Kaffe quilt

Quilt top finish in 1 day - easy peasy lemon squeezy! This would have taken even less time if the stupid bottom tension screw hadn't worked its way out of the bobbin case and fallen into the body of the machine. Turns out my new machine is a lot harder to take apart than those vintage babies. Finally shook it out onto the cutting mat. I can't believe I didn't lose it; it's about the size Horton's Whos.

On Friday night, I went to the open sewing lounge at Stitched, my bestest LQS, and met up with a couple of friends (June, for one) for some sewing (and nachos after - mmmmm, cheese). I made yet another wristlet, just for me. I also fell in love with a half yard bundle of this, and immediately thought of the Kaffe Fassett Bar Codes quilt. I don't think this is an exact repro, but who cares? This fabric is gorgeous, and the colors seemed perfect for the fall. I plan to back & bind with Kaffe Fassett shot cotton, and do simple straight line quilting.  Maybe variegated thread for a change? Definitely heading back to Stitched tomorrow on my lunch break.

I was nervous about sewing these long strips together without buckling or bending. I cut selvage to selvage, and sewed 2 strips together to get the length I wanted.  When sewing these long strips together, I sewed pairs, then joined pairs, then joined the fours. I also started in the middle each time, sewing from the middle to each end. I think this really helped keep everything from stretching, too. Does anyone else use this technique? Is it so standard I'm silly for even mentioning this?
Update: That is my friend Susan holding the quilt.  Thanks, Susan!
Disclaimer: No spiders were harmed during the photographing of this quilt top.

Quilt for Abby

I am very sad to write that Abby Lola Shadowfax McGuineapig passed away on Saturday, September 17. She left us too early, and her cause of death is unknown. No sign of trauma or distress, just...gone. Her longtime companion, Flower PetalEars McGuineapig, mourns her deeply, as do we all. She was laid to rest in a quiet ceremony at home, with only family in attendance.

Susannah with the burial quilt she designed for Abby:

Abby Lola Shadowfax McGuineaPig, sweet cavy girl

Vermont Quilt Festival (Or, the Post In Which I reveal My Terrible Potty Mouth)

Disclaimer: I swear. A lot. I haven't done so previously on this blog (I think??), but I hear there are some tender-hearted readers swimming around in blogland. Apparently, I can only go so long without writing the word fuck. And some other stuff. None of this comes as any surprise to anyone who knows me in real life. Also, this post has no pictures. June has pictures. I link to June quite a lot in this post. None of June's pictures have any swearing in them. End of disclaimer.

Last weekend I went to the Vermont Quilt Festival. It was my first quilt festival EVER, AND I went with my new friend June. I met June through the Sew, Mama, Sew Giveaway Day. I entered loads of giveaways, I won one. And the one that I won? That one was hosted by June, who unbelievably lives in the next town over from where I work. Crazy, in the really good kind of way. June dropped off my win (oh rats, I don't have a picture, because I am a lazy, lazy blogger, so here is June's picture) to me at work, with her absolutely adorable girls in tow. We didn't have very long to chat, but decided to go to VQF together. We met at her house, so I got to see a lot of her work, including this quilt, which I want to copy, and her stash (it is serious fabric geek fun to paw through someone else's stash), and the beautiful things she sells through her Etsy shop.

Then off we went, to brave the crowds and try not to knock anyone over (hips could be broken). We had a blast, and it's a huge reminder that the vast majority of the quilting world are older women. I'm younger than the crowds at the festival; from the 'lost generation of sewing'. June represents the up and coming crowd: all those hip young mamas who manage to sew and craft while raising their tots. We admired quilts, made each other laugh, ate cheeseburgers for lunch, and generally had an awesome time. It was so much more fun than if I'd gone by myself. And we even met up with another friend, a co-worker of mine. We saw my friend Jen, working her socks off at the booth for her store Stitched, we bought a little bit of fabric, and June graciously tolerated my cat quilt jokes. My favorite competition quilt was by another friend that I met at Stitched, the very talented Hope Johnson. She followed this year's theme of 'Yankee Ingenuity', and had the coolest quilt based on tangrams (pictures by June).

