated a black, pantweight fabric to make the strips between the blocks.

I cut 5" squares from the fabrics, then arranged them to my liking:

I had so much fun moving the squares around!!


Then, I added the black border from the pantweight. I wanted to use a super-dark navy that had been scraps in my closet for months, but wouldn't you know, I couldn't find them when I needed them. I think I tossed them last week when we were emptying closets and moving stuff around in preparation for the new carpet installation. I was really angry at myself, but that doesn't fix anything and certainly doesn't bring the fabric back. So back to J's I went. Fortunately, the pantweight was on sale, so I didn't feel too bad about having to make an unexpected purchase. Here are my squares with the strips attached:

Let me get back to sewing the strips together. Will post more when I'm done.

 Happy Sewing!!

Marvel

Ballerina Quilt - Final Step

Once the hand quilting was finished, I found myself in a dilemma:  how to I secure the layers? More hand quilting? Free motion machine quilting? Tied with ribbons or embroidery floss? There are pro's and con's with each choice. To decide, I "tested" each option by making an impression in the quilt top with my finger. Machine quilting seemed like the best idea, but I wanted to keep the design simple. I measured 2 1/2 inches from the edge and placed pins. The more I pinned, the better I liked it. Once the pinning was complete on all four sides, I machine sewed following the pins.

I liked the look so well, I did a second line 2 1/2 inches from the first:















And here's the final project. First, the quilt top:

And here's the back:

The hand quilting came out so pretty on the back, though you can't really see it in the photo. The baby girls have arrived and their quilt is waiting for them when they come home. Though this one took me several days to complete because I made up the pattern as I went, I think this would be a weekend project at best.

Ballerina Quilt Day 2

Welcome back!! We are now on day 2 of the ballerina quilt instructions. Last time, I cut the quilt top, backing, and ruffle; sewed the ruffle to the quilt top, then sewed the quilt top to the backing, turned it right side out to make sure I liked the look, cut the batting to fit, and turned the quilt right side out again and sewed the turning hole closed. After choosing a drawing of toe shoes tied together with a bow from the Internet, I printed the picture and had Staples enlarge the picture 3x the size. Then, the fun began!!! Here's how it looked:

I purchased a water soluble marking pen from Joann's Fabrics to mark my fabric with. I know the directions say to test first, and of course I didn't. However, the ink does come out after multiple applications of water. Next time, I will use a fine point rather than a regular point. Once I had the design perfectly positioned on the quilt top, I perforated the paper pattern with my long handled tweezers used to grab the thread on my serger. Here's me, poking the holes:

And the finished product looks like this.

  The tip of the marking pen fits perfectly in the holes and transfers the design perfectly and easily onto the fabric.

Here's a picture of the marked fabric. The blue marks are my guidelines for hand quilting the design, though it could be machine quilted. I prefer to hand quilt on a design that serves as the focal point, making my stitches as even as I can and using a contrasting thread. I did think about using embroidery cotton, but was afraid I wouldn't be able to pull the knots through on the back side as easily. In the past, I have hand quilted with polyester serger thread, but I only had one cone of very light pink thread. I opted to purchase (with a coupon from Joann's) a spool of hand quilting cotton since it is pre-treated and doesn't knot up when you are sewing. Of course, bee's wax prevents that, too, but my bee's wax has run away with my applique scissors--I can't find either of them anywhere.

 Polyester fabric has a tendency to snag very easily. Thus, I had to hold my quilt "sandwich" (backing, batting, and quilt top) together with fine straight pins. I stitched along with a fairly small needle and a single thread. With the blue dots still in place, the quilting doesn't look very pretty. I did consider sewing with a double thread, but again, the knots have to pull through the backing and bury themselves into the batting. I thought a single thread since the color was distinct would work.

Here's a picture of the quilting with and without the marking lines. When the fabric is still damp, the blue is completely invisible. Once dry, the blue lightly re-appears. I dampened the quilt a dozen or more times to get all the faint blue completely removed. I could have immersed the quilt in water, but I had all day to wet, dry, wet, dry, wet, and dry. Next time, I'll just immerse in clean water. The directions do warn against washing since some of the soap components can set the dye and leave permanent mark on the finished product.







Here's my hand quilted quilt top. I think it's very nice. If you look closely, you'll see on the left upper corner I missed the second side of the ribbon. I did catch that mistake and added it in before moving on with the machine quilting.

OK, tomorrow we pick up the final steps in finishing the ballerina quilt. Hope I challenge you to step out of your comfort zone and try something new that looks fabulous and is super easy.

Ballerina Baby Quilt

It never ceases to amaze me how often someone asks me to make something that sounds relatively simple. However, when they buy their fabric, I find out that it's not really designed for the project OR I get totally carried away and make something HUGE out of a simple quick project. In this instance, the ballerina quilt fits somewhere in between. It was a simple project that I think is very classic yet beautiful and functional in a nursery. This is the story of the ballerina quilt:

It began as a baby gift from a neighbor. Together we went to the fabric store, and I expected to make a simple quilt from flannel. However, the mother-to-be had already purchased her sheets and bumper pads and wanted something unique and feminine for her soon-to-be-born twin daughters. She wanted cream and pink to coordinate with the ballerina design on the bumper pads. We chose a cream polyester with woven glitter (not the glued kind that pops off) and a matching pink ruffle also made from the same polyester. The backing was cotton flannel with pink toes shoes on a cream background with just a hint of grey. The final size was to be 28 x 52.

