Stranded in Cincinnati

Like thousands of other travelers, my flight to NYC was canceled on Monday- the earliest I was able to get home after that?  Friday.  I was really annoyed, but my parents live in town, so I had a free place to stay and got to spend more time with them.  The best part though is I got to do some quilt-related stuff that I didn't have time for during Christmas- mostly quilt related.

First, my mom dug out an old quilt she has (we're guessing it's from the 1920s) that her great aunt made.  She was foolish enough to let my brother and me play on it as children, so it has stains and a lot of wear and tear, but it is truly amazing.  Completely done by hand and very detailed.  It has crossed my mind that I should try to recreate it as a project... we'll see if that happens.

 

THE most exciting thing that I did was go to the most amazing quilting fabric shop I've ever been to.  When my mom's best friend (a long time quilter) told me that we would be driving 40 minutes to a store called the Fabric Shack, I have to admit, I was quite skeptical.  I sure did eat my words when we finally got there- this place is AMAZING!  If you are ever in the Cincinnati/Dayton/Columbus area, you must go.  First off, they have great prices and a truly amazing selection. They still had bolts of Lizzie House's Castle Peeps (which I've been eyeing for months) for only $7.99 a yard (needless to say, I bought quite a few half yards of this).  I even could not resist buying fabric for a baby blanket for when one of my closest friends has an other baby- please note that she just gave birth less than two months ago... I think I'll be sitting on this fabric for quite some time, but it was just too good to pass up!

They also have great remnants tables, that were only a few dollars a yard for anything.  There is room after room after room of fabric.  We spent a couple of hours and around $100, I probably could have spent all day and four times that amount, but $100 goes a lot further there than in NYC.  I also got a lot of quilting tips and some new items that are supposed to make quilting a lot easier (although I did have to pass on the walking foot because it was like $90).

Not only did I get a bunch of amazing new fabric, but tons of books and magazines to add to my collect which, before my trip, was only a few magazines and photocopies of stuff from books from the library.  I finally got Elizabeth Hartman's book for Christmas from my parents.  I also got a fun Asian fabric inspired book from family friends, and then my mother bought be a really great book called "Fresh Quilts" (mostly I think because she felt sorry for me to being stranded in Ohio).  I also took a quick trip to Half Price Books and bought a hand full of old quilt books at a very dicounted price.  Thanks to all this new stuff, I now have about a million projects I can't wait to start (and hopefully finish).

I also was able to see the wedding dress exhibit and the Thomas Gainsborough exhibit at the Cincinnati Art Museum.  Both were really wonderful exhibits.  I always love to see old and amazing gowns and it was pretty amazing to see the actual pantings that I've studied and used as research. I, of course, bought a book on the wedding dress exhibit.

Well, that was my trip- twice as long as planned, but turned out really nice and productive.  I'm happy to be home though- with a cuddly kitty cat and tons of new projects on the horizon!  Happy New Year!

Success! (although minimal)

I had my first Etsy sale yesterday.  Woohooo!

Tons in Progress

I've been super busy trying to get a bunch of stuff on my Etsy site.  Sadly, I pretty much just have a ton of projects in process- tons of pot holders and some kid's quilts.  Here's on things I've finished.

My Friends Have the Cutest Babies

Theo cuddling little Norbert

Liam enjoying his puppy blanket

7 Deadly Sins Masks, Part 2

Pride

Gluttony

7 Deadly Sins Masks, Part 1

Sloth

Lust

Wrath

Craft Time!

I've been doing very little quilting in the last few weeks because I'm neck deep in the play I'm designing, so I've decided that I'm sorta going to make this site and all things handmade and crafty.  People who like quilts like that kind of stuff too, right?  Anyway, for the next week or so I'm going to be posting pictures of crafty items and masks that I'm making for the production.

Wait For It

front

well, someone sure likes it

so much so, he won't get off of it!

(back)

Dreaded T-Shirt Quilt

I finally finished it.  After a ton of time and cutting up a dozen of my t-shirts, I have finally finished the quilt (in fact it's on my lap right now) and- wait for it-- I hate it.  Like HATE it.  I can't believe I ruined t-shirts and spent so much time making a quilt that I can't stand.  Evidently, despite the fact of having been sewing for 11 years, I can't sew in a straight line.  Also, t-shirts are the devil.  They are impossible to work with even when double interfaced.  I don't even want to post photos of it.  It will- but not till later in the week because I need to take them and it's dark now.  What.  A.  Bummer.

T-Shirt Quilt Top

I finally finished the top of the quilt.  I'm hoping to get it finished ASAP because I don't have any sort of throw in my apartment.  One of these days I'll make a perfect quilt.  This, obviously, is not it.

