Making old, new.

My local thrift shop had these King Sheet sets on sale for 1/2 off. They stuffed them in this handsome Abercrombie bag. I think I turned fuschia pink walking out with this bag, but hey...afterwards I kinda stared for awhile and thought... hm, not bad!

(what's better, the fabric or the bag?)

I was eyeing these sheets awhile back. They are pristine - like I really don't think they were ever used. I bought them not because they were on sale, but because they are colours that I dread (aside from hunter green). Peach, dusty rose and pale pink. Pale pink is pretty easy, but peach? I could do the safe brown and peach, or go 80's with the aqua and peach combo. I'll need to hash this out. If anyone wants the challenge, I've got two king pillow cases of the peach, and two king flat sheets in it. Also have two king p/c's of the roses as well.

Awhile back Evelyn at UseTheLoot was clearing out some of her obsessioncollection of vintage bed linens. She was stuffing envelopes full of fq's and selling them off for a great price. I took full advantage. Thanks Evelyn! Aren't they pretty? I am no longer shopping for vintage thrifted sheets anymore. I'm done. ;-)

I have been slowly working on a quilt project, but life and spring (see comments ahead) is kind of taking priority. I finally figured out (I think) my machine - it needs a different size needle for quilting than it does for piecing. Halleluljah!

Spring is trying to peek through.... I've been making a very big effort to put exercise into my daily regime and have been walking 3.5km every other night. The dog has no clue what the heck has happened! LOL. My feet (not my legs) feel like they weigh 20 pounds when I'm out there though, I'm hoping that stage passes. I am so totally out of shape muscular wise - endurance wise I can handle it no problem...but I think this past year or two of figuring out my health has put me two steps back in the fitness dept. I need to be patient. This diabetes thing is a scary and tolling thing emotionally. Physically, it has shown me who's boss too, and I need to push back and show IT who's boss. That's where the exercise comes in - here's hoping I come out on top of it all....

Hope you all have a great week!!

Easter Weekend

My husband is on the mend...

I have cabin fever... (husband worked from home all week monopolizing the office and my computer addiction from 7 am to 6 pm ever. single. day.)

My sewing machine is causing me grief. (heard that one before, I know. My sights are beginning to set on a new one)

It's time to get away.

We're heading to Canmore, in the Rocky Mountains, for 2 days.

Hotel, check.

Pool, check.

Pool with waterslide, check.

Breakfast included, check.

Geocaching sites uploaded to gps, check.

Quilt shop mapped out, double check.

Bedford Quilt...

There's something about washing and drying a quilt that makes it even more amazing than before. After I had finished machine quilting this, I was not liking it at all. You see, I used larger needles as was recommended by a Juki expert on yahoo groups. I experienced alot of shredding and thread breakage, even with my new favourite thread, 50wt Aurifil And it made holes in the back of my quilt. Topped with the gray thread, it just looked kind of icky.

And then I washed it:

Even my uneven circles, my wobbly lines were rescued. My doodling curvey filler in between the circles even start to look cool.

This bottom brown block is my favourite colour block of the quilt:
From the distance, I LOVE love love the effect of the circles. Next time, I would do all of the circles dense spirals...
I'll even let you look close at my crazy filler doodles.... because on the white backing, the entire quilt looks oh so cool. If you are a long armer and reading this, or have your machine on a frame - do not judge my work. I just have fun with it. plain and simple.

I placed a small border on it. I was fiddling forever on what to do with borders. I didn't have enough fabric for my first idea.

Measures approximately 46 x 56 after washing...please excuse the unevenness of the quilt in this last photo - I realized I hadn't stretched it and shaped it after taking it out of the dryer. In this photo, you cannot see the hint of the contrasting dark binding colour I used...but it's there.

It's called Bedford because, well, the colours remind me of Martha Stewart land, and one day, I will have a vegetable garden just like hers so I can stuff myself silly with okra.

Pattern is a basic rectangle in rectangle - no pattern used, so if you're interested in measurements, just contact me. The circles are 12" diameter - I cut out a piece of cardboard and marked the circles randomly on the quilt - then I just machine spiralled inwards from the outside edge of the circle.

Things I learned in this process and want to pass on to you (what I can think of at the moment):

• Dense quilting makes it difficult to handsew binding on - get a thimble handy.
• I find the Konas fray quite a bit. With the white sashing - trim your frayed edges, as when you baste/sandwich, those little buggers show through and then you have to take it apart because it bugs you.
• when cutting and piecing your whites, make sure you really look carefully that you have all of the same lot of white. White is not all the same. I have two kinds of white on my sashing...if you look carefully in person, one is a creamy white. shhh, don't tell.
• when machine quilting, look ahead of where you're travelling to with your machine, not directly where you are. Higher speeds often help the motion better (at least for me)
• doodle with continuous line drawings on paper to practice your fillers. I used to do this all over my algebra books in highschool, except I didn't realize it would come in handy 20 years later!
• when you are doodle filling, try and do this all in one sitting. I did it in two sittings, and found the 2nd time, it took a bit to relearn the doodle pattern groove I was in at the first sitting.
• holes made from your needle will close up after washing.

