Cake Mix Quilt - Blue

For a long time I have admired sampler quilts, especially the type made up of all different size blocks. When I made all those blocks in 2008, the goal was to make a quilt each month in 2009. Unfortunately, life got in the way and I am now revisiting that goal.

The advantage to having all those blocks (and believe me, there's still a huge stack of them) just sitting there ready is that making a quilt is not unlike making a cake from a mix instead of from scratch. I had never designed a sampler quilt like this before, so it took a little bit of planning. Here's what I did:


I pulled the blocks out my giant stack o' blocks that seemed to work with the blue/yellow/orange colorway, then traced out their dimensions on graph paper. It's easier to do it this way, versus arranging them on the floor, because you don't have to try and figure out seam allowances. I knew I didn't want to exceed a 45" x 60" quilt size, so I maneuvered my little graph paper blocks around until things looked about right. (Incidentally, for any readers wondering how I became so overly organized and "control-oriented", this is the exact way my father used to have me prepare to re-arrange the furniture in my bedroom. I come by it honestly, that's all I'm saying.)

Then I started filling in the blanks - there are always gaps in a quilt like this, and I filled mine in with strips of coordinating fabric.


I'm still pretty surprised with how flat it turned out. A lot of those seams are set-in, which I am far from expert at. Overall, I'd say that it's a little busy and not as cohesive as most quilts, but for a cobbled together blanket, I'd say it's not too bad at all.

As for the recipient of this baby blanket; I'm undecided. I have a friend out here who just had a boy, but she is a very stylish lady, and this might not be a welcome addition to her nursery. Maybe it will just get added to the stack of finished blankets...

Yes, I Am Well Aware It's May. Thank You.

This is the current state of the March Quilt. I know - it's May, but I've had some setbacks, ok? It is currently 54" square, and I'd like to rectangular-ize it (I totally just made up that word) by adding something to the top and bottom, but I'm not sure what. I am taking any and all suggestions - leave 'em in the comments!


And I finished this little guy yesterday. I have dubbed him the "Treeling of Terrible Knowledge" and the pattern comes from the Softies Kit, which is just effing adorable. I am very excited to try the elephant soon.

Goose Blossoms - Are They A Myth?

Last night I was mulling over a way to spice up my blah March quilt. I found the answer in the April/May issue of Quilters Newsletter.


The cover of this issue features a quilt called Geese in the Mountain Garden, and was made by Barbara E. Lies. I love the pink and green colorway, and I really can't get enough of those swirly applique flying geese, called Goose Blossoms.


Lucky for me, they offer the pattern for a Goose Blossom in the article. I decided it was just the thing for the March quilt. I copied it on to four sheets of foundation paper and started pulling scraps.


These are the ones that made the first and second cut. The scrap sorting portion of making these monthly quilts is a big part of the process. It has been especially difficult with the March quilt, because I'm just not as comfortable working with green as I was with the red in the February quilt.


Naturally, Maggie has a part in the process. Or so she assumes.


So I made four of these all at once to avoid the one-sock syndrome so common among knitters (you get one sock done and you're too bored with it to make another just like it). I am pretty happy with the color gradation. The yellows and oranges I pulled just didn't fit the scheme of it.


And this is where the four Goose Blossoms will go as part of the March quilt. I am also thinking of large, wavy Flying Geese borders at the top and bottom to balance it and give it length. We shall see...

In Defense of My Non-Blogging of Late

Alright, so before you tell me that I've been off the grid for over a week, let me point out a couple of things:

~ Two jobs is a lot of work. I did about 55 hours this week between the two of them, and sewed some stuff. Also, bathed occasionally.
~ I know, if I sewed stuff, where are the pictures? Well, I am a woman who happens to be surrounded by loved ones born in Spring. As a result, I sometimes have projects at this time of year that are not for the eyes of all of my readership.
~ Patrick is gone. And the cats need parenting.

OK, now that my absence has been thoroughly absolved, let's do some crafty stuff! Friday night Miss Sweet Connie came over and we picked out blocks for the March quilt. (I know the February quilt isn't quite done yet, but I just have to stitch the binding to the back and make a label. Gosh, you guys are quick to judge today.)


