Field Trips in Fiber

Mail call!

One day of my trip to the Houston International Quilt Festival, Debra and I met up and spent the day looking at the quilt exhibit.  One of the special exhibits was the Alliance For American Quilts Crazy for Quilts exhibit. The quilts were made as a fundraiser for the Alliance and they are all being auctioned right now on eBay in a 3 week process. There are 85 quilts being auctioned in 3 week long auctions. The first week is done and that's were the quilts I wanted were! They arrived today:

Garden Lace

Allison Ann Aller

Here's where she documented making this quilt on her blog.

Art Nouveau Peonies

Debra Spincic and Libby Fife

Don't worry, there are lots of great quilts left! The second week is underway and Debra has a quilt in that group. Allie will have another quilt in the third group that starts Tuesday. Check them out on eBay!

Want to make pillowcases for Hole In The Wall Gang Camp?

Jackie (at Canton Village Quiltworks) and her Guild are collecting decorative pillowcases for the Hole In The Wall Gang Camps. You can read all about it on Jackie's blog. Last year they collected 1600 pillowcases for the camp. The goal this year is 2000.

I love making these pillowcases so I decided to make a few last night to send to Jackie. It only took 1 hour to make these 4 pillowcases. If you would like to help them reach their goal of 2000 pillowcases, I have a pillowcase tutorial with lots of detail photos. You can contact Jackie through her blog to get mailing information.

Be sure to check out Jackie's web site, she has a regular podcast, a monthly newsletter and lots of other great information.

How to make a shelter pet pad

In the previous post I showed how I make stuffed pet beds. I make them from small bits of batting and trimmed parts of quilts that I chop into small pieces. I also occasionally have large quilted samples. I don't want to cut those up so I make them into pet pads. These turn into random sizes that are totally dependent on the size of the quilted sample. I assume most of these are for small dogs and cats.

 

This is a quilted samples that I won as a door prize in a Nichole Webb class a few years ago. It's not that I don't appreciate her beautiful work but sometimes I need to declutter and today was one of those times!

Spread the piece put flat and fold it into quarters. I match up the edges as best I can but I don't bother to trim it.

 

Stitch the two cut sides together leaving one edge (the first folded edge) open.

 

This is the open edge. It's important that the open edge be a folded edge to make this construction super fast. Turn the pad inside out. )Sometimes you might have to make a wider seam allowance if all of the raw edges were not caught in the original stitching.) Poke out the corner as much as possible.

 

Stitch the opening closed with a topstitch through all layers (it's the bottom edge in the photo) and then stitch a couple of rows of stitching through all layers to hold it all together.

I know, it's not pretty but the pet will not care. For me, these have to be fast and get rid of my "trash" easily to make it worth my time.

These 4 beds and 3 pads are going to one of my coworkers tomorrow. She works with one of our local shelters. That's a lot of bulk removed from my sewing room!

How to make a shelter dog bed from scraps

I started making these dog beds for a local rescue shelter  several years ago. To be honest, it wasn't for the dogs as much as it was a way to use up sewing room scraps. I did a tutorial for these a couple of years ago but the photos weren't very good. I though it was time to re-write the tutorial. Following this post I will have a tutorial for a pet pad. I make the pet pads from large quilted samples.

Keep in mind that these are functional, they are not pretty! I use any fabric that I get free and I don't care at all about thread color, shape or accuracy.

For the pet bed you need:

• some remnant heavy fabric. Decorator fabrics are great
• thread - not your Masterpiece or Bottom Line. Heavier threads are better and this is a great time to use up partial bobbins. I do not worry about thread colors. Dogs are color blind.
• stuffing: chopped up batting and fabric, fleece and stuffing from old bed pillows. Stuffing from bed pillows helps to keep the weight somewhat under control. I cut up the batting and fleece bits into something close to 2" chunks.

Here's my bag of scraps that I have been saving. I chop up batting as soon as I trim a quilt and store it in this bag in the corner of my sewing room. I have a whole drawer of these lovely decorator fabrics that someone gave me. Just mention it at a Guild meeting and someone will show up with a bag of the stuff for free!

 

I make my dog beds large since most shelter dogs are large dogs. If I fold the fabric on the diagonal and cut near that folded edge I wind up with a dog bed that is about 26" square. You can make them any size you want.

 

Fold the fabric right sides together and stitch two sides closed, leaving one edge open. I don't worry about seam allowance but usually make it a bit wider than 1/4". Turn the bed right side out.

 

For a 26" dog bed, I create 3 stuffing channels. To create the channels, stitch 2 seams through both layers perpendicular to the open edge. They are illustrated here by the 2 green lines. Stitch these from the bottom of the bed and STOP about 1" FROM THE TOP EDGE.

 

Draw two line across the width of the pet bed, parallel to the open edge. I spaced them about 8.5" apart on a 26" bed.  These are sewing guidelines to create the stuffed cells.

 

Grab fist fulls of stuffing and start stuffing the channels. Do them one at a time and only stuff to that first drawn line. Stuff them VERY FULL. I let not-our-dog-Stanley use one of these beds this past winter and learned that they flatten out a lot if they are not stuffed really tight.

 

Pin the channel closed as you stuff it. You can see in this photo how tight the bed is stuffed.  I usually pin the corners of the cell first and keep stuffing as I pin toward the center of the cell. The other thing to keep in mind is the direction of your pins. I sew with the stuffed part to the left of my needle and pin so that I can pull out the pins as I sew.

 

Sewing these required an good bit of man-handling. Just take your time and try to shift the stuffing out of the way of the presser foot as you go. The fabric will occasionally pleat and I don't worry about that at all. The dogs don't seem to be too picky about it.

