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.)

Merry Christmas (I'm not sewing)

In the Christmas spirit, I thought I'd share...

Holiday-themed sewing ideas that I had taken pictures of:

This was a pillow for sale.  Would be a very easy make--I even have plenty of Xmas-themed fabrics.  Next year? 

 

 Photo taken by me in Sydney, Australia.  I was there for Christmas 2016.  I think I kept this photo because it reminded me of the Bernina & Zen Chic quilt-along that took place in 2017-18.  I have a thing for triangles, sigh.  Must work up something triangle-y for 2019...

Although I'm not sewing today, this is the time of year when I start planning my sewing projects for 2019.  Hope you have some time with family or friends, and that your sewing brings you joy in the New Year!

Guild Block + new technique

Haven't been to quilt guild since April.  And, to be honest, I'm not really attending this month either; but I am stopping by to leave my block.  Which I just finished today.

This block is called Wild Waves.  The instructions can be found at Quilter's Cache.  The block finishes at 12" and is made up of sixteen identical 3" blocks.

So, since each square within the block is the same, why not use speed piecing techniques?  Not something I have tried before, but I love learning new things!  Here's an overview of the technique.  More details, including cutting information, available at the Quilter's Cache link.

Put one square of the black and one square of the white right sides together.  Draw in both diagonal lines.  (I secure everything with pins; I know some people don't.)

Stitch 1/4" from one of the diagonal lines--just to the place where the drawn lines cross.  Then pivot and stitch on the drawn line until you are 1/4" away on the other side.

Pivot again and continue stitching to the opposite corner.

Use the same stitch-pivot-stitch along the other diagonal.

Cut the black/white block apart along the drawn lines.

This creates four identical units; each is a two-tone HST.  Press each seam toward the black portion.

Two of these units will combine with one medium-value b/w square to make two finished blocks.

The basic building block.

I kinda see a curling ribbon effect in this block.  Wonder if a single row from the block would make a good border or sashing...

My good deed for the week.  What have you been up to?

Bags, bags, bags

Customer came into the shop with a super-cute bag (it had frogs on it!!!) that her friend had made.  I asked the name of the pattern (since we sadly don't sell patterns--just books and magazines); was able to find that pattern on Craftsy when I got home. (The Convertible/Reversible Bag by cozy nest design)  Now I'm Jonesing to make that bag.

Meanwhile...

I've been looking for a bag pattern I might teach at the shop.  I feel like zippers are a source of stress for some people, so I've been especially keen on bag patterns that include zippers: which one(s) have potential?
(And if you can mix a lot of fabrics within a single bag, that's a bonus!)

Candidates?


Triple-zip bag
A zippered pouch I found on Debbie's blog, A Quilter's Table.
Pros:  free pattern; online tutorial; extra construction tips from a 2013 sew-along; uses 3 zippers; innovative hiding of the zipper endings; and lots of cool fabric mixing is encouraged.


Sew Together bag
A compact bag to hold your sewing or crafting stuff when you go off to stitch with friends.
Pros:  multiple uses for all the pockets--could be a gift for anyone; pattern is from an indie designer; online sew-along/tutorial plus extra tips for making sense of the pattern/directions; uses 4 zippers; main zipper cleverly becomes handles and allows bag to open fully;  fabric-mixing on this pattern can be addicting.




Bionic Gear bag
A more-specialized-but-incredibly-similar bag to the Sew Together bag.
Pros: pattern is from an indie designer (and was a 2014 Craftsy pattern winner!); has a whole host of YouTube video tutorials to help make sense of the pattern/directions; uses 5 zippers; fully open bag features a "tray" to corral your unruly notions; several bag accessories are available for more personalization and further stitching fun.

Winner: Sew Together Bag

Made up this pattern at Something To Crow About spring retreat, while several other campers were stitching the Bionic Gear Bag at the same time.  We did some compare and contrast to the steps, the helpfulness/thoroughness of the directions, and individual preferences for tweaks we might make (e.g. hand-stitch vs. machine-stitch the bindings; use an even-longer main zip.)  We all agreed that video and/or classroom assistance was pretty much mandatory in getting either project put together with minimal hair-tearing/cursing.

Love that my bag was made entirely with scraps and fat quarters.  Love that it makes use of the last of a long-stashed vintage-looking Hula Hoop fabric.  Love how well my machine handled both the zippers and the heavy layers of binding.  Love how useful this bag will be!!!

