Five Baht Elephant

my crafty home

Made: Double Z Mini Quilt and My 400th Post!

Double Z Mini QuiltI am on a roll with these mini quilts, it seems. I made two in one month!

This one is a gift for my friend Heather. She moved her sewing space from an unfinished basement to a bedroom upstairs in her house. With lots of wall space for mini quilts!

The block is the Double Z from the book Vintage Quilt Revival. Despite my dislike of making half square triangles, I really do like how they look. And the different ways you can put them together to create different looks.

For Heather’s quilt, I used some squares from a mini (2 1/2″ squares) charm pack of Sunnyside by Kate Spain (my favorite fabric designer). What else can you do with these teeny squares but make mini quilts?

My favorite part of this mini is the quilting. I free motion quilted back and forth lines going in all directions and only ‘stitched in the ditch‘ on the actual block. I love how the block puffs out because the surrounding parts are so densely quilted.

Double Z Mini Quilt-2

The binding is some leftovers from my mom’s quilt. I backed it in bleached muslin; its quilted with white Gutterman thread. And, look, I even signed the back. (I really need to make some quilt labels. It is on the to-do list.)

Double Z Mini Quilt-3

This was a super quick project. I started it on Friday with the goal of giving it to her on Sunday at the very first sew in for the Denver Metro Modern Quilt Guild <- more on that at a later post!

Lately, I’ve just needed the satisfaction of finishing a project, using the materials on hand. I am trying to make a dent in my fabric stash – and believe me, my stash really isn’t crazy big like some peeps I know.  Mini quilts are the perfect project to try new things, practice building skills and make something.

AND holy moly. This is my 400th post. Which is just crazy when I think about it. I started this blog just a few weeks before Miles was born almost 5 years ago. I love looking through my archives and see just how much we’ve all grown – Miles as a human, me as a crafty person. It’s been fun.

WIP: Geometric Star Quilt + Inaugural Sew-In with the Denver Metro MQG

WIP Geometric Star

Hi friends!

I’ve been hard at work paper piecing the pieces that go into making the Geometric Star block from the book, Vintage Quilt Revival. I’ve made a few individual blocks from the book, but I’ve yet to make an entire quilt.  So far, I’ve got one complete block, and I have the pieces ready to put together for another four. (So, I’m really not even going to mention that I initially stitched this block together all kinds of wrong. If you follow me on instagram, you know this.)

The real fun, though, is that I cut these pieces a few Sundays ago at the very first Sew In with the Denver Metro Modern Quilt Guild! This guild meets on a weekday at a location that is on my way home from work, so it is super convenient for me to attend. I’m for sure still part of the Front Range Modern Quilt Guild – there are a few of us that are part of both – and it is nice to meet even more quilters like me.

So, Sunday morning I packed stuffed my Sewing Circle Tote and headed northwest.

denver metro mqg sew in

I shared a table with my (new) friend Erica and my friend Heather.

denver metro mqg sew in-2

And by noon, all I had accomplished was one single block (May Sugar Block). I spent most of my morning walking around chatting with folks and seeing what everyone else was working on.

2014 May Sugar Block

I was able to at least cut the pieces for the quilt I’m working on now. So it was good to at least show some tangible progress for a 6 hour sew in, just not as much as I had hoped!

denver metro mqg sew in-4

Linking up at Freshly Pieced WIP Wednesdays.

Made: Ziggy Mini

Ziggy Mini Quilt

Look what I made! It is a little 7 1/2″ x 18″ mini quit.

I made a stack of half square triangles a few months ago at a sew-in with some co-workers. They sat in a box for awhile, and after I finished the Sewing Circle Tote, I pulled them out. I wanted to sew something but didn’t have a project in mind.

I played with layouts on the design wall, and settled for this ziggy design.

Quilting Detail Ziggy Mini

I free motioned quilted a blocky design on the neutral fabric.

Binding Ziggy Mini

I had some leftover yellow binding and I pieced in some of the print squares to mix it up a little.

Hanging Sleeve Ziggy Mini

And look, I even added a hanging sleeve!

