mini-project

The above is a result of mixing insomnia with the Sew, Mama, Sew blog. This post led me to this tutorial. I had to modify it a bit, because I didn't have a dishtowel that I actually wanted to look at. I keep mine hidden under the sink when not in use. I also wanted mine to be a bit wider to hold the stack of newspapers that was cluttering my the kitchen counter. I know I'm crazy, but I keep the Science Times piled up for when I feel like reading something ... sciencey. I miss getting the History channel.

In any case, I don't have a lot of fabrics in my stash. These brown corduroy and seersucker stripe fabrics are left over from a purse I made five or six years ago. The corduroy was the sturdiest fabric I had. These aren't my favorite fabrics, but sometimes ya gotta work with what ya got, right? I added some cheapo polyester batting scraps and quilted it in 1½" diagonal lines. I used painter's tape to mark the lines, and it worked surprisingly well! I'm glad I got to try that, because that's how I'm planning to mark lines on the Happy Campers quilt.

So now my kitchen counter is much cleaner and I covered up the ugly phone jack on that wall!

All in all, a successful and productive sleepless night. I have a renewed interest in trying to bust through what fabrics I have, even if they're not my favorite. Tomorrow I begin my adventure to find some high-quality quilting thread to use on Happy Campers.

grumble, grumble

Well I was on a roll yesterday after basting Happy Campers, so I decided to get to cutting the sashing strips for my whirlygigs. I got everything cut and sat down to start sewing, when I realized I forgot to include seam allowances on the width of the strips! I cut 25 8½" x 2" strips. I want them to be 2" wide finished! I also cut six 2" x WOF strips for the horizontal sashing. This wound up using ⅔ of a yard. Now I have a decision to make.

• I could go ahead and use what I cut, losing 3" from the height of the quilt and 2½" from the width. If I stick with 4" borders, this will give me a finished quilt measuring 47½" x 58" (which is a bit awkward).
• I could make up the difference by making a wider border, probably 6". This would give me a finished size of 51½" x 62". Still awkward, but big enough to cuddle under on the couch.
• I could go ahead and cut the strips out correctly, and toss what I have aside for future days. With 2" finished sashing and 4" finished borders, the quilt will measure 50" x 60". Nice, even measurements, and the perfect size for laying on the couch.

I'm torn, because this was supposed to just be a fun, easy lap quilt. I don't want to over-complicate it, but I still want it to be visually appealing. I think 8" blocks with 1½" sashing might look kinda funky. I also don't want to waste what I've already cut.

What would you do?

Crossing items off the to-do list — feels so good!

I'm making decent headway on my to-do list from earlier in the week:

1. pinwheel sampler quilt-along block five
   
   
   
2. put together backing for Happy Campers
   
   I really hate cutting long lengths of fabric. I don't have a lot of table space to work with, so it's incredibly difficult to get it accurate. Luckily backing fabric is supposed to be a bit larger on all sides, so it doesn't matter if it's a little crooked.
   
   
3. baste Happy Campers
   
   I used the tutorial from Oh, Fransson! on making a quilt sandwich, and it really simplified the process. I had to stitch together (by hand — ick) two pieces of backing since I didn't buy it pre-cut. I had a 45" x 5 yd. bundle that I got on sale at JoAnn's a while back. I also decided to go with the tried and true and basted with safety pins. This is definitely one of my least favorite parts of quilting.
   
   
4. work on sashing for whirlygigs

The only thing stopping me from quilting Happy Campers is lack of thread. I want to use a beige/neutral color, but the only quilting thread I have is bright white.

I guess in the meantime I'll get to that sashing!

Oh, and in sale news: V and Co. is offering a 25% refund on your purchase at her etsy shop through the end of the week. Just mention "simply utah" in the notes on your order.

Use code "SEVI" at The Dizzy Daisy (an adorable fabric shop you should check out) for 10% off your order through the end of the day Saturday.

Use code "MM2010" at Connecting Threads for 20% off your purchase until the end of the month — this code is good on clearance stuff, too!

