The Quilt Story, Part 3

Wow, it’s been over a month since I last posted! What can I say? Life got in the way. Work was extremely busy, and I was actually pretty productive with my sewing/embroidery in the interim. I just didn’t have time to write about it!

So, back to the story of my first quilt. Thanks to the meticulously detailed quilt pattern I bought from Oh, Fransson!, the construction went along fairly smoothly. (My boss recommended this pattern specifically because it walks you through every step.) I was very nervous cutting into my expensive fabric. I’m sure some psychologists could do a study on what goes through one’s mind when forced to slice up something one has grown attached to. It’s not pretty.

This pattern required fabric cuts in various sizes. Then, the pieces were matched up with other pieces from their pattern “pair” to form blocks that were all the same size. It wasn’t until I started making these blocks that I noticed how crooked some of my cutting was. Thankfully, the seam allowances seemed to cover up most of my mistakes.

Sewing the blocks took a few weeks in itself. I kept them organized through Post-It notes. I laid out all of the blocks per the pattern instructions, but found myself completely rearranging them as I started piecing together the rows. I also didn’t really follow the directions when it came to the directions of the blocks. I was supposed to alternate the ways the blocks faced, but this didn’t work so well with my directional bird prints. I wanted all of them to go the same way. So, I broke the rules and did my own thing. I think it was the right decision.

There is a lot of ironing involved in quilting. It’s actually considered “pressing” since you aren’t supposed to move the iron back and forth (though I sometimes do). I don’t like this. I avoid ironing at all costs. I would rather be seen in a crumpled, wrinkly shirt than have to break out the ironing board. So, this is an adjustment for me. But I followed the directions and pressed all of the seams. This helped quite a bit when it came to attaching the sashing between rows. Everything seemed to line up better than it would have otherwise.

There were many pins involved with this part, too. Pinning is a good practice to get into. It’s generally better to have too many pins than not enough. Fabric has a tendency to bunch up or form gaps when you’re not looking. (It’s sneaky like that!)

quilt top, in progress

For the back of the quilt, I used two large pieces of fabric, two strips of the sashing fabric, and one long row of scraps from the fabric I used on the front. I tried to center the row, which didn’t go exactly as planned, but I like the way it ended up.

After lots of ironing and pinning and stitching and rogue thread snipping, I was ready to make my “quilt sandwich” and “baste.” (These are terms that make me hungry.) I used an all-natural cotton batting (low loft) in the middle, which was fairly thin and easy to work with. The fancy basting pins in the craft store were quite pricy, so I just used some regular old safety pins. They did the trick. I brought all of my quilting necessities (including my sewing machine) to my dad’s house for this part, so that I could spread out a bit more. (My apartment is pretty small, and I would have to move furniture to do it there!)

I used masking tape to carefully line up each layer on the floor. I followed all of the advice I found and trimmed the backing and batting to be a little larger than the quilt top, since everything shifts while quilting. (I used my rotary cutter and cutting mat, which were not nearly large enough for the task, so I had to keep crawling around the quilt to trim it. Must have been a sight.) Starting from the center, I used about a million pins to keep my three layers together. It took me about an hour just to pin the quilt!

Next was the most intimidating part, apart from cutting the fabric: the actual quilting. I didn’t want to get this far and mess up here, so I took the simplest approach possible – quilting straight lines a little bit outsides of the blocks. This is called “shadowing” or “echoing,” as I later found out. I didn’t know how to deal with the bulk of the quilt as I ran it through the sewing machine. A few blogs I read advised to roll it and keep adjusting it as you go. There’s really no other way to do it! Since my quilt was pretty thin, I didn’t have too much trouble. It’s just more awkward than anything. But since you start in the middle and work your way out, it gets easier as you go.

