Farewell 2016

Once again I remember I have a blog.

I haven't shared any quilts for a long time...because I haven't made too many recently!  I made two quilts this year; rather, I finished one that I started in 2015 and I made just one quilt from start to finish in 2016.  They both stayed in my sewing room closet for a few months.  And then....I took them to be quilted on a real longarm quilting machine.

What a difference that longarm makes!

The first one is the one I started in 2015 and then finished this spring. It is my third (and final?) black and white quilt.   Obviously I added in a bit of red on this one and love how it looks.  This has long been one of my favorite color combinations.

I don't have the measurements for this one handy...it's what I like to call a "large throw" size.  I sized it so it would be just the right size for me.  I'm very average height, about five foot six, so it's approximately that long.  Here's a closeup of the quilting:

So much better than plain old straight-line quilting!

Next up, the Wild Horses quilt.  Named after one of my favorite songs.  Yes, sometimes quilts need names. Some of you may recognize those Cotton + Steel prints, designed by the fabulous Melody Miller (see my post about my typewriter quilt from 2013).

Doesn't that look lovely?  Serendipity gave me the ideal craft-show spot to display a quilt earlier this month at Lucky Star Market in Ames.  We were in a new location this year (ISU Research Park) and I got a fabulous booth location!  As luck would have it, I had some quilts to sell....here's a closeup of the quilting:

My photos may not do the quilting justice, but my fellow quilters will understand the huge difference between longarm quilting and quilting it on a regular sewing machine.  I'm hooked.  I'm hoping to make more quilts in the new year!  And that's as close to a resolution as I am going to get.

Thanks for following along with my sporadic posts.  For those of you I have met in person at markets & events, thank you for your support of my little handmade business.  Online readers and etsy customers, many thanks to you as well.  I look forward to more handmade projects and vintage finds in the new year.  In light of many events that have occurred in 2016, I find it more important than ever to carve out a happy place for oneself amidst all the bad stuff in the "real world."  May you find your happiness in 2017.

Beginning A Quilt: First Steps

It's been quite a while since I started a new quilt.  Though I often buy yardage with the vague notion that it will be the inspiration for a quilt, I think that is really just an excuse for buying fabric!  Recently, I bought some Cotton + Steel prints at Quilting Connection in Ames and realized that I still had some of my very favorite typewriter fabric from Melody Miller's Ruby Star Rising collection in my stash.  I had a hunch that her new C + S prints would work perfectly with the older prints and guess what?  I was right.

How very thoughtful of Miss Miller to coordinate her collections!  I was also thrilled that she did those typewriters in black and white.  Because as we all know, one can simply never have enough typewriter fabric.....

When I saw the bright magenta & metallic silver print I thought I would just use the pink typewriters with them; but the green and pink together in the letter print on the left would work with both the aqua and the pink typewriters.  Serendipity.

I dug through my cubbies of fabric to unearth my cherished pink & aqua typewriters and delightedly piled them on my cutting table.  I am very good at making piles of fabric.  Not always so good at following through with the actual sewing!  This morning I took the time to make a "starter" quilt block and a few notes so I wouldn't forget my ideas.  Here's the block:

I tend to get tired of making the same block over and over, which is why many of my quilts are created with the improv-piecing method.  Also, I think many modern fabrics are too gorgeous to be cut up into little tiny pieces.  But these prints work well in blocks and this block is simple so they'll be quick to make. Once I start on a quilt, I do like to finish it sooner rather than later!

Putting the pink and aqua typewriters together on the cutting table brought back fond memories of one of the first quilts I made in 2013, and I don't think I ever got around to sharing it here before.  It was also one of the first quilts that I sold, but I did have a couple pictures left of the top:

I was, and still am, proud of this one.  Simple but sweet.  Really helped me hone my quarter-inch seam allowance skills--very important in making a quilt!  My quarter-inch piecing foot helps a lot with that too--but this quilt was made without one so it was more of a challenge for me as a newbie quilter.

I'll try to post the progress of this quilt as more blocks get made.

Winter is for sewing.

I don't have much good to say about January in Iowa except for that it's a great time to get some sewing done!  It's much too cold to go outside, so I'm staying warm inside, having some fun with fabric.

I spent a few days re-organizing my sewing room.  I moved a desk out and some cubbies in.  I had a whole bunch of fun re-folding and re-organizing my fabric stash.  I had it stored in the closet, but I really like having it in the cubbies where I can see it.  I'm definitely a visual person, so this really works better for me.  I found some fabric I'd totally forgotten about, so sorting through everything was a bit like Christmas!  Another thing I've been wanting to do is to use up some scraps, and so I tried my hand at making a doll quilt.  It was so much fun that I made two!  And I'll very likely make more.  I like a project I can complete in a day or two.  Here are the results:

I was really pleased to finish 2 projects using only fabric that I already had on hand!  For some reason this feels like a real accomplishment.