Inspiration from Flickr

It's been a few days. I haven't posted because I haven't gotten anything done since the Friday Night Sew-In. I've been taking care of a sick boyfriend and a sick puppy with my free time this week. I have about 8 days until I can buy more fabric and thread, so I need to make do with what I have. But I have been practically drooling over the Modify Tradition blog and Flickr pool. These are a few of my favorites:

(each photo is a link to the Flickr page, hover or click over for details)

I've been doing some online window-shopping for a FQ bundle or layer cake, because I am absolutely dying to make my very own Modify Tradition-inspired sampler quilt. They're doing a quilt-along over there, but I think I want to do this at my own pace. I'm already behind on Rachel's pinwheel sampler — I caught up for all of one day!

So here is my to-do list before I can buy more fabric. Hopefully posting it here will keep me accountable...

1. pinwheel sampler quilt-along block five
2. put together backing for Happy Campers
3. baste Happy Campers
4. work on sashing for whirlygigs
5. get paid

The last item on that list is probably the most important :)

In sale news: QuiltHome is giving 20% off Valori Wells fabric, patterns and books through March 29 with the code vwf20.

Fabric.com is giving an extra 30% off sale (which is already 30%-50% off) through March 29 with code CLEARANCE323.

ps: I am also completely addicted to the Fresh Modern Quilts Flickr pool. Inspiration city.

National Quilting Day and Friday Night Sew-In results

Happy National Quilting Day! Today is also my the first day of Spring and my half-birthday, which means I'm six months away from the big 2-5. I'm still getting used to being 24. Weird.

I got a ton of stuff done yesterday! It was the Friday Night Sew-In, but I sewed pretty much all day. I think I spent about 8 or 9 hours cutting and sewing.

I got all caught up on the pinwheel sampler quilt along. (Of course, Rachel posted a new block today!)

block three


block four

After that, I switched to whirlygigs:

I managed to cut fabric and piece all twenty of my whirlygig blocks! I'm incredibly pleased with how they turned out. They were remarkably simple to put together, which was surprising because not only had I never made one before, I wasn't following a tutorial. They will be about 8" finished.

For the second block of the Pinwheel Sampler Quilt-Along, Rachel included an amazing tutorial on taming the bulky seams in the center of the blocks. I honestly think I'm addicted to it. The way you press the seams gives the blocks a pretty cool effect. I used it for all my whirlygig blocks.

If you participated in the Friday Night Sew-In, what did you get done? How are you celebrating National Quilting Day and/or the first day of Spring?

In sale news: Natalia at Piece N Quilt is giving you 25% off your purchase using coupon code "Nationalquiltingday" through midnight tonight.

Leah at Burgundy Buttons is offering 10% off with the code "NQD" all weekend.

it's Friday!

I had every intention of posting yesterday, but I had a surprise houseguest. Spring break in Austin means South by Southwest, which means there are a million extra people here. For those of you who don't know, SXSW is a festival of festivals. There's a film festival, a music festival, and an interactive portion. So a friend decided at the last minute to come enjoy some of the music festivities Wednesday night and — surprise! — I had a houseguest to entertain Thursday afternoon. No complaints here, it's always fun when people come to visit. Just sayin', it threw off my schedule a bit. Luckily I managed to get everything all washed and ready Wednesday afternoon, so when my friend left yesterday I busted out the rotary cutter and dug in.

I'm really excited about Rachel's pinwheel sampler quilt-along. They've already made four blocks (actually eight, since we're making two of each block design). My grand idea was to cut the fabric for all eight blocks at once. That may have been a silly plan, because I needed different quantities of squares in three or four different sizes. My brain started to hurt a bit, and I cut pieces the wrong size more than once. The good news is I'm half-way to being caught up:

block one

block two

I'm pretty happy with how they turned out, in spite of my tired, mushy brain. I had to take the orange and yellow version of block two apart and put it back together because the points were so very off. It's still not perfect, but after looking at the picture I feel better about it.

I'm really excited to finish catching up tonight — it's the Friday Night Sew-In! I'm going to get started now!

my oldest work in progress

Today's topic for the blog-along is "my oldest work in progress." Mine has to be this Christmas Carpenter's Star:

My mom bought this pattern and fabric for me in August (I think) of 2005. If I remember correctly, Mom took me to the quilt store in Arlington after my boyfriend of almost three years broke up with me to date someone who lived in the same town as he did (oh, college and long-distance-relationships). The quilt was supposed to keep me busy and distracted while I got over him. Sadly, I was 19 and living in a tiny two-bedroom apartment with three other girls. Didn't have much space to work. So it got packed away in this box for a few years...

