Works in Progress

So lately I keep waiting until things are done to show them off, but this is a work in progress post! I've got a couple of different things in the works right now, all are small, fun projects.

First off, I'm almost done with this Pacific Crest quilt from the book Beyond Neutral.

I originally bought the fat quarter bundle for geofabulous because I loved it, but I had no idea how to use fabrics with such big, bold designs. This pattern showcases them well and came together very quickly.

I even got to take advantage of the spring weather and do some of the cutting for the project on my deck.

And of course, must show Ms. Pepper showing off.

Oh, here's one more shot of the quilt top in better lighting, except it turned out I was holding it sideways!

This is definitely a perfect couch quilt, so I went with fleece on the back.

Here are the different fleeces I tried out:

None had quite the right shade of blue, but they all had very cool geometric patterns. I ended up choosing the chevrons because they exactly matched the shapes on the front of the quilt. And it came in extra wide so I wouldn't need to patch any pieces together for the backing!

I decided to go super basic on the quilting, partially because I am fairly sure I do not want to keep it for myself. I just did diagonal lines every 5" or so.

Currently the quilt is mostly done, it's just waiting for me to sew down the last bit of binding.

I am either going to donate it or sell it. I know a lot of people opt to donate because selling is a pain and you only get a pittance. I did a search on Etsy for quilts and the prices are really pathetic. No one could possibly make a living for that...there were custom queen quilts for $200. What?! That doesn't even cover cost of materials!

But here's the thing: I spend a lot of money on my quilting hobby, and it would sure be nice to not be in the hole quite so badly. If I could break even on this quilt I would be happy. I calculated that I spent about $100 for materials so I'm thinking of pricing it at $250. I kind of think I will put it on Etsy and see if it gets any interest, and if there isn't any after a set amount of time, I will just donate it. I don't hold out a lot of hope because I don't have any previous sales (and thus reviews, proven track record, etc), so someone would be making a big leap buying my quilt. But you don't know until you try.

And yes, I've read about the "We Are $ew Worth It" campaign and I hope you have too. It's a great campaign. But you can't simply ignore market conditions. I could say my quilt is worth $1,000 but if nobody is willing to pay that amount for it, it's not actually worth that much. Economic principles play a role here. 

And of course it won't go on sale if I don't finish it...the binding has been 75% sewn on for at least two weeks now! And then I got distracted by this project...

More on this soon!

Creative Fun

This week I've been too sick to do any quilting (boo...) so instead I'm finally getting around to sharing a "fun side project" I worked on about a month ago. I'm also finally linking up with QuiltShopGal's #CreativeGoodness Linky Party!

I think creativity is a really important part of the quilting process, and we all need to find what level of creativity makes us happy. After all of the anxiety and stress I felt making my dad's veggie quilt, which entailed a relatively minor amount of creativity in plotting out the setting and design, I know that working from patterns is definitely my strong suit and where I feel happiest.

There is one exception, though, and it is landscape quilts. I love making them and they really get my creative juices flowing (and yes, I know I have made very few, but I plan to make more!)

So with that in mind, the backstory to this project is that we were creating pages for our college reunion "class book." I wanted to do something unique and brainstormed ways to incorporate quilting into my page. Of course I'm not the world's greatest quilter. But then it came to me..applique! I love fusible web applique because you can literally make anything with it.

And for some reason something else hit me...snowglobes! I love snowglobes and collect them from most places I visit. I wish I could show you a photo of my vast snowglobe collection, but most of it is in Alaska. I am starting to amass a new collection here though, with seven accumulated so far.

Making a snowglobe quilt has been on my bucket list, and still is. I want to make a quilt that is a bookcase full of snowglobes, and each snowglobe exemplifies part of my life. So this was kind of a mini/dry run version of that.

First off, I took a look at my Stanford snowglobe, and sketched out a mockup.

And then...we were off!

Here's the Stanford snowglobe:

Next off, I wanted to show something about moving to St. Louis and working as an engineer.

The snowglobe was supposed to have little engineer-y things around the bottom, but my boyfriend said the hard hat looked like a lemon and someone else said they thought it was a turtle, so I gave up on that idea.

I wanted the arch to be all sparkly, and I originally tried to use elmer's glue and regular old glitter. Well the glue just wouldn't dry and the glitter came off all over my hands. What I used instead, which worked really well, was glitter fabric paint that I bought while playing around with my last landscape quilt. I think it gives the arch some pop, don't you?

(Do you see the little piece of loose thread? Oh well...)

Then I decided to do a hockey snowglobe, as I play recreational hockey. I actually have two hockey snowglobes in my collection right now.

