To Infinity and Beyond...!

 I have been meaning to post this quilt for some time, but yeah, I didn't. My nephew turned 2 a little over a month ago! Wow, he is getting to be such a big boy and will be a big brother any day now. May the force be with my sister-in-law.

My nephew LOVES and I mean LOVES Toy Story. More specifically Buzz. He knows his Buzz. And what could a crafty aunty do but give in to the hype? I swear the Pixar marketing department would have beamed from head to toe if they could have seen this kid's birthday party. Toy Story plates & napkins, a Toy Story cake with Toy Story figures on top, 90% of gifts Toy Story (even the handmade one!), and the kid even had a Toy Story shirt on!

Forgive some of the rough pics. I was really pushing the deadline of getting this done before we hit the road to head to my homeland for the birthday party and forgot to take pics, so I had to rely on a mix of UFO pics and some from my sister-in-law's camera.

I worked out the pattern for this quilt from a pic I saw on flickr. Which I apparently didn't save, so I apologize for not linking to the inspiration.

And in the end this picture, this one right here, made all of the fussy cutting and extra runs to the fabric store worth it.

Yep, that's a Woody doll (I mean "action figure") under his arm and a Toy Story plate beside him.

Cynthia's Garden Quilt

Cynthia is my grandma. And she asked for a quilt with roses. While fabric with roses is not really my thing, she is my grandma and I love her, so I made a quilt with roses.

See?

It is a windchill of -14F outside. While our "Blizzard Warning" over the weekend was a bit of an exaggeration as well, I'm still not feeling venturing outside to take pictures, so the view from the ironing board of my sewing room is about as good as this is going to get.

I have no idea what it was about this quilt, but it was determined to push me to the edge and methodically nudge me over. Why? It's only a large block and four-squares, right? How difficult could this be? You've did harder than this, right? This isn't your first time around a quilt block! I know!

Well, somehow I miscalculated the size I should be cutting the blocks. Promise I wasn't quilting hungover again. I did all of the math. Took the seam allowances into consideration.  Even measured twice and cut once. It all added up. Until it didn't.  I didn't figure out this was the issue until after I had ALL of the fabric cut. I know. Really, I wasn't hungover. Or drunk. Apparently just stupid and overconfident. So that was fun. And then as I was cutting the backing I cut INTO the backing. And after I had it all basted I pulled on a loose string. Not a loose string. Pulled a seam out. After it was all basted. Like that sloppy attempt at hand stitching it up? Oh, and I was somehow unconsciously hell-bent on sewing the backing in clumps to each other on the edges. That was fun. All four times.

But step by step we worked through it. Piecing, basting, quilting, and binding.

And in the end it all turned out and the mistakes are barely noticeable. Barely. Really just that ripped out seam. That is one of the things I love about quilting. It can look so damn messy while you're doing it, but in the end when it's all done it just comes together.

Why, what's that one square with the square quilted in the middle unlike all the others? I'm so proud of you for noticing it. I know you did. 

Well, that's a love patch. In no way related to a soul patch. A love patch.

Just a little bit of love to remind my grandma I love her always and forever. You see, the day grandma asked me to make this quilt was the day of my grandpa's funeral. My grandpa died in September of last year from cancer. This is going to sound a bit morbid and I don't mean it to. But, as my grandpa was laying there in the last weeks of his life in that hospital bed all he had on him was this impersonal hospital blankets. And I just kept wishing he could be covered in more love than that. I'm getting all teary just typing this. So when my grandma asked me for a quilt I told her of course. Don't worry, Grandpa. I've got Grandma covered. Literally.

Quilt for a Bumpy Road

So, awhile back I posted about finishing a "transition" quilt. The one I made some pillows to "compliment". I promised pics when I could get to a more photogenic place than the ole townhouse complex. I wasn't lying and I FINALLY got the pics done this morning while staying with the family during some work travel. I know, you've been on the edge of your seat!

This quilt taught me a very valuable lesson. Do not layout a quilt with a hangover. And DO NOT cut the fabric with said hangover! Measure twice, sober up a zillion? But, c'mon. Who among us haven't woken up on a Sunday morning with a throbbing hangover and a quilt idea bouncing around in our heads we just can't wait to start?

I had originally started off using the zigzag tutorial from crazy mom quilts. As I had cut fabric strips and was hitting a wall I THOUGHT I had come to a clear mind enough to realize that this tutorial works only with a primary color and then some other colors. However, as I'm writing this post and went back to the quilt pic I faved on flickr with the tutorial link, I realize she pulled it off. So hangover or no hangover, this quilter has one on me. Maybe someday I shall try this again. But probably not.

