FAL Q1--Charming table set: DONE!

Making time to write a blog post seems to be the trickiest thing for me to do (so far) this year, but here's a quick one. I finished the placemats and runner from my Allure charm pack. I intend to write a quick tutorial on the process, because I think this is a great way to feature an entire charm collection with no waste. Bottom line: Sidekick ruler 4.5" half triangles, left half from charms, right half from contrast. Sew the remaining charm chunks into a continuous strip then add borders of any width. The width of mine was determined by how much fabric I had leftover from another project.

So, pix or it didn't happen, right?

Charming "Allure" placemats

Coordinating "Allure" table runner

ETA: This was #5 on my list of Q1 finish-along goals.

Fare thee well, Great Ullr

Despite the forecast of freezing rain and even a few snow flurries mid-week, it is time to retire the Ullr runner for the season. I spent the beautiful yesterday making a new runner with my collection of cute sewing-related fabrics, which just happen to have lots of pinks and blues to coordinate nicely in the new sewing room. Nothing too fancy, just huge half hex pieces arranged in a braid like the growth chart; I quilted a few simple feathers and it was finished before I went to bed!

Pro tip if you want to do the half-hex braid: Start by cutting half of a jewel shape, then add the first half hex to its long side. From that point, each subsequent piece fits perfectly. I use my big Hex N More ruler aligned so the longitudinal center of the ruler is about an inch away from the edge of the fabric.

Stitchery sofa table runner

Stitchery sofa table runner (approx 12 x 58")

I used this fun old-fashioned sewing advertisement print on the back. The half feathers look good from this side.

Lotus samples

In June I'm going to be teaching a class on the Lotus quilt, so I made a Mini version to drum up some interest, and because I just can't stop playing with that cute little Mini Hex n More ruler. If you follow along here, you have probably noticed that I don't often work in such a flowery pastel palette (this is as "pastel" as it gets in my Strategic Fabric Reserves)...but even I, diehard lover of the wintriest of winters, was ready for a little spring color this month. This is a really fun pattern to make, and there are lots of possibilities with just these two simple shapes.

Mini Lotus -- 20 x 23"

Farm fresh veggies

We are looking forward to getting bags of fresh vegetables next summer from our friends Isabelle and Rodger, who are starting a new CSA at their new Sub Edge Farm! It is incredibly inspiring to see people working to live their dreams. If anyone's interested, there are still shares in the farm available -- I'm certain it will be a terrific venture!! I can hardly wait for the harvest to begin next June!

Modern veggies for modern farmers!

Congratulation to Isabelle and Rodger -- best of luck with Sub Edge Farm!

Hex finishes

Three hexagonal finishes this week, plus another photo from last week's Honey Mini class.

First, I used a few cute macaroni prints to try out this technique. I like the ring of hexes so much that I sketched out what this would look like expanded to a larger size, and figured out the fabric requirements. It would be a cute use for hex charms, or for a group of theme fabrics like the Mardi Gras prints that I've had kicking around for a few years. I did the tight quilting around the edges because it reminded me of a fork-sealed ravioli; I quilted the words in the middle because (a) I wanted to brush up on my cursive quilting skills and (b) the words seemed to fit, both physically and conceptually.

 Merry-Go-Round pattern (Atkinson Designs)

 Next, I had to try out the new Sidekick ruler from Jaybird Quilts.

The ruler is great, the pattern was a snap to follow, and the whole thing took no time at all. I used the scraps of the project I made from last year's Kendra Cousin California Quilting Challenge. I'm down to really tiny bits of those fabrics now, but I will savor them because I still love love love them! The flower-of-life quilting doesn't even need marking with this pattern, since the lines are all part of the piecing. This is my favorite way to quilt 60-degree angles -- it looks spectacular, it uses the walking foot, AND it's entirely one continuous line!

Rock Candy pattern (Jaybird Quilts)

Third, I finished one of my class samples to make a pillow. I didn't do anything particularly fancy for the quilting, just some gentle (flower-of-life) walking foot curves surrounded by straight-line echoing. I love the clothesline fabric on the back.

Honey pattern (from Elizabeth Hartman's "Modern Patchwork" book)

Since this post is a tribute to all things hexagonal, I'll also share a photo of Tina's class project. Last year when I made my sister's quilt, I used the same accent print in shades of teal and brown last year, but it looks 100% different in the hot colors. I love how she arranged the prints in the same position; it evokes a sense of comets or rocketry.

Tina's Honey project. 3 - 2 - 1...blast off!

Chopsticks

With the spring semester looming next week, I was especially happy to spend a peaceful day sewing at Lisa's yesterday. I used the walls to arrange the big triangles that I made with my new Christmas toy, and got the monochromatic top put together. I'm planning to baste this and a few other smallish things this weekend. The UFO closet is really out of hand.

Chopsticks pattern. I love that big triangle ruler.

