Text It! Blog Hop - life is short...

Hello BlogHoppers!  I'm Alla (rhymes with Paula).  I love fabric and whimsy and learning new things, so I jumped on the chance to play with wool and applique in ways that are new to me.  Welcome to the "Stay Awake" day of the Text It! Blog Hop.


When I was looking thru Sherri Noel's book Text It! Quilts and Pillows with Something to Say, there were so many projects that appealed to me.  I knew I couldn't make just one.  In fact, I'm working on 3! (I may have a problem with focus.)

But the main one I wanted to share on the Blog Hop was the  Stay Awake wallhanging.  The reason?  This sign on my kitchen door:

It was a phrase my mother often used.  I purchased this decal from the Etsy shop It's Written in Vinyl just after mom was killed in 2015.  Needless to say, I knew which project was first on my list.

Sherri's book encourages you to make the projects your own: there are seven full alphabets included, not just the letters for the words in the book.  Advice: if you do change the wording, some other things might have to change:

• the amount of wool/fabric needed for applique
• the size of your background fabric
• the orientation of the piece

This last change, orientation, came as a surprise to me.  I was placing my words this-way and that on the background, and just couldn't get them to look right to me.  The word "dessert" was just too long; no other words wanted to fit on the same line with it.  So I switched from landscape to portrait.

Behind the Seams: cup applique from the back

For the cup and saucer applique, I used a freezer-paper technique from Jenifer Dick's book The Modern Applique Workbook.  This was a new-to-me technique, but it worked out well.  Just as shown in the Text It! book, the individual pieces are layered--cup over the saucer, cup interior over the cup--rather than being fully separate from each other.  For the freezer-paper technique, I stitched everything down with a narrow zigzag monofilament. Which is another new-to-me technique.  (Don't you love learning new things?!)

I also chose to piece my background, because I really wanted to use this chocolate-bar novelty print for the word "dessert".  But I also totally wanted to use a cream-colored wool felt (this project in the book uses wool for all the letters).  Solution?  Two different fabrics for the background, with the cup and saucer applique artfully spanning the dividing line.

Had so many questions as I worked with wool for the first time.  I discovered: wool felt is not the same as felted wool.  It all worked out in the end.

Since my amazing chocolate-bar-print really didn't show up as well as I hoped, I chose to add a novelty chocolate border.  More is more, I always say.  #maximalist


My final note on construction involves outlining the applique letters.  I used machine blanket stitch on the quilting cotton letters.  Since I have worked on multiple projects from this book, I have ended up using three different sewing machines.  Each of their blanket stitches are just a touch different, requiring adjustments of stitch length and width, and especially tension.  I also learned that there is such a thing as a non-stick sewing machine needle (who knew?), which could have helped with the buildup of gunk on my needle while blanket-stitching around the applique letters.  Advice: choose the sewing machine with the knee-lift when doing blanket stitch around applique!

My whip stitch (before I ripped it out)

For the wool letters, I tried the recommended whip stitch by hand, but didn't end up liking the way it looked.  I think my use of wool felt, rather than felted wool, contributed to this.  I un-stitched, and used a simple running stitch instead.  For thread, I tried cotton sashiko floss.  I had heard some of my wool enthusiast friends talking about how nicely it pairs with wool, and has a matte finish.  It was definitely easy to work with in this application.  I bought mine through Kimonomomo.  (I will be giving away a skein to a commenter on this post; see below.)

Buy the book

Sherri's book is so awesome!  As I said at the top of this post, I'm working on other projects from the book, because they are just so very appealing.  Plus, I've used her alphabets to write messages on other projects I had in the works, too.  If you'd like to purchase a signed copy of the book, you can get it directly from the author at her Rebecca Mae Designs online shop.

Giveaways (win the book?)

• Book publisher Martingale has generously offered a copy of the book for me to give away to a lucky visitor to this blog (U.S. only).  
• Aurifil is giving away two spools of thread.
• I am offering a small bundle of fat quarters of the swirl and chocolate fabrics used in my project plus a skein of sashiko thread.
• Grand prize: Sherri Noel has a final giveaway bundle available through commenting on any/all of her Blog Hop posts (like today's post)

To Enter:  
Leave a comment below telling me what phrase you'd like to applique onto a quilty project. Winners of the 3 different prizes will be selected by random drawing on March 19th.  (If your comments are set to "no reply" I have no way to contact you and you cannot win.)
If you live in Canada, Joanne is holding the giveaway for the book from her blog, Quilts by Joanne.

Keep Hopping

Sharing posts with me today are:
Becca Fenstermaker  at Pretty Piney
Katie Bock at Sewing with Katie

Thank you JW Marriott dessert bar!

