Tag: Projects

Use this tag for posts that covers a variety of types of projects in one post such as the 26 Projects posts. If the post is about a bag, use Project-Bag. If the post is about a quilt, use Project-Quilt

Tarts Progress Also

Tarts, August 2009
Tarts, August 2009

Yes, your eyes do not deceive you. All the bits and pieces that I have wanted to change are done and I can start sewing the whole piece together. I don’t really think that it is nearing completion, because I have lot of ideas for handwork and embellishment in my mind. I just have to figure out the order of the next steps.

After I determined that the 9K was behaving admirably yesterday, I didn’t listen to anyone’s 2 cents about this space and made the stack of cups the way I wanted. I am pretty pleased with how they came out, though I think the pink I chose is a little bit darker than the flying geese background. It works, so it is fine.

Tarts cups
Tarts cups

Confession time: After I put the stack of cups up next to the curly pot, I started not to like the yellow print cup very much. I started to think how nicely a slice of cake would work in that area. I even had a fleeting thought that a scone or chocolate chip cookie would work. (SherriD: stop laughing!)

Yellow Print Cup
Yellow Print Cup

Really, I am trying to stop fiddling, but I may not be able to finish the piece with that cup on the front. I started to sew the sections together, but I have stayed away from this section until I can decide if I can live with this cup. The other issue is that I don’t have a replacement design in mind. I really want to get this top off the design wall in one piece and do something easy.

I am shocked to admit that quilting this myself actually entered my mind last night, as I worked on Beach Town. This piece is pretty large, so I’ll have to really think about that. Beach Town is small and I am still working on the last bits. The last quilt I tried to quilt was Seeing Red. I densely quilted about a 14″ square,  then ripped all the quilting out and took it to my machine quilter.  I don’t want a repeat of that.

Leopard Tote

Turquoise Leopard Tote
Turquoise Leopard Tote

This is the Leopard Tote I made for my sister back in February. I am not sure why I never posted it. Here it is now.

It came back with me after my trip down south in June, because she ripped it along the spot on the inside where I turned the whole piece and then sewed it up by hand. This time, I sewed a bit, made a knot, sewed a bit and made a knot. I also warned the fast moving sis to not load it with heavy stuff.

Hopefully those strategies will keep it closed.

Opposite Tote

Striped Tote with Flowers
Striped Tote with Flowers

You might think that this is the same tote I posted last week. It is, however, the opposite of the one I posted last week. I used the stripe for the main part of the fabric as opposed to the flower fabric, which I used for the accents this time.

I think that this may be the best tote that I have ever made. I don’t think that I made any mistakes (knock wood). One thing I did with this tote was sew on the button before I sewed all the pieces together. It was a lot easier!

I guess it is time to move on to another pattern. We’ll see.

Tarts Progressing Slowly

Tarts, July 12, 2009 #1
Tarts, July 12, 2009 #1

I was determined to get at least one of the blocks done this weekend.

I took the easy way out and worked on the smaller block. No block is easy, regardless of how small.

Every block requires a background which I must choose while considering the surrounding blocks. I was determined to use that purple/blue dotty swirl (see bottom middle next to the frothy drink). I love that fabric and think the quilt needs another piece of it somewhere. I cut it, confidently put it up on the design wall and stood back to look.

Blech.

Failure. It bled into the background of the frothy drink and just didn’t stand up to the blocks around it.

Sigh. Back to the drawing board for a new background. After consulting with myself, I decided that the area could stand a purple backround, yet it would have to be a different purple.

Tarts, July 12, 2009 #2
Tarts, July 12, 2009 #2

I looked at the background of the grey teapot and decided that I should bring that color down to the bottom of the quilt. I found a piece of a similar violetty-purple. It isn’t the exact same fabric and it is more subtle. I was pretty happy that my second choice seemed to be a good one.

It does add a seventh instance of purple to the quilt. I think that I am ok in terms of the “Odd Rule,” which I understand to be a design element or principle, which says that an odd number of related elements make the piece more interesting.  My mother, an artist, reminds me of this all the time. I have to balance design principles for art with design principles for quilts. I believe, that there is, at least, a slight difference.

Tarts, 2005
Tarts, 2005

Here is what the Tarts looked like at the start of the design process.  This is really a Here to There type moment.