 

Here's the first section of cells stitched. Fill and sew the second row of cells next.

 

The reason that you left the top 1" of the channels unsewn is so that you can fold the top edges to the inside for finishing. Fill this last row in the same way but fold the top edges in about 1/2" and pin the channels closed as you fill the last 3 chambers.

 

Topstitch the bed closed and you are done! That big bag of stuffing at the beginning of the post was just enough to fill two 26" square beds. They are pretty heavy but I hear that the dogs love them.

Quilt Challenge For the Global Fund

A friend emailed me and asked me to pass this on to my readers:

Quilt Challenge Opportunity:  Theme "Making a Healthier World for Our Children"
 
The U.S. Mission  to the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland, is hosting a quilt exhibition in November 2009, in
conjunction with the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis  and Malaria, a Geneva-based international organization that is supported by the  U.S. Government (www.theglobalfight.org and www.theglobalfund.org).  To create the exhibition -- to be held at UN  headquarters in Geneva, and seen by thousands of foreign diplomats,  international civil servants and visitors to the UN -- we have developed a quilt  challenge on the theme "Making a Healthier World for Our Children."  Once  the exhibition finishes in Geneva, it will be shipped back to the U.S. for  touring at regional quilt shows, to help educate Americans on the vital work  of the Global Fund in addressing these deadly pandemic diseases which strike mothers and children disproportionately and whichare are so disruptive of development and education for  children.
 
Quilters and  guilds that do not choose to participate in the quilt challenge may also  support children's health programs by donating quilts of any kind to the U.S. Mission for sale at the annual UN Women's Guild bazaar, which raises  nearly $500K each year for children' charities around the world.  Quilt guilds are  encouraged to adopt the Global Fund as a charity and donate to the Fund via the UN Foundation.  The brochure at http://tinyurl.com/UNQuiltChallenge  provides information on the Global Fund and ways quilters can support its vital  work.  Full details for interested quilters is at : www.quiltchallenge.org/  and on Facebook at: www.facebook.com/pages/Quilt-Challenge/87511333290 .

Sunday Update

It was fortunate that I had cleaned up my sewing room last weekend and set up a couple of projects that I could work on at any time. Feeling as I did Friday, I would not have stepped a foot into the disaster area that defined my sewing room last weekend. I still have laryngitis and don't feel great, but I am much better than when I left the Ritz Carlton, hereafter to be know as the Fancy Fragrance Factory. There were fresh flowers and bowls of potpourri EVERYWHERE. I though I was going to suffocate. It just prooves once again that I was not meant to live a fancy life - I'm more of a Marriott Courtyard kind of girl.

It's good to be back in my bubble!

I'm not as wigged about the laryngitis this time either. After having it for 3 weeks in August, I am now resigned to it being a long term issue. For sure there are no steroids in my future! Just lots of naps and yummy food cooked by my personal chef.

Back to the sewing. Since the room was neat and project were set up, I was able to sew for a few sessions between naps yesterday. I worked on the mini-log cabin blocks and did some free motion quilting practice.

For the free motion quilting practice I decided to piece together some charm squares that Carole sent me a few months ago and added a couple of borders so that the finished sample could possibly be a donation baby quilt eventually.

I got it all quilted this morning and was going to leave it alone but then realized that if I'd take the extra time to bind it that it could count in the stash report! It's only about a yard and a half but at least it's a yard and a half OUT and not in!

I think the little quilt (about 23" x 27") turned out pretty cute.

 Here's the stash report:

This week IN: 0

This week OUT: 1.5

YTD IN: 159.5 yards

YTD out: 212.5 yards

NET OUT: 54 yards (Goal 100 yards)

The list remains the same. I should feel better by next weekend so that I can finally do some quilting on Willie again. I have made some good progress on the cross stitch that I will share Wednesday. All in all, not a bad weekend for feeling puny.

quilting Mom's quilts

work on the mini-log cabin quilt

keep up with the Star BOM

FMQ samples on the DSM

start making Christmas postcards

hell cat cross stitch.

I do have one cool story from the meeting. On our Friday night dinner they always have some sort of entertainment. This year they had Andy Borowitz. He is a satirist and is known for creating the series Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. He has an email fake news column that is published almost daily and I have been a subscriber for years. I got my boss hooked and that's how Andy Borowitz wound up at our event. He was very funny and entertaining. Afterward he was talking to my boss so I went up to meet him. Everyone else walked away and he and I talked for about 30 minutes. It turns out that he enjoys debating politics too - and not in the "he's stupid and evil" lazy way that some people do but actually debate issues. Even with laryngitis it was lots of fun to talk to him. He's a super nice guy and he and his wife were staying in DC with her Mother for the weekend - you gotta love a celebrity that's mostly normal! Glad I lasted through Friday night before I had to give up and go home.

Sunday Update

  They are packed and ready to go! Four Quilts of Valor and 7 extra pillowcases will be on their way to Alycia. Yes, one of them is pink. It's that bright batik QFAH quilt and I made it specifically for a female soldier. It felt good to get these done and out of my sewing room. I've decided that the only part of quilt-making that I really do not enjoy is sewing on the label. Watching a good football game helps to get through it. I believe that this makes a total of 7 Quilts of Valor that Wanda and I have made and donated this year.

Thanks to everyone for looking at the tie dye shirts and to those who have bought them to help out a couple of charities!  

