Patchwork!

It's been a little silent around here. I may not be blogging, but I am working on something!



This is the first time I've ever created half-square triangles. I didn't do any crazy methods, just did squares and sewed 1/4" from the middle line. Very simple.




Here's me taking the last stitches on the quilt top. Please ignore all that fuzz on my presser foot and shank. I promise I clean my machine.




Check out my finished quilt top. Even though the top seems so simple, it challenged me in many ways.

First, I struggled with the color scheme. Red is a very bold color and each time I looked at the pieces coming together I was felt sure that the red was taking over the entire quilt. I also don't love the khaki that I included. I feel that it's a little drab, and I'd rather have used an off white. I think it would look cleaner.

Layout also gave me some difficulty. I tried several different arrangements but none seemed quite right. However, when I moved the pieces to this current layout everything fell together. It was sort of like a magic eye puzzle. It finally looked right!

All fabrics are Kona cotton solids. Very nice to work with.

I'm not so sure how I like it. I think it's a bit manly looking, but also sort of fresh and modern. I'd rather have worked in softer colors, but this one isn't for me, so I chose fabrics according to the recipient's taste.

As I'm sitting here staring at it, it's kind of growing on me...

Lucky!

I received my swap quilt yesterday! My mystery partner was Jill. I felt so lucky when I opened the package to see the beautiful quilt that she had made me (plus all the goodies!).





This quilt is one that I had marked as a favorite in the group pool and truly hoped that it would be coming my way.



The strip of patchwork is so random and wonderful, and in fabrics from one of my favorite designers! She used that gray color that I have been secretly trying to work into every project, which makes me think that not only was she reading my blog but she was also reading my mind.

Not to mention the wonderful strip of embroidery...



Thank you, Jill! I appreciate all the work that you must have spent on this gorgeous quilt.

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.

I've Arrived!

It's official. I've arrived!

The SwapMommas at the Doll Quilt Swap blog chose to showcase my swap quilt (in progress) on their blog! You can check out the post here.

First, I'd like to thank The Academy...

Halloween (again!)

I cruised by Martha Stewart's Halloween Central to find all sorts of awesome templates for crafts, including the best spiderweb templates ever (found in the Glittered Spiderweb Hurricanes How-To).

As usual, the photography of all the Halloween decorations is beautiful, and the projects Martha has created are just absolutely wonderful.

Palestrina stitch

Palestrina stitch
Originally uploaded by Bordados DaAna

Try it! You know you want to.

Tradition

So, I've been thinking. I've been thinking about quilting. I've been thinking about what drew me to quilting and what continues to draw me to quilting.

I love the use of geometry and color in a quilt. What continues to bring me back to quilting over and over is the slow transformations of shapes into a wide and general pattern. How can all those tiny pieces of fabric come together to make one large graphic piece? What pre-planning and spatial knowledge does it take to know what your final product will be?

All of these fascinations come directly from a love for traditional quilt blocks. I love to spot a quilt, to attempt to identify the block. To look at the patches and break them down and determine how the maker constructed the blocks and then the entire quilt top.

Sadly, traditional quilt blocks are not getting much face time right now. Improv quilting has really stolen the show, much to my chagrin. Modern quilting hasn't quite fallen by the wayside, but it is definitely living in the shadow of the wonky log cabin block.

What's a girl got to do to get traditional quilt blocks back in the game? And how many idioms am I going to use in this post?

Stay tuned for answers. I think I'm cooking something up.

Embroidery Again

All finished with Bareroots Little Stitchies #179 - October. The pumpkins are very cute and I got to try another new stitch.



I enjoyed this block, but I'm getting the feeling that something needs to be in the sky other than the moon and some smoke from the chimney. Next block, I might just add something in.

The pumpkin vines were created using the cast-on stitch I blogged about earlier. It took a little bit of practice, but I have gotten quite good at creating those little curlicues. The grassy hills were stitched with a square stitch. I did some couching to create the pumpkins and quite liked the look, as they now look like they have texture and thickness, the way a pumpkin rind does. As before, the tree trunk was filled using a satin stitch and the roof was done with feather stitch.

In case you were wondering, you can find all the patterns for this embroidery block of the month right here on the Bareroots website.

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!

Gloria's Quilt

DSC04275
Originally uploaded by jenamoured

I'm finally getting around to posting this.

I delivered Gloria's quilt last weekend when I went home to help her pack for departure to William & Mary College.

