On last making in 2014.......

I thought with my last post I'd be done posting things made in 2014 but I do have one more thing to share.  On Thanksgiving weekend when our eldest daughter and family were home, she and I stopped in my local quilt shop, Hannah Johnson's Fabric (a great modern fabric store if you are in the Duluth area!) and as we were perusing the shop my daughter spied a child size circle, twirl skirt and mentioned, "I know a little girl who'd love one of those!".  Well that's all it took.  A few minutes later we had the pattern by Love Jill (https://www.etsy.com/listing/127619430/lovejill-reversible-wrap-skirt-pattern?ref=shop_home_active_6) in hand along with fabric so that I could make a skirt for my grand daughter.

It's been awhile since I have sewn clothing.  I had to wrap my mind around the directions and there was more than one time where I thought,  "I do what!?!" or....."That will never work!?!"  I also got to try out for the first time the top stitching foot that came with my Juki.  Oh my word!  How much easier did that foot make top stitching!  The foot has a guide so the stitching is almost perfectly straight and the foot is broader than a normal foot so I think it holds the fabric down better as you are top stitching.  I also swear it had a kind of walking foot motion but that was probably my imagination.

My grand daughter's birthday is the 29th of December, so while everyone is  home for Christmas we will also be celebrating her birthday.  I've decided that this will be a part of her birthday present.  That being said I am sure it will totally be trumped by the Elsa costume I bought her as her 'toy' birthday present.  Lol!

A Little Holiday Cheer

In 2014 I resolved to improve my overall quilting skills.  Nothing does that better than making things and things I did make!  All in all, I completed eleven quilted projects in eleven months. To list them off: one table runner, one sewing machine cover, two baby quilts, three regular sized lap quilts, one over sized lap quilt, one queen sized t shirt quilt, one twin sized quilt and one almost queen sized quilt.  I have to say working on these projects really did improve my quilt making skills.

On Sunday I finished quilting our guild's collaborative quilt that will go to Quiltcon for the Charity quilt display.  No photos to show. You'll have to go to Quiltcon 2014 to see it!  :-)  The quilt measures 65" by 70" and the quilting design was simple (phew!).  To be honest, I was very relieved to have finished my role in our collaborative quilt.  I think I may have hit, 'big project burnout'.

To reward myself for all my hard work (and to have something handmade to give at my workplace Christmas party this Thursday), I set out to make something start to finish in one day. I finished this mug rug in about four hours, start to finish.  The design is from Amanda Jean Nyberg of Crazy Mom Quilts.  She posted the tree blocks on her blog about a week ago and I knew they would be perfect for a mug rug.  The red is Kona Crimson which I bought a few weeks ago from the remnant bin at my local big, box fabric shop.....score!  I have to say it was very satisfying to make something start to finish in one day.  It truly was a reward!

So what's up for 2015?!?  Well, I do have some goals (that's just the way I am)......  First up is to finish up my version of the Missing U quilt from the book Sunday Morning Quilts by Amanda Jean Nyberg and Cheryl Arkinson.  Also, over the course of 2015 I want to expand my repertoire of piecing skills.  I am thinking of making some pillows using the tutorials and patterns I have saved up. Most of them have at least one technique I have procrastinated learning. Time to start broadening what I can do!

The other idea rambling in my head to make two (yes I said two!) low volume quilts.  I've been saving up fabrics for almost the past year and I'd like to make one for my daughter's guest room bed (queen) and one for me (large lap quilt?)!  Then......I started Tula Pink's 100 Modern Quilt Blocks in January and never finished them........and then........

So you get the idea......the quilts/ideas never end!  :-)

I hope you all have a wonderful Holiday season!  May all you do and make bring joy to those you love and to you!

A Wedding, a quilt, another chance to learn.

