WIP Wednesday: Helix Nebula #4 & Colorwash Quilt

When this post publishes, I’m going to be sitting in the Portland airport on my way to Toronto, Ontario, to celebrate my birthday with my mom. But before I left, I wanted to post an update on the Helix Nebula cross stitch.

I’m working on page 3 of 12, and you can see how close I’m coming to the far right edge! It’s actually starting to look like something now. I am going to clean up the pattern and plan to release it on Etsy and Craftsy soon.

And here’s what my quilting and sewing space looks like this morning. I finished piecing the top of the cat quilt. I’m waiting for a chance to borrow my mother-in-law’s nice big kitchen floor for an afternoon to baste it together for quilting. In the meantime I started on this Colorwash quilt kit from Craftsy.

The cutting instructions leave a lot to be desired, so thank goodness there was enough extra fabric in the kit to recut pieces (and by the way, pattern designers, would it kill you to take ten seconds to put a scale on your printable pattern pieces so I can check that the printer actually printed your templates correctly?) So that setback was kind of incredibly frustrating, but I’ll live.

What are you working on today?

Advertisement

Sisters Outdoor Quilt Show 2017

It’s taken me awhile to go through all my pictures from the 2017 Sisters Outdoor Quilt Show, but here are my favorite quilts from the show. I didn’t spend as much time there this year as I did the first time I went in 2015, but it was a good show nonetheless.

In case it wasn’t obvious, this is going to be an image-heavy post.

WIP Wednesday: Helix Nebula #3 & Cat Quilt

It’s been two months since the last Helix Nebula stitch update. I haven’t finished the second page of the pattern yet, but not for lack of trying.

I’ve also been trying to finish the quilt top for my cat-block quilt. I have to finish it so that I can put the big ironing board away and we can get our living room back.

I have three (of six) rows sewn with sashing. Today I don’t have classes or any pressing homework, so my goal is to finish the rows and (maybe?) start sewing them together.

(Cat-block pattern is from here.)

Finished Project: Chanukah mini-quilt

Last year when my dad visited us for Chanukah, we used a piece of cardboard under the menorah to protect the table from wax drips. This year, I thought maybe we could be a little classier and use something nicer than diverted recycling, so I made this star of David mini quilt to put under the menorah.

This was my first attempt at paper piecing, which I had read a lot about and still only vaguely understood. The pattern is from Leisure Arts’ 1,000 Any-Size Quilt Blocks, which gives a brief tutorial on how to paper piece, but I think it’s really a technique that needs to be done to be understood. The 60 degree angles were a little hard to wrap my head around at first, but once you figure it out, paper piecing is great. I love the tidy seams and matching points on the triangles.

I made the mini quilt with Modern Background Paper & Ink Collections from Fresh Modern Fabrics on Etsy for the star, and Robert Kaufman Blueprint Basics #14539 in Indigo for the background & backing.

And here it is in action, with fancy beeswax candles from Big Dipper Waxworks (I’m really excited about these).

Chag sameach (happy holiday), everyone!

Finished Project: Pineapple Mini-Quilt

I finished my first “quilt” yesterday, from piecing to quilting to binding. I put “quilt” in quotes because it is only a tiny thing — about the size of a piece of paper. But I wanted to start small before embarking on a bigger project. Here it is!

I was thinking of using it for a mug rug or trivet, but I added little pockets in the top back corners so it could also be hung on a wall. I’m fairly pleased with the final results, though I can see places where my stitching went wonky and where my 45 degree angles are not 45 degrees.

Here are some work in progress pictures.

The half-square triangles after ironing

 

Laying out the patchwork squares

 

Folding over the binding

 

Binder clips make excellent alternatives to pins for securing the binding! Much cheaper than Clover’s Wonder clips, too.

Tutorials/Further Reading

I got the instructions for the pineapple patchwork block from Sassafras Lane and followed Patchwork Pottery’s excellent tutorial for adding the hanging pockets.

The yellow and green fabrics are assorted fat quarters from The Stitchin’ Post in Sisters, OR, and the pindot background fabric is from Fresh Modern Fabric on Etsy (I bought a fat quarter pack, but this particular fabric is called Pindot in Graphite, from the Modern Background Ink Collection by Brigitte Heitland for Zen Chic for Moda Fabrics. You can buy it from Fresh Modern Fabrics here).