  At least I have a little something to report for stash this week. I made all of the pillowcases from stash - 11 in all but 3 were from Wanda's fabric left from her 2 QOV quilts. So I am counting 8 yards for the 8 pillowcases and I also sent all of the left over strips from the reversible quilt si I'm counting a yard for that for a total of 9 yards out and nothing in. Although my LQS got a fabric in this week and I'm pretty sure I must get some of it.

This week IN: 0

This week OUT: 9

YTD IN: 159.5 yards

YTD out: 211.5 yards

NET OUT: 52 yards (Goal 100 yards)

And then there's the list. Last week:

• Pillowcases and labels for the QOV quilts and get them mailed - DONE!
• Make the 3 blocks for Judy's BOM project - 1 done
• Finish the mini-log cabin blocks and start putting the quilt together - I didn't even look at it!
• Load Mom's star quilt for quilting - I tie dyed instead :(
• Start the MQResource postcards - they are about half done

• I also made 2 batches of soap - that wasn't on the list

The new list:

• Catch up with the Star BOM blocks - there will be 4 total by the end of the week
• Load Mom's quilt and start quilting
• Work on the mini-log cabin quilt
• Complete and mail the MQResources cards

Quilts of Valor, the stash and a list.....

  The project that possessed me the most during Craft Week was the reversible quilt. I started it as a class sample when I taught the class at the LQS. I purposely designed one side in patriotic colors so that it might someday become a Quilt of Valor.   The reverse side is made from Christmas-themed fabric.

I had about half of the blocks done when I left for Craft Week and had everything completed except the binding when I came home. I did the binding today. My Mom and I took this class from Sharon Pederson about 6 or 8 years ago.  The bookis excellent if this technique is of interest to you. It's an easy quilt-as-you-go technique. I've made at least 6 of these and my Mom has probably made 10 or 15 of them. I'm so glad to have this one done and I can send it out with 3 other QOV quilts.

Here's another QOV. This one was made by Wanda. I quilted it and Mom did the binding. I've had this one back for a few weeks but had not photographed it yet.

Now I just need to add labels and make the pillowcases and I will have 4 QOV quilts out the door! These will likely be the last QOV quilts for a while - at least until I figure out this new project at work and see what kind of time it's going to take.

My list for the week includes:

• Pillowcases and labels for the QOV quilts and get them mailed
• Make the 3 blocks for Judy's BOM project
• Finish the mini-log cabin blocks and start putting the quilt together
• Load Mom's star quilt for quilting
• Start the MQResource postcards

As for the stash: 
I bought 4 yards of fabric while on vacation but I alsofinished the reversible QOV. According to EQ, each side of the QOV is 9 yards. I also have about 2 yards of strips left over that I am going to send to Alycia for other QOV quilts.

This week IN: 4

This week OUT: 20

YTD IN: 159.5 yards

YTD out: 202.5 yards

NET OUT: 43 yards (Goal 100 yards)

Batik Quilt for an Hour

Thanks to Mom's superior binding, my Quilt for an Hour is finally done! The Quilt for an Hour projects are done by Judy Laquidara. I like all of them but this is the first one where I ended up liking my fabric choices. I think it's a very happy quilt and will make a nice Quilt of Valor. All of the fabrics, except the orange, came from my stash. Here's a close up of the quilting on the front. I used Superior Rainbows in the needle and Superior Bottom Line in the bobbin. It's quilted with Suzanne Earley's Meandering Magic technique.

On the left is a photo of the backing fabric. It's hand dyed to compliment the main fabrics. The dark spots were from a dye spilling accident but it turned out to be OK! On the right is a close up of the quilting.

This was a fun project - thanks Judy!

Wanda's Quilt of Valor

  Mom came by today to bring my sewing machine back from being serviced and to drop off the two quilts that she finished binding for me. This one is a quilt made by Wanda to be a Quilt of Valor. I quilted it with free motion loops and stars using a variegated patriotic Signature thread.

This is the third QOV quilt I have done with Wanda and Mom took the 4th one home with her to bind. I still have 3 more tops to quilt before we send them all off to a OQV destination.

Time for a giveaway.....

but you will have to work for it!

A couple of my Internet friends do charity quilting and I offered to send them some fabric for their projects. I packed it up into these two boxes. I'm not favoring one over the other. The large box is going to the person who coordinates several projects and the smaller one to a person that does all of the sewing herself. So please don't think that one is being cheated!

Are you ready for the challenge?

My article about making these metallic painted fabrics will appear in the next issue of Fibre&Stitch. To celebrate I wanted to give away some of the samples that I made for the article. Here's how you can win these 4 fat quarters. Post a comment with your guess of the amount of fabric in both boxes combined. The person who comes closest to the correct number will win the metallic fabrics. If more than one person is a winner then one final winner will be randomly selected as the winner.

Here's some information to help you guess the amount of fabric.

• The ruler behind the boxes is 20 1/2 inches square
• The boxes also contain some scraps that are NOT counted int the total. The scraps take up the equivalent space of two filled gallon sized plastic bags.
• Both boxes are stuffed full
• Sorry, I don't know the weight.

I'll select the winner Sunday morning when I post my stash report for the week. It's going to be a GOOD stash report!

A little finish

I love it when I get to quilt something and someone else has to bind it! This is a little quilt that Becky B. made to be a charity quilt from our Guild. I wanted to practice ruler work and SID so I did it on this one. The wine glass quilting in the center is done with a 5" circle template. The two borders are quilted with a string of half hearts. I thought he white border looked a little skimpy so I went over it again to make a half-heart ribbon. It's quilted with Superior So Fine! thread in color 401.

I really do love doing ruler work on the longarm! The more tedious the better. For me it seems to be therapeutic and relaxing. Go figure!