A good friend of  our family has a nephew who we have gotten to know well over the past years via canoe trips, ski trips and adventure travels taken together.  He and his long time girl friend announced their wedding last year and of course my first reaction was, "I'll make you a quilt!".   Since I like to please recipients of my quilts I let the bride know I would be making a quilt and asked what colors she would like.  She replied, 'Emerald, Silver and Champagne, the colors of my wedding.'  Thinking my email had been confusing and hoping she would change her mind regarding her palette, I replied to explain that I was asking about colors because these would be the colors that would be in her quilt and that they didn't have to be wedding specific.  She replied with the same palette.  Oh boy...... this was WAY out of my comfort zone, how am I going to make this work?

I had decided long before I had emailed the bride that the quilt would be 60 degree triangles, made from solids and it would be a over-sized lap quilt.  I had been pinning quilts on Pinterest like this for some time.   I loved the play of colors and the simplicity.  I also loved the secondary patterns that 60 degree triangles make.  With the palette given I knew to create interest that I had to include more colors than the three requested so I turned to my Kona color swatch card for inspiration.  From a on line class I had taken on color from Rachel at Stitched in Color I had previously cut up the card so that I could rearrange and play with the swatches to create color palettes.  I knew I wanted to keep the colors classic and also wanted an outdoor feel since both of them do a lot of out door activities, summer and winter.  After a lot of consideration and some input from the on line quilting community I created a palette of Kona Emerald, Aloe, Jade, Champagne, Silver, Medium Gray and Snow.

To make the triangles easier to piece I starched the fabric three times prior to cutting.  It was almost like paper but worked well so that there was no stretching in the piecing process. The rows came out very even and straight.  Once I had the rows pieced to a suitable length I started contemplating the negative space.  Just at this juncture of construction I watched Jacquie Gherings' webinar offered through the Modern Quilt Guild, 'Modern, I Know It When I See It'.  She displayed a quilt that was bordered with off centered negative space and I knew that's where my quilt was headed as well.  For the insert on the side, I had made a pillow earlier in the year with similar inserts and decided that would be perfect to create some interest in the negative space.  One thing I would change about the insert would be to float it versus having it extend the full way, top to bottom.  Another thing I would change is the narrower negative space on the top and bottom.  I would make it about two inches wider.  It was a bit too narrow to comfortably quilt.

The backing is a Micheal Miller fabric (sorry can't remember the name) that our local quilt shop owner suggested.  It was perfect!  I quilted the quilt on my APQS George and this was the first REAL quilt done with George.  There were some frustrating moments which resulted in taking out of some quilting and redoing.  I chalk that up to learning curve.  I did love the the 20 inches of harp space to work with.  The quilt is 68 inches by 72 inches and I didn't even know it was under the harp space.  This was the first time I have done Orange Peel quilting.  Once I got the first two passes done doing the sides of the triangles I had to tell myself....wait till you do the bottoms of the triangles.  With only the sides done it looked like the quilt was filled with bunny ears!  I loved the quilting after the bottoms were done.

This is the last large project of the year.  Of course that's what I always say!  :-)  If I had to name this quilt I would name it Breathe.  It reminds me of a crisp winter day out skiing where you can breathe in the the cold, piney air.

A Fabric Surprise Becomes a Baby Quilt

One of my favorite on line fabric sites, Pink Castle Fabrics, was having a great sale.  They had a fat quarter bundle of Anastasia prints by Alexander Henry for a really nice price.  Now I have to admit when I ordered them I thought the white flowers in the print would be smaller and I had another use for them in mind.  When I opened the package and realized the scale of the white flowers, I realized the fabric wouldn't work for what I had in mind but  it would be perfect for a baby quilt.

My husband's nephew and girl friend are expecting in  October so, voila......I was ready to sew.  I've always admired the quilts done by Rita of Red Pepper Quilts.  She combines a fantastic eye for color with traditional blocks and piecing.  All of her quilts have a striking and beautiful simplicity.  With that in mind I started out with my quilt hoping some of her inspiration flow through this quilt.

Gathering up together the right amount and variety of 'low volume' prints was a challenge.  I put the term 'low volume' in quotes because in reality very few of my white or cream background prints are low volume.  As a result I really do have some with too much color in them and if I were to do the quilt over I'd find more true low volume prints to incorporate.  One of my favorite prints is the chicken tracks in black and white.  They were part of a low volume swap I was a part of and I love them in this quilt. The black and white with the movement they create is awesome.  It is a Timeless Treasures fabric.

