gifted

Last Friday I had the joy of watching two friends get married - it was a wonderful day full of love, and I was so happy to be a part of it.

I was also so happy to see my friends' faces when they found out I had made them a quilt - turns out they had been hoping for just that gift! :)

A scrappy-trip, one of my absolute favorite patterns (and the only one I've made more than once!) in a rainbow of colors to celebrate joy and love, with deep hues to keep it manly :)   My final finish of 2016 is a good one.

A Christmas Finish!

Just in time!  Got this baby quilted, bound and washed with a couple of days to spare!



I love it.  I love when I have an idea and it ends up looking the way I imagined, and this one is perfect.  A riot of color and clashy bright fabrics all come together to make an awesome Christmas quilt.  Merry Christmas!

sew my stash 2017

I've always been a planner.  When someone asks me where I see myself in five years, I can give them the next twenty.  I'm  always thinking about the next year, the next week, the next day.  But while there are some definite positives that come from thinking about the future, I fail to spend enough time in the present.  Here, now, today; this hour, this minute, this second.  And because of that, the future that I spend so much time planning doesn't always end up being what I actually want.  We've been talking about our future, and making some plans, and as part of that I've been thinking about what I really want in life.

And this has led me to think a lot about stuff.  As in things.  Belongings.  Actual, physical stuff.  We have a lot of it.  I downsized my wardrobe recently, thinking about what I actually wear and like.  I now own a tiny fraction of the clothes I used to have, and instead of feeling like I have nothing to wear (as I frequently did before), I always know just what to wear.  It is so much easier to just choose from a few things that I actually like - no more thinking that I should wear something more fashionable or something I didn't wear just last week.  Just wearing what I like, eliminating the stress and the guilt and the doubt.  

And so I'm going to do the same thing with my fabric.  Kind of.  I have so. much. fabric.  I love some of it.  A lot of it actually.  Some of it not so much.  But instead of using it, instead of focusing on what I have, I am constantly adding to it, frequently avoiding using my favorites because "what if I run out?".  

I started my floating colors quilt to use my much loved and long-hoarded Anna Maria Horner fabrics. But as soon as I started cutting into them, I panicked.  I starting buying more AMH fabric, because I might run out! And as I've been stockpiling in the last couple months, I've noticed that my sewing room is increasingly stressing me out.  I'm not finding joy in the stacks of beautiful fabric.  I'm finding guilt.  The excess is overwhelming me -- despite spending a fair amount of my free time sewing, I'm not even close to making a dent in my stash.  

So for 2017, I will be sewing my stash.  And, because I like experiments and data, I've made a spreadsheet broken down in the same way I organize my fabric - mostly by color, with some "special" fabrics separated by other factors.  I've inventoried yardage and weighed my scraps.  I've been horrified at the amount of yardage I've estimated.   I've spent some time thinking about potential problems and have worked out some rules for myself, and I've spent December frantically buying a few more things just in case.   And now I am looking forward to January, and to 2017, and to this chance to learn more about myself as I focus on what I already have, instead of only thinking about the future.

thisclose

When I started working on floating colors, I set aside my liberty quilt.  I was SO close to being done with the blocks, I even cancelled my monthly Liberty subscription because I knew I had enough diamonds left to finish the blocks.  And so to find some motivation again, I laid out what I have so far.

There are a few blocks that are not going to make the final cut.  Since I need several half-blocks to fill out the edges, I may unpick the center seams on a few of them to use on the outside.  And some may just be worked into the back.  Or destined to end up in the orphan block bin...

And I have made a couple more blocks that I love.

Seeing how close I am to a top has motivated me, sort of.  I've made a deal with myself that I need to sew at least one of these blocks a week, but I'm aiming for two.  Especially because these eight sets represent the last blocks I need to choose a final layout and start stitching together the top.

#christmasonacid

Well I didn't meet my goal to finish this quilt by December 1st.  But sometimes you have to prioritize a quilt for someone else over a quilt for yourself.  And I think I've made enough  progress on my #christmasonacid quilt that I can get it done before Christmas!

I found this fabulous clashy-bright dot fabric at JoAnn, and it is just perfect for my aesthetic for this quilt.  I have always thought there is such a thing as "ugly beautiful" - something about things that shouldn't work together, or things that aren't pretty on their own... but when they come together they somehow make something that is just beautiful.  

And so I pieced together a back, leaving enough of the dot to make binding.  And I quilted it in a simple cross hatch, one of my favorites.  Now to trim, bind, and get it ready for Christmas!

oops

So I broke my rule already -- I started another quilt.  BUT this one is a gift, with a deadline.  So it will be finished before the end of the year.   Some friends are getting married at the end of December, a date they chose in part due to uncertainty about what 2017 will hold.  And as I process my jumble of feelings at the end of this year, making them a quilt out of a rainbow of colors to celebrate love has seemed like something I can actually DO.  And so I picked fabrics, and cut strips. 