Earlier today I went to the Laura Cater-Woods class. This class was a sampler of various mixed media techniques. I found out that I "need" Liquitex Black lava, Flakes and Beads and some watercolor pencils and Neocolor crayons.  If you have never taken a class with Laura you need to keep your eye out for an opportunity. She's an excellent teacher. I noticed that she was very attentive to make sure that she talked to everyone in the class individually and she was very open to the students sharing information and experience with other techniques and tools. Don't miss an opportunity to be in one of her classes.

The third QOV is done!

Last night I finished the quilting, this morning I put the binding on and all three QOV (Quilt of Valor) quilts have now been washed. All that's left to do is sew on the labels. That's a project for American Idol next week! You can see the other two QOV quilts here and here.

This pattern is based on several Chinese Coin quilts designed by Mary for the Heartstrings Project. My pattern is here.  Mary's patterns are  here. The finished quilt is 64" x 78".

In the close up on the right you can see the quilting. I used the Ebb & Flow pantograph with Superior King Tut thread on top and Superior So Fine in the bobbin. You might remember that I was worried that the orange thread was too bright. You said it was OK and you were right. I love the end result. I like this quilt so much that I think I am going to start another - from stash fabric of course!

I even finished the pillowcases for all three QOV quilts!

I used Warm & Natural batting in all three QOV quilts. I know that  lot of people think that W&N is too stiff. I often prewash my W&N batting and that softens it up considerably. All three quilts are very soft and snuggly after being washed.

Wanda's Hearts and Stars QOV

Here is the second QOV quilt top that Wanda made. Isn't it perfect for a QOV?  I quilted it with the Ebb and Flow panto using Superior So Fine! thread. This fabric in the quilt, front and back, is super soft flannel. Here's a close up of one of the blocks.

Thanks Wanda for another fun quilt!

Pinwheel QOV

This is the first QOV quilt of the year. It's one of several quilts that Wanda and I are collaborating on. I absolutely love this quilt! The pinwheels are dimensional. You can see it in the close up photo below. I quilted it with an overall spiral pattern using Superior Rainbows thread in the needed and So Fine in the bobbin.

After it was quilted I added a button to the center of each pinwheel. I think this is a very cheerful quilt and perfect for a female QOV. I have two more QOV quilts to complete this weekend and then they will all three be shipped off together.

Thanks, Wanda, for letting me work on these quilts with you!

 

A very productive day!

Denise doesn't arrive until this evening so I had the day to do all of my weekend chores. Not only did I get the laundry done but I made a new batch of soap, finished quilting Wanda's second QOV quilt, started quilting my QOV and made some gluten-free cupcakes for Denise. The cupcake recipe is from the vegan cupcake cookbook that I mentioned yesterday. We were pleasantly surprised that the gluten-free cupcakes are awesome! They are a little denser than the vegan vanilla cupcake so they will be perfect for strawberry shortcake this Spring.

I am using the Ebb and Flow panto on both quilts. On the flannel quilt I used So Fine thread in an ivory color. I should have used a heavier thread, like King Tut, because the So Fine really doesn't show. On this quilt I was determined to have the quilting show. I used King Tut in a variegated orange. Oh, it shows alright! I swung that pendulum to the other extreme. I should have used the darker orange King Tut thread that I have. I consulted with my reliable quilting critic and he said it wasn't so bad and continue on. That's what I'm doing. At least when it's done it will look consistent!  Thread selection can be a tricky business.

A longarming first!

Where's the confetti and streamers? I've finished off my first full cone of thread! I feel like I've graduated from Longarm Elementary School. Aren't balloons supposed to drop from the ceiling or something? Of course it's Superior So Fine in color 402. Is there a more popular thread in the Superior collection?

I am working on the second of the QOV quit tops from Wanda. I'm using the Ebb and Flow pantograph.  This one is flannel and it's so perfect for a QOV. I probably should have used a heavier thread, like King Tut, but it's still going to be nice as is. I think this one wil be done this weekend.

PS: I do have another cone of that thread to finish the quilt.

A QOV done and weekend wrap-up

I didn't get a chance to post last night. Kim came over and we had a nice dinner and visited through the watching and ridiculing of Mr. & Mrs. Smith. What a lame movie. It was saved by the "scenery" though. I had big plans for the weekend. Let's see how I did.

Get Chris' sauna assembled and installed.  First task accomplished!

QOV quilting I was into it so I kept going and finished the quilt.

Fibre&Stitch article Finished all of the photographs

March birthday postcards

Shop sample and class description for the scrubs class

I didn't get anything done on the last two tasks because I got wrapped up in completing the QOV quilt. I'll show a full size photo at a later date but you can see in this photo that I did overall swirls. I used a Superior Rainbows in Berry Delightful. I swear that thread was designed for the fabrics in this quilt. It was a perfect match! I used Superior So Fine in Antique Rose in the bobbin. After looking at it finished Kim and I thought that it would be cute with buttons in the pinwheels. So I searched through my vast button collection for a good variety and attached them with DMC embroidery floss. This quilt top was perfectly pieced by Wanda.

I have two more QOV tops to quilt by the end of March. Although I didn't stick to the list I think I got quite a lot accomplished this weekend!

Chinese Coins QOV Done!

I've been emailing with Terri about how we are having trouble concentrating on anything. It's all because of the excitement of going to Houston Tuesday. I just hope I can concentrate on work tomorrow because I have a LONG to-do list there before I can leave.

I finally decided that I could get the Chinese Coins QOV done - the remaining tasks didn't require any decisions or thought! So, here it is done. I really like it and I'm glad that I decided to start another in blues and browns.

