inspired #3

this fabric stack, all pulled from my stash (except the feather print at bottom) is a color palette that's been bouncing around in my head for a while now. i love the vibrant, deep jewel tones. so much color. i feel like that one touch of golden brown grounds the whole set, keeping it from being too bright. i'll have to add one or two more.

i wasn't sure where i was getting the idea from, so i went back over my saved posts in instagram and found some similar ideas.

this strip set is from a bundle made by jennifer at penelope handmade. i can definitely see the tones here with the addition of some hot pink. i might have to add that. my pull has more green in it. i'm kinda wishing i'd bought this bundle, too, but i think i didn't because i have most of the fabrics already.

this quarter log cabin quilt is from jolene at blue elephant stitches. it has a similar vibe to what i want. i must have seen it as i was reading her old posts in the spring. i think i'd really like to make a log cabin with these colors, but i've made a lot of log cabins lately. i'd have to switch something up somewhere.

this checkerboard nine patch from jolene is similar in colors, too, but they're solids. this might be a good setting for my fabrics. if not these, i'd like to do something similar anyway. this quilt may have been what inspired me to add the deep gold color to my fabric pull. i might add some of the other browns, too, now that i'm looking at this again.

these flying geese in strips would be good. rachel made them from a tutorial by andy at a bright corner.

from coreen cottam

this strip set is really cute, but i actually think i'll be doing this with another set of fabrics i have. not that i couldn't do both, but might as well not.

star lake quilt pattern from the blanket statement by made just sew

 this star-like configuration looks like a good way to mix a bunch of colors.

this little pincushion studio "picnic in the park" quilt from sew jen quilts is really good, too. this pattern is a log cabin with specific value placement of strips that looks great.

a granny squares style quilt from jennifer at penelope handmade that she never made a pattern for.

stars are always good

diamonds from ruby star society

i haven't done triangles in a while. this could be fun.

checkerboard by maechen marie

i like this idea of using greens for every other square and then mixing the other colors in for the rest. ooh - i bet i could strip piece it for ease and speed.

a moda "galway" block made by amanda at graccieone

i have to stop now. every time i get into my saved posts on instagram, i want to make about 20 quilts asap! there's just so much inspiration out there, so many good things to make. i want to make all of these ideas whether with these fabrics or not.

i think i'm still leaning toward a log cabin of some sort after all.

what would you make with these fabrics?

Inspired #2

i've had a stack of pinky-purples/purpley-pinks and low-volumes set aside for quite some time. (in my quilt life, that means a few years, at least.) my intention has long been to make something like this beautiful "lyric" quilt from amanda @a.crafty.fox. i fell hard for this one when i first saw it.

these days, when i'm serious about making a certain quilt but know i won't be starting it soon, i usually begin collecting fabrics for it, putting them all together in one of my wip boxes. there's been a pile for this one going for a while now.

amanda's pinky-purple "lyric"

amanda's original is a log cabin variation with mini sawtooth stars worked in. i love it so much. amanda no longer sells her patterns, just kits, and i already had a lot of fabrics i could use for this one, so i knew i'd be approximating her quilt as best i could. that's been my plan since this came out in 2021.

earlier this month i was reading jennifer's penelope handmade newsletter about her quilt of the month (on sale), the "edna." i've pinned versions of "edna' before, but as i was reading the newsletter, i realized it might be a good fit for my pinky-purple/low-volume mash-up. 

i rarely buy patterns these days because i'm just really into figuring out things for myself and most of the quilts i want to make are things i can figure out by using basic, traditional blocks.  but i decided to get the pattern because i was curious to see how jennifer wrote it (an idea jolene shared). plus, jennifer does a lot of amazing work and is so engaging as an online friend that i kinda wanted to support her just a little bit for once. so i broke down and bought the pattern.

then i saw the handquilting in the white space/background of this one and swooned. the deal was sealed - i needed to make an "edna." and i guess i'm gonna do a whole lot of handquilting on it. 

the pattern includes directions for using a four-patch block instead of the large squares for the backing space. since i had amanda's "lyric" in mind with all it's little squares, i looked around to see if anyone else had done 16 patches. i found this darling version made by lydia labadie of @llquiltco. there ya go, it can be done. 

ironically, deciding to use the 16 patches means i won't handquilt this one because i think it would be lost in the patches. so maybe i'm making two versions of  "edna." maybe. there are lots of pretty variations, so picking another one won't be hard.

