DQS9 Reswap

Remember my DQS9 swap quilt?  I wasn't very happy with the overall experience, and I think my blog post made that clear.  Unfortunately, I made my partner really sad.

Not my intention, please believe me.  But, I understand her feelings.  I was pretty negative about the whole deal, and I can see why she would think I was pretty negative about her, too.

I was always taught to make my wrongs right, and so I begged Michelle to let me reswap with something I love and am proud of.  Essentially, she gave me another chance!

Michelle has a really fun sense of color and uses beautiful fabrics in all her projects.  The items she's made for swaps are extremely cute!  So, I decided to use one of my favorite, fun color combinations-- orange and pink.

The patchwork top is piece entirely of 2.5" hexagons; I used the English paper piecing method, which I think is easy and fast.  The fabric is an excellent cheater cloth that someone sent me in a swap-- perfect for this task!

I quilted this top three times-- yes, three times!  The first two attempts were ugly and sloppy looking, so I picked them out.  Instead of doing something complicated and cutesy, I settled on a diagonal straight line grid.  Personally, I think this quilting is immaculate.  The stitches look beautiful and the overall pattern is simple but visually impressive.  I've never done this pattern before, but I will definitely do it again, and probably on another hexagon project.

The backing is a print from Riley Blake's Summer Song-- once again, another perfect fabric for this project.  Honestly, with this print and the quilting, I think I like the back more than the front!

Lastly, I bound the miniquilt in my favorite pink fabric-- Lakehouse Antique Dots in Berry.  I have a limited supply left from my fabric crisis search, so it was a sacrifice to give this up.  But, it was too perfect a match, so I bit the bullet.  Looks good, right?

I made Michelle quilted hex needlebook with some more of my Timber stash.  I love this calm, botanical line.  Very opposite of my miniquilt, but I'm sure she'll love it all the same.

Of course, now that I've finished all these goodies, I realized I don't have Michelle's mailing address anymore.  Bummer.  I sent her an email; hopefully she'll respond.  I really want to give her these goodies!

DQS9 Reveal!

Been a long time.  Shouldn't have left you (without a dope beat to step to).

Seriously, though, it has been a long time.  I read all those posts about quilting without obligation, and I started to feel a little obligated myself.  So, I spent time doing the things I really wanted to do all summer long.  Things like go to the beach and watch baby sea turtles go out to the ocean, fly to Chicago, see my sister get married, take a class and grow professionally.  You know... me stuff.

Anyway, one of my quilting obligations from this summer was a swap quilt for the Doll Quilt Swap 9.  I participated in round 7 and received a beautiful quilt, and enjoyed my making experience, so I decided to go ahead and participate in round 9, too.

It turned out to be a big fat regret for me.  My partner was pretty silent for the most part.  She seemed nice enough, with similar taste to the rest of the blogging world, but her silence left something to be desired.  So many women were participating in discussion conversations, posting sneak peaks, and talking about favorite quilts in the pool.  I was hoping to observe from afar, see what she was making for her partner, and learn more about what she liked.  But, since she added only half a dozen pics to her flickr for the duration and virtually never blogged, not to mention made no comments in the flickr group, I felt that I didn't know anything about her.

I put off the making of the quilt for as long as possible, hoping to catch a glimpse of my partner around the internet.  No such luck.  So, I went ahead with the little direction I had.  My partner said that she liked "trendy" fabrics, so I chose a red and aqua color scheme, put the prints with white, and tried to make something cute.  It turned out cute, alright, but it's also fairly generic.

During the sewing process I became frustrated and disillusioned with this quilt.  I couldn't figure out how to properly use the blanket stitch on my machine, and couldn't even do raw-edge applique!  In the end I just left the circles fused to the background without any stitching holding them down.  Instead, I basted and quilted over the pieces, praying that the quilting stitches would be enough to hold the fused circles on.

I quilted a grid-- straight lines all one inch apart.  The quilt is backed in an awesome red print I bought about two years ago; I think it could be a Kaffe Fasset print, but who knows.  The binding is pieced with red solid and the same fabric as the backing (I think that is my favorite detail).  I failed to add a label with the swap information; it doesn't really matter now because it's already in the mail.

The pictures were taken while I was in line at the post office.  I think that shows exactly how I felt about this quilt.

Seeing Spots

I finally started my DQS9 project; my partner hasn't posted much-- maybe once or twice-- but I think she will like this!  My partner has a lot of bright colors in her favorites, and almost everything she seems to love is on a white background.  

Personally, I've been obsessed about dots lately.  I even consider stashing every time I see a dot I like.  Today I bought 17 dot prints.  Don't judge me.

I used the die-cutter at Quilting Adventures to cut four circles from twelve prints.  Then, I laid them out when I got home.  They're stuck on with spray adhesive; I didn't want to mess with fusible this time around.  Last time I had a hard time stitching through the fusibles.  Of course, I won't do hand stitching this time, but it was nice to skip the extra step and cost of iron-on fusible.

DQS7 Reveal!

My partner, Rhonda finally posted about the quilt that I made her, so now I can reveal it!





Each of these pictures was taken by my partner. Isn't it cute?