For the record, I hate half square triangles. I might have mentioned that a few times before.

This was a quick, satisfying project. That I think I’ll hang in my office at work!

Made: Sewing Circle Tote

Sewing Circle Tote

Yay! I am finished! And I love this bag! It’s huge. Lots of pockets. Very sturdy.

I started this project back in March. I barely touched it in May, so I really didn’t spend 3 months sewing it. The pattern is written very well, it is very detailed and I followed every single instruction without modification.

I wanted a stand up kind of bag so, I used the thickest canvas I could find at Fabric.com. It’s listed at 12oz Cotton Duck and isn’t the easiest stuff to work with, but I took my time and used lots of clips to hold the layers together while sewing.

Cutting all the fabric pieces took a long time, and I’m glad that I labeled everything as I went along. I also tried to group pieces together, making the construction easier as I progressed.

I also followed the pattern recommendation to zig zag the raw edges of the cotton duck after cutting all the pieces out. This stuff frays like crazy!

sct-zigzag

The cotton duck is pretty hefty, and I broke 2 needles trying to force the thick seams through my machine. The Juki is pretty strong, and I should have just let the machine do the work. Instead I tried to force it through and broke a few needles. Learned my lesson there!

The seam allowances change from 1/4″ to 5/8″ to 3/8″ depending on which part of the bag you’re working on. I used painter’s tape to help me sight the different seam allowances – the markings on my throat plate aren’t that easy to see.

Painters Tape

The weight of the bag also took some manipulation. As I was sewing the lining to the exterior, I rested parts of the bag on my head while slowly feeding the bag through the machine bit by bit.

The quilted outside pockets are nice and large – big enough for my rulers and books. The inside pockets are plenty big as well for some of the little stuff I take to sew-ins or to a friend’s house for a sewing party.

SCT Inside

 

Supplies:

Fabric Name/Designer/Collection
Solid Fabric Exterior Kaufman Essex Linen Blend Steel
Straps Quilter’s Linen Print Magenta
Lining Sunprint Text Green
Lg interior pocket lining and patchwork Sunprint Feathers Acid Green
All other pocket linings and patchwork Architextures various
Cotton Duck 12 oz. Cotton Duck
1″ Cotton Webbing (straps) Cotton Webbing 1″ Tan
Fusible interfacing, lightweight Pellon 808 Craft Fuse
Peltex
Batting Scraps
7″ zippers
12″ zippers
3/8″ elastic 3/8″ braided elastic white
Needle Schmetz Denim
Thread Gutterman Jeans

 

Work In Progress: The Sewing Circle Tote

Hi friends! May was just a crazy month. A good month. Just crazy busy.

And my poor sewing machine sat. Neglected. While I was off in Ohio, off at work, off to Vegas. Just… not at home in my sewing room.

*sigh*

I finally did get back to the Juki and I got back to work on this crazy-ass tote. The pattern is by Elizabeth Hartman and she calls it The Sewing Circle Tote. I can’t believe I haven’t blogged about this before. (Well, I know I’ve instagram’d it. Can’t keep my ‘share all my projects on social media’ things straight.)

@ the beginning

Don’t be intimidated by the bag. I mean it! You’ll do a search for reviews and all these blog posts come up with folks sharing their story. But don’t be intimidated! You should make this bag. The instructions are very clear, very detailed and easy to follow.

sewing the straps on to the tote

With as many steps as this bag takes, I broke down the tasks as I read through the pattern. And since I like stats and keeping track of progress and spreadsheets, I made a project sheet. Isn’t it great? In all its nerdy glory? By the way, I don’t make project sheets for all my sewing projects, just the ones that have a ba-jillion steps.

Nerd Alert!

So far, I’ve only broken one needle. And I’m using denim needles paired with jeans thread to stitch through all these layers. My machine is having absolutely no trouble with this – this Juki is stitching over these thick seams like a hot knife through butter. I broke my needle by pulling the fabric through, and it must of have just gotten caught on something. Oops.

I broke a needle - gasp!I’m just about finished. I’ll share a post outlining my tips for sewing this tote up when I’m done.

