Sew Much Going On

 First of all last weekend was my guild's retreat and it was awesome.

Of course Eugenie came with me and helped me with my projects. She's the best!

It was sew amazing to catch up with my friends. I have not seen most of these folks in person for over two years and I think none of us missed a beat. I love when you haven't seen someone in ages and you catch up like no time has passed. Of course it would be better to just see everyone on the regular but who does that anymore?

Anyway it was great. 

These are the two quilt tops I completed during the weekend; both of them are made with precuts and have been "maybe someday" projects for me for a while. Sometimes the easy projects take the longest to get to because you just think, "oh that will only take a minute, so I'll procrastinate!"

The peachy pink quilt on top was made with a charm pack I got in a subscription box from Fat Quarter Shop and some scrap yardage. The pattern can be found at this link.

The purple and orange quilt was made with a Halloween layer cake called Spooky Hollow and a pattern from Moda, which you can find here. This is my favorite go-to pattern to show off a cute layer cake. I've used it at least twice already.

Both patterns work up fast. I completed the peachy quilt on Friday afternoon into the evening and easily completed the second quilt top by lunchtime on Sunday. The peachy quilt will be donated to a guild charity drive and the Halloween quilt is destined for a friend.

Monday Making

Right now I'm almost done quilting my beachy quilt (no official name yet) and working on piecing my new Christmas quilt which will (finally) use up the last (or most of the last) of the Christmas Figs fabric that came with the Epic Christmas Kit of either 2018 or 2019. This is one of the blocks:

 

The pattern is Scrap Jar Stars and I've made it before, for my friend Michael with vintage 1930s fabric that he gave me. This time the fabric is Christmas Figs by Joanna Figueroa. It's a simple, versatile pattern that works well with scraps or with a theme like this one. I will be able to machine quilt this myself and the finished quilt will likely be a gift.

 

I have 1-2 days worth of hand quilting to finish on the beach quilt and I have binding ready to go so I can just slap it on and be done.

This picture shows the entire length still to be quilted- that's nothing!

This week I have to work on the three string blocks I have to do for the outgoing members of the NYC Metro Mod Quilt Guild's board and get something together for the retreat coming up this weekend. The two projects I have under the machine- the Christmas quilt and the remaining work to be done on the crumb stars- aren't going to be enough for the weekend.

This is my retreat bag more or less ready to go. I have to find a power strip and make sure I have patterns for the projects I'm bringing. I'm bringing one quick project to use up a charm pack and some scraps, and a jelly roll I'm planning to sew into a herringbone throw for a friend.

Today is going to be a busy day between working and my piano lesson later tonight. Better get to it!

A New Finish!

 

I just got this back from the longarmer and could not be more pleased. 

Well, I could be a little more pleased (it does have a toecatcher on the back)- but overall I think it came out great. I took it to Sew Jersey, my local quilt shop in Hanover, about an hour from me, and the owner helped me pick out a nice quilting pattern, appropriate batting and fun backing fabric that also worked well for the binding.

The quilt itself came from a kit and somehow I lost or misplaced the fabric that was intended for the binding, but I'm really happy with what I found at Sew Jersey.

You can see a little of the quilting pattern in this photo of the back. The yellowish green was a great match for the greens on the quilt top.

 If I ever find the original binding fabric I can always use it in another project.

The quilt is a little smaller than queen size but it works! My cats tried it out even before I finished the binding and they seem to have approved.

A New-to-Me Book on Hawaiian Quilting

I was out shopping yesterday and found this cool book at the Princeton, N.J., public library book sale.

It's called The Hawaiian Quilt, and it's a guide to the collection of Hawaiian quilts at the Honolulu Academy of Arts. It features 120-odd pages of photos and history behind 62 or so quilts (there is a two-page spread for every quilt) and history of Hawaiian quilting and some of the various cultural institutions in Hawaii that preserve and display Hawaiian quilts. Curated by Reiko Mochinaga Brandon of the Honolulu Academy of Arts, the text is in both English and Japanese.

It's not a how-to on making Hawaiian quilts but it will teach those interested in the subject a bit about the different styles and trends in traditional Hawaiian quiltmaking. 

I love Hawaii and Hawaiian quilts; I've made a couple of small pillow-sized Hawaiian-style quilts and have a lap-sized traditional-style Hawaiian quilt that I purchased on Maui hanging in my sewing room. This book features primarily the traditional appliqued style of Hawaiian quilting although there is one log-cabin quilt. The subjects of the quilts come from politics and nature and the book offers a brief history lesson of the islands alongside an appreciation for this beautiful and important art form.
 

The Fractals Quilt is Done!

I finished the Fractals quilt the other day.

The pattern comes from the book Quilt Lab by Alexandra Winston. It's probably going to be a gift for a couple I know who are friends of the family.

With big pieces and simple shapes it was very fast to piece and it's been in my pile of unfinished tops for quite a while.  I thought circles would work well for the quilting but I don't have the skills for that so I settled on almost-matchstick quilting for a modern look. One of my previous posts shows some pictures of that.

