tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7730735989820708212024-03-20T07:44:06.585-04:00straight stitching singerPatrickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08978433142250478964noreply@blogger.comBlogger53125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-773073598982070821.post-2784257012318586762020-04-18T23:07:00.003-04:002020-04-18T23:07:55.377-04:00Quarantine Dust-offWell, it has literally been YEARS since I posted on my blog. After getting a <i>very </i>full-time singing gig, I had to put the Bernina away for a while. I had been wondering if/when I would take it out again. Then this little think called the Corona Virus came along. It has totally devastated the live entertainment industry (as well as most other industries), and as a result I have some time on my hands. OK, actually I have all my time on my hands now!<br />
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The quilting world has come to the rescue with homemade surgical masks for healthcare workers, and I joined in a couple of weeks back. I brought my Bernina down from the guest room closet (oh yeah, we moved out of our 1 bedroom apartment in Manhattan to a house in New Jersey), and made 3 dozen masks for our local hospital. Here is a picture of my lovely wife modeling a sample. <br />
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<br />I actually ran out of elastic very quickly, so ended up making most of the masks with homemade bias tape ties. After some friends and family heard about my project, they hit me up for their own PPEs, so I obliged and brought out the fun fabric.<br />
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I finally found the patterns for kids, ladies and men that were good tight fits for most, and really have enjoyed getting back in front of the machine again. In fact, I am considering making a quilt during the quarantine...I mean, if I can't find the time to make one when I am basically locked in my home, when am I going to do it?Patrickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08978433142250478964noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-773073598982070821.post-48364675911505476462016-02-24T11:29:00.000-05:002016-02-24T11:29:46.151-05:00Oh Deer!What a fun project this was! This was my first attempt at applique, and I escaped relatively unscathed!<br />
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I have been admiring the works of <a href="http://www.lukehaynes.com/" target="_blank">Luke Haynes</a>, a modern "dude quilter" for a few years now, and recently stumbled across a<a href="http://weallsew.com/deer-quilt-sew-along-with-luke-haynes-week-one/" target="_blank"> tutorial on Bernina's website</a> written by none other than Luke himself. It's a good step by step guide to how he makes his own brilliant works, such as "Hammer":<br />
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and The American Context #16:<br />
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I assume he uses Photoshop to "posterize" a photo, then prints out the "map" on paper and appliqueing that image to a background. Anyhow, I was really excited to find his tutorial, and decided this would be a great Christmas gift for my brother and sister-in-law, who needed a quilt from me, but would more likely appreciate an outdoor-sy theme like the deer.<br />
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So I'm not going to go through my whole process step-by-step, but will just hit the high points, as this was my first time with a fairly unusual method of quilting.<br />
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First off, you print out the stencil pages and tape them together, then cut out the outline of the deer ( you can see that I started that on the right side, using an Xacto knife). <br />
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After the deer is cut out, I used it to trace my first fabric (off-white), which I cut out, then cut the dark lined pieces (which transfer to tan in the fabric), then the dotted lines (which transfer to the brown plaid). Each successive layer is glued to the last, til you have the finished fabric deer (below).<br />
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You have to be a bit careful with this, as it's not stiff and has to be supported when you move it around so the layers don't become unglued. I laid the whole think over a cutting mat and piece of cardboard as I auditioned several different background fabrics<br />
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I had planned for this to be my background from the beginning. I loved the juxtaposition of the quilt with a very "manly" image and message, since my brother's a tough-guy type who would not respond to a traditional quilt. I decided against it, as I thought it might be too modern and edgy. Besides, I wasn't crazy about the color combinations together.<br />
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I love this fabric, and the colors were good, but felt the deer wasn't standing out as much on the right side. <br />
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Another one of my beloved fabrics, but again, I didn't think the deer was "popping" enough, and the design (which looks a bit to me like a forest) was a bit too literal.<br />
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Here was another contender. I love the color, and been waiting for the right quilt for this brown and orange fabric, but for some reason, I felt the background needed to be a bit busier.<br />
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As you know, this was the winner. The green and brown give is a woodsy feel, and the design almost evokes a plaid design, which, to me, screams "Up North".<br />
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This was my first time using adhesive spray, which I mostly loved working with. For a smaller project that I didn't have to roll up or fold to quilt on my home machine, it worked very well. I have since spray basted a larger project, and I was occasionally getting some shifting and creasing when I rolled up the quilt to fit in the harp space. Best traits of the spray baste is less time on your knees, no fussing with pins either before or during quilting, and big time savings. When FMQ'ing I did get some sticky residue on the quilting foot, but a little alcohol took care of that.<br />
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Here's the final product. I made it a little larger (24" x 38"), but that was easy. Backed with a nice green batik, bound with brown and a hanging sleeve for easy display. I think they liked it, but with Minnesotans, you can't always tell ;)Patrickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08978433142250478964noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-773073598982070821.post-22323252426625395142016-02-16T16:23:00.003-05:002016-02-16T16:28:52.382-05:00A few Christmas finishes...Late to the party with regard to sharing these, but I made a few non-quilt pieces for Thanksgiving and Christmas. <br />
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The first project was a set of three placemats, double-sided, for Halloween/Thanksgiving on one side:<br />
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and Christmas on the other:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcbTVwgpyrSfQ318YanIcr2M_36zSx6cL772OJyTxd3CseOU4tTUNpFwpUsZ8_Gjen0zluyak-saddYobQXB6TDKYySEIFOCHGmWyABxlielF3JaAGj0TNjlMkhprpE7GaSSVAOlZptkQ/s1600/JPM_8698.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="422" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcbTVwgpyrSfQ318YanIcr2M_36zSx6cL772OJyTxd3CseOU4tTUNpFwpUsZ8_Gjen0zluyak-saddYobQXB6TDKYySEIFOCHGmWyABxlielF3JaAGj0TNjlMkhprpE7GaSSVAOlZptkQ/s640/JPM_8698.JPG" width="640" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipiiSjYuPRkm0jz_dey7eU5sMYSXsyElxhXauOtKzmZ55ctgqNN5VDD2XZKX88UoblLOP9ZskhWsgn8GVeTaRS8WPTiYAntjtzYDaVajvmeSgs6VniSBXqTGQne1asmp8bMBqIBxJAcvA/s1600/JPM_8693.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="422" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipiiSjYuPRkm0jz_dey7eU5sMYSXsyElxhXauOtKzmZ55ctgqNN5VDD2XZKX88UoblLOP9ZskhWsgn8GVeTaRS8WPTiYAntjtzYDaVajvmeSgs6VniSBXqTGQne1asmp8bMBqIBxJAcvA/s640/JPM_8693.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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My other
project is a set of three quilted placemats. I had planned to make a
set for fall (Halloween and Thanksgiving), but as always, I am a little
behind in the craft calendar, so when I finally decided to make them, it
was somewhere around early November. Killing two birds with one stone,
I ended up making reversible mats, with pumkins in fall colors on one
side, and Christmas-themed wrapped present blocks on the other. Each of
us picked out our favorite fabrics for each season and I went to work.<br />
We all picked out fabrics, and our little one ended up liking mom's finished product, so that one became hers, of course! My only regret is not finishing them until about a week before Thanksgiving, but now we have them for the long haul :) On the Autumn side, I love the little pumpkins, especially the one with spiders on it. Since my wife hates bugs of any kind, I like to put this fabric in here and there to tease her a little (I snuck a little piece of it down by here feet on our duvet cover!) I also love this cool gold-accented binding fabric, which can be seen on both sides, of course.<br />
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I made our little one a stocking last year, and though we spent Christmas with my family in Minnesota, we brought it along.<br />
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I used three of my favorite Christmas fabrics on this one: the Russian nesting dolls, the packages, and the crimson fabric with gold Christmas greetings. Was also one of my first projects to use the Bernina's stitch regulator!<br />
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Finally, I made a Christmas tree skirt! I used this tutorial from the <a href="http://paulsblockparty.blogspot.com/p/tutorials-christmas-tree-skirt.html" target="_blank">Paul's Block Party</a> blog, which was clear and simple, and I highly recommend it if you like the layout. Even if you don't, it will help you set up the triangular block, and you can put whatever you want in it.<br />
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Here the pieced top. The background is an antique white, which I felt make it a little warmer, and might not show water stains from watering the tree so much as a true white.</div>
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I cut the center hole a little bigger than the tutorial suggested just to accommodate my large tree stand. I also didn't close the circle with ties or anything, as I don't think that's necessary (unless you live in an earthquake-prone area :)). </div>
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Here are close-ups of a couple of the trees. I especially love this weird, wood-like patterned fabric I used for the tree trunks- a fabric which I have had no use for until now. Sorry for the images being a little too artsy (read: out of focus)- it
