Category Archives: Quilting

Quilting

Fabric Giveaway Friday Link Up

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I’m not yet a sponsored blog, so I don’t have a giveaway of my own, but one of the best things about Fridays (other than the fact that it’s FRIDAY!) is the chance to win free fabric.  Here are a couple of great blogs with today’s fabric giveaways.  Good luck, although secretly I hope I win 😉

Maureen Cracknell Handmade

fabric fly giveaway 02292014Today, on the blog Maureen Cracknell Handmade,  Fabric Fly is offering a Fat Quarter bundle of Riley Blakes’s gorgeous new Damask Basics fabric collection!  I really love that these have such a range of color options. They would be a great addition to any fabric stash, OR would make a great quilt alone.

Pile O’ Fabric

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Pile O’Fabric is offering their beautiful blogger bundle of 8 fat quarters from Marmalade Fabrics. I don’t know about you, but I’ve been really into low volume prints lately, and the teal and gold combo in this bundle make me want to create something.

Are there any other blogs that offer Fabric Giveaway Fridays?  Please link to them in the comments!

Paper piecing, Quilting

My Friend, the Seam Ripper

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Tonight, finally, my family was healthy enough that I could sneak away for a bit of sewing! It feels like I haven’t sewn in weeks, but of course it probably was only a few days.  I was eager to make a bit of progress on my Circling Gulls.

The third block of circling gulls has been patiently waiting in a state of in-completion.
The third square of circling gulls has been patiently waiting in a state of in-completion.

I jumped in a bit too eagerly, and in my excitement was a bit careless. Which brings me to a paper piecing tip:

When paper piecing using the fabric scrap method, be generous in your cutting to allow for ample coverage, especially when it comes to long narrow triangles.

When you are so excited to be sewing that you forget this tip, or perhaps think “oh, I don’t want to waste fabric; I think it should fit”, be warned: you may become good friends with your seam ripper. Especially with the super short stitch length used in paper piecing, ripping a seam is tedious and time-consuming work.

My friend, the seam ripper.
My friend, the seam ripper.

Despite my progress detour, I was able to finish the third square. Only one more to go before I get to see my block in entirety.  I am really liking how this block is turning out, and the more I look at it and play with it in Inkscape, I think this block would look great as part of a larger quilt.

A night's progress. Only one more square to go!
A night’s progress. Only one more square to go!

Good night!

Paper piecing, Patterns, Quilting

Four-pointed Star Pattern Published

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I’m more than a little excited! I’ve officially published my first paper piecing pattern! I decided that the little four-pointed star I designed as an element for my Delight in the Little Things art quilt would be a great spot to start in my attempts to learn the ways of Inkscape.
cropped-2014-02-05-15-35-212.jpgYou can find the pattern in my Craftsy Pattern Store. Since my original pattern is for a scant 4″ square, I included larger options in the pattern. Those two dollars and fifty cents not only will get you the 4″ paper piecing pattern template, it will also get you a 6″ and 12″ version. Sweet deal!
What’s even slightly more exciting is that I’ve already had one buyer! Little does that buyer know, but she will be receiving a little “Congratulations! You’re my first buyer” gift in the mail.

Be Kind Chocolates

These are delicious chocolates made locally in the town of Belfast, Maine. I can vouch for their deliciousness! Yummm! Hopefully she enjoys the chocolates while creating some awesome starry project. I can’t wait to see what others create with my patterns!

Quilting

QuiltCon

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quiltcon header
As the wife of a computer programmer who has gone to many -Con conferences, I’m intrigued by this relatively new Modern Quilting Conference.  The Modern Quilt Guild just announced next year’s conference, which will be the second one ever held.  As the mom of two little ones, including one who still regularly needs momma-milk, my chances are slim at getting to this conference, but who knows what the future holds, right?

mqg logo

Did any of you quilters go to the 2013 QuiltCon?  What was it like? Would you recommend it to a newbie quilter just getting out into the world of pattern design and quilt stitching?

