Show and Tell!

Wow. I don't talk about this much, but I love my blog readers! You guys really keep my going. Some days I find it hard to get into my creative groove, and your awesome comments always bring me back around. Other days I have an overflowing to do list, but I scrap it all to work on a new tutorial.
I love hearing that my designs inspire you, and that my tutorials are useful. But even better than hearing your words is seeing your work! I've created a flickr group, please use it to share your creations! Feel free to use the discussion feature as well, and I'll hop in with comments or answers to questions.
I love your blog comments, so keep them coming! And if you have a question that may benefit others as well, feel free to post it in the flickr discussion area now!

I also started a pinterest board where I keep track of my own work. I thought I'd share that here as well, since it's a great visual record of the projects on my blog. I have added all of my quilts to the board, but some of my other older sewing projects may not have made it up there quite yet.

If you have any comments or suggestions on how YOU can benefit more from these features, please chime in. Despite growing up in the technology boom, I'm not the most savvy social media user!

And seriously, thank you for keeping me going! You all inspire me more than I can ever express in words!

Scrappy Blocks Tutorial

I've been slowly making these blocks with my scraps, and I thought I'd share my process! I cut notebook paper to 8" squares and use that as a foundation for my blocks. This is my preferred method of improv piecing, as the paper makes the process so much easier!

Supplies:

The scraps don't need to be cut into perfect squares or rectangles, but I do trim 1 raw edge of each scrap piece with a rotary cutter and ruler so that I have a nice, straight edge. It will make more sense later in the tutorial, but the raw edge to trim is the one that you will stitch your seam along. I trim mine as I go.

Begin with 2 scraps. They don't have to be the exact same size.

Place the scraps, right sides together, somewhere on your paper foundation. The straight raw edge of each scrap piece should be aligned as shown. Stitch 1/4" from the raw edge using a slightly shorter stitch length than usual (2.0-2.2 works well). Stitch through the scraps and the paper; the paper is acting as a foundation for the piecing.

Press the pieces open.

Now add another scrap. Trim 1 edge so that you have a nice straight cut, line up this scrap with your other pieces, right sides together, and sew 1/4" from the raw edge. Don't worry about all of the edges lining up; just sew 1/4" from the cut edge on the piece that you are adding and you will have nice, straight seams.

Here's a close up of the stitch line. Notice that the raw edges of the first two pieces don't line up exactly with the raw edge of the piece that we just stitched down. That's fine!

Press the pieces open.

Continue adding scraps to fill the entire area of your foundation paper.

Sometimes you may be a bit short, especially on the corners. Just add another scrap to cover the corner!

Here's how I covered that corner:

After I stitched this corner piece down, I trimmed away some of the solid underneath. Feel free to do that any time you have excess.

Press the piece open.

Continue adding scraps to your work.



Press each piece open.

When your entire foundation paper has been covered, it should look something like this:

Here's the back side:

Trim off any fabric that hangs over the edge of the paper foundation using a rotary cutter and ruler.

And now you've made your first scrap block!

I like to keep my paper foundations on my blocks at this point. This technique results in lots of bias edges, and the paper helps to keep the blocks nice and square. After I sew the blocks together I sit down in front of the t.v. and pick out all of the paper pieces.

You can use this same process to create string blocks. Also, if you prefer straight lines over the wonky look, cut your scraps to perfect squares or rectangles before you add each piece. I love this method because the blocks sew up quickly and there are so many possibilities!

Woven Ruby

This quilt started with just a layer cake of Ruby by Bonnie and Camilla for Moda. I love the prints in this line, and I didn't want to chop them up too much. I ended up cutting each layer cake into 5 - 2" strips and piecing those with some solid white. After trimming the blocks to 8" square I played with layouts, and ultimately decided on this simple woven design:

On the back I included a few left over blocks and some complimenting prints:

For the quilting, I decided to try out Elizabeth Hartman's Dogwood pattern. It's quite similar to the orange peel quilt pattern that I've used before! I quilted a dogwood in each 7.5" block; the larger quilt design really softened the look of this quilt, especially after a trip through the wash.

I used the aqua pin dot from the Ruby line for the binding, with a tiny bit of piecing thrown in!

Finished off at 49" x 63", this is a great lap quilt for snuggling on the couch (or in an adirondack chair)! It's now listed in the shop!

A Mod Christmas!

When I was playing around with ideas for the Dresden Challenge, I came up with this mini. It was ultimately set aside, but I do still love it! I like the wreath shape that resulted from all of the wonky wedges.

As time consuming as it is, I went with pebble quilting on this piece. Originally I put some quilting in the wreath as well, but I unpicked that stitching. The pebble background really makes the wreath shape pop, which I love.

As I was finishing up this mini, I ran out of the aqua that I used for the background. That gave me a good excuse to use a knife edge binding. (And I should also note that after I finished the mini and cleaned up my sewing area, I found some more of the aqua solid under another project. Opps!)

On the back I included 2 small tabs for hanging.

