Warmth in the North

swoon for otto

    If you're a quilter or knitter there's this fantastic side effect to getting older, your friends start making babies.  I don't really mind being twenty-nine but it's nice that there are some perks and babies are definitely a perk.  Not only are they adorable but they also come with the perfect excuse to make things, cute things that you probably wouldn't get away with making for adults. 

    When I started making these blocks Otto wasn't quite born yet and no one knew if he was going to be a boy or a girl.  I dug into my stash and decided on some Prince Charming in the indigo and honey colourways.  They don't scream baby to me but I think they work for a little boy who'll hopefully drag this around as he gets older.  All that white might seem a bit crazy but I took a chance and his mama loves it, which is a win, plus it's totally machine washable.

    A little label with his birthday was the start of the backing.  I wanted to keep things simple but tied into the front so I used a bit more Prince Charming with lots and lots of white.  To be honest I like the backing just as much as the front, although in the interest of full disclosure I must admit it's sideways... don't know how it happened but after all that quilting there was no going back.

    By the time I got around to binding the quilt everyone had been enjoying Otto's company for a few months so I needed to get a move on.  Some Kona navy with a last little bit of Prince Charming, a few minutes for machine binding, a quick date with a washing machine and it was ready to ship off.  With any luck his quilt will have a long life but for now it's keeping Otto warm after his bath... what more could a baby quilt ask for?

perfect curves

    

    Recently I purchased a Curve Master Presser Foot after Christina at The Sometimes Crafter recommended it for making her Retro Flowers Quilt.  Having never pieced curves I thought it might be worth the investment and all the reviews that I could find were positive.  Most people mentioned that it takes a few tries to get going but it took me forever.

    Don't be discouraged if the foot's not working for you right away eventually you'll move beyond the miss-matched mess that you can see on those blocks above.  I stuck with it and finally figured out how to get those perfectly sewn curves.  Since most reviews just tell you how easy it is I thought I'd go through some things that helped me beyond this video. 

• It's ok that the foot is loose, at least on my Janome the wiggling doesn't make a difference
• At first things might feel strange because you need to hold the two pieces apart while attempting to not stretch fabric cut on the bias, after a while you'll get used to it but don't get frustrated when the instinct to hold your fabric together takes over
• I find having the "crust" or concave piece on the bottom and the "pie" or convex piece on top to gives me the best view 
• Sew slowly, you're going to have to pay attention to more things than usual so give yourself a break until you have the technique down pat
• Buy the tweezers, they'll save your fingers

    All in all I'm happy with my new presser foot and I'd recommend it to anyone like me who's never pieced curves before or who just doesn't want to fuss with pins.  Now I'd better get back to piecing the rest of the blocks for my Retro Flowers since it's supposed to be a Christmas gift.

hole in the barn door tutorial

    It's almost November and my turn to quilt for do. Good Stitches has rolled around again.  This time I'm asking everyone to make me 2 Hole in the Barn Door blocks, one in coral and one in navy.  It's one of those blocks that has a ton of names, Churn Dash and Monkey Wrench are the most popular but I like Hole in the Barn Door because I'm contrary.  Anyway, if you use this tutorial you'll end up with 12" finished/12.5" unfinished blocks.

Use a scant 1/4" seam unless otherwise noted.

I press my seams open, feel free to use whatever you're most comfortable with.

Cut:

2 - 4" x 4" in white

2 - 4" x 4" in print

2 - 2.5" x 13" in white

2 - 1.5" x 13" in print

1 - 6.5" x 6.5" in print

   

To make 4 Half Square Triangles mark the white squares from one corner to the other diagonally.  Sew the white squares to the print squares 1/4" on either side of of the marked line.  Cut along the marked line, press, and trim to 3.5" square.

Sew the print strips to the white strips lengthwise.  Press and cut each strip into two 6.5" strips.  Layout your block and sew it together.  Easy peasy lemon squeezy!

    You'll have a 12.5" block in no time.  I chain pieced both my blocks at the same time and that made things all the faster.  Hopefully this makes sense but if you have any questions let me know.

do. Good Stitches & a winner

    This month, Colleen, asked the Grace circle to make purple and grey stars.  Her only requirements were that one be purple on grey, one be grey on purple and no wonky.  For the grey I made a Diamond Star and for the purple a Morning Star.  I ended up making a Sawtooth Star as well but didn't get a picture before sending them all off.

    While I was at the Sewing Summit, Rachel, from Stitched in Color gave me this lovely notebook.  She made them for all the do. Good Stitches hosts.  All the notebooks she made are really beautiful and tailored to each person, I love my purple pinwheel.  The notebook is already hard at work holding sketches and ideas for new projects.  I'll be using it to plan Grace's November quilt, I'd really better get started on that, November is right around the corner.

