Hello, hello, is anybody still out there?This has been one heck of a winter. We still have about two feet of snow on the ground but at least we have sunshine and blue skies today.I recently treated myself to a new friend for spring sewing. Look at her; she's a sweet celery colored Singer featherweight - just right for getting into the spring sewing swing. I know what you are thinking. Some of you may think I have enough sewing machines, others of you know and understand. Really, this wasn't just a new, for play, machine. Really.
Miss P and her friends are at just the right age for learning to sew. SO, I was thinking that I could get back into teaching kids sewing classes and maybe even have a kids sewing camp this summer. I'd like to have five kids sewing at a time so I really need ONE MORE featherweight.Still, I need to get her broken in and make sure she'll be a good machine for classes.
See, I have a fresh spring colored project ready to go.I'll be making a baby quilt from Jaybird's Science Fair pattern. It's always good to have a few baby quilts on hand.
I'm hoping for this winter to melt away into the past and happier, sunnier, less stressful days for sewing to sprout up.
2014 The Year of the Red and White Quilt
I know many quilters were inspired by the "Infinite Variety:Three Centuries of Red and White Quilts" show sponsored by the American Folk Art Museum in 2011. I certainly was. I made a high energy red and white quilt last year and am eager to make another red and white quilt.Did you see that SewCalGal is hosting a year of Red and White Quilt challenges? The design challenge scheduled later in the year may be just the motivation I need to get another red and white quilt designed and made.The first event over at SewCalGal is a quilt show of Red and White Quilts made before 2014.My entry is this quilt made from the traditional Grand Right and Left block.
I made the quilt and wrote the directions up as a free pattern on the Fairfield website.
My original post for this quilt is here.Head on over and see the rest of the red and white quilts entered in the virtual quilt show.
Fat Quarterly - issue 16 - SCRAPS
The latest issue of Fat Quarterly is available today!Go get yours, it has lots of great scrappy projects in it, including this one of mine! I am SO glad I can finally share it with you! I worked on this quilt most of last fall.
It's called The Whole Nine Yards because it uses nine yards of background fabric!
It took a long time to make but I really enjoyed the process. There are loads of little half square triangles in there and I got to dig DEEP in the scrap bin.
Peek
I finally finished the quilt that consumed much of my fall. It's a queen size scrap quilt and the full quilt and directions will be featured in the next issue of Fat Quarterly.Watch for it. The entire issue is on SCRAPS. Yeah, I think I'm gonna like the whole issue. I can hardly wait.
Barn Quilt
I've been wanting to share this quilt with you but I needed some helpers to hold it for photographing. D was eager to help as long as he got to climb out on the roof of the barn. Hm. This is a BIG quilt.
I made this king size quilt for B's parents back in 1999. B's dad had told me that he always wanted a handmade quilt on his bed but had never had one. I let him look through some of my quilt books and he chose this Dahlia pattern, Dahlia Delight, from Quick and Easy Scrap Quilts
The hand applique blocks made a nice travel project.
I hand quilted this one on a big frame in our living room and had a couple of friends who came over to helped quilt it. The boys also each put in a few stitches. They weren't very old then!
It is nice to have this one at our house now. M has been sleeping under it while he's been home for Thanksgiving break. It has a flannel sheet for the batting and is quite warm.
Colonial Halloween
Miss P finished her costume last night just after bed time. Whew. She thought it was a lot of work and there may have been some unhappy words at the thought of HAND sewing the snaps and inner ties. In the end she did the hand sewing and was THRILLED to have done it herself.She told me this morning that she thought she was smiling in her sleep all night!
She put one of her dress up tutus on underneath to give it a little fullness at the top of the skirt; it was pretty droopy without the extra fluff.It is a good thing that the dress is long because we didn't have time to complete the look with period footwear.
A colonial dress has been on her wish list since our visit to Colonial Williamsburg two years ago. I am happy that SHE is happy.The pattern is from my vintage children's sewing pattern collection.edit to add- I helped speed things along by using the ruffler foot on the featherweight to gather/ruffle the lace. She glue basted the lace to the front panel before stitching - that was much easier than stitching the wiggly pinned lace.
