Five Points Quilt Tutorial

So my exciting news is that I made a second quilt and drafted a tutorial for it over at fabricworm. Click on over if you want to check it out.

The big reveal!

This quilt is happily in the arms of its new owner, and it seems like just in time since new York City is getting record snow fall this winter. From what I have heard, the quilt is already getting lots of cuddling time.

I had just enough fabric left to piece a strip on the back.
And here a closeup. I was going for a cute baby/quilt portrait but it turns out that is physically impossible to get a 15 month old to sit still and look at the camera at the same time. I think I will try bribery next time.


Also, there is some exciting news related to this quilt but I need to wait a few more days before spilling the beans.

The beginnings of another quilt

This quilt is a surprise birthday gift for a very dear friend. I only have a couple of weeks to get it done but the design isn't too complicated. I don't want to get too detailed about the design just in case the birthday happens to check this blog but hopefully the grand reveal won't be too far off.
These grays, oranges and yellows have been singing to me for a while so I really can't wait to get this baby put together. They all came from Fabricworm. It was soooooo much fun getting to pick them out (with Arlene's help).
I'll keep you posted!

2010 Projects

Since there is no way I would be able to find the time to get individual posts for all the projects I did during the last couple of months of 2010, here is one big, mega post of projects galore.

Here is a sample apron I made for a sewing class that I offered at Birch Fabrics.
Here is a sample skirt for another sewing class I taught at Birch.
Here is a quilt I made as a thank you present for our friend who let my husband stay with him for both of his trips back to NYC. Being nice enough to have a friend crash in your studio twice warrants a quilt. And maybe some matching throw pillows...
In honor of all the teething going on around Halloween, it only seemed fitting that Lila dress up as a vampire. I made her a little cape, a stuffed bat and appliqued some "blood" drops on her tunic.
I made this lovely dress and jacket and blogged about it over here.
I made this tote with a matching mini-purse for a friend's birthday.

I made us all new stockings based on the pattern and tutorial I created here.
I made this little cutie and blogged about it here.
And finally, one of the many sets of pot holders I made for holiday presents.

Sadly, I didn't photograph most of my holiday presents because I was too busy sewing and mailing. They were all super cute, but you will just have to take my word on it.

So goodbye 2010 and hello 2011, a year of crafting and blogging!

Hello 2011!

I can't believe it has been so long since my last blog post here. So so sorry - excuses, excuses, blah blah blah. My goal for 2011 is to get back into posting about my projects. Things are so busy around here with a toddler that just getting time to sew has been tough enough. Actually blogging about the projects too would have been a miracle.

Here is my first quilt for 2011. I have FIVE babies coming in the next few months so I figured the lull after the holidays would be a perfect time to get a jump start on making some presents. The new line of Dr. Seuss prints are so freakin' cute that I had to add them to my stash. Luckily, so many of my friends decided to have babies so I was never at a loss for what to do with the fabric.

Since the prints are pretty busy, I decided to keep my piecing simple. I also kept the back simple too. Everyone's eyes are going to need a break from those wild prints.

I had fun with the quilting and used Guetterman's painted yellow thread. The change in colors adds a little fun to the quilting, especially on the back side.

I can't wait to get this one in the mail and off to the soon-to-be-new parents.

Finally!

I am proud to show of my latest quilt. It has been months in the making and I am so happy that it is finally finished. It is made from vintage sheets from my stash and from an awesome vintage sheet swap I participated in on Flickr. Thank you ladies!

Instead of going for a quick and easy design, I decided to push myself by doing a quilt top with more intricate blocks. The blocks took for-ev-er! I finally got around to sashing the blocks and then made the decision to have it sent to a long arm quilter rather than trying to quilt it myself.



The quilting is gorgeous but my only regret is that my favorite part of the quilting design is in the blocks and it gets a little lost with the intricacy of the block pattern and prints. It isn't until the quilt is turned over that the quilting really shines through.

Man, photographing quilts is tough but this picture seems to capture the quilting best.

The quilt is in the dryer now and will be on my bed by tonight. Whoop whoop!

Thank you gifts

I bought some insulated batting on sale at Joann's over Thanksgiving in 2008 and finally opened it up. Needless to say, it was a loooooong overdue project. I spent a weekend at a friend's family's house a couple of weeks ago and needed a thank you present that could fit in my carry-on luggage. I whipped up these oven mitts and pot holders (also finally breaking into the Lizzy Dish fat quarter stash) and they were a huge hit.

