Sunday, May 31, 2009

sonnet

once upon a time i met sonnet... she was a quilt collection that immediately grabbed my eye... and we both knew that it was love at first sight... we both knew she was going to have to come home with me... it started off small...


a charm tin quilt...


tiny little one inch squares but she was adorable...
here she is in the winter hanging out with the snowman...
and now in the spring with the apples...but it didn't end there....

two more charm packs found their way...
and then came some yardage...
and then came the wovens...
and then came a lot more yardage...
some came from PA... some from NJ... some from CA... some from online... but it all just wanted to be together... but once it was it didn't know what it was supposed to become... so now it sits all neatly together... waiting for the day when I know what to make!why Sonnet?? I can't tell you for sure... but I think it had something to do with the orange..teal..and polka dots...
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it was just love.
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if you have ideas for her... feel free to share... she likes when I take her out to look and play and take pictures but she doesn't like going back into the box...


oh and in case your wondering why this post isn't about this bad boy getting quilted...
that's because I ended up not having the thread I needed... and yesterday turned into one of those clean the house productive days... they gotta happen sometimes... i'll get the thread tomorrow night at the shop and she'll get quilted sometime this week!

Friday, May 29, 2009

nest borders on!! ... and more...

I got the borders on my nest quilt!
It'll be on the frame tomorrow and quilted by the afternoon. I love having a wide arm machine on a 10ft frame. I get things quilted much faster than I would otherwise.
Here a few photos of another quilt on it...

here is one of my quilting room...
the quilt on the wall says "i only have a kitchen because it came with the house."
here it is finished hanging at the quilt shop i work at!
this is a lakehouse pattern and wasn't hard to piece but it was a pain in the butt to cut out and keep track of all the right colors in the right placed.

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The Fat Quarter Shop has two new things that I soooo need to do....

so mom and dad if you are reading this... i'd take either of these as an "i love you" gift..hint..hint...

Tuesday, May 26, 2009

bake shop lovin...

if you haven't fallen in love with Moda Bake Shop yet... you will...


I've made three projects and I'm working on a few more...
they are simple...fast... and best of all free!



my version of the binder cover...
i made it using strips of various widths and doing a quilt as you go...


my nest quilt... got one border on and the other cut...
and emma's easter basket... came out very cute from lots of scraps... but i think she liked the paper stuffing more than the basket!

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speaking of free Camille of Thimble Blossoms is having a giveaway on her blog and lets just say it has something to do with.....head over there fast!!!

Monday, May 25, 2009

nine patch update...sunshine blocks...and another dress!

I made a good amount of progress on my nine patch blocks over the last few days.. I'm up to 19 done... this one is my favorite so far...


i did a mock layout to see how they look... i have no plan as to color or theme and my fabrics are from all different types of styles... i think that there is a enough variety that it'll work in the end.


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I've been working on this quilt for....gasp...2 years... now it's not like i've been actively working on it but it just became one of those UFOs that stayed packed all neatly together for a while. I started it in a class and the student show at the shop I work at is in 3 weeks... and i'd love to be able to have it done and show it so my goal is to work on it a bit each day to finish it in 3 weeks...

blocks all pinned and ready to be sewn...


half the blocks sewn and squared...


some of the blocks up on my design wall...

i need to finish 20+ more blocks.. cut 99 cornerstones.. 178 lattice pieces and 2 borders... hmmm

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Lastly I've been inspired to make another dress. If you haven't picked up a copy of Weekend Sewing by Heather Ross yet you need to... its a great fun easy sewing book for some side non-quilting projects.



I'm planning on making the Kimono Dress and Obi Sash. I'm up for the challenge. The aqua is going to be the dress with the gold as the sash. The plan is to have it done for a May 20th wedding.... lots of deadlines coming up!


hope you had a good memorial day and got lots done with the 3 day weekend!!

Saturday, May 23, 2009

i made a dress!

this is a first... it is also my first garment ever!


I made it from Heather Ross' Free Pattern. It was incredibly easy and I love it! Working with the elastic thread was much easier than I expected. It took less than 2 hours start to finish.

like the design wall behind me?... my goal is to finish my sunshine quilt in 3 weeks!

Friday, May 22, 2009

happy day

It's 11pm and I haven't sewn a stitch but it's still a happy day... because...


I got a bunch of 2 1/2" squares cut to catch up on my nine patches



I found this great fabric to make into a wrap skirt.. it's Robert Kaufman's you got the notions



I found this adorable mini dress form at Joann's... she is about 15" tall and had to come home with me. She reminds me of "Madeline" from fig tree so that is what I named her. I'm gonna make mini things for her to display.


and last but not least.... Ivonne got me the best gift ever from market!!! A Jelly Cake of Simple Abundance!!! I'm so excited.. I've got a million ideas of what to do with it... but I'll probably just stare at it for a while. (I still have my cotton blossoms jelly cake too... I'm a fan of Camille and Bonnie) I was carrying it around the house earlier and my mom said It was like I was a kid with a blankie I couldn't be without... my comment back was it is my blankie... its just not made yet! (she liked that!)



oh happy day!