Design, Patterns, Quilting

Circling Gulls Taking Shape

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People talk about “the paper piecing bug” and how once you try paper piecing, you are hooked for good. I think I must have somehow fallen into the hive of paper piecing bugs, because I am HOOKED! I love how precise you can be, I love that you can create fabric pictures of just about anything, I love the promise of possibility. Soon after sewing a few paper pieced projects, I started dreaming up new patterns. Leave it to Pinterest to inspire creativity. I somehow stumbled upon this tutorial, and within minutes had my squared notebook in hand.

Sketching designs old school style.
Sketching designs old school style.

As with just about anything, I don’t start simple. I don’t think it’s within my brain function.  My first paper pieced design was for violets. As you can see, this is not the simplest of designs, but they look like violets!!

Violet paper pieced pattern

My brain continued to swirl, and next up came an idea for seagulls circling around a starfish, or maybe a crab. I finally decided on starfish since it would be much easier to create as a pattern, and the design began to come to life.

Designing the Old School Way

I walked through the old-school process for this pattern completely before finding Inkscape, and my first (second if you count the little 4″ star from my art quilt) sewn self-designed paper pieced pattern will be these circling gulls.  The fuzz from photocopies of photocopies aren’t the crispest, but the pattern is proving to be quite functional!

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I finished sewing the first of four blocks while at a Paper Piecing class at my local quilt shop, Fiddlehead Artisan Supply in Belfast.  I can’t wait to complete the last three blocks to see how it looks all together!

Design, Quilting

Delight in the Little Things

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At the end of last year, I joined a 12×12″ Art Quilt group on Facebook, just in time for the word “delight”.  The idea behind the group is that they post a word each month, and members design and create a 12×12″ art quilt inspired by that word.

I am always inspired by the tiny bits of beauty in nature.
I am always inspired by the tiny bits of beauty in nature.

Thinking about “delight”, the first thing that came to mind was “delight in the little things”. I started brainstorming what that would mean in terms of a small quilt.   I have a penchant for color gradient aesthetics, and since 12″x12″ is relatively small, I thought this would be a perfect time to make a quilt out of 1″ squares.  I have always delighted in the little amazing miracles found in nature, so I knew the natural world had to be a part of my quilt.  Sunbursts and the play of light on the world, reminiscent of laying in the grass looking up at floating seeds glinting in the sunlight as they swirl in the wind (an activity frequented by my kids and I during the warm summer months) was the ultimate inspiration for my quilt.  Enough talk. Here’s my process:

After cutting all the 1.5" squares, the next task was to lay it all out and find a pleasing gradient.
After cutting all the 1.5″ squares, the next task was to lay it all out and find a pleasing gradient.
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I created a 4″ paper pieced star to fit into my design. It’s now for sale on Craftsy!
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Matching seams like a boss! I continued to swap squares in and out as I got generous donations of blue scraps from friends and quilting buddies, until I finally settled on an arrangement I liked.
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Attaching the final row… Pins right next to each seam seemed to help me line them up the best. I definitely befriended my seam ripper for this project!
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Next I planned out the applique placement, and started to think about hand quilted embellishments.
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I played with the binding since I wanted to continue the gradient and not completely frame it in. I really like the way it turned out, and the little burst of yellow on the bottom corner might be one of my favorite elements.
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Silver embroidery thread paired with dark blue blanket stitch gives a nice feel of light glinting off the silhouetted dandelion seed.
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Expect the unexpected. The yellow bursts of color jump from a near-black binding.
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I opted for silver hand-quilting around the sunburst star.

Of course, I wanted to photograph the finished quilt during daylight hours to get the most from natural light.  As a stay home mom of two little ones, cameos from the kids were bound to happen. Maddie decided she wanted to help me display the quilt in the best light, and then while photographing smaller details, Max decided to help by flopping right down on top of the quilt!

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I am really happy with how this quilt turned out, and I’m definitely going to be making more art quilts.  This particular quilt will be donated to the Altruistic Art Show hosted by The Kindness Project in Bangor.  Like it? Go enter for a chance to win it while benefiting a good cause.

altruistic art show