was dark and cozy and Christmas-y, and I was too lazy to set up the
lighting for the shots. Truth be told, I finished this project on
January 7, which is technically Orthodox Christmas, so I just made it
in time! This is my favorite block, which is a Matrioshka nativity
print I got from Joann Fabric. With a Russian wife, I can always find a
use for any Matrioshka-themed fabrics.</div>
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There are even a few stray pine needles for to keep things festive!Patrickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08978433142250478964noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-773073598982070821.post-52203127174456300192016-01-23T12:27:00.000-05:002016-01-23T12:27:26.165-05:00Making "E is for Eva"I am just a little behind on my posting, but have some finishes I need to present to you, so let's start with one of my favorite quilt of 2015.<br />
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With so many quilts leaving the house as gifts, I felt it was time to make my daughter her first quilt. I have a stockpile of fabrics I have been collecting since she was born, waiting for the day when I would build her something special. As any self-respecting 5 yr old girl, Eva is a big fan of pink and purple, so this quilt would have to be pastel-dominant! I wanted it to be very personal, so I decided to make a big letter "E", as she was learning her letters at the time.<br />
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After a few sketches, I settled on a giant letter "E" using rectangular blocks with two rounded corners, similar to this design from <a href="http://www.quiltdad.com/" target="_blank">Quilt Dad's</a> <a href="http://www.quiltdad.com/2014/10/modern-solids-challenge-its-time-to.html" target="_blank">Paper Lanterns</a> quilt pattern. Here's a shot of Quilt Dad's cool Paper Lanterns quilt:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTaL5ajj4H8Ev8kXpbBT9BwGrxjWp6-VlTwRj5yPDnYS0Z2T_q6bEykOds06aFTrbF12sCKSYOtEXRrIZcivOmWBdTIlEOJdeG8i7r3CodFXSH5T8OSFyH5qlbR1Lzl8VNdTb10RCHrxU/s1600/rounded+squares.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTaL5ajj4H8Ev8kXpbBT9BwGrxjWp6-VlTwRj5yPDnYS0Z2T_q6bEykOds06aFTrbF12sCKSYOtEXRrIZcivOmWBdTIlEOJdeG8i7r3CodFXSH5T8OSFyH5qlbR1Lzl8VNdTb10RCHrxU/s640/rounded+squares.jpeg" width="640" /></a></div>
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As is my regular M.O. these days, I first made a sketch of the quilt, then (particularly in the case of a more complicated, non-repeated block design) draw up dimensions of each piece, what fabrics will be used in each section, and how much of each fabric will be needed. <br />
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This quilt was specifically designed for an IKEA Kura children's bed. <br />
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Since the space between the bed sides and the mattress is really tight, I wanted a quilt that wouldn't need to be "tucked in" on the sides, but would instead sit on top of the bed without any extra fabric around the sides of the bed. This made for unconventional dimensions: 42" x 64". <br />
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My next step is to do a mock-up of the new block I will be building, just to make sure I don't make more expensive mistakes on the "hero" fabric. Below you can see the rounded square design, which I made using a drunkard's path template<br />
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I also got to practice some free motion quilting using my new machine, which has been an amazing revelation! I hesitate to stray from the quilt story, but will just say that my new Bernina 440 QE has completely changed my free-motion sewing experience! If you have not tried a Bernina with BSR (stitch regulator), it will change your life! AMAZING! I was unspeakably fortunate to get this machine used, with less than 900 stitches sewn (it has a counter). In the about 8 months since it came to me, it now has 300,000 stitches sewn, so it was basically new, and I got it for a fraction of what it sells for used. Here's a stock photo:<br />
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Also, I received a Bernina walking foot for Christmas, so I am all pimped out for a new year of quilting!<br />
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OK, back to the task at hand! I'll just post a few in-process pics of my project. The first features one of Eva's favorite fabrics- pink fairies! I gave it a purple boarder to give her what she likes.<br />
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Here's a shot of the completed E pieces, auditioning background fabrics. I ended up choosing this one, as it kept with the pink theme, but was subtle enough not to overpower any of the letters.<br />
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Pin basting. Not for this one, but for my last two quilts, I have begun to use spray basting along with pins. Probably overkill, but the result is pucker-free, so the extra work is worth it. I'm not sure I will continue to spray baste for bed quilts (the spray basted quilts are decorative wall hangings), since I don't wash the quilts before I use them. We shall see.<br />
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Here's the finished product. It sits on Eva's bed, but easier to see hanging on the wall. She didn't want it on her bed when I presented it to her in January, so I hung it on the wall. Now it's on her bed, she loves it and sleeps with it every night. It's backed with a mix of flannel scraps, as I don't have a lot of flannel lying around, and there have been grumblings around the house that the regular cotton backing isn't cozy enough.<br />
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As you can see, I have a row of 3 blocks above and below the E. It may be hard to see in the photo, but I quilted with heart loops in the background and echo quilted around the boarders of the blocks. I had to zoom in for the detail on the quilting, so this pic is a little grainy, but you get the idea. My first time using the Bernina to FMQ, so a little sloppy, but every heart is made with love :) My wife and I laughed at how a few of the hearts I made look a little like butts, so I was careful to be more deliberate in sewing each heart!<br />
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I had so many fun fabrics I wanted to feature in this quilt, so I went a bit color crazy! Here are just two: bunnies and balloons & pink parasols and unicycles! Great for a little girl!<br />
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Here it is, living on Eva's bed. The bed sides are covered in purple butterfly contact paper I got at the dollar store. Along with the pink canopy from Amazon, it was an easy way to turn the bed into a very girly, very personal piece.<br />
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Thanks for looking, and I hope to catch up on my other finishes and UFO's in the next week or so!Patrickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08978433142250478964noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-773073598982070821.post-71566744522638654062015-07-16T12:26:00.000-04:002015-07-16T12:26:57.659-04:00Kaleidoscope Memories<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Although I finished the Kaleidoscope quilt back in September, I gifted it January, when I was able to hand it to our friends in Minneapolis. Yes, that was 6 months ago... Well, I am posting some more pictures of it because I found these on my camera and just felt like putting them up :)<br />
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Our friends loved it, and agreed to pose it on the wall where it will eventually live. They both have great eyes for art and design, so I hope it meets their high standards! I installed a hanging sleeve, so hopefully it is up and being appreciated right now :)Patrickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08978433142250478964noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-773073598982070821.post-6446171126503584972015-07-07T17:58:00.003-04:002015-07-07T18:05:04.359-04:00Summer in the WestWe are spending another summer out West. This time we are in Oregon, making memories with my sister and her family! Eight kids, seven adults, three pools, two trampolines and one BIG house makes for a hectic and fun summer!<br />
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It has been HOT so far. A week of mid- to upper 90's and a couple days we hit 100 degrees, so there's no shortage of sun around here. Above is a picture my nephew on the Oregon coast, where it was almost 30 degrees cooler last week.<br />
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As is my M.O., shortly after arriving in town, I hit a couple of the local thrift stores in search of quilty things, and wouldn't you know it? I found a sewing machine to use for the summer :) The king size quilt top I made for my sister has been sitting in a box for a year and a half, waiting to get bound after it was quilted by a local with a long arm machine. My little project during my visit is to bind it for her, so I needed a machine, right? Well, I probably should have just borrowed one from someone in town, but then how can you resist a bargain like this... Anyhow, back to the thrift store... After 5 minutes of wandering around the store I see someone pushing a shopping cart full of sewing machines toward the housewares section. Now that was like a Largemouth Bass seeing a frog swim by!!! I stalked him until he began unloading his treasures. One of the first things he put on the shelf was this Bernina 1000 Designer machine.<br />
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Similar to the still-in-production Bernina 1008, this mechanical machine is prized by the Amish and Mennonite communities because the motors can be removed and the machines worked with a treadle- the main difference between mine and the 1008 is that mine was made in Switzerland rather than Thailand.<br />
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I snatched it up lickety-split, and after a quick plug-in test, I brought it home. It doesn't have an extension table or any feet, and the bulb was burnt out, but it ran in the store so I figured it was worth dropping $30 in hopes that it worked OK.<br />
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After a stop at the local Bernina dealer I got a piecing foot ($5) and some jealous Oohhhs and Aahhhs from the technician, who said it was worth $1000!!! That was welcome news, as I already have a 440 QE at home, and don't really want to lug this on the plane ride home!<br />
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After the initial test run at home, it emitted this electrical burning smell and the bulb didn't work, so I brought it in to the technician, who said it wasn't just a burnt out bulb, but an electrical problem, which could be dangerous if not fixed. So...$121 later it's tuned, purring like a kitten and...still smelling like a small electrical fire! I will take it back in when I finish my goal project of binding my sister's quilt.<br />
