Great Expectations

I know, this doesn't look like my usual color pallet, more like a color wheel exploded all over the quilt room.  These fabrics were selected by a client of mine who had hired me to create a quilt for her.  This quilt was a gift for her first great granddaughter due to be born this May.  She knew just what she wanted, picked out and purchased all the fabrics ahead of time and even selected the pattern / design.  All I had to do with it was piece and quilt it. The pinwheels came together very quickly and were a lot of fun; check out my previous post and tutorial on the process I used for putting them together <HERE>.


The in-process photos of this B&S quilt project.  This was a fun project for me because the lady who hired me chose a full sized quilt pattern and wanted her version of it to be a crib size.  It sounds simple to do, but when the dimensions of a pieced design need to be shrunk it all has to be done .. every dimension of every shape.  Good quilt math practice for me, my 10th grade geometry teacher (Mr. Cataldo) would be proud. :)

Colors chosen were bright and vibrant and off set by  a contrasting fabric called 'confetti', named for the specks of bright colors through it.

Quilt top complete and awaiting backing, quilting and binding.

 

A bit of an up close photo of this quilt top.  As I mentioned, a little more of a a busy design and colors than what I usually use.  However, the purple in this pattern (along the boarder and in the lattice design) match the color in the baby's nursery.  For a little girl's room this should fit right in.

On the quilt frame...

 

Had some extra fabric so the client asked for a small pillow to match...

I had some fun with this one, quick project to put together that was really appreciated by the client who ordered it.  Hopefully the baby that it was made for will enjoy it for years and years.

Pinwheels In A Flash

Need to make up a lot of pinwheels but hate piecing fabric triangles on the bias?  Me too... So, I had found a tutorial a long time ago in a desperate search for ways to make half square triangle piecing easier.  For those of you who may not know what that is, a half square triangle is just simply a square made out of two right-angled triangles.  A traditional way of making these is to cut your triangles and then sew them together via the long side of the right triangle.  The problem I have with this method is that it is often my experience that the small point of the triangles at the beginning of your seam tend to get all stuck and  bunched up in the machine, not to mention the fabric stretches along the bias cut of the triangle.  I needed a faster, more fool-proof method; and that just what I found.  Since you're reading this now, now that's also what you've found.

In this project the pattern called for 12 large and 12 small pinwheels.  This method creates 8 half square triangles which in-turn will make 2 pinwheels which makes this prep work a really a fast method for pinwheels.

Step 1  - Create squares of fabric that will make up your pinwheels.  For this project I have solid colors with a white 'confetti' background fabric.  The squares size will depends on the finished size of your pinwheel.  Mine is an odd size here as the final project is a quit for a crib that is slightly larger than the crib mattress size.  You would need to measure is the size of the triangles needed for the half square triangle pieces and work that into determining the size here.  Like I said, mine were a odd size so the squares I've made are approximately 10 inches square.

 

Step 2  - Lay your fabric squares together, right sides of the fabric touching. 

 

Step 3 - Draw lines on the lighter color of fabric in the pair.  Here I've drawn a line from corner to corner, then the other corner to corner and then pencil lines in the center of each straight side.

Step 4 - Use the diagonal line(s) as a guide and sew your 1/4 inch seam on either side of ONLY those diagonal lines.  I've flipped this example over here so you can what this looks like so far.

 

 Step 5 - Cut along the pencil lines that you drew in step 3.  This step will leave you with 8 pieced half square triangles.

Step 6 - After pressing your seams all you need to do is assemble the final block.  For the project I'm working on with this fabric it's pinwheels, but you can use the half square triangles for any pieced block that calls for them.

Rudolph The Red Nosed Throw Quilt

Each year for Christmas I try a new quilt pattern or design.  I get out the giant bin of holiday fabric and start digging and then usually spend a few weeks in the quilt room.  Only thing is, with me when it comes to quilt patterns (and fabric for that matter) I'm like Steve Martin's character in the movie "The Jerk" in that scene where he's picking up the *only* things he needs and the list just keeps going and going... "The ashtray, this paddle game, and the remote control, and the lamp, and that's all *I* need."  It's almost to the point of a sickness.. I can imagine the scene now.. me and a room full of old ladies with eye glasses that have those decorative chains on them so they can take the glasses off and hang them around their necks like my high school homeroom teacher Mrs Smith... then I gingerly step to the podium and say.. ".. Hello.. my name is Kim and I'm addicted to fabric and quilt patterns.. " to which they all respond "HELLO KIM!" and then clap.