The finished size is about 65 x 89. I plan to make the next one a little shorter - about 80".

Here's a close-up of the back showing the quilting in the sashing. The backing fabric is one of my hand-dyed fabrics and I really like the result.

I cut the leftover backing fabric into 2" strips and have enough for the center strip for another string quilt like the Heartstrings quilts. If anyone would like to have these strips (already cut) leave me a comment. First come, first served! (I already have another set to do one myself and don't think I would get this one done anytime soon.)

Last night I made 2 pillowcases for both QOV quilts that are done. Here they are ready to pack and ship when I return from Houston! Did I tell you that I'm going to the Houston Quilt Festival with my Mom?? I'm really looking forward to it, in case you were wondering.

It seems like forever...

since I last posted. I was in beautiful Deerfield, IL this week at our office there. I'm going to digress from fiber-related content for a couple of minutes to tell you about the awesome trip we had there. I work for a company that has grown by leaps and bounds since I joined 10 years ago. When I joined we had 6 or 7 subsidiaries in 5 cities, all in the US. Today we have 9 subsidiaries in 23 offices in 6 countries. Our company also has a very unique and truly special culture that is very important to the overall success of the company to date. (It's so different/good that when I interviewed with the company as a favor to a friend I never expected to want to work there. After the first interview I went home and told Chris if I didn't get the job I'd kill myself. OK, it was an exaggeration, but it was that clear in one interview session that it was a different place and I wanted to be there.) About a year ago, three of us were asked to propose one way to help bridge the culture gap between all of our offices and between the Executive Committee and the mid-level associates. We developed something called the Associate Networking Forum. When we proposed it to the Executive Committee and the 9 Presidents, they were so supportive that they actually expanded the scope of it. I was so excited about it that I asked begged to run the program and then recruited another co-worker to run the program with me. We started with 19 associates in the 2007 class. There have been several activities, training sessions and events throughout the year but the culmination is the presentation of their corporate-wide project proposal. That's what we were in Deerfield for this week.

The project co-manager and I worked with them to refine a few of the details and their presentations this week and they presented to the Chairman, Vice-Chairman, EVP, HR Director and one of the 9 Presidents Thursday. I was a nervous wreck! I now know how parents feel watching their children  in a high risk situation. Our Chairman and Vice-Chairman, two very intelligent men that I have tremendous respect for, can torpedo a proposal faster than you can blink. They will not tolerate unpreparedness. I could barely get through my introduction - I've had loads of meetings and presentations with the executives but I was more nervous that day than ever! And it was totally unwarranted. They made a dead on presentation and their project was so solid that they were asked to expand the scope AND the BUDGET! It had to be the single most rewarding event of my career. These associates, in their daily positions, are several years away from that kind of contact with the EC but this gave them the opportunity to show the EC what kind of talent we have hiding in the organization.  The funniest part was that the Chairman and Vice-Chairman had to attend by conference call and forgot to mute their speaker - as each ANF member got up to do their part of the presentation you could here the Chairman say "he's good!" or "wow, she's good too!" We bought them champagne!

And how did they show their thanks? Someone gave me a stomach flu. That's why you didn't hear from me yesterday - I was in bed all day!

RESUME FIBER CONTENT........

But I'm all better today and was very happy to get back to quilting the Chinese Coins QOV quilt. I actually just finished it a few minutes ago. Here's a photo of part of the back. I'll show full view photos once the binding is done and the quilt is washed. This was fun to do but I am a little distressed that I have a couple areas of fullness in the back - not pleats really but excess fabric at the edge of some SID. it's not horrible so I think I am going to leave it. I'll see how it looks after washing and I may try to fix it on the DSM. Bummer though.

I'm not sure if I'm going to keep on with this and get the binding done or go back to sewing more Churn Dash blocks. Decisions, decision!

The other thing I am doing this weekend is PACKING FOR HOUSTON!!! Mom and I leave Tuesday and I can't wait. Packing for a quilt show is a little tricky because you have to leave room for all the items that you are required to buy there. So a couple of years ago I came up with a quilt show packing plan. Almost all (and sometimes it is all) of the clothes I take get left behind. I use the time before the trip to go through my closet and find those outfits that I no longer wear (but that are still acceptable in public). That's what I pack and I leave it all behind! I became even easier when I started wearing only one brand of clothing for work. (I like the idea of a uniform and found this about 7 years ago). It's all knit, all based around black and is super comfy and it doesn't wrinkle. After I get tired of pieces or the pants get worn I just shove them to the side of the closet and the next quilt show wardrobe is packed. Yes, I even take shoes and undies that are about to be tossed too. I also replace my bed pillow before the trip and take the old one with me. Without the clothes and pillow I have loads of room for the purchases!

For any allergy sufferers out there here's something else that I travel with - Blue Air Air Pod. I bought this on a lark with very low expectations but it really works! I put it on the hotel night stand by my head and it blows clean air over my face at night. It really helps undo the exposures from the day and to clear out stale hotel room air. When I check into a hotel I also leave a note for housekeeping to not use any scented air fresheners in the room while I am there. That makes a big difference. They spray Febreeze and a lot of other scented air fresheners all over the hotel rooms and furniture every day! So, you see, I have to do the disposable clothes thing to have room for all the extra allergy crap that I tote around - I usually even pack food but on this trip I know there is a grocery store near the hotel and we will have a car.

It's going to be a fun trip and I will get to meet some blog friends there as well! My shopping list is coming along well too.