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Here's the quilt on the long arm, with just a few stitches finished. Duck Duck Berry Duck is the name of this quilt, and <a href="http://straightstitchingsinger.blogspot.com/2013/12/home-for-finish.html" target="_blank">here's a blog post about it</a>. It looks great with a generic flame-like quilt pattern (sister didn't want any flowers) in green. On second thought, I should have gone with a yellow thread, but live and learn- I think the green detracts a little from the quilt top design, but that's only a minor gripe. It looks fantastic, and even better to have such a large top quilted by someone else!!! It gives me a headache imagining doing that on my home machine...NO THANKS!<br />
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I also completed a few gift projects for my daughter and her cousins: the girls got FROZEN tube-top dresses and the boys got custom pillowcases (two got Pokeman fabric and one got antique cars and baseballs). Picture to come!Patrickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08978433142250478964noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-773073598982070821.post-91598627015489917292014-12-27T10:20:00.000-05:002014-12-27T10:20:09.443-05:00Christmas finishesWe had a wonderful Christmas, and I did some last-minute quilty gifts for friends and family alike this year.<br />
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First off, I made a very cute train-themed pillowcase for our choo-choo-loving 4 yr old friend Isaac. I stupidly didn't get a picture of it before I delivered it (it was a Chanukah gift, so it went out earlier this week), but I will eventually snap a pic of it to share. In the mean time, here's what the main fabric looks like. <br />
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Got it from <a href="http://www.cityquilter.com/" target="_blank">City Quilter</a> in Manhattan. They have a line of New York City themed fabrics, and this is a newer one that I think they commissioned in the last year. The cuff of the pillowcase is this fabric:<br />
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Very cool NYC subway stop names, which Isaac appreciated, as he knows the system inside and out! His parents said that he didn't sleep on it the first night because it wasn't washed, but he slept <em>with</em> it, holding it like a stuffed animal. So cute! I also love giving gifts that are so appreciated- it makes the work so worth it :)<br />
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Second, I made a pair of mug rugs for our dear friends in eastern Pennsylvania. I broke into my collection of Matryoshka doll fabric for my first mug rug project, and whipped them up surprisingly quickly. <br />
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They measure about 9" by 16" and have this cute Russian doll nativity characters fabric that I got at Joann's a few years back. The back has another Matryoshka fabric I got in Fairbanks, AK last winter. The border fabric is from that same collection.<br />
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The two rugs have different free motion quilting designs. The first one I did with a looping design, but the second one I decided to do some echo quilting around the characters...wish I had done them both that way, but they both have their own personalities, so that's OK, I guess.</div>
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Here's one of our mugs rugs in action. We tested it out on Santa on Christmas Eve. We think he was very impressed!</div>
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My third project was a Christmas stocking for my daughter using the same focus fabric from the mug rugs.</div>
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I did the same echo quilting around the figures, stars on the toe and tracing around the stars and loops in the heel. </div>
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I actually like the back more than the front :). Again, I echo quilted with yellow thread around the figures. Finishing this one was strangely exhilarating- it was surprisingly moving to me to have made this for my daughter, imaging her growing up and being delighted with gifts from Santa each year as she gets bigger. I was also super proud of how good it looked- I can do other things besides quilts :)</div>
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She was a quilter, and they offered up her fabric stash to friends- I ended up bringing home about 40 lbs of it! Anyhow, a gift quilt had been my immediate intention, and so I began what (I didn't know) would be a 22 month long drama of inspiration, frustration and triumph.<br />
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Up til this point I made it a point to finish one project before starting the next- I didn't yet know the limbo of WIPs - "Who are these crazy people who are making 2, 3, 4 quilts at once, and why don't they just finish what they started?!" Unfortunately I became one of them through the fault of my machine.<br />
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I happily pieced this quilt top in December, even patched together batting using scraps<br />
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but when I sat down to begin quilting it (an all-over stipple), by Singer 301a had other ideas. The skipped stitch and thread tension issues I had been battling off and on since I got my Singer came back with a vengeance. I quilted about 40% of the quilt, dealing with skipped stitches along the way, before I got pretty frustrated and wondered how long it was going to take me to finish the job, given I was stopping to make machine and thread adjustments every 10 minutes. When I turned the quilt over, I saw to my horror that much of the stitching on the back of the quilt was out of a slasher film! We would call it tight bobbin thread tension, but it was wonky is so many spots, I knew the entire thing would have to be ripped out and re-quilted. I had had it with my Straight Stitching Singer and threw the quilt in a bag, not to even look at it for a year and a half. <br />
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So, after a long hiatus from the Kaleidoscope, I sat down to begin pulling stitches. That took FOREVER. I then decided on a new quilting design which I could accomplish using a loaner machine (Brother XL-2600i) I got from a neighbor. I can assure you, this Brother is not an XL in any way, so I knew FMQ'ing would be crazy not-fun. In the end, I made my first attempt at echo quilting.<br />
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Cream colored thread for the light background and blue, green and purple for the other triangles. <br />
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The fabric is a mix of my friends' mom's fabrics and some new, modern fabrics from my stash. The back and binding is entirely her fabrics (Oops! Except for that little turquoise and green hexagon print below), with three more of the kaleidoscope blocks on back.<br />
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These photos give you a good view of the echo quilting. <br />
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An object which represented my absolute frustration toward quilting and
my machine is finally something that I am really proud of and excited to
share with my friends! <br />
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In the mean time I made 5 other quilts, using the Brother XL-2600i
loaned to me by a neighbor. In fact, this quilt has been constructed
using three different machines: the Singer 301a, the Brother, and a
Viking Sapphire 850...actually MY Viking Sapphire 850.<br />
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An
early birthday gift from my folks, this machine has been a dream so
far! After this summer getting spoiled on Berninas, I REALLY wanted to step up to the convenience and reliability of a "serious quilter" machine. Bernina was WAY out of my league, price-wise, but I got a deal on the Viking, and am loving it - especially the 10" throat! As a bonus, the walking foot from my Brother fits on it, so now all I really need is an extending table for quilting. Will buy that when things calm down a bit here.<br />
<br />Patrickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08978433142250478964noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-773073598982070821.post-14603759523387064532014-06-21T02:33:00.001-04:002014-09-13T20:28:52.083-04:00ONLY PLUSES picnic quilt finish!After almost a month in Utah, we are settled in nicely. Someone from the opera company generously loaned me her Bernina (getting spoiled with Swiss engineering already), and I was able to finish quilting and binding my new picnic quilt.<br />
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There was so much that went right on this one, and I am so relieved! Our<a href="http://www.straightstitchingsinger.blogspot.com/2012/06/spring-finish.html" target="_blank"> old picnic quilt</a> is great, but needed some subtle improvements for PQ 2.0.<br />
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First off, our Crazy 9 Patch Lattice picnic quilt was just a wee bit small for the three of us (70" x 50"). I expanded it just a bit all around (80" x 60"). Not a lot bigger, but just enough to accommodate all of us, our snacks and toys for a day in the park.<br />
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Second, the cotton batting just wasn't working for me. It was too damp after a picnic, and as we don't have a dryer at home, it was a pain to air out post-picnic. We often skipped the picnic quilt altogether in favor of a twin sheet much of the time. This was because it's light to carry and easy to wash and dry. After considering a poly batting, I decided to skip the batting and use a
flat sheet. Some other bloggers suggested it, and it made perfect
sense for our purposes.<br />
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Lastly, I wanted to use earth tones: not only to blend in with the grass, but also to mask any possible dirt or grass stains :) Oh, and since I had lots of 4" x 4" green leftovers from my sister's <a href="http://www.straightstitchingsinger.blogspot.com/p/blog-page.html" target="_blank">Duck Duck Berry Duck quilt</a>, it made assembly that much faster!<br />
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I pieced the top back in NYC.<br />
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Late night feet- putting the puzzle pieces together after toddler's bedtime (and mine, probably).<br />
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I added a few new fabrics to the mix, and didn't just use up all of the leftovers from sis's quilt (and I always mean to do, but never end up doing). I WANT to be efficient and use all the scraps, but if they don't all really fit for a project, I can't bring myself to "settle" with what's in the scrap bag...<br />
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So we loaded up the bags (6 checked! but THANKS Southwest for the <i>gratis </i>check-in!) and moved (temporarily) to Utah! Our apartment here is so much bigger, and the linoleum kitchen floor was a perfect space to baste my quilt.<br />