After I got home, I quilted the Nevermore table runner so we can use it for Poetry Teatime next week when we get back to our Reading/'Ritin'/'Rithmetic routine, and I did the feathering on the last six of my Tangerine Tango sampler blocks. I'm in the homestretch on that one now. After dinner I pieced a few blocks for the quilt I'm making with the new Neutral Territory fabrics. I'll get some photos later and put a separate post about that one -- it's a lot different than the other things I've been churning out recently.

RAVENS!

The Pittsburgh Steelers fans in my household couldn't believe I made a table runner using ravens in black and purple. I swear it was not an NFL statement.

Spiderweb quilting!

I want more of this fabric...what else could I use it for?

Nevermore

Big busy weekend for our family, as our elder son had an open water swim meet on Saturday. He swam 500 yards in a lake, and aims to complete the full mile swim at next year's event! I believe his current intentions are to wear his "Open Water Swim Championship" t-shirt forever until it falls off...but he has earned the right -- I'm so proud of him!

The Nevermore/Waffle Time runners have worked up really quickly. Eventually I'll need to comb through my batting scraps to find some pieces big enough for these.

New Treats!!

New delights at Lisa's shop!!! This "Nevermore" fabric may be the very best fabric that I have EVER seen:

I couldn't resist getting 1/3 yd cuts of both so I can make some quick table runners (using Atkinson's Waffletime pattern, which is great for showing off a fab print without cutting it up).

I even already have the perfect fabrics to use as the highlight squares around the centers of both runners:

Pen nibs for the lighter (more literary) print

Spiderwebs for the darker (spookier) print

Can't wait can't wait can't wait to make these!!! (But Gibbs remains the first priority...such a great incentive to finish him!)

Stitchapalooza

Despite our intentions to spend most of this Spring Break visiting museums and seeing friends in NYC and Philadelphia, a strep scare (ultimately negative) sidelined the younger boy, so I stayed home with him while Child the Elder accompanied his father to a Penguins-Islanders game and spent just one day in the Big Apple. I spent nearly 36 hours sitting with a sick son watching a neverending stream of movies and wrapping tiny hexagons for my neverending River project. I had a really enjoyable time talking with just one child at a time; we don't split them up for one-on-one time often enough. My fingers, however, were literally bleeding from the hexagons. Time to learn to use a thimble. The city tourists were kind enough to take a detour to the City Quilter and brought me a nice stack of cotton prints, always the best souvenir!

So many possibilities for these wonderful NYC-themed fabrics!!

After they returned on Saturday night, we just kind of hunkered down in the house and I put the hexies away for larger-scale projects. I made an entire quilt top for my California fabric "cousin challenge", although said cousin asked me not to post any photos so I will wait a while. (If you're in CT, though, you can see it at Lisa's Clover Hill, and I'll be teaching a class with the VERY EASY pattern on June 8.)

I spent Tuesday and Wednesday at Open Sew days at Lisa's, then Thursday shopping and basting with my friend Tina. On Saturday morning I went back to Lisa's to pick out some monotone fabrics for a pixelated photo project that I'll be working on this summer. And, while the menfolk were in Springfield last night for yet another hockey game, I whipped up this nifty table runner (also with my new favorite, the Hex n More ruler):

This sucker is 18 x 80, which is a real table-filler in this house!

And, finally, today I added two outer rows to the triangle/hexagon project that I made using the cutaway pieces left over from the Jewel quilt.

The outer border was a good opportunity to practice Y-seams. I cut the strips exactly wide enough to use up the rest of the contrast fabric that I had leftover from my sister's purse.

And THAT's how you spend a Spring Break!

Jewel experiment

Having been exclusively quilting for a week or so, I was itching to do a little piecing for a change. Working through the worst headache I've ever had in my life (seriously, what the hell?!?) I pulled out the nifty new Hex N More ruler that I picked up at Sew Inspired earlier this month. I'm really quite impressed that I managed to wait two whole weeks before trying it. I have been thinking that I want to make the Lotus quilt with the citrusy fabrics that my cousin and I picked out together in California. I didn't want to commit to cutting those without trying the technique on something smaller, so I cut a few jewels and triangles out of some leftover Klimt print that I used to make my sister a purse, and a pretty lacy icy blue batik that coordinates beautifully with the print.

"Amanda's Bag" pattern by Marlous Designs, made for my sister in 2011

The pieces sewed together very quickly and easily; I made eight triangles altogether. My first thought was just to sew these into a single linear table runner.

However, although the fabrics were pretty, the single-line arrangement doesn't really show off the piecing geometry. I arranged them into a simple hexagon, which I always love...

...but adding the other two triangles made a diamond shape that would look good on a table and really lets the geometry shine. This is my favorite small arrangement:

I still have lots of both fabrics, so I could just keep going and make a full-size two-fabric quilt. Or, I might make some placemats and/or coasters to go with this smaller table topper. I haven't decided yet, but my California fabrics are all washed and pressed and ready to go, and those colors are WAY more exciting to work with, so this sample will undoubtedly languish unfinished for some time.