so i've started another quilt! after making tests blocks for two other quilts earlier in the day, i got the urge to start this one, too, that evening. it was a saturday night and everyone else was out. i got the pdf pattern online from jennifer's shop, downloaded it, and started figuring out my fabric placement. i'll share my fabric ideas in another post.

inspired #1

as i prepare to head home to my machine and sewing room with stash, i am getting excited about the wips i have there that i can get back to work on. i'm pretty revved to finish off my gypsy wife quilt (how has it been twleve years???) and accompanying "gypsy hst child," as well as a few other beloved but long-delayed projects. as i've knocked off some other longterm wips this past month, i'm quite motivated to just work on finishes and see how far i can get with them.

however . . . 

i also have at least one new make that i'm burning to do.

when d5 and i went to quiltcon in february, i was smitten with this grellow/greens/pink "snaketrails" quilt in the denyse schmidt booth. it was so vibrant and alluring. thank you denyse for marking the quilt with a tag that had details. the background is a ruby + bee solid in "lemonade." although i didn't absolutely love the neon pinks in the quilt, i think there are pinks i would like to mix in with the greens. 

 

you can get this as a quilt kit on the DS website, but i have found in the past i do not enjoy making quilts from kits. and as much as i like the look of this snaketrails quilt, i'm not up for the curved piecing and templates it requires. 

this means i need to find a similar but different kind of pattern. i think i will be happiest with lots of the "lemonade" and small pieces for the prints, although the idea of cutting a lot of new yardage into little bits is daunting and discouraging. seems like it would be better done with scraps, if i had them. but i don't have enough green scraps in the right colors. i was a part of the DS patchwork panel club last year, so i have the panel she used for this quilt. i've been dreaming of how else to get this effect of all the little green pieces with a lot of "lemonade" background.

i have some ideas. 

this is a "lemonade" looking colorway of denyse's "run + fall" quilt. lots of background, little pieces. i can see this being fun with the green and pink prints.

i love jolene's "field of triangles" quilts. i think i would strip piece the triangles to get more of the fabrics mixed together. otherwise, it has a lot of the background color and would be pretty cool, i think.

i saw this beautiful "irish chain" variation on IG from orla brady at "diddy and meg." just precious! and, goodness, a whole lot of small, intricate piecing. but i guess that's the look i'm going for.

and slightly less intricate, but could still have a big punch of "lemonade" and mix up the patterns would be an alternating version of the treehouse crossroads quilt done like my "sunny crossroads" quilt. in my yellow version (a companion to my "sunny geese" quilt) i am making two blocks from each paring of fabrics: one with the yellow print as background, one with the low-volume neutral as the background. i could do this with the "lemonade" and prints, using an appropriate pink for the centers.

my dream for any of these quilts i make would be a pink liberty capel backing. that idea sends chills down my spine! i'm not sure if i want to go soft or bright with the pink (maybe both?), but i love the idea. i guess i'll see what works with the green prints best.

i have ordered the ruby + bee "lemonade" yardage (twice, accidentally). when i get home i'll see how i feel about all this and hopefully get started on something fun. maybe more than one idea!

i've also ordered bundles of denyse's two latest collections, "pretty things" and "bonny." can't wait to dream up ideas for them, too.

blogging sidenote: i'm starting a little series of posts for ideas i have percolating in my head called "inspired." this is post number one in the collection. i may never actually make all or any of these quilts, but i like to explore the ideas. maybe someone else will be inspired, too. 

somehow familiar

 after perusing the pattern book for "gypsy wife", i decided i needed more fabrics. a lot more fabrics. part of what makes the gypsy so charming is the complete scrappiness of it. i'm still studying all the photos in the booklet (not enough, i think!) in order to figure out what, exactly, about this quilt appeals to me so that i can reproduce the spirit of it in my own interpretation. one thing i picked up on right away was the plethora of patterns in ms. kingwell's quilt. so i pulled several more fabrics from my stash that have what i consider a gypsy feel to them. for the most part, i like the way this pile looks together from a distance & in the photo, so that tells me i'm likely on the right path.

as i was cuddling up under my own "out on a limb" quilt with the baby last week, admiring all it's patterns and colors again, it occurred to me that my quilt is somewhat similar to "gypsy wife." obviously, my design is much simpler, but the multitude of strips interrupted by that one stripe do have something in common with the gypsy. i think this may be one reason i'm drawn to the gypsy, aside from it's own pure awesomeness. granted, my quilt is a much simpler, little sister version of the very grown up gypsy wife, but i see some resemblance, nonetheless.