Typically I would slide I small dowel rod through the tabs, but Matt came up with another way of using them when we don't have a dowel rod:

Push pins are great for hanging small quilts, and with the tabs on the back I can hide them from sight and also avoid putting holes in my mini quilts!

A corner of the knife edge binding:

Fabric is 12 Days of Christmas by Kate Spain and Kona in robin egg.
I know it's a bit early for Christmas, but it will be here before we know it! I've listed this mini in the shop!

Watch out kindergarden, here we come!

Today is Addy's first day of school! I'm a little bit sad (and man is the house quiet!), but also excited to have all day to focus on my projects and hopefully feel a bit more centered. Lately I've been battling with the guilt of quilting during the day when Addy is home or in the evening when Addy is in bed and Matt is home. Dedicating my days to creating will hopefully help me to enjoy the times Addy and Matt are home more!

Months ago Addy picked out the fabric and pattern that she wanted for her first day of school outfit (this is becoming a fun tradition!). We ended up using the short-sleeve pattern from Oliver + S's 2 + 2 blouse and the skirt from the Swing Set pattern.

For the blouse we picked a print from the Children at Play line by Sarah Jane.

One small change that I made was to use a thin bias binding for the neckline:

I love the bias tape on the hem of the sleeves, too! Oliver + S patterns have the most wonderful details, I get so giddy when my handmade garments are so well finished!

5 buttons running down the back of the blouse, a classic Oliver + S detail (Addy chose the pink and purple!):

I picked up the skirt fabric from JoAnn's. It's a fine corduroy in a pretty purple color. I didn't have the blouse material with me at the time, which is why the purple doesn't "match". But I actually love that it goes with the blouse without being a perfect match!

The skirt pattern calls for a lining, but I didn't want to add too much weight to it, so I just made a facing from quilting cotton for the waist. This eliminated some bulk and also made it easy for me to add the elastic at the waist without altering the skirt design:

(What the heck was I thinking when I shot that pic? I'm not even focused on the facing! Ha!)
Here we are at the bus stop!

Addy also needed an art smock for school. I could have grabbed any old shirt for her to use, but what is the fun in that, right? I had this cute yoga monkey print in my stash, so I sewed this up for her (pattern is also Oliver + S! It's from the book):

The back is a simple velcro closure:

And here it is in action!

I can't rave enough about the Oliver + S patterns! They are so simple to follow, and they include great details. If you haven't tried them yet, I would highly recommend them. The price is certainly higher than the "Big 5" patterns from JoAnn's, but they are worth every penny. (And hey, there is awesome support over at the Oliver + S forums!)
Addy is now off to school, and once I hit "publish" I'm off to sew! I can't wait to pick her up from the bus and hear all about her first day!

Not so traditional dresdens!

The Salt Lake Modern Quilt Guild is hosting a challenge using a dresden ruler. Over the summer when the challenge was first announced, I had a few ideas pop into my head. As I played with the ruler and the shapes that it creates, my ideas evolved a bit until I came up with these two quilts.

The first quilt is a mini, measuring 23" square. I love using one large block to create a mini quilt - it's the perfect size to display on the wall!

I reverse appliqued the center circle and pieced the outer seam on the "dresden plate". I can't lie, I held my breathe the whole time I was sewing the outer circle seam! The quilting is simple straight lines that increase in density from the center of the quilt outward.

I used a charm pack of Kate Spain's Terrain for the quilt top. The backing is a great polka dot: Dumb Dot by Michael Miller in Tangerine. The binding is Quilter's Linen by Robert Kaufman in Orange.

My second entry is for the Innovative category. The idea for this quilt came along because I love the look of wonky piecing, but I don't enjoy the process because I always seem to generate a lot of fabric waste! I'm often thinking up different techniques to accomplish the look I like, but which also satisfy my Type A personality!

I initially fell in love with this print by Erin McMorris for her La Dee Da line:

(Photo from Hawthorne Threads)

And so I used that as inspiration for this quilt!

To achieve this design, I cut strips of my prints at random angles using a rotary cutter and ruler to keep my cuts sharp rather than curved. Next I pieced a strip of grey to either side of the print, and then cut my dresden pieces from the pieced fabric. The entire quilt top is made up of dresden plate pieces!

I quilted the rows of wonky wedges in a linear zig zag style and then quilted around each row of wedges to further accent them. The traditional quilter inside of me can't believe that I left the negative space unquilted (I was taught to quilt a piece with uniform density throughout!), but it gives the quilt a softness while not distracting from the wonky wedges.

For the back I used a large piece of my inspiration fabric plus a chunk of coordinating print.

I love that the quilting is obvious in the light print of the quilt back, yet it blends right into the dark print!

This quilt finished at 36" x 52". I love this mix of prints, so I may make a me-size quilt soon!

Are you participating in the Dresden Challenge? I'd love to hear what you came up with! Here are the links to the 3 categories of entries:

Mini

Traditional

Innovative

Link ups are open from Sept. 1-6. I can't wait to see all of the beautiful creates! It's only day 1 and there are already lots of inspiring projects out there!