TooGoodToBeThrough

Three's the Charm

After a very disappointing start on two previous quilts in almost as many weeks, I gave it one more try, and I'm so glad I did.  As the blocks for this quilt began to come together, I realized this was the quilt I was supposed to make all along.

 

The pattern is a lap-size quilt called Twilight Hopscotch and I found it in Kim Diehl's book "Simple Comforts."  There are some great scrappy quilt patterns in the book, too.  If you're not sure it's a book you want to invest in, you may be able to find it at your library, as I did. 

Twilight Hopscotch was such a simple pattern, but one with a lot of impact and a pleasure to sew.  I started cutting the fabric Friday evening and had the blocks nearly finished while watching the Academy Awards Sunday evening.  I sewed the blocks together last night, added the borders today, and will take it to the quilter tomorrow.  

Hard as I tried to keep right sides together when piecing the blocks, I managed to attach one piece of the faint white pin dot fabric backwards (I'm surprised there weren't more!).  It was smack in the center of the quilt, and although the quilt is a gift for someone, and I won't have to look at it, I couldn't leave it.  Of all the pieces, thankfully it was this large rectangle, which was the easiest to remove and replace. 

While it's not technically finished, quilt No. 8 is one for the record books -- six days from start to finished flimsy, and I enjoyed every moment of it (okay, maybe not the mitered outer border).  The quilter should have it ready in about a week and a half, plenty of time to attach the binding and gift wrap it for the April 2nd birthday.  I hope the recipient likes it as much as I do.

A Good Case of Bad Taste

I've been under the weather the last couple of weeks... with a good case of Bad Taste. 

My previous post shows the fabrics I had chosen for a Lady of the Lakes quilt that I planned to make as a birthday gift for a friend's mother -- a sweet women of Irish decent with a love for all things green.  I finished half of the 18 blocks and realized the greens just weren't working well together at all.  

 

I decided to put LOTL on the back burner and finish it for myself sometime this spring.  Though I think I'll pick just one green fabric and mix up the lights.  My favorite green is this cheerful Moda Marbled Swirl fabric.  My camera is exposure is off -- the fabrics look much richer than this.

I still wanted to make a birthday quilt that I needed to have finished by April 2.  But now I needed a new pattern and fabric and that all-important inspiration, so I drove an hour out of town to a quaint little quilt store in the heart of Oregon's wine country.  The shop is adorable and has a nice selection of fabrics, patterns, and kits.  In fact, everything is so cute and quaint that if you don't have a good idea of what you're looking for, you can easily lose your critical eye mind and think you're making good choices... when you're not!  I picked out a new pattern and the shop owner's daughter helped me choose fabrics.  

These fabrics looked entirely different together on the bolt.  We tried to pick up the olivey green and rust in the Spice Market floral that I used in the center of the block and had planned to use as the border fabric. 

Ugh.

I foolishly kept making blocks, thinking I might be able to pull it out of this tailspin...

My camera doesn't capture the melted-Creamsicle glow of the lightest fabric with the jarring orangey-rust and olive green.  And look at the gigantic scale of that floral print next to the other fabrics!  What was I thinking?

Two failures and I still didn't have a birthday quilt.  I was beyond discouraged and beginning to think I had no business quilting.  But I can be stubborn, so like the rider who falls off her horse, I got back up in the saddle for one more try.  Yesterday afternoon I found a sweet, simple pattern in a book I borrowed from the library (Simple Comforts by Kim Diehl), headed to my favorite (local) quilt store, and picked out new fabrics.  I finished one block last night, and I'm very happy with it.  More importantly, I think the recipient is going to like it, too!  It will be a lap-size quilt, so if I can finish it in the next week and get to the quilter for an overall pattern, I should have it back in time for the birthday.

 

Lady of the Lake

Quilt No. 8 is off to a good start.  The pattern is from The Pine Needle, a quilt shop close to home in the city of Lake Oswego-- hence the name Lady of the Lake Oswego.  This quilt will be a gift for a friend's mother whose 80-something birthday is in early April.  Her favorite color is green, a favorite of mine, too, so it's been fun to shop for fabric.   