In the end I ended up using the trick the ex's grandma taught me of sewing two squares right sides together, drawing a line diagonal, sewing 1/4" on each side, cutting said line, and ironing and trimming rather than messing with a bunch of half square triangles.

When all was said and done I love the quilt, but wish I wouldn't have put the orange and green next to each other. My quilty friend (shoutout to Erin if she's reading!) let me borrow her quiliting foot presser guide bar to make sure my lines were straight in the middle of the zigzags. After one line of quilting I was in awe I have lived this long without one and trotted over to ebay to get my own.

And the raddest part? I made this quilt ENTIRELY from materials I had on hand. Some of those bad boys have been in the stash a minimum of four years. Rock.On.

Scrappy Square Quilt

I am rocking and rolling on finishing projects. I KNOW. But this shall be my last post for the week. Tomorrow morning I pack and head to the mystical world of Springfield for a few days for a state meeting. Okay, little will be mystical about this.

So, I just realized I have had pics of a finished bebe quilt on my camera for two weeks. And I finished it about three weeks ago. Tsk tsk.

This is the furtherest I have ventured into scrappydom. I know it's not exactly busting with scrappy craziness, but I've always been that person who picks one big yard or two of a fabric and then all other big cuts of fabric must in some way tie in to colors in that original fabric. So in my world this is like my quilting equivalent to going to Mardi Gras and waving around stuff that should be covered in a brazen attempt for beads. Life.On.The.Edge.

Ahem. Topless references aside. This quilt is for the soon to be emerging into the world baby boy of some dear friends of mine. These are the friends who took me in when my world fell apart. They sat with me when I cried. Gave me some verbal reality check smacks when I needed them. Prayed with me. The least I can do is go wild and crazy to give them a little scrappy quilt.

In retrospect, a few things I would change about this quilt are:

• That much white probably wasn't a great choice for a baby quilt. I try to make my baby quilts big enough they can be toddler blankies as well. This one may get a bit grungy.
• In an actual lack of planning this looks a bit too planned out. I was tired when I was piecing all of the squares and seemed to sew them in this overly organized order and wish it looked a bit more random. Oh, well. It is what it is.

You have a fabulous rest of the week and it feels a bit preemptive, but have a fabulous weekend as well. And I promise the over exposed bids for beads was only a metaphor. I'll keep my shirt on.

Inverse Pillows

My Labor Day weekend was full of sunshine, and frolicing (how they hell do you spell that, frolicking?), and picnics, and smiles. Okay, that's a big fat lie. I had a few nervous breakdowns, drank some beer, knit half of a shawl, napped, made a friend endure a low-fat supper, drank some wine, watched the first of the Lord of the Rings (my ex got custody of the second and third ones), and I QUILTED. I actually quilted a lot. I finished my top, got some help basting it to fend off an additional breakdown, and got all of the quilting done, and well, finished it. The pics will come when I can go somewhere to get some decent pics. My sketchy apartment complex just isn't a great backdrop. It is living on the back of my couch. The pillows were an awful fail in matching in any sense of the word, so I made some "complementary" pillows out of some left over fabric from the quilt.

The design is different. I just couldn't bring myself to have them totally match the quilt. I already felt a bit like I was living in a Fons and Porter photo shoot sitting there with them all together last night.

I also didn't want them to totally match, so the pattern is kind of inversed. So they match, but not like, identical twin match.

While I have admired many a quilted pillow on Flickr, this was my first go at actually making some. I made pillow cases, really, for 18x18 inch forms because I am sick of my pillows splitting and this way I can trade them out.

A big unknown for me was how to really quilt this. Not the sewing part. Well, that part turned out a little differently than I planned. I also intended to do horizontal lines, but I didn't want them to be too stiff. I wasn't sure if I layered batting behind the pillow top or what. I went with yes. And I like the results. So, top + batting=okay by me.

P.S. I'm single today. So, if you know any guy looking for a snarky crafter with a strong attachment to her cat, too much yarn, a closet missing doors due to a fabric explosion, committment issues, and who bakes too much and likes locally brewed beer, send him this way. (Yeah, yeah. I'm hiding my feelings a bit.)

Another Transition

Hello, there. Yes, I know it's been awhile. And, yes, I do realize it seems to take longer and longer before I post these days. It's been a rough few weeks and I've had to come to terms with some things, accept some things, and let something that was once the most stable thing I knew go. Forever is a tough thing to say goodbye too. So now I'm coping as I always cope.