I have to say that quilting is my least favorite part of the whole “making a quilt” process. It’s kind of tedious and plenty can go wrong. At this point, I just wanted it to be done! I used my walking foot for this part, along with a special quilting needle, which made the job easier. I kept the presser foot along the edge of the blocks, so the lines were stitched about 3/8 inch away from each block. Some of my lines aren’t completely straight, and the quilting emphasized some minor variations in the sizes of the blocks. But I maintain that this gives the quilt character. After the quilting was done, I trimmed the excess batting and backing off, using my handy-dandy rotary cutter.

quilting close-up

Last, but not least was the binding, which covers up the raw edges of the quilt to finish it off. I was a little confused about this part, so I went to a few different sources. The most helpful binding tutorial is on Diary of a Quilter. Amy’s instructions are superb. Her method involves machine sewing the binding to the back, then hand sewing the front. It seems like a long, thankless task at first, but is actually fairly relaxing, especially when there is TV involved. It only took a few hours for me to tack the binding on. The mitred corners didn’t come out wonderfully, but they serve the purpose (and I do feel like I’ve improved on subsequent projects). 

binding with wonky mitred corners

I felt like doing a victory dance when I was finished!

 Here’s the end result, held up by my lovely best friend, Drea:

the front

the back
(Ignore the shadows. As I've said, lighting in my apartment isn't great! I also took this picture on a bit of an angle. The back really isn't that crooked!)

And that's the (long) story of how I made my first quilt. It's been living happily on my bed for almost two months and I love it. I don't think I could have asked for a better first quilting project! I'm very pleased with the size, too. It's great for those times when my duvet is too heavy, but a sheet is too light.

I've made two more quilts since this one, which I will post about soon. Just don't take the "soon" part too literally. :)

The Quilt Story, Part 2

I knew I wanted to make Joel Dewberry’s Aviary 2 line in plum/lilac my main fabric set. I’ve found that choosing a central set of coordinating fabrics helps the fabric-selection process immensely. But the pattern I was using required no fewer than 16 different fabrics, so I had some more research to do.

This part was very stressful. I saw way too many fabrics I liked. Some wouldn’t quite fit in with the vibe of the quilt, so I had to convince myself to leave those behind. Some fabrics were just too expensive and I couldn’t warrant buying them for my first quilt, which may or may not have turned out to be a success. I took a look at just about every quilting fabric site I could find, trying to get a feel for which designers I liked, which colors would work best, and which patterns would go well together. Because I’m a planner, I mapped out all of my prospective fabric choices in a table before making my final decisions. I opted to stick with the Aviary color scheme – a variety of purples with hints of pink, aqua, and green. I thought a creamy color would work best for the sashing, with a purple-y binding. I didn’t care so much about the backing. I just needed something that would be cheap, since I’d have to buy several yards of it.

I bought most of my fabric from Hawthorne Threads (recommended by my boss), the Fat Quarter Shop, fabric.com, and various fabric sellers on Etsy. The most important lesson I learned about fabrics is that they are EXPENSIVE. Unless you go the Jo-Ann route and sacrifice a bit of quality for price, it’s typical to spend $8-10 for a yard of designer quilting fabric. So, it was important for me to buy only what I needed. This generally meant purchasing fat quarters. The Fat Quarter Shop (obviously) has a great selection of fat quarter bundles, but sometimes you don’t need the whole set. That’s where I found Etsy to be helpful. There are dozens of small online fabric stores selling their merchandise on there, and they’ll often cut you a break on the price the more you buy. Some allow you to mix and match fat quarters for a flat rate, too, which is awesome!

After my various fabrics arrived, I had to pair them up. The pattern called for several blocks made up from each fabric pair, so I had to make sure the fabrics in the pair actually looked decent together. This part was excruciating. I went back and forth on these pairings for days, and ended up swapping out a few fabrics at the last minute (even after I had already cut into them!). For the most part, I kept the Aviary prints together, matched busy prints with solids, or put large patterns with smaller geometric patterns. I’m pleased with how the pairs looked in the end, but it took me a while to get there!

Without further ado, these are the fabrics I used in my quilt:

Pair 1

Tula Pink Parisville Topiary in Sky – I found this using the color grid search feature on Hawthorne Threads, since I needed some more aqua in the quilt. (Such a handy tool!) This has a great combo of purple, aqua, green, and pink. I think it’s very romantic!

Free Spirit Designer Solid in Mulberry Wine – I was expecting this to be a slightly different shade, but it’s a good balance to the darker purples in the quilt. I think Free Spirit makes my favorite solids. They have a nice sheen to them and they are easy to work with.