We also got to play on a couple of different long arm machines. I really, really need to find a place that rents long arm machines in Vermont. The HandiQuilter was our favorite. We goofed around a bit to get a bit of a feel for the machine. There were 2 arms set up on the same roller, so we could practice simultaneously. Then June drew a cat (as a rebuttal to all those cat quilt comments), and I drew a mouse. Okay, I know it sounds like we're about 6 years old, but that's how it felt! It was like discovering drawing for the first time. Fun, fun, fun. Definitely an "if money were no object" moment.

My favorite non-competition quilt had me gawking and squeaking and being a one-woman freak show. The back story is that I do believe that the technique and software used to create these embroidered blocks are new. Like within the last couple of years new, this being able to create an embroidery design from a scanned picture. The subject matter is NOT new. And it's hardly traditional. I stood and stared, torn between the competing emotions of "The Glory of This Cheese is Divine to Behold" and "What the FUCK???". Luckily, June had a camera and took pictures. You need to go here, and here, and here. Yes. That is Fabio. I can't believe it's not butter, either. In case you're wondering, that's Sean Connery hidden behind the handbag. Yup, that's crazy-ass Mel in the coveted center square. All the teeth? Who else but Tom Cruise? And Kevin Costner in his 'Water World' heyday. Tom Selleck, one of the only human beings on whom a mustache belongs, looks weird because the quilt was hung so it sort of rippled through his square. Not a good look for Magnum. Why the theme of 'mega-stars of the 80's' to show off the latest fancy sewing machine capability? Fuck if I know.

The Dude Quilt

My sweet nephew went behind my back and grew up on me. He just graduated from high school. He spent a lot of time with me when he was a baby, and I was the one who taught him how to make all the animal sounds, beginning counting, stuff like that. One of the many, many cute things he did was pretend to be different animals, announce what he was, and then hug me. The absolute best version of this was, "I'm huggin' pig!" I still crack up when I think about it. And now he's 18 years old, and out into the world. He was overdue to receive a quilt anyway, so this was part of his graduation gift.

His preferred color scheme was blue, black and grey. Without this guidance, I never would have made a quilt with this strict and limited palette. But every guy who's seen it, including the nine year old hockey player next door, thinks it's great. It's the Dude Quilt. Horizontal straight double line quilted, Kona medium grey sashing, framed back design using the Michael Miller jigsaw print and blue and grey Kona.

It's wrinkled from being rolled up for over a week. Dirt splotches are a mystery, but back into the wash it goes. Hmmm, now that I think about it, the dirt and wrinkles just add to the dude-ness...maybe I should bang in an oil stain or two? It's a very, very simple design, and he loves it. And I love him.

3 Bottled Rainbow Blocks

Petal

Ocean

Indigo

Quilt-a-long at Stitched In Color.

Migration, Redux

We've had a bit of rain in Vermont. Not as bad as some parts of the country, but it's not what would be termed good. In between the rain, my daughter and I managed to hang these on our crab apple tree a couple of weeks ago during a few hours of sunshine. 62 birdies were in the tree, and most the name of a neighborhood kid under its wing, and the kids...well, they flocked. It was really fun. Then the rain came back, so we have a few birdies left to distribute.

 Note the umbrella & rain boots. Our kids are prepared!

Give me your fabric opinions!

Fabric, fabric, fabric...there are certain pieces, collections, and modern fabric designers that I adore. I'm pretty new to the world of modern quilting and the accompanying designers, so there are lines of fabric that I missed because I came late to the party. For me, the 'ones that got away' include "Lightning Bugs and Other Mysteries" from Heather Ross, "Neptune" from Tula Pink, "Uptown" from Erin Michael (particularly those paint-by-number birds), and I suppose Denyse Schmidt's "Flea Market Fancy", although I have mixed feelings about that last one...mainly because of the crazy-stupid prices it goes for now. On the other hand, I have what I consider to be a lovely little stash of "Mendocino" by Heather Ross, and Erin Michael's "Lush". And here is my confession: it's become difficult to not be a hoarder. I have a few stacks & pieces of fabric that I've been hesitant to cut into...and my budget doesn't really allow for buying fabric that won't be used. What's hard for me to put under the rotary cutter? A complete set of fat quarters, for one. Out of print fabrics, for another. What if I make a mistake, and I can't GET ANY MORE??? The world might run out of gorgeous fabric any minute, you know. You really can't be too careful.

