2.28.2011

Bottled Rainbows Quilt Along


Look at how gorgeous this picture is.  Wouldn't it make a delicious quilt?  I already have an idea for this baby!  Rachel @ Stitched in Color is having a quilt along featuring my new favorite quilt to make...the ticker tape quilt!  (See my Owl).

If you've never made a ticker tape quilt, now is your time!  It is so much fun!!!  Who is with me?

Val

2.25.2011

Scrappy Pincushion Swap #3


Some women say, you can never have too many shoes.  My mantra is, you can never have too many pincushions!  My husband may disagree.

I joined the Scrappy Pincushion Swap #3 on flickr.  This is a blind swap where your partner is not revealed to you until you receive your pincushion in the mail.  The way it works is everyone in the swap creates an inspirational mosaic displaying photos of their favorite ideas for pincushions, posted in flickr.  You are then given the name of your swap partner, which is to be kept a secret.  You go to Scrappy Pincushion Swap flickr page and find your partner's mosaic.  After analyzing their mosaic, along with looking at all their favorite photos, you try to create a unique pincushion embracing all their likes (color, style, size, shape, etc.)


Here is a picture of my photo mosaic:


I can't reveal who I have made this pincushion for, but I think that she likes felted flowers.  I've hot glue gunned handmade felted rosettes onto the rim of this porcelain container that I found at Goodwill.  I thought it would fun to have one side work as a pincushion while keeping the other side open for storage.  I just HAD to use Flea Market Fancy as the fabric for the pincushion!   



I can't wait until mine comes in the mail and I really hope my partner likes what I have made her. 

2.14.2011

"Mannie" Roll-up.


On February 15th, Made By Rae is going to dedicate an entire month to featuring incredible sewn things for boys.  Stop over there and get inspired.  If you have something you've made for a little guy, there is a flickr pool where you can add your creations. 

Here is something fun that I thought I'd add to the pool.  As a mother of 3 boys under 6, I am bombarded with legos, cars, light sabers, but most importantly, "Mannies."  Most people call these action figures, I think, but my boys adapted the words "little man" into mannies quite some time ago and it has stuck.


I was making art roll-ups for a friend and one of my sons asked if I could make him a roll-up for his mannies.  We like to bring our mannies with us every where we go, so this is a perfect solution.


All rolled up!


  I added a velcro latch to the end so it would close up easily for them. 

~Val


I almost forgot, Happy Valentine's Day everyone!

2.12.2011

Today Owl was featured on Modern Day Quilts!


Today "Owl" was featured on Heather's blog called Modern Day Quilts. 

The leading caption on her blog says "One modern quilt a day. Searching the best modern quilts on the web for the most awesome one today."

I feel incredibly honored that she featured my quilt. 

Thanks, Heather!

~Val

2.10.2011

You can call me Owl.



Fabric Scraps!!!  
If you sew, you'll create scraps.  If you've ever seen crazymomquilt's Ticker Tape Quilt, hopefully you've started hording these said scraps in order to make your very own.


This quilt began for me at the Old Red Barn Co. Quilt Along #9 on Flickr.  How this Quilt Along works is that Danaof Old Red Barn Co., chooses a different quilt theme for each round of her Quilt Along. If you choose to participate, you post pictures into the Flickr Group as your quilt progresses.  Dee, of deeroo designs, graciously typed up a tutorial of how to create a Ticker Tape Quilt.

I love Owls and I knew I wanted to incorporate one into this quilt somehow.  I scoured Flickr for inspiration and came across this cute little picture.  I asked the artist if he would mind if I used his image as inspiration for a quilt and he was thrilled. 





I divided this quilt into four quadrants and sewed them all together at the end. The scraps were sewn directly onto a pre-sandwiched (is that a word?) quilt, which allows you to "quilt-as-you-go."  I had never used this technique before, but can I just say that I LOVED IT!!!  It is so refreshing to turn your quilt over, after sewing your little scraps onto the front, to find that you have just quilted it at the same time!!!  The four smaller sections made manuvering around the tiny scraps so much more manageable!  However, not all Ticker Tape Quilts are made this way.  You can also make them the more traditional way by sewing all your scraps onto the quilt top first, then quilting it with the batting and binding. 

 






I was nervous about washing it because I had sewn so close to the edge of each piece (approx. 1/8"), but it came out softer than ever and the pieces all frayed perfectly! However, it did take about 2 hours of mindless trimming to remove all the excess strings that had accumulated on the front from the washing.




For the back, I used Valori Wells' Del Hi line.





What I love best about this quilt is that it is like a snapshot in time for me.  Each teeny tiny scrap represents a project that I have made.  Just like a photo album that brings back memories when you look at each pictures, this quilt brings back memories of all the love that I have put into every single project that I have created.  

I encourage everyone who has scraps that they don't want to throw away to use them on a Ticker Tape Quilt.  My next Ticker Tape Quilt will be the Bottled Rainbow Quilt Along with Rachel of StitchedInColor.  It is never to late to join us!  




Lessons learned (if you are using the "pre-sandwiched" quilt method:

If I make  When I make another ticker tape quilt, there is one thing I would do differently.  On the front of each piece, I had left about an inch of white space along the edges of each quadrant so that I could sew them together when they were all finished.  The problem is, once you sew them all together, it looks exactly like you've sewn 4 quadrants together.  I didn't want there to be a distinct line running vertically and horizontally across the quilt drawing attention to these 4 quadrants.  So, I spent a lot of time removing pieces that were close to the middle and putting new pieces on that did not all run in a straight line.  Next time, I will leave 2 inches along the edges to avoid all the seam ripping. 

I also did something a little differently than Dee had in her tutorial which she wanted me to share.  When the time comes to sew the back panel together, Dee has folded one side over the other and hand stitched it down.  I decided to just sew the folded side down as close to the edge as possible (I'm not the biggest hand stitching fan).  If you leave the 2 inch space along the edges like I mentioned above, you won't even see this seam on the front side because you will cover it up with the pieces that you come back and add.  It worked like a charm and went very quickly!




I never realized this would turn into an "I Spy" quilt until I laid it on the floor and let Baby Jack climb on it.  "D'er's Buzz," he said.





I just linked this post up with the Linky Party over at Quilt Story.  Go check them out!

And thank you to the Modern Quilt Guild for featuring this quilt in their 100 Days of Modern Quilting.

10_days_button4

2.04.2011

3 for 4 of this Owl Baby completed!

She's almost there!!!




I just finished the 3rd piece of the super puzzle!  Let me just tell you about the experience of trying to take these pictures.  I wanted to go outside to use as much natural light as possible.  The problem is, Indy has just had the biggest ice storm I've ever seen.  The kids have been off school for 4 days now and we are all going a little crazy!  I decided to skate outside and see what I could come up with.  I only fell once and had to chase down the quilt pieces 3 or 4 times.





For the back I am using fabric from Valori Wells' Del Hi line.  I don't know if my love for Valori Wells comes from sharing the same name (even though her spelling is much cooler) or from her amazing choice of colors/designs, but I really think she is a talent.  My aunt, who lives in Bend, Oregon, actually goes to her shop The Stitchin Post quite regularly in Sister, OR.  I can't wait to go back and visit her so the we can go there together.