Goodies

My friend Peggy Trish sent me a Kaffee Fassett book and these goodies for my birthday last month. Can you believe it took me a while for me to figure out this little bird is actually a pincushion?


D'oh!

And another D'oh! because I got Trish's name wrong... {sound effect of Lynne slapping her forehead} If you all ever needed evidence that there are things I suck at... here you go!

Tame Tuesday

I decided to try the disappearing 9-patch using some fabrics I picked up at a local yard sale. It didn't mean it to turn out so symmetrical, but I sewed a pair wrong and had to adapt. This is very nice, and pleasing, but not quite enough "zing" for me. I should have used a brighter yellow, a warmer yellow, so the whole thing would POP more. I'm going to add a little border, and practice some machine quilting on it. I'll finish it up. It'll find a good home somewhere.

More on the Doll Swap Quilt

I've finished the selvage quilt for Doll Quilt Swap 7. I quilted it a lot more closely than I have ever quilted anything else. Which is a big deal considering the "throat" on this sewing machine is about 5-1/2". There's not a lot of space to maneuver anything around.

I'm not going to post a picture of the finished quilt until September, when I ship the quilt to its new home, but I did take a picture of myself holding it.
This looks very easy, but it's not. I'm standing on a small stool, and I can't use a flash. The quilt is really too big to hold with one hand. You do get a pretty good view of my sewing studio.

You can click the photos to enlarge.

Selvage Doll Quilt

There was one block I didn't like in my Doll Quilt Swap 7 quilt, so I did it over. After arranging the blocks the way I liked, I added more selvages to the four inner blocks giving me a much more interesting design. I have now made the quilt sandwich and have started quilting.

I really like the graphic quality of this, and for some reason it reminds me of Andy Warhol's Wayne Thiebaud's work.

Millie helped, of course.

Sixteen Six-inch Selvage Squares

What do you get when you sew sixteen six inch selvage squares? A messy sewing room.

Selvage Squares in Process

I'm working on the selvage blocks for my quilt for Doll Quilt Swap 7. These blocks are 6-1/2" square, and will be sewn up 6" finished. I haven't yet decided quite how I'll arrange them, but I do have a concept in my head.

Sweet Sixteen

I'm going to try making a selvage quilt for the Doll Quilt Swap 7. I've chosen these 16 blues
I think I might arrange them into big diamonds like this.

Selvage Bag # 3

As soon as I made my first selvage bag, my Mom asked for one. I had to collect a bit more selvages, though, so I waited.

Mom's birthday was Friday, July 24, and we spent a good part of the day together. I fixed a problem with her computer and we did some shopping.

When I got back to my house, I gathered my stuff. First, I needed the "extras," the fabric I would use for the lining, the pockets, and the trim, and thread and notions. I wanted several pockets, a zippered pocket and a key fob. I also knew my Mom would want the bag to close somehow. I had this funky pink button I had bought for another project, and never used. It would be perfect.

(you can click on all the photos to enlarge.)
My Mother is a professional artist, and she's not afraid of bright color. I made the big panel of selvages for the bag itself. The selection and placement of each selvage strip was carefully planned and deliberately placed. I knew exactly what I wanted.
Then I made the handles.Next I made the panels for the pockets and sewed them to the lining, and then assembled everything.Everything that could go wrong, did go wrong. I almost forgot to add the handles at the right time. One of the handles was twisted, and I had to rip it out and fix it. But the crowning glory came when I tried to insert the lining and sew the two big pieces together. Somehow I had mis-measured and the lining was way too small for the bag. In frustration, I threw it aside and did some housecleaning.After I cooled down a bit, I realized it was a simple fix. After dinner I went back into the sewing room, fixed my mistake, and finished the bag.It's really quite beautiful, and I am very happy with it. I brought it over to my Mom's house on Sunday morning. My Mom was thrilled, and immediately transferred the contents of her purse to this bag.Even Millie approves.

Sew This Is It!