Kona Colours used:

Blue

Candy Green

Celery

Bahama Blue

Herb

Honeydew

Mint

moss

O.D. Green (what does O.D. mean anyways?)

Old Green

Parsley

Seafoam

Sweet Pea

Zucchini

White

**at this rate, it's doubtful that I'll meet my "all" konas used goal by the end of the year...but I'll sure have a fun time trying!

Backing - a white cotton that I get from the drapery department of my fabric store. It's affordable and a nice weight, and it's super duper wide.

Thread - light grey Aurifil 50wt 100%cotton

Basting/Sandwiching - I spray basted and once again, loved it.

Something new to me..

I picked this up from Craigslist for a whopping $35.00. I don't have time this week to figure it all out, but for 35.00 I jumped at it. It also came with a box of thread! A lady was downsizing her home and moving into an apartment, and her eyesight couldn't deal with sewing anymore. :( I was pretty excited. Now to find the time to figure it out.

Been awhile..

Life has been busy.

Lots of catch up at home. DH had hernia surgery on Thursday so routine has been a bit off this week.

Kids started Spring Break this week so I should be able to get some more quilting time in...unless we decide to go away for a couple of days to the rockies.

My solids quilt - finally finished machine quilting it, and just finishing hand sewing the binding on. Should have a final reveal very soon. I'll definately post the gory details (things I've learned about machine quilting, needle size, machine speed, thread, holes, whites) about the process. I'm just sneaking into my one a month (solids) deadline here!

I haven't even purchased fabric for my next quilt. Any suggestions for colours? I've scoured the paint shops, big box reno stores, etc for hunter green colour card combos. There's NOTHING...except cognac as the complement to it. I'll put hunter away for a later date.

I've been seeing lots of solids quilts popping up everywhere - seems like everyone has the bug to work with solids! Very cool! I love looking at people's work and getting ideas from it. The only thing is - my motivation starts to dwindle when I see everyone else doing it. Does that happen to you?

I have another project ready to start - here's some fabric I requested for my next Moda Bake Shop project...the colours are gorgeous.

No quilting today...

Yesterday I stumbled across a topic of Geocaching. I had no clue what it was. Now I do. And now I do it with the kids. It's a blast!

So yesterday I spent all day researching GPS related stuff. Today we went out and bought one (but am taking it back to upgrade to a better one tomorrow) The kids really had a great time and it was so much fun to get out and explore. There's little geocache sites all around my town, in little parks, big parks and forests. Very cool.

It's the thrill of treasure hunting. There's no big monetory value treasure. It's the thrill of hide and seek. We seeked 3 today.

We will definately be out there again.

Lee of Lala's Lovelys blog is in town with her son this weekend. I missed her call today. She's eating at a restaurant 2km from me. I cannot dare interrupt her dinner though and crash her party. Or could I? (LOL) We were going to hook up for a quickie visit. I hope she understands my fun day with the kiddies and why I missed her call. Originally I had planned to be home most of the day, but the weather was warmish and nice and well, we had purpose to get out there today! Hopefully I can meet up with her tomorrow, maybe, if her son does well in his tournament. If I don't, Lee, I hope you made it to at least one of those two quilt shops I recommended!

Adventures in machine quilting...

No stippling for this girlie. No straight lines. No patterns to trace.

and you can tell. LOL

I'm doing circles - dense concentric ones and loose lazy ones. And then inbetween - filler doodling.

It's my doodling quilt. And there's uneven stitches and circles that are kind of wobbly, but it's fun and kind of therapeutic.

I'm not a perfectionist - I really enjoy process and the journey of learning something.

Here's what I've learned so far - when you are quilting a large pattern, don't worry about where you are, worry about where you are going in about 6 inches from now, that will give you smooth lines. Kind of a life lesson too - don't worry about what you're doing now...but where you are going.... deep huh?

Have a great day!

Juki and I are mending our friendship...so far I've been giving alot more than she has, but so far things are improving. ;-)

me and my juki

after just emailing the other day it's previous owner and saying how much i loved it.... suki had a big tantrum today, and then of course i did too.

I find it very picky...like everything has to be just 'so' for it to work nice.

I love it's speed, I love the thread cutter. That's it for today.

Hopefully tomorrow we will get along again, and the stars will be aligned just perfectly.

Otherwise I'll threaten it.

A glass of wine is in order. It took me 3 hours to sew two borders today.