This is the beginning of it. The center block was large at 18", but then I set it on point and made it a bit larger. It is Five Spot, from January 10th last year. I haven't entirely ruled out some applique in those setting triangles. There will be dark green sashing, and the distinct possibility of some nifty top and bottom borders to give it some length. What do you think? It's certainly not as striking as the February quilt, but I am prejudiced toward my reds. Anyway, I'd like to get it quilted and finished (ha!) by next month's show and tell on April 7th.

And now for the enjoyment of my long-distance hubby, some pictures of his Maggie:


This is Maggie sitting on top of a pillow resting on top of a box of books. For all Patrick's willingness to hang out in the sewing room, he does like to put his feet up and we got sick of bickering about putting feet on my quilting frame. So he uses this footstool that Maggie is currently using for all four of hers.


She's not too thrilled I woke her up, but she tends to look a little cranky most of the time. We miss you, Patrick!

I Must! I Must! I Must Improve My...February Quilt!

(click this photo to see a close-up of the quilting)

I had originally intended to do an all-over pattern of hearts and loops on this, but I'm just not at that skill level yet. I should really take a class (in my spare time, hahahaha!). After a disastrous initial pass, I left this quilt on the frame for almost two weeks. Tonight I unpicked those stitches and took another stab at the February Quilt.

It's kind of a large-format stipple. None of the threads are ended yet, so this photo's a bit of a mess. Still, I wanted to show you what I did tonight. Tomorrow I'll cut the extra wide binding - wish me luck!

February Quilt Borders

OK, here's the end photo for tonight! I decided to put a skinny border in between the blocks and the flying geese. It was just a little too busy with nothing separating the two. That inner border will finish at 1", and then I'll do an extra wide binding on the other side to balance the geese.

February Quilt Progress

Ok, old business first:
~ the dead fish hat pattern is off Knitty, is free, and can be found here.

~ if you're looking for pictures of a finished bandage, this is sooooo the wrong place to look. Connie just finished hers though! Go leave her a nice comment about how awesome she is.

Now, to new business! I spent today working on the too-small blocks in the February quilt, as well as the flying geese for the sashing. Below is the sum of my efforts:


I pieced out the tiny ones to a full 12.5", and did some rearranging. Quilt Pixie had mentioned that the original arrangement looked a little unbalanced in terms of the brighter whites. I think this is a little better.

I wanted to point out the mitered border in the 3rd row, 3rd block. That was the 6" block, Shamrocks, from last March. To piece it out to 12" finished, I knew I'd need something large, and I had been in love with this neutral/dark red stripe for a long time.


I've never done a mitered border before, and I think this one turned out really well. I followed the instructions from Beautiful Borders, Backings, and Bindings, a book I've had for a while but hadn't put to good use until now. I recommend it for it's step-by-step pictures and clear instructions.

All through the day's progress, I had the be-furred company of either Maggie or The Pickle. They don't spend much time in the same room together, unless they're brawling, so I had to capture the few hours they spent napping with each other.


I hope you all had a great weekend!

Some More Updates

Alright - who's been busy? Me too! I haven't posted since last Sunday, before I went to Connie's to knit bandages all day. Which, by the way, was awesome! I had 31" by the end of the day (which is sad, since I'd been working on it for about a week at that point), and Connie had nearly a foot in one day. She's a machine, that one. So I'm still working on bandages, but I have a lot of other stuff going on too.

Monday afternoon I conquered my fear of the quilting frame and finished the crib-size quilt I'd been working on in one sitting (standing?). I couldn't sleep Tuesday morning, so I started in on the binding around 3 am. Tuesday night was my quilt guild meeting, and I brought the finished quilt for Show & Tell.


Turned out pretty good, huh? I'm happy with it, at least. I finished the last few touches on it less than an hour before leaving for the guild meeting! Well, almost the last touches. There is a popular school of thought that says a quilt is not done until it's labelled:


I typed up the text I wanted, printed the font in several sizes, traced the one I liked onto muslin, then back-stitched it in a variegated DMC floss. I still have to put it on.

