Fat Tuesday's T-Shirt Quilt

I used to like the idea of a t-shirt quilt. I've been saving these t-shirts since I was little....I have shirts in here that I've had since I was nine ( I won't say how long that is, but it's over twenty years by a decent bit...).  They've moved around with me from place to place; quite honestly by the time I got around to it I was kind of over it. 

I cut them into pieces about two years ago, right when I started to sew and got all excited about quilting. Then other projects got in the way and my little rectangles fell by the wayside.  I almost didn't continue on it but it seemed a waste to go thru dragging those t-shirts around for all this time and then do nothing with them. So sew them together I did, and look how fun it turned out! The top of course, it's not done. I need to sew on the ironed on patches and then  quilt and bind it- I'm procrastinating, I'll admit it. Actually I'm hoping that posting the top here will inspire me to finish it by next week to show y'all. It's certainly not a work of art, but it's memories and it's mine and I'm so glad I went ahead with it. Here's to being back next week to show it off!

Green Blue Yellow...tied

***CLARIFICATION***  If you love our blog, and keep reading into the post below mine, please note that I didn't write it!  We have 4 authors on this blog, and the author of the previous post ("Let's Hear It For The Girl") is Holly (see sidebar), who is pregnant with a girl.  I, Melody, may or may not be having a girl, but we won't find out the gender until our ultrasound in May.  Don't worry, I'll let you guys know when that happens...  :)
I got a few texts/messages today congratulating me on "the girl"...I will be passing those congrats on to Holly!
Ok, keep reading the real post...

***  ***

So, I've been a bad blogger lately.  I was absent last week, and for all intents and purposes, my sewing machine hasn't seen much of me either.  So...bad blogger, bad sewer.  Not sure what it is, but it could be just the ups and downs of having a hobby.  A hobby you can take and leave as you want, but when you have prescribed date to check in with the blogging world, then sometimes the rate at which you do your hobby and the rate at which you write about your hobby don't exactly match up.

Well... I did finish the blue/green/yellow quilt for my brother, and I'll show you!

tying the quilt -
i used yellow embroidery thread to match the center diamonds

whole quilt -
i wrapped the back around to the front for a 3 inch "binding".  (call me a cheater)

close up of the tying.
square knots.

All folded up and ready to deliver to Adrian!

Hope he likes this labor of love from my Grandma and me!

Lets Hear it for the Girl!!

So last week I found out I was having a girl and I am oh so very excited!!! Besides all of the clothes I want to sew and freezer stencil for her I am also looking forward to sewing everything for her nursery/blanket needs. If you recall last October, Miranda and sold some of our handmade items at Oktoberfest. One of the things I had made on a whim one day was this precious baby "quilt". I put quotations around that because technically a quilt is fabric sandwiching padding and sewn together. Well I sewed my pieced top straight onto fleece with no padding. I wanted to give it a more comfy baby feeling. When I was done I had fallen in love with it and at the time (not pregnant) wanted to keep it for myself on the off chance I ever had another baby and it would be a girl. But that seemed silly. Well no one has purchased said quilt and now pregnant with a girl, it is all mine!!!

The lighting doesn't do the colors justice, but it is shades of green, turquoise and taupe with hints of yellow.

The design is a basic subway pattern but I added fours scattered square blocks throughout of bigger patterns to help break up the straight lines. Some of the fabric came from fat quarters from Joann's, but a few of the other scraps came from a scrap bag I purchased last summer at the Sisters out door quilt show and just to name drop the scrap bag was from Valori Wells' studio (so I was told). I also have some scraps that came from a shirt my mom made last summer and a blanket I made for a friend last year with fabric purchased from the Stitchin Post in Bend, OR. So there are many cool memories linked to this quilt and I think I was just meant to keep it.

Something else I did differently on this quilt, besides the fleece backing, was to use ribbon binding. I typically make my own binding and hand sew it on, but I wanted to try something new and knowing it was a baby blanket I have always like the texture and look of ribbon edging.

Lastly, this is a photo of some flannel from Joann's I randomly picked up several months ago. Flannel was on sale, I saw this, loved it and bought 2 yards...ha ha. Not only is it really cute and has birds... but the greens and blues and taupe match perfectly with the above blanket. I think my nursery is decorating itself. Now what to make with this.. a crib sheet? a self binding flannel blanket? Something else entirely?

What do you think??

See you next week!

