More binding!

This week has somehow gone by without my doing much sewing.  Instead of sewing, I ended up crocheting an infant hat for the annual Mariners Stitch 'n Pitch night.  I'm not much of a knitter (still learning and still very, very slow), but I can crochet fairly well, and I can certainly appreciate the time and effort and skill hand-knit items take.  I can also drool over super soft, awesome-colored yarn (if you ever touch baby alpaca yarn, you will feel like everything else is so ridiculously coarse!).  And it's a great excuse to hang out with friends!

But today, I went back to a bit of sewing.  Actually, I finally ironed my binding for my linked chain quilt (and finished ironing the pile of clothes on the sofa that have been hiding under a quilt project for a few weeks...but I digress).  This binding is different from other bindings I have done.  Why?  It's pieced.  Why?  Because I learned that Joann's Fabrics carries some of their precut lines only for a limited time, and that seems to be the line I fall in love with, and I fall in love with it too late, so that I find myself scrounging for coordinating fabric to finish the project I started with the precuts!  Last year, it was the summer quilt.  Maybe next year, I'll remember the lesson from the past two years and plan ahead?

At any rate, I couldn't find any yardage of the fabric I originally wanted for the binding.  Instead, I ended up taking the fat eighths I had purchased (when I couldn't find another jelly roll and needed just four more strips for the quilt front) and cutting strips from the fabrics for the binding.  I really hope it works!

As a roll, it looks pretty awesome!

Pieced, ironed in half, and ready to be rolled up.  I love how the patterns all blend together.

I also am nearly finished (as in I have maybe 2 feet left to stitch down) with the binding for my Berenstain Bears quilt!  I loved the look as I stitched it on, and I'm loving the look as I hand-stitch the back.

Loving the way the binding brings it all together!

My husband gave me a challenge for piecing that will let me try my hand at a bit of applique in quilting.  As soon as I manage to clean up my ridiculously messy sewing corner and unearth my sewing machine again, I'll be back to cutting and piecing!  I'm excited for the next few projects I have up my sleeve!

Quilting and Binding the Berenstain Bears Quilt!

Two tries, and I finally got a binding fabric that ties the Berenstain Bears quilt together!  I love it!  I realized I hadn't posted photos of the quilting I had done on this quilt, so here's a photo-heavy look at the quilt with the binding attached (but not completely stitched yet).  This was my first attempt at more modern quilting, breaking out of loops and stars and flowers.

I love the binding!

Textures!

Quilting those diamonds is a lot tougher than it may look.

A better view of the loops in each patterned square.

On the ironing board.  I love the texture this shows!

Another view of the binding and quilting from the front.  And some random hangers.

Closer look at the wavy pattern on the border and the binding.

I tried to frame each center block a bit with the quilting.

And here's a look at the back!

I really love the little frames all over the back of the quilt!

You can see each "frame" from the back and the squiggles between each frame.

I find quilt backs like this just as fascinating as the quilt fronts.

The binding is attached on the front, and will be hand-stitched on the back.

Butterflies

While it's still on the machine, I thought I'd post a few photos of the quilting for my chain quilt. I went with a meandering butterfly, kind of like the one seen in Winnie the Pooh. I love how it keeps the flowery feel without needing to repeat the flowers themselves. On to binding!

Modified Wiggly Whimsy = Linked Chain

A few weeks ago, I was looking at my latest precuts purchase, a jelly roll (set of 2 1/2 inch strips) and a charm pack (set of 5 inch blocks), wondering what to do with them.  I came across the Wiggly Whimsy pattern and figured I would invert the pattern.  Where it called for white, I would use the prints I had, and where it called for prints, I would use white.  

From Moda Bake Shop.

In my mind, the result would be a quit that looked like it had a scattering of white blocks instead of a scattering of colors.  As I was finishing the quilt top, I decided to keep the white sashing between columns.  The result was a linked chain effect.  (Sidenote: I didn't see the linked chain pattern until showing this quilt top to family.  I had the original pattern of scattered small blocks still stuck in my mind.)

Finished quilt top.

Closer view of the finished quilt top.

In person, the green fabric doesn't seem to be as strong as it does in the photos.  It seemed a little stronger than the other fabrics when I was piecing the quilt, but the photos make it stand out a lot more.  

I'm excited to quilt this!  I have no idea what design I'll use, but I'm thinking I might do flowers in the sashing to echo the floral prints.  I hope to have this quilted in a few days!

Experimental Designs vs Designs That Will (hopefully) Sell

Lately, I've been busy with a few projects.  First, the Wiggly Whimsy quilt (update to be posted later on the finished quilt top), and second, quilts that I'm planning to sell.

I'm working on baby quilt sets and a few lap quilts (meaning, smaller than a twin, bigger than a baby blanket, like the blankets you just throw on your couch for decoration and to cuddle under on cool evenings).  Here's the interesting thing about making things to sell:  it moves from designing for yourself to designing for others.  That transition can be difficult.  Sure, I follow a number of craft and quilt blogs, but does that necessarily represent the tastes of the people I hope to sell to?

Here's an example.  A lot of the quilting and crafting blogs I've been following have been about "modern" quilts.  Basically, modern quilts differ from traditional quilts in one major way:  fewer prints, more negative space, more simplistic-looking designs.  Modern quilts can be a bit edgy; they're not always perfectly symmetrical.

Courtesy Moda Bake Shop

Courtesy Moda Bake Shop

These types of designs have been inspiring me a lot lately.  They are the reason I have been doing more quilting.  They are fun; bright; bold; and a simple change of fabric selection can change the look drastically.

However, the designs that have been running through my mind as a result of looking at so many modern quilts don't necessarily translate into designs others would find attractive.  Below is a design I envisioned, but when I laid it out and posted on Facebook for feedback, garnered a whole single response.

It's tough to see here, but the white is fabric with the USS Enterprise; the black has scattered white dots on it and reminded me of space.  The idea?  The ships are going into space!  Funky, yes?  But something people would purchase?  Well, based on the crickets chirping when I asked on FB about it...not so much.  Or maybe my friends aren't as interested in such modern designs as I am?

Whatever the case is, perhaps I will break onto the modern quilting scene with something like this later, when I have worked out the patterns better (smaller blocks, maybe, for this one), and when I'm more confident that others would actually be interested in such a design.  Until then, there is much to be said for more traditional designs like nine-patches and log cabins that can still be eye-catching depending on the fabrics being used.

Wiggly Whimsy

I bought a jelly roll and a charm pack, and had no idea what to do with them.  A search for quilt patterns using those two items brought this:  the Wiggly Whimsy Quilt.  I love the pattern, but I'm doing it in reverse...so where you see white, there will be colors.  I'm REALLY excited for a quilt that looks like there are white blocks tossed about.

 

Below is the progress so far - lots of cutting and, today, 98 block pairs.  I'm excited!

 

A Bag-load of Bags!

Awhile back, I made a set of reusable grocery bags from outdoor fabric and outdoor canvas. We use those bags for everything - library books, groceries, packing snacks and small items for road trips...you get the idea. The only problem is there are only five. We have other reusable bags, but they haven't held up as well.

During my spring cleaning, I found more fabric, so I set about making more bags! There are six in the photo, but I made two or three earlier that are already in use.

So...what do you call a stack of 13 reusable bags?