Status Report

I'm a sewing machine... wait. That doesn't sound right. I'm a sewing maniac. Yes, much more accurate. As time allows, Sharon tries to quilt, quilt, quilt. Well, piece really.

In February I went a little fabric shopping crazy. Kah-ray-zee. On my blog feed I've been seeing future projects and wanted to get the fabric before it sold out. So I bought fabric.

I've also been working on my BOM project. I'm a little behind: the project gives me three blocks to complete a month. I did January in time, but I've only done one block for February. It was practicing half square triangles. You remember half-square triangles from my Basics class, right?  When you put four half square triangles together you get a windmill.  Well, my BOM for February is focusing on half-square triangles.  I was going to finish my February projects this weekend.

Then it snowed.  It snowed nine inches and I was home and needed something to do.  So I started one of those rainy day projects.  This project was one of the first projects I wanted to complete when I decided that quilting was for me.  So I got the fabric that I purchased in my February Fabric Frenzie, and started.

Did you guess? Yes!  It involves, almost exclusively, half-square triangles.  100 of them so far.

there are 19 windmills

There are 24 large half square triangles

there are 100 half square triangle in all.  I love the color combinations.

Now what?  Well, I need a place to put everything together.  Placing my squares in the order i want them on the ground isn't conducive to my sad knees.  I need a large table top.  Also, the fabric isn't ready for purchase.  I've learned that pre-cuts are sold before the yardage (marketing geniuses at work).  

Also, I won a blog challenge:

... hey that's me!

.... and I want to buy the border, binding, and backing for this quilt with this gift!

It's so exciting, isn't it?

Triple Dip with a Extra Bit... Runner for the TV table

In the summer of 2011, when I was first discovering what it meant to quilt, I went on a summer-long shop hop.  During the shop hop I found oodles of fat quarters from the French Laundry line.  I bought them, thinking I would do something with it for our family room. 

Before I took my Basics Class, I attempted to make a quilt using these fat quarters.  It was disastrous.  No, it was.  I threw the thing away and signed up for the class.  Since then, the smaller stash of fq's sat there taunting me.  Then I bought this itty bitty pattern called Triple Dip.

The Tv table before the runner... and minus all that dust.
On screen: Wuthering Heights with Laurence Olivier

But it was too itty bitty.  39" in length is fine, but 13" width was too skinny.  So add two rows.  Easy? Not easy. Mental math was never my strong suit.  It really isn't.  But, I remember 5th grade math. If you can't figure it out in your brain, draw a picture.  This is the sketch I created on my iPad.  It helped me understand how many squares I'd need.  

My sketch

And the runner!  I like how it turned out...

Oh lordy, quarter square triangles!  You can see from this bird's eye view, that qst's aren't my best block... 

I love the back.  And look, fairly straight lines.  

So... I should tell you the thread story.  My hubba-hubba (my online name for my spousal unit) was out doing errands one cold February Sunday.  He took my car.  I wanted to work on projects and didn't want to schlep out and go back to where the hubba-hubba had just been. So I asked him for a favor.  Would he go to the quilt store and pick up some thread for me so I could quilt this runner?  (He was a block away.) He would, but I needed to call the quilt store and get the product.  I called them: I was looking for Aurafil in brick red. I explained I was working with a French Laundry red fabric.  They were familiar with it but wanted a picture.   I promised to send a picture to the hubba-hubba's phone.  When he came home, it was perfect. He said that five people were anxiously awaiting the picture and all conquered with the choice.  It was a perfect match... so much that I had a devil of a time with finding the thread as I was sewing the binding.

and my made-by tag. 

and the finished look:

On screen: The Lavender Hill Mob with Alec Guinness

Amish With a Twist: Rail Fence

I finished  my first block for my block of the month project.  The colors are bright and cheery.  Looking forward to this coming together.  Compare it to my first rail fence...  Reading that entry I see that the sewing was left difficult this time around.  My 1/4 inch seam has improved greatly.

Amish with a Twist: Block of the Month Project

The first time I saw the quilt pattern Amish with a Twist. I wanted to make it. I love the big, bold graphic colors.  The quilt top was just hanging in a store.  I didn't know anything about it, I just knew I needed it.

I went back to that quilt shop and it was gone.  I had a little panic, but found it as a  kit.  I was still taking my basics class and knew I wasn't ready for it.  Not then anyway.

While I was looking for a new project to start, I searched Block of the Month projects. I wanted to start a block of the month project to get in the groove of having projects in various stages of completion.  We'll see if I can stay organized ...