Tiny Pieces
I'm back from a whirlwind trip to Houston for fall Quilt Market. I haven't fully digested it all yet but I wanted to share some of my favorites from the antique booths.You all know I have a weakness for quilts with tiny pieces. Have a look at these. I put my lens cap in the photos for size comparison.I love a good feathered star. There was a double row of the little sawteeth all the way around the quilt.
These snowball blocks were pretty sweet.
How about these little fans? Sigh.
It makes me want to cut and sew all my scraps.This star block was interesting in that not all of those star points worked out the same. This was made by a "make it work" quilter. The slice of muslin at the point on the right sure adds interest to the quilt.
Halloween Costume Pattern - from the Archives
Miss Petunia wants to make her own Halloween costume this year. She chose this pattern from my vintage collection and we ordered the paisley fabric online.My job while she is at school today is to make a "muslin" of the bodice so that we can have a fitting after school. She will make the final version herself.
Scrap Management
As soon as P started back to school, it seems that my brain had some space for sewing ideas. This week I designed a bunch of quilts and started cutting up scraps. I cut a whole stack of triangles for half square triangle units that would finish at one inch. When I started sewing them I realized how small that actually was. Hmmm. I put that project in a bag and scaled up my plan. I cut an even LARGER stack of triangles that will finish at one and a quarter inches. Yeah, because that's SO much bigger.
Fun times, I tell you. I may be finished with the summer blahs and be moving into full fall sewing madness!It's a good thing I have have at least FIVE quilts started and on my project table right now. I'll be able to alternate between them. When I get the crazies from tiny triangles, I can switch to tiny squares!!! Bwahahahahahahaha!!!
Lucky Girl with Linen
I finished the second Lucky Girl quilt for Jennifer last week and took it to Lake Michigan for a photo shoot. Here's a little pool ambiance for you.
I added a bit of linen to this quilt. This is a pretty linen that I thought was a perfect match to the brownish mustard color in some of the Lucky Girl prints. I used it for a few scattered pinwheels and also the binding. I think it gives the quilt a bit of a sophisticated flair.
I stitched in the ditch around each of the pinwheels but left the solid parts blank. The rest of the quilt is quilted with an allover shellish design. I think I've got the hang of stitching in the ditch with the longarm now, at least on straight lines.
Here's a fun shot from the back with the sunlight shining through.
The finished quilt is 60 by 78 inches.Lucky Girl Progress
I'm almost finished with my next Lucky Girl quilt forJennifer. I just completed the quilting and took it off the frame. I hope to get the binding on and share it with you soon.For now, I'll share my progress successes with you.Check it out!! I can stitch in the ditch now! I love learning new skills. I still need some practice on curves but look at that straight stitching there. I'm pretty thrilled with it.
And look how close I was to running out of thread on the last prewound bobbin.
I am a LUCKY GIRL; the stars must be aligned in my favor this week!
Lucky Girl
In my summer of slow sewing I finally finished a quilt!!
This is a commission quilt for Jennifer Paganelli and uses her upcoming Lucky Girl line of fabrics. It was pretty fun to put together even if there are loads of partial seams. I love the herringbone effect.
I had fun quilting it with loopy loops on the longarm.Finished measurements 60 x 80 inches.I should probably also mention that my oldest son designed this quilt for me. Yeah, he's helpful like that AND he's good with quilt math.I'm working on another more involved quilt from the same fabric line so stay tuned for that!
Three Kitchen Fairies
We have had some lovely weather this week in Michigan. I've been taking advantage of the cooler drier air by spending time outside reading and even doing a little hand stitching. It's been like a vacation without the hassle of packing and driving.Paloma, of Three Kitchen Fairies, sent me some of her hexie papers to try and I finally got around to making a project with them. These are one inch on each side. The paper is thinner than the papers I had been using and I love that you can get a thin crisp turned edge with these papers. They are also easier to pop out after stitching. The papers in the photo have been used and are in great condition for using again. If you want to try them yourself you can get the papers here in Paloma's etsy shop. She also has some sweet instant download embroidery patterns. I especially like this one.A few scraps, aurifil 50 wt thread, and hexie papers are the perfect ingredients for relaxing afternoon and a pretty transformation for a tea towel.