while admiring my own quilt, i thought how nice it is to love a quilt and it's fabrics even more as time goes on rather than to get tired of it. the baby and i were lying under the quilt with it up over our heads, looking at the way the light came through, bathing us in a red glow from the backing and making all the other colors shine, too. it was magical. that's when i thought to myself that i must have done something right to love this quilt even more after so much time. this isn't meant as a brag on my quilt. the feeling of satisfaction with my own work, even after distance from it's creation, is quite pleasant. somehow, without even knowing it, i got the balance of brights and pastels right in this quilt. working with a jelly roll from one amazing line of fabrics helped, but i did cull that jelly roll a bit. maybe i'll be able to pull it off again with the picks from my stash. i hope to have the same attachment to and love for "gypsy wife" whenever she's done. even if she takes over two years like "out on a limb" did!

banner update #2

my blog banner was feeling too cluttered so i updated it. once again i have traded sewing time for blog time. i guess blogging is a hobby, too, but somehow i always feel cheated when i give too much time to it. anywho, i thought i'd explain the new banner because i did put a lot of thought into the selections.

starting on the left.

the title block is a photo of my very most favorite ever print, meadow dot in mint from sandi henderson's meadowsweet2 collection for micheal miller fabrics. sadly, it is out of print now and although i have already used it in a number of projects i find i am not yet tired of it and craving more. but i can't find it anywhere. and i've looked. this search led me to a new friendship and something else super special, but i'll explain that later. (lucy, you angel!) so if you or anyone you know has even scraps of this fabric, please contact me. i'll pay handsomely.

in the photo, the very most favorite fabric ever is featured in a 4sq blanket, sort of a specialty of mine. you can see a gallery of 4sqs i've made and find a detailed tutorial for them on my 4 square baby blanket page (here). it's perfect for beginners or just a quick baby gift.

moving right.

the top photo in the second column is a little dolly quilt i finished last week. it's my first ever fmq project. you can read about it here.

this banner contains a lot of "first" and "favorite" and "ever"s.

but not the next photo, bottom photo in the second column.
this is a 4sq i made for my friend becca's baby boy last year.
it was my 16th 4sq and becca's 4th baby, 2nd boy.
but the grey dot flannel on the back from robert kauffman is my favorite ever backing to use, so i guess i squeezed an "ever" in there.










moving center.

the wildly scrappy quilt hanging from a tree, "out on a limb", is my first ever pattern i designed and made myself. (huh, i just realized the photo styling is a pun on the name. i did not realize that before. cool beans.)

well, actually, i guess i did make up the "six and one half dozen" pattern first, but not exactly. i just kind of made that up as i went.

 "out on a limb" is the first quilt i sketched out on paper and did all the math to plan. i'm rather attached to it. i named the pattern "cinched" and hope to someday make it again, along with a tutorial for it.



heading right again.

 top photo, 4th column
daughter #4 holding some fat quarter selections she made two summers ago.
they have yet to be made into anything, dang it. if i recall correctly, they were to be a doll blanket.

i included this photo because it shows one of my kids and sewing with my kids/their sewing is a part of what this blog is about.

also, i liked the green, which fits my color scheme for the blog. win/win.



middle photo, 4th column
daughter #1 modelling a sunday hostess apron i made from heather ross's excellent book, weekend sewing. not the first time i did this pattern, but the first time i accidentally sewed with the fabric upside down. to balance out my gaff, it was also the first time i thought (all on my own!) to move the needle to the far right position to allow me to get super close to the edge while sewing.

next time i photograph an apron, i'm going to include props like a wooden spoon and a mixing bowl. that'd be fun.

bottom photo, 4th column
the very first thing i ever sewed as an adult when i decided to get into sewing: a headband. my seesters and i made a bunch at our family's annual girls weekend in 2010. you can read about that and how my sewing journey began here.



a little more right.
fifth column
i've ventured out into half square triangles (hst's) this year. it's a big move for me.
i've even made tutorials to show two methods of creating them.
you can see them here and here.

also, i thoroughly enjoy chain piecing. whenever i pull it off the machine it reminds me of bunting and i always take pictures of it. some are pretty goofy. this one's not too bad.
having my daughter hold the "bunting" was a much better choice than hanging it from the chandelier. mercy.




far right.
final photo
this group of fabrics is my first ever fabric purchase, the beginnings of my now sizable hoard stash.

interestingly enough, it's mostly heather bailey and sandi henderson, who continue to be my favorite designers. it also includes some script prints, which i've recently taken a liking to, also.

