Commentary about works in progress, design & creativity
I have wanted to make another tablerunner for our buffet for awhile. I found the charm pack I used for this project at Sunshine Quilts in Medford. It was an impulse buy, but I was determined not to let the pack sit around.
I cut the pieces for this project at Sew Day and started sewing them together last week.
OMG! I can’t tell you how much I loved just sewing pieces together – no applique’, no fighting, no drama.
This project started off so well and wasn’t difficult. There was one crucial line missing from the directions that threw me off.
That line was “Remember, this needs to open like a book”.
It is perfectly usable. It would work very well for someone who was left handed. As you can see the opening is on the left. If the directions had said “Remember, this needs to open like a book”, I think I would have been able to better picture the directions in my mind. Instead there were a lot of words describing flipping the exterior in different ways, which was confusing.
Also, I used a snap instead of the magnetic clasp called for, which I know had an effect.
I also added a piece of foam in addition to the fusible batting. I like the heft. I might try two layers of fusible batting next time. Yes, there will be a next time. I think this is a useful pouch/booklet, but also not difficult, so it is a good item for a door prize.
Despite the problems, I found this a fairly easy project. It also gave me practice in using my Snap Setter. I always wonder what my DH thinks I am doing when he hears me pounding away. I am always amazed that the tool doesn’t break.
As mentioned the other day, I did a marathon and was able to finish the top and back and binding of Who Am I?
I am not sure the bottom adds heaviness, but it does break up the ‘sweetness’ of the dots. I wanted a little sweetness and I also wanted some consistency. I want the focus to be on the words and not much on the background. That’s why I didn’t introduce another fabric to the mix.
In the photo above, you can see the whole design, even the ME that is part of the background.
One thing I have to think about is quilting the borders. I used some batting to stabilize the center of the quilt for applique’. It wasn’t a great choice, but Julie had some and was willing to share at the time. I need to talk to Colleen and see what she wants me to do. I could use batting tape to connect pieces of batting to the center. I could also have Colleen use a super thin batting, which would mean the center was double-batted. We’ll see what happens.
The back is simple and went together relatively easily, which was a relief.
My reward for finishing this is a straight piecing project, but I think I will work on some bags first.
When I finally received the Valentine’s Day and St. Patrick’s Day pillowcase fabric, I decided to just make all the pillowcases and have them ready to go.
These were in the mail around March 1, so the boys would have a lot of time to enjoy them — or hide them in the back of their wardrobe!
Now that Month 18 is finished, I have started to put the entire La Pass top together.
It is hard and unwieldy, but I am really liking how the rosettes look together. I need to figure out how others are managing this process to see if there is an easier way.
One thing I noticed is that those dark blue spikes look really good!
I made significant progress over the weekend on this donation top, as I worked on Who Am I?. Leaders and enders saves the day!
I have been sewing these blocks, but it takes time to build up the strips. It seems like I had so few blocks for so long and then all of a sudden a bunch of them came together over the weekend. I finally feel like I can see the light at the end of the tunnel.
The blocks aren’t all straight strip blocks even though that was my original intention. There are chunks in some of them, because I couldn’t bear to toss strips I had trimmed. There are no rules, but I have been making a straight strip quilt first, then sometimes a block quilt made with chunks and then, finally, an improv quilt. Of course, it all depends on how many scraps I have.
While listening to an International Women’s Day seminar, I went through my scrap bin and pulled out more strips. This type of organization will help me make blocks faster. As a bonus, having busy hands, I was better able to pay attention to the online seminar.
Who Am I? has been hanging on my design wall for weeks and I am really sick of looking at it. The concept was stellar IMO, the design choices I made were good, so I really don’t know what the problem was.I don’t know why I didn’t want to work on it, but I didn’t. The other day, I finally forced myself to work on it.
I was tempted by other projects, but I forced myself to stay focused. I know I need to enjoy my quiltmaking, but I do not enjoy having quits languishing.
I thought about adding a small dark border so the first thing I did was try that. I had some Tilda charcoal I am going to use for Stay Tuned, but I have enough to use for for this project as well. Also, since I know what it is, I can always buy more.
As an aside, the Stay Tuned fabric palette has not been decided, so I may as well use fabric I have for projects that need it now.
I wasn’t sure the charcoal would work completely, but I kept on. I added some further border strips using the dotted background fabric (colors on white).
Putting a little of the white dotted fabric up gave me more confidence that I was on the right track. I decided my ideas were good ones, so I started sewing.
I wanted to frame the center, but also smooth out some of the wrinkles from the applique’. I carefully measured and put on side pieces that helped to square everything up. I don’t think the quilt is completely square as I couldn’t cut much off of either side.
Laying out the whole charcoal gave me the idea of doing something a little different on the bottom. I wanted to anchor the design a bit and I thought making the bottom a little heavier would work.
I worked on this for about 8 hours the other day. I was able to get it done and get the binding made.
I finished another old project. As mentioned, I started this project in 2015, so it is only eight years old. Still, old enough to get on my nerves.
Someone compared my dislike of UFOs to someone I really don’t like who has no UFOs. That annoyed me, because I don’t think I am like her at all. I just don’t find that **my** projects improve by sitting around. I can’t imagine never having any UFOs, but I think they will be projects for which I have cut fabric, but not started sewing. Once I start sewing, it is pretty easy to continue.