Holly

sewing...sparsely

 Awhile back, I wrote a post about some different projects I had coming up, and I've made a bit of progress on a quilt for my brother.  Now, my grandma had made him a quilt that he has loved and cherished, so much so that it is worn to pieces, beyond repair.  He asked her to make him another, and she agreed (!), with the understanding that I would help her piece it together during her visit to our neck of the woods.  Well, she was out here for a month, and with all the visiting, cooking, baking, and lounging in the sun, we didn't quite get the quilt finished.  So as she left, she passed along the project to me.  I told my brother I'd finish it as my birthday present to him...I mean, he's my brother, I'm not going to be nice just BECAUSE. :)

So...in my sewing room (read: garage workshop that I share with my husbands tools and new drumset...story on that later), I've been piecing together the last of these blocks!

right sides together

the big block, comprised of four blocks

big block is 17" square

each small block began as a 9" block

diagonal scrappy strips sewn on to a backing piece (scrap)

picking out the fabric for the back.  

love it.  

and my brother approved it.  

and Bennett's hand is trying to touch it in the picture.  

Shopping in JoAnn's with two little ones can be challenging...

Today, I'm trying to sew all the rows together, with sashing in between, and then get it all pinned together tomorrow, so I can tie it (g'ma's preferred method of keeping the quilt sandwich together).  

A good netflix queue and a quilt to tie/bind can do wonders for the soul.

Darin' to be Squarish...

Last year I picked up this great book on modern quilts called Dare to be Square by Boo Davis. It is definitely a beginner's book, which was great, and after doing a few traditional quilts I was looking to do something different. Most of her stuff is pretty hard core and innappropriate (which I didn't know until after buying the book and googling her) so if you check out her website, fair warning it's crude. Her book, however, has more of a cute, fun approach to block-by-block quilting. Here are the couple that I made:

For my first two kids I had crocheted them baby blankets. Well... ever since stepping into the world of Quilting I have had very little desire to ever crochet a blanket again. I have picked up the hook for a couple beanies but even then I was itching to get back to my machine. So, I decided baby number 3 would get a quilt. I loved the wiener dog and it was so easy! Definitely had this done in a weekend. I decided to back it with flannel to give it a little extra coziness since quilts can take several washes before they have that wonderful worn-in soft, comfy feeling.

My 5 year old (then 4) had been asking me to make her a quilt and she really liked the Robot on page . So we headed to JoAnn's and I let her help pick out the fabric. Disregarding all my best efforts to sway her color choice she picked a green robot with a pink background and purple accents. She was even particular about the exact fabric and shade of color she chose.

I was actually surprised with how it came together and it wasn't as hideous as I imagined it would be. I added the piano key borders because I did want to make it big enough to fit on a full size bed. My daughter was very happy with it and when I finished she said "wow" and promptly asked when I was going to make her another one. HA! Got to love kids!!

I also made the bunnies from the end of the book, two of which coordinate with the blankets.

The greatest thing I learned from making these quilts was how easy it was to take a concept and make it into a design. It gave me some confidence in my ability to come up with something on my own. Since then I have made several quilts that I just sort of drew out what I wanted it to look like and took and block-by-block approach to piecing them. It's always fun to see how they turn out. I will still follow patterns when I see one I like but I definitely have gained some freedom from my desire to always follow a pattern.

Until next week....

Holly

unnamed quilt...finished.

Meet ______________.

 I have yet to name her.  She's a surprise gift for a friend, whose husband asked me to "make her a purple quilt....and grey.....king size...."  We later nixed the king size for a throw size that she could still "throw" on to her "king size" bed if she wanted to.

My proudest accomplishment on this one:  four awesome corners.  I've never had all four corners look...well, like corners.  I'm going to go ahead and pat myself on the back for this one!

I had a wonderful lady that I met at a quilting class last year do the quilting on her long-arm quilting machine, and she did it for a great price!  It makes me want to get started on my next quilt!  She has made a loyal customer out of me...look at those awesome flowers/leaves/squiggles...  Love it.

Oh, and my handsome husband is already testing out its comfy rating before we give it to the recipient. Verdict:  8.5 out of 10.  And that's pre-washing!  

Here's the big picture of the quilt, where you can see the pattern.  I used the Seville pattern  by one of my favorite quilter/bloggers, Cluck Cluck Sew.

Any suggestions on names?

Sneak Peek

So Monday was a holiday and I was given a few child free hours by my awesome husband to sew with no interruptions. I was getting tired of sewing the tumblers together for my scrap quilt so I pulled out my cut pieces for my king size bed quilt. I put on pandora to a little 90's/early 2000's mix and got to sewing. Also because is was a Monday sewing night I got a few more hours in the evening and to my delight I was able to finish my quilt top...in one day!

Here is a sneak peek, I don't want to show the finished product until I quilt it.

I was super happy with how the colors turned out together. I really love the center blue which is actually the main color of the quilt which you will see later on.

Besides that we have been enjoying the wonderful 80 degree San Diego weather this week and yesterday we decided it was a perfect day to dig in the dirt.

See you next week!!

