Custom Quilt Update

I've had to take a short break from sewing for a few days, so I thought I would post a quick update on one of the custom quilts I have been working on. I apologize for the poor quality photo. I snapped this quickly with my iPhone since my real camera wasn't handy.

This is one of the many quilts I will be giving to members of our immediate family for Christmas this year. I designed this quilt to use mostly charm squares. I have purchased a Go! Cutter (more on this in a separate post) and the charm square die and wanted to be sure to make use of it.

Because of the simplicity of the design, this pieced together very quickly, even though I made some critical errors (see this post). It took about a day to fully complete the topper, including the applique. I have one more custom quilt to cut, piece and applique. It is also a very simple design and will utilize Go! dies, which is a huge timesaver.

learning the hard way

I'm new to quilting. Did you know that? I am also a "figure things out as a go" kind of person. That kind of thought process is a little dangerous when it comes to quilting.

Last night I was ready to sew the rows together on a custom designed quilt. I have been sewing for over 20 years off and on, so I was mostly concerned with the length of the rows matching up and getting that darn 1/4" seam allowance right. When it was all pieced together, i noticed my blocks weren't matching up with each other very well. That didn't sit to well with my perfectionist personality.

I spent some time with my seam ripper and pretty much had to take all the rows apart and this time, when i pinned it together, i also made certain to match up the blocks. The result... beautiful. I will try to post some pics in my next post.

Have a terrific day!

PS - If you are reading this on March 27, 2010 hop on over to my favorite online fabric shop and buy a few things from Leah at Burgundy Buttons. Her prices are A.M.A.Z.I.N.G. and today only, she's having a fun sale. Just use coupon code: bright and save an additional 10%!!

there's a first time for everything

I decided earlier this year that I would only give hand-made gifts this year. This will hopefully save some money and provide a good excuse to work on crafty stuff. I have really taken a liking to quilting. The fabrics available these days are just incredible. I love color & pattern, so it's been lots of fun exploring this new-to-me craft.

Between my family and my husband's family, I have lots of folks to make gifts for. The idea is do make a smaller something for birthdays & mothers/fathers day and a bigger something for Christmas. The challenge with this is that because my business gets crazy busy around mid-October, I will need to have most of my gifts complete by then, which requires lots of planning ahead.

When I started thinking about what to make for my father and my mother in law, I knew I wanted to make each of them a nice snuggly themed quilt. For these, I was not going to find a handy pattern online. No, I was going to have to jump out there and create my first patterns. I found the whole process fairly simple. I had a vision for what I wanted the end result to look like, and just translated that into blocks/strips to achieve the look I was going for.

This quilt for my father will finish out at 48" x 72".

This quilt for my mother in law will finish at 60" x 60"

jumping in!

I love crafts. Did you know that about me? I have a pretty wide variety of interests... let's just say I shop in several departments in the craft store. One particular craft has been on my 'want to try' list for a few years, Quilting.

I got a new sewing machine recently and that has really fueled my interest in fabric arts. After I finished monogramming every towel and Vera Bradley bag I own, I decided it was time to conquer quilting. I turned to my good friend, Royce, for guidance.

I've known Royce for several years. She (yes, SHE) and I worked together before she got smart and left her job to do freelance work and spend more time making beautiful things. Anyway, she started quilting a few years ago, about the time she learned how to thread a sewing machine needle and has been encouraging me along this journey.

I intended my first project to be a cute little thing for my Mom. Before I could get started on that, I found a pattern for a quilted ironing board cover. I have been in desperate need of a new cover for so long and that fact became glaringly obvious as I was pressing fabric to be cut for my other project.

I re-prioritized my projects and now I have a super cute, but not-quite perfect cover for my ironing board. I'm happy with the results and motivated to start my next project.

Fabric used in this project: Frolic by Sandy Gervais Moda Jelly Roll

Special thanks to my new fave online fabric shop... Burgundy Buttons for the great prices and customer service.

let's try this again, shall we?

When I originally started this blog, I had intended it to focus primarily on my crafty endeavors. At the time, I was a newlywed working full-time in corporate America, starting a new business and renovating a 30-year old condo. That sentence alone should tell you that I didn't have time for crafty endeavors. So, my blog became more about nothing and what I had started with high hopes and aspirations just turned into something else to keep me from getting my craft on.

So, what's changed? Well, quite a bit, actually. I'm creeping up to my fifth wedding anniversary, I left corporate America behind to focus on my growing business, sold our beautifully renovated condo and now in the throes of renovating a 30-year old house. I finally have time and energy to get my craft on again!

Whether you are an old reader or new reader, Welcome! I'll try to do better this time around.