See? I really did go on a jag making these wallets. It was a great project that I could make quickly. After making the first one, I was able to make one in about half an hour, not including the bit of hand sewing required.
Philip Jacobs Wallet - closed
The version above uses that great Philip Jacobs fabric I bought at Always Quilting after PIQF.
Philip Jacobs Wallet -inside
One issue I am having with this project is the selection of fabrics. As you can see from the various choices I have made, I have tried different things. I like this combination, mostly. I like that the Philip Jacob fabric has different areas that I could select from. The ‘foil’ fabric was a challenge. I don’t mind the solid, but I would have liked something a little more active (a tone-on-tone, perhaps?) since it shows quite a bit on the bottom, especially when the wallet is open.
Philip Jacobs Wallet -outside
I love the Philip Jacobs print! It is so fun. This particular colorway is quite loud, but it works. It works for my mom, the giftee, as well. I made it with the intention of putting a gift card in it and the young man ended up getting her a gift card and I gave this to him as the wrapping.
Julie, over at High Fiber Content, has been making Halloween Houses for some time. You can see her most recent post about the project. I found some cool skeleton fabric few months ago with the intent of making her some houses. I didn’t do it right away, because I was busy and also because I started to doubt whether it was a good idea or not. I am not sure if it is a friendship block project or just a project she is working on herself. In the end, as you can see, I made the blocks. After 25+ years of giving gifts to someone, a person has to get creative. If she doesn’t like them, she can put them the back.
Halloween House #1
The above block uses some Dia de los Muertos fabric I found somewhere as well as some Jay McCarroll fabric for the walls and roof of the house. I intended to use the same Liberated Quiltmaking technique I used for the Women’s Work 1 quilt to build the houses. That was a fun technique when I was in the class.
During the process of making WW1, I really got into a groove doing the red houses for Women’s Work 1. I thought it would be easy to get back into the groove, but it wasn’t. I had to rip and redo, because my ratio of roof to walls were off and looked strange.
Halloween House #2
I had a little scrap of the Dia de los Muertos fabric so I made the above house, too.
Halloween House #3
This is the last block I made and, as you can see, the skeleton fabric is different. It was a much larger print and a little hard to work with. I could have made a really large block, but didn’t want a block I made to dominate her quilt.
I included the leftover fabric in the gift bag, so she can make some others. I hope she has already received the package before she reads this!
I didn’t make as many gifts this year as I did last year, but I did make a few. This is a Valori Wells Little Wallet project. Terri promised that it was an easy project and she was absolutely correct. The hardest part of this project was the turning it! The part that took the longest was the cutting. This is a great project.
Little Wallet open
This is a present for my SIL. She wanted some gift cards and I thought it would be cute to put the gift cards in this little wallet.
I received these blocks from SherriD yesterday. Aren’t they great? I love the combinations of goldy-yellows and blues she chose for the blocks. They glow.
Sherri told me that she tried a new technique to make the blocks, which is a great idea. It is nice to not have to commit to an entire quilt if you want to try something new.
If you would like to make blocks, too, here are the parameters:
All blocks are welcome!
Block background: dark blue
Block design: Yellow star (any pattern)
block size: 8? or less (we will work with any size)
remember to sign your block!
Deadline: TBA
Contact us through our blogs for mailing instructions. Thanks so much for your generosity!
I mentioned that I went to a party on Sunday. Bron, a CQFAer was kind enough to give me two star blocks for the project. Bron is originally from New Zealand and is the leader of our little band. She keeps us on track at meetings. I was fortunate enough to see some of her work last Sunday. She does beautiful NZ imagery.
If you would like to make a block (or blocks), here are the parameters. All blocks are welcome!
Block background: dark blue
Block design: Yellow star (any pattern)
block size: 8? or less (we will work with any size)
remember to sign your block!
Contact us through our blogs for mailing instructions. Thanks so much for your generosity!
This is the first of a few gifts that I made this season. I really missed making the quantity of gifts I made last year. It was fun, but I was way too busy this year. I’ll have to think about it and plan better for next year.
I made this Little Wallet as a hostess gift for a friend who hosted a CQFA meeting on Sunday. We went to her house and just did handwork and chatted. It was very pleasant and relaxing. She has some beautiful trees in her backyard that were sending showers of leaves down as I looked out the window. Gorgeous.
The afternoon made me think that I need to spend more time just sitting and stitching. Anyone need right of first refusal for artworks in exchange for a salary each year?