Go show them some love!


Plus, see the full schedule of bloggers at Rebecca Mae Designs. 



The Blog Hop for Text It! started on March 4th and goes through the 16th.  Thanks so much for visiting!

What to do when your #MAKENINE is all Finishing UFOs

As detailed in my previous post about organizing my stash, I have a lot of UFOs.

So, as I make out my 2019 sewing goals, I wonder whether I should focus on finishing UFOs, or using up stash?

Ha-Ha!  Of course I should finish things!  How silly of me--thinking that I can "bust some stash" by starting new projects.  Clearly, I have a big problem with finishing.  No more starting, unless there is some commensurate finishing, too. 

#MAKENINE2019

The instagram hashtag #MAKENINE is pretty prevalent this time of year: creatives and crafty folks plan out nine things they are committing to in the coming year.  If I look at my UFOs, I have at least NINE quilts (most of them larger than baby quilt size) that I can work on.  They have been started (farther along than the "dreaming/planning" phase).  But they are not yet done done.  And they need a little oomph.

Finish NINE ufo quilts in 2019

Here they are, in order from my Insta post committing to them in 2019:

1.  AAQGO charity quilt
Top clomplete; quilt basted; started to be tied.  (Will I continue tying, or try and quilt this myself?)

2.  Relaxing Round Robin
Top complete; quilt basted.  Intend to machine quilt and big-stitch embellish.

3.  Red/Black baby quilt
 Sooo close to done: finish big-stitch quilting/tying; binding is already complete.

4.  "Instant" baby quilt
Same as #3 (so close): finish big-stitch quilting.

5.  Drama t-shirt quilt
Top is not complete; at least 6 more blocks to make before design step.

6.  Circles BOM
Quilted and bound!  Needs big-stitch embellishment only.

7.  Woven BOM
Quilted: needs binding, which is already prepped.

8.  Minkee-backed squares quilt
Top complete; needs basting and straight-line quilting.

9.  Quick Curve sampler quilt
Blocks made and sashed; needs pieced borders; will be longarm quilted (not by me).


Analysis: if there's a pattern here, it's that the quilting step trips me up.  I don't sit still well for tying or big-stitch quilting, I don't have a longarm, and my sewing room tends to stay cluttered enough that clearing out space for quilting on my domestic machine takes a level of effort that makes me avoid it.  Plus, FMQ still scares me. 

And then there's the allure of the new and shiny: given any excuse, I will choose to work on a new project with surprising zeal and stick-to-it fervor... until it gets to the large & unwieldy stage.  My challenge is to keep this grid of nine quilts in front of me for 2019.  And maybe try to finish one of these in January, to give myself the momentum needed to push on.


Did you plan a MAKENINE in years past?  How did that work out?  Any hints for sticking with it?

Dog-gone Good T-shirt Quilt Idea

Saw Shelley's memory quilt project using Elizabeth Hartman's Dogs in Sweaters pattern on The Carpenter's Daughter Who Quilts blog (go search around her blog - she has made memory quilts from at least a dozen different patterns!)

While it's a great idea, these sweater-sporting dogs are tricky

This is my ONE doggo from that pattern.  Made with my quilt guild's challenge fabric from 2017, but still not completed quilted.  Fifty-plus pieces in there, for those keeping count.

Perhaps a simpler dog could be used?

This dog was the Block of the Moment for my guild, also back in 2017.  Pattern for a very similar block is available here from Quilter's Cache.  Super cute, and great to use up scraps

So, somewhere down the internet rabbit hole, I saw a block made by Emily Herrick (posted on her Crazy Old Ladies blog) that made me really think this schnauzer was a possible shape for a t-shirt quilt.

I felt like, if I could adjust the proportions a touch, this could be done! I needed a bigger canvas for the sweater/t-shirt.  But still want it to be recognizable as a pup.  Whaddya think?

Courtesy of EQ software + my brain

Yep, I think I can do this!  I'll have to try a prototype soon...

(This digression exploration prompted by the recent Xmas fabric/UFO organizing, and the realization that 3 of the offending bins are primarily made up of t-shirts waiting to become quilts.  3 bins!  For reals.)

Retreat Recap

I have become a very unreliable blogger.  Oh dear.  The original purpose for my blogging was to celebrate my accomplishments and gain some clarity on my life/creativity journey.  So this post has twin foci:  documenting my January retreat and showing what ended up occupying my time at May's retreat.


January's retreat with the Something to Crow About gang was awesome!  I have finally learned that, for this season of my life,

going to retreat is less about how much I get done/accomplished, and more about connecting with dear friends and new sewing enthusiasts.  