I still need to work on the back.  It's going to have some more bits of t-shirts that I either didn't have room for on the front or I found after all the front t-shirts were cut.  Not sure how I'm going to lay them out on the back, but I have room to do it now!  It's amazing how much easier this is when you have the room to lay things out!!

Well, It's A Start

I haven't forgotten about blog, I promise.  On Saturday I moved to Ohio for the fall.  Now I have a bit of time to quilt again!  I started piecing together the dreaded t-shirt quilt.  I need to get a little more interfacing (that'll happen tomorrow).  Here's what I've pieced so far.  I had to recut a lot of the rectangles because of the stupid knit jersey.  Well, lesson learned...

Brown Bag Quilt

So, I'm doing my first interactive quilt (I'm not sure interactive is the right word...), but I've sent a little box of fabric off and have received a box for the Brown Bag Quilt Contest.  I wasn't sure that I would get it in time before I head to the O-H, so I had it sent to my parents' house.  My mom opened the package, and I'm really excited to get my hands on it and come up with a concept.

Here's what I sent out, some of it was in the stash that Em gave me when she cleaned out her old sewing room (now baby room) and some was from the infamous box of fabric my mom sent me.  I think it could make something fun, I hope my Brown Bag partner enjoys it.

I haven't been writing too much lately because I've been super busy.  I had an entire play to design (I have all the rough sketches done and approved!) and now I'm cleaning out my apartment.  Which doesn't seem time consuming until I tell you that one of my closets looked like it could have been on an episode of Hoarders.  It is fully functioning now.  (Not to mention that it's TV premiere week, so I've had a lot of watching/writing to do for my other blog.  ha!)  I hope to work on my t-shirt quilt a little bit before I head out next weekend, but I'm not confident that will happen.  I am bringing a lot of quilting stuff with me, so I will continue to quilt during my Ohio excursion.

A Quilter's Requirement?

I feel like it's a requirement as a quilter to do at least one t-shirt quilt in your "career."  This is pretty perfect for me too; my whole life my mother has been telling me to get rid of my t-shirts.  Many of my t-shirts (much like my baby blanket) are worn out and were loved for a few too many years.  It turns out that once I start making stuff for myself I can't stop-- plus, I'm an Aries and we are really good at starting new projects, but very bad at finishing them...

I wasn't really sure how to go about making a t-shirt quilt for myself for many reasons.  First off, I don't have enough of any particular type of t-shirt to do a full quilt out of one type (I am very close with gymnastics t-shirts, but some of my oldest have mysteriously disappeared and there are some that I still wear to the gym).  Also, it would be hard to do the same sized squares for each t-shirts because they range in size from a kid's medium to a men's XL.

I decided to do a little online research to see some of the quilts that others had done, and I came across this pattern of sorts.

It is definitely too big for what I want 1) I want a lap quilt, not something you could put on a king sized bed and 2) I don't have the many t-shirts that I'm willing to cut up, so I printed it out and cut and taped it until I thought that it looked good and doable.

I have begun to cut the t-shirts, which is proving quite hard.  I hate squares to begin with, but with no salvage and with 15 year old jersey knits, some of them look a little wonky.  I'm going to have to get some interfacing if I actually ever want to finish it.  An other problem that I am encountering is that many of these t-shirts were retired because they were either so worn out that they have holes in them or I spilled something and stained them, or I used them in grad school as painting shirts.  For these reasons, cutting them is even trickier.  Obviously, I cannot have any holes in the quilt and I'm trying to keep it so there is also no paint, or food or hair dye stains.  I'm clumsy.

On a side note, does anyone know if you can recycle cotton?  I don't want to throw of the fabric that I cut off of the t-shirts and I can't imagine choosing to work with jersey.

72nd Street Subway

I want to do this.

And use this photo as inspiration- maybe this is too literal to be inspiration, but I don't think so.  (I had this idea a few months ago, but this might actually motivate me to do it.)

this is the wall of the 1/2/3 subway station at 72nd Street in Manhattan.  I stare at it a lot.  One day I decided it would make a great quilt.

completely off topic, but a nice story for today 

I Have A Plan, I Swear

I'm in the process of cutting the fabric for the first quilt that I'm making for myself.  This picture sorta make it look like I don't have a plan, but I swear, I know what I want it to look like in my head.  I laid it out to see how many more strips I need in order to make it and I'm really glad that I did because I'm rethinking that size.  I looked up how large a quilt should be for a double bed and it said a minimum of 80" wide.  I laid it out of my queen size bed and it looks huge, but I may make it a bit smaller than planned, especially since the cool part of the quilt is going to be the detailing on the sides (trust me).  I also learned that I need some more neutral-y fabrics.  I chose these fabrics because most of them have meaning for me (duvet covers from years past, my love of football, gifts from friends, the first vintage fabric I ever bought), but it's starting to look large pattern heavy even busier than I thought it might.