I tried to do that thing with the binding where you match the binding to the fabric around the outside of the quilt. I was inspired by a video from Karen Brown's Just Get it Done Quilts where she talked about how to do this. If you are looking for quilty YouTube people to follow I highly recommend Karen Brown's channel. It did take about 10x as long as a typical binding and it's not perfect but I'm pretty proud of it. A lot of the time I'm sewing on autopilot and it's always worthwhile to learn a new technique. I knew that I wasn't going to be happy doing the same fabric all the way around this quilt and this worked well.

I used my favorite Quilters Dream Green batting and Aurifil 50wt Aluminum thread for the quilting which I did in straight line 1/4 increments using my sewing foot as a guide. Because the quilting is relatively dense I did use a lot of thread and the quilt has a crunchy feel to it. Not my favorite but I think it will work for the recipients, who like a more modern style in their home decor.

Row of Cats

I finished this quilt a long time ago- I don't remember exactly but it's a couple of years. I checked the back and I didn't label it so who knows.

The pattern is called Row of Cats, by Gingiber. I had fun digging through my collection of black and white fabrics. My favorite is the Edward Gorey fabric third from the right on the bottom row. I suppose I could try to get better pictures of some of the individual blocks because they really are fun.

I don't remember what batting I used- probably not Dream Green because of all the white in the quilt. 

The pattern was pretty simple to put together but it's important to get that piecing done accurately or the cat parts don't line up correctly. It is traditionally-pieced.

100 Things Quilting Meme- Updated Version

I did this meme for the first time back in 2005 and I was glancing at it today and realized I've now done a bunch of these things that I hadn't done then so I thought it would be fun to do an update. Things I'd done as of 2005 are still bolded; things I've done since are in red.

1. Visit a quilt shop. I go to quilt shops as often as I can. My favorite near me is The City Quilter, in Manhattan.
2. Make a Nine Patch.
3. Make a Log Cabin.
4. Label a quilt. I used to use pre-printed labels but these days I like to get creative with labels even if it takes a little more time.
5. Figure yardage for a quilt.
6. Learn about warp and weft.
7. Use a rotary cutter. Don't know how I'd live without it!
   
8. Use templates. I used to sew miniature quilts by hand and always used templates for my pieces.
   
9. Paper piece a quilt block. I love paper piecing!
   
10. Hand applique a quilt block. I have appliqued but I am not a big fan of applique.
    
11. Make a yo-yo.
12. Embellish a quilt.
13. Try free motion quilting. Ugh.
    
14. Stitch in the ditch.
15. Try hand quilting. I prefer hand quilting over machine quilting.
    
16. Bind a quilt.
17. Miter the corners of quilt binding.
18. Join the ends of quilt binding.
19. Sew diagonal seams.
20. Use a walking foot.
21. Attend a guild meeting. I was president of my guild too!
22. Visit Houston for International Quilt Festival. I would love to attend this festival!
23. Have a quilt appraised.
24. Visit a quilt museum. I've been to the Quilt Museum in Lowell, Mass. It's very nice.
    
25. Go on a quilt retreat. I love retreats!! Retreats are the best.
26. Try curved piecing.
27. Miter the borders.
28. Learn to do blanket stitch by hand.
29. See a local quilt show. Not since I moved to New York, but I loved going to quilt shows in the Boston area. Always so much fun to see the quilts, and you get to shop too!
    
30. Put your quilt in a local quilt show.
31. Sell raffle tickets on a quilt.
32. Take a road trip with quilt friends.
33. Create a Pinterest board with quilts. Yup.
    
34. Make a 3-D quilt block.
35. Donate a quilt to a good cause.
36. Make a sampler quilt. My first quilt was a sampler quilt, which I made for the class in which I learned basic hand piecing.
    
37. Make an art quilt.
38. Try bobbin work.
39. Learn to maintain your sewing machine. Those felt pads in your bobbin aren't actually supposed to be there!
40. Add rickrack to a quilt.
41. Design a quilt. (Remember, you don’t necessarily have to make the quilt!)
42. Change/tweak/alter a pattern to make it your own.
43. Make a color wheel with fabric swatches.
44. Chat about quilting with a stranger.
45. Go on a blog tour.
46. Give a quilt as a wedding/graduation/retirement gift.
47. Visit Paducah during the AQS Show.
48. Take a class with a nationally known teacher.
49. Use some fabric you dislike.
50. Participate in Show & Tell. One of the funnest times I had at my old favorite quilt shop was a show-and-tell night in which the owners had turned the cutting table into a "runway" and we had to climb up and show off our quilts.
    