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That was a DREAM! At home I have to roll up the carpet in the living room!! Also, check out how the design on the floor mirrors the pluses in the quilt...cool! I went with a light green twin flat sheet (from Walmart)- in keeping with the green theme and won't show thru.<br />
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Didn't bring basting pins, but was able to borrow a few hundred safety pins from the costume department! They even let me come in after hours and iron everything on their super hard-core ironing table with industrial iron! That thing was a revelation - Thanks Phil!!!<br />
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I watch Kill Bill on Netflix while basting with my 300 pins...maybe I should have watched the movie "300"- probably would have been equally gory (not really my thing).<br />
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I straight-line quilted on the Bernina, and I am looking forward to FMQ'ing on that sweet machine before I leave here in August. Beautiful stitches and deep harp space- I am in heaven! Didn't take any pictures, though...to anxious to finish :)<br />
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My wife and I dropped the little one off at the local gymnastics club, which has a Friday night "Parents Night Out". For $10 your kid can jump on trampolines and run around the sprung floors, eat pizza and cry for their mommies for 3 hrs while we have fun- YAY! We decided to hike to the top of a mountain nearby and do a photo shoot for the latest finish!<br />
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We had literally 5 minutes at top, as it was a tougher and slower hike than we had anticipated. The wind was fierce, and I was practically blown off the mountain when I first unfurled the quilt (see pic at top of page)! We decided it was safer to hold it behind me (ala Superman).<br />
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I love this shot! A happy accident, as it looks like I am trying to line up the top of the quilt with where the hill behind me meets the sky. Also, the quilt back blends in nicely with the trees in the background.<br />
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I'm not trying to pose or anything, just trying to get out of the way to show the quilt. As you can see, the wind was rough, and I was holding on very tightly to that thing!<br />
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Oh, and the name- Most of my quilt projects have their pluses and minuses, but this quilt was only pluses: no machine problems, no major human error, and no regretted fabric choices. I tried a new pattern and experimented with the "batting", and am happy with the result - Only Pluses :)Patrickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08978433142250478964noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-773073598982070821.post-34414909106783984912014-06-01T18:29:00.000-04:002014-09-13T20:29:17.873-04:00Goodbye, Froggy Playground!I am always happy to finish a quilt, but sad that it also represents a goodbye for us.<br />
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I finished my QAYG Goodbye Quilt for our friends who are leaving us and going back home to Germany this summer. Their son is a week younger than our daughter, and since they first met, almost 3 years ago, they have been like siblings. They have an amazing attachment to each other- when we left town for a few weeks this winter, he refused to leave the house because he knew his best friend wouldn't be at the playground. They will both likely move on to new friends and new environments, but we will sorely miss the special bond these two toddlers share. We will also miss his parents, who are both good friends of ours. We hope they settle into their new Hamburg home comfortably and happily, and that we will see them soon!<br />
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This quilt is a new design for me (as most are, since I am a new quilter). As I mentioned previously, <a href="http://maureencracknellhandmade.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Maureen Cracknell </a>has a <a href="http://www.maureencracknellhandmade.blogspot.com/2013/09/a-new-qayg.html" target="_blank">wonderful tutorial</a> for this Quilt-as-you-Go project, and she held my hand just enough for me to finish it!<br />
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As I mentioned in my last post, my Singer is misbehaving, and so I am using my backup Brother, which is not much of a help in the FMQ department. Fortunately, this pattern only requires straight stitches, and with my new walking foot, everything went smoothly. <br />
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We had a little going away party for them at the playground last weekend, and I arrived early to do a photo shoot before they arrived. As you can see, the quilt is a little wrinkled as it was folded up in a gift bag...sorry about that :)<br />
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Here's my little one peeking over to help. This fabric is made from scraps I had left over from my <a href="http://www.straightstitchingsinger.blogspot.com/2012_03_01_archive.html" target="_blank">Deco Supernova Quilt</a>, which I made using <a href="http://www.freshlypieced.com/p/supernova-quilt-along-supernova-quilt.html" target="_blank">Lee's Freshly Pieced tutorial</a>. <br />
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Actually, Stephanie over at<a href="http://latenightquilter.com/2014/04/29/announcing-the-supernova-friendship-block-swap/" target="_blank"> Late Night Quilter</a> is doing a Supernova Friendship Block Swap, so the Supernova lives on! I added a couple new fabrics, including a very cool Japanese Koi fish print, as well as a NYC-themed fabric with street names and boroughs on it (so they can remember their time here).<br />
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Hooray for scraps!!! It's so nice to just have to add a few strips here and there to put together a quilt top!<br />
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Since both the quilt recipients are doctors, I thought it was the perfect occasion to use this fabric, which has kids dressed up as doctors and nurses.<br />
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Binding is scrappy and hand-sewn, using extra fabric strips from the same materials. The best part of this binding was that I finally found a way of joining the two ends of the binding without having a little bump it the binding. Until now, I had been joining the ends with a 90 degree angle cut, which left a little bump in the binding when finished- something I never liked. Using this simple tutorial from <a href="http://www.sewmamasew.com/2013/01/machine-quilt-binding-tutorial/" target="_blank">Sew Mama Sew</a>, I joined the ends using a 45 degree angle cut and stitch. I'm sure many of you already know this trick, but <span style="color: red;">STEP 10 <span style="color: black;">was a <i>revelation </i>for me, and makes that bump disappear</span></span>- thanks Kristin and Beth!!!<br />
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Haha! I didn't take a picture of that sweet seam, but I did happen to snap a camera pic of the binding before I attached it. Not much to look at, I guess, but there it is.<br />
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It was convenient to take these pictures across the street from our apartment, but it was also a great spot because our kiddos shared so many great play times here, at what we call the "Froggy Playground".<br />
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There's the "froggy", which is a sprinkler in the summertime, and a fun place to climb year round. Our kids had many hours of fun on and around the froggy over the years.<br />
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Lots of sliding on this slide... <br />
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Froggy keeping warm. Thanks for visiting :)<br />
<br />Patrickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08978433142250478964noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-773073598982070821.post-29149057575543476172014-04-30T11:46:00.003-04:002014-09-13T20:29:57.206-04:00Progress on a Goodbye! quilt This month I am putting together a QAYG Herringbone quilt. I am using the tutorial from Maureen Cracknell's site: <a href="http://www.maureencracknellhandmade.blogspot.com/2013/09/a-herringbone-quilt-tutorial.html" target="_blank">Maureen Cracknell Handmade</a>. Since I am still having some trouble with my straight stitching Singer, I can't free motion quilt right now, so decided to try my first Quilt-As-You-Go project!<br />
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This project involves making 6.5"x 64" panels out of batting, then sewing fabric strips directly to the batting. Then all you have to do is sew the panels together and attach the backing on with a few straight line stitches and you're done (after binding, of course)!<br />
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The picture shows the 8 completed panels. At this moment, I was "auditioning" the placement of each panel. I often use my camera or camera phone to take a quick pic to get a "birds-eye view" of my work. Sometimes seeing it in a photo can help me more easily see balance of color and pattern. I intentionally made a purple "arrow" in the lower right middle of the quilt. It's a Japanese fabric which I love, and wanted to create a little focal point out of the chaos. The quilt top is now complete, and I am just waiting for the walking foot I ordered for my temporary machine to arrive so I can finish up the back.<br />
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A few of you might recognize the fabrics in this quilt from a previous project. I had a huge stash of leftovers from my Deco Supernova quilt from a while back. Such a fun project- I really loved putting that one together!<br />
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I added a couple of new flavors to supplement. I also altered Maureen's tutorial slightly to allow for my 3" strips (I obviously didn't want to trim 1/2" off every strip!). Since this is a Goodbye quilt for our friends who are leaving NYC to return home to Germany, I included a couple of strips of NYC fabric.<br />
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I have a couple of other cute fabric additions I will share when I'm done. Hopefully I can show you the finished product soon!Patrickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08978433142250478964noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-773073598982070821.post-78376341178514185052014-02-16T23:29:00.000-05:002014-02-16T23:29:10.674-05:00<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Most of you probably already know by now, but the graphics used for the Sochi olympics are a quilt design. <a href="http://www.graphicart-news.com/the-olympic-patchwork-quilt-sochi-2014/#.UuOmdfYo7-k%29" target="_blank">Here's an article about it</a>. Sorry, I'm a little to lazy tonight to summarize the article. <br />
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Currently quilting my Kaleidoscope quilt which kicked my butt last Christmas (of 2012, that is). Things are going much better this time around. I will post details soon! <br />