since i never broke into this pile, i'm looking for a project that will feature all of them.
i think that'd be a pretty awesome quilt.

so that's my new, slightly less cluttered looking banner.
it's kind of a patchwork of my sewing experience, isn't it?

what a junkie

this photo is to taunt liz and encourage her in our naughty purchase habits

so i've been acting like a total fabric/quilting junkie for the last few days. my mr. accompanied our eldest son on a scout campout (what an awesome dad!) and i took full advantage of his absence to do my thing as much as i pleased.

day one, i congratulated myself on taking the kids to swim lessons clear across town (normally his job) and feeding them two wonderful meals (they got breakfast themselves). this completely justified putting the little ones in front of the tv on a not-tv day so i could sew and staying up too late exploring quilty blogland. all-in-all, i felt pretty balanced. but i also woke-up with a sewing/computer hangover.

day two, i fed myself spiritually as i tried to overcome the hangover. i think i was dehydrated. and my poor hands and arms were leaning toward tendinitis. so i made my mom give me an in-depth arm/hand massage when she came over. then i proceeded with my plans to do nothing but sew and sew some more.

however, when i approached my nice, concealed dining room crafting spot, i realized it wasn't so . . . nice . . . or concealed. my, that happens fast!

 yes, it was a room full of rubbish. i knew something needed to be done before i could sew in it. there were several projects lounging around in store bags and other miscellaneous, non-sewing items on the table. i decided to head to joann, etc to fetch some more project bins and the floss i needed to finish off my nephew's 4sq blanket. and return some decor items that didn't work out at marshall's next door while i was at it. this was very ambitious of me.

however, i was not ambitious enough to change clothes to do it. that was above and beyond what was required. so i went in my pjs: a nice white t-shirt and grey yoga pants. it didn't totally scream "she's in her pajamas!", thus it was acceptable to me. i slipped on my sporty comfy mom shoes to complete the outfit. i considered quickly tying a scarf around my neck but figured that would totally give me away as trying to look like i'd made some efforts at grooming when i hadn't. i'd share a picture, but it was still too scary a sight to post on a blog dedicated to pretty sewing stuff. just imagine, if you will.

i was so good at both stores. no purchases beyond those i went for. i think i was blessed to not be attracted to any items i didn't need because i can't explain it otherwise. i was drawn to a few new craft books, but refrained, knowing i could get them cheaper online. to be perfectly honest, i did also snag this:

i have a sometimes crush on mollie makes, a british crafting mag. sometimes it's too kitschy for me. this issue was perfect. i knew daughter #1 would love the doggie finger puppets. so it went in the basket, too. other than that, i stuck to the plan: returns (money back?!), project bins, floss. period.

okay, quick sidetrack here: while i was looking up the link to the mag, look what i spied on their site.

 aren't these ladies adorable? they are a new betty doll to be featured in the next issue. i guess i better keep my eyes open for it. too cute.

so i went to the store in my pjs and was a conservative shopper.

and when i got home, a neat little square package from fabric.com was sitting on my doorstep.

repeat of opening photo for reference

last week, for some really good reason i can't remember at all now, i went on fabric.com and saw a holiday weekend coupon. and i made a selection of (stacks, l to r) amy butler, some botanical and handscript prints, valori wells's "caravan", and some of anna maria horner's "loulouthi" and "field study" lines. i also got that mod orange print just for the heck of it. my favorite print, i think is the amy butler butterfly from the "alchemy" collection (on top). i think the idea i had for most of this was to make something similar to rachel (stitched in color) 's colorbrick quilt, with some modifications of my own, of course. i want to do a combo of bricks and strips. it's sketched out already in my notebook.

it was completely naughty, i know. admittedly, i'm a total junkie. my main problem, as i see it, is that my mind creates far faster than my poor little hands can. it's years ahead of the digits. if i could just make the quilts as quickly as i could design them and purchase the goods, all would be well.

back to my good deeds for the day.
i sorted that new box of fabric and got to work on the "hidden" dining room craft elements.

 i made a new basket for my fmq items. when i tried to photograph it, my bestest little sewing helper stepped in to offer her assistance. i look forward to the day she learns the skill of "putting back" in addition to "taking out." i threw my lens cap out of reach, pointing it out to her. that did the trick. she can't stand it to be off the camera.

 with her out of the way just long enough, i could properly photograph the contents of the basket: scratch paper for doodling practice, books, supreme slider, quilting needles, fm foot, some aurafil thread i've been meaning to try. everything in one spot for my next adventure.