Oh, one last note - primarily for Mom - remember the reference to the "dead stick bush" at the end of the post about the wonderful  landscaping that Chris and Mom did? Well, what a surprise to come home and find the dead stick bush gone and new plants purchased! He's out there now building the beds. Aside from the little stomach bug it's been an A+ week all around!

Coins Quilts and other projects

I feel like I haven't been sewing in weeks and that might actually be the case. Last weekend was about tie dyeing and before that was about allergies and before that it was the surgery stuff. So I am so excited to come home tomorrow night and have a real sewing weekend again!  I decided to get a jump start tonight and get things going. It would be really nice to finish a project before I go to Houston and buy stuff that I don't need for 5 new projects.

Another QOV Done!

This quilt is intended as a QOV and hopefully I can get it out of the house before Chris gets too attached to it. he REALLY, REALLY likes it! He's not getting it though - he has his own blankies.

The quilt is from a patern developed by Judy Laquidara for one of her Quilt For An Hour quilts. I am short two borders from the original design because I ran out of blue fabric. It would look better with an additional narrow white and narrow navy border but it's just fine as it is. Hopefully this photo will not enlarge enough for you to see all of the pieced sectins of the last two navy borders - there are a lot of seams there! The finished size is 65 x 90. The binding is made of pieced strips of all of the red fabrics. In the end I have about 30 inches of red fabric left. Now, that's a nice way to make a scrap quilt!

Here's some more information on the details........

Chinese Coins Quilt Instructions

I didn't get much of anything else on the list completed but I got the Chinese Coins quilt top done. It turns out that I'm still a little sore so the laundry and this quilt top did me in for the day! That's OK though, I feel a lot better than I did Wednesday and I got to sew this weekend. All in all, a good weekend!

This quilt will be a QOV and it was a lot of fun to make. I already have more planned in my mind so I decided to document the dimension and basic instructions to have the notes for later. There are lots of ways to make these. In fact, I got the idea to do one from Mary. She has instructions for several different versions on her web site and she has made several of these for the Heartstrings Project. Here's how I did mine.

A good weekend

Not only has the weather improved (cooler and dryer) but it was a great sewing weekend and it's not even over yet. Let's review the list!

Progress on the weekend....

Friday night and Saturday were incredibly productive. The best part was Mom and my Aunt visiting to pick up the quilt. We went to my favorite LQS and I only bought the one piece of fabric that I went there for! I was tempted but maintained control. Here's how I'm doing on my list...

Quilt For an Hour

Thanks for your input to my fabric options the the new Quilt For an Hour project. I decided on a blend of 4 and 5. I picked some of the darker reds from #4 and the lighter reds from #3. I'm please with it so far. I'm sure this will be the last day that I will be on schedule!

Here's how it looks so far.

When I do piecing on scrap quilts I usually use a medium gray thread.  Am I the only person that is so geeky about sewing that seeing this is fun?

Oh, what the heck, let's start a new project!

Judy L is starting another Quilt For an Hour project and I've decided to go along again. This will be another QOV so I want it to be suitable for a man or woman. Mine will be done from fat quarters. Ilast night I pulled out some possible fabric combinations. Judy's quilt is black, white and multi. I've decided to use some cool indygo fabrics that a friend gave me as my "black". I have two tan groups for the "white" and 3 options for the color. Here they are as 5 options - what's your preference?

QOV Done!

I did it - I finished the latest QOV on Independence Day! I still have to make a pilowcase to ship with it and make the label, but I'm calling it done on 7/4/07.  This quilt started, I think, in 2000. My Guild Chapter decided to make a signature Friendship Star quilt. I like the block so much that I started some of these blocks. And that was the end of that. The Guild quilt did get fiished and it's one of my favorites of the officer quilts. When I decided a month or so ago to start knocking out some of my UFO's, this was the first one up. I thought it would be a nice quilt for a QOV. I decided to try to use up some of my stash of strips for the borders. All in all I am very pleased with this one! Even better my Mom took all of my leftover fabrics from this project so that bin is really EMPTY!

Read on for the photos......

WIP Wednesday - QOV

I just realized that it's been a few weeks since I posted a WIP entry. This one isn't very exciting but today I finished all of the star blocks for my QOV quilt. I'm working on the border blocks now and have 15 left. I want to get this top done by Saturday. I thought I might be able to get my Mom to quilt it while she is here this weekend but now she has decided to quilt two of her own! Oh well, it was worth a try!

QOV Quilt In Process

Today we had lots of company and a great time. After everyone left I wanted to sew but I needed to do sewing that didn't require too much thinking. So I made a few more blocks for the QOV/UFO scrap quilt.  My Mom is coming next weekend to play with Willie.  I think she wants to try some pantographs. She has one charity quilt to quilt with a panto and she wants to do a panto on a beautiful Stack and Whack that she made. I'm hoping that I can talk her into letting me quilt the S&W. I'm going to try to get this quilt top done so if she wants to practice on another quilt she might do this one.

QOV Stars Started

I pulled out the strip bin and the Friendship Star box this afternoon to start the QOV. This was a nice brain break from those postcards. I had 5 blocks made already. I started by pulling out the dark strips and cutting some 9 1/2" foundations. I made some of the string blocks to see if my border idea was going to work. I think it works just fine! So now I have this project all set up so that I can work on it in short spurts of time and maybe get it done this month. These are really easy blocks and there will be 9 rows of 7 blocks. The finished block is 9".