Bee Blocks

So, I'm not sure if I said that I joined two bees.

Hey! I joined two quilting bees on flickr!

Wasn't sure if I would, but then last month, decided to. I'm liking it so far. It's fun to make a single block and learn a technique without having the daunting task of an entire quilt. If you haven't done one, try it out! This one required whirlygigs...what a fun and easy block!

Our group also decided to make signature blocks (our choice) for the back. Here is what I came up with:

Don't look too closely at my work.

1. I've never ever done a triangle block before, I'm a square girl.

2. I've never made a pinwheel before.

3. I've never embroidered my name before (all i know is thank goodness I didn't have my 13 letter maiden last name to do)

So, here's what I noticed when making a triangle block. I think it's called an HST (half square triangle) After I draw the diagonal line on my square, I need to stitch 1/4" on either side of that line. My quilting foot didn't like that (it has that fabric guide which wants to bunch up any fabric on the right of the foot) and I had to change presser feet and use the little guide line on my sewing plate. This was difficult because the fabric of the square was covering the plate markings so I really had to guesstimate.

Any solutions about that one? I'm thinking of yanking off the little fabric guide thingy on my juki 1/4" foot. I actually don't like the guide part of the foot either because it kind of distorts the 1/4" seam slightly larger (I think)

Colours You Avoid because...

In my quest to use as many Solids as I can this year... I've been looking at this hunter green colour that just frightens me. It screams 80's. I have no idea what I'm going to do with it. My guess is that it will end up in some kind of last ditch effort in a Christmas quilt. LOL

So then I was thinking... what colour do you avoid because it's dated or ugly or too hard to 'go' with other colours?

My challenge is going to be transforming the unpopular colours and trying to combine them to make them a contemporary style quilt - make them in vogue again.

I'd love to hear what your colour fear or avoidance is!

Thanks so much for the kind comments on my ModaBakeShop appearance! I love how supportive we all are of each other - I'll never forget that. I hope I can be the same to you as you are to me....

Check it out!

So, um this is me! I somehow snuck my way onto the Moda Bake Shop and did a project.

For the last 2 weeks since my project has been completed I have been losing sleep and having nightmares. Seriously. (dreams like....I received 3 comments total about my project and they were all negative. My instructions were garbled and formatting was all over the place and the font was some kind of weirdness too) The worst one for me was no comments. So go. Just comment and make me feel better.

The quilt is already in use and is getting fought over on a daily basis. Need to make another one. That snuggles fabric is gorgeous. All you want to do is pet it. And I want all of the polka dots from the Freebird by Momo.

Thrifty finds...

I'm terrible at buying things at the thrift shop. As in, I usually don't. I can talk my way out of buying anything. I'm a husband's dream.

These sheets were at my local shop on Saturday and I hummed and hawed ALL day and all weekend over them. They were 9 dollars each set. I said to myself that if they were there on Monday, then I'd pick them up. Monday I was busy, Tuesday I didn't get there. Today I did. And there they were.

See, here's the reason I was stalling - they are each KING sized sheet sets with 2 king pillowcases per set. In pristine condition. I know. What the heck am I going to do with that much? eep! But now that they are at home, I'm sure I can hack my way through them in the next year - and perhaps swap a few prints.

And the pearl cotton? Are those colours the coolest ever? A bargain at 25cents each!

In Between Periods...

I was working on this...

I love love LOVE these colours. It's a simple design, no special pattern. Sashing vertically and horizontally, and then I think I will frame it with a few rectangle borders to mimic the inside blocks.

What a nailbiting, fight to the end, game. That's exactly how good hockey should be. None of this 9-0 scoring stuff, or no scoring for an entire period. I love me a close, high blood pressure game. What a perfect way to end 3rd period with a tie it up score during those last seconds. Awesome. It could have gone either way at the end, but in the end, let me tell you - what a grand feeling to win that battle. Congrats to USA, and thank you for making it such a nerve wracking experience! Personally, I could care less about the medals we've won...it's the incredible Canadian spirit, excitement and patriotism these games have drummed up!

Closing ceremonies tonight...and then what?

Ah yes, SPRING and gardening!! Okay, maybe I'm getting ahead of myself on that one...

Be one of them too...

Today I was one of them.

Foreshadow quote "You sure picked a great lineup today, didn't you hon"

I went with my youngest for a jaunt to my oh so guilty shopping at the big box Blue and Yellow store. You know, the one that you know the politics and ethics of the company are quite icky? I go there because, well, on one income, I really need to watch what I spend and I save money there. So, I do.

Ham was on sale for $8.77, wahoo, on the main display aisle, so I picked one up and was on my way.

Went to the checkout (first in line yahoo!) and put all the stuff on the counter. Watching what scans as what price, especially boots on clearance for ds for $3.00 wanted to make sure that went through as $3.00 and not 24. $3.00? for boots? I know.