When I first started quilting, I made all the rookie fabric purchasing mistakes. Some people just have naturally impeccable taste. I am not one of those people. I see photos of other blogger's fabric shelves, and it all looks perfect and cohesive. At the back of my fabric shelves (and those shelves are deep so I can shove a  bunch of orphaned fabric back there) I've got a stack of stuff I'll never purposefully put into a quilt. Batiks for one, but I use this to make summer clothes for my daughter, so it doesn't really count. Then some 30's repro stuff, which is totally cute and completely not me. You know what I'm talking about: the pastel fabrics with little elephants and scottie dogs. Maybe I'll make a crib quilt some day? And then some truly crazy bright orange stuff. I don't know what I was thinking, but I know it was super cheap and it just sort of called out to me. I believe the word my friend Tia used was 'lurid'. I'm glad I wasn't grown up and decorating a house in 1975, because I would have been ALL OVER that burnt orange, harvest gold, and avocado green color scheme. Would have had a big piece of  Marimekko fabric on stretcher bars, too, just like my best friend's parents did.  I continue to buy some good quality fabric I don't like on purpose, so I can check stitches & tension, practice free-motion quilting, and generally experiment. It has to be super cheap, ideally $2/yard.


Another rookie buying mistake I made was getting a lot of very distinctive prints. You know, prints with big repeats, and/or lots of colors, what some folks call "focus fabrics". I'm now making up for this by seeking out monochromatic prints, dots, and the 'almost solids'. There are some terrific 'almost' solids available right now. For me, this category includes Laura Gunn's "Painter's Canvas". The first of these came out with "Magnolia Lane", but there are now 30 colors. Also in this category is "Grunge" by Basic Grey; a few new shades are included with every collection. The way the different colors are layered on these prints is kind of mesmerizing. I also seem to be a sucker for tonal stripes, like the pinstripes in Momo's "Just Wing It!", and Kitty Yoshida's wavy stripes.

I've read that many experienced quilters don't like the pre-cuts, but I think I'm addicted to charm packs. Yes, I know that the price per yard is higher, but I love love love having a piece of every fabric in a collection. The 10" layer cake size is a lot better for large scale designs. But charm packs are cheap! And cute! And cheap! And now in mini-charm size which is even cuter and cheaper (and quite probably totally impractical)!

Nowadays I plan in advance what fabric lines I'd like to get my sticky little hands on, so I can budget. My current list is: "Prince Charming" from Tula Pink, "Terrain" from Kate Spain, and "Far Far Away III" from Heather Ross. That last one looks like an odds and ends mix of leftovers from other projects, but I still love it. Especially those little guitars. I'm sure there will be more fabric that catches my magpie eye soon...which brings us to the issue of reissuing.

Trend alert! Reissuing/reprinting fabric has started to take off. I'll arbitrarily say that it's reprinting if it's a second run of fabric still on the market, and reissuing if it's gone off the market and then been brought back. To clarify, I'm not talking about vintage print reissues, like Tammis Keefe or Marimekko, but recent stuff. There was a huge, or at least very vocal, demand for more Flea Market Fancy. Free Spirit declined. I don't know what happened, but according to Denyse Schmidt herself, there will be a limited reissue of FMF in early 2012. The first reprint that I saw was Momo's "Wonderland", which seemed quite unusual for the manufacturer, Moda. Moda releases lines of fabric so fast it makes my head spin, and once they're gone, that's it. But Moda did a partial reprint of Wonderland, and I remember seeing a couple of sale listings for 'original' or 'first run' Wonderland fabric. Was there a way to tell? I'd very much like to know! And seriously, isn't that going over to the crazy side of fabric collecting? Lots of fabric lines stick around for a long time, and so must go through multiple printings, right? Reissues might have tweaks to the original designs. Heather Ross put out some Lightning Bug prints on Spoonflower (no longer available) that were in different colors with some small changes to some of the designs. "Knitmare on Elm Street" has come back from Michael Miller, in different colorways and under the name "Knitty Gritty". Side note - I think this fabric is hilarious, and the original seemed extremely collectible (I don't have any). But here's something odd: the companion fabric "That's Sew Wrong" languished on shelves, and is still available online at fire sale prices. I thought the sewing theme was equally funny, and I made sewing machine covers from it for me and my mom. What makes one fabric utterly desirable, and another one more or less flop? And finally, Moda is putting out another reprint in October 2011, the 'Pez' or "Magic Beans" fabric from American Jane/Sandy Klop. I hope it's going to be in more colors, because I really like this design.

