Archive for November, 2009

Cones of plenty

November 25, 2009 at 4:19 pm · Filed under Fabric, Quilts, Tools

I was finishing up this top:

when the mail carrier arrived. I’ve been trying to make time for a little something Authentic. It was one of those make it up as you go along things. Which is not really the best approach in the interest of time. Because I cut a set of strips, sewed them together, liked what was going on and then proceeded to cut another set of strips. Which finally led to a third session of strip cutting and sewing to finish the job. Indirect but not necessarily as inefficient as it felt, I guess.

So, the mail carrier resolved the impending piecing thread crisis:

A little later the UPS man solved the quilting thread crisis:

I ordered the Superior direct from Superior. I ordered the Aurifil from a new to me place called Pumpkinvine Corner. Pumpkinvine has great prices on Aurifil. Had to order two cones to get the superb cone price but I will definitely go through these.

Ahh, that’s better to have the thread pantry re-stocked.

So what did I do after the thread issues were resolved? Played with the tape, of course:

And I ran out of tape while doing this.

For the U.S. readers, may you and your families have a wonderful Thanksgiving! I’m going to gobble up some Tofurkey.

 

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I am totally going to use this fabric

November 23, 2009 at 2:27 pm · Filed under Fabric, Great Quilt Patterns, Quilts, Tools

…for some other project.

Yes, I can finish the story I mentioned on Friday. But it got a little funnier over the weekend.

See, I finally decided on a color scheme for the petals for Kellie’s Joseph’s Coat Quilt-along. I’m going for the colors in Kaffe’s Umber Lotus Leaf fabric. After making some fabric selections, the colors fell flat on the grey above. So, I ordered a darker Kaufman Kona grey — coal, to be exact. My story was going to be about my penchant for dithering when it comes to background fabrics.

Heehee, but before my new fabric arrived, I saw Cathy’s post. The coal color wasn’t working out for her. I laughed. She could have just sent me hers. heehee!

Anyhoo, a Very Important Parcel arrived on Saturday:

I mean to tell you, I LOVE the urgent yellow color of Hancock’s of Paducah’s packaging! I love it! It says Coming through, urgent and important stuff inside!

And, voila:

Much better!

I’ve left this on the dining room table all day. Each time I pass by, I get a smile on my face. Yes, that’s the grey I needed for this project! The lighter grey will definitely be put to good use. In another project.

Speaking of finding the right color… I’m short on all kinds of thread these days. Today was the day to admit that I need more piecing thread. I’ve been avoiding it only because, well, you see, I have several-many wayward Aurifil caps but wasn’t quite sure which belong to my two “go to” colors. I selected the four below based on number of occurrences in the pile. After some investi-guessing, I have concluded that I need a cone of 5011 and a cone of 2605. I think. Well, that’s what’s been ordered so that’s what is right right now.

I’m sure there is a better system for this.

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Mail call!

November 20, 2009 at 3:12 pm · Filed under Books, Fabric, Quilts, Treats!

Banner week in the mailbox department! You may recall that Cathy hosted a giveaway recently. Pinch me, I won this gorgeous set of stacking rings from the generous Louise:

Admit it, you wish you were me. I’m going to holler now: I LOVE THESE RINGS! I felt lucky that Cathy introduced me to Louise’s work, but then I won the rings and can’t believe how lucky I am! As you can see from my somewhat rough hewn hands, I am not a girly girl. Louise’s style suits me so well. You can often find me clicking on the items in her shop and dreaming. You MUST see more of Louise’s GORGEOUS work at her shop! Thank you, Cathy, for hosting the giveaway and THANK YOU, Louise! I really love the rings!!

Still can’t believe my luck!

The Royal Mail was busy with me today because some of Aneela’s adorable fabrics arrived as well:

Such cute designs!! Really sweet and playful! Aneela has been making some really fun things with her prints and with her collection of Heather Ross prints. Adorable!

A couple of new books hopped into my Amazon cart last week:

Wonderful books! Highly recommended!

A happy package also arrived from Australia:

This issue of Down Under Quilts contains Sarah Fielke and Sue Spargo’s collaborative design, Peacocks and Plumage. Not that you would know that by looking at my photo…which covers over that detail in the bottom right corner. Ooops! Sarah sent along some delicious fabrics for me to play with as well. Thanks, Sarah!

Many things going on around here this week besides checking the mail box. All of them half finished. Yesterday as I was quilting the Rouenneries spider web quilt, I RAN OUT OF THREAD. You would think I would have a suitable substitute for light beige quilting thread. Um, no, actually I don’t. I had been putting off a little mail ordering from Arizona. And look what happened. So, I got out a quilting hoop to work on a little “accent” quilting while I await the UPS truck:

The loopy part was done while I still had machine quilting thread…. See, I can find things to do while I wait.

Speaking of waiting, I’ve had a silly story to tell you ALL WEEK. But I have been waiting on Mr. Fed Ex Ground ALL WEEK so I can get to the story’s ending. Harumph. It even has a topical theme. But you’ll have to wait to hear it.

So, go find something to do while you wait! Enjoy the weekend!

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Friday? Again?

November 13, 2009 at 2:40 pm · Filed under Everyday Things, Fabric, Great Quilt Patterns, Quilts

Honestly. Where does the week go? Just a minute ago, it was Monday. I think I meant to post on Monday. Time flies when you’re, well, doing stuff. Not that it has been exciting stuff. Yesterday I washed dogs and all of the one-thing-leads-to-another related accoutrements. Well, here we are.

First off, I joined Andi’s Pay It Forward, which I am very excited about! So, now I’m looking for three people who want to Pay It Forward. If you would like to receive a handmade gift from me, and are willing to make and send a handmade gift along to three of your blog readers, please let me know in the comments. Once you accept, you will receive something from me within 365 days. In turn, you will have 365 days to fulfill your end of the bargain. So, if you would like to accept the challenge and commit to keeping this going, leave a comment.