On September 10, 2010 a gas line exploded and leveled a neighborhood near where we live. It was big news at the time, but the world has moved on. In that neighborhood lived our cousin. His house was not destroyed, but was severely damaged. Also, the Young Man’s school friend lived there. His house was destroyed and he and his father ran for their lives.
Barsha's Star
My mom put out a call for blocks that we can make into quilts for these families and we received our first block today. One is promised and one is in the mail.
Barsha taught sewing in a local county for years before she retired. She is a gifted seamstress and I go to her when I need new pants. 😉 I first met her through a local guild. She is also a gifted quiltmaker, teacher and wearables artist. She has a wonderful, light studio and knows how to use a serger.
Thanks, Barsha!
Would you like to help? The parameters are:
Block backround: dark blue
Block design: Yellow star (any pattern)
block size: 8″ or less (we will work with any size)
remember to sign your block!
Contact us through our blogs for mailing instructions. Thanks so much for your generosity!
I talked about some giveaways I was planning. This isn’t one of them and I don’t have the stuff in my hand, but Chronicle Books is giving away stuff. Thanks to Cool2Craft on Creating the Hive for her post!
Here’s how it works:
I was supposed to make a post on here on the blog (check!) listing Chronicle Books valued at up to $500 that would be nice gifts under my tree. Check! They are:
Then I had to go to this Chronicle Books link and complete the form (Check!) and, theoretically, I was automatically entered into a drawing to WIN my list of books! And, one of YOU, dear readers, who comments on your post on your blog will win the list too! The rules don’t say a substantial comment, but you know how I am. While you are hanging around, go and take a look at the other posts. The scrap post was nice. the Modern Quilt Guild Meeting was fun. etc.
You can put up a post on your blog as well. Last day to submit entries is December 10th! Read all about it at Chronicle Books! Official Rules!
Leave your substantial comment here to be entered to win!
Another quilt is finished. This one didn’t take very long, aside from the cutting, but it was a monster to deal with. The binding took me a long time. I probably spent 10 hours on the binding alone.
This is a gift for one of the nephews. Hope he likes it.
I decided to name this quilt the Blue Janus quilt, because Janus is the Greek God of doorways, gateways and transitions. This quilt is going to someone who is embarking on a huge transition. More on that later!
I started out with 6.5″ patches. Each one of those squares is 6.5″, which makes the block about 24′. I needed 16 of the 6.5′ patches across and down to make the desired sized quilt. Yet another monster!
Big Blocks of Big Patches
These are the first of several blocks this size.
Quilt Top Finished
I cannot spread the whole thing out in my workroom, so you get a little piece of the action. It took me about a day plus a couple of hours to sew the whole thing together. Since I want the edges to be straight I added a quilting border that will get cut off later.
Completed Top
You can see a little of the quilting border in this picture.
I am almost finished with the back. It is causing me a few headaches so I wasn’t able to finished before I had to be away from my sewing machine for a week. I plan to quilt this baby at my next longarm appointment at the end of the month so I need to get it done. I am sure I can since I have only a few more seams to get a back that is large enough.
This is the first part of a quilt I am making as a gift. I will tell you for whom it is intended once it is delivered.
I have been cutting blue 6.5″ squares, in a delusatory way, for the past year. I was sure I would get it done. Suddenly, it was April and I didn’t have nearly enough squares. I really wanted the quilt done by the beginning of June and was, thus, in a pickle. My deadline isn’t going to happen.
TFQ helped with my dilemna by cutting about 100 squares for me. That really, REALLY helped. I cut the rest and began sewing. I hope to have this top and back done in time to quilt it at my longarm appointment on July 30.
Yes, the Knitting Box, which seemed like such a failure, is finished. It took me much longer than I thought it would. Even though I should be done with this project, I am tempted to make another just because I would like to perfect the process as well as make a few modifications.
Knitting Box Open
SIL likes it and I hope she will find it useful. I was nearly finished when she dropped off her child and requested a wrist band instead of the belt loop she originally requested.
Knitting Box One Flap Open
No dice. I did not want to rip out the seam and insert a longer loop. I didn’t have it in me. Fortunately, SIL is very thin and the belt loop was generous enough to fit over her hand. It is tight enough not to slip off as she is in transit.
The above photo shows that I added some snaps. I had some large black snaps on hand, which SIL said would be fine to use. I decided I wanted something to match the piece. I looked for pink snaps in several local shops with no success. I am sure I have seen colored snaps before, but I couldn’t find any. I must have seen them online. I finally bought clear snaps and they work well to keep the box closed. I was able to finish it while she was out.