Now, I think I need to get some more of these bright tea towels to decorate.
Oceans of Notions
This is a reposting of a guest post I did on Pink Castle Fabrics as part of their "Oceans of Notions" series back in February. I thought it might be good to post it over here too.Oceans of NotionsWhen Megan first asked me to share some of my studio for her Oceans of Notions feature here I was a little nervous. My sewing room is far from what I would expect to see in an inspirational storage and studio feature. Megan assured me they are looking for inspirational ideas that anyone can use so I agreed to share.
First, I need to tell you that I don't have a finished sewing room. We have been renovating our house for the last 25 years. Yes, you read that right twenty five YEARS. I no longer even notice that half of my sewing room doesn't have a ceiling. A few years ago, we removed the wood wall surface from one corner of my sewing room. In doing so, we discovered a hidden space under the stairs. 
We turned that space into a "queenly place" for my daughter. I let her decorate her room with some of my vintage linens and "tapestries". She has spent many hours playing in there while I sew. 
I'm sharing this with you to illustrate that my studio is constantly changing. We are moving things and rearranging as the need arises. Now that my daughter is in second grade she doesn't use her queenly place as much but spends a lot of time at her desk which is also in my sewing room. She does homework, artwork, or sews while I work at my computer or on the sewing machine.
With our needs constantly changing I need storage for my sewing notions that can adapt to each incarnation of the room. I like using old items that I may already have to store things in. My collection of ribbons, trims, and rick rack are arranged in an old suitcase.
I keep my threads in an old wooden two drawer thread cabinet that belonged to my mother. Floss and perle cotton are stored in a more modern thread cabinet.
I keep this pin cushion jar right next to my sewing machine. The bottom holds the small safety pins that I use to baste the layers of a quilt together. I drop the open pins in the jar as I quilt and they are ready to use on the next quilt. The top has a pin cushion that holds a couple of "self threading" needles for burying threads as I quilt. The large flower head pins are the ones that my daughter uses when she sews. I like that the weight of the jar holds the cushion in place while I pull out the needles.
Much of my old sewing notion collection is stored in jars. I have jars and jars of old buttons.
Not all of the sewing notions are housed in my sewing room. This cabinet is in our entry but someday I hope to have a place to hang it in my sewing room. It has some antique sewing items and other goodies behind the glass. The drawers on the right are filled with elastic, beads, buttons, vintage lace, silk ribbon, and special embroidery threads. (Please note the additional jars of buttons and ignore the cracked plaster and old woodstove holes in the wall).
Some of my old sewing items are just for show and are kept in the livingroom in a glass cabinet. Here, you might be able to see a basket of antique needle books and another of antique buttons. The old basket on the left is filled with old wooden spools. Yeah, I have a real weakness for old sewing stuff. Is there a twelve step program for that?
I hope some of these storage ideas can help you keep your sewing notions tamed and easy to find.Thread Play
Yesterday, I quilted a small baby quilt on the Gammill. It was good to get some practice loading, basting the sides, keeping it square, etc.Today, I pinned the practice muslin back on the frame and switched to a darker thread for visibility over all my other practice.
I'm having fun switching back and forth between freeform sewing like these plants and feathers on one side of the practice piece
and skill building drills on the other half. I think of it like the compulsory figures and and free skating sections in figure skating competitions. (Yes, I know that they no longer judge compulsory figures but I do remember watching them and was impressed by the figures left on the ice - you didn't want to see a double line after skating the figure with both feet.) I hope the quilting drills will help build muscle memory for better freehand quilting. I'm currently making rows and rows of circles working both horizontally and vertically and I'm getting better at making them the same on each row.
Welcome to a New Member of the My Sewing Machine Family
Look! I have a new friend in the sewing room. It's a Gammill!!!!
The lovely Tammy from TK Quilting and Designs brought it to my house yesterday. After putting it together she taught me the basics on loading, oiling, threading and getting started with the quilting. She even stitched out a few feathers for me to stitch over, and over, and over. I'm stitching it without thread for practice. It really does help build the muscle memory for making smooth curves and flowing feathers.
