I used some of the Anna Maria Horner fabrics I received in the Quilty Box to finish some of the more recent I Spy Pouches. Once I finished the two large ones, I got all the pouches out and rearranged my templates.
I know it seems kind of ridiculous to make pouches for templates. On one hand, I like having them organized. I also like the fabric and enjoy using the coneflower print for something I am going to keep. Finally, the I Spy pouches are quick to make, so rather satisfying.
New Large I Spy Pouches
The two newest pouches are quite wild. I used a couple of the Bright Eyes prints. I didn’t really realize how exuberant the pouches would be using those fabrics. The fabrics clash a little with the coneflowers, unfortunately. Still, I like them and the coneflowers will show up when I put some templates inside.
I have a number of template sets that are too big for these pouches. I can use the same directions to make larger pouches. I just haven’t been up for that lately.
I subscribed for 3 months to Quilty Box. Anna Maria Horner’s Bright Eyes fabric line was included in this first box. I wanted to subscribe because of the AMH fabrics. I didn’t buy any Bright Eyes when I was in Oregon & Washington, so getting some in the mail was good.
Quilty Box open
I was excited to receive the box. I didn’t know exactly what was in it. The picture (right) is exactly what I saw when I opened the box. They wrapped it pretty nicely, if simply.
The booklet has a couple of projects inside as well as a Q&A with Anna Maria Horner.
Quilty Box items
Quilty Box items
The fabric, of course, was the main attraction. There were, however, other items in the box as well. The items included a label, a spool of thread, and a needle threader.
Quilty Box Fabrics
I liked the fabric, but I didn’t really like the amounts. They provide the amounts needed to make the quilt on the front of the booklet. I would have liked some more of the poppy fabric and less of the plaid. I have no plans to make the quilt top, so I started using the fabric already.
I know I seem like I am never happy with these boxes. I guess I just need to shop for myself!
My class is designing circle quilts. I decided that I had better try some of the rulers I have been suggesting my students try.
Rock Star Block Finished
I tried out one of the new blocks using the Wonder Curve ruler. This is one of the blocks from their recent sew along. Sadly, they do not have a photo of the finished quilt in their IG feed. I think it will probably be a pattern sometime in the future. I wasn’t super enamored of their sampler, but I did like this block. I did think it would be a good test of the ruler, so I made one over the weekend.
I am still liking the blue and red-violet combination that I used in Frolic!. This blue is more turquoise than the blue-violet I used in Frolic!, however the combination is interesting. Also, the fabrics were handy and I didn’t have to rummage.
This is the first Sew Kind of Wonderful project I have made since Metroscape and Mod Lights. As I mentioned when I made those projects, I really liked the Quick Curve ruler and the mini Quick Curve ruler. The Wonder Curve ruler does those nice petal shapes, but I didn’t feel the love quite as much with this ruler. It could be that it was new to me and I only had a block pattern for directions. I didn’t watch the Live demos.
I am interested in seeing what patterns the SKOW team produces. I wouldn’t make or put the Rock the Block sampler together like they did. I didn’t think the design worked, though the individual blocks were appealing. You see the sampler top finished in a video at minute 5:30.
Rock Star block in process
This block, after cutting the petals and putting the individual units together is a regular 9 patch. I thought about making a quilt with these blocks, but it doesn’t have enough appeal at the moment to make me do it. I do like the way the center layout makes the block look woven.
I am pretty impressed with SKOW, in general. Their rulers work well.
Lindsay sent me a picture of the ‘Busy Quilt’ she made for her toddler (my baby friend). What a great idea! It’s a really good idea for a baby gift if you want to make a gift for later – or you don’t get around to the gift until the baby is one.
It also reminded me of the Fidget Quilts that BAM made for people with Alzheimer’s. Lindsay’s, of course, is much more vibrant. The Tula Pink fabrics make the piece visually interesting.
There are also some differences. In the middle, there are clips to move around that section. This is something to watch out for when making it for a patient or a toddler. Nobody wants the recipient to choke. I am sure Lindsay knows Baby A well enough to put the clips on when she is old enough.
The bottom middle has woven yarn or string with beads and buttons to move over the yarn. There are also laces, which make me think of the Dressy Bessy-update pattern I bought. I never made it for my niece. Now, perhaps, I should make it for Baby A?
LFL’s Busy Quilt – front excite
Lindsay also used mesh to good effect. The bobbles are a great choice as are the Curiouser and Curiouser faces.