I won't be posting completed photos of this one until October because after seeing it on my bed, I don't think that there is room for me to lay out the whole thing in my apartment (which I'm really going to need to do for this one), so I may have to wait until I'm in Ohio to put it together.  If I get anxious, I may be after to move some furniture in my living and dining room sewing room.  I hope this one turns out well!  I also want to get a darning foot for my machine and try to do something a little more interesting than a straight line for the actual quilting, but I won't be surprised if I ended up scratching that idea and just doing what I'm comfortable with (and have the materials for).  Time (hopefully not too much time) will tell.

Space Robot Animals

I made these little guys for a baby shower gift.  Turns out stuffed animals are not my forte, but they are pretty cute despite imperfections.  Again, sorry for the iphone photos.

I'm starting a new quilt this week for myself.  It'll be the first one I've made for personal use and also my biggest yet.  I am making it to go on the double bed that I'll be sleeping this fall while on location.  I have no clue how it's going to turn out, but I'm excited nonetheless.

Photo Free Friday

Things I learned on Thursday...

• I am not good at all things fabric.
• Stuffed animals are very hard and very time consuming to make.
• I'm not good at hand sewing.
• I'm not fast at hand sewing.
• When you drop scissors (the pointy kind that can cut leather and stuff), point down onto your foot it doesn't bleed a ton, but really hurts.  And bruises.  And makes you think that maybe you've chipped a bone in your foot.  Then you think that maybe you've watched too many episodes of Bones in a row and that your foot is fine and you're not going to die, it's just going to hurt for awhile.
• Did I mention that I'm not good at making stuffed animals?

Good Use

Danielle sent a picture of  her newborn sleeping on the baby blanket I made.

A Boy Who Loves His Banky

Remember that cute little ballet blanket I made?  Well, someone has decided that I'm not selling it and that it's his.  He sleeps on it every night and a large portion of the day...  I guess it's his!

 

  

In Progress

Here is a boys' quilt I'm making.  It's a play off of a photo of a quilt I saw online.  When it's done, I'll probably make a girl's version too.  I think it's really fun.

It's A Small World After All

This fabric actually has nothing to do with Disney, it just reminds me of all the 'dolls' dancing and singing and loving each other.  Regardless, it's actually Alexander Henry's "You and Me" fabric.  I have to say, I'm really proud of this one.  I came up with this one all on my own, design, fabric, concept, etc.  Pretty sure this one is going up for sale...

  

It's Done!

I finally finished the It's A Small World quilt.  Real pictures to follow later, but here's a sneak peek...

Two In Progress

Despite my lack of writing over the past few days, I have been hard at work on two baby quilts and I have to say, I'm pretty excited about both of them!

The first is the quilt that I've been working on for months called the "It's A Small World" quilt.  This one will definitely be finished tomorrow.  Here is a picture of my helper hard at work on it

The second is a play on a quilt I saw online.  Here are two of the blocks.  I hope to have this one finished tomorrow as well- definitely by Friday.  I'm not making this one for any particular reason, so it'll go on Etsy.

I'm hoping to have a big post on Friday after I have them both finished!

On a side note- does anyone know how to get yellow chalk out of cotton?  Washing did not work...

Elephants Love Baths Quilt

This is the most recent quilt I've finished.  I bought a panel and then some coordinating fabric and turned it into this.  I think it's really cute.  I quilted it basically by ribbing it.  It's not perfect; you'd think sewing in a straight line would be easier...  This is an option for a friend who is looking for a quilt for a shower.  If she passes, then it's going on Etsy.

   

My Other Passion

Hello Blog Readers-

I'm taking a little mini-vacation and heading to Hartford, CT until Sunday for the US Gymnastics National Championships!  I'm very excited, but it means no blogging or quilting until Sunday.

Have a great week/weekend.  Expect a post on Monday.

Ballet Quilt

I've taken a break from recreating my baby blanket to really buckle down and get a few projects done so I can get my Etsy store up and running (I don't just want to put one thing up there).

Here is the girly version of my robot quilt.  The ballet fabric is from the box of old fabric my mom sent me. The rose buds are left over from my baby blanket recreation (it's thin, from the 70's, so I interfaced it).  The swirls I picked up at The City Quilter.  The back has the cutesy details mostly because I needed to piece the white fabric, but I think it looks intensional.

This quilt will either be going to a friend to give as a gift or will go in my Etsy store.

I'm working on a handful of projects right now-- 3 quilts in process (in all different stages) and about a million fancy pot holders.  Hopefully Monday I'll have at least one quilt and a few pairs of pot holder mits up for sale.  And, hopefully, someone(s) will want to buy some (fingers crossed).

*Thanks iPhone, for having a terrible camera.  I'll take real pictures of this if I sell it (obviously).  I still need to wash out the chalk marks anyway.