I smiled to myself on the final show & tell of that weekend, when so many people talked about how much (or little) they had gotten sewn together.  If I am traveling all the way to Oregon (from California), it's about the people more than the sewing.

Patting myself on the back here for this realization.  I feel wise... and now I'm gonna brag a bit about the sewing part.


1.  Challenge Block  (January)

The challenge this time was "white background", which really leaves the field wide open for designing a 12" block.  In typical fashion, I got super-excited about designing a block, tweaking an idea from one of the pattern booklets received as a gift at retreat.  Oy.  Made a paper-piecing pattern for this *cute* carrot block; it used up some seersucker from ancient stash.


2.  "C is for Chicken" book  (January)

Made good progress on this.  My favorite finish was turning a Courthouse Steps block into a chicken, and then making that chicken into a pocket.  Children's book = lots of interactive opportunities!

3.  Quick Curve Ruler sampler  (January AND May)


January- goal of 4 blocks, 1 completed.
May- 6 more blocks completed!
That leaves only 5 blocks to go--and these are big, 16" blocks.

Stashbuster: tote for cutting mat/rulers

4.  Ruler/mat tote bag  (May)

Missed taking the class for this tote, but I had the pattern (plus, the instructor was at retreat with me ;-)   Also, several others at retreat had been in the class, so I polled them about what sort of pockets they chose.

The pattern is very open-ended when it comes to pockets.  And, in my world, the usefulness of any tote is heavily dependent on the pockets.

I went to town customizing this, and got it almost done: only needed to finish the binding, put on straps, and clip all the threads I left everywhere.




5.  Another Hawaiian-shirt-into-apron

Birthday gift completed.  How did I not get any photos of this before it got sent off?




 
6.  Retreat project

A plethora of red & blue strips and scraps were available for making string blocks.  I think almost everyone made a block (or a few).  Can't actually pick out which ones I made, but I did use a bit of my stash in the mix.



Yay, belated post about retreat: check!
My next scheduled retreat is coming up in October.  Haven't even started panicking about what I'll work on then...

1930's Scrap Quilt finish

I'm happy with posting all these finished projects!  This quilt *may* have been done in 2016--it was certainly well used over the course of this year.

 Last appeared on the blog in June 2016; I had just finished piecing the back at retreat and dropped it off at the long-arm quilter.

Jayne is such a wonderful quilter!  This is the 3rd quilt she's done for me, and I don't think I said much more than, "Please do something in line with the nature of the 1930's timeframe."  She created an amazing border treatment of feathers and waves in the scrappy-cream negative space.

I didn't really love my pieced back, but the quilting really improved its likabiliity.  And has not diminished my using the quilt this year.  It's one of my favorites for napping on the couch.

Successful scrap quilt!  Made from someone else's cast-off scraps, even.  And made entirely from stash, including using up all of a 20+ year old piece of background fabric.

Thanks for a great 2017!  More completed projects need to show up on the blog, and more in-process reporting should happen as the backlog of the unblogged gets sorted through in 2018.

See you next year.

She Likes It! Christmas Quilt Unwrapped

Now that the Christmas dust has settled, and the shredded wrapping paper gone to the bin, I can happily report on the largest quilt I've ever made: she likes it!

Here is the inspiration.  A painting from her house, that her husband said encapsulated the kind of art she likes.

Also, "her favorite color is purple."  These are the fabrics I pulled.

And I put them together pretty much in that order, using a variation on Elizabeth Hartman's Metropolis pattern from her book Modern Patchwork

One quilt "block".  King size.  Purple?  Check.  But not quite in line with the inspiration artwork.  No problem, this quilt has 2 sides, I'll just make it reversible!  And so, I moved far far away from my comfort zone...

Bought a giant swath of stunning fabric: Discovery Tree, from Frond Design Studios (whose mission is "to keep hand-designed art in fabric") and started playing around on my design wall.  My main concern was how to let the fabric be the star--not cut it up into blocks and lose all its fabulousness.

I had one repeat of another Frond fabric, Metamorphosis Hurricane, so I worked to insert one of its motifs into the fiery party.  And I was off and running!

"Running" is not quite the right word for it.  Despite using a free-form, improv cutting and piecing technique, I was tortured about every cut and placement.  I spent hours deliberating over which fabrics to insert, as I gently pried apart the flames to inject variety and break up the five repeats within the main fabric.  Used two different colors of Moda Grunge fabric along the top and bottom, but continued the set-in bits of color there as well.

So worth it!  The look on her face, the squeals of "I can't believe you made this for me." And, "How did you manage to keep this a secret for a whole year?"  Yep, Christmas joy, right there.

