Nine Patched

Curt's family has a gorgeous stash of old family quilts around their house, and this one in particular has always been my favorite.

{Special thanks to Curt's little sis Cali for snapping this pic for me to reference!}

It's a simple nine-patch, set on white fabric. The fabrics are all different, but very cohesive. I've been wanting to recreate it for some time, and finally came up with the best answer I could find: use my beloved stash of Denyse Schmidt fabrics to make my own version!

All the blocks are the same - four printed squares, five white ones.

It made for very easy chain piecing.

I did a bunch at a time, working on them for a couple days.

And before I knew it, I had all the blocks I needed (56 if you are interested).

I laid it out to see how they looked and to make sure I had a good, even balance of color and such. It's still on the floor - I walk by it and move a couple blocks here and there. Once I settle on the layout I will get to work on the sashing. 

I love how Denyse's fabrics lend to the vintage feel of this quilt, as well as the old school pattern. And I can't wait to see it finished! 

Dream On

I lost my sewing mojo for a month or so there, but I think I've found it and I'm back. It was just a matter of forcing myself to stitch something, anything, together, and I now have one finished quilt top and half of another to show for it.

I've been hoarding a few charm packs of Dream On by Urban Chiks for Moda for quite some time now. The prints are all reproductions of vintage sheets and they are so charming. I had debated for a long time about what kind of pattern I wanted to use, but ultimately decided to just go with a simple patchwork quilt and left all the charms as squares. That also meant I didn't have to plan anything - I just randomly pieced the squares together. I also added in a couple pastel voile fabrics so I could have a nice lap size quilt.

I think I ended up doing 12X14 5" charms, resulting in a quilt that's approximately 54 X 63. 

I knew I wanted to find a vintage sheet for the back, and I really lucked out in my search and found that exact yellow w/green ribbon sheet on Etsy! The original is a larger scale and a bit brighter, but it will be perfect for the back. 

I'm still debating how to quilt this one. Straight lines on either edge of the seam? Straight lines going diagonally through the quilt? Tie it? Any suggestions are welcome! I have some batting stashed away, so I'm planning to get it basted and ready to go this week. Hopefully by that time I will know what I want to do about quilting it. 

What are you working on right now? 

What Day Is It?

I haven't slept well for week now, so the days are all starting to blend together and I'm functioning like a zombie, but - hey! - I'm functioning. So I'll just post some photos and ramble a little, and you'll just nod your head and oooh and aahh over the pretty new fabrics I've been playing with in preparation for Quilt Market. Okay? Okay. Let's do this. 

Anna spent the last couple weeks waiting and waiting and waiting for her new fabric to arrive, and slowly, piece by piece, it came in. Which means I've been sewing with it, project by project.  

Last week Friday I dropped Curt at the airport before the sun woke up and then spent the morning at Anna's, sewing like a mad woman. Then I spent the night at work, where it was very busy and I had a lot of crazy cakes to finish.

By the time I got home Friday night, I was exhausted. So exhausted in fact, that I somehow managed to fall asleep on top of the covers, contacts in my eyes, teeth unbrushed, and the pièce de résistance: the bedroom light was still on. Until I woke up at 6:30 Saturday morning to the sounds of thunder and garage sale early birds. It was sad.

Yes, folks, I am a hot mess right now. Sewing by day and caking by night. Caking by day and sewing by night. 

Despite the exhaustion, I can't sleep. Despite all the extra work, I don't have much of an appetite for anything other than mandarin oranges and Sonic shakes {half-price after 8!}

Thankfully, Anna sees to it that I eat a slice of toast and get my coffee in the morning. Now that Curt's back home, he makes sure I brush my teeth and make it under the covers at night. It's good to have people.

My moonlighting efforts have been a tad cray, but it sure is fun! I'll sleep next week sometime, after all the Mother's Day cakes are picked up and Quilt Market is off and running. Yes, I'll sleep next week Friday, I guess. And I guess I'll clean the house then too. yikes.

I won't even tell you what's been playing on my iTunes to keep me moving. It's mindless and fun and upbeat and easy to sing along with. Okay, I'll tell you. Don't judge me. Seriously. Don't judge me, it's a tad embarrassing.

One Direction. 

There, I said it. I have the One Direction Infection and I don't think there's any turning back. Can you blame me, though? Look up One Direction on YouTube for yourself and see if you can resist those cheeky smiles and adorable accents. Then come back here and we'll talk about how I need to find Curt a pair of suspenders and striped t-shirts asap. 

So much to do and so little time! Have a great weekend :) 

I have a problem

I have a problem. Some call it being frugal or economical. Some call it being a hoarder. Blame it on my Dutch heritage - I'm cheap, I don't throw anything out. But if you ain't Dutch, you ain't much. Long story short, I found myself with an incredible supply of tiny Loulouthi scraps left from Spring Quilt Market sewing. So I collected them all and started sewing them together.

Then we moved into our new house, my sewing fell by the wayside while I painted my new workspace, and the bits and pieces were left waiting rather impatiently.

Good news folks! My sewing desk is set up, not in it's permanent area and it needs a paint touch-up, but I'm sewing again. Which means all those bits finally got picked back up and I finished the last of 25 blocks last night.

Wanna know how I did it? It's a lot of fun, and a really great project for all those tiny chunks of your favorite fabric.

I started by sorting my scraps into sizes - crumbs, chunks, and legitimate pieces.

Then I just stitched the crumbs together, two by two, until I had a bunch, which I then started sewing to each other. This is a great excuse to do some major chain piecing!