My goal is to have one quilt (made out of the blocks of 2008) ready for each Show & Tell, which happen the first Tuesday of every month. Below is my start on February:


I'm thinking no sashing & a scrappy flying geese border. What do you think?

A Bunch of Updates

On Wednesday night I attended my first Dear Jane Group at Ruby Street Quiltworks. It was a lot of fun to see other projects and to show off my own blocks.


This is E-1, Aunt Exie's Phlox (5 pieces) - this is the block I appliqued at the group. I used freezer paper templates, painted sizing on the seam allowances, then removed the freezer paper after they were appliqued down. You can see the yellow grid lines I drew in the corners to get the melons on straight. I love this clock fabric.


And this is J-1, Josepha's Jonquil (6 pieces). I used a brighter red with Chinese characters on it. I reverse appliqued the diamonds, then appliqued the square on top. In retrospect, I should have conventionally appliqued the diamonds too, so I could showcase the lines of Chinese characters better.

So that's 14 blocks, 2 triangles, 0 kites, and 220 pieces!

**More Updates!**


I finally finished my Dead Fish Hat. Here is a view from above.


And here is a picture of the fish eating my head!


Lastly, I have the first quilt from the Block-A-Day blocks loaded up on the quilt machine. And now I am petrified to begin quilting it. This will be the first quilt I have really, earnestly quilted on this machine, and my progress is paralyzed with fear of mucking it up. Hopefully I can get over this...

Now I'm off to Connie's to celebrate Bandage Bowl 2009!

B-13, Plus Augmented Double Nine Patch

This is block B-13, Four Corner Press. I made it using Carol Doak's Foundation Paper, which worked very well. It ran through the printer without difficulty, was easy to sew through and press on top of, and it tore away easily. All in all, I'm a satisfied customer. Except that I spent ten bucks on 100 sheets of paper, and the frugal Yankee in me is screaming!


I also am working on beefing up the smaller blocks in this quilt layout so I can add sashing and borders. Yesterday and today I added this applique to this Double Nine Patch block. It echoes the colors in the quilt as a whole, and I had fun designing it. On the down side, it reminds me of the evil pipe-flowers from Super Mario Bros...Anyone? The flowers that came out of the pipes and had teeth?

Happy New Year!

So this is my first stab at an arrangement of blocks. The majority are 12" blocks, but I thought I'd build out the smaller ones with elements like flying geese or some applique or something, then add sashing and borders. Voila! A baby blanket! What do you think?


And this is the top part of my reindeer. I still have to knit the underside, ears, and tail, plus sew antlers. Still, he looks like a reindeer finally!

Well, I hope everyone had a great New Year's Eve and Day. Patrick and I went to a party at a friend's house. Below is my tipsy self-portrait, taken to show my awesome headpiece.



Also at the party, a Boston terrier made friends with me. Name of Binkley. Couldn't handle her champagne and conked out well before midnight.

That Last Block Is A Doozy - Star of Illusion

Today's block is Star of Illusion, done in brown and pink. I was kind of sad to finish it, to tell you the truth, but it turned out really well. I want to thank everyone who has come to visit and comment in the last year. This has been a huge project (especially on top of finishing my degree), and there were definitely times that what kept me going was knowing that someone online would be expecting a block that day.

So - here they are (click to enlarge)!


I'm planning on getting a large-scale print of this for my sewing room.


This pile measures a little under 14" tall! Many thanks are owed to Patrick, the helpful handy husband, for motivating me, pressing some seams, and just hanging out. Also, he made the Idaho Beauty block start to finish when I was too sick to get up.


This pile can also be measured in cats - The Pickle declined comment.

Ok - so that's it for this year. You all have been incredible, and it has been my privelege to receive your comments, look at your blogs, and admire your work. I'll be working on a Dear Jane quilt in 2009, as well as assembling these 366 quilt blocks into quilts. I hope you'll come back and visit.

Woven Ribbons

Today's block is Woven Ribbons. I paper-pieced this one, using that green/brown stripe I am so smitten with. Tomorrow's the big day...you know, if it hadn't been a leap year, this would be the last one.