Ham was a problem. It scanned through for 9.47 , not 8.77. I'm cool. Ask her what it scanned as and mentioned that it's posted as a different price IN THE AISLE DISPLAY DIAGONALLY FROM HER. It's blatantly posted there. In big numbers. She still needs to phone and get a verification of the price check. *blink. blink*

*understand that at this point, there is a woman with her two younger girls now lined up behind me with a crap load of stuff on the counter.

So, her phone P.A system doesn't work. She needs to go to a different phone. One 4 paces in front of her. STILL A MERE 30 PACES FROM HAM DISPLAY

As I'm waiting, ds needs to go to the bathroom. Of course. In a plight of bravery I send him on his own (he's 4) to the bathroom....it's right in front of us and I could whip my cart yell at anyone there from where I was.

All this going on, me being nice and letsnotgetanyoneupsetandrea personality tells her to cancel the ham and put through the other people's orders while I'm waiting.

*there are now 5 people lined up behind me.

As I'm waiting and laserbeaming ds to emerge from the bathroom, I look down at the counter to read something about scanning code of practice. Have you heard of this?

Scanning Code of Practice If the scanned price of a non-price item is higher than the shelf price or any other displayed price, the customer is entitled to receive the first item free, up to a $10 maximum. If a Code of Practice problem cannot be resolved at the store level, please call 1-866-499-4599 to register your complaint.

Finally, finally someone calls back to verify, that yes, indeed they are the price I said they are.

*blink* *blink* (remember...it's right in front of us)

And yes... I, at this point, am ONE OF THEM. The person who makes the cashier give my 50 cents back if I am overcharged. But it gets even better. I point to the scanning code of practice sign on HER counter and say I'd like to use this please.

Now she's the one who does the *blink* blink*. She's never heard of it. It's right on her counter. And on the one 4 paces away that she goes to verify.

And this is when I heard You sure picked a great lineup today, didn't you hon from someone way back in the lineup.

If anyone knows me, I am not one to want attention, I'm shy, I just want to blend in.

Blend in I did not today.

But I did respond to the comment. I replied quietly blushing red in the face, eyes glued to the ground

I'm really sorry about the wait. But the price was wrong, and now instead of saving 50 cents, I saved nine dollars. Ham dinner is free tonight!

And she gave me an encouraging smile and said - make sure you go to DQ (ice cream) for dessert then tonight!

So...I'm not sure if Scanning Code of Practice occurss in the USA, but it definately occurs in Canada....CHECK your scanned prices!! Even if something is two cents difference, you will get the item free!

randomness...

So. I have been busy. And I have a million thoughts going on in my head. Again.

Like.... will my living/family room ever be free of dinosaurs, lego, trains, kidstuff?

Will my kids ever opt to wear clothes in the middle of the day?

I made a cover for my itouch and my new camera. My husband says they are very 'Andrea'. What is that supposed to mean? (paranoia has set in over that comment)

I've discovered that not only am I NOT a clothing sewer, I am not good at little projects (like itouch covers) My excuse? I didn't use a pattern. This time.

I'll stick to quilts, I guess. My little project is done, just need to get the binding sewn on, and then I can share more. And it's patterned, because that's what it is. My solids goal is still there. But hey, when I'm given free fabric...I'll take it.

Will his teeth always look that big in his little mouth? Good grief, he really needs a haircut.

I love and hate blogging. I love to document what I've been up to, but I don't love how it sucks you in....like really, do I plan on getting famous and appearing on Oprah over my itouch cover? Nope. I see some bloggers really making things happen and getting 'known'. But how known are they. Really? I think of crazymomquilts, and how popular in the blogging world she was, but really, if she quit the blogging world, was all the blogging effort worth it after all?

If I were a cat, would it really matter?

I dream of a career in quilting - somehow working with textile companies as a rep or distributor or SOMETHING to keep me in touch with my love for textiles. But then I think....my job as an elementary teacher, as a music teacher is far more rewarding salary wise, vacation wise, pension wise, and of course I love the kids. Except when they fart near me.

Just kind of wrapped up in a million things right now. And that's only the stuff I'm able to talk about publicly....as in my household, there's always plans unfolding and in the works and I sure don't want to jinx it.

Inukshuk...

INUKSHUK

Pronounce the u's like oo in book in -ook-shook.

I've been eyeing this for quite awhile. It's from Costco (I love that place!). My dearest predictably surprised me with this yesterday after we spoke about it while watching the Olympic opening ceremonies.

It is made from stone, and is just so beautiful the way it captures the light.

Inukshuk is a stone figure shaped in the image of man to guide lonely travellers in Northern Canada. They point the best and safest passage, land or water.