I'm making a quilt.

So please just be patient with me as I'm muddling through. I'm confident there will be better days ahead. Until then, I shall sew.

Overachiever

When I sat down last night after supper to start working on a new baby quilt for some friends expecting this fall, I fully expected to be showing you a chaotic shot of scraps today as a sign of my progress. Maybe even some cut piles. But as I sat and started sewing I suddenly realized.

I

Finished

All

The

Blocks.

Yes, I do realize "all the blocks" are 12 nine patches for a baby sized quilt. But I am still feeling pretty proud of myself in the baby quilt progress area.  And this is my first "scrap" quilt. I usually have this anal retentiveness in matching everything perfectly. But inspired by some flickr pics I decided to take a baby step out in my quilting and pull from the scrap boxes I keep, but only open to throw more in.  

I couldn't have done it without the dedicated help of my faithful companion.

So today, feeling pretty proud of myself, I went in search of some backing with the intention to maybe even get those blocks sashed together this weekend, finish the top, and get it basted. I couldn't find any backing fabric to meet my specifications. Does that mean I left the fabric store empty handed? You should know me better than that.

I found these.

And then as I was walking from the cutting table to the register. I couldn't resist these.

It's a sickness. Have I ever mentioned I literally burst the doors off my fabric closet?. True story. I'll have to tell you sometime.

I decided to pick it up a notch and actually invest in a free motion quilting foot. Turns out that letting your husband convince you to buy a fancy pants Husqvarna Viking Platinum 750 (I promise I had good reasons for leaving him) means that when you want to augment the capabilities of said machine it also costs an arm and a leg. Ugh. It has never ceased to aggravate me that with the money I dropped on this machine specified as quilting I still have to buy the damn free motion QUILTING foot separately.

Through the Storm Quilt

I’ve mentioned before how quilts tell a story about me [link] in a way few of my other projects do. The one I’m telling you about today is no different. I wish I could tell you a good story about how this was started in celebration or anticipation of some great new journey in life. But it wasn’t. A couple of years ago my marriage got to the point that I knew I was going to have to leave. I started looking at apartments and was very open with my husband I was doing this. I also started a quilt to show both myself and him how serious I was. This quilt. I would make sure to work on it when he was home, telling him ho w it was for my move. Things were very awful at this time. My secret was that I didn’t really want to go. Deep inside I kept hoping things would change. I purposely made this quilt in colors to match our spare bedroom, hoping something would change. But it didn’t.


Pieces of this quilt got rammed into a chest of UFO’s I have in my sewing room and in all honesty I didn’t imagine I would ever have the heart to finish this quilt. A month or so ago I was digging around and I found these pieces. Curious, I brought the pieces downstairs and laid them out on the floor.

Then I found myself starting to sew. As I worked with the pieces and cut the fabric to finish the quilt I began to look at the quilt and while I had previously identified with the grays and gloomy parts of the quilt, I began to be drawn to the bits of yellow peeking through. Looking at the quilt I began to see it as little bits of sun poking through storm clouds. And I committed to finishing the quilt. The top was done by the end of the weekend.

Basting started shortly after.

Within the week I had the quilt done. Then last weekend I was able to get some pictures of it out at the campground. I’m not sure what is going to happen with the quilt. I’m not sure what’s going to happen with me. But this quilt shows a bit of my journey.

Psst...

I have a surprise for you.

But I was accused of being a tease a few times in a former life. So this is all you get...for now.

A Dedication to Continued Stripping

No worries. My clothes will be staying on. I have always read the raves around the speed and efficiency of strip piecing and have had fellow quilters try to sway me as well. I'm not sure why, we'll call it a dedication to a life philosophy of doing things the hard way, but I've been a hold out. Some call me a "complicated individual" which I know is code for pain-in-the-ass. I've accepted this and kept on truckin'.

I had previously planned out a design for a "transition" quilt I planned to start. It had lots of half triangle units. While the blocks were huge, I would have been ironing and trimming half square triangles for a good chunk of my life I'd never get back. So yesterday afternoon as I was finishing a bad ass apron I saw a Quilts and More magazine peeking out of the closet. It had a nice simple design of square in squares. Cue a nice strip piecing tutorial I read on a blog I don't remember last week and I got out the fabric and started cutting.

Now for some photos from my stripping debut.

Nice stacks of fabric ready to rock.

