Sew-In Workshop

This year the Sew-In had it’s first ever Special Event Workshop.  It was a whole extra day of quilting and creating with none other than Patrick Lose

Everyone had an opportunity to select from one of three projects to do.  There was a table runner, Flaky Fella,  a banner, Upwardly Mobile and a table topper, Suny Side Up.  I picked Flaky, as table toppers and banners are not my cuppa.

While I maintain that I am not really a quilter, the workshop was a blast!  Patrick has a sly, dry sense of humor, while his business partner Gary did a bang-up job of coraling the verbal chaos…or adding to it.  I forget which.

Both gave as good as they got from the 35 fiesty females attending.

All the projects were fusible applique, a technique I had never tried before.  This made for an opportunity to learn something new!

Patrick also did some demonstrations for the group.  One was how to meet up the ends of your quilt binding so it looks continuous.

I’d read about this process, and seen pictures in books, but it took seeing it in real life for the Eureka moment to happen!

He also showed a method of mitering the corners of binding to lay flat.  This tip alone was worth the class!  Who’d have thought it was so easy, and so simple, and involved sewing right off the edge of the binding!

Of course, with a group this large, not everyone pays precise attention to details…or as I informed Patrick, “I thought the words were only there for people who didn’t understand the pictures!”  Yup!  Guess who didn’t read the instructions?  Moi!

But you know, that turned out to be just fine, as all of our bobbles and blips become design features, making each project creatively unique!  Not once were the words “could have” or “should have” uttered.  The whole day was a delight.

This is how Frosty turned out. I think he looks pretty happy with himself.

This is how he should have turned out.  What can I say, we have wide tables! 

Sewin’ at the Sew-In

Look at the goodies that came home with me!  Wooohooo!

Last weekend was our annual sewing retreat, Sew-In 2011.  These are all the projects I finished in 3 days of sewing nirvana.  I’m quite pleased!

As mentioned in a previous post, this year’s Sew-In snuck up on me worse than expected.  There I was in March, thinking I had lots of time to plan, then it was June, and I’d best get my bootie in gear.  Well, even with a gear-less bootie, I think I managed quite well.  There’s something to be said about not trying to do too much.

There’s a shirt for someone who’s into Lepidoptera.  No names, please!  I made another J Stern T-shirt for myself.  This one used the remnants of a sushi knit, and a lovely, soft baby rib.  Now is just the time to be wearing a shirt like this in Cactusville!

Then there was a jacket from Butterick 5567.  This is featured in the most recent Threads.  In true Thunderpaws fashion, I had to make it a bit more difficult for myself and line it.  The pattern calls for the jacket to be unlined.

Lastly, the piéce de résistance in the plastic envelope at the top.  I spent all day Saturday on these!  They are two One Block Wonder quilt tops. Still a ways to go on them, but the bulk of the boring sewing is done! The creative part is next. Even better, made from stash fabric!

Of course, I’m not going to admit how much additional fabric may, or may not have come home with me, courtesy of the Rummage.

Time

Does not at all feel like it’s on my side.  Less than 2 weeks to Sew-In 2011, and I have next to nothing fitted, cut out and ready to roll.  In fact, the envelope above is all I have to take.

That’s two “One Block Wonder” quilt tops cut out…and I’m not even a quilter!  Still, rather than put myself under gazoodles (that’s a lot!) of pressure to get patterns traced, fitted, muslins made, and all the rest that goes with garment sewing, at least this will give me something to sew.  I like the fabric, which helps.

What helps even more?  It’s all from stash.  Stash Reduction is in progress!  In fact, I have bought hardly any yardage since the first of the year.  Now wait, before you ask where the real Thunderpaws Threads ™ is, let me tell you that was one of my goals this year – to use as much of the fabric I already have in whatever I decide to make.  So far.  So good.

Still, with 3 1/2 days of sewing nirvana ahead of me, it would be nice to get a few more things, like, maybe, some clothes cut out and prepped.

More Mats

Finally, some Day of the Dead accoutrements that are staying here!  These colorful beauties are now gracing our kitchen table, acquiring their fair share of drips and cat fur.  Aren’t they lovely? I. Like. Lots.

I am very pleased with how they turned out.  Similar to the other placemats, the center panel is quilted with metallic thread.  Three different colors of metallic thread.

