Deer Heads

A million years ago (or at least it seems that long), I lived with a guy who hunted.  This meant dead "stuff" on my walls.  I could never figure out how to decorate around it: a black tail, a white tail, and a moose shoulder mount; an elk European mount; and a bear rug.  (How the hell do I even remember all these terms?!?)  Luckily, in my new house, there's no dead shit on the walls, and it's not allowed in.  But I think that's why I laughed so hard when I saw the "Wild Animals" pattern from Shannon Brinkley.  This scrappy fabric deer head, made of beautiful leftover fabric pieces, is something I can totally get behind!!

The blue one is quilted and just waiting for binding -- my least favorite part.  The yellow one needs to be quilted...

I didn't do these two in quite the way Shannon Brinkley describes in her pattern, but I plan to make one that way soon.  I made them in the Sunday Morning Quilts slab method -- Shannon's method involves double-sided fusible interfacing, and I didn't have enough of that at home late at night when I decided to make these, so I slabbed it up.  (I have a Scrappy Slab class coming up soon at Running Stitch Fabrics, so I was in slab mode anyway.  They are SO FUN to make, and so fast!  Here are some blocks that were made the last time I taught this class...)

Anyway, this is today's Make it Modern Moment -- I'm turning some of my favorite scraps into deer head wall-hangings, seriously LOLing, and rejoicing in how much my life has changed.  

There's more than just deer heads in Shannon's pattern, and more than just the pattern I used!  There's one with skylines, and giraffes, and bears, and even a unicorn!  I got my copy at Running Stitch Fabrics in Kent, WA.

Happy Sewing!

Bargello

A few years ago (like maybe 15...yeesh!) I took a Bargello quilting class, because MAN!  They are pretty!!  I made one chunk, and decided I was done, because ICK, tiny pieces and lots and lots and lots of pins to keep those little bitty corners lined up.  I put it in my unfinished project bin.

But the colors I picked were so pretty, and I couldn't let it sit there unfinished.  How could I make it more "now-me"?  I found some dusty purple, and put asymmetrical borders around the Bargello Chunk.  Then I found some shot cotton in my stash, and added that.  THEN, I found a solid teal-green that was sort of in the same color family, and I added that as an asymmetrical border.  I flopped the top onto my queen size bed to see how it would fit, and I decided it needed another border.  So, light teal went all the way around.





Today I started quilting it, and it didn't go smoothly, but tomorrow I'll finish it.  I'm very happy with the quilting that I did today!







But where did that dog hair come from??  This is why I can't have nice things...

Hawaii Quilt

I bought fabric in Maui both times I've been there, and FINALLY finished the quilt and the quilting!!

But then I had a dilemma -- how does one bind a rainbow quilt??

I decided:  With rainbow binding.  I used up a few scraps of binding I'd been saving, plus added a few other colors, and I think it turned out GREAT!!

I'm off to work on the next project...

Another entry!

Before Christmas, I found this great book called "Modern Bee:  13 Quilts to Make With Friends" and I promptly bought three copies -- one for me, and one for each of my two quilting friends.  Because, how perfect is that?!?  THEN I found that the first project in the book, the Mosaic Tiles Quilt, had a Quilt Along going on!  I hope I've figured out how to enter the Quilt Along, but I have no idea...these contest things aren't very clear, I've found...

OK, so my husband just got a great new job that will involve us traveling more and flying stand-by.  This is so great and we feel so blessed, but at the same time, not checking our luggage is creating some stress for me -- how big can those bottles be?  and a quart-sized bag?  TSA's website has become my new friend because I like to make sure I'm following the rules.  But what if I follow the rules and my bag still gets searched?  Here was my first thought: I don't want anyone to see my undies or have them fall out of my bag!  My husband said that he felt I might be the only person who is worried about this, but I'm ignoring him :) and I used the Mosaic Tiles Quilt Block to make myself a bag to put INSIDE my suitcase that will house my unmentionables in a pretty fashion!

I used the bag pattern from the Winter 2014 issue of Modern Patchwork magazine.  I liked the bag, but not the block they used, so it was perfect.  First I made enough Mosaic blocks to make the size I'd need for the bag.

My favorite color is purple, and I had some great turquoise and purple fabrics to go with the purples.  I also got a chance to use my favorite gray polka dot, and a small piece of antique kimono silk that I'd collected somewhere along the way.  The back of the piece I quilted is a gorgeous piece of cotton lawn that is left over from a dress I made in high school.  It's so soft and luxurious, so it was the perfect bag-insides for a skivvies-carrier...I quilted some waves, and then I quilted some straight lines.  I didn't do much quilting because I used so many favorite fabrics -- I wanted the fabrics to be the focal point, not the quilting...

Then I made the bag, and I'm very pleased with it!

 It's much bigger than I expected, which means if my husband is nice, I might put his underwear in my bag to hide them, too...but only if he's good. ;)

FINISHED!!

My cat quilt for the Riley Blake Challenge with the Modern Quilt Guild is finished!  For whatever reason, when I saw these fabrics, I totally thought "cats", especially the orange swirly one -- looked and acted exactly like my Gracie:  lots of energy and orange-on-white!  I've titled it "Cats I Have Known", and the names of all the cats in my life are included in the quilting.  I love how it came out, and I can't wait to enter it...give me a couple minutes to figure out the unclear entry area...

Gracie approved!

