Block Party!

Block Party is having a quilt along kick off giveaway! Check it out here and be sure to check out their blog while you’re at it — much inspiration to be had there!

Also, here’s a chance to win a thread catcher over at PoppyPrint. It’s adorable!

THIRDLY (wow, lots of giveaways!) there’s an awesome chance to win a quilt kit and other goodies over at Jaybird Quilts! Go check it out!

Needle Roll

It’s finished!

I wanted to make a mini quilt (it’s about 11×18) to practice the quilting and binding steps before I quilt/bind Ezra’s quilt. It took me a few hours to sew on the binding, but I think it’ll be much easier the second time around. It turned out lovely, too. I think Tripp was really impressed! A few more photos:

I made it into a needle roll for all the lovely bamboo needles Tripp got me for Christmas last year. He’s amazing.

Speaking of Tripp being amazing, he got a job today! We moved to Austin a month or so ago with hopes that he’d get hired at an entertainment company, and today they offered him the job! We are so jazzed! We’re going out to dinner this week to celebrate. Hoorah!

Now on to lunch and then…Ezra’s quilt is calling to me. 🙂

-K

Practice makes…perfect?

Today I (finally!) got my even feed foot in the mail. For my fellow newbies or you non-quilters out there, an even feed foot, aka a walking foot, looks like this:

It’s kind of a huge and awkward version of a normal presser foot.

Every sewing machine has feed dogs, which run underneath the cloth as you work, and they keep the fabric moving away from you as you sew. The walking foot allows you to cover or lower the feed dogs and keeps the layers of quilting moving at the same speed; essentially, it allows you to quilt without the bottom layer becoming shifted during quilting (even though everything should be pinned down well in the first place).

I put off ordering an even feet foot until I was actually ready to finish a quilt, because they usually run about $30 and I didn’t want to buy one until I had a reason to need it. I found a good price on one, and it came in today, so I’ve been practicing. I threw together a doll sized quilt (which will actually serve as a needle roll for my knitting needles and crochet hook) out of the Hello Betty! charm pack I received last week. I have to say, the colors are amazing. Have a looksie:

I have quilted it but I need to rip out some of the stitches. Stippling is much more difficult than it looks. I stippled for a while but decided straight lines would look better with simple patchwork.

I poured over this tutorial on Oh Fransson! but I don’t think her methods are meshing well with my setup. Oh well, you know what they say. Eventually my stippling, with much practice, will be…a bit better. Ha!

Any stippling tips for a newbie? Leave ’em in the comments!

-K

P.S. I think I’m going to go with the handkerchief corner style for my Land and Sea quilt. My piecing isn’t neat enough to do bento boxes quite yet.

Progress!

Today, I took a break from Ezra’s quilt to work on another that’s been in progress since June. Well, that’s when I bought the fabric, anyway…I wanted to use Heather Ross’ Mendocino line in a way that would show off the fabric but also be bright and fun. It was originally supposed to be a bento box quilt, but I’ve discovered the handkerchief style and now I can’t decide!

Which layout do you prefer?

Bento Box:

Handkerchief:

Let me know in the comments!

-K

Vroom! Rawr!

I’ve decided to name Ezra’s quilt “Vroom! Rawr!” because of the numerous dinosaurs, animals and vehicles sprinkled about. Of course, Ezra can refer to it however he’d like (when he learns to talk!), I just have to have a name in my head to distinguish it from other quilts.

A peek at the new blocks I’ve done:

gotta love those lions!

Tripp and I had dinner tonight with an old friend of his that he worked with all during college. I was really happy to finally meet Andrew and his wife, Jenny — they were so much fun. We had dinner at a local and deliciously authentic Mexican food place. Mmm…those chicken tacos are to die for!

Also, this weekend one of my good friends from college got engaged. Congrats, honey! (I don’t want to say her name because I don’t know who she’s told). Her fiance is super nice and he is definitely a lucky guy, because she is a gem. They’ll be an amazing couple.

Oh! I almost forgot…I got some new fabrics in today…

A charm pack of Hello Betty! by Moda, in the retro colorway. I love it already. Look at those amazing teals, reds and greys.

More quilting tomorrow!
-K

New Block on the Block

Here’s a sneak peek of…

The first block in Ezra’s quilt! Ezra is 3 months old, he’s my friend Griselda’s first baby, and he’s so cute I want to cuddle him! Unfortunately, I live in Austin and Gris lives in L.A., so she asked me to make him a quilt. She specifically requested reds, browns, and whites to match his baby gear — I threw in a bit of blue because I thought it would offset the darker colors nicely. Here’s the whole block:

I thought this would be a great time to use the wonky style log cabin blocks. It gives off a relaxed, creative, fun vibe — perfect for a little boy! What do you think?