Why three?  Because the thread kept breaking, and I got frustrated.  First up was an unknown variegated metallic, which actually looked good, but broke way too much.  Next, a Superior variegated metallic, that broke slightly less, but whose colors didn’t sparkle enough for me.  Have to channel that inner magpie! Lastly, a lavender metallic to finish things off.

I free-motion quilted around the large skulls and most of the figures, which adds  dimension to things.

In all, a simple project which was just what I needed after the rush and tumble of the holidays.  Two hold-overs from 2010 to finish, and I can start fresh on wildly wonderful new projects!  I can’t wait!

Passionate Pomegranate

This is a quilt I finished a while ago:  Passionate Pomegranate.  It’s based on the One Block Wonder books by Maxine Rosenthal.  It was my first attempt at something like this.  I was amazed that you could get this lovely kaleidoscope effect with just straight seams.  1001 design permutations, too!

The blocks are tracked as hexagons, but when you start to sew them, they’re done as strips.  Make sense?  Well, it helps to read the books or take a class at your local quilt store.  Once you do, the whole design principle becomes quite obvious and simple.

The blocks at left were quilted with stitch-in-the-ditch.  You can see how the design replicates to create the spirals.  It’s a great way to use some of the lovely large  prints available in quilting stores.

The whole thing was machine quilted with simple straight sewing.  It took a bit of doing to man (woman?) handle the whole thing through my sewing machine, but I managed.  The batting is bamboo, which seems to be a bit softer than the standard Warm & Natural.  I’ve read about both a wool and a silk batting which I’d like to try some day.  I bet the silk would be yummy!

The back of the quilt is also pretty colorful.  Claire approves! The fabric along the sides is a companion print to the main pomegranate fabric.  I put an uncut strip of the primary pomegranate print (say that three times fast) in the center as a reminder of what it looked like originally.  Quite a difference, don’t you think?

Homage to an Unknown Quilter, Part II

Tra La! Tra La! It’s Done! It’s Done! O Happy Dance!

The quilt is done.  I am so happy!  I  had to whack off (that’s a technical quilting term) some of the edges of the stars to even things up around the perimeter, but overall, I think it turned out well.  At 61 x 84 inches, it also turned out larger than I expected.  The back and the binding are just cotton scraps pieced together.  I knew I saved them for a reason!

I think the quilt will get some use this winter, keeping us, cats, kittens and anyone else who passes through warm.  It’s just the right size to use while sitting on the couch.

Everything is a cat toy!

Homage to the Unknown Quilter

This is what I’ve been working on the past 2 weeks.

First off, let me say that I am not a quilter.  I make, at most, one quilt every couple years, and in all my years of sewing, have only kept one.  There’s  just something about cutting perfectly good fabric into teensy tiny bits that I have great difficulty with.  It seems somehow sacrilegious.

This quilt was stored in a fabric bin for I-don’t-know-how-long.  I did not start it.  It was given to me, as one of those “you sew, you’ll like this” sorts of things.  For some reason I didn’t toss it, or send it on to another home.  It aged.  And Aged.  And Aged.

I needed bin room!  I decided to finish it.  The top was almost complete, only needing to have one more row of stars attached.  Now here’s another thing about this quilt: I can’t remember who gave it to me, or why I kept it.  The stars are definitely old (antique?) fabric, which  sat around long enough somewhere to become stained and stretched along the exterior edges.  The stars now feel a tad fragile.  The green sashes are, I think, a poly/cotton blend, so they are newer than the star fabric.

You may ask, “Why is she bothering with this?”  OK everyone.  All together now:

Why is she bothering with this?

I’m not 100% sure, other than someone, somewhere, put some effort into it, and it seems a shame to just leave it.  Homage to the Unknown Quilter.  It was completed enough that I knew it would be fairly mindless sewing to wrap it up.  It would also help to hone my free motion stitching skills, and I wouldn’t be terribly picky about how it turned out.

Every evening, after work, I quilt it a little more, and a little more.  I’ve got all the layers sewn together along the straights using stitch-in-the-ditch.

The green sashes are too large for this to be the only anchor, so I’m doing some scribbly (read wonky / poorly formed) flowers at the intersections, and just meandering on the straights.  A variegated green thread on top (which doesn’t show at all in this photo) provides visual interest.

So, whoever you were that started this, you can rest knowing that it was finished, and will live in a household that appreciates your skills.