This top came about because I cleaned off every horizontal surface in my workroom holding fabric or projects. I found some random pieces sewn together as well as some Pop Parade yardage. I wanted it all gone except a blue (not shown). I started sewing pieces together randomly, using already pieced sections where I could. I had only two unused blocks from the X quilt, which was a shame, design-wise, but ok. I know that someone will like this quilt once it is finished and off to its new owner.
Pop Parade Improv Donation quilt back
My bonus is that I don’t have any random pieces of Pop Parade laying around. I did like the motifs, but didn’t like the colors chosen. I’d love it if they would reprint this fabric in clearer colors. I often think that.
We are now handing in donation quilts at Sew Days, so I will give this to Peggy the next time we meet.
Some time ago I made an inspiration board. At the time I liked it, but for the last several months it has been getting on my nerves. I need a cleaner look throughout my workroom.
The other day I got out some tools and the fabric I bought on the trip and went to work. I redid my inspiration board as one piece of the effort of redecorating my workroom.
Refreshed Inspiration Board
It has a much cleaner look and is much less exuberant. I’d like to get a frame, paint it white and hang the inspiration board in that. I’ll have to go look at thrift stores and that is one of my least favorite activities.
Inspiration Board with Buttons
My old inspiration board was blue with dots.
Inspiration Board tools
I reused some of the ribbon, because it was nice. I saved all the buttons as there was nothing wrong with them. Also, some of them are special.
I made some I Spy pouches for my various templates. The I Spy pouches are from Sara Lawson/ Sew Sweetness’s Minikins Season 1. These are not difficult and there are a number of designers, including the Road Trip bag from Crafty Gemini, with similar patterns. I like this pattern, because mostly you don’t sew on the vinyl.
Small I Spy Pouch
My idea is to put my acrylic project templates in these pouches. Many people have told me that it is silly to make these for my templates, but for now I am making them anyway. I like the idea of seeing my fabric in use. It makes me happy. I may stop at some point, but for now I am making them.
I thought the small pouch would fit my Falabella pouch templates, from Minikins Season 3, but it is a little small. There are several pieces of the acrylic templates and they are a little too thick for the small pouch. I think the medium might fit the Falabella pouch templates better. I’ll make either the medium or the large for these templates. In the meantime, they won’t fall out.
Large I Spy Pouch
I am also thinking about making some of these for my upcoming La Passacaglia project. I may need some larger ones for the EPP sections of the La Passacaglia project. I’ll have to see.
This large pouch is 10.5×8 inch and I think I might need an even larger size for EPP. I’ll have to see when the first installment of the La Pass instructions come out. It fits the Piebald Pouch acrylic templates very well.
Medium I Spy Pouch
The medium pouch fits the Hackney pouch, also from Minikins Season 3, templates pretty well.
These are a pretty quick sew and very satisfying. If I had a bag in which to clip them, I could easily add a leash with a lobster clip to keep them in the bag. That is something to think about for another day.
As I mentioned, a dozen quilts were handed in at Sew Day which will go to the community organizations that the guild supports. Many were tops I had sewn in the past. I am glad they are making their way to Peggy and the Community Quilt team.
For those of you who celebrate, Happy Independence Day! For those of you who do not celebrate, have a great day.
Happy 4th!
My wish, again, for this 4th (although it is not a gift giving holiday) is that we return to kindness, civility and working together to make a better future for our children. I have wished this before for various reasons. Post pandemic, I hope it will be easier to incorporate some of these traits into our lives as a society.
I was slightly horrified at the large pile of paper napkins on the YM’s dining room table. I came home and made napkins for the YM and the YMG from fabric I bought at Pioneer Quilts in Portland.
I sent them off and I hope they like and use them.
Google will be removing FeedBurner from its suite of products. I don’t know when. They sent me an email some time ago and I thought I would deal with it later. Well, it is later, unfortunately.
This means that if you get an email from this blog every morning, you will need to make some changes. I have begun subscribing people on the list. I suspect you will get a message asking you to verify your subscription. If you don’t want to have to do the whole process yourself, click the verification link. Otherwise, there are two ways to make the change:
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Projects, Classes, Patterns & Tutorials
Moda Blockheads #3 has an archive of all the blocks, the blog posts and the instructions. What a great idea! Thanks to Cyndi W.
Crafty Gemini has a new, free mesh tote bag video tutorial. If you need something for wet bathing suits, this is your bag.