Add more pieces as your work them, trimming to get a straight edge for the next piece.

 

I didn't think too much about the fabrics I was adding, just tried to make sure I had a good mix of patterns & colors.

As my chunks of crumbs got bigger, I started taking pieces from the other piles to grow them into 6" square blocks.

I did this a couple ways - a round-about log cabin style of adding strips around each side, and sewing chunks together.

This sometimes meant chopping off larger sections to get a square edge - but don't fear, just sew that into another block!

There is no planning in these blocks, creating lots of crazy angles and tiny pieces. Just keep sewing everything together - it's very relaxing!

(and you will make a basketful of the prettiest trash ever.)

I ended up with 25 blocks, all 6" square. I'm not sure what kind of layout I will do with them yet. I've considered sashing them, checker boarding them, or just piecing them randomly with neutral fabric to make a hodgepodge quilt in the spirit of the blocks.

I LOVE these fabrics and would like to make this a quilt big enough to enjoy myself. If that's not possible, I might turn it into a baby quilt for a future Lil' Anderson. (Future as in, I don't know when in the future .. no, I am not pregnant .. putting that disclosure in there because I know my family will ask.) I think it would make an amazing focal point for an otherwise subdued nursery.

Either way, I am happy to say my Loulouthi scrap pile has greatly decreased. And although my hubby hates multicolored quilts, he commended me on using only scraps to construct the blocks (aka "Thanks for not buying more fabric honey.")

Go forth and use up those scraps people! But before you do, please enter my giveaway. It's a nice thing to have in your back pocket. Happy Hump Day!

The Scraps Are Flying

First off, my progress on my Doll Quilt Swap 7 mini..

I quilted it with stippling, washed & dried and then sewed on the binding to the front. I used two strips from a jelly roll, which is awesome because there was *no* cutting involved -- love that! I need to hand sew it to the back and make a label. Those are things I can do while watching a movie, which I also love.

I have been eyeing the color wheel quilts out there, primarily the one from Last Minute Patchwork + Quilted Gifts. It's gorgeous, right? However, I do not have the book (yet) and it was late at night and I wanted to give something a whirl, so I figured out my angles, cut out some templates, gathered 20 different fabrics, and came up with this dresden plate:

Obviously I need to sew the two halves together and then I'm not sure what the next step will be. I debated putting a white circle on top, but the corners are matching up so nicely I hate to cover them. I will definitely be mounting it on a white background, possibly adding a colorful patchwork border. Whatever happens, I love the idea of a quilted color wheel and I can't wait to experiment more.

Another inspiration has been all the beautiful string quilts out there. I've done a couple string mini quilts, but those were pretty basic. So the other night I dove head first into my scrap bin, cut a bunch of strips, and just started piecing without really caring about color or placement. I'd love to keep this going, slowly making enough blocks for a wonderfully scrappy quilt. It may end up being a very small scrappy quilt, but gosh darn it, I want a string quilt of my own!

And I love the string quilt pillows too... maybe if I can't endure a quilt, a few pillows will do the trick. I need to get more pillow forms because I want to fill my whole couch with patchwork pillows, I think it's a great shabby chic look. Not sure how the husband would feel about that.. but, who complains about extra pillows?!

And call me a trend-follower, but - Hello Hexagons!

In the spirit of Sew, Mama, Sew's hand-sewing theme, I started stitching together some hexagons from my scrap bins. The colors look crazy in the photos.. sorry, nighttime fluorescent lighting.. but I promise they are not that neon. Like the string blocks, I think I will just continue to stitch a bunch of these together until I have enough to make a nice scrappy quilt or two. If I can keep on a steady pace, I'd love to see these become Christmas presents. Maybe Christmas 2010...

I love a project that I can work on silently while watching TV or relaxing with Curt. These are right up that alley, although I have to be sure to keep the scraps under control or they can quickly swallow us.

A couple weeks ago Curt and I stopped in to Jo-Ann Fabrics to get a couple things and he spotted this fabric, which reminded him that he needed a keyboard cover. This particular Hawaiian print was on clearance, so we got a couple yards and some elastic, and that night - voila: custom fit cover. I have half the fabric left with no clue what to do with it. I could probably make a swim suit, but I would also probably never wear that print. It does however, serve it's purpose of keeping Curt's Motif clean while it sits out in the house and on stage.

While Curt was gone a few weeks ago, I went on an eBay shopping binge and got a few charm packs. Here are what I received, plus a few other packs from my stash (there are still others, these were at the top of the pile). I love charm packs for so many reasons- very little cutting, easy color schemes, and all my favorite designers.

My most recent wins include a couple fall prints, Arcadia, and Hushabye. Also in the mix there are some other Tula Pink collections, and a couple Anna Maria Horner mixes.

Have I ever mentioned my obsession with Tula Pink? I love, love, love all her fabrics. They are so imaginative, detailed, and oh- the colors!

I love them each for different reasons: Nest for it's bright & bold colors and swirling designs. Neptune for its nostalgic interpretation of the sea. The colors, the prints, it all brings me back to the lake. And Hushabye, the name itself says it all. The perfect blend of sweet little motifs colored in the most perfect pastel - yet still bold - colors. A quilt made of these prints would make the most shabby chic baby as happy as a clam. And said baby's shabby chic mother. I may horde these packs until said baby is mine, and thus, I am said shabby chic mommy. That day is miles away, but those prints are worth the wait!