 i put those new project bins to use and cleaned up the old ones. this stack more or less represents all the projects i've got going or plan to start soon. there are also a few that are just sorting of various kinds.

after slaving away for hours (or maybe just one), i got the room back into acceptable order. it still doesn't look like someones nice dining room, but neither does it resemble a crafting heap, either. much better.

shush, i quilted

since summer is here, our saturdays are free-er of activities and obligations than they are in the soccer and unlimited-amounts-of-extracurricular-activities school year season. i have few mommy requirements on my plate other than feeding my children adequately. and somehow i consider saturdays mine to do as i will. but there were still so many honey-do's abounding and the mr. gets rather jealous when i quilt all the time. i was lucky enough to have had two quilting intervals earlier in the week, so quilting wasn't in my plans for the weekend.

instead, i was sitting/hiding in my bedroom, reading shush, i'm quilting's archives on my android. i do this - avoid doing what i'm supposed to be doing but don't want to do, and waste time on innocent looking but useless activities rather than actually doing what i really want to do but will get me in trouble when i'm seen doing it. if i'd spent all the time quilting i've given over to reading about other people's quilts and fabric in blogland, i'd probably have 5 more quilts done by now. but i do enjoy the camaraderie and inspiration. so it's a toss-up.

anywho: shush, i'm quilting. liz gellert is a witty, fresh gal, new on the scene from aukland, nz. i found her through a link party and was catching up with her posts (easy since she's only been blogging since february). i was getting tickled reading how liz is an obsessive fabric buyer and starts new projects whenever she feels like not completing those she's already working on. it felt so familiar and truly buoyed me up, validating my own naughty habits with her humorous recounts, making it all sound so normal and sane. just knowing someone else is the same helps.

and although i was enjoying the read and liz's sense of humor immensely, i suddenly thought, "if she can continually start multiple projects and get around to completing them, then so can i." then i remembered putting the baby to bed the night before. as i tucked her in under her "expecting blossoms" quilt, i said to myself, "this is not the quilt i meant to make for her." originally, i had planned on using a charm pack of french general's "pom pom de paris" moda line with elizabeth hartman's "modern charm squares baby quilt" pattern for daughter #5. but then i got pregnancy sewing aversion and by the time i came out of it, i was in love with the "oops a daisy" line and convinced myself i needed to make a 6 and one 1/2 dozen quilt (and tutorial) with it for baby first. so i caved. and never made that "pom pom de paris" cutey.

well, liz inspired me. i wasn't going to waste anymore time not making stuff i wanted to make. so i put my phone down and grabbed my project box for "pom pom" and got to work. it took me about 2 hours to sort, cut, and configure the rows of squares for the top. although it's rather scrappy, i was particular about how i wanted the fabrics placed, which is what took so long. there was definitely method to the madness. that design wall i want to make sure would have been helpful. i settled for the front hallway floor instead.

i took a photo for reference so i could preserve my well-thought out fabric placement for the final product. (i'm really getting sick of ugly photos of wip's on my mud brown tile, fyi. another reason to go make that design wall right now.)

sewing the rows together took a lot less time.
maybe 30 to 45 minutes?

zip, zip, zip, and they were done. i chain pieced, of course. and thought the whole time, "i love chain piecing! what a blessed time saver!" it was so easy that way. and fun, too.

my chain piecing method:
first, stack the row in one pile, working from one end to the other. just pick up the first piece and then the next, continually placing them on top of the stack in order.

second, take the first pair (made of a half rectangle and a full square), turning the rectangle upside down so right sides of the fabrics are together, and sew the 1/4 inch seam. repeat with all 6 pairs, one after the next. don't cut in between sets; just advance a few stitches and add the next one in.

third, cut apart the sets and join them together, 2 by 2, in the same manner as the original pieces so that you have 3 sets of 4 pieces.

fourth, join the 3 sets of 4 into one long row.

fifth, chain press all seams to one side (which is so super fast, too. love it!)

to keep my intentionally placed pattern in place, i kept referencing the photo i had taken to make sure i'd got it right. i could have marked them or mentally figured out what pattern to sew them in, but i'm too lazy for that. just looking at the photo was super quick and helpful. i made no mistakes at all.

and now my strips are all finished.
up next, i need to cut the sashings and attach. this is going to be done in no time!
thanks, liz, for the fun read and permission to quilt in whatever crazy order i choose.