<br />Patrickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08978433142250478964noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-773073598982070821.post-56606744907939971282013-12-29T15:58:00.000-05:002014-09-13T20:30:28.841-04:00Pop Mod Delivered.Duck Duck Berry Duck was gifted on Wednesday. It's so much fun to present a finished project to someone...especially when it is a surprise!<br />
My sister loved her new quilt top. She's going to have it quilted in Eugene, OR, where she lives.<br />
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Here it is! My wife and I are doing our best to unfurl it, but the ceilings in my parents' home aren't high enough to open it up completely. Hopefully my sister will do a photo shoot when it has been quilted. You can also see some of the left over wrapping paper and boxes from Christmas morning. With 10 grandkids in town, it was quite a zoo all week, but the "animals" has so much fun together! Hope your Christmas was merry and bright (and white, as was ours in Minneapolis).Patrickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08978433142250478964noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-773073598982070821.post-27170381795089773372013-12-25T00:33:00.000-05:002014-09-13T20:30:46.872-04:00Home For the Finish!I had a wonderful time in Lynchburg, both singing and sewing! Although I wasn't sewing with my Singer, I got a lot done on my Christmas gift quilt, which I am calling Duck Duck Berry Duck (explanation will follow).<br />
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The two big challenges for me on this piece were the curves and the sheer size of the quilt (it is a king size quilt measuring 103" x 109"). As for the curves, I have to say it was a challenge, but a fun one. I don't repeat quilt patterns yet, as I have so many to try for the first time, and this variation on the drunkard path was a perfect choice.<br />
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A crummy picture, I'll admit, but without my Nikon on the road, the camera phone was pushed to its limits! The pattern is Pop Mod, and it didn't have a King sized pattern, so I improvised, adding extra squares all the way around the Queen version. This quilt was so big that I couldn't lay out all the squares on my living room floor as I usually do to finalize configuration. I had to build it in two halves, then join them at the very end.<br />
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...I know, another crummy picture. This time I was at home and just too lazy to get out the Nikon. Though you can't get much of a feel for the scale, the "O" block is 17.5" square, so the quilt is almost 9ft across. This is the top half being put together before joining the blocks.<br />
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Last cell phone pic... This is the bottom half all pieced together. I am really getting jazzed now! The bottom half went a bit faster, as it was a few blocks shorter. When I finally finished it I wanted to crack open a bottle of Champagne or something!<br />
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Ah, finally the DSLR...sorry to make you suffer in those last few photos :) As you can see, I can't even get it all in this wide-angle lens shot, and it creeps up to the couch because my floor can't contain it! So pleased with the results, though. You might notice that this is just a top, and not a finished quilt. My only regret is that I just can't quilt this thing on my little home machine. My sister lives in Oregon, where there are plenty of great long arm quilters, so I'm sure that will be in good hands. It will be weird to "collaborate" on this quilt, and not bind it myself or see the finished product, but that's just how it's gonna have to go this time around. The flip side of that is my sis can pick her own quilting pattern!<br />
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At the suggestion of a super knowledgeable and helpful friend of a friend quilter (Eastern PA quilter <a class="t_atc ICName c_nobdr t_prs" href="http://www.blogger.com/null" id="rmic1_senderName">Sharon Rehrig</a><span class="UnsafeSenderEmail">), I learned that I should stabilize the edges of the quilt by stay stitching around the border.</span><br />
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<span class="UnsafeSenderEmail">This simple step of stitching very close to the edge (1/8-1/16th of an inch) will help protect it while it gets groped between now and the long arm quilter. That was a big concern of mine, but no longer :)</span><br />
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One thing that really excited me with this project was that, while I was so worried about getting my curves right, I seemed to have mastered the art of squaring up my corners! For me, ironing seams closed and very precise pinning does the trick. Of course, the curves are a work in progress, but those imperfections didn't bother me much. This is a design I could see myself doing again, so the experience gained from this giant will help next time. <br />
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<span class="UnsafeSenderEmail">So, my favorite part about the quilt is how personal the design is to the recipient! When I saw the Pop Mod design, I knew it was for Sheree. She lives in Eugene, Oregon and is a huge Ducks fan. School colors are Green and Yellow, and the Pop Mod block looks eerily similar to the Oregon Duck logo.</span><br />
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<span class="UnsafeSenderEmail"> Probably would have looked more like it if I had used solids, but I like my version because it's more of a quilt with subtle suggestions of the logo, not a blatant hijacking of copyrighted material :)</span><br />
<span class="UnsafeSenderEmail">So I clearly used Duck colors and logo for inspiration, but decided to add the row of berry flavor to break up the color scheme. Green and yellow aren't the splashiest of color combos, so the pinks/purples/berries help ad that "pop" of color in this Pop Mod!</span><br />
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<span class="UnsafeSenderEmail">I might add a better pic of Duck Duck Berry Duck when we get to Minnesota and I have some help holding it up in a bigger space. Oh, and the name... As you may or may not know, Minnesota has an unusual name for a child's game called "Duck Duck Goose". When we Minnesotans leave the sacred borders of this frozen tundra, we eventually learn that our beloved game of "Duck Duck Grey Duck" only exists in the Land of 10,000 Lakes. Everyone else calls it "Duck Duck Goose". So, the name reflects my sister's roots as a Minnesotan. In addition, each line of "O"s in the quilt also represents the University of Oregon Ducks, but of course the pattern is broken by that berry chain of "O"s, therefore Duck Duck Berry Duck.</span>Patrickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08978433142250478964noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-773073598982070821.post-52016284757953899852013-10-29T14:40:00.000-04:002014-09-13T20:31:10.752-04:00Another Road Game<br />
On the Road again, this time Lynchburg, VA. I am singing Rinuccio in Gianni Schicchi by Puccini. It's a fun show written for all of the Met's character singers, so it's a real ensemble opera.<br />
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Well, I am working on a Pop Mod quilt (design by Julie from <a href="http://distantpickles.blogspot.com/2012/08/mod-pop-complete.html" target="_blank">Distant Pickles</a>) for a king size finish for Christmas, but since I am on the road for two weeks, thought I would take some quilting work on the road with me. I precut all of my 4" x 4" squares so I could trace and cut my drunkard path squares while on the road, then put it together when I got home. Well, with LOTS of free time on this job, I finished all of my tracing and cutting in a few days, so I tapped the opera patron crowd for a loaner sewing machine, and am now almost done piecing together my 360 drunkard path squares!<br />
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Here's my Janome "Jem Gold" surrounded by 100 finished drunkard path squares (un-ironed). Thanks so much to Polly for lending me this machine for my stay! So nice to work with a modern machine. I think it is making me want to trade in my not-so-trusty Singer for something with a more consistent stitch which is quiet and smooth-running. Enough about the machine, though.<br />
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Here's the layout of the Pop Mod block, which will have 22 of these blocks, plus a dozen or so partial blocks. Since I don't have my cutting tools with me, I won't be finishing the blocks or top 'til I get home. <br />
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The background is green, with either purple or yellow focal fabric (this one has the purple focal fabric). Now that I look at the pic, though, two of the "green" squares look yellow in the picture. Another reason I recommend taking pictures of your fabrics and blocks before assembly!<br />
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<br />Patrickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08978433142250478964noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-773073598982070821.post-14720954207579326152013-09-18T22:50:00.000-04:002014-09-13T20:31:36.264-04:00Boyish Triangles quiltAfter a long hiatus I returned to quilting. I took the spring and summer off after finishing a quilt top in February, quilting half of it on my machine, then realizing the bobbin tension was loose! I put the quilt in the closet and held a grudge until a couple of weeks ago, when I began pulling out the stitches.<br />
It will take a few more hours for me to take out all of the stitches and begin to re-quilt, but I definitely needed that time apart from that project.<br />
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I also picked up a baby quilt top I had finished right before the quilting debacle and decided to give my Singer yet another chance to redeem itself.<br />
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If I was smart, I would have just slapped on the walking foot and played it safe...But I didn't, of course- I keep returning to the machine for more punishment. In this one isolated case, however, I got lucky! I stippled and succeeded This cool baby quilt went to a little boy on his third birthday. It may be a little small (30" x 30") for a three year old, but I was just a tad gun shy about quilting something bigger.</div>
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The recipient already has a fitted sheet with that cute Puppies and Pickups fabric, and I added some bug jar fabric and spider web fabric to give it a decidedly "boy" flavor.<br />
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I also experimented for the first time with a flannel backing. I was/am kinda nervous about this one, as the mixing of unwashed fabric types might cause some wacky shrinkage, but I did a cold water bath pre-wash on the flannel and crossed my fingers. Hopefully it wont be a train wreck after one wash...actually, Isaac might love that, as he is a huge train fan :)</div>