I started with the backing and cut a single piece 29 x 48". I had to settle for 48 since the fabric was not cut straight, and I lost 6 inches due to the sales girl's laziness. Then, I cut the top the same size. To make up the length, I cut the ruffle 5" wide and 5 times the width of the fabric. This ended up to be too much, but I'd rather have more fabric than needed when gathering is involved. I attached the ruffle to the quilt top then sewed the top to the bottom, leaving a 10" opening at the bottom to pull the quilt through. Then, I spray basted the batting to the flannel, placed the batting on top of the wrong side of the flannel smoothing out all the wrinkles, and trimmed off the excess. I made sure the batting was sufficiently placed to make the edges of the quilt soft and cuddly before cutting. Then, I turned the quilt right sides out. Last, I hand stitched the opening closed, using small, almost hidden stitches.

Once the quilt top and batting were sewn together, I made my template for the ballerina toe shoes. I initially tried to draw them myself, but the final result was not exactly the look I was going for. Fortunately, I found a drawing online of a pair of toe shoes tied together with a ribbon that I printed out. I thought I could enlarge the drawing using the printer, but I was limited by the size of my paper. So, I compared the paper image to my quilt:

Proportionately, the drawing looked good and measured 5"x9". Using the tape measure, I realized that an enlargement 3x this size would fit the quilt top perfectly. So, grabbing my quilt and my paper drawing, off to Staples I ran. Thanks to the Staples photocopying lady for her patience and kindness. Within 15 minutes, I had my enlarged template and was back on the road home.

Tomorrow, I share the next step in my ballerina quilt.

Happy sewing, All.

Too many projects. Too little time.

I am a good person. I am organized, thrifty, and very, very busy. I, also, have a tendency to bite off more than I can chew. I make a list of projects that require more time than I really have available; then I get behind; and then something (like illness) gets ahold of me and I go farther and farther behind. That's where I have been so far this year. I had a lot of projects planned for others that became sidetracked when the grandbaby came. Before I knew it, January was gone. The list carried over to February, and I got sick. Before I knew it, February was gone. Now we are into March. Hopefully, I will stay well and productive. That's the plan, anyway.

My little sewing business is chugging along. I don't sew to make an income, I sew for others because I like to sew. Non-sewers don't realize what it takes to sew bags or quilts, and they often have ideas that I really don't know how to do. Thank God for the Internet and the thousands of people out there who are smarter and more talented than I. I can search their brains through their blogs and come up with fabulous end results. Thank you, All.

Currently, I am caught up. I just delivered the two wine bags yesterday:

 I made them different since the ladies who ordered them work in the same department; I didn't want them to be confusing. One of the women requested a car bag to hold receipts, trash, etc. I used the scraps to create this:


The gaping pocket is for receipts. I put pockets on both sides:  one is for pens and the other is a small pocket for the cell phone, change purse, sunglasses, etc. I think it's very functional and a good use of scraps. There is no interfacing for stiffness. Instead, I made 2 layers with the inner lining 5/8" seams and the outer layer 1/4" seams. By using the two sizes for the seaming, the inner lining pulls the outside up and inward and makes it stand up straight. The black trim is the edge flipped twice and sewn down. I did use a denim needle in my machine to prevent needle breakage. The cotton duck is very stiff when turned twice and sewn, so again I have a stiff edge to keep the bag open and functional. A tissue box and plastic grocery bag (as a trash bag) fits perfectly into the center pocket. and is very functional. My next order requested Velcro on the bottom to enable the bag to "stick" to the floor mats. I think that's a great idea and can't wait to see if it will work.

Now, back to sewing and quilting. I need to start another baby quilt in a ballet theme. I've decided to trim it with hand quilted ballet shoes. Should be fabulous!! Also, I need to cut and sew tops for work. I can never complain it's boring in my sewing room.

Quilt finished. What's next?

I]]]Somewhere angels are singing the Hallelujah Chorus--The Zebra Quilt is Done and Delivered!!!!! Terri loved it. The people at work applauded appropriately. Now we are on to the next project. But first, I want to show me and the quilt:

Do I look happy, or what? Now, I'm off to the next project.

Some time past, I got sucked into Annie's Catalog. Annie's sells craft items and kits for quilting, knitting, etc. I'll tell you, if you are ever feeling lonely, join their newsletter by email. I get at least one every day. Anyway, I was offered the opportunity to receive their knitting magazine, Creative Knitting. I really like it. The patterns are current, nice colors (usually), and the directions aren't difficult to follow. The first month I received, there's a sweater on the front that I still have yet to start. This month, the cover is a light aqua shrug. I decided to make it for someone for Mother's Day.
 