See that strip at the bottom of the photo? As I was sewing the string blocks for the borders, the waste part of the most of the strings was longer than 6". I remembered that some of the Heartstrings Project would use their dryer sheets (after they are used) as foundations. The dryer sheet is about 6.5" wide. I'm doing laundry today and decided to give it a try - and it works great! That's 4 or 5 dryer sheet foundations there, cut down to 6 x 8.5. So I'll make some of these blocks as I create the border blocks for the star quilt. They might eventually become a Chinese Coins quilt. The rest of the "cut away" from this quilt will go in the trash! LOL!

Pillowcases

I wasn't in the mood to quilt last night so I decided to make my nephew a couple of pillowcases to match his quilt. I have LOTS of fabric left over! I also needed one to go with the Hour A Day QOV quilt. It only took about an hour to make all three.

There are several sets of instructions around the web but here's how I make them.

QOV done - another item off the list!

And another one bites the dust!

• finish the binding and label on the baby snails trail.
• make my class notes and the class samples for the Snails Trail class at Quilting Adventures.
• finish my nephews graduation quilt
• make the pillow for my boss
• My Indygo Junction jacket
• My class project from one of the Carol Taylor classes
• I also have to finish the Hour A Day quilt that's currently on the longarm for quilting

The quilting on the QOV went very quickly so I finished off the binding and label today. The quilt has even been washed and is ready for donation! This is for the Quilt Studio 40 Quilts Service Project as a male QOV.

Hour A Day Quilt

One last thing to post today. I got my version of the April Quilt For An Hour project loaded on the longarm. Since it's going to be a male QOV, I decided to quilt it with the Square Spiral panto. I think it's a good design for a masculine quilt. I wasn't going to bother to post a photo but realized that with the new camera I can finally show the accurate colors of this quilt! I will be so happy to have these fabrics out of my house! I've never been so disappointed with a fabric before. I know that these batiks are very popular with lots of quilters but I'm willing to bet they haven't washed them yet. The colors fade horribly after the first wash. My own hand dyes hold up better than this. I think these may actually be painted rather than dyed. Oh well, live and learn!

QOV Quilts are Done

I finished Barbara's second QOV quilt. These were lots of fun and I'm grateful to Barbara for letting me use these to practice some new techniques. Here are the photos and the quilts will be in the mail tomorrow back to Barbara.

Should I take more classes?

I still feel handicapped without a camera! Wednesday can't get here quick enough. Today I got Barbara's second female QOV loaded and started. This is a really pretty quilt and I am doing a couple of different (but speedy) techniques on it. I also got the backing made for my Quilt For An Hour QOV quilt and a birthday postcard made for my 13 year old nephew. I never get quite as much done on Sunday as I want. Those darned chores always get in the way!

This evening I was reading the Joggles newsletter. The new summer classes are posted. Do you think I would be crazy to take 2 classes at the same time? I did that with the silk fusion and tea dyeing and got OBSESSED. But I really like both of these: Mixed Media Surfaces with Sue Bleiweiss and Beginner Photoshop Elements. I NEED the Photoshop class but just take a look at all of the really cool projects in the Mixed media class! Can I do both? Hmmmmm

I'm also flattered that Lisa selected me as one of her inspiring blogs. It's her blog that inspires me! I'm supposed to select 5 blogs that are most inspiring to me. I've decided not to do that - as you can tell, I have a long list of blogs that I read regularly and they all inspire me in some way. I wouldn't want to single out a few and risk offending someone. I can just tell you that if it's on my blog list, it's one that I read regularly!

A week from today I have to go to New Orleans for a business conference. I'm not particularly looking forward to it. I have a feeling that I'm going to have plenty of trouble with my allergies there. But if anyone can recommend any fiber, fabric or bead store that I need to visit please let me know! I will pick up a Saints T-shirt since I selected them as my NFL team last year. It's was a long analysis process but I wanted to have a team so that I could participate in the football season with my Mom and brothers (Vikings, Panthers, Redskins and Cowboys).   In the end I picked the Saints so now I need a shirt and I'll be ready for Autumn!

Weekend Progress

Blogging just isn't fun without pictures! Although yesterday was a tremendously productive day, I'll just recount it here briefly to record the progress and post the photos later in the week.

First, I got this female QOV quilt from Barbara loaded and quilted. I'm pretty sure that this is the first time that I have loaded and completed a quilt in one day. I did Jamie Wallen's Flurry of Angels as an overall treatment for the quilt. I did my flurry large and, while there are bobbles, it looks pretty good overall. I did this one large because I needed to get it done but the next time I would do it smaller. I used Superior So Fine thread and didn't have any problems at all. If you've been considering Jamie's Cottontracks workshop, go for it, it's excellent!

The other big accomplishment was getting my Hour A Day quilt top done. I put on the borders as I watched Audrey Hepburn and Gregory Peck in Roman Holiday for about the 40th time! I picked out some fabric from the stash for the backing and will get that pieced today. I've decided to quilt it with the Square Spiral panto so that I can get this done. It will be donated to QOV as well. This was a fun project and if Judy continues to do the HAD projects, I will do them as community service quilts. I also accomplished a little stash busting - I got rid of 5 yards of the batiks that I hated and 5 yards for the backing plus a lot of scraps for the 9-patch blocks.

Today is house chore day but I should get Barbara's second female QOV loaded and the quilting started. I also need to get back to my nephew's music snail's trail. The blocks are all done, I just need to put them together and add borders. I'm so proud of him - he was accepted into the Peabody Conservatory! They told him that his trombone audition was graduate student quality! Now we are working like mad on scholarship applications  - no one in this family has the $42k annual tuition - but I told him if it was that important to him then he could make it work.