And I'm already pulling fabrics for my next Sew Together Bag.  I want to try a sexy zipper for the main zip (the one that becomes the handles).  And really want to teach this bag at New Pieces... stay tuned! 

And another bag detour...

Row by Row bag

Ya know, I am never satisfied with minimizing my multi-project involvement.  Row by Row Experience started this past Sunday, and I saw this tote bag as a way to incorporate one of those cute license plates I have been coveting.  No zippers, so it's not a candidate for me to teach as a class.  But I pulled out some fabrics to see what might look good together.

Hmm, Sweetie thinks it's a bit much...

Couldn't resist.

Fabric Destash accounting. Used on the Sew Together Bag:
Yardage Used: 3/4 yds

Stitch Modern: my Pinterest

I attended the Stitch Modern Quilt Show this weekend--a local showing of quilts by members of the East Bay Modern Quilters.

So many gorgeous ideas!  Such lovely fabrics, designs, styles of quilting!!

Sun Shine by Sharona Fischrup of New Pieces Quilt Store.  A favorite for showing what can be done with a panel. (And this panel, in turn, was designed from a finished quilt--oh, it's all so delicious.)

My very favorite quilt in the show: Crossroads "15" by Sue Mary Fox of Textile Dream Studio.  Why is it my fave? Color (both bright and neutral), use of negative space, geometric quilting, the fact that necktie fabrics and a ruined dress were included in the piecing.  Yummy.


I mentioned to the hall hostess, as I was gleefully taking pictures, that I hardly needed more ideas in my life; she asked if I used Pinterest for ideas.  Ha!  Pinterest--a deadly place for those with ADD, those who are easily overwhelmed by too much input.

No, friends, this is my Pinterest.  This blog is my place to store ideas that have found me.  I need not go out looking on the Interwebs for more ideas--being drawn down the rabbit's hole of ever more, ever so much more.  Here's what I saw that I liked best:

Use of Quilting

Orange is the New Purple by Claire Sherman

Moonshadows Pillow Cover by Ann Haley

Biased Opinion by Pati Fried

Use of Scraps

Wavelengths by (improv quilting bee members)

Block/Row Design

fabric choice + block design

improv bee contribution

blocks + quilting = magical

ADD = What's next?

Clicked on a Facebook link...

If You Love Someone Who Has ADHD, Don’t Do These 20 Things 

No surprise, I didn't make it through the list of 20 things before I got distracted; never went back to finish the list.  But I remember one of the lines was that in the ADHD brain, exposure to certain novelties triggers "an obsessive thought pattern of 'wha-ifs'."

Novelty 1: I was given the gift of fabric scraps

My friend Pam cast off excess from making a quilt with 1930's fabrics.  If you ask me, there was a lot of excess, enough to think about making my own quilt.

And thinking, and obsessing thinking, and obsessing dreaming, and obsessing planning. Yep, the old cranial region got to work on designing a new quilt.  All background thought went into this endeavor--couldn't stop myself from thinking about it.

Finally settled on two ideas, and that calmed my mind a bit.  Want to augment the 1930's reproductions with blue and yellow.  AND, I'm particularly intrigued by an alternating block design that I saw on Marcie's blog Patchalot More.  

Novelty 2: I toured my soon-to-be-moved-into new house

Measuring tape in hand, I made sketches of the floor layouts and began problem-solving about how best to furnish a 500 sq ft living room and 18-ft long dining room.  Gone was any thought of the fabric windfall and any effort to put a new quilt pattern into action.

Helplessly, I followed my brain to the land of interior design, furniture shopping, and budgeting for all the new-house-ness that was soon to be mine...

Their brilliant minds are constantly in gear creating, designing, thinking and never resting. Imagine what it would feel like to have a merry-go-round in your mind that never stops spinning.  --from 20 Things to Remember If You Love a Person with ADD

Umm, yeah.  I live on that merry-go-round.  Every. Day.

Novelty 3: Family emergency

In this case, I think even a non-ADD person would drop all their other idle thoughts (in my case, the background processes that border on obsessions, but that allow me to focus on the day-to-day in my mind's foreground).  I was able to focus and BE in the present in a way that is unusual for me.

This concludes our brief tour of Alla's mind.  Thank you for your attention.

Linking up with Molli Sparkles for Sunday Stash.  Go see other new fabrics that have found homes this week!