Using the scrappy trip tutorial from Bonnie Hunter, I quickly sewed strips together and then sub-cut, pressed and sewed again.

And in what seems like no time, I have a quilt top!  The scrappy trip is the only quilt pattern I have ever made more than once, and I still love it each and every time.  Now to get it basted, quilted, bound and ready to be gifted. 

#floatingcolors

The longer I quilt, the more I find that hand-piecing is my true love.  I love the rhythm of it - having a bunch of teeny pieces of beautiful fabric always near, the feeling of the fabric and the needle in my hand, my little leather thimble...

When I first started quilting, hand-piecing took too long.  I needed to make, to complete, to finish.  I would find inspiration in beautiful hand-sewn quilts, but I didn't see how I could possibly spend so much time on just one top!

But now... well now I am sewing these teeny tiny pieces of fabric together with the plan of making a king-sized quilt.  Because I love them.  And because not everything in life needs to be rushed.

my new obsession

Recently on Instagram Paper Pieces posted a photo of "Floating Colors" by Willyne Hammerstein and I knew it would be my next quilt.  Since I finished HexyMF, and since I'm almost ready to piece the top of my liberty hexy stars quilt, I figured it was ok to start another hand-pieced top.  I like to have things in various stages of progress so that I can switch between projects as the mood strikes.  And then of course a day later paper pieces had a 30% off sale... so I bought the pack, made some templates, and got started fussy-cutting my AMH stash.

These pieces are TINY!  My plan for the quilt is to use the AMH prints for the flowers and to make them "float" by setting them with low-volume crosses.  Fussy cutting is really fun but really time-consuming, so I'm cutting a bunch of the flowers in one sitting, working through my AMH in color order.

it is SO FUN to see the patterns emerge as I sew the flowers together.  I haven't done much fussy cutting, and it's fascinating how some of the fabrics that I like least end up making designs that I completely love.  It's definitely changing the way I look at fabric!

Once they are cut, these flowers come together fast!  Hah I guess that's the advantage of tiny pieces -- tiny seams!  

I actually used my sewing machine!

Although I've been on a HUGE hand-piecing binge lately,  I decided it was time to try to finish some old WIPs and actually use my machine for a change!  My Juki was my graduation gift when I finished nursing school, and it is such a joy to sew with.

My Juki - look at that throat space!

I love starting new projects - the excitement!  the possibility!  the excuse to buy more fabric! 

But I can also be kind of terrible at finishing those projects.  So I've decided to start a system where I have to finish two quilts for each one that I start.  I got the idea from Jodi at tales of cloth and I'm hoping it will work for me - so far, so good!  Especially since I really only started this plan last week.  hah.  

So I got out my bin for my Christmas scrappytrip quilt, finished sewing the blocks and put the top together!  I LOVE this top - a collection of ugly Christmas fabrics that all come together in a riot of color that I affectionately call my christmas on acid quilt :)

My goal is to have this basted, quilted and bound by December 1 - time to sort through the leftovers to see what I can piece together for a back!

some progress and a sewing space update

I've been plugging away at my Liberty Hexy Stars quilt in between other projects (I may have started another EPP project that I am completely obsessed with) and I'm thisclose to being done with the individual blocks!  So far along that I actually started to work out layout - 6 or 7 more blocks should do the trick to make it a nice lap-size.

Home stretch! 

In other news, I got a beautiful new cabinet for my fabric and supplies!  Our second bedroom had been slowly taken over by my sewing stuff, so I did a HUGE reorganization and clear-out - there was so. much. dust.

I decided to sort all my precious Anna Maria Horner fabrics by color - they've been hidden in a closet and it's time to put that beauty on display!

Such a pretty mess

My cabinet isn't completely organized yet BUT I did successfully put it together - I've never had to put on doors from IKEA before but it was really easy!  Now to finish sorting and organizing my display!

HexyMF (or: the reason I learned to english paper piece)

About four years ago, I saw Katy Jones'  HexyMF quilt and fell in love.  As luck would have it, Katy decided to host a quilt-a-long for the quilt.  So I bought fabric, and paper pieces, and went at it with gusto - I remember sitting in a two-day long orientation for nursing school and surviving the boredom because I basted my hexies the whole time :)

I finished the main portion of the top fairly quickly, and then when it came time to add the outer vines I lost steam.  So the almost-finished top sat in a corner untouched for more than two years.  

But this quilt is too awesome not to finish, so I pulled it out this summer and finally finished those vines.  