I really enjoyed making this quilt. In fact, I enjoyed the handwork aspect so much that I haven't moved on to any of my machine projects, yet. I'm still working only by hand.

The really cool thing? Rhonda recently started posting her Aunt Millie's Flower Garden blocks. They look amazing and they are inspiring me to work on my Aunt Millie's blocks. I'm only about a year behind on the block of the month-- shame on me-- but I've finished the first block and am working on the next, all because of her!

Still waiting to receive my quilt in the mail. Each day the mail box is woefully empty. No junk mail, no bills, no nothing. I keep hoping for one of those little slips that say I have a package, but alas. Nothing has come.

DQS7 Sneak Peek

It's been very quiet around these parts, hasn't it? It's not that I haven't been crafting (I totally have!), it's just that I've been doing other things, too.

For example, telling myself to get my butt off the computer.
Also, visiting Gloria at William & Mary.
Additionally, going to the beach with my girlfriends one last time.
Not to mention going back to work and thus back to school, making myself feel as if the past two months had never happened.

I've finished my DQS7 quilt and am ready to send it out (along with a few goodies). Want a sneak peek?






This is the tag I made using EQ Printable fabric. You can see that it's fraying a little there. I used too small of a stitch, and so when I turned the tag (I didn't want raw edges), it looks like it's coming apart. Hopefully my partner won't mind.






Here's a close up shot of one of my favorite birds on the quilt. I used the free City Birds applique pattern from Cherry House Quilts. I don't think the pattern is available online anymore, but if you email Cherri, I bet she'd give it to you.




Everything on this quilt is done by hand-- applique, embroidery, quilting, and binding. Of course, I did the first step in attaching the binding by machine (I had no idea how to do it otherwise), so I did cheat just a little.

Hopefully my partner likes it. I'll wait to reveal the entire quilt until after my partner has received the package and blogged. Stay tuned!

Sneaky

Sneaky
Originally uploaded by Boered

I know that my DQS7 partner is out there, somewhere, silently watching and reading and trying to get to know me.

I can't wait to see what that person is making for me! And the fact that I might have seen it in the flickr pool is absolutely tantalizing.

Handwork Continues

After neglecting my current embroidery block, I have rallied and finished it completely (to much delight!). Check it out.



This is Bareroots Little Stitchies #178 September. Just as with the August block (#177, of course), I made a few changes in stitching and color, and I added a few beads this time!



The tree trunk was filled using a satin stitch, and I did most of the leaves in yellow, rather than adding the light green the pattern called for. I embroidered the roof with a double feather stitch to mimic shingles (like a gingerbread house), just like I did on the August (#177) block. The apples in the foreground were satin stitched, and I added a single green bead for the stem leaves. I outlined the windows and door with the same cerulean floss I used for the house-- that color is too lovely and I had to have more! Lastly, and probably my favorite change, I used bead embroidery for the smoke plume coming out of the chimney.



See my hand for scale? All in all, I really love the way it looks. I used stabilizer this time, and thank God, because the foundation help up much better than the August (#177) block.

***

Summer is coming to a close, and that's bringing me down. As some of you know, I am an inner city public school teacher. The concept of heading back to work after a long relaxing summer is making me anxious. The possibility of having another terrible year is looming large in my mind.

With September comes the DQS7 swap deadline! Oh no! I hope my partner likes what I'm working on...

Surprise!

I went to Chicago to visit family, had tons of fun, and even visited the Harry Potter Exhibition at the Museum of Science and Industry (the only building still standing from the Columbian Exposition aka the Chicago World's Fair). All was excellent.

When I got home, I had a wonderful surprise! Crystal, of Sonnet of the Moon had sent me a package full of goodies. She included many wonderful quilted coasters, some cloth napkins, a bar of chocolate (Twilight Delight, one that Josh really loves!) a folding fan, and a gorgeous cut of fabric. When I opened the package and looked at all the goodies, Josh noted how excellent a job Crystal did with the fabric choice, considering all those fabrics are ones I would have chosen for myself. Thank you so much, Crystal! I love all my goodies. <3



Also, continuing progress on my DQS7 quilt. I picked up some charm batiks at the quilt shop yesterday and have gotten all my little birds cut out. Of course, I'm deviating from my original plan, but I think I like what I've got. It's too dark to take a picture of my layout, but feast your eyes on my fabric!



Here's hoping my partner likes what I've got going on. She's not blogging much and she only has about three favorites on her flickr page. Ah well. What can you do?

Variety Hour

I'm getting some brainwaves for my DQS7 project. My partner seems to like applique, so hopefully she will like what I'm cooking up!




Many quilters love putting binding on quilts, because it is slow and meditative-- at least, that's why I love it. But, I do so hate making the binding. Halfway there... all that's left is the ironing. :(



Finally, I got started on some embroidery. I'm working on the Bareroots Little Stitchies #177 August. There's one homestead scene for every month. I don't normally go in for this sort of thing, but those houses were irresistible. I'm tweaking the pattern a bit... stay tuned for details.

dqs7 button.

dqs7 button.
Originally uploaded by rachelgriffith

Here goes nothing!