Christmas Franken-patterning

It's one week (and one day) until Christmas, and I'm still wanting to start holiday sewing projects.  Ah, I know I'm just dreaming, but these dreams are so realistic... almost like they could happen!

Yep, in my mind, this is totally DOable.

I'm calling this a Franken-pattern: taking two ideas I have seen online and putting them together into a single project.  The project-to-be is an advent calendar--something Sweetie has sighed wistfully about every time we take out the holiday decorations.

First part: the backdrop

 

A pieced tree, seen here in a picture from Barbara's blog Cat Patches.  The pattern, "Oh Christmas Tree", comes from the book Creative Scraps: Quilting with Bits & Pieces, by Jeanne Stauffer and Diane Schmidt.

Part two: decorating the tree

A modern tree, as seen in kit form on the Fabric Depot website.  I just keep returning to the website for this kit, pausing with my hand over the "add to cart" button--should I?  should I not?  I swear, they are gonna be out of stock before I finally make up my mind.

What last-minute crazy idea has you biting your nails?  Or are you just finishing up the handmade gifts?

Cute Border Variation

Seen recently at Something to Crow About: a very cute border for their Buck-a-Block BOTM for 2014.

Kennette, the shop owner, said she saw it in a book somewhere and thought it would be a darling way to finish off the black/white/color-of-your-choice theme for this year's block of the month.  I am not participating this year, having stalled out bigtime last year.  Even though the black & white colors really appeal to me.  (Practicing restraint--not something I am known for.)

Don'cha love it?

Colored Kitties

What a difference a bit of color can make!

How different than the pattern envelope

Let Sleeping Cats Lie from StoryQuilts.com

I have had the Let Sleeping Cats Lie pattern in my possession for quite some time, but I couldn't imagine it in anything but browns or greys.  And those colors just haven't inspired me to want to make the kitties.  Even though they are uber cute.

So, I was quite pleased when I came across a shop sample of this very pattern at Forget Me Knots in Bandon, Oregon.  Now my imagination is stirred up!

I love me some 1930's reproduction prints--would the kitties look good in those fabrics?

Or, given that it is close to Halloween, and all things orange, black and purple are still floating about in my mind, could this pattern stand a full-on witchy color scheme? 

So many possibilities...  But I already have the pattern!

{Let me just hold onto these ideas, right here on the blog where I can find them again}

Oy, haven't I seen this idea before?

Just listened to an NPR show (TED Radio Hour) on creativity and works of a derivative nature, when I was surfing BlogLand and saw a project that stopped me in my tracks.  I simply *must* make this: broken herringbone.

Pro's (no Con's allowed!)

1. It's a stash-buster, so that's a big plus.
2. Can be made in rainbow colors!!!
3. There's a tutorial for making the blocks, so no pattern (or book, or magazine) purchasing needed.  (Many thanks to Anne at Play-Crafts for all the hard work of getting a tutorial out there.)
4. It was run as a QAL in 2013/14 by Molli Sparkles, and all the posts are still around and available.

But then, as I looked at more and more photos of the quilts completed in the QAL, I began to think, "Haven't I seen this somewhere before?..."  Which is not so surprising, as the InterWeb is a big place.  But I was thinking I had definitely seen this design close to home.

from Angela Pingel's blog Cut to Pieces

And, Lo and Behold! On my very own blog, I had already fallen in love with elements of this design and color scheme.  Fortunately, I have my wild ideas parking lot for the endless parade of "new and shiny" that crosses my path and pulls my interest away from the current goings-on.

Parking this idea for a future play date.  Back to your lives, Citizens.

Love Inspiration

So many ideas, not enough lifetimes to complete them!

Saw this version of an abstract LOVE, when it was linked up to TGIFF.  Vera, the intrepid blogger at Negligent Style, thoughtfully provided a link to her previous projects using this design.

She also pointed out that this idea came from a Jason Mraz video.  A quick Google image search on "Jason Mraz love" yielded page after page of the same design:

And there you have it: a perfect marriage of Geometry and text, just waiting to become a pieced design on a modern quilt.

If, by chance, I come to the finish line of summer-sewing-on-deadline, I might just try this out.  Maybe on placemats?  Jess at Elven Garden is holding a sew-along for FMQ, and I desperately need to polish/practice my FMQ, if I'm ever gonna get outta the starting gate on that skill.

Parking lot for now; possibility of making it later.