The seaming is testing my skill level, but I'm pleased with the finished blocks so far.  If I can forget about the laundry and housecleaning I should be doing, I hope to finish half the blocks this weekend. 

First Finish of 2010

This is quilt No. 7 and the first finish of the new year.  All but one of my previous quilts have been gifts for family or friends, but this one's for me.  The pattern is the ZigZag Quilt (without piecing triangles) by Crazy Mom Quilts. 

My color inspiration for the quilt is a Stickley chair in my living room.  When I had the chair made a few years ago as a birthday gift to myself, I selected the deco-style fabric from a fairly small swatch.  I figured all Stickley fabrics are gorgeous, so I couldn't go wrong.  Well, I was more than a little shocked when the chair was delivered 2 months later and seemed to glow in poison green and peach.  Thankfully, my walls and carpeting are neutral and furnishings just eclectic enough that the chair fits in, but I've always wanted to bring a little more of that poison green color into the living room, and a quilt was the perfect way to do just that.  (Note: the quilt is on the chair for the picture only and rests on the back of a dark green leather chair when not in use.  I know 'clash' when I see it.)

This was a fun pattern to make.  It is easy, very forgiving piecing-wise, and I love its bold design and great texture. It's the first project done with my new Bernina, and I actually quilted it (SID) myself using the walking foot.  It's such a good feeling to make a quilt from start to finish.  

The back of the quilt is the poison green Dimples by Andover Fabrics (I call it poison green, Andover just calls it color G28), with a swatch of the black and metallic gold swirl (Moda) for interest.  I had planned to bind the quilt with the metallic swirl fabric, but didn't have quite enough and my go-to fabric store was out of stock.  I was so disappointed, but now that the quilt is finished, I think the substitute fabric actually makes a more interesting binding than the swirl fabric.

Quilt No. 8 is already in production.  Ms. Bernina has to earn her keep, after all.  Update coming soon.

 

Succumb... in a good way

Among the definitions of succumb is "yield to an overwhelming desire."  And that's just what I did in October. 

Meet my new (as yet unnamed) Bernina.  She's the 440 QE and came with the Bernina Stitch Regulator.  I've only played with the BSR in class and need lots of practice, but I'm looking forward to doing some of my own quilting. 

I made six quilts before buying my new sewing machine -- all of them cut out and sewn at the dining room table.  No more.  I emptied an underused bedroom, painted it from top to bottom, and between Ikea, Craigslist, and The Container Store it has become a full-time sewing room, and I love it!

Here's Ms. Bernina on her new throne:

Two Malm dressing tables from Ikea make a perfect L-shape work station for the sewing machine and my laptop computer.  A couple of inexpensive stacking metal shelves fit under the computer portion of the table to hold my printer, extra paper, and the Bernina accessories box.  In front of the sewing table is an antique table that belonged to my great aunt and uncle and makes a perfect cutting table (it's expandable, too).  A black leather recliner (Craigslist find) at the end of the room is perfect for hand sewing, reading, or watching television.

On the opposite wall is a wonderful old mahogany sideboard (with glass top, even)  I found on Craigslist and painted with linen Milk Paint (love that stuff!).  It provides storage galore and has plenty of room on top for a television, lamp, and tchatzhahs. 

Finally, a sewing machine I love, and no more sewing at the dining room table!  
 

A Look Back at 2009

On this eve of not just a new year, but a new decade, it seems like a good time to look back at my year of quilting.  Celebrating my creative accomplishments was, after all, the whole point of this (poor neglected) blog when I started it in May.

I finished two quilts in March.  The first is a Round Abouts quilt for a friend's new grandson.  It was the second time making this pattern and my first attempt at a mitered corner.  I was very pleased with the results, and the baby's mom and dad loved it.  I especially love the little heart-in-hand quilting pattern.

 

The second quilt was for a childhood friend who was in the hospital recovering from a heart transplant.  I didn't follow a pattern, but fashioned the top after one I had seen on another blog.  Due to one medical setback after another, my friend has been in the hospital almost continuously since receiving his new heart last January, so I haven't yet sent it to him.  But he should be home soon, and I think it will make a wonderful Welcome Home, Happy New Year, and Happy Birthday gift.  