She loved it! We snuggled under it and dragged it around the house all weekend, refusing to pack it until the very last minute.

You can see the two of us holding the quilt over the loft railing. Lucky that house is so big so that we could get a great full view, far away picture.


STATS
76x92"
Machine pieced, hand bound
Machine quilted by Rebekah Richardson of Kept In Stitches Quilting in Richmond, VA

I used fabric from the Natural Effects line by Marcus Fabrics. Unfortunately, I didn't have enough of my original fabric, so I had to supplement with another fabric from the Natural Effects line (same print, smaller scale) and one Al Fresco print, which is also used as the backing. I used this as the border, along with a couple blender batiks.


I, personally, think it looks beautiful. I'm so proud of my work and I can't believe I actually made that thing.

My aunt emailed it to a family member, who wrote back to ask if the center section was a single piece of fabric. It felt great to say, "Nope! That's patchwork!"

I.
Am.
The Bomb.

Spooktacular

I really wish someone would buy me this!



It's so cute. For some reason I'm all about halloween fabrics right now.

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.

Cast-On Stitch

DSCN7758
Originally uploaded by kleio's belly

Look at this cool thing! Turns out, she's using something called a Cast-On Stitch to create those curlicues.

Thankfully, on her blog, she linked to Sharon B's Stitch Dictionary, where she found the Cast-On Stitch Tutorial.

Totally going to try this.

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...

Wish

thrifted long ago
Originally uploaded by bricolagelife

I found this photo in the flickr embroidery pool. It's awesome, right? The user who uploaded this photo lamented in the description that she wishes she "could embroider like this."

Don't we all?

As my summer vacation draws to a close, I'm starting to get kind of down about the lack of craft time I will have in the future. Since this spring I have attempted and succeeded in areas of craft I never thought possible. Even though I've always felt craft-incompetent, it all boils down to the fact that, really, I just had to try it.

In the words of Nike (not the goddess), I had to just do it. And I do feel victorious about my accomplishments (even if my apartment is a god-forsaken mess).

So, I left a comment on bricolagelife's photo.

"I bet you can embroider like that."

Because, I mean, I bet I can too. We just have to get to it.

Paper Piecing!

Now it's time for another episode of Not My Tutorials!

This Paper Piecing Tutorial from The Sometimes Crafter is clear and concise, with excellent pictures. Once I'm feeling brave enough (and once Hand Sewing Month is up) I'm definitely going to try this.

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?

A Giveaway!

Not mine, though I should have one.

Randi is having a remnants giveaway!

All you have to do is leave a comment sharing your favorite childhood television show.

It's tough to choose just one favorite show, so I'll give my top three kid-favorites:

1. Rocko's Modern Life on Nickelodeon
2. Doug on Nickelodeon (and not Disney's Doug, either!)
3. Pop-up Video on VH1

I feel like all I ever did was watch television when I was a kid.!

Getcha some. ;p

My Lightbox

My Lightbox
Originally uploaded by jenamoured

Don't have a lightbox but need to trace an embroidery pattern?

Use your television (as long as it's not one of those fancy plasma or LCD models). Simply use masking tape to affix your fabric to the printed pattern, like so, then tape the whole shebang over the illuminated television screen.

Voila! You have a lightbox. The light from the television screen will allow you to view the printed pattern through the fabric. Pull up a chair and get to work.

Finished!

As promised, here's a look at my first finished handwork item of them month.

You're looking at Bareroots Little Stitchies #177 - August. As mentioned, there's one embroidery block for each month of the year.



I've made a few changes. The only stitches the pattern called for were backstitches, lazy daisies, and French knots. As a general rule, line-only embroidery doesn't appeal to me. I prefer to have fill stitches and variations in texture, not to mention dimension and color. Changing up the stitches called for in the pattern really allowed me to do this.



I chose to use satin stitch to create the tree trunk, and I think it looks beautiful. The roof was created using feather stitches (though I auditioned square stitches and couldn't get them quite right). The sun embroidery includes a buttonhole wheel stitch and French knots to create sun sparkles. The hills were embroidered using a (not so neat) stem stitch to create texture to mimic grass.

Additionally, I differed from the pattern in outlining the door and windows in blue rather than brown only because there was so much brown in the block already. All leaves for flowers and on the grass were embroidered in a different green than the hills and tree leaves, just for variation. Lastly, I added a circle into the middle of the front sunflowers. It adds detail, plus I thought it was cute.