The reason is easy, for me, the Christmas pattern designs are festive and colorful and since they're given away as gifts you haven't been sitting there looking at them all year getting tired of them.  Also, I still enjoy making each of the designs I create during the holidays, so I don't want to give any of them up and keep them in my project list and then add a new one each year.  A few  years ago the Christmas project was the Bethlehem Star, which I'm sure you're all sick to death of since it's become my go-to project.  I'll admit it.. I love sewing stars.. so sue me!  Then last Christmas I did a star and added a wreath wall hanging.  and this year the wreath became a throw and I added a new pattern, a 'twisted Rudy'.  I know what you're thinking, 'sounds like the name of a cocktail from an awkward Mary Tyler-esk dinner party'. Yeah, but it's really cute and turned out to be super fun to make.


I had looked online and in some books for ideas for this year's new Christmas quilt pattern.  I wanted something that I'd never done before.. something interesting.   So I stumbled upon a 'youtube' video for a ruler that makes Twisted Squares.. looks like a helpful product and for $8 it will make creating twisted blocks fast and easy.  A twisted square is a square made from a 4 patch block where the seams are set on a 30 degree angle.  Now, I enjoy a good quilting gadget as much as the next person... but $8 plus shipping for a 4 inch square of plexiglass with a few lines printed on it just wasn't going to happen.  Some might even choose to use the word "cheap".. I'll stick to frugal and maybe crafty.  Well, anything to save a buck.. or possibly 8 bucks!  To add insult to frugality, the pattern for this quilt could be downloaded, but wasn't free.

I had some fabric that I felt fit the project well and who am I to let a good pile of fabric go to waste...  so.. if this quilt was to be made I was going to need a pattern.  That's where my nerd meets quilter's brain came into play and it was time to reverse engineer the Twisted Rudy design.  Not real hard to do, about an hour, some graph paper and my son's Crayola colored pencils and whalla.. I had a plan.

I cut this project with the help of a ruler that I already had in my quilting ruler stash that had many triangle markings on it, including a 30 degree indication.  It wasn't as fancy as the special one that only does one thing, but didn't cost me $8 either.  The finishing of this project was done by machine tying the quilt with a double polyester batting which made for a really fluffy warm little throw blanket.

This twisted Rudy was donated to a very worthy cause, a fund raiser to raise money for a family who has a baby girl who was very ill and the Mommy had lost her job after having to be at her daughter's hospital bedside.  Since this is a Christmas project.. and Christmas brings about the spirit of giving, I figure donating it is somewhat fitting.

This was a fun project, I'm also thinking that perhaps I'll do a few other "twisted" block projects and perhaps a tutorial on this 'Twisted Rudy'.

Click here for a link to photos of this and other Christmas 2012 projects .

Necessity.. The Mother of Invention...

Necessity and to be honest, and a bit of jealousy is the mother of this invention.  While my sewing studio is still in the planning stages for the basement of our house (crossing my fingers for this spring) the B&S quilt room continues to be my families dining room.
 
I've got a fairly good set up here with my sewing machine on the dining room table and two 6 foot folding rectangle tables that act as my ironing and cutting stations and when necessary get pushed together for large work and basting when I choose not to assemble the quilting frame and long arm finish a project.  All in all, It's a setup that works... especially when compared to the 32 inch round table this quilting venture started from.

Well, the jealousy part comes from my visits to my sister's workroom.  She runs a very successful business of fabricating high end draperies, and pretty much anything else she or a decorator can think of to be made out of fabric.  I go to her work area often and get advise or search through the rolls and rolls of left over fabrics.  She's made her self a work table, a ginormous work table, and in the past I've gone there to lay out projects on her work surface as you can iron and pin on it.. it's sturdy... it's virtually indestructible.