You will notice the Inukshuk in some of the Olympic signage....

Thank you honey...I love it to bits. I know it's perfect for us and is pointing the direction home!

Thoughts on the ceremony...

It was very Canadian. Mellow, unassuming, beautiful.
Nelly Furtado and Bryan Adams - too hollywood for me (lipsyncing was evident too) (how on earth could she even stand in those shoes?) and paled in musicianship to KD Lang.

Oh my goodness KD Lang's voice just haunted me and gave me chills. No lip syncing there! Just so unassuming, audience embracing and captures our souls with her voice.

The poet Shane Koyczan from the Northwest Territory - honestly, I've never heard of him, but he resonated Canadian culture through and through. What a proud moment to hear his poem.
What an incredible speaker, writer and representation of a Canadian.

The hologram shows were stunnning and beautiful.

The final torch bearer to light the Olympic flame - meh... Gretzky. It wasn't who I thought it would be, and it wasn't as magical. But I guess he is the 'Great One' in hockey land. Moving to the US way back when is still a little bit of a dagger to many Canadians here. Don't get me wrong, I'd move to the US (certain parts) if I could.... if I would have the healthcare plan as I do here!

My thoughts on Gretzy's lighting of the outside cauldron - sheesh! So much money put into the performance of the ceremonies, and the poor guy had ONE police car escorting him? Did you see the people racing alongside the truck? I thought he was going to get pulled down! ;-)

Onwards - onto quilt posts again!

Olympic Countdown...

I'm on pins and needles. You can feel the vibe everywhere, and we're a 12 hour drive from Vancouver! My friends and family in Vancouver say the feeling around town is unbelievable!

The opening ceremonies will be a tear jerker for me I'm sure. There's much speculation and secrecy about who will light the Olympic Flame...and I'm routing for one special person. And if speculation runs true, it will be absolutely unbelievable.

I have diet coke, ice cream and kleenex box ready!

Wow...

Thank you so much to all of your suggestions and comments. I'm totally blown away. It's amazing how many different suggestions there were, and how (happily) divided we were in our opinions! Love that!

I took a day or two off from the colours and said hello again last night. I finally caved and made a makeshift design wall in the spare bedroom *gasp! There are 6 pinholes in my wall now!! anyone grow up in a household where one was never supposed to put pins in the wall??? yup, me!

The design wall made a huge difference in plunking blocks here and there. I've tried the scattered white, gradation, no white, pale blocks, black blocks, charcoal blocks, pastel blocks. I think my design is just evolving, I'm afraid. I came to this last night, and it will likely be charcoal or black sashing. I really wanted to stay away from the comfort zone of black. It's just so typical, and I didn't want typical. It's not cut and done yet though...so maybe I'll let it rest another day.

My next load of fabrics came in, I tried to pick modern neutrals, and I have a plan to do wonky rectangles for this one.

Hope everyone is enjoying the week!

Workshop in Progress...

I need help.

I love my solids projects...okay I love designing and coming up with a plan, but when it comes to fruition I start to hate it. So, as I'm organizing the blocks in my quilt, I get a few rows done and realize - yuck. I think it's the white I hate.

Do I change the white blocks to another solid, like black or charcoal? OR do I trash them completely and put all the coloured blocks together as I did near the bottom? or do I keep the white and keep going?

Ugh. I hate when I get to this point. I think I'm using too many colours.

If this is the rate my solids are going, I'm ditching the project and getting me some Moda love.

;-)

A new use for my old toy...

So, I've had this little suitcase for 34 years. It was large enough to carry crayons or a lego stash for visits when I was young. I got it in Germany when I was 4, and have kept it in great condition all these years. I love the pink colour of the lining...and I think it would be adorable one day for my sewing room. For now, I filled it with a bunch of my collection of solids...recently my bloggy friend Jenny and I did a swap - I sent her some fq's of FleaMarket Fancy, and in return, I received a delicious assortment of colours to add to my collection for the year! Thanks Jenny!!

My February solids quilt is almost done! I've had a very busy week, and even though the kids had a few days off last week, it was taken up by sniffles and kids demanding my attention. (the nerve!) Today we are hosting a superbowl party...funny because I know nothing about football, but hey...the food is always fun!

In other news, I received really exciting (like omg dancing with excitement news like a little girl who just found out she's going to meet one of the Jonas brothers) news. I'll let you know in a few weeks - it's not that huge in the grand scheme of things, but for ME it's huge! It's quilty related so I'll be sure to let you know!

KatieJumpRope Quilt (designed by Ethan)

Washed, bound and crinkly. Just the way I like it.

Blockmaking - using graph paper was really helpful in figuring out measurements and cutting for blocks. *never forget that 1/2" extra for seam allowances!