On Tuesday, I bought some new yarn. It’s a bamboo blend, so it’s not only renewable, it’s also amazingly soft and is a gorgeous olive green.

Bonus: Odie is super pumped about it!

Tutorial for the hexagons is coming soon!

-K

Goals of all sorts

I am one of those people who’s always got ideas ideas ideas floating about my noggin. Yesterday, for example, I was looking for oil for my sewing machine and walked out with new fabric. Oops! I am finally beginning to realize that without a list of things I need I am nearly hopeless, unless I’ve got hours to wander about and remember everything.

In that spirit, I’ve decided to make a list of quilting and sewing techniques I’d like to try/various things I’d like to make.

(from comfortstitching)
1. Hexagons. They’re so cute, and everyone is using them lately. I’m liking them as decoration on simple items like moleskines, or just as an accent to a quilt, like Ashley at Film in the Fridge has done.

2. Circles. They seem like they’d be difficult to sew, but they look so nice!

(from A Commonplace Life)

3. Wonky log cabin style blocks. All the excess trimmed fabric can be made into hexagons! (Can you tell I despair over throwing away any scrap, no matter how small? And that I love hexagons?)

(for sale here)

4. I have a sudden urge to make a potholder today. I might just do that right now!

(for sale here)

There are many more goals of mine with quilting, but I’ll stick to these for now. Don’t want to get too ahead of myself!

-K

Raku

Today I had a Raku* moment in Joann fabrics.

Usually I don’t wander into fabric stores. I’ve had bad luck with certain chains carrying groan-inducing fabrics (like those my boyfriend, Tripp, chose for a quilt I have yet to make him). You know the ones. Covered in garish prints, not a single designer bolt in sight.

I know, I know. I sound like a freaking snob. It’s just that I don’t really want to use fabrics that don’t meet my cute (kawaii) standard. I’m super picky. Not to mention that I do most (all) of my fabric shopping online, where I know folks have heard of Heather Ross and Amy Butler and their ilk.

Anywho, I was wandering amongst the bolts, thinking about purchasing some muslin or a plain white cotton for background fabric when I was met with a beautiful sight:

Alexander Henry!

Needless to say, I bought some. Half a yard of the Juicy Lemons and just under a yard of the Apples&Pears — it was technically a remnant, so I got it for half price! Wahoo!

Also, I’m actually making progress on my Mendocino quilt. First, a pillow top I made to practice my piecing and quilting. I have an inkling I’ll look at this later with a fond “I can’t believe I thought that was decent looking” feeling.

Here are the blocks I’ve been working on…

I’ve promised myself I’d make a block a day. As you can see, I have 3 done so far, but I have all the other blocks planned out so I’ve only got to stitch them together and I’ll be set. Check out this lovely stack just waiting to be sewn!

-K

*Raku is Japanese term used in ceramics — it means something along the lines of “pleasure” and “enjoyment”. Today’s word is brought to you by my college ceramics professor.

To pre-wash or not to pre-wash?

I have done this in the past — gone through about a million pages of quilting forums (they have forums for everything these days!), trying frantically to decide if I should just start already, or if I should have the patience to pre-wash.

So. I’ve just finished browsing the internets for more info on my beloved Kona cotton. I had my iron all ready to go. I’d settled on a pattern for Ezra’s quilt. I’d planned to have some serious squares cut today. I still may, but alas! My paranoia won’t let me avoid pre-washing.

I have my reasons!

1. I’ve read in more than one instance that the chemicals used to prepare fabric for dyeing/keep insects from destroying them (I’ve heard formaldehyde, don’t know how accurate that is) eventually make fabric shopping miserable for some, because they have become so allergic that they are physically uncomfortable in fabric stores. Man! I would never, ever want to be that person.

2. Bleeding, of course, is another factor. If I’ve just finished a quilt, I don’t want to wash it only to find out that Kona cotton does bleed (it doesn’t, as far as my experience goes. I have reds and browns in the wash right now, so we’ll see for sure when they’re done). I’ve washed White and Lagoon Kona Cotton together with no issue. Bleeding is not something I’m super afraid of, but to be frank, I don’t have the money to waste at the moment. I’m sure most people can understand that!

3. Funnily enough, I’m least worried about shrinkage, which is what I hear worries most people. I can understand why it’s a concern, so I’m listing it. It’s just not something I worry a lot about, personally.

Anyway. I’m too concerned about chemicals in fabric affecting me later, somehow. I avoid putting anything into my body that doesn’t need to be there. So for me, it puts me (impatiently and reluctantly) in the pre-wash camp. Unless I’m working with precuts. In which case, I stitch away!

-K