Pair 2

Patricia Bravo Lace Elements in Plum – In doing my fabric “research,” I fell head over heels for all of Pat Bravo’s lines. I was worried this would be a little too dramatic for the quilt, but I think it plays nicely with the Aviary patterns.

Patricia Bravo Pure Elements in Cabernet – I didn’t love this solid. It snagged a bit while sewing the blocks. But since it is part of Pat Bravo’s line, I thought it would have the best chance of matching the Lace Elements pattern. It worked out better when I used it for the binding. (See below!)

Pair 3

Joel Dewberry Heirloom Blossom in Amethyst – I actually bought this for a memory board I made for my room and ended up using the extra yardage at the last minute. It’s a little more red than the other plums in the quilt, but because it’s the same designer, it works.

Free Spirit Designer Solid in Red Plum – A perfect match for the Heirloom Blossom print. One secret I’ve uncovered in this process is that when in doubt, stick to colors from the same manufacturer. (Free Spirit makes Joel Dewberry’s fabrics!)

Pair 4

Joel Dewberry Aviary 2 Sparrows in Plum – I’m not sure why this is called “plum,” since it’s actually aqua, but I love it!

Joel Dewberry Aviary 2 Damask in Plum – This is probably my second favorite print in the collection. Damask is timeless, but the aqua and purple make it look modern.

Pair 5

Joel Dewberry Aviary 2 Ironwork in Plum – Another great print. Seems a little bit Moroccan-inspired, which I like.

Joel Dewberry Aviary 2 Lodge Lattice in Lilac – This could have paired with just about any of the other patterns in the quilt. It ended up here by process of elimination!

Pair 6

Joel Dewberry Aviary 2 Sparrows in Lilac – The inspiration for all of this!

Patricia Bravo Bespoken Jacquard in Orchid – I didn’t think I was going to use this, but I was having problems finding a partner for the sparrows print that wouldn’t take too much attention away from it. (It is my favorite, after all!) I bought this fabric thinking it would be more purple, and was disappointed to find that it was actually a raspberry color. But then I thought it couldn’t hurt to have a little more pink in the quilt. It’s not a perfect match, but it draws out the pink in the sparrow pattern.

Pair 7

Joel Dewberry Aviary 2 Bloom in Lilac – I love this one, too!

Buttercup Vines in Petunia – I found this on sale at fabric.com and bought it on a whim. I wasn’t sure it would match, but it was cheap. It ended up being a perfect pair with the Bloom print. I like how the tiny birds echo the sparrows in the Aviary prints. I’m looking forward to using the rest of the yardage for something else!

Stand-bys that I didn’t end up using:

Patricia Bravo Pure Elements in Verve Violet – It was a little too pink for the quilt. I’ve stashed it away for a future project.

Joel Dewberry Modern Meadow Herringbone in Pond – I adore this print, but the aqua was way too bright and it drew too much attention away from the plums. I wanted to keep aqua as an accent color, not the focus.

You'll get a better look at these in my next post...

Sashing

Free Spirit Designer Solid in Natural – It was really hard to pick the right neutral for the quilt! I knew regular white would be too stark, but if I chose something too creamy, it wouldn’t go with my existing duvet cover. This turned out to be the perfect shade of off-white.

Backing

Pat Bravo Bazaar Style Moroccan Streets in Night – I wasn’t a big fan of this at first. It was too modern looking for me. However, the back of the quilt required 4-ish yards of fabric, and I had already exceeded my budget. This pattern happened to be on sale at fabric.com and had the right colors, so I figured I would live with it. Now that it’s done, I love it! It complements all of the flowers and birds nicely, and the light gray-lilac background adds a bit of interest without overwhelming the senses.

Binding

Pat Bravo Pure Elements in Cabernet – This deep purple matches both my duvet cover and my curtains exactly. This was not planned! I originally wanted to bind the quilt with the red plum solid that is paired with the Heirloom print in the blocks, but once I saw it in person, it was way too reddish in color. I felt that the binding for this quilt needed to go with all of the various purples, plums, and lilacs, and the red plum just didn’t work. I was concerned that the cabernet would be too dark, but since it borders the natural-colored sashing, it provides a nice little contrast. 