I used some pre-made binding I had left over from other projects for the borders and to make little loops. I will definitely be making more of these for holiday presents.

It has been a while...

So sorry to be gone for so long - my only excuse is that I have a 10 1/2 month old who is a girl on the go so my free time is very limited. Luckily, I have been able to get some sewing done and have even done a little guest blogging over at Fabricworm.

Here is a sample I made for the Tunic sewing class I am teaching in a couple of weeks.
And here is a little halter tunic I made from a free pattern on www.sewingpatterns.com. I blogged about it here.

I also wrote a post on how to make a messenger bag without a pattern here.

Sweet Little Bear

I am doing some guest posts over at Fabricworm.com. This guy is my first project so if you have a chance, check it out.

Sewing Lessons!

I have been a big fan of Fabricworm and Birch Fabrics since Cynthia first started selling fabric two years ago. It made my move back to Cali even more exciting because Birch's brick and mortar store was only a couple of towns away from where I live. Getting to see all of the fabrics in person is pretty amazing.

I was up at Birch a couple of weeks ago and one thing led to another and I am now going to teach some sewing classes in Birch's gorgeous loft space! It is so exciting I can barely think of anything else.

The first two classes I am going to teach are how to sew a zippered, lined cosmetics bag and how to sew a basic patchwork quilt. I wanted to make some samples to have in the store as a way of advertising the classes. I suggested this to Cynthia and the next thing I know, we are cruising around the store putting together the cutest fabric combination for the sample quilt. Okay, it was mostly Cynthia and I just followed her around and tried not to geek out in excitement.

The quilt is 36" square made up of 6 fat quarters with an extra 1/4 yard of fabric for the binding and just over a yard of fabric for the back. I wanted to keep the pattern simple and something that would be easy enough for beginners but would also be a way to teach basic patchwork skills. I also kept the quilting simple by outlining both sides of the seams with a white thread. I love how the quilting adds just a little extra to the brown squares.

The fabrics are Monaluna Woodland Chain Pool, Michael Miller Dumb Dot Chocolate, Riley Blake Colorful Cheery Circles Green, Alexander Henry 2D Zoo Pool, SEI Playday Playful Geos Teal, and Robert Kaufman Pure Organic Chocolate.

And here is the back, Monaluna Woodland Chain Pool. The binding is Riley Blake Colorful Christmas Cheery Circles White.
Here is the sample of the zippered cosmetics bag. I used Alexander Henry's Bird Seed and lined it with some Amy Butler Full Moon Polka Dots. It is lined and has an interior pocket.

The classes start in August so if you live in the Central Coast of California and interested, shoot me an email.

The Never Ending WIP

I really don't like having unfinished projects. There is something about it just sitting there, unfinished and taunting me, that makes me feel anxious. Because of this, I usually try to finish things before starting new projects, but sometimes, I bite off more than I can chew.

So with that introduction, allow me to show you all 25 finished blocks I made after participating in a vintage sheet swap on Flikr. I started this right after I received the fat quarters from the swap in May and finally finally finally finished the blocks this afternoon. I am actively avoiding the fact that I now need to add white sashing to the top to finish it and am just enjoying the fact that the blocks are finished.

Here is a close up of one of the blocks. So much piecing but it was really an excellent exercise in precision sewing and patience. I was really careful and used my seam ripper a lot to make the seams line up.

I had two sheets, a blue floral and a pink floral, and used one in each block to create cohesion throughout the blocks.


And I am also considering sending it out to be quilted on a long arm machine. I know, scandalous!

A Quilt for a Baby Nephew

A friend of mine recently became an aunt for the first time and I was more than happy to celebrate his arrival my making him a quilt.

This friend has commissioned many a quilt from me and we would normally go fabric shopping together to pick out the perfect combination. Now that we are on opposite sides of the country, we had to get a little bit more creative. We cruised fabric options online and then I sent her to check out fabrics in person at Purl Soho. She picked up four prints and mailed them to me. I then went to Birch Fabric and picked out two more prints. I rounded out the rest of the design with some prints from my stash.


Here is the back. The print is a subtle gray with yellow polka dots. It was hard to capture the colors though. You will just have to take my word on it.