One is from the San Francisco Bulls inaugural season, which I just learned went bust. It's a bit of a shame because I had a lot of fun at their games, but I think they had a tough location because their stadium (cow palace) was not easily accessible from public transit. The other snowglobe is from the NHL Winter classic that my boyfriend and I went to two years ago. Here we are enjoying the snow:

For this one, I had to decide how much detail to go into, and what to make myself vs. get pre-printed on a novelty fabric. I also debated a lot what to show. Should there be skaters? Just skating equipment? In the end I chose something relatively simple. I bought a novelty fabric with hockey skates but decided it looked too out of place, and copied the skate design to make my own little pair.

Here's the net being made. Lots of tiny pieces!

Finally, of COURSE I had to have a snowglobe for quilting! For this one, I did just go with pre-printed novelty fabrics. It's a fun and easy way to get the design you are going for without working your tail off. This one also showcases all the cat rescue work I do.

And those are my four snowglobes! I took photos of them and arranged them on a pdf page with captions for my class book submission.

I did want to share one bit of advice from this. I normally use Heat N Bond Lite or Heat N Bond Ultrahold. For this project I bought some Pellon Wonder Under and was very disappointed. The web would constantly stick to the paper instead of the fabric, and when I tried to remove the paper it would often fray my fabric edges and sometimes rip off very small pieces (like kitty tails). I understand it is softer than Heat N Bond, and may be better for quilts that will be used, but for wall projects where stiffness doesn't matter, I will be sticking with Heat N Bond from now on.

This project was a TON of fun. I have no plans for these snowglobes and have set them aside. Their final purpose does not matter so much as the joy I got from making them. Another great joy was pulling from my stash and discovering all of the fun fabrics I have! I would audition fabrics and then throw them all over the floor. Rosie greatly enjoyed rolling around in the mess. :)

And I think that's what quilting is about, finding what makes you happy, what gets you excited, and going for it!

For more inspiration, check out the other linky participants of the #CreativeGoodness linky party.

Professional Tote

Today I have something pretty cool to share...the professional tote!

The pattern, made by the Creative Thimble, can be found here. The pattern for this tote was one of the many goodies I brought home from Paducah. The great joy of not having a current big intimidating quilt in progress is that this year I was actually able to dive right into my Paducah projects while I was still excited about them! (I'm pretty sure I still haven't made any of the patterns I brought home from Paducah last year...)

When I saw the samples at Paducah, I was blown away by how, well, professional this bag looked! It could easily be mistaken for something storebought. And I had just been thinking that I really needed a new tote for myself, so this fit the bill perfectly.

In the center, with the blue zipper, is a laptop sleeve. You can also see a little key fob on one interior pocket. There are interior pockets on both sides, one has a velcro enclosure.

On the outside, this side pocket has a magnetic snap to keep it secure. On the other  side (shown below) there is a small zipper pocket with another pocket behind.

On each edge we have water bottle pockets that can cinch up.

And of course the top zips shut too, for added security! So basically this is the world's most useful tote bag :P

Ah...one more aspect that really made it seem "professional"...the bottom! The bottom is made of a nice sturdy canvas, and I added purse feet to it to keep it clean.  A number of the samples the creator had sewn up had faux leather bases...it made them look so cool!

When I was picking my colors, I really wanted something that could pass as storebought, so I chose pretty mellow colors for my regular taste. I actually bought both the grey and pink fabrics at Hancock's of Paducah, thinking they could go together. And go together they do! I love that it's a demure grey but has those pops of bright magenta. :)

At the booth in Paducah, the husband of the pattern author mentioned how many times he hears that her patterns are well written and easy to follow, and I have to agree. Sewing anything that isn't a quilt is NOT my strong suit. These instructions were great though, and I only had to rip things out a few times (mostly because I didn't read closely enough).

One aspect of the instructions that I loved was the inclusion of pre-printed labels to apply to your pieces.

You can see all of my pieces cut, fused, and labeled here. Oh, I must mention the interfacing too. Per the pattern recommendation, I used Pellon decor bond. I am really impressed. It was super easy to sew through and work with, but the finished tote is nicely stiff and sturdy.

She has many other cool purse and tote patterns too, so I see many more pattern purchases from the Creative Thimble in the future!

As a side note, Rosie was being a total obstructionist during the construction of this tote!

 

fun finish

I've got so much to post about but no time to post! The photos on my computer have been in disarray for months, and it's making it tough to blog. I'm trying to get them organized a little bit at a time.

In the meantime, here's a top I just finished. 

I don't think I ever even posted about it being in progress.