  

The yarn is a cotton blend in light pink/lilac. Very pretty. Very feminine. I think it will be well received.















Can't decide what I'll sew next. I have an order for 2 wine bags--the cotton duck is washing even as we speak. I, also, need desperately need to sew work uniforms. I really don't look forward to fine tuning scrub pants, but that is something I seriously need. The ones I have now are getting thread bare.

The grandson is growing like a weed. Some fun baby clothes would be awesome, especially with the new embroidery machine. Face it, I need a month off from work to sew. Perhaps scheduling a sewcation is in order. Hmmmmm. It could be arranged. . . . .

Zebra print and bows. A winning combination.

I am almost finished with the zebra quilt. It has taken me about 10 hours to do all the quilting, even with the sewing machine. I think it is beautiful, though. Yesterday, I cut a template out of thick plastic for the bows. I wanted the quilt to have interest on the border--an unexpected surprise from the quilter. I hand drew bows and printed out various sizes on the Xerox machine. Then, I cut out my paper pattern and positioned each size on the border. The medium sized one fit perfectly. I traced the pattern onto my plastic template material, and carefully cut it out. Then, I positioned the template onto the quilt border and traced around it lightly with a number 2 mechanical pencil.

Once traced, the question became:  how do I do the quilting. I wanted the bows to POP against the plain, pink border, so black thread seemed the best option. However, machine quilting would not yield the handwork quality that I wanted, so I opted to hand quilt each bow. Here's my final result:

Is that not absolutely gorgeous?!! I love it!! It took me about 20 minutes per bow, which is not a lot of time. I placed one bow at each corner and at the midpoint of each panel.

Now, the question is what to do with the spaces in between the bows. I am thinking adding ribbon shaped quilting, too, but have yet to find the perfect ribbon template. I've tried drawing one, but it's too one-dimensional. I'll get online and see if there is another template or design that I can modify to fit my need.

AAAAArrrrrgh!!!

So, I am quilting along today, and what do you think happened? The old, reliable Bernina 1230 died. At least I think it's dead. I had been sewing all morning and turned the machine off. When I turned it back on, the lights on the stitch selection thingy started flashing and the needle kept jumping from the middle to the left side. It wasn't pretty. Thank God, I have the new Janome. I closed up the old one, opened the new one, spent an hour familiarizing myself with the fancy touch screen, and off I went. So far, the quilt is 1/2 done. By quilting the zebra print, the pattern has interest and texture:

See how it ripples? Cool, huh? 








Here's another view. I love it!!


And the back is even better:

The textural interest is great.

I have to give quilting a rest for awhile, though. I'm rather pooped after the sewing machine ordeal. I may sit and veg out, watching Super Bowl, pre-game hype and knitting. The Pottery Barn knock-off afghan is coming along beautifully.

I hope to get it done and shipped for my daughter's birthday, February 9, but that may not happen. I need to add at least 6 more inches to fit my son-in-law's tall frame. He requested that it cover him, too. Since she is 4'11" and he is 6'2", I opted to knit to fit him. Anything fits her.

Well, it's been over two months since I blogged. Yes, the baby was born January 1, 2013. Asa is perfect, and my daughter, though totally worn out in the new mom experience, loves being a mom and is doing very well. Since Asa's arrival, my sewing has slowed down horribly. Now that we are getting used to him, I am trying to get back to normal, which means I sew whenever I can grab a free moment.

Currently, I am quilting a daybed cover for a lady at work. The backing is black minky and the front is a zebra rectangle framed with pink cotton. I sewed it together, then decided the pink didn't "pop" so I ripped it out and added a strip of the minky around the edges. I love it!! Here's a picture after I attached the minky binding:

This is a view from the wrong side as I was stretching out the quilt before spray basting the batting in place. I think being non-educated regarding "proper quilting techniques" allows me to work with what I got, including my brain. I was sewing alone and had no one to help stretch the quilt, so I pinned it to the bed. If you look close, you can see the ridges in the bedspread where the pins were pushed into the mattress pillow top.

Next, I spray basted the batting into place. I used a baby quilt sized batting and since the minky is polyester, I used polyester, medium loft batting.

Then, I sewed around 3 of the 4 sides and turned the quilt. I was surprised since I have never used spray basting before how well it stuck.I pinned the quilt layers together in preparation for the actual quilting process. I had 2 packages of quilting safety pins. I think there are 70 pins per package. Those covered about 1/4 of the pins. I bought 150 more, but that still wasn't enough. After a third trip to the store, purchasing another 70 pins, I came up about 3 pins short. However, The quilt was secure enough to begin stitching.Thank goodness I had purchased a walking foot several months earlier when I wasn't sure if I would ever consider quilting seriously.

Here I am stitching in the ditch with my walking foot. The quilting blogs tell me to use gardening gloves to hold onto the fabric since they have grippy things on the fingertips. I don't garden, so I tried using rubber gloves. They kinda, sorta worked.

So here I am quilting. Woo!! Hoo!! Tomorrow, I'll post what my quilt looks like with some actual quilting done over the zebra cotton. It's awesome!!