Holly

projects in the works v. 1

a quilt for my brother

greens, yellows, blues  - using fat quarters and a few cuts of yardage from good ol' JoAnn's.

a quilt for one of my boys - inspired by his grandpa, and two of his great grandpas who were pilots.

using Paper Dolls Around the World fabric, designed by Blue Hill Fabrics 

fabric notecards
inspired by scrap fabric, my love of stationery, and Sergio Mendez, my "beloved" serger.

I will keep you updated on my progress!  And I can't wait to show you a quilt I made for a friend, commissioned by her husband (so sweet) on a surprise basis (I love surprises!).  I'm getting it back from the long-arm quilting lady I use on Tuesday...can't wait!

I'll give you a little teaser...

Check back next Monday, my friends.

Let the Sunshine In!!

Here in sunny San Diego, we've had a week or so of (in my humble opinion), perfect weather.  The sun has been shining, temp floating around 75/80 at the beach, and all sorts of people out and about enjoying the outside.  I got some sewing done, but only because it was a sew-date with my girlfriend and coworker, Catherine.  She and I often bring our latest crafty creations in the office, each offering oh's and ah's, as well as technique tips for how to accomplish something as fantastic as whatever we brought in.

So last week, Catherine showed me the tutorial for a project she wanted to do.  I loved it so much, I told her I'd make it too!  I'm being vague here on purpose, because the not-quite-finished-yet project will be given to Melody for her <belated> birthday gift... once it has been gifted, I'll put up the link from where we found the tutorial, plus some pics.

Back to this past weekend of gloriousness.  Catherine and I had our sew-date sipping Iced Tea and feeling the warm Santa Ana breezes come through her house - most of the windows and doors were open.  The project turned out to be a new challenge that neither of us had tried before: Binding.  Now for all my fellow blog cohorts, quilting/binding is pretty common, but I haven't yet ventured into the world of quilts.

To round out the weekend, my Boyfriend, David, built me a thread board to hang all my thread spools!  I gave him this pic as an idea (Thread Board Tree):

Original Thread Tree Inspiration

Then, when I was off busy at my sew-date, he took the concept and ran with it!  One inspirational sun pendant (and sunny day as well), jigsaw, man-tools of whatever other sort, and a few hours later, and ....


Man who knows how to use tools ~ yay!

... CHECK IT OUT! 

*** The construction of the board and nails is complete.  Now, I'll be painting it a deep burnt orange someday soon to really finish it off.  I love how detailed & personalized it is.  Thanks honey!

Cheers,
Nina

P.S. My tasty refreshing beverage while I type is a glass of chilled water with a few cucumber slices and a splash of lemon juice.  It's late, and I'll be heading to bed soon ~ it's a perfect "mocktail" as my nightcap.

If You're Riding a Horse at 40 MPH

So... I got all inspired this week to start on my quilt. I got out everything to cut, which by the way is my least favorite part of sewing, and everything was going great till I got to my last fabric. I mismeasured. And not by a little bit but by almost 2 yards. I guess it's my own fault for trying to copy a quilt I saw on a blog with no pattern. But seriously, 2 yards, I must have been smoking crack (not literally, but figuratively... if there is such a thing as figurative crack). Mostly I'm bummed because now I have to wait till next month to go buy it, on a budget here, and I am a little nervous that they won't have the fabric anymore. oh well. I will make do a forge ahead if necessary.

My double ARGH this week came as I tried starting my scrap quilt. I am trying to be brave like Miranda and not pin anything, especially since there are 783 pieces, but I am struggling. I did the first two rows and 90% of my seams don't line up. I am pretty sure it's because I am not pinning and therefore my seams aren't all exactly 1/4 inch which is essential in quilting (if you want it to look perfect) so not all my tumblers are the same size. Here is an example of what I am talking about:

I am trying to live by the motto of my Quilting class teacher, Constance. She always says something like "if your riding a horse at 40 mph hours are you going to see it (meaning your mistakes) then who cares." That is easier said than done for me especially if it's going to reside in my home. If it's off to someones else house, well then I don't have to look at it. Ha ha. I am determined not to take out the first 2 rows, but I think I am going to bite the bullet and pin the rest of the 731 pieces.

Well, until next week...

Holly

Grandma

I had a special birthday treat on Sunday afternoon.  It's not my birthday yet, but I've started celebrating the entire week leading up to my birthday....you know...just to get enough celebration out of my lovely husband, and enough dinners out to feel like I've had a cooking vacation!

So, on Sunday, my little family spent the afternoon at my mom's house, and my Grandma is visiting for the month, "drying out her bones", as she says.  (She lives in Seattle.)  I was working on a quilt for a friend, and I brought it to show my Grandma, so I could get a little pat on the back from an amazing lady who has passed on her blanket-making-passion to me.  Well, we got all motivated, and I started putting all my individual blocks together, arranging them, and she started picking them up and pinning them, getting them ready to go through the machine!