Yes, it's a Christmas quilt! This was a free pattern from Kate Spain called "In from the Cold." You can still find it. It immediately caught my eye because free patterns that show off fabric lines are usually pretty lame. But this one is so fun and unique!

The pattern sat around in my head until last summer when I found a Christmas fabric bundle on sale at my LQS.

I cut out the pieces and worked slowly, one mug at a time, whenever I was feeling overwhelmed by my other projects. I can't recommend enough this method of having a "fun" side project to default to when the others tire you out.

Here are some close-ups of some of the fanciers mugs:

Aaaaand that's all I've got today. I am in between large quilt projects and loving it. I am working on little odds and ends that I picked up in Paducah (a really cool tote bag, some wool easter eggs, wallhangings), and finishing off random UFOs (my bee block quilt, another tote, some wallhangings). It's fun to walk into my sewing room and say "what do I feel like working on today?" I hope you are enjoying whatever projects you are working on too!

More finishes!

Yes, I have been quilting during the past two (three? eek!) months. I'm just awful at photographing my progress!

So let's see, last we talked I was in the process of quilting Celtic Solstice. One of the stencils I had bought was not feeling quite right for the design.

So I went into illustrator, mocked up the block, and sketched up a new design of arcs, similar to the style I had quilted on the other blocks.

Here's the printout of the quilting design.

I'm sure the pounce pad people don't want you to know this, but you really don't need to buy stencils to go with your pounce pad. These printouts work great. I just stitched out the design with no thread and then used the pounce pad on it. Below is the backside so you can see my stencil holes.

 And here it is laid out for marking. I snipped out the triangles to help with alignment.

Miss Rosie provided quality control! She looks really annoyed in this picture, huh? ;)

During the quilting, I was shocked to find the following error. Can you see it?

It seems I used that green square as test fabric for my zigzag stitch at some point! And it ended up in the final quilt! Luckily it was easy to pick out.

The stitching was done on this quilt quite some time ago, but I only finished recently because I took so long to sew down the binding. I decided to order a pack of wonder clips from Massdrop. Have you used them? They have a quilting section and post one new quilting product per day. One big downside is that it takes forever to get your items. (Also the sales are not always that great, check around online before you buy!) Anyways, three weeks later when the clips finally showed up I was super happy and FINALLY got this quilt finished!

The wonder clips were great. I am a convert!

Here's the only shot of the finished quilt I have so far. I need to do some glamour shots soon. (And apparently I took this photo before the binding was sewn down)

It fits on our bed! This is a big accomplishment, we don't have any other bed-sized quilts yet. And yes, my room is a mess. But let's focus on the quilt! Ooh aah! (Psst - do you see Pepper waiting to jump on top? For some reason she LOVES this quilt! The entire time I was binding it she would burrow underneath and take naps!)

A note on the batting - this quilt was made with wool batting by Quilter's Dream. I really like their company and their battings. So far I have had no trouble quilting with it. I didn't experience any pilling problems although there are bits of batting all over it that I still need to go through and pick off - I think they came off from the bits hanging out the edges while I was quilting. It seems soft but lightweight. I will let you know more after I've used it longer.

Onto other projects...here is a fun side project that took up a week of my time:

 These are supposed to be campaign ribbons for a cat-themed trivia night. There was a table decoration contest. Our team name was "James Garfield Lasagna Party" and was supposed to be Garfield (the cat) running for president, so I made these Garfield kitty campaign ribbons for everyone to wear. I think the theme was a little too obscure/difficult to understand though so we didn't win the decoration contest.

The other big thing I my list was knocking out Grand Illusion once and for all! With Celtic Solstice I burned out before adding the final border, and I didn't want that to happen here. So I sat down and got those border pieces sewn!

Unfortunately, when I went to sew the border on, it was a full two inches too short. W.T.F.

I read and re-read the instructions. All I can think is a seam allowance issue that compounded. I definitely followed all of the instructions correctly. So this was really frustrating and after some distressed phone calls to my mom and paces around the house, I added filler fabric to each end of the border pieces.

So you can see in that photo, those extra lime strips aren't actually supposed to be there. But in the end I don't think they lock as awful as I feared they would.

Here's the finished top on my bed. It's even bigger than Celtic Solstice!

Now I attempted some glamour shots outside for this one, but a thunderstorm was rolling in at the time and it was really windy. Here's the best shot.

And some outtakes...

I think everyone agrees that it doesn't have quite the same pop as Celtic Solstice, but I do still really like the colors I chose for it. This one is getting folded up for a while, and will be quilted maybe in the fall. In the meantime I have started some fun, easy project, and have another quilt top nearly complete! I will share that in a future post.

To close, here's Pepper interrupting my photo shoot.