I zoomed through the binding on this quilt. Using good fabric really helps. I was pleased I remembered not to use a batik in the binding! I didn’t expect to finish it so quickly, but it went really fast.
The recent Sew Day was a Community Sew Day. Most quilts were finished, but a few were taken home to finish. We think there were about 8 total.
SueS brought the leftover squares from her I Spy quilt project and most people worked on putting them together to make some community quilts. The quilts really turned out well. The solid sashing and borders really highlighted the variety of fabrics.
Amy chose a variety of pink, or pink tending fabrics and used a dark pink for the border of her quilt top.
She told me she wanted to make something pink and girly. I would say she succeeded.
We all contributed to SueS’s stash of squares. I think the raspberry fabric in the center of Amy’s quilt is one that I donated.
This yellow top was the first one finished. I think Peggy sewed it, but I am not sure.
I think the blue number fabric in row 4, column 2 is a fabric that I provided as well. It is nice to see my fabrics show up in other people’s work.
I did not work on Community quilts today. I have the Pink Color Strip quilt in process and I needed to cut out pieces to make door prizes. If I had been thinking ahead, I could have worked with Mary, but I have been too busy at work to organize my sewing life very well.
The Door Prize team decided that we would make small, but more interesting pouches and organizers such as those in Aneela Hoey’s Stitched Sewing Organizers** book. I reviewed this book soon after I received it.
In getting ready for Sew Day, I looked through the book and decided to make the Two in One Case as a door prize. I don’t think I have made anything from this book, though I have made Aneela Hoey patterns such as the Inside Outside pouch, the Boxy Clear Pouch and the Speedy Pouches.
Aside from some strange language for the tab, cutting this project out was pretty easy. There aren’t a lot of pieces so it looks like it will go together quickly.
I thought of making the Fold-up Sewing Folio, but it was a lot more complicated, so I thought I would start with this one.
I need to work on some other projects, but I think I should be able to finish this pouch soon and get it off to Carrie in time for the April meeting.
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I never posted both Month 17 Rosettes. I’d like to have a full set here on the blog, so here they are.
This was the month was substituted for Month 16 when the fabric for Month 16 got delayed. I changed a number of different fabrics in these rosettes, so they look different.
One of the reasons I could never do this project on my own, as I am sure I have said, is breaking down the rosettes in order to choose the fabrics. I got much more confident as the project went on and I might be able to tackle another of Wilynne Hammerstein’s patterns on my own. I have a few things to finish first, so stay tuned for that.
Because I finished Month 18, I started assembling the rosettes. The goal, after all is to have a quilt top, right?
I was very pleased that I finished assembling the first bits, the top right corner. Then I realized I hadn’t lined the pieces up properly – or they had gotten out of alignment somehow – and I had sewed the pieces together wrong. Sigh.
I need to turn the bottom part a bit, because I need to add one of the Month 9 rosettes to the side of month 18. The flat part of Month 18 needs to be turned 90 degrees as it is parallel to the top of the quilt.
Yes, I am definitely on a Hackney kick.
This one is an International Women’s Day gift for Gerre.
This is the fourth one I have made and I plan to make a few more. I have made them all in the large size. I could make the smaller sizes; I just haven’t yet. For some reason I like making these as gifts.
I used the same lining fabric as I used for the Skeleton Hackney. It is a good lining fabric. I haven’t used it as a background as it is pretty dynamic and doesn’t fade into the background like other fabrics.
I did the pocket a little differently, too. I made a vinyl pocket using the Glitter vinyl from Sew Hungry Hippie. There was a little bit of a problem sewing the turning opening closed, but not much. Some of that could have been from forgetting to use a 3/8 inch seam allowance on the top.
I also added a handle to this one and remembered not to sew through the lining! It was much easier to put the whole thing together.
I put a few small gifts and a card inside. I hope she likes it.
I try to make sets of things using the same fabric, but I have very little of the Sugar Skull fabric left. I thought the dots coordinated well.
Lindsay was kind enough to give me a scrap of fabric so I could finish Month 18 without having to buy more fabric.
I inserted that skinny diamond and the two pentagons into the empty space you saw in the post last week. That is one thing I love about EPP! You don’t always have to put the pieces together in order.
The finished rosette is a partial rosette.I have enough fabrics to finish the blue and peony ring. I think the woven design would look good finished.
I am still mulling over the edging of this quilt. One of the options is to finish all the rosettes so the edge is more round. I really don’t want to cut off the edges of the piecing I have done, but may end up doing that.
I had some bits of made fabric in my pink scrap drawer and they were getting in the way of me making new donation blocks. I decided to make another journal cover. The project also served as a palate cleanser after I finished another project.
This version isn’t as long as the tutorial demands. Basically, I was lazy and it works fine as is. There won’t be as much security if I were to put things in the cover, but this is a journal from 2009 and I don’t think I will be taking it off the shelves that often.
I took the opportunity to look through it. I saw a lot of studies for the Creative Prompt project. Those made me smile. I liked doing those drawings. It was a great thing to do while I waited for the YM.
This one includes some fun fabrics.
I am out of practice making them so there was quite a bit of ripping at the assembly stage. The inside doesn’t look that great, but it doesn’t matter.