WIP

WIP–Stuck!

April 11, 2012 Elizabeth E.5 Comments

There’s this favorite cartoon of grad students everywhere by Matt Groenig. It was tacked up outside my husband’s office, courtesy of one of his grad students. But my favorite square was the one above: “read another book” to avoid the “stomach-churning agony of having to finish your thesis.” (The full cartoon is embedded below.)

The quilting corollary to avoid that “stomach-churning agony of having to finish your quilt” is to make another block. Or in this case, another star. Above are fabrics I’m auditioning for this, as I’ve found that the more disparate the fabrics are, the better the star. Too matchy matchy, and the star’s a wimp.

I’m feeling like a wimp. I like the stars all arrayed up on my board, but I don’t just want to border it and call it a quilt. I keep thinking about my quilt Come-A-Round, and wonder if this scrappy star quilt couldn’t use some Piece O’ Cake treatment with applique borders, like the ones above. I still haven’t decided what goes in the empty spaces between the stars, either. Definitely a Work In Progress.

Many thanks to Lee of Freshly Piece Fabrics for hosting us all on her blog. Zip over there and see a veritable quilt show. Even though it’s advertised as a Work-in-Progress display, there are many interesting quilts. I’m looking at some for ideas for the gingham quilt that Krista and I want to make this summer.

Here’s my collection of ginghams. There are some really interesting pieces in here and all sizes. I’ve started collecting ideas on my Pinterest Board. I’m thinking a snowball-type quilt, or bowtie, something that has some breathing room. I don’t know what Krista’s thinking about. Sometimes thinking about a quilt is a very fun part.

Unless, like above, I’m stuck.

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WIP

Scrappy Stars–WIP Wednesday

April 3, 2012 Elizabeth E.6 Comments

When I get these blocks all up here in a row, I like to look at them. I look at them when I’m talking on the phone. I look at them when I’m supposed to be grading. I look at them even though my lesson plans aren’t done yet. I just like to look at how far they’ve come and how fun it is to use up fabrics that are already in my closet.

We had a little of that going on at dinner last night, too. I had Two-Can Tomato Soup on the docket, and in rummaging around in the freezer, found some very forgotten French bread from our local bakery shop. So I cut up the slices into 2″-wide “fingers,” brushed them with olive oil, ground some salt over them and broiled them until they were lightly toasted, then floated them on the top of the soup. Like the stars above, you have to gussy up your leftovers, so I called them “croutons” — in the manner of the French — and also garnished the soup with a little bit of cream and chunks of avocado. Yum!

So this is my current work in progress this week. Our church had its semi-annual conference (here’s a link to my favorite talk about not judging) and I streamed conference while I had lead-foot-itis on the sewing machine, sewing while listening. Keeps me awake during the less-than-favorite talks. I usually like to have a conference quilt finished up by the end of the weekend, but this one’s growing in my mind — maybe it needs some appliqued borders? — so I couldn’t finish it up. Just thinking grand here.

I am posting this on the Freshly Pieced Fabrics blog, where Lee, our amiable hostess, always puts out the welcome mat for us quilters to share what we are working on. I missed it last week because I was in the fog; happy to get back to it this week. Thanks, Lee. (And a big congrats to her for her quilt was juried into the Modern Quilt Guild Showcase!)

WIP–iPad Cover

March 20, 2012March 21, 2012 Elizabeth E.4 Comments

Since we had picked up iPads during our jaunt to San Francisco, any self-respecting quilter knows what’s next: make a cover. And I knew just what I wanted to do. Waiting for me when I got home was this sweet little gift of some bird Spoonflower fabric from Betty–we’d done an informal fabric swap (I think I got the better part–thank you Betty!) and these birds were destined to be a part of any cover I’d be making.

But I figure I would start with my husband’s, since I knew he wanted to get his own cover, so whatever I made wouldn’t be a long-term keeper. No pressure. But he wasn’t going to get these terrific birds!

I Googled “iPad cover tutorial” on the web, read through about 12 of what was offered (quite a range!), and dived in. I chose a beige linen for the outside, some blue Minky for the inside, with a top band of blue ikat fabric so the minky wouldn’t show. I wanted it to be solid, and this had to be quick, as my daughter Barbara (read about her *here*) and her grandchildren were arriving in about an hour. I sewed on the top bank of fabric to the Minky, layered it up and started quilting narrow parallel lines in gray thread–not necessarily as a design choice, but because that’s what was in the bobbin.

Cover all quilted. This is the outside.

And this is the inside–showing the band of fabric at the top.

I trimmed it up. Good thing this is the guinea pig model, as the width across — of nearly 16″– is really too snug.

This is the final shaping before I begin the binding of it. The flap is on the lower left of the photo. I’m beginning the binding at the lower left corner proceeding all along the bottom of the shape above, then plan to fold the piece in half, and finish the binding along the joined edges. We’ll see.

I made the binding out of 1 1/2″ wide bias-cut fabric, using the same linen as I did for the cover, then folded in half, then the raw edges pressed to the inside.

Sewing on the binding, heading around that rounded flap corner.

Here’s the inside, showing the band, plus the soft Minky fabric, which will allow the iPad to be protected from scratches.

I sewed the scratchy part of the Velcro to the cover outside, and the soft part to the flap, finishing just as the doorbell rang and my daughter and her three children arrived! My oldest grandchild, Keagan, is holding the finished product, with the iPad slightly protruding. Maddie, the three-year old sister and Riley, the five-year old brother hadn’t made it up the stairs yet.

And here it is closed. I’m sure my husband is still looking for just the perfect cover, but this will get him through until he finds just what he wants. I’ll be starting on my cover when all these little people in my life have returned home, and after I finish grading the midterms. Spring Break ends this week–so sad to see it go, but summer is just a short 9 weeks from now. I’m already counting down the days.

On another note, here’s a couple of pictures with my other granddaughters in them–having received their doll quilts. They are both posing with the quilts I made for them when they were born.

Oh, yeah. I’m one of THOSE grandmas, who’ll whip out her phone to show you pictures of her grandchildren. Yep, any time. Any place.

Other projects I’m working on:
Doll quilts for Keagan and her little sister Maddie and a “guy-quilt” for Riley’s Buzz Lightyear figure
Star quilt, which adorns my pin wall and I still love
Hexagon blocks, which are a nice piece of handwork when I sit down to watch a movie (not this week!)

Thanks–no, many thanks!--go to Lee of Freshly Pieced Fabrics, who is hosting this Works In Progress Wednesday. Return to her blog to see what she, and others are working on.

100 Quilts · Family Quilts · Quilts · WIP

WIP–Roses and Doll Quilts

March 14, 2012April 2, 2024 Elizabeth E.5 Comments

I brought along my third block of the rose window block series — still working on it — but I think a friend of mine wants to try doing this too, as she’s a “Band Mom” and needs something to keep her hands busy while she whiles away those long hours at competitions. Good luck, Lisa!

Before we left, I was also able to finish a series of doll quilts for my son’s daughters: Emilee, Megan, Brooke and Danielle. Their mother Kim got them the most adorable doll beds for their dolls for Christmas, and I’d been wanting to make them little quilts ever since I returned home.

Somewhere along the way, I had purchased Moda Candy Bars, which area pack of four stacks of fabric (measuring 2 1/2″ by 5″) and while I liked having the variety of pieces, I had no idea what to do with them.

One little stack makes the perfect-sized doll quilt. I was thinking I’d do four different quilts, but ended up with three different patterns (the two on the top are the same–a variant of rail fence).

I tied them up with some silky double-faced satin ribbons (hair bows for my granddaughters?) and sent them off before we left to our Spring Break vacation.