One of my goals for the new year (in addition to sewing room organization!) was to expand my sewing skills beyond quilts.  A couple of years ago I managed to make an apron with a great deal of help from a friend who is an expert sewist, and so I thought I would start with an apron.

I managed to do it.  I had to re-do the waistband/sash because the pattern that I used as the basis for this very simple apron called for a much skinnier sash....which I found absolutely impossible to turn right-side-out.  Eventually I gave up and made a wider one.  Keeping that in mind, I soldiered on....

As you can see, this apron has a really big sash!  I like to wrap the sash around and tie my aprons in the front, don't you?  This apron has two layers: the top one, made from a linen calendar from 1974, is because I find myself wiping my hands on my aprons instead of grabbing a towel.  I thought this would be pretty useful.

During the week of apron-making, I did venture out to Joann's and lo and behold: they had dress forms on sale!  Now, I don't know about you, but there is just something about a dress form....I have wanted one for the longest time but couldn't justify the cost because I don't sew clothes.  But aprons are kind of like clothes, right?  And for $40 I decided that I would resist no longer.  So I brought it home and put a necklace on her (those are vintage 1950's beads) and had more fun than I should have taking apron photos.

I'm playing around with some new ideas for quilts too.  A few days ago I discovered a line of Jane Austen-inspired fabric called Ardently Austen.  Naturally I had to get some.  Showing admirable restraint, I ordered just one of the prints:

I can't think of too many things in the whole world better than this.  For me, this is especially wonderful, as it brings 2 of my very favorite things in the whole wide world together, Jane Austen novels and fabric.  I think that this fabric really deserves to be showcased in a quilt.  Don't you?

Happy sewing!

Hello again: another Black & White quilt

My but it's been a long time since I've shared anything here...seems like years ago instead of just a mere eight months!  Much has happened (we moved!) but in those busy months I have managed to keep creating, both for work and for fun, and thought I would share one of my favorite projects today.

You may recall that about a year ago I shared a black and white quilt that I made.  It found a home with a fabulous friend of mine, and after it sold I started thinking about another one.  And as it happened, I found myself at the Quilting Connection in Ames, (aka fabric heaven!) and lo and behold they had a lot of outstanding black and white prints that came home with me.  Here's what happened to those prints:

I got a little crazy this time and put some gray in with the black and white.  Notice the adorable retro pickup-truck print--how cute is that?  I also made the hubby a Christmas stocking out of that print. He wasn't quite as excited as I was about the truck fabric, but he managed to look interested for a moment or two.

I wanted to do something rather unexpected for the back of the quilt so I let the top sit for a couple of weeks until the right quilt back presented itself to me.  That's how my process often works: I just wait for the right fabric to find me.  And it always does.  In this case, it was this unbelievably cool bird print that I found at Stitch:

The inspiration for using yellow binding came from Maureen Cracknell's blog, which is one of my very favorites; she's an amazing quilter.  She showed a photo of a recent quilt of hers which she had bound in yellow and so I thought I would use yellow on this quilt.  Love how it turned out.

I made this quilt as we found our new home and as the weather began to change from winter to spring.  The black and white reminds me of winter and the birds, of course, are the quintessential harbinger of spring.  And here at our new home, we are lucky to have lots of birds visiting our yard and birdfeeders all the time.  That's just one of the many things I love about our new home.  I'll be sharing some more about our new house as I get some pictures.

With spring comes the Farmers Market as well, and this year  I will be there on opening day, which is May 2.  If you're in Des Moines, please stop by my booth on 4th street, north of Court Avenue, and say hello!  I'm looking forward to being part of this wonderful event again this year, which marks 40 years of the Downtown Des Moines Farmers Market.  

Happy spring to all and bring on the warm weather!

I love spring: photo edition.

Spring tends to get very busy.  Here's what's been going on around here in recent weeks:

A small quilt for a small boy. 

Small boy with a shirt full of small pockets for "pockets" day at preschool (you can't see them all in the picture but I managed to get 24 little pockets on this little shirt--and for some reason that made me very proud of myself!)

A furniture painting project in progress.  This Annie Sloan Chalk Paint is just awesome.

Someday this will get quilted.  Someday. 

It finally got warm enough so that our hostas could make an appearance. 