Corner Detail
Part of what I wanted to do was secure the corners into a small box shape. I did that with beads and Laura Wasilowski hand dyed Perl Cotton. I hope it holds up. If not, I can fix it.
Snaps in Action/Corner Detail
Above you can see the snaps and unfolding action as well as a bit of the corner detail.
Open View from the Side
I put two snaps on the edge covering the section where the yarn will come out. I thought that SIL could only snap one in order to allow the yarn to flow out more smoothly.
Another View - Closed
You can see how the yarn would come out with one snap open.
Another View - Closed
I will be really interested in how this project actually works in practice and if SIL uses it. I like the way the box looks in this picture and wonder if it will stay like that while she is on the go and knitting.
One of the things I really ended up liking about this project is how it became a group effort. I appreciate my SIL and my niece helping me figure out the solution to my challenges and to all of my readers who gave me resources. I also appreciate the opportunity to do something a little different and to Ruthann Logsdon Zarroff of Mirkwood Designs for posting the original Truffle Box pattern.
Online shopping is a godsend, because I really dislike going to stores and shopping. The looking around and trying to find the right thing kind of shopping. If I know what I want and where it is, I will go to a store, get the item and leave. Online shopping allows me to browse, not talk to anyone. The only problem is the packages.
When I was a solo librarian TFQ would come to visit me and there would be boxes of stuff that had arrived – not a lot, but enough to be noticeable – that I had not opened. I knew what was in the packages and I knew I could open them when I needed to wash the fabric or use the tool. She just couldn’t understand it and would, thankfully and gleefully, rip open all of the packages for me and ooh and aah over my purchases.
One of the dreary tasks forced upon a solo law librarian is that you have to open tons of boxes. Every day scores of boxes and packages come with updates for the legal materials. The packages are taped within an inch of their sad lives and require special equipment and fortitude, as well as serious caffeine to get through opening. I am not kidding when I say that this takes all the joy out of receiving mail and opening gifts. It is probably part of the reason why I use gift bags.
I am now fortunate to work in a larger library where we have a person whose job it is to open the mail, route magazines and newsletters and journals, and process the books so they can be shelved.
it has taken me a long time to heal. This release from the tyranny of mail, however, has allowed me to start to take some joy in receiving packages. Today was a good mail day!
Stripes from TFQ
In no particular order, here is the mail report.
TFQ sent these with a little note saying that she found them in the remnant bin at The Quilting Loft! I believe that Angie has an online store. She is a really nice person, has a great shop (which you should visit when you go to Seattle! I am sure the cab drivers know where it is 😉 or you can look it up by clicking on the link). Go buy something!
How nice to receive a surprise!
I love using stripes in bindings. It makes the quilts look more cheerful and adds movement to them. Have you tried using stripes in a quilt binding?
I believe that the upper left hand stripe is a Jane Sassaman print. I went to her lecture last night and I think she was wearing an apron with that stripe as the ties. There is no selvedge, so I can’t tell you for sure, but I am sure TFQ knows and will chime in.
Yes, I went to a Jane Sassaman lecture last night. The opportunity presented itself and quiltmaking is my passion, so how could I not attend? I am writing the blog post as we speak (well, sort of since I am typing this blog post bit now) and will post it soon. Be patient. I have pictures, too.
EQ7 Upgrade
Remember the post where I talked about the EQ7 upgrade? I have to confess that that was a cheap trick to try and get two free copies of EQ7 – one for me and one for one of you. They didn’t pick me. 🙁 . I was sad. I thought it was a good post, but they pick by random generator and it wasn’t my turn.
The bonus is that they offered me a good deal on the upgrade so I bought that and had to wait forever for it to arrive. It came today, though. YAY!!!
I was inspired by the arrival to consider doing a block of the month.
Consider.doing.a.block.of.the.month.
Artquiltmaker.com BOM
Do I need more work? No.
Am I somewhat willing? Yes.
The key is whether you will participate? Will you at least try it if I do it and commit to posting one or two blocks per month until the end of the year? I thought about not posting instructions, but I would produce rotary cutter instructions for the blocks and somehow enable you to download them. I would have to figure that out.
Let me know by commenting below and I will think about it, too. I am not doing it alone.
South African Fabric from Beth
Beth is a reader who is in the process of moving to South Africa. I think she lives in Illinois now. Moving is terrible if you move across town, but moving across the world makes me more in awe of Beth. How was she able to send me a small package with a note inside (that is flower postcard) in the midst of such a momentous move?
