Class Samples

The next "term" at my LQS begins tomorrow so I've been trying to finish up my class samples. The quilt I have been quilting this week is a Yellow Brick Road pattern.

Good Fortune YBR 1

I finished quilting it yesterday. The binding fabric is at the store, go figure! So I'll have to go and get it today. Below is a photo of the back so you can see the quilting better. You may need to click on the photo to see it larger.

I also made another Yellow Brick Road quilt as a sample.

Good Fortune YBR 2

The class is will be a follow-up course to our Piecing 101 class and is several sessions so I can take students through the entire quilt making process, from picking out fabric to attaching the binding and making a label.

Another class I will be teaching is the Corn Rows pattern.

Corn Rows

I blogged about this one already. Go here to read that post. I never showed the finished quilt top with the border though. I had hoped to have it quilted before displaying it at the store. Oh well, it will get quilted eventually.

I made another sample from the book the Corn Rows pattern is from, Graphic Mixx, just to show another pattern from the book.

Bohemian Stripe

I'm not happy with the contrast section though. I think I may reverse those two fabrics and see what that looks like. It will be easy to remove that section and replace it. I can use the other on the back.

I'm teaching some other classes too. You can see photos of all of our class samples on the Heartstrings & Heirlooms blog. As well as see the latest newsletter and calendar. Just click the appropriate tabs underneath the header.

The blocks I showed you on Wednesday did not get turned into a finished quilt top on Wednesday. They are now in rows and I hope to get the rows sewn together today at some point. You will get to see that finished top next week.

Todays Project (if I have time)

The only sewing I got accomplished yesterday was laying out these blocks.

Today is my day to work at my LQS, Heartstrings & Heirlooms. Since this is a class sample, I can sew on it at work if we aren't busy. I'd prefer that we are busy because that would mean business is good, but if we have an off day at least I have something fun to work on.

Quilting Leaves

I'm quilting up a Yellow Brick Road quilt this week.

Above is a photograph of the back so that you can actually see the pattern I'm quilting. I got the pattern from the book Free-motion Quilting with Angela Waters. She calls it leaves. It does look like leaves, but it also looks a bit like the Star Fleet emblem the characters wear on their chests in the shows.

This is the second pattern I have used from her book. I blogged about the first one here. The only challenge has been figuring out how to get the leaves going in all different directions and still fit them in together nicely. I've done better with this in some places than in others. I don't think it will be too noticeable to anyone but me when I'm done.

Modern Monday Quilt Along

Block 58:

Only 6 more blocks to go!

Go to Attic Window Quilt Shop to see Caroll's block. Then visit 42 Quilts to see the next block.

Unexpected Surprise!

I've been making pin cushions and thread catchers for the little ready-made gift section we are trying out at my LQS, Heartstrings and Heirlooms. On Monday afternoon I cut out the thread catchers but needed my calculator to check to see which way I needed to cut my fat quarters. The calculator is in this drawer of my cutting table.

Cutting table drawer

I opened the drawer and reached inside for the calculator AND SOMETHING INSIDE THE DRAWER MOVED!

Spooky in the drawer!

Can you see the cat eye and the paw reaching out to grab me? Oh my! I jumped and screamed. Definitely was not expecting to find a cat in the drawer!! My son told me that she was getting into the drawer but I didn't believe him until Monday. After getting down on my hands and knees and looking underneath the cutting table I could see how she got in there. There is quite a bit of room between the top of the drawer and the underneath side of the table top. She just climbed in from the back. Do you believe that she slept in this drawer for about an hour after I took the picture. Crazy cat! She is definitely feeling better after her recent surgery.

On to the projects. First I made a few more Cathedral Window Pin Cushions. Click the link for the tutorial.

Then I made six thread catchers using some Good Fortune.

We aren't sure how the ready-made items will sell so I don't want to make a whole bunch right now. We will also have some knit ruffle scarves (see sample photos here) and maybe a few other things. We've had a lot of people ask to buy completed scarves in the last month so I think those may sell well. A few folks have asked for pin cushions and we've sold a couple of the samples I made already. We've also had requests for aprons, but I will let someone else make those. I only plan to make a few things and only things I enjoy making.

A Flock of Ornaments

I finished up all of my birdie ornaments.

I am thrilled with how they turned out. I think the orange one is my favorite. I may need to make another one of those for myself! The pattern for this ornament, as well as some other really cute ones, can be found at this link: 2012 Aurifil Ornament Hop.

Modern Monday

There was no block last week for the Modern Monday Quilt Along, but I still have something modern to show today.

The next class cycle at my LQS, Heartstrings and Heirlooms, starts in December. I will be teaching another Quick Curve Ruler pattern by Jenny Pedigo, Urban Birthday. My LQS owner wanted me to use one of the layer cakes we have in stock for the class sample. We don't currently have any layer cakes that are really "my style" except for some Mama Said Sew ones. I am already using this line for another class sample so I didn't want to use it again even though I love it.

*sigh*

So I picked the layer cake we have the most of, Rouenneries Deux by French General. If you click the link you can see the fabrics in the line. If you have been following me for any length of time then you can see that this line is definitely "not me." However ... I'm loving this quilt!

I have made all of the blocks, but have not squared them up yet. Here is a sample of what they will look like in the quilt layout.

It will be a modern quilt using very traditional looking fabrics. The "solid" fabric the pattern calls for is the charcoal. It is a print, but a very subtle print and all of the French General fabrics look great with it. It is also a Moda fabric, Evening Mist. I don't know what line it is from.