This year I am attempting veggies: peppers and one tomato plant.  We'll see what happens.  Gardening is a bit like gambling for me--I have no guarantee of good results.  If I can get one decent tomato and one pepper I will be pleased. 

And of course, one important thing I do each May is decorate at the cemetery.  I enjoy doing this.  My grandparents are in a small country cemetery in Grundy County, near where they farmed, and I always find it to be a peaceful place. 

 

And of course, spring also means I am busy making stuff for the Downtown Des Moines Farmers Market!  I'm so pleased that I am part of this event.  It's a great Des Moines tradition and if you've never been, you should.  There's so much there to see, so much good stuff to eat, and such a diverse group of people.  I'll be there for the next three weeks in a row if you'd like to say hi.  I'll have lots of new journals as well as a few other things.  Such as this:

In case you're keeping track, this is Nancy Drew quilt #4. 

 

Happy spring to you.  Enjoy the sunshine. 



Retro Rotary: quilt #12

This might just be my new favorite quilt:

Excuse the blue painter's tape in the photo, please....I've been waiting for a nice spring day so I could photograph this quilt outside but....the days that were "nice" were also extremely windy, which is not so good for quilt photo shoots.  And today is definitely not nice, so I gave up and stuck the quilt to the wall and snapped a few pictures.  My pictures don't quite do the quilt justice--the fabric is just so awesome and my photography is not.  The telephones are another Melody Miller design and I had fun seeking out just the right fabrics to go with it, and I found just what I needed during a visit to Winterset a couple of weeks ago: the orange print came from the local Ben Franklin store and the purple came from Fons & Porter's quilt shop, both conveniently located on the square.  (I'm thinking I really just need to move to Winterset; I mean, two fabric shops on one block, and a yarn shop across the street?  Obviously this is the town for me!) You can see a glimpse of olive green in the scrappy binding and there's a bit more on the back of the quilt, which is very simple:

I love the combination of the orange, purple, and olive.  And if it weren't for that adorable telephone fabric I probably wouldn't have thought of using those 3 colors together.  Purple isn't one of my favorite colors, but in this quilt, I'm loving it.  The purple fabric has a very subtle print and just enough hint of sparkle to do the telephone fabric justice. 

And to pat myself on the back just a bit, I will mention that this is definitely my best job thus far of quilting and binding.  I'm a hands-on learner and I can see the improvement with each quilt I make.  It's ever-so-satisfying. 

This one is quilted with Aurifil, one of the spools that came in the Tula Pink sampler pack I got for Valentine's Day.  (Yes, I asked for thread for Valentine's Day!)  The pink/purple spool was perfect for this quilt.  The colors of thread in this collection are wonderful and I am looking forward to using another one very soon.  The quilting is very basic, because you can't get too fancy on a home sewing machine, but with the help of some painter's tape I did manage to do a decent job of making my lines fairly straight.  Oh, the wonder of a walking foot!  Such a help. 

After I finished this quilt, I had to tear myself away from my sewing machine and get back to my paper trimmer to get some journals made for upcoming shows.  If you're in or near Iowa City, I'll be at Craft Your Environment, coming up on April 19 at the East Side Recycling Center.  This is a brand new show and one I am really looking forward to as it focuses on handmade items that use recycled/repurposed materials.  Stop by and say hello if you're in the area! 

Quilts of All Sizes.

I love working on a big quilt top, but sometimes I need a break in the middle of a long-term project.  A couple of weeks ago I needed a break from making quilt blocks--so I made a couple of mini-quilts.  (Makes no sense, now does it?)  I've been waiting and waiting to make something with this pink typewriter fabric (from Melody Miller's Ruby Star line, 2012), which is of course so very different from the aqua typewriter fabric I've used before...so I whipped up this mini quilt.

You might be asking yourself "what's so fun about a mini-quilt?"  In fact, a very good friend of mine, who is quite the crafty gal herself, told me that she thought a little quilt to hang on the wall was about the silliest thing she'd ever heard of.  (And she hadn't heard of it before I explained to her what it is I was making during our in-depth discussion of sewing, quilting, crafting, etc.) 

So here's the answer to that burning question--what's so fun about a mini-quilt?
1.  They are quick to make.  Almost-instant gratification.
2.  Things that are small tend to be cute. 
3.  Great way to try new fabric without a long-term commitment.  I admit, I have struggled with commitment in the past. 
4. Perfect for experimenting with design & technique. 
5. A great way to use up scraps. 

And....mini quilts are also a good excuse to cut into fabric that you buy for absolutely no other reason than you simply could not resist it.  Case in point:

I really, really, really loved this sewing-machine print fabric. (I found it at Stash Modern Fabric on etsy; she has an awesome selection!)  And I was dying to sew with it.  True story: my 5-year-old son was even excited when he saw the fabric and immediately said, "We gotta make a quilt out of that!"  Yep, that's my boy!  He's learned to like fabric the way I've learned to like Disney Jr. 