Yet another new project.."Quilt For An Hour"

Someone needs to just shoot me! Last night I started yet another project. I've been wanting to make another QOV quilt and I do have a couple on progress. Unfortunately they are all class samples so I can't finish them up any time soon. Meanwhile, I found Judy Laquidara's blog, Sunshine Quilts. She started publishing "Quilt For An Hour" projects. I didn't participate in February but when she posted the April project I was drawn in!

Two quilts ready to ship!

I finished the binding on the baby quilt last night. So tomorrow I will send these two quilts out for the Quilt Studio 40 Quilts Service Project.  These are reversible quilts so each photo shows both sides of the same quilt. I developed this pattern to make quick baby quilts. I like to do baby quilts with this pattern because I can make one side calm for the Mom and the other side bright for the baby!

WIP Wednesday - Progress

I don't have anything earth shattering to show but I will show you what I've been doing so far this week.
First up is the baby quilt binding on one of the quilts for the Quilt Studio Webring 40 Quilts Service Project. I am sending two baby quilts for this one. You may think this is an odd color combination! Both quilts that I am sending are reversible. I call the bright side the "baby's side" and the pastel side "Mom's side". I will post photos of both before I mail them. This should be done tonight be the end of Idol! I've even gotten my husband hooked on Idol.

In other projects....

Quilt Studio QOV done

I suppose it's not an official QOV as it is going to a specific soldier and outside of the QOV program, but this quilt is done and is from the Quilt Studio - 40 Quilts Service Project .  It's going to a very deserving soldier identified by Fran, another Quilt Studio member.  It's labeled and going in the mail tomorrow.

The pattern is an original pattern I designed for "gift" quilts.  My Mom pieced it and I quilted it with a test pantograph - Rainbow Flight - by Miki Miller .  I really liked the effect and will use it again.

Closeup of the quilting texture:

WIP Wednesday

Well, it's not a very interesting WIP Wednesday post but here's the view of my lap for a few evenings this week.  This is the Quilt Studio QOV for Crystal .  I want to get the binding done, the quilt labeled and sent to Fran by Monday.

Weekend Activities

It's been a busy holiday weekend but very productive.  Out local quilt guild chapter volunteers at the Virginia Quilt Museum in Harrisonburg, VA on the 5th Saturday of the month (when there is a 5th Saturday).  I try to volunteer twice a year so that I will make the effort to see the exhibits.  The museum has really grown and matured over the years and is always worth the trip.  This Saturday was my day so one of my guild buddies and I trekked across the mountain for our morning shift.  The current exhibit is work by Julia Pfaff , a well-known Richmond quilt artist.  Her work is wonderful!

After the museum we headed south to Dayton, VA and a great quilt shop, Patchwork Plus.  There I picked up the  fabrics on the right in this photo.


I already had the fat quarters on the left.  They are for a graduation quilt for my nephew.  I thought he would want a T-shirt quilt and the FQs would be plenty to put with the T-shirts.  Instead he wants a quilt that is totally music themed.  So I picked up the others Saturday.  The fabric on the bottom will be the backing.  I started planning the layout in EQ6 Saturday night but it still needs lots of work.  Here's one project to add to the "to do" list!

Yesterday and today I decided to clean out some of my sewing detritus.  I save my quilting bits to make dog beds for a local rescue organization.  So I turned this:

Into this:

Eight completed beds.  Here's how I make them.  if you have a better idea please post it!

I can usually get my hands on free decorator fabrics so I have a reasonable stash for the covers.  I cut  the bed cover however I can best utilize the piece of fabric.  Usually that's about 30 - 36" by the full width of the fabric.  I fold the fabric right sides together and stitch around 2 sides (leaving one whole side open).  Turn the cover right sides out and sew 3 or 4 channels perpendicular to the open end.  I  cut up the filling into bits.  I use cut off batting from quilt edges, polar fleece and even old pillows for stuffing.  I mix it all together in one big mess.  I fill the channels about 6 - 8" with the stuffing and then sew across the width of the dog bed to close the stuffed cells.  I continue doing this until I fill the last channel.  Once the last channel is filled, I turn under the edges, pin and topstitch to close the bed.

I also use practice quilt sandwiches fro the longarm to make beds.  I fold the practice quilt in half, stew the two layers together line a pillow, leaving an opening.  Then turn the "pillow" so that the sam is enclosed and topstitch the opening closed.  I do stitched a few lines vertically and horizontally through all layers to hold the bed together.  The folks at BARK are happy to have them (they don't complain about the sloppy sewing or ugly thread!) and I'm happy that my trash gets one more use before going to the landfil.

Of course, all that work deserves a reward!  Today I delivered the Indygo Junction jacket to Quilting Adventures and to do some shopping in the newly expanded shop.  Check out their site to see the great new space!  It was their grand re-opening and they had lots going on, including fantastic door prizes!  They gave me two more fabrics for the jacket in another size (the bright blue prints) and I bought two fabrics for my own version (the black/gold/plum fabrics).  Add 2 more new projects to my list!
 

And,for me, I was very good with my non-necessary purchases - I bought the blue toile fat quarters at Quilting Adventures and the red and yellow gradients at Patchwork Plus but the FQs on the right were my great door prize!  At least I have everything washed and put away.

My friend Kim came over for dinner (DH makes a great Pheasant Pot Pie) and brought me her brother's queen size quilt to quilt (one more project for the list).  We picked the thread and decided that since the top is busy, I will quilt it with a panto. 

Whew!  Glad I'm going back to work tomorrow!
But my first sewing project this week will be to work on the binding of this quilt because it has a designated QOV home!  I am so honored that Fran  wants this quilt for Crystal and I want to get it off to her as soon as possible!  I must also make a very special label.