Curves Made Easy (or at least easier)

I have two charm packs (one of them is 2wenty Thr3e! I just love that line!) that I want to make into cathedral window-like pillows, but without all that ironing and top-stitching. Not to mention the fabric waste. You know, easy-peasy piecing (except for all the curves and perfectly matching points)?

So I broke out my Robbing Peter to Pay Paul die from Sizzix for the first time and painstakingly pinned along each seam. And I finished a block. Yeah. I'm not posting a picture of what that looked like, and for good reason. Granted, I didn't try that hard, but it was way too time consuming for a four inch block (3.5 finished, yikes!).

Enter the Curve Master Presser Foot. Careful if you google it (ask me how I know). Thanks to Amazon Prime, my foot arrived in two short days.

And then it was time to play. I installed the foot, which was able to snap-on to my Janome without any of the ankle adapters that come with the package. Initially, I was a little worried because my needle comes down in sort of a strange place on the foot, but it seemed to work just fine regardless.I will try to get a picture to add for the visual.

And then I cut out all the little shapes in two seconds flat thanks to my Sizzix. Bonus points since one charm square can produce three of the half-oval shapes.

And I started sewing all those beautiful little fabric bits together.  It is going to take a little practice, and it won't ever be as easy as patchwork, but it is completely manageable. And the results are pretty great. This little block took me about 10 minutes from start to finish, isn't it cute?

Even though this worked really well, I have to shelve this project for now. My fabric diet is over (yay!) and I have some serious quilting to get started on. And I have some doll clothes (long story for another blog post) that need making ASAP. More soon!

Hipster Baby Quilt

This baby quilt was the perfect re-entry into quilting.  I had a lot of fun planning it, though I'll admit to obsessing over the fabric selections. I wanted something whimsical with a nod to music, but not too girly. After spending hours on etsy I found a few great Japanese linens... shipping from China. I was nervous about the wait time, but they got here just in time. I scattered the little vignettes through out the quilt, and used geometric prints in black, creams and red to balance out the rest.

There are a lot of stash builders in here too, including: Sweetwater's Mama Said Sew, several prints from Zen Chic's Comma, Chicken Wire from Oink A Doodle Moo, Timeless Treasure's Sketch, and American Jane's Pezzy Prints. I'm happy to say that I have leftovers of most :)

I also tried out a scrappy binding for the first time. I really love how it keeps your eye moving around the quilt, and it is extra cute all rolled up:

This one is straight line quilted, and backed in flannel. And it is crib size, 36" x 54".  I gave the parents-to-be the quilt this morning at their baby shower, and they were so appreciative. I wasn't expecting it to be such a hit, but it really made my day!

Done!

Well, I made it!  My Seascapes coin quilt is bound, washed, and perfectly crinkly.

And as luck would have it, today was a gorgeous day for a photo shoot. It was almost too sunny for pictures, but after one hundred inches of snow...  I'm not complaining. Not.one.bit.

The sun was trying to melt the last of the snow. Hopefully this is the last quilt-on-snow photo for awhile!

And now it's time for a self-imposed break. Rushing through two quilts in six weeks was a little much, and I need to recharge. That won't stop me from planning my next project though :)

A Good Day

Today was a rare treat -- an entirely child-free day off of work! I sewed my little heart out and loved every second of it!

With my deadline looming I focused on my seascapes quilt. I finished the quilting first thing this morning and then squared things up. Once it's all trimmed up, you can really see the finished product  coming together. The whole process leaves me a little giddy :) And I was pleasantly surprised with the finished size on this one-- a pretty generous throw at 72" x 51".

Next it was time to prepare the binding. I had planned on a solid white binding fabric to play up the floaty-zen feel, but that quickly changed when I pulled out a great Joel Dewberry print, gifted to me by the wonderfully generous and talented Mama Peaches. Once I saw those green and aqua flowers on a sea of navy, there was no going back! It's a perfect match for the quilt and I think it will give it just the right amount of zing. And now I can say quite happily that this little quilt has grown on me. Thank you, Nellie!




And one more picture, because the binding is truly that fabulous!

I'm really hoping to find time this weekend to sew on the binding, but things are pretty hectic. But one way or another, finished pictures will be coming soon!

Marathon Sunday

Whoops, life intervened and I didn't do any sewing Friday *or* Saturday. But, wow, did I ever make up for lost time today. Thanks to Papa Bee I was able to indulge in a little quilting marathon, and took this WIP from quilt top to quilting in a single day. A few highlights below...

I pieced the back! I had planned the quilt top in advance, but I really wish I had thought about the back a little more. I had almost an entire charm pack leftover, and felt a little overwhelmed by my options (more coins? full squares? a patch work section... patchwork squares on point? Ack!). In the end though, I decided less was more and went with a single row of charm squares... which means I have a LOT of charms left. More fodder for my scrap bin?

For the background fabric, I decided to highlight a sea-green that I found in one of the prints. Bella's "Green Tea" was almost a perfect match. It's not the first time this color came to my rescue either, I used it in my Good Fortune quilt, too. 

I basted the quilt sandwich! Ugh, a fresh reminder why basting is still my least favorite part about quilting. There's never enough room and my back always aches, but at least it's done! Looks like I missed a picture showing the bazillion safety pins and the cat I had to shoo away 100 times. But you can imagine them ;-)

And I started quilting! I experimented with quilting gloves and sped right through a quarter of the quilting in a under an hour. Huzzah! I did sort of compromise on the quilting though, and chose a simple medium/large stipple. In my dream world this quilt would be swirls ALL day long (seriously, it's a beachy quilt, it needed swirls!), but I haven't even tried mastering those yet. Someday though!

10 days to go! I think (I hope!) I'm in good shape, but you never know when you have a toddler! 

Coming together

Phew, it's been a couple of intense sewing nights, but I am done piecing the quilt top! My goal for the  weekend is to piece the backing and baste the quilt sandwich. Go go go!

Let the Race Begin!

The fabric for my sister's wedding quilt is here! I am definitely playing it a little safe with this color scheme, but I'm pleasantly surprised by how much I like this fabric collection. The navys and aquas are a lot of fun. And, the beach theme is perfect since my sisters and I used to spend a week at the Outer Banks in North Carolina as kids.

Since I'm under a deadline (wasn't this supposed to be a relaxing hobby?) I sketched out my design while I was waiting for the fabric to get here. I don't usually bother with that step, we'll see how it works out.

I fly out March 29th, so I hope to finish this by the 27th. I've bargained with Papa Bee to arrange for a few extended weekend sewing sessions, fingers crossed!