This is very bittersweet for me.

Z Cross

Holy cats! There are only two more days (read: two more blocks) in the whole dang year! Today's block is Z Cross, done here in a flurry of black and white. I don't have much to say about the block itself, but I can't get over how close we are to the end of this.

Geez.

In other news, I went to the dentist today, and I haven't changed my assessment one bit.

Town-Center Star

Today's block is Town-Center Star, whose hyphen I take issue with. Other than that, I'm happy! The yellow and orange go well together. I wish I had been able to find a white-on-white instead of a white-on-cream, but the whole block-a-day project has been very hard on my neutrals and backgrounds.

From the comments, I'd say that the general feeling is the new mouse's spiral tail and larger head are good, but it should have cute running legs like the previous mouse did. Roger that! I will have a new sample to show you guys...well, whenever I get to it.

Star of Destiny

Today's block is Star of Destiny, which I really didn't think I was going to like. But I changed the number of colors from 5 to 3, picked one of my favorite stripes (who am I kidding, they're all my favorite) and went to town. I'm very pleased with the result!

But today has been full of pleasant surprises. Connie, who I originally met at Weight Watchers meetings but now adore full-time, called me to say that the meeting had to be cancelled today. A last-minute reprieve from the Governor saved us all from a post-Christmas weigh-in! Connie, our friend Suzy and I enjoyed some IHOP, some catching up time, and then flitted off to the fabric shop.


I've started the collection for next year's Dear Jane in earnest now. I bought the necessary background fabric off Fabric.com on Christmas Day and this gorgeous bounty at Ruby Street Quiltworks. My plan, and I hope to have a diagram to show you soon, is to do alternating rounds of black and white background with black, white, and red accent fabrics. The brown off to the right was purchased for another project.

Does anyone remember the Cinderella quilt? Well, I'm taking a stab at revamping my mouse. Last time he was declared too pig-like. What are our thoughts? I asked you for brutal analysis last time and I expect no less from you now!


Pictured above, clockwise from top left - my new mouse attempt, my new mouse sketch, my old mouse sketch, and a little brown piggie!

Shooting Star

Today's block is Shooting Star, a confection of blue and glitter that finishes at just 8". I think I like the blue and silver version of Christmas colors over the more traditional red and green...

But, since old Bushy-boy decided today was a federal holiday, I had time for some other sewing too! First, I sewed down the other side of the bias tape vine on my Charm Star. This is what it looks like:



And here are some ideas I have for the applique to go around the vine. I really need your opinions!


I thought it would be kind of a kick to do all the applique in diamonds, just like the quilt center. So I have a diamond-shaped butterfly, bird, and two types of flowers. What do you think? Is it gimmicky and silly or is it kind of different and cute?


And here's the haul from yesterday! Due to a few East Coast ice storms, my side of the family is not represented here, but Patrick and my in-laws were so generous and thoughtful! I'm really excited to go shopping with my Kohl's, Best Buy, and iTunes gift cards, but my favorite is the bag. In the back there? That is a purse made from a David Bowie album cover - swoon!

Andi, do me a favor and leave the name of your friend/the company that makes these in the commments. Inquiring minds want to know!

Christmas Star & Christmas Present Revealed

Today's block is Christmas Star, made in Christmas-y colors. We had a great holiday, with presents, phone calls to family, and some super miniature Cornish game hens. Delish! But best of all, now that gifts have been opened, I can finally show you the project I finished recently:


This is a lap quilt for my sister-in-law, Andi. I got the pattern out of a Quiltmaker, drafted it in EQ6, tested about 80 color combinations until my husband found one he was happy with.


The quilt is only made up of two different blocks that echo and complement one another's shape.


This is what I originally bought that gorgeous green and brown stripe for. I love it so much, I almost prefer the back to the front!


And here is the quilting I did. I just echoed the yellow pieces that ran throughout. Andi emailed me this morning to tell me how much she loves it, so it is truly a successful project. Many thanks to Patrick who put in a lot of work on this quilt alongside me.