Gift Mode, Cosmo vs. DMC comparison & a Bad Kitty Day

I've been doing gift sewing lately which is why I haven't been posting much. I want the recipients to be surprised when they open their gift on Christmas morning.

I can show you my little flock of birdie embroideries that will become ornaments soon.

I did all of these except the dark blue one in the center with left over Cosmo floss from my Which Witch's Boot embroidery. The dark blue one is a variegated DMC floss, although you can't really tell that it is variegated. The floss is very pretty in the skien, but I am disappointed in how little the variegation shows. I hope to get these turned into ornaments within the next few days so they can be sent off to their recipients.

Working with both Cosmo and DMC on these birdies also gave me the opportunity to compare the two brands. Cosmo is softer and much less linty. I had to use some masking tape to pick up all the loose lint bits off of the DMC one. (The same was true of the first one of these birdies I did. I used a red DMC floss for it.) The lint bits came off with no problem, but I didn't have to do this added step with any of the Cosmo ones. I had about the same knotting up issues with each but I cut my thread pretty long. I think any thread is going to knot up some if you cut it too long. I didn't think to try cutting them both shorter and see if that made any difference.

Miss Spooky Boo is not having a good week. I took her to be spayed yesterday. She did fine with the surgery but is moving slow.

She is keeping me company in the sewing room today and resting on Goldie's Quilt in front of the window. If you look closely you can see the shaved area on her front leg from the IV. She will be fine in a few days and then able to go outside more which will make her very happy. I must say that I am enjoying this calmer version of Spooky in my sewing room this morning. Usually she gets kicked out for climbing the design wall or my fabric baskets, pulling pins out of the pin cushions and throwing them on the floor, or trying the catch the needle as I sew!

Modern Monday Quilt Along

Block 57: Piano Keys

I like this one! I like the color gradation and different heights of the keys (gray rectangles).

Visit Attic Window Quilt Shop to see Caroll's piano keys. Then visit 42 Quilts to see what we will be making this week.

My 2012 Ornament

Every year I make an ornament to give as a gift. The usual recipients of these ornaments are my son, nieces, nephews and other children special to my family.

This is the ornament I am making to give this year.

I started it Wednesday night after dinner and finished it up last night. I did this one with red floss because it was the first color floss I could easily lay my hands on Wednesday night. I think I will change up the color on some of the others.

I have my fabric pressed and ready to trace the design out. I cut a large piece of fabric and will trace them all on it spacing them far enough apart to hoop each design without having to put the hoop over an already stitched one. Making the rest of the ornament (after doing the embroidery) was pretty easy. I showed an in progress photo of this ornament yesterday along with the pattern information.

I'll give you the pattern information again here. The designer is Gail Pan. The pattern is a free download on her blog as part of the 2012 Aurifil Designers Christmas Ornament Blog Hop. Here is the direct link to the blog post with the bird ornament pattern. In this post are links to some other designer's blogs. I thought this snowman ornament was also cute and downloaded that pattern as well. I'll put it in my ornament file for another year.

Caught the Embroidery Bug

I seem to have been bitten by the embroidery bug. I saw this little ornament on the Aurifil Facebook page and immediately downloaded it, printed it out and started working on it.

This little birdie has given me several ideas. I hope I will have time to explore some of them soon.

A Finish

I finished up the binding on the Turning Twenty quilt I pieced at retreat.

I titled it "Candy Store" because the fat quarter bundle I used was called Quilter's Candy. All fabrics for the front and binding are from this line and purchased from Connecting Threads. I purchased these fabrics several years ago. I don't know if they are still available from Connecting Threads or not. I really liked these fabrics because I purchased the fat quarter bundle, two 2 1/2" strip packs, two 5" squares packs, as well as some yardage. I made or started four tops from these fabrics at my recent retreat! You can see three of them in this post and the other one in this post.

I purchased the backing fabric on sale on my way to retreat from Kathy's Fabric Trunk, a somewhat local quilt shop.

It is a green geometric print with red dots. I think it was probably a Christmas fabric but it also works well for the back of this quilt.

The pattern says the finished quilt size is about 70" by 86". I think mine is probably an inch smaller each way because some of my fat quarters were not 21" long. I had to cut my border pieces a little narrower than the pattern called for as a result. I really wanted to get this finished quickly so I just did a meandering pattern for the quilting. I'm pleased with how it turned out!

This will be a charity quilt and has already been promised to the Quilt Angels project. I will send it off after my next guild meeting so that I can take it for Show and Tell.

Modern Monday Quilt Along

Block 56:

Stop by Attic Window Quilt Shop to see Caroll's block. Then visit 42 Quilts to see what Jenifer is having us make this week.

Progress Report - Which Witch's Boot

My goal was to finish the embroidery part of my Which Witch's Boot quilt before Halloween. I am happy to report that I achieved that. I finished the embroidery on October 29th!

I'm thrilled with how it turned out! I think I have all the fabrics I need to complete the quilt. I just need the time to do it.

I'll also show you a photo of my outfit for Halloween.

I'm the one on the left in the orange shirt. On the right is the owner of my LQS (and boss). We had a great time at the shop on Halloween giving discounts to customers who knew the magic word (which I emailed out to everyone on our email list) or came to shop in costume.

It was fun to hand out candy to trick-or-treaters dressed in costume too. We get a lot of trick-or-treaters in our neighborhood. This year we had about 200, which is about average for the 8 years we have lived here.

Traveling Stash Box Winner

The winner of the Leap Year Traveling Stash Box giveaway is lucky #7,

Wendy!

Wendy said...

What a great box! I would love to have this box come and visit me!

October 30, 2012 4:17 PM 

I've sent you an email Wendy.