Auntie Kym

It's hard to believe it's been the better part of a year since I last posted! I've sewn a few projects, though I took a long break after a poorly thought-out decision to make a gigantic scrappy beach quilt before I went on vacation in addition to sewing a beach bag from scratch. I didn't give myself enough time to enjoy the process of making either one, but I'm pleased with the way they came out. I just needed a breather after that!

But rewinding a few months to the spring, I made a quilt for my oldest friend Becky's new arrival, Michelle Elaine. (She takes her middle name from Becky's mom, who got me hooked on embroidery all those years ago!) I wanted to make something a bit girly, so it would be distinct from her brother Simon's quilt, but I'm not a big fan of pink. So, I based the color scheme around Patty Sloniger's Les Amis line and went with peach, cream, and green.

I tried my hand at pinwheel blocks for the first time, and I love the way they came out! I found some great tricks online for making a few pieces at once, which definitely came in handy. Since the prints in this line are so cute -- I love the woodland themes that are popular right now! -- I made big blocks for the front of the quilt.

The back is a 108" width fabric from Connecting Threads. It struck me as being too bright at first, but I grew to like the pop of color. I quilted in a grid pattern, roughly following the block pattern. And of course, I embroidered a message to Michelle.

I was lucky enough to get to hand deliver Michelle her quilt in May when I flew out to California for a long overdue visit with Becky and her family. It was wonderful! Becky's a great mom, and her kids are two of the sweetest, brightest kids I've ever met.

Simon, who is now two, calls the quilt I made him "Auntie Kym." His parents originally explained to him that his Auntie Kym had made the quilt for him, but in toddler logic, that meant the quilt must be called "Auntie Kym." He always asks for Auntie Kym when he goes to sleep (which caused some confusion when I was visiting!), but it's so nice to know that he loves his quilt. Sometimes you wonder if the quilts you've spent hours and hours working on get shoved into the back of the closet, or forgotten after the initial appeal wears off. I'm so glad that mine are being put to good use!

When I gave Michelle her quilt, Simon had to bring his out, too. :)

It's an Auntie Kym party!

I love those kids, but at the rate they are growing, it won't be long before they need bigger quilts!

My New Sewing Machine

My Brother LX-2500 has served me well over the past 2 1/2 years as I dipped my toe into the world of sewing and quilting, but the more I worked on it, the more I started to notice its flaws. The thread tension would sometimes change for no good reason, leaving me with trails of loose or tight stitches I would have to pull out and redo. There's not a lot of space to push a large quilt through. The presser foot stopped lifting as high as it should, so I'd have to hold it in place when I needed it in the "up" position. And finally, it was very, very loud. 

As a beginner's machine, I could not recommend it highly enough. It has everything you need without any frills, and for occasional sewing or mending, it would be perfect. But this past fall, I knew I wanted to step up to a better machine. So, come Christmas, I knew what I would be asking for.

I did quite a bit of research. All of the sewing bloggers I read use Janomes, Berninas, or Jukis, it seems. But those are expensive (in the $1000-2000 range), and they also have a different layout than what I'm used to. I don't sew every day, and sometimes I even let a few weeks go by without sewing, so spending more than a few hundred dollars on a machine seemed excessive -- even if it would be a gift! 

Since I had a good experience with Brother, I set my sights on one of their computerized models, the CS6000i. It has the same layout as my old machine, but much more space to work with. There's even a snap-on table that extends your workspace. The digital display is easy to use and there are 60-some stitches. (I've only tried a handful, so far.) The automatic needle-threader was a selling point for me. It also came with a cover and several feet. Best of all, I found it on sale on Amazon in the range of $150, so I keep reminding my dad that I saved him a bunch money on my Christmas gift.

(A bonus peek at my Liberty quilt in progress!)

So far, it's been great. The tension is much more consistent, and so is the stitch length. It runs the fabric through much more smoothly than it's predecessor. And it's quiet! 

My first project was a pillow for my college friend Ryan's new son, Arthur. I used some Michael Miller fabric I had on hand and I machine-appliqued an "A" on the front. It came together in just a couple of hours. I hope the little man likes it!

(Ignore the rogue thread...)

Then, I made an apron for myself with some of the Joel Dewberry's Bungalow fabric my mom got me for Christmas. I used an apron of my dad's as a template, then I pretty much winged it! I mentally split the apron into a top and bottom, then I arranged the fat quarters to fit the separate parts. I lined the top piece and the bottom piece to give it some weight. For each piece, I pinned reverse sides of the outer fabric and lining fabric together, stitched around three sides (leaving the bottom of the top and the top of the bottom open), then flipped the piece right-side out. As I attached the lining for the top, I also attached the neck strap (whose fabric is from the very first quilt I made!). I added a pocket to the bottom. Then I connected everything with the middle band, and topstitched around each of the fabric pieces to give it more of a finished look. 