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Hand bound- my last few projects have been machine-finished bindings, but for this one I decided to do it by hand, as I prefer the look, and it's small enough to not feel like a huge additional project.<br />
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I like this last shot because I just noticed it looks like the quilt is chillaxin' on the bench, with one arm on the arm rest and the other stretched out on the bench back. Patrickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08978433142250478964noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-773073598982070821.post-74539407686333517352013-03-08T13:11:00.001-05:002014-09-13T20:32:25.189-04:00Gee's BendI spent most of January in Birmingham, AL doing Madama Butterfly with the opera company there. I had a great time, but my most memorable moments in Alabama were spent on a day trip to Gee's Bend!<br />
A two hour drive from Birmingham, Gee's Bend is an isolated community of under 300 people best known in recent years as a quilting Mecca.<br />
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My very fun little Fiat rental car on the Gee's Bend Ferry. Gee's Bend is nestled in a crook (bend) of the Alabama river, surrounded on 3 sides by water. <br />
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I will let Wikipedia or the description above tell you about Gee's Bend if you are unfamiliar, but in short, a collective of about 50 women make quilts which, after being "discovered" by an "art expert" in 2002, are now part of an exhibition which has shown in the Whitney Museum, the Houston Museum of Art, and the Smithsonian. The old patchwork quilts, which were throw away pieces considered worthless outside of the warmth they provided, have been hailed by one reviewer as ""some of the most miraculous work of art America has produced." This proving one of my dad's favorite sayings: "One man's trash is another man's treasure." These quilts are indeed treasures. I must add that there has been some debate recently about the motives of the man who "discovered" these quilts, some claiming he was profiteering and taking advantage of these women. <br />
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The quilts are often familiar quilt blocks with a twist, like the one below, which is a take on a Log Cabin (kind of a Disappearing Log Cabin)<br />
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These quilt images first appeared on US postage stamps in 2006, and now the giant signs appear in several spots in the town, nearby where the maker of that quilt lived. <br />
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I spent a couple of hours talking with Mary Ann Pettway, who was seated at a quilting frame, quilting in a pattern she called "rolling ocean waves" on a twin bed sized commission for a woman in Tennessee. This one-room schoolhouse-type building where the quilters work was the meeting place for the guild is complete with a side room which housed a couple hundred quilts folded up or hanging on the walls for sale. Um, when I say "For Sale", I mean like a car is for sale, not like a set of sheets is for sale. The bed quilts typically run from $1800-$20,000! These quilters are FOR REAL!<br />
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Here's Mary Ann working on the quilt. She's a sweet lady, who you can see in some Youtube clips singing gospel music with some of the other Gee's Benders. They supposedly sing together when they work on their quilts, though they didn't sing while I was there. One thing I am trying to push myself to do when in situations like this is to be less shy with my camera. I totally regret not taking a wide shot of the quilting rack, which was basically 2 saw horses holding up two wooden poles, which the two ends of the quilt were wrapped up in like a Torah. It was a cool contraption, and probably easy to make. They told me that it wasn't until very recently (like the '70's or '80's) that they had electricity in their houses, and therefore they didn't quilt at night. They said they would quilt by candle or fire light, but it was just too dark. They would quilt during the day, with the quilt hanging from the ceiling of the living room with ropes. When the sun went down, they would pull the quilt up to the ceiling so they could do their evening activities. Maybe I should rig up something like this in my apartment (cue wife rolling her eyes :) ).</div>
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You can see in the above shot that Mary Ann's quilt top has a large black arrow in the center. When I asked her about it, she said the woman who commissioned this quilt saw an arrow in another one of Mary Ann's quilts and said she wanted an arrow in hers, too. She gave her several fabrics to use for a guide, and Mary Ann supplemented them with some of her own. She also commented that she also finds random letters and numbers unintentionally scattered throughout her quilt tops. In this top she pointed out a patchwork of scraps which looked like a 3 and a 5.</div>
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You can also see in the above shot, what Mary Ann refers to as "triangles". They are basically rectangles with two non-parallel sides, which are sewn together to make a larger rectangle. Sorry I didn't include little arrows in the picture, but I don't have photoshop with me on the road... One is on the far left, a black "triangle" together with a brown, black and white "triangle". </div>
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Of course I wanted to show off my quilts to the Gee's Benders, and they were generous in their praise, but when I would show them a picture of a quilt, the first thing they would ask was "What's it called?" Every one of their quilts has a name, which I thought was kinda cool- like a painting. I am willing to bet that is a recent development, born from the "rags-to-riches" journey of their quilts from trash piles to art museum walls. <br />
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Interestingly, when I chatted with one of the quilters as I was admiring
their quilts in the "store" portion of their building, when I began
commenting on the patterns "Oh, here's a disappearing 9 patch" or "I love
this! Is it a courthouse steps variation?" she had no idea. She said
many of the quilters just quilt what they like, and don't really know
the pattern names. That may or may not be true of all the quilters in
the guild, but it certainly was for her.<br />
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On the way out of town I passed the Freedom Quilting Bee's HQ. This bee was supposedly begun in the 60's, and proceeds from the sale of quilts produced were used to help fund the Civil Rights movement. <br />
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My time with the Gee's Benders was inspiring, and I hope to try out some hand quilting in the future. I just need a bigger home!<br />
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<br />Patrickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08978433142250478964noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-773073598982070821.post-87388138447388247852012-12-31T19:25:00.000-05:002014-09-13T20:33:01.473-04:00I have been trying to find an hour here and there to work on my kaleidoscope quilt for my friends in Minnesota. An old college roommate of mine's late mother-in-law was a quilter. Sadly, she died quite suddenly last year, and they generously offered her stash up to their quilting friends. I came home with around 40 lbs of fabric (not sure how many yards, but it was A LOT!). Anyhow, I decided to make a lap quilt for them incorporating some of his MIL's fabrics and some of mine. Heavy preparation for the opera auditioning season, along with rehearsals for and performances of 2 big productions at the Metropolitan Opera and dealing with some sick baby issues forced me to table much of my quilting for a while.<br />
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Things have finally started to calm down here, and I am continuing on my latest quilt. Above is the design inspiration I am using for my kaleidoscope quilt. I have no idea where I found this picture, so I cannot credit it- I didn't take it, anyhow! I love how the alternating blocks create larger circles and stars from a distance. <br />
I completed all the 8" blocks this afternoon (49), and had planned on a square 7 x 7 layout. After putting them all down on the bed, I think I may go with a 6 x 8 layout, making the quilt 48" x 64", which I think is a better shape for a lapquilt.. I may add a small boarder...we'll see. Colors are blues, greens, and browns, with just a few pinks to add an extra dimension.<br />
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Here they are all laid out on our bed. It's similar to my inspiration photo, but a more subdued color scheme. Photo is a little blurry as I was using my point and shoot camera because dslr was in the baby's room.<br />
Unfortunately, I will be leaving town for work in a week, so probably won't get this one finished before the end of January :(. Nice to be busy, but have been missing my hobby! Happy New Year everyone!Patrickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08978433142250478964noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-773073598982070821.post-64263700564793651192012-10-18T00:22:00.001-04:002014-09-13T20:33:27.559-04:00Finally Finished Flying Stars!Well, I finally finished Lucy's Flying Friends and Wonky Stars baby quilt! It wasn't the scale of the quilt or the difficulty, but simply my schedule which made this such a drawn-out project. Also, USPS said it should get to it's three-year-old recipient by today, so I think it's safe to post pics of my newest finish.<br />
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The idea was to do a wonky stars baby quilt with some of the charm squares I got from recent I Spy charm swaps, mostly some "flying objects" prints, like birds, butterflies, dragonflies, bees, etc. <br />
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As for the stars themselves, I used 5 different versions of the wonky star block. A smaller, 4" charm square (like the upper right blue butterfly block below), the larger 5" charm square (like the orange and pink duck star in the top row center left), an off-center star with 4" charm (dragonfly in top row), one block with two small stars (seen in the second row), and a 2.5 or 3" charm (I can't remember off hand) square (just right of the red owls in the middle). The fabrics used for the points of each star were close color matches (though not perfect) from my stash. <br />
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The finished blocks are 13", so the quilt is 65" x 52" with no border. Lucy's mom said this quilt was going to live on Lucy's bedroom wall, so it didn't have to be "bed-sized". Original plans were to make it square and a bit smaller, but I just couldn't bring myself to make a quilt that couldn't be a bed quilt if needed, so I made it long enough to work as a little girl's bed quilt. <br />