Trend alert part deux! Big name quilt fabric designers are going mass market (or as some people might put it, to the dark side). April Cornell has long had fabric available in the big chains, notably in JoAnn Fabric in the U.S. Recently, Denyse Schmidt had a line of fabrics plus a couple of quilt patterns specifically for the chains. The cloth quality is fine, but the prints themselves are a little dull in my opinion. Do you think her DS Quilts line for the chains had anything to do with Flea Market Fancy coming back from Free Spirit Fabrics? Liesl Gibson (of Oliver & S patterns and fabrics) has the Lisette line of fabric and patterns at the chains. Now unlike April Cornell and Denyse Schmidt, who have quilting fabric lines for both the chains and the boutique/local/online quilt shops, Liesl G has very cleverly gone for a different market. Oliver & S is geared toward kids and quilting, although there are some gorgeous knits, but the Lisette line is women's apparel. If I had to predict the next big name to have fabric in the chains, I'd say Amy Butler...but she seems to be going another way, with an organic line on the way and finished goods like her bags, and the bed linens at Bed Bath & Beyond. One final note about fabric at the chains, specifically JoAnn's: it doesn't cost less. The DS Quilts, April Cornell, Alexander Henry prints are up to $10/yard. The only time I buy stuff at JoAnn's is when it's on sale or I have a coupon, and then I stock up on needles, cutting blades, thread, interfacing, etc. This weekend I picked up all four Lisette patterns for $1 each, and some Lisette fabric for 50% off.

I have to confess, I spend more time looking at fabric and projects online, browsing at fabric stores, reading blogs, and pawing through my own shelves than I spend actually sewing. My resolution is to sew more, and jump in even if it's just a half hour at a time. After all, that fabric isn't going to sew itself!

So here are my questions for you:
1. What's the fabric line you didn't buy, but wish you had?
2. Do you have fabric that's hard for you to cut into, or fabric you hoard?
3. What mistakes do you make when purchasing fabric?
4. What works for you in buying fabric?

I'd love to hear from other people! And after re-reading this very long post, I should probably state the obvious: everything I wrote is my own opinion. I'm not sponsored, and the links are just to illustrate what I'm talking about.

Zombie Outbreak Preparedness

Author's Note: The "Appendix Z" link has been updated, and should work correctly.
So, the health organization for whom I work uses various protocol manuals, including the Laboratory & Infection Management Manual. A few months ago, I had the task of revising and reformatting this manual. Are you asleep yet? It quickly became clear to me that a major health and safety concern was not being addressed within the manual. So I fixed that, creating "Appendix Z: Zombie Outbreak Preparedness" . I distributed this document to my work colleagues on April 1, 2011, to little fanfare (although a few folks seemed very appreciative). Please note that I am neither a licensed health care provider nor in any way qualified to either direct a laboratory or set policy. So it was a bit surprising when the CDC (Centers for Disease Control) blatantly ripped me off. Here's the link to their zombie Emergency Preparedness and Response page, published May 16, 2011. You're welcome, CDC.

Migration

These little birdies are part of a surprise I'd hoped to complete by May 1...looks like mid-May will have to do. I got the idea from a Sew Mama Sew! tutorial by Kasja Wikman, and had to whip up a few. And then a few more. And I couldn't stop. After I finished the first dozen you see here, I made about 50 more.  Obsess much?  But just wait until I show you the result...check back next week!

I made all of them from findings in my scrap basket and cheap value-priced ribbon, and the bit of stuffing is from cut up batting scraps - those little pieces that are too small or skinny even to use for fabric coasters.  My own little twist is that each birdie has a name under the wing:

They're all living in my sewing room now, but will be flying off this weekend.

Bottled Rainbows

I'm waiting for a few more solids for a "Bottled Rainbows" quilt.  It's a ticker-tape style project, and the best part is how it's broken up.  I plan to take my time, and work on segments when I feel like it, with no timeline or pressure.  I made a doll sized ticker tape quilt, blogged here, and had a lot of fun with the improvisational aspects of it.  And my kid's doll really seems to like it (such a rewarding feeling).  So no new and poor photography, but stay tuned...