Not too bad... I learned three stitches for this block-- buttonhole wheel (as discussed), lazy daisy, and feather stitch. And after all that practicing, I'm pretty much a French knot expert.


Of course, the whole fabric is distorted and I wish I had used stabilizer. Good thing I cut the foundation one inch larger than necessary.!

A Month of Hand Sewing

red hands sewing
Originally uploaded by Bascom Hogue

What a coincidence! The folks at Sew, Mama, Sew! are rediscovering handwork, too.

To celebrate handwork, the sewing mamas are hosting A Month of Hand Sewing. There'll be tutorials, photos of the day, and giveaways, including this cute little hand sewing kit.

The quiet patience of a needle sewing thread has always appealed to me. A month of hand sewing isn't a bad idea, so I'm going to try not to go near my sewing machine this month. Instead, I'll work on the various handwork projects I've got going.

Buttonhole Wheel

TAST Portuguese Knotted Stem
Originally uploaded by Kay Susan

A while ago I purchased the Leisure Arts Embroidery Pocket Guide Leaflet. It's laminated and folds up just like a map, which is extremely handy. I love using it to refresh my memory on stitches that I already know how to do-- the diagrams are great.

However, it lists some stitches I don't know, which looked pretty cool. The stitch I taught myself today was the buttonhole wheel stitch (seen above in Kay Susan's awesome embroidery).

If you're curious about how to do it, check out this video tutorial for buttonhole wheel stitch from Mary Corbet's Needle 'n Thread.

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.

Prewashing

Is the devil.

There, I said it.

I hate prewashing fabric. I hate all the unraveling and the strings that happen (even if you use a lingerie bag). I hate ironing a huge piece of yardage.

I just hate everything about it. I have never prewashed fabric and I have no intentions to start. So far none of my projects have had problems, and hopefully they won't start.

(PS- I must admit that I did soak the red batik backing for this quilt because I was terrified not to.)

Back to life, back to reality

In case you were wondering, my 10 day beach vacation was utterly sublime. I did miss my little apartment in my little city, though. A summer rainstorm is rolling in, the wind is blowing, and everything looks a little muted.

List of Projects to Finish In Order of Importance:
1. Gloria's Quilt (back from the quilter and so beautiful!)
2. French Braid Quilt
3. Grandma's Flower Garden
4. Aunt Millie's Block of the Month


List of Projects to Start:
1. Gretchen's T-Shirt Quilt
2. Various Hand Embroideries

Not to mention the doll quilt for my DQS7 super secret partner...

Speaking of hand embroidery... I found something that Crystal will love:
Vintage Fruit Dishtowels Embroidery Pattern. I almost bought them for myself today at the quilt shop... instead I bought some other Bareroots patterns, including one for an Advent Calendar. Don't laugh.

I'd show a picture of my boon, but the lack of natural light is foiling those attempts.

dqs7 button.

dqs7 button.
Originally uploaded by rachelgriffith

Here goes nothing!

Beach vacation

Beach vacation
Originally uploaded by jenamoured

I'm blogging from the beach! I return to Richmond on July 25th, so expect to hear from me sometime after that. I'm not ignoring you guys, I promise!

French Braid

French Braid
Originally uploaded by jenamoured

Here's the quilt top for the French Braid quilt. Of course, it is not at all square and I've already cut off several inches in an attempt to get it square. I decided to fold it up and put it away until after vacation-- that way I don't end up with a placemat out of frustration.

I've still got to add borders to this thing.

Perfect Little Box Pouch

Perfect Little Box Pouch
Originally uploaded by Indie House

Here's a fun and easy-to-follow tutorial on how to make a boxed pouch. I've never put in a zipper before, but this seems an innocent enough project for zipper virgins!

Amy Butler and the Goblet of Fire

It may not be common internet knowledge, but I happen to be a megafan of Harry Potter. Books and movies. Since ABC Family was showing a Harry Potter movie marathon, I moved my table and machine into the TV room so that I could watch and sew. Like I haven't seen those movies millions of times already.

Anyway, I was working on a French Braid quilt (from this free pattern) using Amy Butler's Daisy Chain fabrics. I've finished all the braids and now need to sew them together.

Mischief managed!

Pattern 23033 Caspian

Pattern 23033 Caspian
Originally uploaded by jenamoured

Picked this up for Crystal.

The question is.. does she still need it?

Jennifer Can't Quilt.

It is with a heavy heart that I announce I have abdicated from the position of "quilter." This means I am temporarily demoted to "piecer."