So that's the long story of how I agonized over fabric for days on end. It was totally worth it to have a quilt I'm 100% happy with, though -- at least, fabric-wise. The construction may leave a little to be desired, but I'll save that for Part 3!

The Quilt Story, Part 1

I’ve been putting off my “First Quilt” post for quite some time, mainly because it seemed really daunting to describe a process that took me the better part of two months to complete. I didn’t want to write as I went in case it ended up being a total disaster or in the event that I gave up halfway through – that’s not something the world would need to know! But now that I’ve finished two quilts and am well into my third, it’s high time I began my first quilt story. I’m going to tell it in a few parts, though, just because it’s easier that way.

Part 1: Inspiration

It all started with a t-shirt. Late last summer, possibly early fall, I wore one of my favorite t-shirts to work. (Yes, I work in a place where people wear t-shirts… don’t be jealous!) It’s a purple-violety color, with a few birds and writing in blue. I love all things purple and anything with a bird on it, so naturally, this is one of my favorite clothing items. My supervising editor Kristen, who knows her way around a sewing machine, told me that my shirt reminded her of some fabric she had been eyeing. She sent me a link to this page: http://www.hawthornethreads.com/fabric/designer/joel_dewberry/aviary_2/sparrows_in_lilac

It was a print from Joel Dewberry’s Aviary 2 line in the lilac/plum colorway (which I learned is a fabric design-y term for “palette”). I clicked through to the other patterns in the collection, and they were all perfect! It seemed like the entire line was made for me. Bold flowers with a retro feel, geometric patterns with an international flourish, and most importantly PURPLE BIRDS!

However, at this point, I didn’t have a sewing machine and I was only starting to embroider again. It seemed silly to buy fabric just because I liked it, while having no plan or ability to do anything with it. So, I let Aviary 2 sit in the back of my mind for a while.

Once I did buy my sewing machine, and after I had a few projects under my belt, I started thinking about quilting. A good friend is expecting and I thought I might be able to manage making a small, simple baby quilt. However, I knew I should do a trial run before committing myself to making a functional gift! I asked Kristen if she knew of any easy patterns I could use to make a practice quilt for myself. She directed me to Oh, Fransson!, a lovely site of quilt patterns and tutorials by Elizabeth Hartman. Kristen recommended that I download the Mixtape Quilt pattern, which had actually been updated since Kristen tried it. It was a step-by-step guide through the entire quilting process, from picking fabrics to binding the quilt. (The binding is the outside border that covers up the raw edges of the quilt layers – this is the kind of thing I learned from this little guide!) There was so much detail, I felt confident I could take a stab at a making a quilt, and it seemed well worth its $10 price tag. 

The guide gave instructions for making quilts of various sizes, and I figured I would do my trial run on a quilt for the end of my bed. As you can probably guess, my room is drenched in purple, so it didn't take me long to realize that Aviary 2 would be the perfect fabric collection to use. It was destiny. 

Next Up: Part 2, in which Kym is introduced to the the expansive and expensive world of quilting fabrics…

Teatime and Superheroes

My mom's birthday was in early February, and I knew I wanted to sew her something. Lindsay made a cute teapot cozy with a pattern from Retro Mama, and since my mom enjoys a good cuppa as much as I do, I moseyed on over to Etsy and bought a pattern to make her a home for her teapot. My mom loves pale blue, so I bought a few fat quarters of Taza by Dena Designs in blue, white, and aqua just for this cozy. I really like the mix of bold florals, stripes, and geometric shapes and soft pastels. It's traditional with a modern flair.

Here's the finished product:

The back used a slightly different pattern:

This was my first time using a cut-out pattern and there were a few hiccups. It was hard to get the arc of the cozy just right. The batting was a little thick, and I had trouble stitching straight in a few places. (This is before I mastered my walking foot!) If you saw the pieces before I stitched them together, they would really show that I had no idea what I was doing! But I think the finished product looks okay.