I decided to extend the ties at the last minute and had run out of that fabric, so I improvised. I wasn't 100% pleased with the top, so I added the extra strip of fabric, which I think brings it all together. When you look at the back, you can see how piecemeal it is, but I figure it doesn't really matter, since it's just for me.

It's big -- the sides wrap around my back, so they're almost touching. However, I'm a messy cook, so that's probably a good thing. I'm very happy with it. I like how crazy it looks with so may fabrics and colors. Maybe it will make me want to cook more often! 

Next up: Laundry Bags, Take 2

A Bundle of Baby Quilts

Lately, it seems like everyone I know is having babies. It's been a fun time, but I've been busy trying to keep up with all of the baby quilts! Starting in August, I got to work on a quilt for the baby boy of my best friend Wendy. (You've heard me mention my best friend, Andrea. Well, Wendy is the other part of our best friend trio!) Wendy was due in late September, and I finished little Dawson's quilt soon after.

I used some animal prints from Ann Kelle's Urban Zoologie line as the focus (love those monkeys!), with royal blue and lime green fabrics mixed in. I wanted the quilt to be bold and fun, with plenty for the little guy to look at. I came up with the pattern myself: big squares alternating with groups of four smaller squares. The quilting lines shadow all of the smaller squares. The backing fabric is a tiny star print from Connecting Threads and I added an embroidered note. The quilt was a big hit with Dawson's parents and grandmoms, though Dawson has yet to indicate his preference either way.

The next quilt was for the child of my old high school friend Randy, who I also went to Lehigh with, and his wife, Marie. Little Anthony decided he wanted to emerge while his mom was matron of honor at her best friend's wedding. The kid knows how to make an entrance! Randy and Marie didn't reveal the gender of the baby ahead of time, but I knew they had chosen a forest theme for the nursery with greens, oranges, and other neutral colors. I fell in love with the Fort Firefly fabric line from Birch Organics. The animals are doing all sorts of cute things, but the muted color palette gives it a nice retro feel and doesn't make it seem too babyish.

I used Bijou Lovely's Colorblock Quilt pattern and it came together really quickly once I got going. (The directions were really easy to follow!) This quilt also marked the first time I used basting spray instead of pins to create my quilt sandwich. I was previously opposed to basting spray because it felt like cheating, but my goodness, it saves about 2 hours! I'm not sure how well it would work for larger quilts, but it was mighty useful for a crib-sized quilt. For the backing, I chose a Riley Blake chevron in brown & white, Lehigh's colors, for a fun little surprise. Since Anthony had already arrived by the time I started the quilt, I was able to embroider his name on the front.

The animals are setting up for a treehouse party! Squeee!

Last, but not least, my middle school pal, James, and his lovely wife, Autumn, had a baby girl, Emilia Rose, at the beginning of December. James and Autumn chose a camping/forest theme for the nursery in gender neutral blues and greens, since they didn't plan on revealing the baby's gender. So, I decided to use the Backyard Baby fabric collection by Patty Sloniger in the light blue colorway, which I thought would be appropriate for a boy or a girl. It features a bunch of animals, bugs, and natural elements. (No child of James and Autumn will be squeamish about bugs!) James raises honeybees so I was delighted to find some beehives in one of the patterns. For the backing, I used a precious turtle print from Patty's other line, Les Amis. It might be one of my all-time favorite prints.

I came up with the pattern myself: big blocks to feature the cute fabrics, separated by rows of white sashing. I only used horizontal quilting lines to shadow the rows. I once again used basting spray (seriously, such a lifesaver!). To make it a little more girly, I embroidered Emilia's first name and a rose for her middle name. Since I was in a time crunch -- I had plans to meet Emilia over the holidays and wanted to give her the quilt then -- I decided to sew on the binding with my machine for the first time. Though I like the look of a hand-sewn binding better, it takes forever and the machine-sewn binding does seem more durable. I think I'll have to work on my machine-binding skills (calling my stitching lines "squiggly" would be generous!), but I wouldn't be opposed to doing it again in the future since it cuts about 3 hours off my overall quilt-making time. The quilt was ready just in time for our visit!

Ants!

A bug zoo!

The cutest turtles ever!

Thus ends my quilt-making adventures for 2013! The next of my friends' babies isn't due until March, so I can take a little breather. However, I did receive an awesome new sewing machine for Christmas, so I've been working on some smaller projects that I will write about soon. Happy 2014!