The WHOLE quilt!

Up close...

Up close...

Each cat has a name of a cat I've known quilted on it...

Each cat block is quilted differently,
cuz, you know, all cats have different personalities...

Holiday break, how I miss you...

Oh, Holiday Break, how I miss you.  January 3, my last post, was so long ago, and I was coming off such a great time of sewing.  Then, the quarter started, after the change in the GED test, and all of a sudden I have no time for sewing.  All of my time is being spent writing new curriculum for my class that has to be new because of the test's change...

To keep myself from TOTALLY being in a "woe-is-me" mood, I've been taking pictures of projects I have hanging around my house...you know, so I remember that I can sew, even if I'm not actually doing it...

Here is the wall-hanging I made for my laundry room...I mean, doesn't every laundry room need a quilt on the wall??

I LOVE the quilting on this wall-hanging.  It makes it feel so airy...

Hopefully this weekend, while my hubs is out of town, I can get in some sewing time...

If I do, I'll be sure to take pictures...

This pattern designing stuff is addicting...

I've had two more pattern ideas, so I'm working on writing the patterns.  Then, I'll make a sample to test my instructions, plus have something to photograph for the cover.  I wish I had them done today -- it's a gorgeous, GORGEOUS sunny day outside today!!

I'm also working on the baby quilt I talked about the other day.  I'm loving how it's coming out.  SO SO cute!!  This is not my final arrangement -- I'm just putting them up on the design wall as I finish them so I can admire my work.  Right now I pretty much only have low-volume blocks done.  At the bottom of the cut-fabric-stack are some brighter, louder-volume fabrics.  So, those blocks are coming...this quilt will definitely be a mix of things.

Back to work!

Another baby quilt!

I've been playing around with Instagram, and trying to post things there.  What I like is that my camera still backs up the picture to Dropbox, but it doesn't keep the Instagram-iness, i.e. the changes in tone and color.  Oh, well...it's still fun.  

I've been working on a quilt for a friend who's having a baby and it's going well, I think!  I found the tutorial for the blocks on Pinterest on the blog Little Bluebell for a Stargazer quilt, and it led me to this great blog, Happy Zombie, home of the original block.  I'm not going to do borders around each block -- just the blocks up next to each other.  I'm loving how they're turning out.  They're so fast!  I have some directional prints, but I've decided that I don't care for them to stay going the same direction, and the randomness is super cute, too.  Below is a blue and yellow stripe with gray star points...I'll show the quilt once I've given it to the baby's Mommy and that way it will stay a surprise.

The shower is in a couple weeks -- hopefully I'll get it done before then!  HA!  That's always the challenge, isn't it?

And then there was 28...

Somehow I ended up making 28 of my snowflake blocks...I thought that a 7 by 4 block quilt might look funny.  Electric Quilt confirmed it:

Yes, I have an old, old version of EQ.  Don't judge me.  I didn't like the upgrade way back when, so I went back to EQ4 because it makes sense to me.

So, as I still have an embarrassingly tall pile of snow fabric, I'm making more blocks...

Luckily, as this is a SNOW fabric quilt, and not a CHRISTMAS fabric quilt, I don't feel any pressure to get it done anytime soon.  I think as long as it's finished before Thursday, March 20, 2014, I'll be ok.  (That's the first day of spring, FYI.  In the land where it is really dark and rains a ton, I keep track of things like that...)

Last minute gifts

I know I'm not the only one who does this to myself...but these last minute gifts are killing me...One done...

yup, it's another tree skirt...I'm addicted to my own pattern...

One to go...

and it's 60" x 80".  Sigh.  I have no idea how it got that big...

OK, I'm off to buy more batting.

Busy Week!

Why is the last week of the quarter always so busy?  All those 'pesky' grades to get turned in for students... No, just kidding -- geesh, I hope my boss doesn't see this.  Grades are important, but arduous to be sure.

But now that's done, and today I taught a quilting class!  So much fun!  5 wonderful ladies and I made my Quick & Easy, Comfy Cozy Tree Skirt pattern in a last-minute rush to decorate for Christmas.  We weren't quite done with it after 4 hours, so I didn't get pictures of their completed tops, but they promised to email them.

This is Loris' -- she works at the quilt shop and made it using my pattern -- isn't it gorgeous???

And of course, since I feel like a better teacher demo-ing how to do things instead of trying to find words to describe what I'm doing, I made one, too.

 I cut all the pieces before class so if I wanted to show a step in the process they'd be RIGHT THERE for me to use to demonstrate.  Hmmm, blue, green and white --  I wonder who I should give this to for Christmas?? ;)

Happy last minute sewing!

LOOK! I made it happen!!

I updated my tree skirt pattern!

And it's on my etsy site, in two formats, and in limited availability at Ruby Street Quiltworks.




I say "limited" cuz it keeps selling out!  :)  

I'm also going to teach a class on it!!  OMG, this is so exciting!!

So, needless to say, I'm writing more quilt patterns.  HA!!

Man, these are fun...

I may have created a monster by starting these Lil Twister blocks...I have just a few started...

look how tall that pile is!!  

and that doesn't count the ones I've got finished...

and the ones I need to add borders to and then cut out.

I hope to make a quilt PLUS some Christmas gifts out of them.





I already have my labels for the back ready.

"Sew" much fun!  I'm a cheese-ball, I realize this...