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.

Confessions.

I use basting spray.


It's much more effective than my own shoddy pinning, plus it's faster.

Say what you will!

Holy Cow!

Two surprises:

1. Cherri of Cherry House Quilts is so graciously giving me a freebie! I won the I do quilt pattern (of her very own design). This is especially amazing because I never win anything. Also, how lucky of me to win a Cherry House pattern right when I'm inspired by the very quilts! Keep your eyes peeled for that, though mine will probably be ugly. (Not a big surprise there.)

2. I have commenters! Craziness. Ladies of the quilting blogosphere, I thank you for reading my humble blog. Oh, and Rollercoaster Teacher, too.



So, the machine is fixed-- seventy cool ones later. Apparently there was some sort of massive thread jam... When the serviceman told me that, I just sort of whistled and walked away with my head down.

I have since pieced one quilt top that is very cute. Of course, no pictures yet. Every time I think to take pictures it's just too dang dark. I'll get to that. I swear.

But, I have been working on a hand piecing project. It's turning out to be pretty beautiful. Pictures to come.

Cherry House Quilts

sliced fruit
Originally uploaded by cherry house quilts

Currently being over-inspired by Cherry House Quilts.

The reason I say over-inspired is that my machine is still broken, but I find myself planning more projects... Hopefully they aren't as ugly as the last ones I worked on.

Oops!

I, uh, broke my sewing machine this weekend. I mean, I must have been the one who broke it because no one else uses it and I doubt it broke itself.

Here I was quilting along, and my machine began to sew more and more slowly until it eventually stopped. I could barely turn the wheel and had to wrestle it around for about four inches of wheel-turn quilting.

It doesn't look like the needle is hitting the casing and I definitely oiled it but it still isn't functioning. The machine has power, and the needle will rise and fall for a few stitches. After that, the machine just buzzes at me.

Gotta get to that repair shop. In the mean time, if you want to buy me a replacement (in case I killed it), I'd love to have a Baby Lock Quilter's Choice Pro.

Maybe some other year...

Jennifer Can Piece!

But she made something ugly.

Oops!

So I pieced two baby-sized (what does that mean?) tops this weekend. One is awesome, the other one sucks and is ugly. I'll let you guess which is which.





Obviously, I hate the one with the yellow sashing. I had a Timeless Treasures batik (yellow-orange) that would have been perfect, but I only had miniscule scraps and couldn't find it anywhere, until after I bought that wretched Fairy Frost.

Don't get me wrong, Fairy Frost is cute. Until I put it in my project.

Suffice it to say I had to start over, and my do-over is much more pleasing to my eye.

I'm pretty sure the momma-to-be will prefer version 2, and so I was planning to donate the first to Project Linus or some such similar organization. However, I don't feel right donating the ugly quilt because it's ugly, so I've got to try to fix it up.

That's where you come in. Help me rescue this quilt top and take it from rags to riches

Hope for Jasenn

Crafters across the web are undoubtedly familiar with Lindamade and her recent effort to help support her sister's small family through tough times. So many wonderful people donated and purchased handmade goods to raise funds for Jasenn's unexpected medical costs. It warmed my heart to know that people were coming together for, basically, a stranger.

Sadly, Jasenn passed away this week. Shortly thereafter, his father left this earth, as well.

My heart was broken by the news. I will be thinking about Jasenn's wife, his son, and his family.

Ugh.

Mad Scientist

Last weekend I did a few experiments. Exciting, right?

Firstly, I finally (and I mean finally) used the free motion quilting foot that I bought at the end of the summer. I'll admit, I was afraid of it. I had no idea how easy (or hard) it would be to use that thing. I could only imagine what it would be like, fighting the quilt sandwich around, dragging it through the machine, using all the muscles I could muster.

Turns out it was really easy. Must have been because I didn't have to work against the feed dogs.

Secondly (this is the real news), I designed my very own mini quilt top. As far as I'm concerned, it's gorgeous.

My inspiration came from The BooDilly on flickr (who, I discovered, has a blog). These two quilts inspired in me by their quilting motif and boldness of color. And, I agree, simpler is better.





Wonderful, right?

So I made some plans.



Then I cut some fabric and sewed it together and ended up with this.



It's not quilted yet. I've got it hanging up in the sewing room so that I can keep looking at it and make up my mind about what quilting motif to go with. Lines or arcs, that's how I'm leaning.

Improvisational Quilting

Movements spread easily across the web, especially among a ring of connected bloggers. I'm noticing this more now than ever, as a result of Jacquie's (Tallgrass Praire Studio) new endeavor, Project Improv.

Of course, many quilters have already been inspired by the improvisational style of Denyse Schmidt (yours truly included), but the idea seems to currently be spreading like wildfire.

A bad thing?
Hardly.

Many quilters who read Jacquie's blog are stepping outside the block, so to speak, and trying something new.

Up to this point, what I usually see in the way of improvisational piecing is what's called a "wonky" log cabin block-- a cattywampus log cabin block. I first saw this in Denyse Schmidt's design Drunk Love in a Log Cabin quilt. (See what I mean about the internet being a petri dish of collective consciousness?)

I've been thinking about this a little bit. Jacquie asked specifically for quilters to create that style of block for the Project Improv charity quilts, and so that's what's getting made. I'm not participating, but I am challenging myself to do my own thing, if you get my drift.

I'm not a hater, but my own thing does not include wonky log cabin blocks. I do not like the messy look of free piecing. What appeals to me about quilting is the sense of geometry and symmetry, the sense of color and movement, and balance. I don't get a feeling of satisfaction from free pieced blocks.

Improvisation does not have to be the random sewing of fabrics together. There can be neatness and balance and symmetry.

So that's where I'm at. Producing a contemporary piece that follows my own pattern and appeals to my visual senses of space and geometry.