    In unrealted news Jackie from Jackie's Stitches won the little giveaway.  Thanks for giving me a little bit more room in my sewing space.   

a kona colour card & swag giveaway

    Like everyone else I came home from the Sewing Summit with a suitcase full of goodies.  My teeny, tiny sewing area can only hold so much so I'd love to send some of it off to one of you.  There are some cute sewing patterns, an Aurifil thread sample pack, the cutest Lizzy House notebook, a charm pack and some other do-dads.

   

    The best part, at least in my opinion, is the Kona Colour Card.  Everyone who took Jeni's Creative Fabric Selection class received a colour card from Robert Kaufman.  They are pretty awesome and I pull mine out all the time, even if I'm not planning on using any solids in a quilt.  Since I've already got one hard at work, the copy they gave out in class needs a new home. 

    If you'd like to enter just leave a comment below and I'll draw a winner Monday evening at 8pm MST.

pretties

    Early last week I opened up my post office box to find a wonderful package from Leona, oneygirl on Flickr, her blog is Leona's Quilting Adventure.  She made me this beautiful mini quilt as part of the For the Love of Solids Swap on Flickr.  Isn't it gorgeous?  I immediately hung it up next to my sewing table.

    She added all these extras into the package, I'm going to have figure out how to put everything to good use.  The pincushion is already being stabbed but the ribbon is a bit trickier.  Plus there are all sorts of lovely scraps to add to my stash.

good grief, that was amazing!

    This weekend basically blew my mind and my camera apparently.  I did manage to take a few pictures during the shop hop on Friday and it looks like Salt Lake City has a huge quilting community to support all the stores.  I was running around like a chicken with its head cut off, I don't know how many times "Hey, where did you get that?" came out of my mouth.

    I'd never seen this much quilting fabric in the same place before.  Yes, my life is sad.  Considering the sales that all the shops had going on it's surprising that I didn't go crazy and buy everything.  It was almost as if I my poor brain was unable to handle the joy and would only let me buy so much fabric.   And all the shops had amazing give aways so even if you didn't spend a dime you were bound to come away with a stack of fabric.

    In the end fat quarters were my downfall.  They look so small but that's 6.25 yards and doesn't even begin to take into account all the other fabric they just gave us.  Between the swag bags, all the class giveaways, the shop hop giveaways, the fat quarter swap, and the charm square swap I have a ton of fabric to tuck into my stash today.

    I've got hardly any pictures to share but trust me the Sewing Summit was amazing!  It was so wonderful to meet everyone in person and make new friends.  As soon as I unpack and sort through everything I'll be back.  Maybe my mind will even quiet down enough that I'll be able to sew something. 

putting my rotary cutter to work

    I've spent a lot of time cutting over the last few days.  First there was 48, 9" squares for the Dead Simple Quilt Along.  I love the fabrics but they're really close in colour so I'm hoping my palette choice won't bite me in the end.

    Next, I sorted out fabric for the Geese in a Ring Swap, as I've signed up for round 3.  I hope everyone is ok with my fabric choices.  I've been reading all the comments in the group but some people are staying quiet and I have to get started. 

    Finally, while doing the laundry, I cut out 112 charm squares for the Sewing Summit Color Wheel Charm Swap.  The tutorial on Oh, Fransson! is really detailed and clear, it was just a matter of being accurate and taking my time.  Then I sorted them into pairs, which in theory will make the swapping process easier.

    Cutting seems like half the work in sewing or quilting.  It takes a long time if I want to be accurate but the results are worth it.  Now I just have to get some sewing time in but that may take a few days.

McCafferty

    This shawl is my new love.  It's warm, light, airy and so easy to wear.  I think it's the yarn, handspun by the lovely Jolene of Jobo Designs, that makes it so perfect.  The pattern is mostly garter stitch and Jolene's yarn really make the shawl special as opposed to plain.

    The edging took forever and a day but that's entirely my fault as I loath knitting on edging.  It just seems to take eons, while all the turning back and forth drives me nuts.  All that aside I do think it's rather pretty and the pattern was really easy to follow, even for the short row bits.

    I really, truly love the plums and purples running through the shawl.  They're so rich and remind me harvests and autumn rain showers, when the sky quickly gets dark in the mid afternoon.  McCafferty is my second entry into Celebrate Color for the month, it's simple and won't win any awards but for me it's what autumn is all about, rustic, warm and rich.

outside my box

    I don't know what's gotten into me recently but I've become a joiner.  Ever since May when I signed up for do. Good Stitches I've gone crazy.  The Sewing Summit and the fat quarter swap, the charm square swap plus the secret bee that will all be taking place in just two weeks.  Beyond that For the Love of Solids Swap and The Dead Simple Quilt Along are rounding out my on-line participation bonanza.

    Then yesterday I went to the quilt store to buy fabric to make my charms.  I've been assigned blue and blue-green and browsed until I settled on some Neptune.  When I went to pay I added on a free motion quiting class and joined the mystery block of the month.  I choose the pick your own fabric option but still it's rather scary.  Who knows what will be next, maybe I'll actually have the guts to go to a guild meeting.