This is the second time I have quilted one quarter inch from the seam line using my walking foot.  The first quilt where I had used this quilting method had 4 1/2" blocks.  I think this type of quilting looks much better on a smaller block such as these, which were 2 1/2" blocks.

All, in all I am pleased with how the quilt turned out.  It was a quick project, which was exactly what I needed after so many long projects this summer.

Tilting Log Cabins

I am a big fan of Mad Tesla and the work he does with Kona Solids.  His eye for color and his improv block construction is clean and clear.  At present he has a quilt in progress called Off Centre that has improv blocks in a variety of colors which are then pieced so they tilt at various angles and places within the quilt top.  If you have a chance, go over to his blog (www.madtesla.com) and take a look at his quilt in progress.   His quilt is going to be awesome when completed.

With Mad Tesla's inspiration in mind and guidance from Gwen Marston's Liberated Quiltmaking II, I decided to make a long delayed cover for my Juki sewing machine.   I had a pattern from Modern Quilting Unlimited where I liked the clean lines of the machine cover but not the blocks that made up the front and back.  So I decided to replace the suggested blocks in the pattern with some tilting log cabin blocks inspired by the blocks in Mad Tesla's Off Centre quilt (but not the same...his blocks were far more complex than I had imagined) and using Gwen Marston's 'liberating' techniques for traditional quilt blocks.

The 'spine' of the machine cover was supposed to be strips of color.  Instead, I decided it would be fun to make some single tilted blocks of color 'tumbling'  across and down the machine.   You can't really see them in the photo but they were fun to play with and I could see myself using this technique with a full quilt somewhere down the road.

I quilted the cover with my Juki using the walking foot and a guide bar taped to the side of the foot to set the 1/2 inch quilting lines.  The thread I used was Aurifil Dolphin grey, which I have come to realize blends with nearly any color.

My sewing room is all off white so the splash of color is a nice addition.  

The Words We Use

This week my husband and I were on our way back from camping and we stopped by a local quilt shop.  As I was browsing through the fabric there was a 30 something mother and her daughter, who looked like she may be a 5th grader, shopping for fabric.  The daughter picked up a bolt of fabric to which her mother said, 'Is that the fabric you want for your quilt?"  To which the daughter said, "Yes, it isn't the only quilt that I'll ever make."  I chuckled and chimed in, "That's right! There will ALWAYS be more quilts!"  The mom then told me her daughter was picking out fabric for the first quilt she would make all by herself.  "Good for you!"  I told the girl and then went back to shopping.

It was a small quilt shop.  It would be impossible not to hear the conversations around you.  As I shopped the mother tried to guide her daughter in her fabric choices. Her language was laced with, 'you have to', 'you should', 'you can't', 'you always', 'you never', etc.........    As the fabric choices continued I could hear the young girl's voice get less and less interested.  Please don't think I am being critical of the mother.  I know the mom was just trying to make sure her daughter would have a pretty first quilt.  I've said those words myself to my daughters when they were young, and honestly I wonder how much I quashed their desire to sew.   I know that mom had the best of intentions it was just the words she chose that were meant for good but were laced with negativity.

It got me thinking about the words we use when we guide other's in their quilting journey.  There are so many debates out in the quilting world....quilt shop fabric vs big box store fabric, press seams to one side vs. press seams open, prewash vs not prewash, dense quilting vs just enough quilting, modern vs traditional and I could go on and on.  The world of quilting is so big and varied and every technique has it's positives and negatives.  I think it is important that when people ask for guidance in their quilting journey we use language that helps them find 'their' technique.  We need to present the advantages and disadvantages and present the good options that we are aware of and admit there might be other better options that need to be researched.  Then we need to stand back and let them find he one that works for them. We then need to encourage by being happy with and for them as they are enjoying their quilting journey.  It all comes down to the words we use. Encourage with options, praise without negating, leave room for experimentation and mistakes.  It is all part of the process and craft.