Finished Project: WIP & Floss Bags

I have so many cross stitch works in progress going at the moment; I had them spread all over the coffee table, in dangerous proximity to open cups of tea and such. So I decided to make a nice case to hold all my supplies, keeping them safe, clean, and easy to pick up and take with me!

I made the bag from five fat quarters that I got at the Stitchin’ Post in Sisters, Oregon, plus some interfacing I had lying around and a zipper salvaged from a bag that I bought a pillow in. Like the cat & woodgrain bags, I used the basic technique from this Design Sponge tutorial.

For the lining, I sewed three fat quarters together and folded them up to divide the inside into three sections. I put one project into each compartment, and I still have a bit more room. And the bag is big enough to fit a clipboard for pattern pages.

If I had to do it over, I would have put some more/thicker interfacing in the lining so it wasn’t as floppy. The bag stands up alright on its own, but the dividers would be better if they were stiffer.

I also made some more floss bags to hold the flosses for the Steotchalong project (which I still haven’t finished, oops), and for another surprise Christmas present project that I’m working on.

They’re so pretty and useful!

WIP Wednesday July 22

I missed WIP Wednesday last Wednesday because I was busy seeing the sights of Portland with my parents who were visiting (OK, we really only saw one sight, the Portland Japanese Garden, but then we got really nice matcha lattes downtown).

But I’ve still been working hard on the signal flag sampler. I finished the cross stitching on the alphabet flags and started on the little flags that will eventually read “England expects that every man will do his duty.” Then there’s just a lot more backstitching and more cross stitching to go!

And then today I also went to the quilt shop and got a ‘quilter’s dozen’ of fun patterned fat quarters. I do have an idea for some of them, but some I just got ’cause they’re so darn pretty.

That’s all for work in progress Wednesday! What are you working on today?

Sisters Outdoor Quilt Show 2015

This past weekend I had the pleasure to visit Sisters, Oregon and the 40th Annual Sisters Outdoor Quilt Show! Although I’m not a quilter (yet), it was so amazing to admire all the gorgeous quilts that they had displayed — and there were even more I couldn’t see before my feet got tired and I had to call it quits. Take a look (warning: this is a super photo-intensive post):

The first quilts I saw at the show.

“Galaxy Grays” exhibited by Susan Cobb, quilted by Betty Anne Guadalupe

Assorted colorful quilts

Two quilts exhibited by Robert Kaufman Fabrics to celebrate 30 years of Kona cottons. Left quilt made by Empty Bobbins; right quilt by Red Pepper Quilts (both quilts from Los Angeles)

A cat quilt hanging in the Stitchin’ Post store, made as an example from the book Best Friends Animal Portrait Quilts by June Jaeger.

That mannequin stole my dress! (actually, I stole the mannequin’s dress — we’re both wearing Sew Liberated’s Ashland dress. Who wears it better?)

“Red Giant Dahlia” made by Jan Larson of Redmond, OR.

“Remembering Mondrian,” exhibited by Susan Cobb and quilted by Betty Anne Guadalupe

detail of quilt titled “One” exhibited by Kristin Swan and quilted by Sandy Lachowski — I loved this one because the design reminded me of Necker cubes

“Trees Around the World,” exhibited by Jean Wells Keenan, made by an unknown quilter

Quilts & quilts & more quilts. It was almost impossible to get a picture that didn’t have other people in it.

“Robot at the Whitehouse,” made by Mary Ann Pettway and exhibited by Gee’s Bend 2015

“Railroad Crossing” hand quilted by China Pettway and exhibited by Gee’s Bend 2015 — I love this one but it was $13,000 to take home.

This is getting my creative juices flowing and making me excited for trying my hand at some quilting! I’ve posted even more pictures from that day on the PDX-Stitch Instagram. I think the last quilt here (“Railroad Crossing”) is the one that inspires me the most, but I love the quilts that use lots of blacks and greys with just a little pop of color. Which quilt is your favorite, and does anyone have plans to attend Sisters Outdoor Quilt Show 2016?