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I am really happy with how it came out, and have a few favorites, including the dragonfly, the pink fairies, and the green monkey. The colors are fairly gender-neutral, but enough pink and purple to give it a bit of a girlie touch.<br />
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For the back, I decided on a giant "reverse wonky star", using the background tan solid from the front as the star fabric, and constructing the background for the star with pieced fabrics from similar color groups. I then framed the giant block in the tan solid, and then finished it off with scraps. Kinda wish I had made a bigger star, but that's OK, I still love it :)</div>
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Last weekend, mom, baby and I took a little trip to an apple orchard outside of Syracuse, NY (where my wife and I are currently preparing for Tosca with <a href="http://www.syracuseopera.com/">Syracuse Opera</a> (come and see us this weekend if you're in the neighborhood). Baby girl was scared of the ponies at the pony rides, but oddly fascinated by them (mostly interested in how they ... um... pooped). We mostly ate apple cider donuts, picked apples, and tried to keep warm in the blustery 40 degree weather. On the way home we stopped by a roadside pumpkin and gourd stand. It was on the honor system, which meant no one was around, so I could plop my quilt up on the stand and get some very non-Manhattan scenery for this quilt-shoot!<br />
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The leaves are just past their prime, and though it was cold, everywhere you looked was so gorgeous, with inspiring deep oranges, fiery yellows and rich reds and browns. By now, most of the big pumpkins were gone, but we picked up two tiny ones for little baby to play with and decorate.Patrickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08978433142250478964noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-773073598982070821.post-82100030818541694492012-09-21T23:43:00.001-04:002014-09-13T20:37:08.260-04:00Cute Russian Fabric!OK, I am pretty sure I have never blogged about a fabric before, but this one makes me so happy, I just have to share!<br />
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Little Kukla by Suzy Ultman is now on sale at <a href="http://www.intrepidthread.com/shop/Fabrics-by-Collection/Little-Kukla.htm">The Intrepid Thread</a>, one of my favorite on-line fabric sellers. Over the past year or so I have had very bad luck finding Matrioshka (Russian nesting dolls) fabric I liked. I have a couple of projects which require it, but nothing I saw on-line fit the bill. Well, here's just what I have been looking for, and I am excited to order some of my very own.<br />
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I love the raspberry and brown fabrics, and the onion dome fabrics are so cool! I have two pressing quilts on my list when I finish the starry baby quilt, otherwise I would get right to work on a new project with these. As you may recall, my wife is Russian, and so naturally these fabrics
will make a cute little quilt, fitted sheet, dress, etc for our little
girl. <br />
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By the way, this is not a sponsored post, just my own blabbing about something I like. But I do recommend Julie at the Intrepid Thread- she's great to work with, and my fabrics always arrive quickly and wrapped up like a sweet little present...who doesn't love getting presents!<br />
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I will post some pics of my finished baby quilt in the next few days. It has been quilted, and is awaiting trimming and binding, but daddy's got some other pressing matters that need immediate attention (like learning an opera) first.Patrickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08978433142250478964noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-773073598982070821.post-47680846393256267572012-09-12T16:34:00.000-04:002014-09-13T20:36:54.982-04:00Babe in blanket<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
I am currently working on a baby quilt for a regular reader of this
blog, so I can't give you an update with pics, but the top is done, and I
am piecing together a back with I am so excited to show you when
finished! It's a wonky star quilt, and for the back, I made a single
large wonky star, with a colorful patchwork background, and the star
itself in the quilt top's background fabric.</div>
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Trying to describe a quilt is boring, so I will now post some candid photos from this afternoon of my girl goofing around in our Crazy 9 Patch picnic quilt. Isn't fun to see your work getting used and enjoyed?<br />
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As much as I love giving away my quilts, it sure is fun to use them now and again!<br />
I hope to get the baby quilt done soon- pics to come.<br />
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Have a great day!Patrickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08978433142250478964noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-773073598982070821.post-85147433378098149142012-08-14T11:23:00.001-04:002014-09-13T20:36:31.091-04:00Back from the USSR (sic)Well, I am back from St. Petersburg, Russia, where I spent the last 10 days with my wife, daughter, and in-laws. Mom and baby are still there for another 2 weeks while dad is back home in NYC because of work. Had a lovely time, and was able to finally finish my Greek Cross quilt for our friends Katya and Sergei. Before I reveal the finished quilt, let's look back a bit on how I got there...<br />
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Here are the 42 blocks laid out on our living room floor. Between the entertainment center and the couch these blocks barely fit on the floor, and this is the largest workspace I have in the house! How am I going to finish this thing with another 7 inches for the double boarder on each side, plus allowance for batting and backing? I was a little concerned. I could have taken the couch out of the living room while I basted, but ugh! That's a pain!!! <br />
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After figuring out the block arrangement, I sewed them together, laid it out on our bed and admired it while plotting my next move! Let's see...I need a roughly 100" x 90" space plus space to move around the quilt for basting...I am in some real trouble. Maybe I could baste half the quilt at a time, but I like to tape down my backing to the floor to make sure it's perfectly aligned and free of any wrinkles, and that would be tough to do.<br />
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Very luckily, a neighbor of ours had some free floorspace, which I was able to use to baste a couple of nights later. This is the largest quilt I have ever machine quilted (queen size), and really wasn't looking forward to it. The basting took every quilting pin I had, and dipped heavily into the regular safety pin stash I had almost thrown away several times. <br />
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Here's the quilt after I finished basting. Handy Tip: I used one of those gardening kneeling pads to make all that kneeling less painful. The only downside to this process was that our neighbor's A/C was out and it was, like, 95 degrees in there...not fun, but it's one way to speed up the process. I have never basted anything so fast!<br />
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For the quilting, I chose the fastest and simplest quilting strategy- straight lines. Though I think I have most of the kinks worked out of free motion quilting on my old Singer, I wasn't willing to risk not finishing because of skipped stitches, thread breaks, or any other roadblocks (at this point I really only had a few hours of sewing time left before we boarded the plane to Russia). With walking foot attached, I straight line quilted about 4 inches apart, using Connecting Threads yellow cotton thread, and I was very happy with the result. Of course, each quilting experience teaches me new thing, and one new thing I am taking to heart is not to regret the mistakes on the current quilt, but to simply enjoy the process and the result, and take whatever "mistakes" I made in design or execution, and not make them next time around.<br />
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Well, with maybe one hour of sewing time left before we left town, I decided that hand-stitching the binding would be the best use of time, so I sewed the binding fabric to the front, and packed up needles, thread, and quilt to finish the job when we got to Russia. Hoping my wife would help, I figured we'd bang out the binding in a couple of hours. Well, to make a long story short, our luggage didn't make it with us, and when it finally arrived the next day, my wife got really sick, so we lost a couple of days work. Eventually I bound it all myself and we presented the finished product to Katya and her daughter Sasha while at a lakeside cottage outside St. Petersburg. Here are a few pics.<br />
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Here it is on our bed at the cottage. It's so rewarding to see a finished quilt on the bed! I have only made three bed-sized quilts, but they are the most satisfying for me to make, as they show so well spread over a bed rather than a lap, I think.<br />
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I requested that Katya and Sasha help out with the photo shoot before I said a final "goodbye" to the Greek Crosses. Oh, did I mention why I chose Greek Crosses? Well, Katya and Sergei are Russian Orthodox, but the more detailed Russian Cross (also called the Eastern Orthodox, or three-barred cross), seen below<br />
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wasn't really an option for two reasons: 1) it was a more complicated pattern, and I wouldn't have had time to finish before we left, and 2) I think such a specific symbol might be inappropriate to paste all over a quilt you would be sleeping under. The Greek crosses are a bit more generic, but are still a symbol of an Eastern Orthodox christian church, and as my wife is Greek, I thought it was a nice tie-in. In addition, I chose the <a href="http://www.thequiltedcastle.com/1001-Peeps-5471-LN-Jinnee-Orange-Towers-by-Lizzy-House-for-Andover_p_5279.html">1001 Peeps Orange Towers fabric</a>, with its onion-domed tops to give a Russian feeling!<br />
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In this picture you can also see the straight-line quilting. At first I had planned to do about 3x the lines, but just ran out of time. Look, I didn't even have enough time to take a decent up-close pic of the quilt :)<br />
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Baby Eva is helping display the quilt! <br />