Round up

Our lives have been readjusted lately...my husband has a new & intense work gig, that has been taking him out of town for the whole work week at least twice a month. Luckily for us, my parents live about 3 houses away, so Susannah can go there after school.  But I definitely miss having my laundry folded for me.  I have managed to complete a few small projects and a quilt over the past month.  Once again,  I neglected to take photographs as I finished things, so some of the following were taken by other people, using iphones and the like.  A couple of these are pretty blurry, but it's all I have.  I suggest squinting.

I made a throw pillow cover for my Mom, who loves flowers and bright, clear colors.  The minute I saw this fat quarter of Jane Sassaman fabric, I had a plan.  Like the other pillows I've made recently, it's a simple envelope closure.  I really do know how to sew in a zipper, and the next pillow I make will be zippered.  The back fabric is more Jane Sassaman from an earlier collection, that I had in my stash.  The quilting is just a machine serpentine stitch, but I think it gives a bit more interest.

Next up, another banner, this time using stars.  I made this for Tausha, who admired the heart banner.  Tausha does so much volunteer work, and I thought it would be nice for her to get something for no reason at all (start squinting):

I made another pillow, this one with applique and inexpert embroidery.  This was for someone I greatly admire, and who LOVES her dogs. You probably can't see it, but I embroidered the word 'devotion' on the back. 

 Okay, one more pillow to show (better pictures, I promise).  It's another version of the dog pillow.  I like the concept so much that it was fun to play around with different fabrics.  I found My friend Erin picked the PERFECT print to use for the golden retriever silhouette.  With every fabric line they design, Basic Grey includes new shades of grunge, and I love the stuff.  It's one of those not-quite-solid prints that I just want more of, like "Painter's Canvas" prints by Laura Gunn, Moda cross-weave, and the teeny stripe in Momo's "Just Wing It!"  "Origins" by Basic Grey is a current favorite fabric collection, and I have some pre-cuts and yardage waiting patiently to be put into a quilt.

In the meantime, I cut into some of it for this:

This pillow actually went to a friend of a friend, who recently lost her beloved dog.  If you don't have pets, then you may not understand the emotional bond.  And if you do have animals in your life, then you know that some are just really, really special.  This dog was incredibly important to this woman and her son, and I felt the pain of her loss even without knowing the dog.

I finished a quilt for the little girl next door, who is not only super-cute, but deep in the throes of the dress-up, shoe loving, princess-y, pink-purple-sparkly stage of little girlhood. Far, Far Away (I & II) to the rescue:

Hey, I think that's the Wood Cutter holding up that quilt (you can't see the wood shed in this photo).












Here are the four blocks, each about 26 inches square:

 The back, along with an appliqued & embroidered shoe that someone happened to lose in the garden:

And finally, a week ago, a sign of spring after this long, long Vermont winter:

Uh huh.  It's about time.

Snow Day

This is what our crabapple tree looks like in spring:

Here is what it looks like today:

That's right, Susannah is stepping into the tree. Not climbing, stepping.

Sunday afternoon with my daughter

The weather here was just vile yesterday afternoon. After helping our neighbors with their flooded garage, and a calorific lunch at the Wayside, we ditched any notion of venturing further and hunkered down at home. Susannah made a very cool throw pillow cover with some fabrics she bought a while ago. Those cute Michael Miller deer! I wanted to keep the project super simple, but she INSISTED on the pieced front. The back is a simple envelope closure. I love how it turned out - so mod. Anyone out there sewing with kids: opinions on using rotary cutters? My daughter is 10, and I'm pretty hesitant about putting a rotary cutter into her hands. Input would be appreciated. Anyway, this topped off a relaxed weekend, but one with THREE finishes: my linen cargo skirt, a quilted throw pillow cover for my mom, and Sus's project. I'll add more pictures as I get them. I'm just terrible at photographing projects before I send them off into the world.

Love

Valentine's Day - forget the overpriced flowers and chocolate, and the overly hyped romantic dinners. Let's just say it's a good thing to celebrate love. Maybe it feels extra special in my little town, because for years now the Valentine Phantom has been plastering hearts all over town. Whoever the mastermind is, I admire the sheer persistence and dedication. Being out and about at 3 a.m. on February 14 is canNOT be fun. But every year, the Valentine Phantom makes the whole town smile for the day. That's LOVE.