It has really come a long way and TOTALLY changed direction. Notice I took out all the coffee-themed fabric. I bought that fabric all for this quilt. I have tons of it and now ask myself what I am going to do with it. Backs and tote bags, I guess. I also had a melon shape thing going at the time. There are a lot more classic quilt elements – more Flying Geese, Square in a Square, lots of sashing. The blue and pink Flying Geese that have survived the design process this long are really a remnant of the original idea I had. Time to move on!

Flowering Snowball Again

Second to Last Flowering Snowball
Second to Last Flowering Snowball

This is the second to last Flowering Snowball center block. I brought my handwork bag with me to the meeting yesterday and put this together while we worked on the business of the organization. It is something I can do while I listen and participate. I feel productive on my fabric projects, which is a good thing.

I also started work on the last block, but didn’t get very far before the  ATC swap started.

This morning I was facing the reality of this project. I get to start the border VERY shortly. I think I opened the project in EQ6 in recent memory, however I don’t remember looking at the templates or doing any work on them. I need to get on that.

The other issue I am facing is squaring up the center blocks. I discussed this here before and think that I will have to trim the blocks after machine sewing around before I trim. Otherwise I think that they may come apart.

The problem is that if I trim them before I make the border, the border won’t fit. Glad I thought of it before I made the border!

Cookies in the Tarts?

quilted cookies

SherriD has been encouraging me to include some cookies in the Tarts. I have a bunch of good reasons why I can’t or won’t. Mostly, I haven’t been successful at drawing them so viewers know they are a cookie. Of course, SherriD, resourceful quiltmaker that she is, found this quilt. I am sticking to my guns, but you can weigh in with your opinion below.

To Infinity and Beyond

Infinity Blocks by Jaye, mid-June 2009
Infinity Blocks by Jaye, mid-June 2009

I got a little behind photographing and posting blocks from my Infinity project. (I think last week was just a bad sewing-posting-making week). Anyway, here are some of the newer blocks. I made a few more after I snapped this pic and will post those later.

I was attempting to try out a different layout from the layout in the May 13th post. I like the four white squares together. I am a long way from the end, however, so we will see once I get more blocks.

SIL said she was sending me some blocks via DH-transport, so I expect those on Sunday. As usual, stay tuned!

One Down, Two To Go

Flowering Snowball, June 14, 2009
Flowering Snowball, June 14, 2009

The weekend was filled with picnics. Both Saturday and Sunday included hot dogs and potato salad, chats and a bit of sun. It was nice to be outside, but I was pretty tired after all the sociability. Also, I didn’t get to work much on my projects.

Sunday was a beautiful day to be outside. After greeting lots of people, I was able to sit and do some hand stitching. I had some of the block (right) finished, but did most of it at the picnic. The completion of this block means that I have only two blocks left to make for the center of the Flowering Snowball quilt.

I still haven’t designed the border, but put an idea into the Sun Creative Prompt response. I know what I want; I just have to figure out how to make it a reality.

Small Tarts Change

Tarts, June 12, 2009
Tarts, June 12, 2009

I have been staring at this quilt on my design wall for months. I am glad it is progressing; the end is finally in sight. I will be very glad when I get it sewn together and off my design wall!

I made one tiny change to the arrangement of the Tarts Come to Tea. Can you identify the change? You can see the previous iteration on the June 4th, 2009 post. What do you think?

OK. I won’t keep you tortured in suspense. I moved the china cups up. I am still considering their new spot. It is less fabric and seams next to the twirly handle coffee pot. Also, it is fewer cups next to each other. The heart makes a bit of a break for the eye for the middle cups. My eyes were looking at all of those cups in a row and wondering if they would fly off the quilt.

Warm Up Blocks

Zanzibar FOTY Blocks, June 2009
Zanzibar FOTY Blocks, June 2009

My warm up for Sunday turned out to be some FOTY blocks. I have not been diligent about pressing and cutting up my new fabric. I have fabric I washed a month ago still sitting on my chair. It isn’t as if I haven’t been in the workroom, though. I will get around to it eventually. These were the fabrics that were already cut up and ready to sew. I sewed them up and now have additions for the FOTY pile

CREATE Art Piece by Dana Barbieri




CREATE

Originally uploaded by dana.barbieri

Dana Barbieri has created this wonderful piece that is stuck, like glue, to my mind. I LOVE it and want to make one, perhaps two, myself.