Look, I can't quilt that giant ass quilt, okay? And, yeah, I totally feel like it's cheating to send something out to be quilted, but at least when it comes back it's going to look good. And I'm not going to end up tearing my hair out.

Here's how it happened: I went to ye olde quilting shop to use the tables and quilt. I quilted one circle... it was more like a polygon. So Laura was going to give me some tips on free motioning a big thing (instead of little practice things that are pretty easy), but when she tried to free motion that quilt, the machine started eating thread (it grew teeth). She also noted how difficult it was to move the quilt because my machine is miniscule and also the quilt is heavy. We conferred for about 40 seconds, in which time I realized I must be bat shit crazy to try to quilt that myself (not ready yet!) and needed to send it out.

...

I feel a little guilty and I think I even wanted to cry a little. But at least I get to work on other projects now. :)

Extreme Closeup

I marked the quilt top today. I used the largest circle template from Bigger Perfect Circles and it was perfect!

By the way, if you don't have a Sewline Ceramic Pencil, you need to get one. They are so awesome for marking fabric. Pink is my favorite. Read about them in this PDF from United Notions. (No, I am not working for them!)

!@#% Basting

I pieced the backing to the one block wonder quilt and then spent two hours basting it.




Of course, after I basted and the top was perfect, I turned the monster over to make sure the back was good... Not so much. It had wrinkled and puckered everywhere. Probably because I had been crawling around on it and it shifted.

So, I guess I will be re-basting at the quilt store tomorrow, instead of quilting. Alas.

!!!

Alright, so, finally I got Gloria's quilt top completely finished. It looks wonderful! I have a few ugly pictures to show so that all of you readers (ie, zero) can get an idea of what's going on here. Then, when it's all quilted up, I'll show the final product.



I used fabric from the Natural Effects line by Marcus Fabrics. Unfortunately, I didn't have enough of my original fabric, so I had to supplement with another fabric from the Natural Effects line (same print, smaller scale) and one Al Fresco print. I used this as the border, along with a couple blender batiks.

I think it looks great.

The employees at Quilting Adventures are the bomb because they really helped me out with this quilt, from fabric choice, to layout, to teaching me how to do mitered corners! Also, that's where I took the class to learn how to do a One Block Wonder. They also let me invade their shop and use their huge tables to do my work, otherwise I'd have been sewing that huge top in this:



I'll be basting this weekend so that I can begin quilting it on Monday.

Where have I been?

Oh, just without the internet.

Since my last post I have:
-learned how to do bead embroidery
-learned how to do one block wonders (and created one!)
-started work on a french braid quilt using a moda bake shop tutorial.
-been awesome


I hope people are still reading!

Now, to figure out mitered corners...

Finished!

I finally finished Gina's gift quilt for Jack! Yay. I get to give it to her tomorrow at the shower. It's in the wash right now.

Unfortunately, it is a dismal day and so it's too dark to take photographs, so you won't see it. But, you can imagine it from previous pictures.

Anyway, I kept encountering this terrible problem. Many times when trying to knot off and then bury the knot, my thread would break, leaving me with a very small tail and no way to bury it. What do you do when this happens?

For the record, I'm using high quality Mettler thread and it's not ancient. I have no idea what's wrong.

Finished Objects?

No! But we're getting there!

Just thought I'd share pictures of what I've been working on...

My flower garden quilt is growing. I've been working on it during babysitting gigs (a girl has to get tattoo money somehow). The kids seem to be fascinated with the act of sewing-- most of the moms I sit for don't sew. (One mother, however, showed me her Husqvarna from 1970. It was pristine and beautiful. She said it sews perfectly. I wanted to trade my machine for hers.)





That's my favorite fabric in the whole bunch. I love that batik. It's from timeless treasures. I have the item number, but can't seem to find that colorway anywhere on the web. :(



I have pieced but not quilted this cute, simple quilt for Caithlin's newborn Oscar. I love that traffic jam fabric.





And last, but not least, I am in the final stages of completing the Eye Spy quilt (the one that's not ugly)! I have quilted it, squared it, sewn on rock pockets (via Sew, Mama, Sew!), and attached binding. Almost done...

I used the Fons & Porter Easy Binding Tool to help create my continuous binding tape. The directions are not all that easy to read, but once you read through them and if you take it slow, it's actually very easy to use. And it produces PERFECT continuous binding. Get one. Seriously.