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.

My Most Favorite Thing (a back story)

When you were a kid did you have that one thing that always made you feel better?  A stuffed animal or pillow or toy that when you were scared or sad or lonely you'd cuddle up with and everything would seem better?  Remember the smell, the texture, exactly what it looked like?  Remember when you decided that you were old enough to get along without it and put it away in a box or gave it to charity or (God forbid) it went in the trash?  Well, I never outgrew mine.  I tried to when I went to college- I was going to leave Banky (my beloved baby blanket) at my parents' house while I embarked on the rest of my life away from home.  One of my best friends convinced me, however, that if there was ever a time to have the thing that comforted me, it would be when I was living away from home for the first time (for reference, she did bring her childhood stuffed animal to college with her too).  To this day, I sleep with Banky folded up on my pillow.

This may not seem so crazy to you.  The idea of having a little quilt folded on a pillow probably seems harmless; if house guests saw it, they probably wouldn't give it a second thought.  Well, if you think this, then you haven't seen Banky in the past, let's say, 15 years.  Sure, when I was a baby it was cute, subtle almost- but when you love one possession more than any other for nearly 30 years it causes a little wear and tear (to say the least).  Banky has been through a lot.  He's (yes, I've given my baby blanket a gender) lived in multiple states, resided at several different Summer Stock Theatres, and I'm pretty sure he's been to Canada.  He's lived through my dad throwing him out  (I dug him out of the trash) and I almost left him in a hotel more than once.

My mom did her best to keep Banky in one piece.  I remember each year we'd sit down and replace the ties that had fallen out during the year.  She'd make sure it got washed and dried properly, but after awhile I think she thought it was hopeless (or "beyond the pale" to use a phrase my mother would use).  My parents begged me to get rid of him.  When I was in high school my father forbid me from taking "that rag" out of my room.  And, I must admit, Banky does kind of look like an old rag.  Looking at him now, you'd have no idea what the fabric looked like.  No idea of the color or texture or that there were ever ties in it holding it together.  The only way to see the pattern on any of the fabric is to open up the corner seems and look really hard.  It is a lovely shade of dirty grey (the last time it was washed was probably 10 years ago- it's too fragile to be washed, it would simply disintegrate).  It's not just falling apart at the seems, it is falling apart everywhere.  Yes, as much as it pains me to say- Banky is nearing the end of his life (although I'm never getting rid on him.  Hear me?  Never.)

I was convinced that I knew exactly what Banky looked like in his (and my) younger years, but my memory of 25 years ago is a little fuzzy.  I was convinced that there were two different fabrics patch worked on the front- one blue and one pink of little flower buds.  The back I remember being the same, but with yellow flower buds.  Yep, you guessed it, I was wrong.  When I decided to try to recreate Banky, I asked my mom to email me some photos of it from my childhood.  She couldn't find many (which is strange, considering my obsession with it)- she asked my brother to scan a few of them for me.  His response?  "Jess, your baby blanket isn't in any of these pictures.  These are pictures of a patchworked quilt."  That's right, Banky is in such poor condition my own brother had never known it was patchwork, but I guess I can't blame him...

The best picture of the blanket shows that there were many more different patches than I had remembered, but there is no photo of the entire blanket laid flat, so there is no way that I can recreate it perfectly, so I'm making it feel like the original (I mean, that's the whole point, right?)

(I tried to repair this tear.  It then tore away from the repair.)

I've spent about a month trying to track down the fabric for Banky Jr.  I found some of the fabric without much trouble.  The blue was the trickiest and what I found is close, but not exact.  I have run out of patience and funding for this project, so I'm going have to live with what I have.  It will never be perfect because it will never be Banky.  I have started cutting the square and actually still have not decided exactly what the front of it is going to look like.  I am hopeful that it will be finished this weekend- pictures of the new and improved baby blanket to be posted then.  Yes, the next post will have a lot more color than this one!  Keep your fingers crossed for me on this project.  I'm going to be really sad if it doesn't go well.