My sister recently received the Cricut software which allows you to print letters out any size and any font up to 6″. My idea for my piece is to have her print some letters on scrapbook paper for me, find a rectangular frame at the Goodwill or other thrift store and then sit down with my art supplies and make something like it to hang in my workroom. I would also like to make one that says “Imagination.”

Have you ever been so inspired by a piece or the concept of a piece that you have made one of your own?

Flowering Snowball Work

Flowering Snowball, May 31, 2009
Flowering Snowball, May 31, 2009

As promised, here is an up to date picture of the Flowering Snowball (Cross Blocks). I found myself short of backgrounds the other day when I had the perfect opportunity to hand stitch.

I laid it out in order to see what background fabrics I should cut. I don’t want to have too many of the same fabrics. I want it to look scrappy.

As you can see I have 3 more blocks for the middle section before I start on the outside. I need to make the pattern pieces for the outside, too. I thought of combining the pieces that will become background, but I may just leave them as individuals, so that I can use a variety of fabrics. The former method means the rest of the project will progress much more quickly. The latter means that I won’t have to figure out a new piecing order.

Beach Town Progress

Beach Town, after quilting
Beach Town, after quilting

A friend on FB asked me to post Beach Town. As you regular readers know, I get around to posting everything eventually and this past week has been a bit of a challenge. I wondered whether I should post this on Monday to give you more days to look at, but eventually decided just to stack up a couple of posts today and get through the backlog. When I prepare posts and set them to post on a future date, I can’t link to them until they are posted.

I spent Monday afternoon and evening working on the machine quilting of this piece. I still have the purple part of the road and the sky as well as the flowers to quilt, but am mostly done.

I am pleased with how the piece is shaping up. I liked the fluffiness of it before I began the quilting. Now I really like how flat it gets after quilting.

I have to remember to machine quilt it before I start the hand stitching. I know that will be hard in future Pamela Allen classes because of he flow of the class and how excited I get about the pieces I create in her classes.

It took me a long time (well, a month, which seemed like an eternity) to get back to this piece.  I learned something from my mistakes, though:

  • cover the batting somehow
  • stick or pin everything down really WELL
  • Ensure the pieces are large enough to overlap to prevent gap-osis
  • machine quilt before hand stitching
Beach Town, top detail
Beach Town, top detail

I do need more quilting on the sky. I just went around each sunbeam in order to tack down the repaired part of the sky. The other part of the sky is just too fluffy, so I will quilt some more in the area on the right of the piece.

I spent a lot of time on the tree, so that the lean, straight shape would be maintained. I think I succeeded?!

Beach Town, bottom detail
Beach Town, bottom detail

Quilting the bottom was a little more of a challenge because I didn’t want the quilting to stand out. That meant a lot of stopping and starting with new colors. That is ok. I spent some time in the evenings during the week working on little bits of the piece. As I mentioned I still need to quilt the purple part of the road and I think some hand stitching will be required.

I don’t know if I will machine quilt the flowers. I am not that into free motion quilting right now. I may just tack them down a little and then do some detailed hand stitching. It may be that I just bead them to try and maintain the look of the color statement. I haven’t done anything there yet, so I will have think about it some more.We’ll have to see.

Inspiration: Quick Note

Anna's Tulips
Anna's Tulips

I know that I ignored you all weekend. I spent about 24 hours over the three days sewing and really got a lot done. It is difficult to be at work today, because I am still desperate to be at my sewing machine. Needless to say, I have a ton to discuss.

Quick recap:

  • Teacher pillows: done! Not wrapped
  • 4 Infinity blocks done
  • Beach Town: repaired and 3/4s machine quilted

Photos, etc to follow.

House & Garden Finished!

House & Garden, finished May 16, 2009
House & Garden, finished May 16, 2009

I know I showed this earlier this week, but I wanted it to have its own celebratory post.

House & Garden Finished!!!

This quilt was started in Pamela Allen’s class at EBHQ in May 2007. Two years, almost to the day later. Hopefully, the ones I started last month at CQFA won’t take that long