Jumping In with Both Feet

Last year I began making quilts in what would be called Modern quilts.  It started with my 20 something daughters each wanting quilts and each of them picking out Amy Butler patterns (yay! they were free!) and modern color palettes and fabrics. (The quilt in my first post was the one I made for my younger daughter)

To be honest I wasn't that excited but wanted them to like their quilts so began picking out 'those wild fabrics' and colors.  To my surprise I really enjoyed working with the fabrics. Things that I thought would clash really didn't.  I loved the patterns with the simple design that let the focus be on the fabrics or design vs the fabric.

Then, a friend invited me to join her to a trunk show given by Victoria Findlay Wolffe sponsored by a local quilt shop.  My reaction was, 'sure, sounds like fun'.   Honestly, I didn't think much would come of it.  I had looked at her book on line and thought...'oh, crazy quilting used in quilts'.  Then I saw the quilts live and in all their glorious color.  I came away from that trunk show, combined with the quilts I had in progress, thinking that I might like 'Modern Quilting' after all.

So I began perusing Pinterest, pinning all the modern quilts I could find.  That led to finding Camp Stitch A Lot sponsored by Pink Castle in MIchigan.  My friend and I went and our instructors were Jacquie Ghering, Amanda Jean Nyberg and Daniel Rausch.  The focus was improvisational piecing and I WAS HOOKED!!!!  I've been off to the races ever since.  (My husband says he has lost me to a sewing machine)

So what does that have to do with the quilt in this post?  Well.....this quilt is an accumulation of my first year of dabbling in and learning about modern quilting.

• I was inspired by Virginia Findlay Wolffe to make 'made fabric'.  The star is 'made fabric' from five different fabrics (one of them being a, 'why in the world did I buy this fabric' purchase).  
• Dan Rausch had taught a slab technique at Camp Stitch a Lot for making made fabric. It is his technique that I used to construct my 'made fabric'.  The benefit of using his technique was lots of interesting angles without having to do Y seams!  Yay!  
• The quilting inspiration came from Jacquie Ghering's Craftsy class on Creative Straight Line Quilting with Your Walking Foot (a great, great Craftsy class).  
• Prior to making the quilt I made a mockette of the quilt to test how it would look, an idea I got from taking Week's Ringle and  Bill Kerr's class on Designing Modern Quilts (another great Craftsy class). 
• The Free Motion Quilting in the star is a modified quilting design from Leah Day.  

It has been a fun year and I have learned tons and have much more to learn.   I hope you enjoy all that I learned last year rolled into this quilt....I call it Crackled Barn Star.

Best Quilt I Ever Made

Over the time I have been quilting I've made about 25 quilts.  Considering I've been quilting since the late 90's that's not that many.  Of those quilts, 11 of them have been made since July of 2013.  A year ago I decided I really wanted to get good at quilting and the only way to do that is to quilt......a lot!  I do have to say the quality of my work has improved over the past year.  This being said the quilt that will now stand out as the best quilt I have ever made and probably will ever make is the one in this post.  It was made two years ago for my grand daughter's crib.  There was a time where I thought there were tons of thing I'd change if I were to make this quilt again and then recently I learned there is nothing I would change for it is the best quilt I ever made.

Over the past week our grandchildren were with us for the week.  Whew, what a whirl wind.  I had forgotten how busy two children under the age of 5 can keep a person.  Every moment of the day is filled.  It was the end of day two and we had had a busy, busy day.  All morning out in the woods hiking.  Throwing rocks in the Lake.  A trip to an ice cream shop after dinner.  Baths to wash off all the after dinner stickiness.  You get the idea.  We were busy!

 After their baths I was helping my 2 1/2 year old grand daughter put on her pajama pants and she pointed down to her crib quilt which she had brought from home and asked, 'did you make my quilt grandma?'.  I absent mindedly replied, 'yep, I did' as I concentrated on getting her foot through the right leg hole.  Then I felt her little hands on my shoulders and her lean up to my ear.  "Thank you grandma", she whispered.  I can honestly say my heart stopped with love for just a moment.  