51. Volunteer for a job in a quilt group.
52. Use a color you detest.
53. Make a quilt inspired by nature.
54. Get up early to quilt or stay up late to quilt.
55. Make a scrap quilt.
56. Make a tote bag.
57. Make a postcard quilt.
58. Make a baby quilt and gift it to a newborn.
59. Understand the basics of caring for quilts.
60. Borrow a quilting book from the public library.
61. Teach someone else to quilt.
62. Creatively piece a backing for one of your quilts.
63. Apply a piped binding, or some variation of it.
64. Post quilt pics to Facebook.
65. Install quilty wallpaper on your computer.
66. Put a quilty bumper sticker on your car.
67. Cuss mildly when you realize you’ve been sewing air (because you ran out of bobbin thread). Well, I wouldn't say mildly.
    
68. Read your sewing machine manual cover to cover.
69. Learn to thread baste.
70. Learn to pin baste.
71. Use basting spray.
72. Help a friend make a quilt.
73. Make a quilt for a special child.
74. Make a quilt for a spouse or partner.
75. Make a quilt for a friend.
76. Include your quilts in your will (i.e. who gets them).
77. Determine your favorite thread for piecing.
78. Understand the concept of value.
79. Understand the mathematics of quilt blocks.
80. Apply a bias binding.
81. Take a guild speaker to dinner.
82. Comment on a quilt-related blog post.
83. Make a mystery quilt.
84. Take part in a block exchange.
85. Write how-to instructions for making a quilt block.
86. Watch a quilting video.
87. Know the difference between lengthwise and crosswise grain.
88. Know the parts of a sewing machine needle and why they matter.
89. Organize your stash. I've done this a few times! It's an ongoing process, really.
    
90. Know the names of hand sewing needles used for different tasks.
91. Finish a UFO.
92. Purchase fabric on impulse.
93. Try sewing with precuts.
94. Trade fabrics with quilt friends.
95. Identify your ancestors who quilted.
96. Visit a quilt shop while on vacation. I often visit quilt shops on vacation. I've been to quilt shops on trips to Hawaii (Maui, Oahu, and Kauai), Austin, California, and London (if Liberty counts).
    
97. Sew on a treadle for old time’s sake.
98. Subscribe to a quilting magazine. I used to get Better Homes & Gardens American Patchwork & Quilting.
    
99. Become a regular reader of a quilting blog.
100. Go on a Shop Hop. Fun!

Quilting in Progress

The pattern here, Fractal, is from the book Quilt Lab by Alexandra Winston. It's a book of patterns inspired by science- chemical formulas, math, etc. Very modern and fun. I bought the book for this specific pattern.

I'm only showing a little because the story is the quilting. It's not exactly matchstick quilting- that would be even denser- but it's more modern than my usual style. I'm liking it a lot though.

It will end up as a gift for a family friend, nice sizable throw about 60x60 inches or so. The batting is my usual Quilters Dream Green and the thread is Aurifil 40wt in Aluminum. I haven't decided on a binding yet.

It's taking a long time just due to the density of the quilting. I've been working on it for two weeks and I'm only barely half way done. Usually my half-ass minimum-standards approach to machine quilting means I'm done in two weeks or so! And I'm definitely going to need another spool of thread!

To measure the intervals I'm just using the quilting foot. The biggest challenge is keeping those lines straight so the quilt doesn't lose its shape. I started in the center and worked my way out to the right hand edge; now I'm back to the center and going out the other way. Wish me luck!

Color Blocks Wall Quilt, Pattern by Tina Curran

This was a fun quick project. I actually managed to chew through a lot of my smaller scraps for this; it's more pieces than you might think at first glance! The pattern is Color Blocks by Tina Curran. Curran is a prolific quilt artist who does a lot with Victoria Findlay Wolfe's partial-seam herringbone technique but this quilt is just some scraps arranged in a rainbow. 

I say "just" but I really love it. It finished around 36x36 inches which is a great baby size but actually turned out to be a nice lap size for me as well. 

I used Aurifil monofilament to quilt a relatively simple pattern of swirls (I tried to do a beaded-curtain pattern tbh but I'm not sure how well it turned out) and black binding. I used my favorite Quilters Dream Green batting and it quilted up beautifully as usual.

The Gift of Music

I finished my GiftWrapped quilt top the other day. You can find the pattern here.

I am very happy with this; it's richer looking in real life than it shows in the picture. I love Christmas quilts and plan to keep it. 

I made the throw size and used a variety of reds for the bows rather than the single red suggested by the pattern. This allowed me to pull from stash and not buy extra red fabric. I used a white fabric with gold musical notes as the background. The inner border is a red fabric with musical instruments. I started learning to play piano this year and I'm calling this "The Gift of Music". Once it's quilted I'll add a label to it with a musical theme.

Here you can see a close up on the border fabrics. I had a stash of reds for the bows but I did buy the two green fabrics especially for this quilt. I like the way the bows look like they are floating on the background.

I've had the pattern around for a couple of years. I figure I am 2-3 years behind in terms of my Christmas quilt-making.  It was tricky getting everything to line up and while it's not perfect it's not bad.