And here is the quilt, lounging over the side of my deck.

Quick Gifts; or How To Win Over Five Year Old Girls

I made these little presents for my friend to give as gifts to five year old girls. I don't know the girls personally so I had to guess on what they would like. The dolls came from The Black Apple pattern on Martha Stewart's website. They are so fun, easy and quick to make. I need to get some cute stocking fabric rather than using just plain muslin. I am also thinking about how to make little shoes for the next time around.

The faces are painted with fabric paint. They look okay from a distance but I could use some more practice.

I also made two little pencil cases as well. My friend lives in San Francisco so I am sending him to Japantown to buy fun pens, pencils, and stickers as the real treat. When I was little, I used to love little bags, pens and stickers so much. I am hoping the little girls will be excited to open up the bag and find all kinds of cool things to play with.



Please excuse the washed out picture above. I was hustling to get the pictures done before the post office closed.

A Flock of Triangles, AKA Wearing Out My Seam Ripper Quilt

Let me back up. I had the unfortunate experience of losing most of my creative energy as soon as I got pregnant. Maybe all that creativity went into making a super cute baby? Combining crazy morning sickness and a cross country move meant that I didn't end up doing a lot of sewing before my girl arrived. My husband and I did manage to pick out some fabric for her quilt, but it just sat in a pretty little stack for months and months. Of course, it didn't hurt that my girl had received some really gorgeous quilts from friends so she wasn't really lacking in the "handmade with love" department.

I was finally hit with the creative stick for her quilt and decided on trying Denyse Schmidt's Flock of Triangles pattern. Now don't get me wrong, what I am about to say about Ms. Schmidt has nothing to with her creative genius, but, boy did I have some serious trouble with this quilt. The instructions on how to line up the triangles to get them to create perfect points AND have a quarter inch seam allowance just weren't sufficient for me. I sent desperate emails to a quilting guru and ripped out miles of thread trying to make my triangles look decent. In the end, they were a hot mess. The lack of precision is pretty horrifying. I would have given up a long time ago but I had already cut the fabric so I didn't have much of choice if I didn't want to lose 5 fat quarters of cuteness.

Of course, I made some mistakes too. I used white muslin rather than a thicker fabric, like a Kona solid, and I suspect that added to the precision problems I was having. My rows would not line up no matter what I did. The best tip in the instructions was to line up the center triangles so if the rows were off, the pattern wouldn't be quite as skewed.

Here is the back - the lighting of the picture doesn't really show the pale blue color I used, but trust me, it is there and very cute.

I had wanted to try going some straight line quilting as well but with the rows being so messy, I ended up going with free motion quilting (I know! Shocking!). Free motion quilting hides so many sins.

There are a bunch of tutorials online for flying geese that I fully intend on trying again sometime in the future, once I have recovered from this experience and sufficiently blocked it out. The good news is that the quilt looks pretty good and the stippling really helped. Luckily my girl hasn't complained about it and in fact chose to roll over from her back to her front on it just last night. And nothing says acceptance and love like a major gross motor skill milestone!

A Quilt for Gus

One of my favorite crafty friends just gave birth to a sweet little boy named Gus. I was so excited to make him a quilt and decided to push myself out of my normal, go-to simple log cabin pattern. I recently started looking through some of my quilting books for inspiration and fell back in love with the Modern Quilt Workshop all over again.


This quilt was inspired by the book but I actually didn't follow the pattern because the pieces of fabric I wanted to use were not big enough for their techniques. Instead, I cut my pieces to be 2" wide and of varying widths. I sewed them together and then framed the smaller blue squares Kona Sky), which I think they were 4 1/2". The larger blue squares where 7 1/2". I used the string piecing technique for the small pieces of fabric and then again once again to join the finished squares. All in all, I am so happy with the way it turned out and am so proud of myself for pushing out of my quilting rut.

I also decided to get a little fancy with the back rather than my standard all white and pieced some blue and white together. I varied the widths of the blue pieces to make things interesting and my husband assured me that I did not inadvertently replicate the Greek flag.

And here is a close up of the blocks and the free motion quilting. I actually started quilting diagonal straight lines but I couldn't make the lines straight enough to not drive me insane. I tried using painter's tape as a guide but things went horribly wrong and I ended up ripping out 5 lines of quilting and going back to my happy place.