 Here's who I love:

Who do YOU love? 

Cake Rock Beach

Skip this if repeat projects bore you...more wristlets! This is really about the tenth set I've made, and I loooooove them. It's true, there are a lot of pieces to this. Cutting takes for-EVAH, so I had a couple of hours of production line cutting. I have a stack of flannel lining and fusible interfacing pre-cut, plus several sets of fabric.   So I can sit down and get right to the fun part when it's time to make a new set. My friend Jen H recently had a big, fat birthday. As is our habit, a group of girlfriends in my neighborhood got together for a small celebration. These occasions are especially notable when Heidi bakes. I skipped dinner, and went straight to the perfect cheesecake with lemon curd OR (more honestly, AND) caramel sauce, washed down with a glass of prosecco. Swoon. Back to the wristlets: I wanted this set to be something Jen was sure to like and use, and to that end, I invited her to go "shopping" in my fabric stash to see what she liked. This confirmed what I already knew: Jen has amazing taste. She chose 3 fabrics from Joelle Hoverson's "Cake Rock Beach" line. Why, oh why, hasn't Joelle continued with fabric design? Anyway, this was not anything I'd looked at for this project, and it has turned out to be my favorite set so far.

Conversation Hearts

So my friend Tia told me about home made conversation hearts. More trouble than they're worth? Oh yeah, but so cute. Here's a link to a recipe. My tips: make sure the sugar dough doesn't try out before you roll it out for cutting. Some of mine are pretty grainy for this reason. This is a messy project. Powdered sugar was flying everywhere, and I'm kind of surprised I'm not still stuck to the floor. I also managed to kill my hand mixer (Black and Decker WITH TURBO BOOST) at the end there. If you attempt this, have an extra bag of powdered sugar on hand for the hand kneading. I added in a lot more during this step than I expected.  For flavors, I used peppermint and vanilla extracts, and a super secret ingredient (shhhh...lemon and cherry Jell-O). I would have used Kool-Aid packets, but couldn't find any. Kool Aid flavors would have been excellent.

Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous

Hey, I learned to make tassels! This scarf  is voile and velveteen - Anna Maria Horner's "Innocent Crush" fabric line. The voile was obnoxiously slippy to sew to the velveteen. It's been much easier sewing voile to voile. I don't have a walking foot for my favorite machine; maybe that would help. The scarf is worth it though, it feels totally luxurious. I went with the 'luxury' theme, and taught myself how to make tassels (much cheaper than adding yachts or polo ponies, but now that I think about it, should luxury be 'cheaper'? I'm going all out on the next luxury scarf...). I used three colors of grey and lavender for the tassels, and I really like the subtle variegated look. This scarf was my first commission, and I hope the birthday girl likes it! Here's a picture I love, because it looks like a rolled up magic carpet:

I had experimented with a first scarf for myself, with a beaded fringe, but I think I'll ditch the beads in favor of: TASSELS!

Ticker Tape & a question for my vast horde of readers

I made this a while ago using teeny scraps. When I started quilting, I read about scrappy projects, using up scraps, scrap swaps, even selling scraps. So I saved ridiculously small pieces, without understanding that for most folks, "scraps" means anything smaller than a fat eighth. But a little ticker tape quilt can use up eensy little pieces. The first one I saw was created by Amanda Jean (tutorial here). This particular quilt is doll sized, and has been used constantly - I'd love to try a lap sized version. Wondering if anyone has made one with pinking the scraps? Does it look weird? Less fraying, less charm? Leave a comment & let me know!

Pay It Forward craftiness

sew blog 022
Originally uploaded by micmacker@gmail.com

Here's my first completed project for my 2011 Pay It Forward crafting whatsis from Facebook. This is for Cheryl, whom I've known since high school. Cheryl gets to be first because last year, I only completed half of my pay it forwards. Oops. I chose a lot of blue for Cheryl to match her eyes, and I just think she'll get a kick out of the owls.

watching the game

I have zero interest in football.  When the Barry and I first moved in together, I had no idea how much he LOVED watching the Patriots.  In the throes of early love, I tried, I really did.  But if you can't find it in yourself to embrace someone else's thing under those conditions, it's never gonna happen.  Watching sports on tv is just. not. me.  The frogs, though, are on Barry's side.