Fabric Choice - originally I wanted to use some solids like Ethan's drawing but I didn't have any (at the time) and I don't have a big stash of bold pinks.

Batting - I had a crib sized batting piece in that polyester thin batting. I was worried about it when I was putting it together, but after washing it, it's just as soft as other kinds. But, it is thinner, and so this is more of a lightweight summer quilt.

Spray Basting - wow, how super easy it was! I used 505 brand, as it was recommended to be less smelly. It was a great method for a small quilt. I'd get nervous using it for a larger quilt, but I may experiment on a larger one, just for kicks. I'm pretty liberal with my shoving and manipulating the quilt around on my machine, so often wondered if the layers would unstick or shift. Not the case. But again, smaller quilt so maybe better result?

Machine binding - let's just say it's quick, but I don't like the results at all. Perhaps it's that my binding looked uneven at the back or the stitching looked uneven at the back - it looked awesome at the front. But I didn't like the look of it on the back. In addition to uneven, it also looks too flat and not as fluffy as when I hand stitch.

**and yes, this quilt is made of patterned fabric - all from my stash. The only fabric I've allowed myself to purchase this year is solids, batting and backing. I need to use up my stash as well this year, so you'll see a few stash quilts here and there!

**My next solids quilt is all cut out and ready to piece!

Friday Progress

Katie Jump Rope Quilt  (aka, Ethan's Design)  is almost done.   It's a very easy quilt, and is baby size, but it's been a busy week.  Life comes first, and then quilting.  bah!

I'm experimenting with several things in this quilt - making up my own blocks, spray basting, a different kind of batting (thin poly blend I had from my stash) and machine sewing the binding.

I'll let you know what happens.

Vancouver 2010

I saw this video today, and totally cried my eyes out.  It's my home.  Some people wonder what makes it more special than any place else?   Why would I want to move back home?  Well, here it is....

Yes, there's lots of rain, but truly, it's like this. One cannot, however, embed the smell of the trees, clean air and the ocean in this video.
15 more days until the Olympics!!

Solid Goodness

My order from FabricShack arrived today.  See the colour card in the background as well?  Even my kids got excited and have been drooling and reading all of the names of the colours.  My one gripe - they had sold out of white.  What?  How can you be sold out of white?

I may sneak a solid white from my local shop for now... 

edited to add.... my LQS had ONE bolt of Kona.  ONE.  and it was white.  And I got the last 1.4 meters of it. 

Wait till you see what I have planned.  I'm so excited for this next quilt.

Chemo scarf

It looks alot easier than when you actually plan and make your first prototype. There's a cap inside and all of the seams are inside out to protect the sensitive scalp.  The scrunchie makes it looks cool. Played around with my stretch stitches, as well as my rolled hem foot (didn't like)    This is my prototype.  If I had a serger, it would be a breeze to make these.

I know my mother in law rocked the chemo scarves this season.  She looks amazing in them.   

Can you see it?

Can you see the quilt in this?

How about a simple quilt here? Or a quilt block?

I'm in it bad. I get flyers for storage, and I find it useful for quilts.

One thing I'm learning - triangles do nothing for me. I'm a squares, rectangles and circles kind of girl. Not sure why.

Christmas Gems...

finally, finally finished. My gosh this was the longest pitter patter procrastinating quilt ever. It was supposed to be a gift for my friend. Maybe next year ;-)

It measaures 45" x 55". The pattern is from Jelly Roll Quilts by Pam and Nicky Lintott. I didn't use jelly rolls though. I pieced the back and actually like the back more than the front. Funny how that works.

The binding is in dots - love em!

Washed and crinkly and ready to fight over.

This quilt has given me inspiration for a solids quilt - if you look closely it kind of looks like ribbons woven together - I'm going to modify the blocks into something that will look more like solid ribbons weaving together. That's my March quilt. February is designed, waiting for fabrics and then set to cut.

I still have never made quilt labels for my quilts. Now that I'm more serious about quilting, I need to research that. I like those little twill tape ribbons or just ribbon with a name on them. I know it's not traditional, but I like that.

Green with Envy

The envy being the red in this quilt ;-) Windy day here. Enlarge the photo and hopefully you can see the red better....I wish I could figure out photography. Oh well, this is an amateur blog, so I hope you understand.

I'll post more details as to the size; pattern I somewhat followed; colours of Kona used; etc.... but here is the quilt top done. Now to baste it (blech) and quilt it. Any suggestions on quilting it? I'm thinking horizontal meandering, but I'm kind of nervous about all of the seams. I may just leave it for a bit. I'm kind of sick of it.

My Simply Solids Project is definately underway! I've ordered more solids for my next quilt, which I made the pattern myself.

My Ethan quilt is underway too - I'm using a selection of Katie Jump Rope fabrics, rather than the pink he coloured with. He was okay with that ;-) I just wanted to get something fresh and simple started, as this Green with Envy quilt just kind of made me feel blah.