Brother & Mother Quilts

I'm officially a year behind in posting, so the next few posts will be brief and full of pictures. Once I started quilting, my brother made a request for an LSU quilt (his alma mater). He kept getting bumped down the list for new baby quilts, which he wasn't too happy about. But I finally started working on his quilt last fall and finished it up for his birthday in November. 

This is the first quilt I've done with black sashing. I also used purple and gold thread for the quilting. Using colors on black fabric really emphasizes any uneven or crooked stitching, so I'm not sure I'd do it again, but the effect is kind of neat. Most of the fabric came from fabric.com and an Etsy shop specializing in fabrics using school colors. My favorite is the purple fleur-de-lis on a gold background. You can't get much more Louisiana than that! The backing is a basic gingham from Joann that was on sale.

Unfortunately, the original pics of this quilt were lost when my old computer crashed, so here it is at 8 months old. It's already been very loved, as it lives in the rec room with the big TV and my brother's multiple gaming systems. (It could also use a good wash! The other thing about black sashing is that it attracts lint and dust like nothing else!)

After a brief break over the holidays, I started on a quilt for my mom. She lives in Michigan and faces some cold, cold weather, so I thought she could use a nice lap quilt for watching TV or reading. I used fabrics from Bonnie & Camille's Marmalade and Vintage Modern lines. (I figured it was fitting, since they are a mother-daughter design team!) They have some nice floral patterns in soft colors, but aren't too chintzy or precious.

I wanted to do something a little different with this quilt, so I stitched together a bunch of charm squares into one large block, then used a wide border to fill out the quilt. I quilted a criss-cross pattern, which involved a yard stick and soluble marking pen, but I'm pleased with how it turned out. For the backing, I used a pink pattern from Connecting Threads and pieced a long row of leftover fabric from the quilt top. The binding is a nice grayish-taupe color from Moda that coordinates with some of the prints on the front. All in all, I think this is my most well-constructed quilt. I'm finally at the point where I feel comfortable breaking away from patterns and tutorials and doing things my own way.

A preview of the quilting in progress, to prove to my mom that her quilt was actually coming together!

She seems to love it, though moms usually do, don't they? For those of you keeping score, I've now made quilts for everyone in my immediate family, including myself. Hopefully, this will keep them happy for a while so I can focus on another slew of baby quilts for expectant friends. :)

Going back in time!

It's been a while! There's been a broken laptop, a trip to England, and another broken laptop (now fixed!) since my last post. But you haven't missed much; very little sewing or embroidery has taken place since I last wrote. I did make some fabulous acquisitions from Liberty on vacation (I could have spent my entire savings in there), but I'm still figuring out what to do with it all.

However, I still need to catch up with writing about my finished projects. Hop in my time machine (or TARDIS, if you will) and we'll travel back a year...

It was summer 2012, very sticky and steamy. Sometime in August, I began working on a 30th birthday quilt for Drea, one of my best friends. She and her husband had just bought their first house and they painted their living room walls mint green to coordinate with the previous residents' unusual choice of carpeting. It instantly reminded me of  an Amy Butler print! 

So, the soft green fabrics in Amy Butler's Daisy Chain and Midwest Modern  / Midwest Modern 2 lines became the foundation of the quilt. I chose a few Joel Dewberry patterns from the Heirloom collection to fill it out and Lizzy House's Jewels for the small pieces. I had a difficult time finding a backing fabric in a similar colorway that wasn't too pricey. I ended up using a coupon and ordering a cute green floral print from Joann.  (I used the extra to make the oven mitts in the previous post!)

I worked from the Lattice Quilt pattern by Amy Smart. It was definitely the most complex pattern I've done! After cutting the squares and triangles, I laid everything out to make sure the fabrics looked good together:

Then I cut all the sashing. There was lots and lots of sashing! For this pattern, you have to piece together each row on the diagonal and then sew on the triangle corners. I kept forgetting which way the triangles pointed and had to break out the seam ripper a few times. The tiny squares kept getting lost in the shuffle, too. I opted to omit the extra border in the pattern, since the quilt was plenty big for a lap quilt. I shadow-quilted the diagonal lines and bound it in a light green.

I finished the quilt about 2 months after Drea's birthday, but she knew it was coming! I ended up dropping it off a few hours before Hurricane Sandy hit, so she was able to use it during the storm. Unfortunately, all of the pictures I took of the quilt after I finished it were casualties of my crashed laptop. Drea sent this one along, though:

Perhaps I'll pester her to take some more the next time I'm at her house. :)

UPDATE: Some more pictures!