Quilting and Sewing Archives - Page 111 of 143

Fabric, Paper and Strings

May 14, 2012 jennifer Quilting and Sewing

I wasn’t supposed to buy any new fabric this year. Well, I did really well for a while and then I guess I quit doing really well because I just bought this pretty little stack of fabric. It’s called Vintage Summer by Little Yellow Bicycle for Blend Fabrics. It’s kind of my style and yet it’s not, but I like it. I’ve learned that I like a lot of large scale prints but then I struggle to cut into them and actually use them because I feel like I need to do the perfect thing with that large print. I don’t know if I’m just getting smarter or if more fabric designs are getting smaller, but I’m trying to avoid the larger prints (because I still have plenty of them) and watch for the smaller ones that look great when they’re cut into small pieces.

I also shouldn’t start another quilt top until I’ve dealt with all my projects that need finishing, but for some reason I started reading about string quilts the other day and I got the idea in my head that I NEED to try it. If I’m ever going to make that selvage quilt I’ve been saving strips for then I’ll have to learn paper piecing anyway. Then I poked around and found this one over at Film In the Fridge and I was sold. Just enough order in that quilt for me to jump in.

So in the only quiet 30 minutes of my Mother’s Day, I went to my sewing machine and made my first ever paper pieced string quilt block. My kids were shocked that I was sewing fabric to a piece of paper, but I was excited. Learning something new beats a nap any day!

So the Vintage Summer prints were immediately cut into (big deal for me!) instead of waiting around for the “perfect project” and here’s my first block:

The fabric is the perfect scale for a quilt like this and I’m happy with my decision. Paper piecing has always sounded tedious but I quite enjoyed this experiment. I love the white with the prints, and I’m following Ashley’s pdf chart for it.

I really love those little strips of white in there. They look so cool and they’re something I’ve always been intimidated by.

Honestly, I might not touch my sewing machine again until June, but it sure was fun to experiment for a little while!

Swoon Quilt Finished!

May 10, 2012 jennifer Quilting and Sewing

Five minutes here and ten minutes there and the binding is finally on. My Swoon quilt is done!

I love the way it turned out. I have a vintage sheet I’ve saved for years, purchased long ago still in the original package, which I used for the backing. It wasn’t quite wide enough so a pink strip of an old Anna Griffin fabric which used to be bed skirts in this room was added to finish it off.

I took this quilt in and had the owner of a nearby shop quilt it for me. I couldn’t be happier. I love the pattern she quilted it with!

For the binding I used the only yardage I had (and my favorite print) of the Ava Rose line, the deep aqua with dark pink roses on it. I think it looks great with both the quilt top and the back.

So here it is, the whole thing:

From the other side:

Yay! I love it. This one is going to my bedroom for those nights when it’s a bit cooler. Just looking at it makes me happy.

Turquoise Star quilt top

May 2, 2012 jennifer Quilting and Sewing

My little squares of cheery fabric have become a finished quilt top. I used the instructions found at Pins and Bobbins for the Made in Cherry Quilt Along . I made the smaller 60 inch size, which actually made this a super fast project. Once I got all the squares lined up on the bed, I broke it into small sections and was able to work at it in 10-15 minute segments until I had it all pieced together.

For this project I cut into a small stack of prints from the Tweet collection by Timeless Treasures. (You can find some of them here .) The turquoise solid I had in my drawer just happened to match and I thought it was good for me to use a solid other than white for a change. I’m proud of myself for cutting into relatively new fabric instead of fretting about having the perfect project for it.

This is the fourth project I’ve finished in 2012 that is still waiting to be quilted and finished. I did baste the Little Man quilt top and made a couple of passes for quilting, but am unhappy with it and need to pull it out and start again. Ugh! I wonder if I’ll get it done in time for the baby to still use it! (I know, I know… it would certainly get done if I worked on nothing else in those stolen 10 minutes each day.)

Sooo, I’m off to clean bathrooms so I can perhaps find a few minutes to spend with my seam ripper later tonight.

Have a great day!
Jennifer

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