My Sewing Space

I've noticed a trend lately on the quilting blogs that I read- most of them seem to be redoing their sewing rooms and posting photos of how beautiful and wonderful their new sewing spaces are (here are some examples that make me want to move to the country, just for the space).  They talk about how they feel so creative in their quilting designated space...  I, however, do not live in a house.  I live in a 600 square foot apartment- which is a pretty good size for a Manhattan one bedroom.  I will dedicate this post to my sewing space.  It's not fancy (and sometimes not functional), but it's loved (usually)...

My cutting/ironing/storage area ("cutting room").  The TV is right in front of the ironing board (great view while pressing!) and the couch is right behind it (great to relax on when I'm too frustrated to keep sewing).

My sewing area.  Yes, this is my "dining room" table (but I usually eat my meals on my couch).  This is maybe ten feet from the "cutting room."  (And, yes, it's all in the same room- which means I can always see the TV!)  The major problem with this is that the table needs to be wider for the larger projects.  I have a leaf I could put in it, but then the table to either block the entrance into the apartment or into my bedroom, so I manage as it is.

Please note the Wall-E lunchbox of thread.  I love that thing.

My fabric storage.  This is on a little medal shelving unit I had lying around and it fit nicely under my cat's window bed (which he seems to not like nearly as much now that 1. I'm over by the window so much, 2. I have taken up the radiator with storage, and 3. I put tons of fabric under it.  I told him to get over it.  He's working on it.)  Please note the nice vintage Disney tin.  That is where I keep my in projects in process.  Thanks Ebay!

My scrap section (just on the other side of the radiator).  I don't have enough to put them into colors or anything.  The Pierre Hardy shoebox is filled with larger scraps.  The DVF shoebox is filled with small scraps.  The J. Crew shoebox is filled with scraps that I need to organize into the other shoeboxes (which are quickly filling up).  Please note the CD case top (I'm classy) that I use to toss my scraps in while I'm working.

It may be tiny and have completely taken over my living room, but I do get good light (well, during the day) and I have a great view of my beautiful high def flat screen TV.  I love my apartment.  I just wish it was one room bigger.

Guys, I'm Getting Better At This!

I saw the idea for this quilt in a book I got out of the library (how awesome is the library, right?).  I have this great robot/space fabric that I haven't figured out something fun to do with it- well, a picture from Piece in the Hoop gave me an idea (which is pretty odd, since I don't piece in a hoop...).  It's a little small (around 26x32) and there are a few little imperfections so I can't sell it (it's going to Project Linus), but I just love it, so I'm going to make it again and also use different fabric and try to sell them.  This is my favorite I've made yet!

Here are pictures documenting the quilt.

  

 

 

 

  

Finished!

 

Front

 

Back

New Wave Quilt (finally!)

I know I've been talking about this quilt for forever- well, it's finally done (I really hate that pesky binding, so I've been holding off on that)!

It's not as great as I wanted it to be, but I did learn a lot from it (mostly about binding):

• Do not cut the binding too small- this will cause all kinds of problems!
• At this point in my learning, there's not such thing as too many pins.  Once I get better, then I can cut back.
• Don't get too excited that the quilt is almost done and rush through the binding- the slower the better.

 

This is by far the largest quilt that I have ever made.  It was hard working on this scale towards the end, so I'm going to focus on smaller quilts for a little bit until I get more comfortable with the binding and quilting.

The front - I didn't measure, but to give an idea for size- this is on my queen size bed.

Back

It's Always Nice To Have Help

organizing blocks

choosing fabric

 

brushing up on some how-to reading

First Blocks

I just started my first true attempt of block work thanks to a friend who leant me Quilt Block Bonanza.  The verdict?  Eh.  There are some great ideas in the book, but not a ton of instructions so I'm just sorta winging it.  Because of that, the points are not as sharp as I would like.  Still, it's turning out well enough to make a baby quilt out of them.  Here's the progress so far:

                    

The exciting news for the day- I just "won" what I believe is the final fabric I need for the recreation of Banky from Ebay.  Fingers crossed that it's right!

I also finished quilting the New Wave Quilt (finally); just the binding is left!