Thanks for reading along this far.  I have a tendency to gush over my completed projects.  It's the main reason I started blogging: to track my finishes, and to tell a complete story with each quilt.

Since this is such a big finish, I'm linking up with TGIFF



hosted this week by Kathy's Kwilts and More.  Follow the link to see some other amazing December finishes--I think many of us have been keeping mum on Christmas projects.

To Cathy. Love, Alla

Tutorial: HST 101

HST: half-square triangle, the basis for many quilt blocks

I know about 8 methods for making HST's.  Some of them involve special rulers, specially marked papers, or other tools to simplify the process.  I have my two favorites (a tool and a paper product), but I can and do use others--they each have their pro's and con's.

This tutorial will show the most common method for making TWO HST units.

The math

finished size of HST unit + 7/8"

Cut two squares of fabric this size (coordinating fabrics, contrasting fabrics, or focus fabric + background fabric).  For example, a 2" finished block will use two squares that are 2 7/8" by 2 7/8".  This measurement allows for the diagonal seam allowance, and will result in TWO HST units that each measure 2 1/2" on a side (and will finish within a larger quilt block at the desired 2")

Steps

1.  Marking
On the wrong side of one of the fabric squares (choose the lightest fabric for easier drawing), draw a line along ONE diagonal.

You may use any straight edge/ruler for making this line.  Similarly, you may use any pen/pencil that will make a narrow line; the line will be within your seam allowance and will not be seen.

Alternatively, a tool called the Quilter's Rule Quick Quarter can be used for this marking step.  If you use this tool (very brief video here from Connecting Threads on YouTube), you will mark not only on the center of the diagonal, but along each of the edges of the tool.  This marking should be done in pencil.


2.  Stitching
Place your two fabric squares right sides together, pinning if you wish.  (I pin here because I am cautious when sewing along a bias, and don't want any chance of distortion.)
Stitch 1/4" away from each side of the line drawn along your diagonal.

If you used the Quick Quarter tool, these 1/4" stitching lines have been drawn by you already.  Simply stitch along the drawn outside lines.

3.  Cut and press
Cut apart your square along the center diagonal line.  Open the two HST units, pressing the seam allowance to one side (usually toward the darker fabric, unless your pattern advises otherwise).

Want more HST techniques?  I have written about a couple other techniques here and here (these were not meant to be tutorials, but do include some details)

Can you learn a technique from just pictures and text, or do you need a video tutorial? 

Miscellaneous Block Parade

Right here, right now:  backlog of completed quilt blocks.

I have made several blocks over the past months (true confession, almost a year); many of them have passed thru my hands and on to others.  This is just me pausing to take note of what got done, what learning took place, and where are they now?

Guild Block, paper-pieced

This block was finished last fall; my quilt guild is doing a different kind of BoM this year.  Made from stash (woot!) in a 12" version that is paper-pieced.  Called New Star, this original block design is from Marcia Hohn's Quilter's Cache.  I was not able to get the paper-piecing templates to print out at the correct size, so I ended up re-drafting them on Carol Doak specialty newsprint.  (Drafting a paper-piece pattern is definitely a new skill for me.)  I really like this block, but won't say I'm a huge fan of paper-piecing that requires lots of repetition.

Challenge Block: pink + gray

You might think, "Pink + gray blocks? Sounds kinda modern."  But you would be mistaken.  Much like the yellow + gray challenge from Quilt Retreat two years ago, the crowd that attends this particular retreat skews toward the traditional: calicos, reproduction fabrics, muddy colors, and well-known block patterns.

 

 Can you guess, from the challenge blocks here, which one(s) might be mine?  As always, I use the challenge parameters to try something new.  This time, I used a foundation muslin to make the traditional Grandmother's Fan block.  This was only my 2nd time making curved seams, and using the pre-marked muslin under the fabrics was like having training wheels for the circular piecing.  I chose to put a single 6" fan on point within the 12" finished block.  The extra negative space makes it feel more modern.

I also added a couple gray quarter-circles in the corners: just a bit more practice with those curved seams!

Block of the Moment: Kaffe Fassett pinwheels

At the end of 2016 I joined a 2nd local quilt guild, in nearby Alameda.  They offer a Block of the Moment, since it is not a monthly occurrence.  If you purchase the fabric pack and bring back completed blocks the following month, you are in the drawing to win all the blocks.  I picked up this pack because of the cute Kaffe Fassett fabrics.  The instructions make a pair of blocks, with pinwheels spinning in opposite directions.  Didn't win, but here are my charming blocks!