It looks like I got as far as washing the fabrics and cutting out my fat quarters to make the star. I have the background and border fabric folded up in that box. I also had some Mountain Mist 100% polyester batting in there (ew). Did I mention all the fabrics are flannel? I'm going to set aside that batting for a different project... maybe some pillows or a wall hanging. I think that when I get this thing put together (which will happen eventually I hope) I'll use a low-loft, 100% cotton batting (or no batting at all with two layers of flannel!) so it's not too hot to use. I think it will turn out to be a nice, traditional, shabby-country-ish, Christmasy quilt one day.

Reading Julie's blog-along post gave me an amazing idea. She mentioned keeping a spreadsheet with a start and finish date of all her projects. I've been keeping things "organized" in various piles around my house and files saved on the desktop of my computer. So now I'm going to copy Julie's idea and take it a step further (so Julie, am I more obsessive, or more detailed?)... I started a spreadsheet today to track my WIPs. It not only lists start dates, but also details the fabric I've purchased, including the name, color, amount, price (with shipping), and where I bought it. It's definitely opening my eyes to the cost of a completed project. I'm happy to say that so far in my spreadsheet, I have the materials for three quilt tops, and I'm not horrified when I realize how much I've spent per project. The quilt for my dad's birthday is (rightly) the most expensive, while fun lap quilts for me are cheaper.

Things to come...

So instead of washing fabric, I spent today recording a cello part the boyfriend wrote me for one of his songs. I'm holding out for one more thing to arrive. Since the Fat Quarter Shop is located about 15 miles away from me, it should arrive tomorrow! (Sometimes I wish shipping charges were calculated by the mile...)

Remember when I wrote a post about buying quilt fabric? I said: "if I find a good deal on something I just can't live without, I would probably impulsively buy it, and then create a project for it."

The example I used was the Everything but the Kitchen Sink collection by RJR fabrics. Last week it was the daily deal at the Missouri Star Quilt Co. and of course I had to get it. I got a charm pack plus shipping for under $10 and proceeded to spend the next couple days trying to figure out what to do with it.

After pouring over "recipes" at the Moda Bake Shop and myriad images and tutorials from other quilty blogs out there, I decided I'm going to make whirlygigs, inspired by Cathy at Quilting on Turtle Hill. I'm going to add sashing to mine, which will make a good-size lap quilt with about 20 blocks. So thanks, Cathy, for feeding my little habit :)

ps: it's Tuesday, so check out Julie's list of giveaways. AND jaybirdquilts is doing a giveaway of some awesome American Jane stuff from Burgundy Buttons.

and in sale news: Fabric.com is having a sale in honor of National Quilt Month — they have something like 1,200 quilting cottons on sale for $3.99.

finished quilt top and some blogs to check out

After dragging my feet for days, I finally finished assembling the quilt top. I'm incredibly happy with how it turned out, especially the corners. Tomorrow I plan to wash the backing fabric and assemble the back. I should be able to get it quilted this weekend!

Before I got started quilting this morning, I was drinking my coffee and perusing new blog updates on my Google reader and found two awesome blogs you should check out...

For amazing deals and fabric finds: The Fabric Shopper — Rosie is a seamstress who blogs about online fabric finds, including a "Saturday sales blitz," among other things. Her "what's on sale and where" page hosts a Google document where retailers can submit their sale information and is a must-visit when you're shopping.

For tutorials and inspiration: Modify Tradition — QuiltDad wrote about this in his latest post. These ladies "modify" traditional blocks by making them with modern fabrics. I was so enthralled when I clicked over, I had a hard time pulling myself away from the computer!

Things to look forward to

I did it! I think it took me longer to arrange the scraps than it did to actually sew them together. The strip is just a teeny bit longer than the width of the quilt top, so I think I'll need to add a bit to either end.