I quilted straight lines, since this was still one of my first quilting attempts and I didn't want to rock the boat too much. The most difficult part was the binding, which would not cooperate. It just didn't want to fold over all the layers. I started out machine stitching it, but I wasn't catching all the layers, so I ended up having to go back and handstitch parts of it. I've become more confident with binding since this project, though, and I think next time, I'll make it a bit wider.

I put a little embroidered message inside the lining:

I used variegated floss, parts of which didn't show up well in the picture, but I liked the way it looked on the gray lining. (Ignore that rogue thread... it kept sneaking into the picture.)

I had plenty of leftover fabric, so I decided to make some coordinating coasters. I used this tutorial , which was very easy to follow. It uses a log cabin technique, and each coaster is a little bit different. Quilting was a challenge, since there wasn't much surface area to work with. If I do them again, I'll be a bit neater with my stops and starts.

the front

the back

Yup, I personalized these, too! I tried to match the floss to the petal color, so it would be a bit more inconspicuous.

And here is the whole shebang:

The teapot is mine, included for photographic purposes. I bought my mom her own tea set, complete with cups and saucers, in a powder blue to match her new cozy and coasters. She loved them! I'm not sure about the practicality of having cloth saucers or a lightly colored cozy, given potential tea stains, but at least they will look pretty for a little while and can always be washed.

In other news, I am able to reveal some of the drawstring bags I made. My godson Ryan just turned 5. He's always playing with his action figures and they never seem to stay in one place -- they get stuck in couches, behind his bed, under seats in the car, etc. So I thought he could use some superhero storage to make toting his good guys and bad guys more convenient. I even made him two, so he could separate the good guys from the bad guys when he's not around to monitor the safety of Gotham City / Metropolis / the universe. This called for a special order of some Batman fabric. (The Fat Quarter Shop had a ton of superhero fabric to choose from!)

Ryan didn't seem quite as excited about the bags as I was about making them, but his parents thought they were great! I remember being his age and being disappointed whenever I got something I couldn't play with right away. I figure he'll come to appreciate his superhero storage over time. :) I also got him a book, which he seemed to have more interest in -- Michael Chabon's The Astonishing Secret of Awesome Man. I love a great kids' book, and this is one of the best I've read in ages. It seemed perfect for my favorite little superhero!

I've actually been busy at work on my second quilt. More on that soon!

Lined Drawstring Bag

In my quest to learn more about sewing, I started reading some really helpful blogs. (See the list to the right!) There are easy-to-follow tutorials for just about every aspect of sewing, even how to change the feet on your sewing machine and pick fabrics that will complement one another. I always had this impression that people who sewed, embroidered, and the like were stodgy old ladies who were sticklers for the rules. Not so. By and large, the crafty ladies who write these blogs are young-ish, really psyched about what they do, and eager to share their knowledge from both their successes and their failures. They like big, bold fabrics, bright colors, and taking shortcuts when they can. Some of them are newer at sewing, like myself, while some grew up stitching. It's definitely reassuring to know that the seasoned pros still make mistakes and that's part of the charm of making something by hand. It's a nice little community out there!

Thanks to these blogs and Pinterest, I have no shortage of projects I want to get started on. But I'm a pretty practical person, and I knew I'd have to start small. When I found this tutorial for a lined drawstring bag (it was free!), I knew I had to make one. Or five.

I had purchased a bunch of fabric from an Etsy seller in anticipation of making my plum Aviary quilt (which I will describe in detail one of these days, I promise!). Since the seller offered flat rate shipping and I wanted to get my money's worth, I decided to buy a bit of Alexander Henry's Spotted Owl fabric in Smoke, too. I have a slight obsession with owls and I really couldn't resist. I figured it would be perfect for my new bag, and I paired it with some leftover gray Kona cotton from Ryan's pillow and black cotton from Sean's pillow.

It took me about four hours to cut the fabric, figure out how to pin everything together, press, and sew, but when I was finished, I had this awesome little bag:

It's the perfect size for storing my embroidery projects in my commuting bag. You've already seen the canvas case I keep my needles, scissors, and floss in, but here's a photo of all of my embroidery notions, including my fab magnetic polka-dot needle case and scissors, both from Sublime Stitching. (I'm pretty sure I've ripped off Lindsay's taste in notions!) The scissors have a cute embossed cover and they fit inside the needle case. Ingenious!