Wednesday, May 20, 2009

Ambigrams

I have a fascination with Ambigrams. Many people know about ambigrams today because of Dan Brown's book Angels and Demons... You know the one they just turned into a movie with Tom Hanks.


I know about ambigrams because of the man who created the ambigrams for the book, John Langdon. John is an amazingly talented designer with a gift for manipulating letterforms. I studied design at Drexel University and had the opportunity to take some of John's classes.


Back in December of 2005 I decided to make a quilt of one of John's ambigrams. It took quite some time to trace the letters onto a fuseable backing, cut them, and lay them out. I fused them down and that is where it stops.

For over three years now I've been struggling with what to do next. So off and on it has gone up on my design wall begging for some answer as to how to finish it. I've taken photos of a few versions but none seem to do it for me. I've been thinking lately of making a Ricky Tims Convergence Quilt and chopping it apart to make borders... Any ideas?

Sunday, May 17, 2009

nine patch one a day quilt along

I'm participating in Crazy Mom Quilts' one a day quilt along. I started a bit late on 5/2 so I should have 16 done by now but I have 11. My plan is to use only scraps so it has been harder than I thought to find big enough scraps to cut 2 1/2 squares from and have them match. Here is what I got so far... quite the variety in color. I figure by the time I have over 70 it'll blend.


I feel like it may have an "eye spy" feel in the end! (I just love the cupcakes.)

red white and bold

Unfortunately I didn't make any more progress on my nest braid quilt. I did finish up a few table runners and small projects. Pictures of them to come soon... in the meantime here is a photo of my Red White and Bold quilt fresh off the frame. It has binding on it now but for some reason it ended up nicely folded on my new quilt rack before a full photo was taken. I bought this as a kit last spring from the Fat Quarter Shop along with the matching table runner. The runner got made right away and was ready for the fourth of July last year.... The quilt on the other hand never got started. When I came across it not too long ago I knew I had to get it done this year. Start to finish it took me 12 days to make it. Not bad considering I had work and other things in between. I hope you like it!


Saturday, May 16, 2009

late night



I stayed up late to try and finish my nest braid quilt top. I got all but the borders done. The pattern came from the moda bake shop.... (I love that place!) Now on less than 6 hours sleep I'm off to work at the Quilt Shop! I hope the nice weather brings out lots of people. More later...

Friday, May 15, 2009

the beginning

I often find the story of how someone becomes a quilter to be interesting and varied. I don’t know when I began to refer to myself as a quilter but I started to sew during the summer of 2002. My mother’s ancient singer got to the point where it was more expensive to fix it than replace it. As sad as she was, my mom saw this as an opportunity to jump into the 21st century and get a computerized machine. She asked if I’d come to the class with her to help learn the machine. I looked at her funny because despite being a craft obsessed kid I had never sewn a stitch. Let me back up a bit and tell you about it… I made everything as a child. Clay, foam, gimp, beads, and yarn are a few of the many things I had a large supply of. I’d rather make an art project then do just about anything. Despite this drive I had no interest in sewing. My mom sewed all the time and it was her thing… not mine. She tried hard nevertheless. I’d sign her up to make Halloween costumes and she’d try to get me to do it. No luck. Sometimes I’d cut the pieces and pin them but that was where it ended. So back to her getting a new machine… I agree to go and help but only on the basis that I was good with computers and somehow that made me qualified to help her. She purchased a Husqvarna Viking model Freesia 415. We went to the class and I was hooked. It was so simple and that was all I needed. A few weeks later I went back to college and the Freesia came with me. She was supposed to be on loan for 2 weeks to make some things for my room but it is almost seven years later and I’ve never returned her. While my mom was sad that her new baby was gone I know a part of her was bursting with joy that I was sewing. I spent the next year and half making pillows, curtains, sorority letters and such. During this time I got hooked on watching Simply Quilts with Alex Anderson. It was the first time I saw quilts in a modern way. Prior to that, when someone said quilt, I pictured an old fashion looking star pattern in my head. After watching countless shows I went to a bookstore and bought up a bunch of quilting magazines and I was off. It was 2003 and I had no idea what I was doing. I still have my first quilt and it serves to remind me of how far I have come and how ambitious I was from the get go. My first quilt was paper pieced with lots of points. Not a good plan in hindsight but I love the quilt anyway. Since then I have worked on over 100 quilts, runners, bags, and other quilted goodies. It has been my dream to design patterns and fabric and spread quilting. I hope you enjoy joining me on this journey.