There's no way I could fit a table like hers into my dining room and for quilting it would really be overkill but trying to maneuver 44 inch wide quilting cotton onto a tiny ironing board is also not ideal.

So, seeing as I am terrified of the power saw, I enlisted the help of my workroom handyman, who also happens to be my husband.  I had him cut a piece of plywood to the width of one of my tables and nearly the length (48 inches) saving me several feet at the end of the table.






He then had the idea of rounding the corners to match the corners of the table and cut in this handy handle that will end up on the bottom for my fingers to go in when I lift the finished board.

I then went back to my sewing guru and asked what to cover it with.  I needed something that I can iron on and that would also not get damaged or grow mildew when it gets wet or hit with a lot of steam.  The materials that I would need you can order online or just get at your local fabric / craft store; 'Worktable Padding' and 'Canvas Worktable Covering' (or some places call it duck cloth).  It comes in 60 inch widths, so for this project I didn't need a lot and it could be done fairly cheaply.

I laid out the pad that would go underneath and cut that to the exact size.

I then cut the cover cloth slightly larger than the plywood and began to power staple it up around the sides, starting with opposite sides and stretching it as I went along.

The finished board on my table.  As you can see I left the space at the end to fit my little ironing board that I had been using when I do quilt piecing.

I like having both on the table as you can see the board can accommodate a standard 44 inch width of quilting cotton while small piecing can still be ironed without moving larger fabric on the smaller board.  This was a very easy and inexpensive project and really saves me time while quilting as I don't need to keep moving fabric to properly iron it as I had before because a full width didn't fit on my small ironing board.

I Just Couldn't Leave Well Enough Alone...

Two things led to this quilt, the project I had completed for friends Holly and Denis (A House Warming Quilt) and my most recent quilt repair project post (What's Old is New Again Part 1 / Part 2).  The reason that these lead me to this project as they were both Ohio Star block quilts.  I had confessed my fear and hatred of the Ohio Star block within the first post and then there I was, faced with a quilt containing the same block.  Although in the repair project I was not actually re-creating the Ohio Square it was a reminder that not only did I find the piecing of an Ohio Star block tedious, but I was really bad at it.  The portion of the block that I didn't care for was the flying geese.. All those geese.. they are boring and hardly ever came out correct and even due to the need to sew them on the bias which is the way that they are traditionally assembled.  I just flat out stunk at making them and that made me cranky about the whole block as there are 4 flying geese in every Ohio Star block.

Today I can honestly say, that was then and this is now.   In between those two projects I found, on another quilter's blog, the best shortcut process for creating flying geese that I've ever seen on a site that I frequently visit called 'Connecting Threads'.  To follow the process of theirs that I have used to learn how to create flying geese easily and accurately check out this link.

 That tutorial has made a HUGE difference.  Within the Ohio Square block the accuracy overall I believe is largely determined by how well you can create the flying geese and with this procedure I was able to make a much more accurate and professional looking quilt block.  In this photo an example of one of my finished Ohio Square blocks and a stack of very accurate flying geese that I had put together using this method.  It was, in fact, such a quick method that I had all the flying geese for this project pieced together in one evening of sewing, less than 4 hours.

I've also used this project as a way to practice my mitered boarders.  On a lot of projects I simply use interrupted boarders which I find to look fine but leave a bit to be desired when you're looking for a clean, professional looking result.  Mitered boarders simply add a detail to a quilt that looks like you've taken a bit of extra care in its preparation.

This photo also shows a bit of the quilting on this item as well.  The style of quilting is rather hap-hazard .. just meandering stitching around the whole project in a color thread that coordinates with the green fabrics and shows as a  bit of relief on the lighter color.  Bobbin color coordinated with the back of the quilt, and with the back being a paisley print that matched the inside boarder, a meander stitch faded in nicely.

The finished project...

What's Old is New Again... Part 2

Well, after a long slow project of putting this quilt back together the project is complete.  I'm extremely happy with the repair of the torn seams and with the fact that I was able to preserve all the pieces of this project, quilt top, back and binding.