Feeding them through nice and easy

So much less thread snipping!

20 squares all done!

Transitions

There are times I have felt bad for having lots of STUFF. It has made me feel a bit too material of a person. I have accepted that poverty is not a spiritual gifting of mine. And my materialness is a part of my personality in that I tend to be a fairly symbolic person. My in-laws are antique dealers and a result of this is that my husband always insisted on accumulating lots of, well let's be honest, lots of junk. I don't want lots of junk, but I do think some things some things have a meaning that lives on for me. For instance, the other day by grandma gave me this beautiful antique egg for Easter. For me the beauty in it is thinking about what it has meant to people in my family over the generations. How many Easter tables has this sat on? In all honesty, I don't know the great aunt who owned it, but she is a part of my heritage and now I have this tie to this part of my family. Something from their life lives on in my home. I don't just collect random junk, it has to be a part of my story.

A part of my family's story, even if the pic won't go rightside up. :)

I know this is part of the reason why I am a crafter. Yes, crafting helps me to make sense of my world, it helps me to feel competent in a world that seems to spin away from me and stop making sense right when I think I get it, but there is more in my quilting. Quilting has always been a way I have worked to capture a moment in time. Through quilting I am able to create a transition in my life bridging the now and the space I am heading. As I am working through accepting change you can see when I am really working to internalize the change when I start on a quilt for the occassion. Not all of my quilts represent a transition, but all of the transitions that were important to me have a quilt.  It is a way for me to start to imagine myself in a new space. I can feel the space I am moving into out while still in a space I am comfortable. At times in my life this space was a physical space. When my husband and I decided we would buy our first house and we found the perfect house I started a quilt. This is how he knew I really was on board for the move. The master bedroom was done with maroon carpet and curtains so I went out and bought fabric in maroon, bright yellow, and a pink batik. However, things got crazy and I never got around to making this quilt.

After months of struggling I finally got to my wits end and decided I needed to leave. I started making a quilt . This quilt wasn't only for the new physical space of the apartment I would be moving to, but I was working through accepting the new space I would be occupying apart from my husband. But this quilt never got finished either.

After a year of being separated I started to accept that life was going to be changing even more soon. So once again, I started a quilt. This quilt I made in colors and fabric that my husband would never want to decorate a room with. They were fun and funky and they were for a space I would occupy as a single. After the papers were filed and "the day" loomed in my future I finished the quilt. As I was working on it the quilt represented a new life. My friends and I teased about quilting in phrases that would hidden. These were not phrases to be shared in pleasant company. :)

The finished single quilt.

 Now I am thinking of another transition. The work is hard, but I'm working on accepting it. So last night I got out my trusty chart notebook, a pencil, and crayons (I prefer using crayons when laying out a quilt because I can still see the grid lines through the crayon). And I drew for hours. Working and re-working the dimensions to see how I could make things work out. Much like I am doing in my life. I hope to show you pictures of this quilt sometime in the future. And I hope in the pictures I am in a space that brings me peace.

Working and re-working the dimensions.

The big picture.

And no matter what happens in the end I have a physical something that lives on as a part of a time in my life. A part of my story. And maybe someday I will be able to pass it on and let it live on through someone else. This little part of me. And I like that.

Whatcha' Quiltin'?

It took me a couple of months to get over the PTSD of Christmas sewing this year. A little harder to bounce back than previous years, but I have taken a bit of a hiatus from sewing over the last year or so. There is a long list of excuses. The room is too dark, too hot, too cold. I'm tired, but I'm rocking this knitting. I'm tired. However, about a month ago I had an overnight shift at the shelter I volunteer at, so I came equipped with a thermos of strong coffee, my quilt layout notebook, some crayons, and my trusty desk lamp. I got some strange looks from the guys getting up throughout the night when they saw fabric and crayons spread out everywhere while I frantically drew, but in the end, the quilt I've had bouncing around in my mind finally came to life.

I present to you, Modern Contradiction. It's named so because I have long been trenched in the habit of having to have all of my fabrics match. I've been trying to break out a little creatively, so I lived a little and mixed it up for more of a folksy look in this quilt. The contradication/secret is all of these fabrics were pulled (from the stash, I was a good girl) to match the striped print making up the mitered squares. Shh, don't tell.

The design

The fabrics

After a Saturday in the sewing room, I've even got a great start going here!

And if you haven't seen enough fabric for one post. Guess who went on a fabric binge in the hopes of supplementing the spring/summer wardrobe...