My mom told me about a Missouri Star Triple Play video she watched. She loved the special surprise in the middle of the video. I liked that segment as well, but I REALLY loved Natalie’s version of their Missouri Star quilt. It is a small Missouri Star block in a large Missouri Star block. I think what I really like about it is the True Kisses by Heather Bailey fabric she used. I might have to make a block to see if I want to make a quilt. They use a perfect trimmer**, which I have never seen before. I may need to try one.
Media
It is worth checking on this NY Times article on crafts, What We Learned from a Year of Crafting, for the following quote “And the qualities that craft teaches — resourcefulness, resilience, flexibility — were much needed in a year filled with so much uncertainty and loss….”. It talks about crafting during the pandemic, how it took off, the benefits, how people returned. A great acknowledgment of something many of us do on a daily basis.
Check out Friend Julie’s Cornucopia post. Lots of interesting links to follow.
Books, Fabrics, Notions & Supplies
Check out the Remarkable Rainbow Block Resizer from Tartankiwi. The Remarkable Rainbow Resizer is a simple table which will allow you to increase or decrease the size of a wide variety of blocks.
I really like Joanne Sharpe’s work. Take a look at her website.
**I use affiliate links and may be paid for your purchase of an item when you click on an item link in my post. There is no additional cost to you for clicking or purchasing items I recommend. I appreciate your clicks and purchases as it helps support this blog.
In Process or To Make
The ‘In Process’ is used to denote projects on which I am actively working or are on the design wall waiting for me to stitch. I am continuing to try not to put away projects. I find putting a project away ensures I never work on them, because I just lose steam.
Quilts
The circle quilt start is on the design wall
Small Projects to Make or in Process
Most of my progress involves thinking or just cutting.
One Hour Basket for my stuff that tends to accumulate on the dining room table. I may switch to one of the Minikins projects or a Catch All Caddy for this purpose.
One Hour Basket for DH’s stuff that tends to accumulate on the dining room table. I may switch the pattern to one of the Minikins projects for this purpose.
Percheron Pouch cut out and ready to sew
Retreat Organizer – another project from the Crafty Gemini Organizer Club, also on my list, but not yet started. Recently, I saw one of these made up and I am not so nervous about it
Superbloom tote using Hindsight fabric – not started
Tessuti Japanese Apron – cut out and ready to sew. I am figuring out how to make it reversible.
Ultimate Project Organizer – another project from the Crafty Gemini Organizer Club, also on my list, but not yet started
Ultimate Carry All Bag gift – Bag-a-Long for BAM – I have the inside pockets as well as the front panel made and am looking forward to the next step
Ultimate Carry All Bag for me – I have the inside pockets as well as the front panel made and am looking forward to the next step
I decided that some of my projects are in a different class because they are hand piecing or embroidery or beading. They take longer. Thus I created a new category and have moved some projects here.
Still WIPs
I still have WIPs. Who doesn’t, after all? A project in the ‘UFO’ category means I am stalled. A nicer way of saying UFO is a WIP. The list is a lot shorter and the projects are newer, for the most part.
Handbag Sampler – this is still the forgotten project. It should be on the UFO list. The blocks were teaching samples when I taught a sampler class some time before I started writing the quilt class sampler tutorials. I found one block recently, but otherwise I actually don’t know exactly where the blocks are hiding. I crawled up in the far reaches of my fabric closet to see if I could find them and they weren’t where I thought. I am sort of mystified as to where they could be. I haven’t even found a picture of all the blocks. Sad.
Lobster – I think I might make this into a tablerunner for the buffet. I think that will be a good and fun use of the piece even if the colors aren’t quite right for the dining room.
Pies and Points from 2016 Victoria Findlay Wolfe class. The last time I worked on it was when Julie and I had a playdate in April 2018. I brought this piece with me so I could cut more elements (Julie has a Sizzix). I lost my excitement about this piece shortly thereafter and still have to get it back. Thus, I had to move this to the WIPs area.
Pointillist Palette #4: Fourth is a series of 6 quilts; needs tiny square patches sewn together. No progress.
Serendipity Lady – I am still planning to take this piece to be framed.
Who Am I? – This piece is still languishing. Perhaps having a larger design wall will help me regain momentum. The amount of satin stitching I was facing was a problem until I thought of BIAS TAPE. I am going to make the words with bias tape, perhaps different widths, then I won’t have to sew the satin stitching. Red Scribbles and Friend Julie helped me come up with this solution. Now I just have to do it!