I don’t know. Beth is a better person than me. My child, nieces and nephews will have to haul my body out of the house from under a fabric avalanche.I hope never to move unless it is to move my fabric to a studio where I can go every day for 8 hours a day and play.
Anyway, this lovely blue fabric will have the perfect home in a couple of different projects that I have going now and for which I am cutting patches. Stay tuned for more on that another day.
So, dear readers, thank you for reading and living vicariously. And thank you to the US Postal Service and the handsome UPS driver who all showed up to work today and made it safely to my house so we could enjoy some quilty goodness.
I think the cycle is complete. For a couple of years, I have been trying to focus on the process of making rather than the finished object. I think the cycle is complete, because I am starting not to care that much about keeping things that I make. (there are no lines for the stuff I make, though) This could be a bad thing, because it is possible that I will just start and start and start projects and not worry about finishing. Let’s not go there.
Jill's Pencil Roll - closed
Jill received her pencil roll yesterday. I have been waiting, for what seems like weeks, to tell you about about, especially since I am scraping the bottom of the barrel for blog posts, Jill’s Pencil Roll. Being sick really cut into my sewing time.
Anyway, Jill has been a loyal contributor to the Creative Prompt Project, along with SherriD, for the past year +. Jill has contributed a fabulous doodle response every week. I wanted to thank her for her contribution. It is a time commitment and I appreciate her gift to me of a bit of her time. I had hoped to post both gift posts together, but SherriD received hers the day after I sent it! (Thank you, USPS) Jill’s took a bit longer to arrive.
Back when I started the CPP, I didn’t plan to reward people for contributing. It is something that popped into my head a month or so ago and seemed like the right thing to do. When I decided I wanted to do this, I thought I would “borrow” some images from Jill’s blog and surprise her. At that time, she had a problem with someone else “borrowing” images. I decided that stealing was wrong and I should just ask. I didn’t give Jill all of the details, but she was very gracious, didn’t ask many questions and sent me some of her images from which I could choose.
Jill's Pencil Roll - outside detail
I had an idea in my mind of what I would do, but in looking at the images, I decided on something else – what you see above. I don’t like rats, but I thought it was important to include this little guy to go along with Jill’s blog name.
This one was a little more challenging than some of the others I have made, because I had to fit the images in to a piece of fabric that would become the outside of the pencil roll. I went back to the days of piecing journal covers and took a page out of that book in terms of piecing the back. I didn’t want to piece the whole back, because I had a piece of FabMo fabric that screamed Jill at me.
Jill's Pencil Roll - outside
The black and white is a designer sample that I got via Bron from FabMo. It wasn’t very large, so I thought adding the bit with the images would work and wouldn’t be too large and unwieldy. It worked out very well and I am pleased with how it came out.
Jill's Pencil Roll - inside
Everything I use to make the Pencil Rolls is from supplies I already have or from FabMo fabric. You don’t need much more than fabric, ribbon and something to use as interfacing. I save ribbon, which I seem to get a lot of, so some of the pencil roll ribbons have odd words on them. Other things would work as ties as well. I just think it is nice to give these bits and pieces a new life.
Decorative Stitch on Pencil Pocket
I have also started to use a decorative stitch on the pocket of the pencil roll just to make it a little more special. It makes the pocket pucker a bit, so I think I start adding a bit of length to it to account for that puckering. It doesn’t pucker so much that I have had a problem sewing it within the seam allowance.
Jill's Pencil Roll - Tips
One thing I learned the hard way on Lil Sissy’s pencil roll was to use a binder clip to gather the ribbon tie out of the way. What is the hard way? Sewing the ribbon to the back as you sew along creating the pencil pockets. If you don’t have a binder clip, get one!
I am really happy that Jill liked the pencil roll. Thanks to everyone who participates in the CPP!. If you are quietly doing it alone, please post a direct link to your responses in the comments section of the prompt or to the Flickr group so we can ooooh and aah over your contributions!
This pencil roll was made with FabMo fabric. I found the piece and it made me think of SherriD’s Renaissance Faire activities. I decided to make her a pencil roll as a thank you for participating in the Creative Prompt Project for the past year+.
SherriD's Pencil Roll - open
If I haven’t mentioned this before, the FabMo fabrics are generally samples. They vary in size, but I can usually get only one piece of a particular design. I didn’t have enough to use for the inside, so I tried to pick some fabrics that would coordinate and give the feeling of history. The marbled fabric reminds me of the end papers in a book.