(If you missed it, check out Part 1of this post... )

As I noted in my previous post, there were a number of things about this quilt that I had repaired.  However, one thing I wanted to make certain to try to retain is the charm and home made feeling of this quilt.  One thing that I sometimes like to remind people of is that "home-made" doesn't always mean a flawless result, but it does have it's own charm and appeal.  Those of us with children know this to be especially true.  When we are handed a picture or card made by our children and stand there looking at it, pausing because we can't really tell what they've drawn on the paper... but we love it just the same.  To then have them excitedly explain.. "here's you..and here's me.. and we're holding hands.. "  it's charming and much more valuable to us than any professional painting or piece of art work.  We don't have to dig very deep to know why those types of gifts touch us.. it's their sentiment pulled together by effort and emotion that goes into it that we find appealing.  A tangible example of someone's feelings for us scribbled down on the paper or sewn into a quilt.  That's what I had been handed with this project, someone's gift of the creative expression of their feelings for this couple, this family sewn together with fabric and thread.  I took preserving that expression very seriously with this repair.

Here are only a few photos of the finished repair project.  I, unfortunately, forgot to get a larger photo of the entire quilt put together, but from these you can see specific parts of the quilt in detail; the quilting that didn't exist before (as it was a tied quilt), the binding that I luckily was able to preserve, the loft (in the folded up view) and lastly the ties.  I had decided that although this is a quilted project and technically does not need to be tied, I liked the ribbons.. it added charm.. so the Ohio Square pieced blocks got re-tied as a last step to call the project completed.
 

 Now that this repair is complete.. you know I wouldn't be able to leave well enough alone...

Spiderman was framed!

At the risk of sounding a bit boastful... (and like a cliche` 1960's cigarette add) "I've come along way baby!"  About 9 years ago when I thought I'd give quilting a try I had a sewing machine that only had 2 stitches; 'forward' and 'back-stitch'.  I bought it at Wal*Mart for $80.  I had a small bag of cheap cotton fabric and the only place I had to sew was the kitchen table which was a 32 inch round table in a cramped little kitchen.  To cut fabric for piecing I had to move the machine over to a chair, cut, then move it back to piece.  At the time, that worked out just fine for me.  Then a few quilt projects later amidst the comedy of basting quilts by hand on the living room floor (at times sewing them to the carpet by mistake) and wrapping them all around me to run them through my home machine to quilt them together, I had to find a new way.  I've gone through about 4 machines, broke a few with inexperience and burnt out a few others, and took over the new (dining room) addition on my house to be able to spread out a bit.  From there I started to get bored with quilting down the seams and began to free motion quilt (a la meander stitch) using my home sewing machine.  Worked fine for a few projects, but by that time I had my eye on something bigger and began to research long arm quilting machines and frames.  After having tried basting quilts by sewing them, pinning them and spraying them I was ready to try anything to never have to baste a quilt together again.  So my search began...

I found the research into long arm quilting to be a daunting task as there are so many choices and it's a bit like choosing between two luxury cars.  They'll all get you down the road and are both exceptional compared to your old clunker and you end up making your decision based on creature comforts and price.  This search was somewhat like that.  Every frame and long arm I researched had exceptional reviews by loyal quilters and it was quickly obvious that almost anything I chose would do the trick. 

In addition to price, for me the choice of which frame to purchase came down also to size.  A quilt frame takes up quite a bit of floor space. Unless you have a house with enough space to keep a 12 foot by 6 foot piece of unmovable quilt frame set up, chances are you don't have enough space to operate the machine as a King sized quilt frame. I've not had much call for king sized projects, however, I can't rule them out either.  So, I wanted the ability to have a frame that could potentially hold a quilt that is up to 120 inches wide but could also be set up in a configuration that can save space when working on baby quilts and twin sized projects.  There are two basic choices, aluminum or wood frames.  The aluminum frames mostly come with a fixed length of poles and can be set up in specific widths.   And example is the Baby Lock 'Pearle' frame (which given unlimited space and money would be my first choice) can only be setup in specific lengths, king sized, or twin sized.   So for me, having to have the frame set up for a King sized project to complete a queen sized quilt is a waste of space that I don't have.  Also, did I mention that you'd need to have unlimited space and MONEY?  Yes, these large metal frames without a machine on them can coast upwards of $10,000.  The Baby Lock frame came in at $8500.00 without a machine attached.  For me, I went with a wooden frame for under $1000.00.  It's entry level, I know, but there's more reason than price that I decided to go this way.  The frame itself technically does all the same things the more expensive metal frames do and it does something that they don't do... it scales!  Since the frame I purchased didn't come with poles to hold it together or to hold the quilt I can decide how long to make the poles depending on which size quilt I am working on.  I chose to set my frame up at 8 feet 6 inches, which is just barely large enough for a queen sized project.  However, if I need to change the size of the poles in the event that I complete my sewing studio in the basement sooner than expected and have more space all I need to do is go to Home Depot and purchase new poles which cost me under $8.00 each per 10 foot length.