 
 

In June, I made a batik quilt for Aunt A's 70-something birthday.  She requested pink and brown, and after some serious fabric editing, I made with this lap-size quilt.

No sooner had I given Aunt A her birthday gift than it was time to start a quilt for Aunt J's 80-something birthday, and in September I made this lap-size cover in her favorite colors.  

 

So, that was a look back at last year, and what would a new year be with a resolution goal or two?  

1. I treated myself to a new Bernina 440QE this fall and plan to get my money's worth!  That means there's going to be a lot of sewing in my future. 
   
2. I've almost finished converting an under-used bedroom into Sewing Headquarters. 
   
3. Just this afternoon I laid out a newly finished quilt top with the batting and backing and will baste it tomorrow and spend the next few days putting Ms Bernina through her quilting paces.   No fancy feathers, meandering stipples or fancy fill-in stitches this first time out, just some (hopefully) smooth, straight lines that should complement the zigzag pattern nicely.

Here's to a happy, healthy, and creative 2010!

Where was I?

Oh, yes.  I remember... 

The quilt for Aunt J's 84th birthday began with a simple request for something in light blues and yellows.  Pattern in hand, I wandered the aisles at Fabric Depot for hours and came home with these. 

The body of the quilt is a combination of two alternating blocks, one sewn from strip sets, the other a combination of squares and half-square triangles.  I would have liked a little more contrast between the tiny check and blue+green leaf prints, but I think they go well together. So far, so good.

The pattern produced a very large throw-size quilt that I thought would be too heavy for my aunt to use comfortably, so I decided to make it somewhat smaller by leaving off the outer border of blocks.  Here is the finished quilt.

And, of course, a shot on the guest bed (a quilt post wouldn't be complete without one) to give a better idea of the size.

The back of the quilt is the same as the yellow fabric I used on the front of the quilt, but in green.  

None of the leftover fabrics looked quite right for the binding, so I returned to Fabric Depot and wandered the aisles (again!) and came home with this perfect little print.  The tiny yellow dots against the crisp blue work perfectly!

 Aunt J loves the quilt, and I'm very pleased with it, too.

Quilts in the Garden Tour

Saturday was the Marys River Quilt Guild's annual Quilts in the Garden tour.  This year, the tour was held in Corvallis, Oregon, and featured seven residential gardens.  The quilts at each home were grouped in one or more of several categories, including garden themes, challenge quilts, celebration quilts, art quilts, contemporary quilts, mini and small quilts, and fruit and vegetable quilts.   As the pictures show, the gardens were as varied as the quilts.  It was an inspiring day for this novice quilter and lazy gardener.

One of the gardens had beautiful fruit trees (peaches above, plums below).

These pink hibiscus flowers had to be at least 8 in. in diameter.  I've never seen anything like them. 

Blueberry Cobbler Quilt

I've procrastinated long enough!  Aunt J's birthday is barely over a month away, and I promised to make her a quilt.  Pale blues and yellow was her only request.  While checking on line for ideas, I found a nice pattern in just the right colors at The Quilter's Magazine web site.  The free pattern is called Blueberry Cobbler and was the featured free pattern for September 2009.  Perfect timing.

I'm still uncomfortable choosing fabrics for a new project, so this pattern appealed to me because it required only five different fabrics -- four shades of blue and one yellow.  How hard could that be?  Don't ask -- I still struggled.  In the end, I chose three blues, a very pale yellow in place of the palest blue, and a bright yellow.  Here's what I came up with.

The center field is comprised of two blocks set on point.  One block goes together very quickly, the other takes a little more time, but isn't difficult.   I think this will be the first project I have custom quilted instead of an overall pattern, and I can't wait to see the finished project. 

Sum-sum-summertime

To my surprise and delight, almost all of the dahlias in my back yard survived last winter's "Arctic Blast" that brought freezing temperatures and carpeted the Pacific Northwest with record snowfall.  I love dahlias of all sizes and colors, but especially enjoy a bouquet of these dark and light purples in my cat vase.