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Backed with my huge stash of backing-worthy fabric, and sewn with a racing stripe down the middle! It was definitely a race against time, but I won!!! Gold medal for me :) Patrickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08978433142250478964noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-773073598982070821.post-87008228223995028162012-07-16T21:06:00.000-04:002014-09-13T20:36:08.252-04:00A WIP for Russia.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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As my wife and I are preparing for our trip to St. Petersburg, Russia to visit her family, the pile of gifts is slowly growing. Like many other cultures, gift-giving is a big part of Russian culture. Our family and friends are so generous and sweet, and this time I hope to surprise my wife's best friends with a quilt! I chose a variation of the Greek Cross quilt, and am piecing it using Jennifer's (from <a href="http://ellisonlane.blogspot.com/">Ellison Lane Quilts</a>) <a href="http://ellisonlane.blogspot.com/2011/09/across-sea-quilt-along-binding-your.html">Across the Sea Quilt-A-Long</a> tutorial. I have expanded the quilt to finish at around 94 x 82, so it will hopefully fit their bed. I didn't ask them what size their bed is, as that would give away the surprise (maybe), but we think it's a little smaller than a queen size, so I'm sure it will be close (I hope)!<br />
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The fabrics we chose are a mixture of stash and new purchases for the project. I'm using a natural muslin (meadowlark premium) for the background, and mostly greens, purples, and oranges. Below you can see the first finished block. The muslin looks blue in the picture, but it's not (of course :) ), and the fabric is 1001 Peeps. Another adjustment I made to the tutorial instructions helped me save a little time (I think): instead of cutting a square and four rectangles to make the cross, I combined the square and two of the rectangles into one piece of fabric (making allowances for the missing seam allowances...does that make sense?), which eliminates some cutting and sewing. This alteration gives you one long piece of unbroken pattern, which I like anyhow, so it was a time-saver and a visual improvement (to my taste). <br />
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So far, I have one block done (above), and the three strips which make up each cross have been pieced and ironed. When I finish this post, I will begin assembling the three strips and complete more blocks tonight. Oh, also I have to mention that I have started using spray starch (<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Mary-Ellens-Starch-Alternative-Ounces-Lavender/dp/B002Z26S9S/ref=pd_bxgy_ac_img_b">Mary Ellen's Best Press Spray Starch Alternative</a>), and it has helped clean up my piecing, I think. Fabric doesn't shift or stretch so much when piecing, and it smells like lavender!<br />
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Because I am pouring my free time into finishing this quilt, the baby quilt has once again been put on the back burner, but as this is extremely time-sensitive, I hope the baby won't be too upset with me :).Patrickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08978433142250478964noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-773073598982070821.post-13685965062275503622012-06-28T16:59:00.000-04:002014-09-13T20:35:25.586-04:00A quick projectI have all my blocks done for the Flying Wonky Stars baby quilt I am making for our friends, but had another project I wanted to do while the baby slept today.<br />
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Two fun gifts our daughter received for her first birthday (7 months ago) were a set of alphabet blocks (with the Russian alphabet) from my sister<br />
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and a set of wood blocks that, when assembled, made a Russian cathedral (I gave her that).<br />
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The problem is that she's too young for either. I have let her play with the cathedral blocks, but at 19 months, she not really interested in carefully stacking the blocks according to daddy's instructions. She basically stacks two or three on top of each other and then knocks them over: great fun, but I'm sure at least one of these blocks will go missing, and when she's old enough to want to make the cathedral, it will be missing a tower or a wall or something. The alphabet blocks are so cute, but she likes to chew on them, and the paint comes off a little...probably some kind of safety hazard, right? Well, she can still play with them with supervision, which she occasionally does.<br />
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Anyhow, I decided to try my hand at making a little drawstring bag to hold the blocks- my first non-quilt-related project (outside of hemming pants or curtains). I found an easy drawstring bag tutorial on Ashley Connelly's blog <a href="http://thecreativeplace.blogspot.com/2010/10/tuesday-tutorial-drawstring-bag.html" target="_blank">The Creative Place</a>, and I am really excited with how it turned out and how quickly it went. Here's the final result:<br />
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I used a cute little cat and mouse fabric called Purfect Mischief from <a href="http://www.connectingthreads.com/Quilting.cfm" target="_blank">Connecting Threads </a>(it was/is on <a href="http://www.connectingthreads.com/webspecials/Clearance_Quilting_Fabric__L600802.html?showAll=yes" target="_blank">clearance</a> for $2.95/yd), and for the trim I used an old purple fabric from my stash...don't remember the name. The lining is a crimson fabric (forgot to take a pic of it, and am too lazy to do it now) also from my stash.<br />
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The funny part is that I WAY underestimated the size I would need. Actually, I figured it might be a bit small for either set of blocks, but I decided that, since it was my first bag, I should just follow the directions and let this one be a trial. It was very simple to do, and took about an hour and a half. So nice to start and finish a project in one sitting!<br />
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<b style="color: red;">UPDATE</b>: I had so much fun (and mom and baby went outside to play) that I made another bag. This one is for the cathedral block set, and it measures about 11" x 14", and the blocks fit just fine!<br />
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This time I remembered to take a picture of the inside of the bag...Doh! I could have taken a pic of the inside of the <i>other </i>bag!!! Oh well :)<br />
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There you can see the blocks in their new home :). This bag is just the right size to make as a drawstring backpack for my little girl and her doll. Will have to add that to the To Do list!<br />
It feels like my Flying Wonky Stars baby quilt is going to have to wait patiently for another few days while I go on a start-and-finish spree with another bag and a new fitted sheet for the baby's bed before it gets any more of my attention.<br />
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<br />Patrickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08978433142250478964noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-773073598982070821.post-44671194875948382082012-06-10T21:06:00.000-04:002014-09-13T20:35:11.517-04:00Spring FinishFinally finished what was actually a really quick quilt. It just took forever because I had so little time for quilting this past couple of weeks. It's a picnic quilt (70" x 50") based on Elizabeth Hartman's <a href="http://www.ohfransson.com/oh_fransson/2010/02/crazy-ninepatch-lattice-quilt.html" target="_blank">Crazy Nine Patch Lattice</a> quilt design. By the way, if you don't follow her blog, <a href="http://www.ohfransson.com/oh_fransson/" target="_blank">Oh, Fransson!</a>, check it out- she designs and makes beautiful quilts! I would have loved to use a white background for this quilt as Elizabeth does, but I was a bit skittish about using a white fabric on a quilt that a 19 month old girl was going to be using so much. We went with a copper color- it's Kona, and I am over the moon about it.<br />
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The pattern is kind of a wonky 9 patch with 10 inch finished blocks. I upped the size from 7 1/2 inches because I just needed a bit bigger quilt, but didn't want to make something like 20 additional blocks.<br />
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The quilting is what I have heard called "Matchstick" quilting. I used a walking foot to make straight lines across the quilt in random places, with a finished look similar to a pile of matchsticks. The above picture shows a very wrinkled finished product, but you are able to see the quilting a bit more in this shot. Since the colors are orange, green, and brown, I chose four different colors of thread to quilt (light brown, dark brown, orange, and green). You can see them a bit better in this next picture.<br />
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You can also see the random lines of the matchstick quilting. It's a nice "design" because as long as you can stitch a straight line, it's pretty fast and easy. All you need is a walking foot and some masking (painter's) tape. :)</div>
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Once again, the binding is all by machine, and though I really do prefer the hand-sewn finish on a binding, I have been so anxious to finish and use my quilts lately that I have been on a machine-binding tear! As you might notice from the above pic, I commited the sin of mixing top and bobbin thread colors. The back (bobbin) was green and the top was white. This created no problems, and in fact, I LOVE how it turned out, so I will be doing it again and again! You can also see that I am so anxious to finish that I start pressing the pedal down on the machine and get a less than straight line from time to time! I believe my machine is partly to blame for this one. It's very difficult to regulate speed with the foot pedal on my 1950's Singer, and so I sometimes get a less-than-smooth acceleration. Well, I ordered some of this binding fabric (called Gipsy Glitter) along with a few others that appear on the quilt top last week, and thought it would lighten a quilt that felt a bit on the dark side (of the color spectrum, not The Force). <br />
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Here's my angel, just past her 19 month birthday, testing out our new picnic quilt. Why didn't I notice that she had smushed up berries on her sandals BEFORE she jumped onto the quilt? Oh well, it's gonna get dirty eventually! That's one thing I am quickly learned as a parent- you can't own much of anything and expect to keep it nice and clean, because babies love to throw, chew, crumple, and drool on whatever looks new and nice. So if you want to save it, put it on the highest shelf! New and Nice are not so important to me now...cute and sweet and angelic have replaced them on the priority scale, and our little girl certainly tics all the boxes for us!</div>
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A proud "quilt dad" (copyright reserved, <a href="http://www.quiltdad.com/" target="_blank">Quilt Dad</a>) displaying quilt back and proof that he is <i>indeed </i>both a quilter and a dad. Note baby carefully examining my stitches. :)Patrickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08978433142250478964noreply@blogger.com6