So you see, the quilt in this post, no matter what other quilts I have made since or will ever make, will always be the best quilt I ever made.

I was SO wrong!

Over the past year I have been collecting fabric in solids of all colors.  One of my thoughts in doing this was it would be easier to design and construct a quilt without having to worry about coordinating print styles and scale. I wouldn't constantly be on the hunt for the last final piece of fabric that goes with everything else.  I honestly thought working with solids would be easier.

So, with much excitement and confidence I started my first project using solids.  I had a short deadline for completion of this quilt so I didn't want a complicated block design.  I decided a quilt of assorted half square triangles sewn together in pleasing color combinations with some neutrals thrown in would be perfect.  I knew laying it out on the design wall would be the time consuming part since I really didn't have a plan for lay out.....I was going to wing it.  I mean how hard could that be....right?  Famous last words!!

First attempt to lay out the quilt in a design that made some sort of sense was many, many hours of arranging and rearranging blocks.  To be honest the first arrangement was horrible!  I woke up the next day, shook my head and thought, 'what was I thinking?!?'.  Then I broke down and went to my Pinterest boards for inspiration. Honestly I had been resisting my urge to peruse my pins as I wanted to do this 'all myself'.  But for heaven's sake, that's why I do all that pinning.......for inspiration!  Fortunately the ideas I had pinned sent me off in a direction where I could come up with my own design, one that had order vs chaos.

During the whole process I learned that making a quilt with solids is actually (for me) more challenging than with prints. Below is what I learned.

Solids amplify everything! If your cutting or piecing is off it will show, especially if the pieces you are joining are contrasting colors.  Degrees of variance won't be obscured by the print.

Designing a multi-color scheme in solids takes more thought.  With print fabric the amount of any one color is scaled for you.  The fabric may be predominantly one color but the manufacturer has scaled all the other colors in the print to the right proportion, the right hue, the right intensity, etc......  With solids, you have to choose the proportion, shade, tone, hue and placement of each color.  It takes a lot of thought.

Because there are no prints to absorb quilting errors or bobbles, the quilting needs to be well planned and well executed.  Thread color will need to be well thought out as the quilting will be a more predominant design feature.  Should the thread be a unifying single color? (That's what I went with and have decided I love light grey!)  What about the parts of the quilt where the thread will be more contrasting?  Am I confident enough in my quilting plan that I think those areas will look nice?  What about variegated thread?  It will alternately blend and contrast depending on where the variegation happens.  Since there isn't a print to absorb those changes, how will that look?

Binding color becomes more of a design element.  Will it compete with the other colors of the quilt?  Will it skew the color balance already created?  Do I want it to stand out? Do I want it to blend in?  Hmmmm....scrappy....no!  :-)

I'm sure there are many more elements to consider that I haven't realized yet. What I do know is that I have a greater appreciation of Amish quilts now.  In their simplicity there is a lot of unrealized (and unappreciated) complexity and design!

I really enjoyed my experience working with solids and look forward to doing some more quilts using just solids in the future.

Here I go again!

It was a nice Summer, Friday afternoon in my car on my way home from work, caught up with all the tourist traffic heading up the North Shore of Lake Superior.  Now honestly this time of year is the only time there are traffic issues where I live. While I was slowly making my way to my turn off song lyrics came into my head, 'making my way back home......'.  I thought to myself that'd be a great blog title!  It's specific enough to tie into the things that a person makes but vague enough to also fit personal ramblings not related to making something.  I mean aren't we all just 'making our way'?  As I end my fifth decade with my sixth decade right around the corner I seem to be reflecting more and more how I have 'made my way' and will 'make my way'.

So heck, why not!  I'll try this blog thing again and see if I can truly keep up with it.  For now it will be a place for musings and for sharing the sewing I am doing (mostly quilts).  I'm no expert in anything.  Just another person sharing their thoughts and life.  But hopefully it will be interesting.