EDITED TO ADD: You all are QUICK! 🙂 I’ll be sending to:

Jan
Michelle
Jenny

Among other things I’ve gotten myself into, I’m intending to quilt along with Kellie’s Joseph’s Coat Quilt-along. I really love this pattern. I’ve made a small beginning by deciding on a background:

grey

Moda Bella Solid in grey — a nice chalky mid-grey.

I’ve wrangled some of the Stitch N Wash too (although I keep thinking of it as Wash N Stitch — which just doesn’t make sense):

washfuse

Although, I just saw an ad today for a new product from C&T Publishing — Wash Away Applique Sheets. Sounds like it does the same thing AND you can send it through your ink-jet printer. Which appeals to me as I’ve drafted my Joseph’s Coat applique placement guide on the computer. I could send sheets and sheets of petal shapes through. Wheeee. But I won’t. Because I already have Stitch N Wash. FYI then.

In 2007, I saw this beauty from the Tokyo International Quilt Festival. Stunning, no? Here, I must stop and thank Jan because, while I remembered this quilt, I couldn’t find the photo. I sent her a vaguely worded SOS and she tracked down the photo for me. THANKS, JAN! Anyhoo, at the time I saw this, I was entranced. I have a lovely green background and the “border” print in green to do something inspired by that quilt. Oh, and I bought these:

tealeaves

I recall a couple of attempts at piecing the blocks. But, as I said before, time flies and here we are in 2009. While I don’t know if I will keep up, I will give it a try and will appreciate the motivational inspiration Kellie’s quilt-along provides. I have to try not to get mired in indecision when it comes to the color scheme for the petals. To be continued…

Oh, and I decided that nine spider web blocks is enough for now:

spidey

All righty! Hope you had a good week. Don’t forget, if you’d like to join my Pay It Forward, please leave a comment. (FILLED)

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World wide spider web

November 6, 2009 at 5:23 pm · Filed under Fabric, Great Quilt Patterns, Quilts

Do you want to see how I ever so slightly modified Marit’s superb spider web directions? Ever so slightly to use a paper “foundation.”

So, you’ll draft your triangle foundation just as Marit shows you but make it out of paper instead of fabric. You may need only one foundation or maybe two. If you’re making a big quilt, maybe make a few more. I would make them all at once so they’re all guaranteed to be the same. Of course, the lazy among us will make one and hope for the best. Yes, that’s me.

After making your paper foundation, fold up the outer triangle “flaps” just so you have a nice crease and can easily fold the flaps out of the way as you sew.

Next, cut a rectangle of center/background/kite fabric. I cut all of mine at 5″ x 6 1/2″ — this covers the height plus seam allowance and width plus seam allowance of my center kite shape.

Center the paper foundation on the background fabric which is wrong side up. Pin in place — a flat flower head pin works well (any small headless pin works; I tried fine glass head pins and was not happy with what happened when I pressed over them).

web1

Now, fold up one of the flaps:

web2

Lay a rotary ruler over this so that a 1/4″ seam allowance will be left on the fabric (i.e., 1/4″ beyond the paper fold):

web3

Trim background fabric 1/4″ from paper fold:

web4

Now you’re ready to sew on your first strip. I pre-cut oodles of Rouenneries strips of various sizes (between 1″ and 2″). So, cut a strip long enough to fit:

web5

Lay the strip underneath the background fabric so that the fabrics are right sides together. Take this to your sewing machine and sew a seam just next to the paper fold:

web7

Press the strip out and fold the flap back down so you can see how long the next strip should be. Cut the second strip.

web8

Fold the paper flap back and lay the second strip on top of the first, right sides together:

web9

Sew this seam using 1/4″ seam allowance:

web10

Press the added strip out. Fold the paper flap back in place and cut the third strip. Lay that on top of the second strip, right sides together and stitch the seam:

web11

And so on and so on using the paper foundation only to measure the length of each successive strip. Fold the paper foundation out of the way before sewing each seam.

Eventually, you’ll have this:

web13

And you will be ready to trim up your block just as Marit shows you in her tutorial.

In this case, after trimming, remove the paper foundation and use it for the next block. After trimming, I also spritzed my pieced triangles with some Best Press to help stabilize the bias edges a little bit.

Carry on.

Oh, wait. The Wretched Excess Division wants to check in.

salty choco

Well, they might run out. It has happened before.

On the other hand, this was flown in earlier this week so you would think there would be no chocolate panic.

naked choc

Ah, but there will always be an impending chocolate panic!

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It’s a problem

November 5, 2009 at 2:09 pm · Filed under Dollies Online, Fabric, Great Quilt Patterns, Quilts

I can’t seem to put down the Rouenneries fabric. Which, I believe, just goes to show that my fabric tastes are indeed all over the place. I don’t even think there is a single print that is my favorite single print. I love them all. And I love them all together. Their ability to scrap it up all together. Their warmth all together. I have three Rouenneries projects in the works. Overkill? Will I be well and done with it when the projects are done? We shall see.

spider

Inspired by Katy with technical direction by Marit (although we are doing a difference size and are using a faux paper piecing technique so as not to waste precious Rouenneries backgrounds). Still deciding how many blocks of this I’m going to do. My, my, they do take a while to make. The optimist’s goal is 12 blocks. In this century.

A second small quilt is underway with a third only in the planning stages:

dolliequiltstart

Dolly dresses in Rouenneries, of course — the beginnings of the Dollies Online logo quilt. I have a feeling these will be some well dressed dollies because I can’t see leaving them just ONE dress each, can you? That would be cruel.

Back to spider webs before the school bus comes roaring to a stop.

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