This is all I can show you of something I have been working on the last couple of days. I can't tell you anything else, because I made something for somebody special, and I can't tell the world until I give it to the special somebody.

I always saw those special custom printed labels and I thought, Damn! I gotta get me some of those... Then one day I realized it would be even better if I made my own. So now, whenever I want a label, I just write what I want on a piece of fabric with an extra-fine point Sharpie. Then I iron it, cut it out, fold the edges under and sew it where I want it. I like these a lot better than a "custom printed" label. I've even done a test, by throwing a sample in the wash. Works great.

OK. I give in. I made a tote bag for my Mother for her birthday. I used selvages. You'll just have to wait until Monday to see the other pictures.

In the meantime, go watch that wedding dance video. It's awesome. I've watched it like five times already and it makes me cheer every time.

Doll Quilt Swap 7

I decided to participate in Doll Quilt Swap 7. I've been in DQS 4, 5 & 6. It's a secret swap. I'll be making a small quilt for somebody, and somebody else will be making a quilt for me. The partner matching emails went out last night and I have received my partner.

The goal is to make as perfect a quilt for your partner as you can, and to that end you have to give your partner information about yourself. So here's a little bit about me.

I love bright, saturated color. This is my computer desk.I have Fiestaware dishes. More color on my dry sink.And my bathroom is painted school-bus yellow.
What I would really like from my swap partner in DQS7 is a quilt for this empty wall in my bathroom.Partner, make me a quilt that will look good on this wall. Do not worry about "matching" the other items in the room. The space can only take a quilt 24" wide, but that's the outside dimension of the swap quilt, so no problem there. The only other things you should be concerned about is any embellishments must be able to withstand moisture, and I am not a fan of brown.

I am, however, a huge fan of black and white, and I love checkerboards.
Can you tell?

A Little Help, An Old Favorite

i love this picture, taken way back in 2003, when I was sewing the binding on my son's quilt. That's Gizzy, "helping." Gizzy was always in the middle of everything.

Always.

Everything.

He was a hell of a cat. Woke me up at 6 AM every single morning, and met me at the door when I got home from work every evening. He made sure to spend time in my lap each day.

He went to the Rainbow Bridge two years ago.

I still miss him.

Enter Laughing

The top of my Laughing Out Loud quilt is finished. It's about 82" x 100", big enough for a queen-sized bed.
For comparison, the stockade fence is six feet tall, and that's my car on the left. I didn't compress the top picture, so you can click it to enlarge.

First Quilt

Thirty-two years ago I made my first quilt.

It's a Log Cabin, arranged in the Barn Raising design. I don't remember where I got the pattern for it, but it was well before the time of rotary cutters and strip piecing.

The center is red, then it's orange, yellow, green, then blue, then green, then yellow and then orange in the corners. Many of the fabrics were a polyester/cotton mix, because that's what was available. Oranges were hard to come by, and purples were impossible. 100% cotton? Not in my area.
The logs were 1" wide finished. The quilt has a poly filling, was backed with a sheet and was tied.

Over the years the seams have come apart, the ties have disappeared and the colors faded. It looks awful.

But when I dug it out of its storage spot in the basement last week to show my son's girlfriend who is interested in making a Log Cabin Quilt, my son immediately lay claim to it.
He loves it, which serves as a reminder to all of us that it's often the emotional aspect of the quilt that is valued most by the people we love. They don't care if we ran out of one fabric, if the backing is pieced or if the seams don't line up. They could care less if the design is from a pattern, a book, a kit, or out of your head. They don't care if the fabric came from a quilt shop or from wal-mart.

It matters that it came from your hands, and represents your love.

As my son wrapped himself in this quilt, he inhaled deeply and said, "I love the way it smells. It's my past."

My birthday is not until next week. But I think just got the best present I could ask for.

Laughing Out Loud Border Fabrics

These are the brights I will use with my black-and-white fabrics for the border of my Laughing Out Loud Quilt.
I am hoping to have the quilt top finished over the weekend.