In my search, Amish with a Twist came popping up.  It was fresh and new about two years ago, but there are still several online shops that still offer it.  I elected to do the original black pattern, though there were other options (I really like the grey one...).

There are twelve blocks plus sashing and a lesson in applique separated in five parts.

Amish with a Twist

My first month's packet came last weekend. In the packet were the first three blocks and the fabric.  I started my first project: rail fence.

Here are the little strips all lined up and ready to sew...

I'll post a picture of the completed square.

The Math Confounds Me

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Update on Urban Cabin

My mom loved the quilt.  "Now I have to redecorate my whole house [condo]."

Here it is in real life.

now... Now we just need to paint those walls and get something on the windows so it stops looking like a convent.

Urban Cabin

 This is it! My first quilt!  In September I took a class at Prairie Shop Quilts taught by the talented Barb R.  The pattern Urban Cabin is by Atkinson Design.  I saw an example  at the shop and loved the look.  My mom wanted a new quilt for her guest bed.  Why not?  The class was in September and my mom and I went to five shops one day this summer looking for  fabric.  It became overwhelming for her.  So, I asked her: would you like bright or would you like pastel?  Bright.  What color do you want?  Not blue. Shortly after that, I went to the Quilt Merchant and found this wonderful line of fabrics from Amy Butler.  I supplemented the colors with some Kaffe fabrics and other scraps I had at home.

The blocks are large and I found my groove.  Do you finish a block and then go to the next?  Or do you focus on one step at a time?  In the end, that turned out to be what I did. 1-1/2 " strips, 2-1/2" strips, 3-1/2" strips?  It got to be confusing for me.  So, one step at a time.  It was good because I could chain stitch things together and go go go.

I've self-diagnosed myself as having ADhD.  I get very distracted when I sew. And when I'm distracted I make mistakes.  I found an answer -- audiobooks.  When I'm listening to a very good story, I sit and listen and sew.  and I want to get back to the story...so I keep sewing.   It's worked so far.

After a really hectic Autumn at work, I abandoned housework on the weekends and finished!  I took to Elvira the Long Arm Quilter and hoped it would be back in time for binding.

In early November I had my gallbladder out.  It was unplanned. And so was the week off I was suddenly given.  I had time to sew.  So I did.  I made pillows.  I started sewing scraps together and made a 20" pillow.  Then, I quilted it.  No, really I did.  I quilted straight lines.  I'm not sure it's the best straight line quilting in the world, but I'm rather happy with it.  I used Kaffe Spray Brown as the back.  It was one of my favorites and wanted to use more of it.

The next fabric I found was a gorgeous piece of wool herringbone.  I made a ruffle of the backing fabric (a struggle in sewing, but I did it).  I'm quite pleased with how that looks.

My first attempt at a wool pillow was really unsuccessful, but I rallied and added buttons.  It's not the best pillow but I think it will add something.

I love the border fabric.  I love that flax color with the acid green.  I was lucky enough to find a very tactile silk fabric the exact color. I attempted to make a pillow but my mitred corners need work and I cut wrong.  What to do? That was pricey fabric.  I reworked some things and created a flange on the pillow.  It's fluffy and a good attempt.  Again, I think it adds to the whole look.

By then, Elvira had finished my quilt.  It's gorgeous. Even without the binding.  Prairie Shop Quilts hosts a Sew Anything class (called Anything Goes)...featuring the estimable Barb R.  She suggested I bring my binding and she'd show me what to do. I did this and discovered that binding is an important but miserable step in the process.  What a drag.  I didn't get nearly enough done those three hours when Barb told me I had to finish the binding by hand.

A lot of whining took place. I whined at the store.  I whined at home. I whined on Facebook and I whined at work.  Those who know, told me to just do it.  That I'd be infinitely more happy with hand binding.

Another friend, someone I've know since high school, offered to coach me on binding.  Caroljoy teaches quilting and is a very patient teacher.  It was nice to see her and she reiterated that I needed to finish it by hand.

Did I mention the size of my twin quilt?  It's 75x102.  That's 354 inches of binding.  It's a big quilt!

So, one week before Christmas I took the day off and finished the binding by hand.  It took me 9 hours and 50 minutes.  My fingers ached and I understood the phrase "carpal tunnel pain."  But I'm done. And I think it looks great.  I'll post my mother's response!

Here it is.  As I said before, this is a twin size quilt.  I staged it on a queen bed. It's very big, isn't it?    You can see the pillows as well.  Enjoy!