At some point in the process, I had decided that I would send it to a long-armer for quilting -- I knew I wanted it to be swirly-whirly-girly, and I am not good enough at free motion quilting to do that myself.  So I found Sarah on Instagram, chose a pattern and mailed it off (which was terrifying.  Trusting the USPS with this beauty? OMG)... and when I got it back it was perfect.  Exactly how I had envisioned it.  

And now it is bound, washed, and on my lap at every opportunity - it almost makes me wish we weren't having such a warm fall!  Almost.  

my creative process

When I first started quilting, I was thrilled with the excitement of learning a new skill and making beautiful, useful things.   I read tons of blogs and watched youtube videos (and took one sewing class at Joann Fabrics because I couldn't figure out how to thread my machine!) and was off and running.  

The first quilt I started was cut entirely by scissors and I didn't even own a sewing machine so I pieced the first several blocks by hand - painstakingly tracing a 1/4inch seam line on each strip - I knew nothing about templates or rotary cutters!  And then it was taking too long.  There were so. many. things. that I needed to make.  So I bought a sewing machine, figured out how to thread it, and started even more quilts!

My first quilt

Now, years later, as quilting has become a part of my life and not just a new hobby to try, I find it fascinating to look at how much my tastes and process have changed - it's actually why I've started to blog, because I wish I could look back over the years and see the evolution.  And since I've had more time to sew lately and have been thinking about my creative process, I've decided to join Poppy and Poochy in exploring this further.  When I started sewing I was sometimes led astray by thinking there was a certain way I "should" do something, and although I have become much more aware of my own style and tastes, there are still times where I feel "should" creeping into my projects.  I'd like to banish that -- this is purely a hobby for enjoyment for me, so I'm not sure who I think I should be pleasing!

In a nutshell - I don't like to plan.  I don't like solids or large blank spaces -- I think "coordinated chaos" is the best description of things that I find truly, jaw-droppingly beautiful, and I am only able to achieve that when I let the quilt tell me what to do next.  Although I always have a rough idea of what I'm making, I need to allow myself the freedom to change my mind, change my fabrics, add or subtract.  I have made only one quilt in my entire experience that I do not like, and it is the only quilt I've ever made where I ignored that little voice in my head saying "this is not working" and stuck to my original plan.

coordinated chaos :)

Sometimes ideas are brewing for years before they surface, and other times it's like an idea pops into my head that I must begin immediately.  I don't really understand why my brain works this way but I don't want to change it -- there is something so satisfying about finally knowing what I want to do with a special piece of fabric, but there is also something so satisfying about a lightning bolt that sends me straight into my stash or into a fabric store because I simply must see my idea started right. this. second.  

And since I'm about to start digging through my sewing corner to catalog my WIPs as part of the #31daystohappy project that Amanda is hosting, this seems like the perfect time to also explore my creative process - maybe it will help me finally finish some long-lost projects! 

scrappy rainbow stars

Earlier this year I decided to buy a sizzix.  My goal was to use my scraps more by being able to easily cut usable shapes to have on hand - when I made a bed quilt from Anna Maria Horner fabrics last year, I immediately cut the remaining scraps into squares and have found I use them so much more than other scraps!  I also loathe cutting bindings and often have a quilt ready to bind for months before I finish it, so I started with a 2.5 inch strip die.  I used it to cut a rainbow of scraps into 2.5 inch strips, and then subcut those to 2.5 inch squares.

They sat in their bin and the next time I was feeling project ADD I decided to start sewing something with them.  I started off by making a wonky red star

Which quickly became a rainbow of stars

                             

And then I decided to do some with the low volume for background... and then I added in some simple nine patches... and then I had a quilt top!

                             

I ended up backing it in some Heather Ross I found in my stash that I won in a giveaway years ago -- I just love finding the perfect match when something has been on my shelf forever!  And this was a particularly soft piece - I have no idea what the fabric is but I think it's perfect for a baby quilt.

                                     

And now it's washed, crinkly and ready to be loved by a newborn baby girl - I hope she loves rainbows as 

much as I do!

                        

#smittenkittenquilt

I decided I needed a general color scheme to pull from while working on my cat quilt -- when I cut the first two blocks it took me hours to choose the fabrics - and one of them is just blues!  After a bunch of digging and comparing and black and white photographs to ensure contrast, I decided on this gorgeous group of fabrics.

I have never fussy-cut a quilt before, so it's been a learning process for this one.  I'm very glad I took the time to make plastic templates, but I'm still surprised by how long it takes me to choose just one block!  Because the pattern calls for several different blocks, I made myself a little notebook to track my status -- I copied the picture from the pattern and made little boxes to check off as I go.  I make an "x" in a box once I've cut a block, and color it in once I've sewn the block together.  I'm hoping this will keep me from getting too confused and running out of paper pieces!

I cut a few more blocks this week, and they're basted and just waiting to be stitched together.