We had fun taking turns last night. Look, it's so easy a child can do it! Actually, Miss P was pretty good. She stitched out an awesome swirly border and a mermaid!
D tried the pantograph set up.
We filled up our practice quilt but didn't want to stop to load more fabric so we just kept stitching.I want to quilt all the things!
I think it might be time to load something new. I'll have to make a quick top... unless someone else has a quilt I can play on. Anyone?
Fabric Swap Projects
A while back, the Ann Arbor Modern Quilt Guild had a "fabric swap" we all brought fabrics that we no longer needed in our stashes and made a very large pile of fabric on the floor. On the count of three we dove in and chose fabrics that we each wanted to add to our stash. It was quite a "free for all" luckily, no one was harmed. All unclaimed fabric was donated for charity quilts.I tried to be particular with the fabrics I brought home and choose only fabrics that I knew I would use. I am please to report that I've already used some! Woot!!!I made this cross body bag to use at quilt market this spring. I used Kathy Mack's Mail Sack pattern but added a pocket to the outside. It is a great place to pin all the fun buttons I collected at market. The heavy weight fabric is perfect for this bag that holds a lot of weight. The lining is a batik that has been in my stash for many years. I score bonus points for that, right?
Next up is a pair of Parsley pajama shorts for Miss P. She loves them.
They are made out of a lightweight searsucker stripe with a tiny sliver of silver metallic woven in.
Now that we know which size fits her she will be making her OWN Parsly pajama pants out of this swap score.
Thanks ladies, I don't know who brought these fun fabrics to the swap but I am thrilled with the projects we are making with them.
The Crafty Chloe Geranium
You have no idea how happy I am that today is the last day of school.So. Very. Ready.Miss P finished her geranium top (This is the Geranium for older girls pattern that we are testing for Rae. It will be released soon.) last night so that she could wear it to school today. I think she did a great job. Before starting this top, she remembered that last summer when she entered her skirt in the fair, the judges commented that she should finish the seams on the inside of a garment.She learned how to do French seams and also hand stitched the lining like I did on the dress version.
She wanted ruffles for sleeves so we added those too. That pattern piece was not in the pattern. Just cut an elongated D shape cut on the fold and gathered into the armhole. I love that P is learning new sewing skills and gaining confidence. I helped her a lot less with this project. And I let her use my "cool" sewing machine. She is still finding it hard to believe that I let her use the BIG machine.
Miss P got the book Crafty Chloe, illustrated by Heather Ross, for Christmas and we love it. It's about a craft loving girl who makes a gift for a friend - a great read for crafty girls.I was thrilled to find this Crafty Chloe fabric, also by Heather Ross, for P to use in this top. She loves it too.
I snapped these photos quickly before we headed to school this morning.I have now turned off my alarm clock for summer! Woo hoo. Here's to the more relaxed and slower pace of summer vacation!
My Favorite Quilt Photo - EVER!
I shared this over on facebook but not here. I think even if you saw it over there, it deserves another look.I think you can see why I sent Tealorange to my cousin. She LOVES orange. I love the way she styled this photo she took the day she got the quilt. I also cannot believe how clean she keeps her car. Living on a dirt road, my car hasn't been that clean since the day we bought it. This photo makes me smile every time I see it.
Geranium
I did a little garment sewing this weekend! I was practically jumping out of my seat when Rae asked if I would test the big girl version of her Geranium dress (which is a child version of her Washi dress). I had been eagerly awaiting the Geranium in sizes for older girls.I expect this dress to get a lot of wear so I took the time to make French seams on the skirt.
I also fully lined the yoke.
I just love the little notch detail in the neckline.
It adds a bit of style without being "over the top" for young girls.
Miss P is thrilled with the new dress in this fun orange print from Jennifer Paganelli. This is the size six with a little extra length.
The making of the dress went so well that Miss P is making HERSELF a top from the same pattern. She chose which variations she wanted to make and is well on her way.I let her use my big Bernina for this one. She thinks the Bernina is really cool and more fun to sew on than the featherweight. She likes that I can set it for slow sewing and there is no danger of accidentally going too fast.Stay tuned for Miss P's top AND the release of the Geranium for older girls. You will love all the variations you can get with this pattern.