Now, for the machine, I'd love to have a new modern long arm machine driven by a computerized system that quilts intricate patterns into your work while you stand there and take all the credit.  However, that type of system just isn't in the budget.  So I began to look for a second hand long arm and you would be surprised at just how few of them there are out there.  Apparently, people who make the investment into a long arm quilting machine tend to keep them or trade them in for the next generation machine.  The few I had found on eBay or other sites for sale were too expensive or in pieces.  Then I came across a deal from Hinterberg for one of their wooden quilt frames and a refurbished 17 inch Viking Voyager long arm machine.  The whole package with stitch length regulator; an addition that maintains the same stitch length regardless of the speed that you move the machine (a necessity for a beginner) for just under $4,000.00.  SOLD!!

I found that to purchase these high-end quilt systems, aluminum frame with a new computerized long arm machine could potentially set you back between $18,000.00 to $25,000.00.  Now, lets say you were to do this for a business, and lets also say that a queen size quilt top if you were to send it out to a quilter to complete for you would cost you an average of $250.00.. I can see  that this is an investment that would pay for itself very quickly even if you only completed one or two quilts a week.  Since this is my first foray into quilting on a frame, we'll stick to less lofty goals for now.

So where was I.. oh yeah.. Spider-man!  I had begun this project a long time ago for Jason as he had decided he wanted to change his room decor to super heroes.  I put it aside for a while because he keeps going from super heroes, to Hot Wheels, to muscle cars, to fire and skulls (don't ask!) and back to super heroes.  When I use licensed fabric (fabric that has characters that are trade marked, owned and released specifically for the fabric) I like to look for fabric panels.  This panel I found from one of my favorite online wholesale fabric distributors.  They're usually specific sizes, this one is just about the width of a twin sized bed, sometimes you can find them the size of standard pillow, you get the idea.  Pairing this panel up with a few other themed fabrics allowed me to build a very quick twin sized quilt top.

Piecing was extremely fast and easy, great project to use as a practice on the quilt frame.

The process of quilting on my new frame.. first the backing fabric is loaded.

Then quilt batting over that.. I'm also using this project for some research.  As part of the repair project that I'm working on our friends that owns the quilt requested some extra fluffy / high loft batting.  Since I typically use traditional cotton batting which is very thin I wanted to test out this super loft cotton on a project before I used it on hers.

You may not be able to see from this photo, but this batting is much loftier than what I use and is noted to be for use in quilted or tied quilts as well as what you'd find in a sleeping bag. I tried to show the height here...

 Last bit of setup is the quilt top itself.  In this photo I've put the batting and quilt top on the same pole, however, I will say that I've already realized the benefit of purchasing a quilt frame with a 4th pole.  That way you could purchase quilt batting in giant rolls and not have to place it on the same pole with the quilt top, which can be a bit bulky, and it also keeps it off the floor.  In this house anything that hits the floor that is soft and fluffy becomes a dog bed... it's their domain and I can't say that I blame them.  So here is the quilt top on the frame and ready to quilt...

Not extremely fancy quilting here, just meandering.. but getting used to the new machine and how it moves on the carriage and frame.  Using larger than usual motions in this project to allow the fluffiness of this high loft batting to show.

The finished quilt..

Not sure you can see the loft here.. fluffy and soft!

Although Jason was aware that this project was on the frame for him I surprised him with it when it was done by making his bed while he was in the shower.. he was very excited to see it.