I had some fun experimenting with colors I don't normally use (hello mint green and purple!) and continuing my pursuit of that ever-elusive scant quarter-inch seam allowance (a piecing foot for my machine sure helps!). 

There are getting to be quite a few quilts around the house, so these two minis are listed on my etsy shop.  Another one will be going out the door this weekend: to my mother for her birthday.  She always tells me not to spend any money on her, but one year I actually did that and got her nothing for her birthday and believe me, I won't do that again.  So, she is a getting a scrappy improve quilt made up of mostly leftovers from the very first quilt I made, last spring.  It looks like this:

 
She likes green so this will work for her.  And I will claim that I didn't buy any new fabric for the quilt so she won't suffer from motherly guilt.  Everybody's happy.  And I have room for another quilt in the house, which is good. 

Warm thoughts on a Winter's Day

Once again, it's a winter wonderland here in good old Des Moines.  Which means it's a great day to stay inside and sew and cut paper and maybe paint something!  Which is exactly what I'll be doing. 

When you live in a super-cold climate, quilting is a perfectly practical hobby.  That's doubtless one of the reasons that quilters have created quilts for hundreds of years.  They're beautiful AND useful, which in my mind equals perfection. 

In addition to snuggling up under a warm quilt to keep warm, I use quilts to warm up the house in a few different ways, literally and figuratively:

I decided to switch up the décor in our teeny-tiny dining room (aka the room where I store extra craft projects and miscellaneous stuff) from black & white to more colorful.  And because our dining room table is ugly, I really wanted to cover it up.  I also thought it would be a great way to show off this beautiful quilt I got last summer at a tag sale.  I love all the colors and prints here.  And since we don't eat in here, I don't have to worry about food stains.  Of course if we did decide to actually sit down at the dining room table for a meal, I'd remove the quilt first. 

Our bedroom is like an icebox in the winter, so I simply draped a quilt on top of the sheer curtains in hopes of keeping the cold air out and the warm air in.  I love being able to look at this gorgeous vintage quilt several times a day and before I go to sleep each night.  This is one from our family's collection, possibly made by my great-grandmother Hannah; it's backed with flannel, there's no batting, and as you can see, it's tied rather than quilted.  I've been looking through various quilt books trying to discover the name of this block--if you happen to know what it's called, please let me know!  I love the fabrics she used (from her own dresses and aprons?) and the colors are so bright and really, so modern. 

And of course, I have a few quilts on a quilt rack (a $7 thrift-store score).  I have a couple vintage ones that are "just to look at" and then the gray one I made that we actually use.  They go so nicely with my son's playmat, don't you think? 

For those of you in the area who don't mind braving a bit of cold, please stop by and say hello to me this weekend at the State Fairgrounds--I'll be at the craft show held in the Varied Industries building on Friday evening (5 to 9), all day Saturday (9 to 5) and most of Sunday (10 to 4).  I'll have lots of new journals and a bunch of pillows--this is their official debut!  And a quilt or two as well.

Stay warm!

Patchwork, Then & Now.

You may have noticed that I've gotten pretty interested in quilts recently.  I have always loved them and wanted to make them for such a long time.  I am so glad I decided to try.  I am having a wonderful time practicing and improving my skills with each project.  Because as all Pride & Prejudice fans know, the only way to become truly proficient at something is to practice!  (Which character said that?  If you know, leave a comment!)

My interest in quilts stems from the quilts in my family that I have seen and used over the years.  My mom has said more than once that I must get my crafty "talent" from my father since she does not craft in any way, shape, or form, and has never been interested in learning how to do crafty stuff.  I was thinking about this and realized that while I am like my dad in many ways and have certainly inherited several things from him, the urge to make stuff comes from other members of my family. 

Both of my great-grandmothers could and did sew and make quilts.  Of course, this was very common for women long ago--they made quilts out of necessity and to make good use of clothing that had been outgrown or served its purpose as a garment.  Rather than waste the fabric, they cut it up and make quilts.  They made quilts out of feed sacks.  Waste not, want not. 

Last year, when I decided that I was going to learn how to make quilts despite my fear of the sewing machine, my initial intention was to repurpose old clothes and make quilts.  I thought I could make quilts without spending much money. 

Ha. Ha. Ha. 