It's ridiculous how excited I am about the Friday Night Sew-In. Since I work nights, I only have Thursday and Friday nights free (my "weekend"). I'm putting off date night with the boyfriend for a week so I can participate. I'm really hoping some of my new fabric comes in the mail before Friday so I can have it washed and start some new projects.



And yes, I know I said I had already blown my fabric budget for the month, but I also said that Tuesdays were my "Fridays" at work. I'm getting more hours starting this week (!), which means Wednesdays are my new "Fridays," and I have a slightly larger quilting budget.

Next up on my to-do list: Pinwheel Sampler Quilt-Along (I'm already four blocks behind!), and a whirlygig quilt, inspired by Cathy's.

In sale news: If you're not following True Up, you should be. They post a list of fabric sales every Sunday in addition to amazing mini-lessons on fabric.

slowing progress, time for a change of pace?

I got one more row done on the Happy Campers quilt today. I'm so close to finishing the top I can almost taste it, but it seems the closer I get, the slower I work! I think I need to switch gears for a bit to get my motivation back. I'm dying to start a few other projects, but I'm still waiting for some fabric to come in before I can pre-wash. Since I have to pay $2.75 to wash and dry a load of laundry (no matter how small) at my apartment complex, I like to get my money's worth with a full load.

Maybe working on the back will inspire me to finish the top. I have decided to use the remnants of my jelly roll (below) to piece a strip to go between the two backing pieces.



I should also be able to use the pieced strip to sort-of "underline" what I'm doing with my leftover charm squares. I'm planning to appliqué "Happy Campers" on the back, using one charm square per letter. I don't, however, think I'm going to hand appliqué the letters. I'll most likely be ironing them on after the quilting is done, along with a label.

All this business on the back makes me nervous about getting the backing straight with the front. Usually my quilt backs wind up a little off kilter.

So I'm considering attempting spray-basting this quilt. I read the instructions on a can at the fabric store, but I was still somewhat hesitant to buy it. I don't have a whole lot of space to lay the sandwich out on the floor, and I have carpet, so I couldn't really tape the backing down like most tutorials advise. If the directions on the can are accurate, it seems I could smooth the backing over the batting, then flip and do the same with the top. It seems easier to only mess with attaching one side at a time. But I have no idea how quickly the adhesive bonds or how long the bond lasts. I would absolutely love to hear some of your experiences with different basting techniques — especially if you have tips for basting in small spaces!

the elusive perfectly matched corners

I hope I didn't jinx myself with that title. I put together the first two rows of Happy Campers and (drumroll, please) ... the corners match up!

I was pretty nervous about this when I began piecing my blocks, because despite my best efforts, they were not exactly 12½" square. But the quilting gods are smiling on me today, because the blocks seem to be off by the same amount. This has made my day.

One thing I learned while piecing the rows: be very aware of which end of the pin is going in your mouth. When I'm sewing and a pin gets in the way of my needle, I'll usually just hold it in my mouth instead of trying to find my pincushion. While I was putting these two rows together, I stabbed myself in the lip. No blood, but boy did it sting!

In sale news: Take 10% off a purchase at Sew, Mama, Sew until March 15 using code "10MARCHLION2010". I especially like the Modern Meadow collection, but the 10% off is good on sale stuff too!

Get 5% off at Piece n Quilt using code "12109news" — all their patterns and books are on sale until Monday.

And, of course, every day there's an amazing deal from the Missouri Quilt Co. A couple days ago, I got a charm pack of Everything but the Kitchen Sink for less than $10 with shipping. I think I'm going to try my hand at whirlygigs with these.

Blocks done!

Don't you just feel a wave of accomplishment when you finish one leg of a project? I finished piecing my Happy Campers blocks today! I would have started putting rows together, but I was piecing blocks between debilitating cramps. As I write this, I'm cuddled up on the couch with a heating pad (sometimes being a girl is just the worst).

Here are a few of my favorite blocks:

   

I'm still trying to decide if I want to do anything special on the back. I was considering appliquéing "Happy Campers" on the back with the charm squares I have left. I'm also considering doing something with all that's left of my jelly roll:

What would you do with them? Do you like to spice up the back, or leave all the glory to the front?