Holiday trimmings

I had meetings every single night this week. That caught up with me on Saturday, when I slept in and couldn't face the idea of leaving the house again. I actually forewent (is that a word?) a trip to the SAQA meeting in Guilford, which was the first time I could have gone all year. But wow, it was great to spend the weekend holed up in my creativity nook. My spouse mentioned that we didn't really have any Christmas wall hanging quilts, which surprised me because I feel like I have made a lot of them. Turns out I never finish them; they have all just been hanging out in the UFO bin. That defined my Saturday.

Back in June when we went to the Vermont Quilt Festival, I found a teensy weensy twister ruler that I couldn't resist. When I got back to Connecticut, I got right down to the business of sewing 2.5" squares together, then cutting them up again. My cute little tree has been all wrapped up in batting since then, wanting only a border. I did some scrounging in the closet and found a piece that was perfect, nice holiday jewel tones on a background that makes the whole thing look like brownish wood from a distance, with just a hint of gold for holiday glitz. I bordered, quilted, and bound this little sparkler in the early part of the day. I still need to attach a few teensy weensy jingle bells, which I'll just tie randomly over the tree; that will be a good task for Tuesday morning's piano lesson. After that, DONE: ready to hang!

I left the cutting mat visible for scale. These little pieces are only a quarter of a square inch.

Detail of background meander quilting, done with rayon thread.

After that, I pulled out my Baby it's Cold Outside embroidery piece and got brave with a new motif I saw in Angela Walters' most excellent book. I filled a few pages in my practice journal with this one before putting thread in the machine. It was tricky, and I could probably have benefited from a little more patience, but this was a little job so I got to it. Not too bad, although working around the embroidery in the center was a little challenging. You can see where the shapes got a little off scale, but overall I'm pleased with the look. I still need to slap a binding on this one, but that will be quick. I'm also planning to tie a few rhinestones onto the snowflakes in the embroidery (can you tell that holidays are very sparkly around here?). I would like to use this motif to quilt my autumn Rapid City, which has been pinned and waiting for two weeks, but I don't know if I'm confident enough in the motif to commit to a whole job.

Brrrrrrrrrrrr (from the "Waffletime" pattern, Atkinson Designs)

Here's another fun little holiday job that I threw together on Friday night at the midnight sewing extravaganza at Lisa's. I left it on the wall overnight, and my older son (who doesn't usually comment) noticed it and complimented it first thing on Saturday. I'll take it. My plan is to use a few decorative stitches to add some "icing" details to give the houses a gingerbread look, then some simple quilting to get it on the wall.

From the "Neighborhood" pattern (Modern Patchwork, Elizabeth Hartman). Love that Bumble!

This table runner has also been hiding in the batting bin waiting for my attention. I'll try to get to it this weekend; I'm planning simple straight line quilting like I did on the Pink Rink one (hey! I just noticed I never posted a "finished" photo for it!), but that is a more time-consuming process than I originally thought it would be!

From the "Roller Rink" pattern (Modern Patchwork, Elizabeth Hartman)

For those of you who wonder if I sleep, Yes! I slept until after 8:30 this morning...then got up and enjoyed the maple oatmeal scones that my ten-year-old had baked the night before! We had to talk him down from his plans to ALSO make a blueberry cobbler with custard sauce AND a German apple pancake. What a kid, huh?

Quick turnaround

As I mentioned in my last post, I downloaded the International Quilt Festival annual issues. Once I got the templates ready, this only took two evenings -- and that counts the hand appliqued circles (yes, I did something by hand!). Very quick and very lovely project:

"Marbles" table runner. Design by Brigitte Heitland, in  International Quilt Festival: Quilt Scene, Winter 2011/12

I think I may begin following this designer's work more closely; I find her new Zen Chic line very appealing, and I love all the subtle curves she incorporates. Watch this space...

I have the binding on two more of the Modern Patchwork minis, with only one more to finish quilting. My next task is to put together a sampler quilt that uses each of the mini patterns in the same fabrics. I'm going to give the assembly directions to anyone who signs up for all twelve sessions of the class that I'm teaching (starting in only seven weeks!?!). I'll get started on that soon. Tomorrow I need to finish the quilting on the twelfth of the minis and baste another full size one, probably the autumn Rapid City that I love so much. I think I have enough pins to baste the Tracking Sandy top too. Also, I'm hoping to get started on Bonnie Hunter's Easy Street mystery quilt. I think I'm going to use an entirely different set of colors than the ones she recommends, but I haven't started cutting yet so I might just go with the lime-turquoise-purple palette that she chose.

Since it's only November 23, there is still plenty of time for me to over-commit myself to making holiday gifts...and I just saw that Urban Threads is having a big site-wide sale. Let the season begin!

New England Clambake

We got the call today that our new dining room table is ready for us to pick up, so I prioritized finishing the binding on this cute runner. I couldn't resist this clambake fabric, which was a perfect focus in the Waffletime pattern:

Clambake table runner. 48 x 21". Waffletime pattern by Atkinson Designs.

Simple meander quilting, made easier by my new recessed sewing table!