The hoop is 5 inches (I think) from Jo-Ann. After trying a plastic square snap-frame, which doesn't hold the fabric very tight, and wooden hoops that sometimes snag the fabric, I think I've settled on plastic hoop -- this  purple one in particular. So, all of that fits into what will henceforth be known as my owl bag which, in turn, fits into my commuting bag. I don't travel light.

Jeni of In Color Order had another pattern for the same bag in a variety of sizes, so of course I had to pay for that one, too. I used it to make birthday presents for a couple of special people. I'll post pictures after they open them.

And finally, I finished my Aviary quilt this weekend and I love it! I'm sooo close to being caught up with my project recap, so I don't want to skip out of chronological order at this point. I also anticipate that post will be a long one, so I may have to put it off until the weekend -- but it's coming! 

Lots of Ornaments... and a Preview!

I made all sorts of ornaments before Christmas. Did you know that embroidery hoops come in really tiny sizes just for this sort of thing? I used some Sublime Stitching holiday patterns, and some patterns I drew myself. Here's the best of the bunch.

I use patterned background fabric for some of them. The picture didn't come out that well, but I like the ornament itself.

 This cute little penguin went to my cousin's daughter, Mackenzie.

I tried making a few ornaments out of felt. I saw similar ones in a magazine and they were really cute. In person? Not so much. I think they look a bit like a 5-year-old did them. But they have character, I suppose.

I made this Union flag to give to my friend Marie for her 30th birthday. She's a fellow Anglophile and studied in London, too. Her husband is an old friend of mine, and as soon as we met, we instantly bonded over our love of all things British.

A close-up of the stitches. I can't tell you how tempted I was to keep this for myself!

I have a few other projects to write about before I'm all caught up, but here's a preview of what I'm working on now. It's come a long way since this photo was taken (about a month ago now), but I'm very excited to share it with you:

Yup, that's the start of my very first quilt! I got it in my head that I wanted to put my sewing machine to good use, and my supervising editor (who is quite a talented and crafty lady) inspired me to just jump right in. It's been a very interesting process. It seemed completely daunting at first, but with a lot of help from online tutorials, I am now almost finished. I'll write more about it at a later point, but now that it's finally starting to look like a quilt and I'm 95% sure it won't turn out to be a complete disaster, I think it's safe to share. :)

More Gifts

I embroidered this apron for my mom for Christmas. She's a great cook, but somehow manages to get food on herself every time she goes near the stove. (It must be genetic, because I have the same affliction!) So, I thought she could use a pretty apron. I bought the apron online from Target and the canvas was just the right weight -- sturdy enough without being too hard to stitch through. The design is from Aimee Ray's Doodle Motifs book, and I decided to do the embroidery in cheerful, bright colors.

The stitching for this project went surprisingly fast. I think it's because, compared to the rest of the apron, the embroidery doesn't take up too much space. I didn't want to go overboard with it. I did most of the stitching at my dad's house while watching an LSU game. My mom seems to have really liked it, so I'd say it was a success!

I made this hoop for my roommate, who loves Paris. The design is from Jenny Hart's "Bon Voyage" pattern, and I adore the vintage jet-setter look of it. I made a few adaptations but stuck with the general design. (The fleur-de-lis was my own addition.)

It took a few tries to get the image on the fabric just right. The lines with the transfer marker were too thick, but the fabric was light enough for me to trace the images with a water soluble marker. I think this may be my embroidery-transfer method of choice going forward. I also couldn't get the mouth looking the way I wanted, which was annoying, but I don't think my roommate really cares! I painted a regular wooden hoop with some cheap gold craft paint to spruce it up a little. The dress and suitcase colors match my roommate's bedroom decor, which she noticed right away, and I tried to get as close as possible to the actual golden brown color of the Eiffel Tower. (Sidenote: In every picture I had ever seen of the Eiffel Tower, it looked black. It wasn't until I saw it in person that I realized it was actually brown! Who knew?)

I think I may have to make one for myself, but with a London theme. ;)