With my kids playing in the other room with family members, I was given the gift of sewing for an afternoon with my Grandma!  And the ironic thing is, she was my assistant.  Instead of the days of yore, where I would be picking out the next square to go in the quilt, she was dutifully picking up the next block in the pattern, and pinning it, right sides together, and making sure the block was facing the right way.

Sometimes we talked.  Sometimes we didn't.  Sometimes we commented on the chaos happening in the other room.  I got the top almost finished, with her help.  And it was a really big treat to sew with my Grandma who I don't get to see often enough.

Grandma with my little Marshall on her 90th birthday!

Patience

          Patience is not my strong point. Well, let me set some perameters around that: patience while SEWING is not my stong point. You've read my "about" page right? The love of fat quarters (i.e. small quick projects), the lack of pinning, the using of the rotery cutter to cut out EVERYTHING, the revoltion with patterns...no, it could be said that I am not exactly a perservering sort of seamstress. Which is why these poor girls got to listen to me whine about my lastest big deal project: a quilt for my wonderful mother in law.
            "Whatcha' doing tonight M?"
            "Oh cutting pieces for this quilt, which I'll be doing FOREVER. Mel, you don't mind do you? If I sit on your floor FOREVER and cut out pieces for this quilt? 'Cause I'm going to be here FOREVER!"
             Poor sweet girls- they were very forbearing. They listened to me whine about cutting, about pinning, (yes, I pinned a little- later I found out it was very nearly totally unessecary, I COULD have just pinned two rows down the middle and been fine I bet), about quilting. Very sweet, very forbearing. In fact not a one of them pulled out the lovely queen sized quilt that Melody has on her bed to show me the bajillion little pieces and roll their eyes as I cut out 6" by 6" or 6" by 18" rectangles.

              But it is done y'all, done. And it turned out so pretty! Please don't mind the poor photos- I'm ashamed (seeing as my other job is as a photographer) but the lighting in my house is horribly awfully horrific for photos at best; and these had to be taken for posterity the moment after the quilt was done and the moment before the quilt was packed away in several layers of plastic to be mailed to my MIL the next day to arrive in time for Christmas, (which for the record, it didn't- but I've come to terms with it, and she LOVED it which went a long way toward making the lateness not matter- for me that is, she never minded the lateness in the firstplace because she's gracious like that). I love it, well, as much as you can dote on an inatimate object that is a whole state and a half away that is.                            

                   So here it is folks, a family tree quilt of my own design. 

                  My foray into quilting has come and well, almost gone. My three babes each have one (babes is figurative folks, they're 5, 3, and 1), my mother in law has one, and I have one more up my sleave- a scrap quilt for myself with all the lovely bits from clothing, and bags, and FUN things to sew that I've done in the last year or so. And then I am done with quilting- perhaps forever. Holly, Melody,  Mary: hats off to you and your patience and your darling quilts but me and my fat quarters are very happy over here in the land of no pinning with projects that can be completed during naptime.
                   In reveiw:   Patience- 0
                                      Quilts- 4
                                      Love of parentheses and using all caps for emphasis- 2,794

                    Until next tuesday.....

Sometimes I Get a Good Feeling...

Two things you need to know about me; 1: I almost always have a song in my head and if I don't, well then I am singing what I am saying/doing/thinking. As a result of this sing-song characteristc (if you can call it that) a majority of my posts will have song references. 2: I am pregnant so whether you like it or not I will also talk a good deal about that.

So with these two things in mind, Flo Rida is the inspiration for my post this week. Sometimes I get a good feeling... well I guess it would be more appropraite to say sometimes the bad feelings go a way. In these nausea free moments I have decided to seize the oppportunity, graciosuly abandon the couch and housework, to work on some sewing. I have 2 quilt tops and bottoms I would like to finish by the time I travel to Oregon in April. My mother has an awesome machine and I would like to take advantage and possibly quilt them both while I am up there. Ambitious? Maybe. Impossible? Well I guess that depends on how often I get these "good feelings".

Well last week I left you a picture of the fabric for my king size quilt. So today I leave you with the scraps for my scrap quilt.

560 down. 223 to go.

Holly

I keep hitting re-peat-peat-peat-peat-peat-peat

Yes that is indeed a Selena Gomez lyric and I am 30 years old, however, it accurately describes how I feel my days have been lately. I am in the first trimester of baby #4 and everyday I feel like laying on the couch doing nothing. During this repetitive couch-lying saga I have daydreams of reorganizing my "sewing room" so that it is functional. Here is the unfortunate truth about it now:

It actually looked a lot worse before Christmas. The other thing I have been daydreaming a lot about is starting my quilt for my (although I really should say "our") bed. Here is the fabric I have picked out (and, this time, approved of by the other half):

Laying it out and seeing it gives me slight motivation to kick into gear and break free from my lazy (nauseous) days.... Let's see if next week produces any results.

Holly