Kona Colours Used for Green with Envy:
Asparagus
Black
Brown
Charcoal
Chartreuse
Chocolate
Coal 
Espresso
Kiwi
Med. Grey
Pepper
Ruby
Sour Apple
            

Progress..

My solids quilt top is almost done. It's been a tough one. I figured out that I've sewn 9km worth of seams for this. There are a lot of seams. And now, I'm onto the vertical seams, which I'm having to press open..fun. I'm still not sure about this. I've been calling it my reefer quilt.

LOL

If you click to enlarge the photo you will notice that my dog decided to camp out on my layout this afternoon without me realizing it. And...tons of threads. Kona Cottons fray and shed. ALOT.

**the colour that looks yellow is not yellow, but a limey green with a yellow undertone. can't for the life of me adjust it on camera or in iphoto.

My heart melts

So, that box of pencil crayons? They're no longer MINE. One day in this house, something will be all mine...not shared, not communal. Just mine.

But this morning I woke up to the sweetest gift. "I drew this quilt just for you" My son has designed his first quilt. And I'm going to make it.

**on another note...my camera was dropped (again) and I need a new one. Again, see comment above about things being mine vs shared. *rolleyes*

The Olympic Torch!!

The Olympic Torch came through our community today...and I pulled my boys out of school and preschool (as well as 1/2 the schools!) to watch. We were so very lucky, we saw it go by twice! The second time, we were kind of stuck in traffic on the way home, and lo and behold, the traffic was stopped because it was going by! We had so much fun and felt so nostalgic. 30 more days! GO CANADA!!!!

Wonder Wallet

So easy. It took me 45 minutes - and that's a first time run, with fiddling with fabric pattern that was off grain and me wanting it to be perfect. Easy peasy. I highly recommend this pattern - easy to follow, and the wallet holds a ton. I have two wallets right now. I carry all of my cards in one mini card wallet, and a coin wallet for my coins and bills. I think this is my new card wallet for sure. There's even a pocket at the back designed to hold coins, but I have so many darn cards (have to earn points, ya know) that this will do the trick.

Pattern is by Lazy Girls Designs - Wonder Wallet. Next on the list is the Perfect Pouch, by the same company.

One off my list!

Strip piecing is highly boring. Thank goodness my juki is fast and at least I can pretend I'm a race car driver. My next quilt will NOT have lots of strips to sew together.

In beginning the design process

In part of my year long Simply Solids Project, I picked up an inexpensive box of pencil crayons and squared paper notebook from the art shop. I love how the notebook (from Europe) states it's actual carbon footprint. How cool is that?

Because I'm beginner, I'm going to make up my design blocks in my notebook. I could use some fancy software, but frankly, I'm simple, and pencil crayons will be just fine for now.

I'm publicly stating my project now...this is big for me. Again, getting out of my comfort zone, and challenging myself to have confidence! 2010 is the beginning of a GREAT decade.

The Simply Solids Project

The Simply Solids Project

I am in the process of starting a year long project. Simply Solids - a yearof quilts using the entire colour way of the Kona Cotton Solids. I would require the fabric swatch card and fabrics to use in simple, beginner level quilts. My goal is to use all 221 colours by the end of my project (December 2010 - if I can access the fabric in Canada, or have it shipped to Canada)

I would blog:- writing about the process, using the actual colour names and *combination alternatives and *showcase the projects through tutorials and photos. *this part is still a little grey for me...

I am intending this to be a bit about showcasing solids in quilts, but also in teaching others simple techniques using simple fabrics, to creative stunning quilts. I am a newer quilter. But, I am a teacher and know how to break things down and explain things. I belong to a few flickr groups, and have noticed that there is a rapidly growing interest group of quilters throughout the internet who love using solids exclusively in their quilts.

I'm choosing Solids, because they appear to be more affordable fabric choices in comparison with other patterned fabrics. I love solid colours together, and am often perusing the paint chip aisle at my local hardware store, looking at the combinations of solids together, and envisioning them as a finished quilt. Solids always appear as a complement to patterned fabric - I want to showcase their beauty on their own.

At the end of the project, I will have created a minimum of 12 quilts, hopefully more. I have already thought of the blocks for each quilt, and am thinking of colour combinations.

If I am having difficulty accessing all of the Kona Solids or a colour card, I may choose to waver to a different company or whatever I can access. Solids selections, as I stated earlier, are pretty vague up here in Canada for some reason.

My main focus of this project is to learn the design process, the mathematical aspect of it all (EEEK!) and just creating beautiful, simple, modern quilts each month using strictly solids as the fabric canvas.