I have a pretty good hunch that my great-grandmothers would turn over in their graves if they knew how much money I've spent on fabric in the last six months, or how much a yard of "designer" fabric costs these days.  Keep in mind, of course, that both of my great-grandmothers were born before 1900.  I knew only one of these ladies, and she died when I was four so I don't remember much about her.  I would have loved the opportunity to know these women.  Through their quilts, though, I feel like I do know them a little. 

I'm lucky to have quilts made so long ago by women in my family.  My grandma was an only child so in addition to her mother's things, we also have several quilts that we know or think her two sisters made.  While I don't remember my great-grandmother, I did have a chance to spend some time with her sisters.  I loved visiting their farm with my grandparents when I was a kid.  They had a big cast-iron stove and I loved to add corn cobs to the fire.  Everything in their house was as neat as a pin.  Everything in their house was also old-fashioned.  Just old, really--but it all looked nice and new because they had taken very good care of it and were excellent housekeepers, just as my grandmother was.  I did not inherit that gene!

So, I thought it would be fun to show a quilt that I just finished up alongside a vintage one made by one of my relatives, either my great-grandmother or her sisters.  My mom isn't for sure as to who made this one and anyone else who might know is, of course, deceased. 

Here's my quilt:

 The back of it is nice and bright.  I might actually like the back even better. 

   
 The blocks in this quilt were based on a pattern in the book Modern Blocks: 99 Quilt Blocks from your Favorite Designers.    (Unfortunately I forgot to jot down the name of this block's designer, but you'll find it in the book!)  I modified (simplified) the block just a bit.   I wanted a few bold blocks "floating" in lots of solid color.  After working with all that plain gray fabric, I was ready for something colorful again, so that's why the quilt back is the way it is. 

Now, here's a long-ago quilt, much more traditional in design than mine:

 Obviously this is a Nine-Patch.  Notice that the binding looks a bit out-of-place; that's because it was added at a later date; my mom says that my grandmother, who did not sew, hired someone to replace the binding when it got worn.  The back of the quilt looks like this:

My mom says that my grandparents used this quilt a lot.  It is in good shape but definitely shows some wear.  And it is so, so soft!  I would love to snuggle up with it but I don't for fear of tearing it.  Or something getting spilled on it, which is a frequent occurrence in our home.  But I do have it displayed on my quilt rack so I can look at it. 

I don't know the exact age of this quilt, but I'd guess it was made in the 40s or 50s.  If my mom can remember it from her childhood, it is at least that old.  It might even be a bit older.  I would love to know what pieces of clothing were cut up to make this quilt.  Work shirts?  Feed sacks?  Probably both, and much more.  There's history here, I just wish I knew more about it! 

I have more quilts to share in the coming weeks, so check back!  It's been fun to get them out and ask my mom what she knows about them.  We even discovered a "mystery quilt" that I will share in hopes of learning a little more about the pattern. 

Summer Quilts

I've spent a fair amount of time working to improve my sewing/quilting skills this summer.  As I've I mentioned, I definitely do not have a natural aptitude for sewing....but I am happy to say that with practice, I am improving!  Here are a few shots of finished quilts that I've completed since my quilting obsession commenced this spring:

 This is a baby quilt, for a very dear friend of mine who will be giving birth any minute now to her first baby!  I used a combination of new fabric and recycled pillowcases for the patterned strips. 

My little Buzz Lightyear requested a Toy Story quilt, so of course he got one.  I decided to be brave and do half-square triangles, using Jeni Baker's technique, which works great.   The back of this one is plain blue flannel and I didn't use any batting in this quilt because my little man is very warm-blooded.  I quilted this on my "new" vintage 1958 Singer machine that was my birthday present to myself. 

And last but not least, here's a shot of the first quilt I set out to make.  I started and finished it back in May.  It's far from perfect, but it's been getting used daily and it's holding together so I'm considering that quilting success!

This one is bigger than the other two, and I quilted it on my little Mini-Ultra.  It's backed with an vintage mint-green sheet that belonged to my grandparents, so it is super-soft and snuggly.  I used a random assortment of fabrics, some that I had on hand, some other cheap fabrics, and one Old Navy dress from 2005(it's the white flower on aqua background).  Despite the imperfections, I felt proud of myself for achieving a goal I'd set for myself and doing it all by myself!  Quilting is hard work, but it's fun, fun, fun!

And for those who might wonder: no, I didn't use patterns for these quilts.  I just made them up and sewed them.  Is that designing?

I have two more quilts + backs neatly folded, just waiting to be quilted and bound someday.  I've found sewing to be quite addictive and sometimes I have to force myself to quit quilting and go back to work making books and collages.  My only complaint is that I have lots of fabric I'm dying to play with and not nearly enough time.