Block of the Moment:  scottie dog

C'mon, have you seen any basic pieced block so darn adorable?  This appears to be a slight variation on the 10" scottie dog block available from Quilter's Cache.  Super simple, just squares and half-square triangles.  CUTE!

Class Sample: drunkard's path variation

One side-effect of teaching a block-of-the-month class is that I end up with all sorts of samples.  We made Drunkard's Path blocks this spring in the Circles BoM group.  Some Japanese fabric scraps given to me in January made the step-outs I used when teaching the class.  Afterwards, I put them together with squares in a pattern called Ornament, from the book A Quilter's Mixology: Shaking Up Curved Piecing by Angela Pingel.  No current plans for this block, but it is lovely, don'cha think?

Challenge Block: blue & white

Most recent block completion was another Quilt Retreat challenge.  I used the opportunity to try out a single block from the pattern Urban Nine-Patch, using the Quick Curve Ruler (QCR) by Sew Kind of Wonderful.  I had not tried the QCR yet, although I own three different patterns that use it.  And I knew, from watching my sewing sisters struggle with the Urban Nine Patch, that this particular pattern might be a bit challenging.  Why not make a single block (which just happened to finish at the required 12" square) and try out the technique before committing to an entire quilt?

Wellll, it took me most of a day   Seriously, like 6 hours to make One. Single. Block.  Good news: I made the block entirely from stash.  Also, it was not difficult to use the QCR.  But, God Almighty, what a complicated pattern.  I might attempt a table runner or something, but no Urban Nine-Patch quilt will be coming from me.  Lesson learned.

Eye Candy: my sewing buddy Lou pulled out the Urban Nine Patch she had been hiding all weekend to have her moment in the spotlight during Show & Tell on the final day of retreat.  Isn't it stunning?!  All the more so because I saw how much work goes into each individual block.


Thar you have it: six miscellaneous blocks, only one of which is still in my possession.  But every one of them taught me lessons and improved my skills.  What new things have you learned lately?

First 2017 finish: t-shirt baby quilt

Huzzah, a finish!  And made entirely from stash (well, except for the t-shirts)

The challenge 

A request from October 2016 was to make a t-shirt quilt for a baby whose mother works at Mills College.  These were the two t-shirts I was given to work with.  And oh, by the way, could I possibly make the quilt entirely out of stash?  Why yes, I'll accept that challenge!

First things first: Mills colors are blue and gold.  And these t-shirts were decidedly NOT blue.  Or gold.  What to do?  Start with the back.

I had one yard of a blue ombre stripe.  Needed it to be bigger, so I inserted a slim strip of the delightful multicolor fabric (I think it has a nice blue-and-gold overall feel) and the long-stashed gold-with-blue stripe.  (Long stash = made a baby hat from this; said baby is now 26)  Proud to say that I used up ALL of the blue stripe and the gold stripe.  Only crumbs left.

For the front, I found a pattern I liked called Fractal, from the book Quilt Lab: The Creative Side of Science by Alexandra Winston.  Although Fractal is not a pattern for a t-shirt quilt, I saw potential in the oversized squares and rectangles.  I adapted the overall scale to be able to use 15" square t-shirts in the corners, with the intention of putting my purple and green lovelies just so.  Then I searched my stash for blue fabric to fill in the large empty spaces.

Blue fabric.  Um...yeah.  Not really a blue person.  Probably can't tell from the photo above, but my only large swaths of blue are really quite navy.  Sweetie looked at the mock-up on my design wall and reminded me that, "Mills colors are blue and gold.  I'm not seeing that.  And what's with the bandana fabric?" 

Indeed: stash, that's what's up with the red bandana print.  Hmph!

However, I am a resourceful person quilter.  I knew where to get some t-shirts that feel more "Mills".  Collected a big selection--not entirely blue and gold, but enough that I felt confident I could work something out.

the finished quilt front

I fussed.  And I fused.  Have you ever made a t-shirt quilt?  Most of the front is exclusively t-shirts--and they all have to be stabilized with fusible interfacing in order to behave.  And in a baby quilt, behaving is important for the usability and longevity of the gift.

Ended up using more of the multi-color fabric from the back: replaced the red bandana bits, and tied together both front and back with binding.

The quilting shows up better on the back.  I used my walking foot to replicate the concentric circles that were shown in the quilt from the book.

I'm pretty proud of my efforts here.  I didn't make it to the baby shower (but the quilt did).  The mother-to-be was delighted, so that's a definite win.

1.  A finish
2.  Entirely from stash (counting this as a 2-yard stashbust)
3.  Done on-time for its intended recipient

Do you like the restriction of having to use only stash in a project?  Or do you chafe and feel like your creativity gets stifled?