I hope that I don't step on any toes, offend anyone, or inadvertently copy someone else's designs. This is not my intention. If there is mention to be made, please email me. I have no problem acknowledging credit where credit is due. Please reciprocate this process to me. I dream up my blocks and sketch them in my little book before bedtime and then gather them up at a later date to plan a quilt.

If you would like to help, contribute or participate in any way in this process, I welcome you to. Again, I will acknowledge and link to/with you. The quilter blogging community is incredible. Word spreads fast, and I for one have been inspired to challenge myself to this level by so many bloggers out there.

Here is my cheering squad!!

On your marks, get set...

Phew! 160 strips are cut. I have 4 kinds of brown, 4 greys, 5 greens, and 2 reds. They are cut in various numbers, from 1" strips, 1.5" strips, and 1.75" strips.

Now for the fun - race car driving as I call it as I sew random strips together.

Yesterday, Suki and I reacquainted ourselves as I finished up my Christmas quilt (gasp!) We've been having a hard time figuring out tension and I may have mastered it now. I've tried numerous threads and finally found a needle size that seems to work. Then I had bobbin tension issues, so switched things up again. I *think* we may have found the right combination.

You know how so many people have many WIP's? I don't have any. ever. I do one project from start to finish. And then I do then next from start to finish. I think that may be a bit of my productivity problem as well. Perhaps I need a few projects on the go to give me variety.

1. Green with envy quilt

2. Chemo headscarf

3. Wonder Wallet

4. Perfect Pouch

These are projects that I'm going to start simulatneously.....

I have to say, that I am so thankful for your kindness and friendship. I know it's 'blogland' and we don't really 'know' each other, but your comments and support and friendship really means the world to me. Never forget how much a smile or a thoughtful comment can make a difference in someone's life... that's what someone once told me, and now I'm telling you. It made a world of difference in my week.

Thank you.

(We've dusted ourselves off and are back doing our things. It's just not the right time yet for us)

meh...

You know when you get all excited to start a new year, and then... meh. It happens. You lose it. I think the point was when one of my favourite bloggers, Crazymomquilts, announced she was closing her blog. It was her unpaid full time job. It just stunned me. How could this be? What would my morning coffee routine be like now? I still go to her blog every morning thinking that maybe, maybe she changed her mind, or announced something bigger and better happening. it also made me realize, how insignificant blogging is - even when you do have 500 comments about your current posting. It just doesn't really matter in the grand scheme of things. So as I continue to blog, it's going to continue to be about ME, my life, and my quilting journey.

So, now the double whammy for me. The new year was extremely hopeful for our family. Yes, I have plans for quilting, which still continue, but there was a big push for us to relocate to Victoria, BC. Like, a BIG one. What a dream come true. It was so big, that we were advised by the VP and HR to get our house appraised, check out communities and developments to potentially move to and scout, propose financials of moving costs, taxes and fees, and that the finalization would occur end of this month. So big, that when the instigator pulled the carpet, okay RIPPED it out under our feet, we have tumbled and are dusting ourselves off. The originator of this plan wanted to move this way as his family was this way. The VP was completely for it and was drafting up all the documents for it. dh's VP was for it too. It was a step up for dh as well. Three days ago, the originator proposed the timeline (end of January) and all was a go. I kept saying, I won't believe it until I see the papers. seriously. I've been through this before last year. Yesterday afternoon, he yanks the idea - his daughter (17) and wife suddenly do not want to go. So the plan has collapsed. My guess is that the IDEA sounded lovely to the daughter and wife, but as it became more of a reality, they freaked.

So, I feel like a train wreck. and today, instead of spending countless hours preparing for a dream move and researching housing endlessly on the net, I'm hibernating in my cave and working on a quilt. Greens. Solids.

It's part of my solids year. This was one of my goals -

Simply Solids - a year in Kona Cotton Solid Quilts - my plan - to use all 221 solids throughout the year. I've done some preliminary letter writing, but I'm sure I'll get the 'no thanks' letters for samples of solids, colour charts, etc. so it will be not as big as I thought. This is my thinking right now, as I feel down and out about things. We can't get Kona's in abundance here in Canada. In fact, it's more like black, white, cream - if that. So, online shopping here I come. If anyone has ideas for me to acquire Kona's inexpensively, let me know.

I'll cheer up. I was just dreaming of my ocean view home, walking the dog on the beach, using my binoculars to watch the killer whales.... instead, here I am in -20, cold, dry, dirty, no greenery, chemical laden air, oil refinery land......

Outside of my comfort zone

So I have done a few things today outside of my quilting comfort zone. This is part of my quilting goals. They don't mean physical sewing at the moment, but they will.

I will discuss later, if things happen favourably. And if they don't, well, I'll just have to modify my idea.

It feels good to venture outside of that safe zone. Put myself out there.

Have you done any of that lately?