Made: 2013 Sugar Block Quilt

2013 Sugar Block Quilt Front

2013 Sugar Block Quilt Back

Done! I finally got my 2013 Sugar Block quilted and the binding stitched on.

I love it! I am so excited about this quilt. In all of it’s colorful glory.

I wanted this quilt to be a bit softer, so I made sure to not densly quilt it. I tried to make big, loopy loops and swirls in an all over design. I thought it would be easy. I found that it was not. I mean, quilting it wasn’t difficult, but it definitely wasn’t easy. I still haven’t quite cracked the code on a good thread, needle, speed combination to free-motion quilt headache free.

2013 Sugar Block Quilt
Designer: Amy Gibson of Stitchery Dickory Dock
Fabrics: Various Kona Solids; Kona White as the main background fabric
Thread: Coats Cotton Quilting Thread in Over the Rainbow
Needle: Organ HAx1 size 11

Redo! Sugar Block Edition.

So… I decided to start over with my Sugar blocks. The novelty, directional prints didn’t seem to work well with the block patterns. At least, I wasn’t sold on them. I do have a project in mind for all that fabric, but I won’t get to it for awhile.

Using Kate Spain’s Daydream collection – warm palette – I like how these blocks turned out way better! The prints are really pretty pieced like this. I am really excited to see how all the blocks come together over the year.

New Version of the Sugar Blocks

And, um, lesson learned from mis-cutting way too many pieces the last go around, I wrote out all the measurements onto a sticky note and stuck it right above my fabric cutting area. And then I labeled each print. That little bit of work up front made cutting the pieces more efficient.

Trying to Stay Organized

 

Made: Travel Sewing Kit

Travel Sewing Kit

I love this little kit.

I used a well written tutorial by Amy at Lots of Pink Here, and it is the perfect little kit for holding my paper pieced hexagon supplies. My favorite part?  The thread spool holder – such an ingenious idea!

Travel Sewing Kit CollageI was using a plastic box to hold all my fabric, paper templates, needles (which would get lost in amongst all the things), thread and scissors. It was a hot mess, if I’m being honest. And not terribly portable due to the size. But this little kit is small enough to throw in my purse or bag.

Amy’s tutorial is very clear and easy to follow. The only change I made was to interface the pocket pieces, including the scissor holder, with craft fuse to make them a bit sturdier. It did not take me long at all to make this. Probably the hardest part was choosing the fabric! I dug through my box of scraps for the interior fabric, pockets and binding. For the exterior, I cut into a 1/2 yard cut of this print from Kate Spain’s Central Park. I had been hoarding that piece for way too long.

I love it! I can see myself making more of these as gifts for crafty friends or to add into swap packages.

Catching Up

This week has been a bit of a tease. Weather-wise. I can feel the warmness in the air – which surprises me because the landscape is contradictory in it’s brown and muddyness. Some days everything is colored gray because of the clouds.

Oh, don’t get me wrong. I’m not complaining. In the past few days, I’ve been able to run outside – in shorts, no less! – walk to grab a salad for lunch – without my coat!  And today, it is sunny and warm. I can hear the kids at the child care center playing outside – laughing and yelling.

I expect to see green grass and plants sprouting and flowers blooming. I am ready for spring, my friends. Are you?

I’ve had a rough go of it at work. So much so that I applied, interviewed and was offered another job. In a completely different industry. And boy. Turning down that opportunity was a hard one. I tried, really tried, to convince myself (and JJ) to say “Yes!”

In the end, I’d just be trading in my current set of problems for another. Nothing is really perfect, right? And the whole decision making exercise was really helpful in reminding me of the things that I do love about my job. I was working myself up over too many areas that really aren’t in my control. I’ve been making the daily (sometimes hourly) choice to focus my energy in the areas I influence and to not waste any more time on the stuff outside of my control.

*sigh* The whole ‘choosing’ thing again.

I’ve been making progress on some projects. And I’ve started some new ones.

2013 Sugar Block Quilt Basted

I basted the 2013 Sugar Block top. And I started quilting it. Except after quilting a 6″ square area, I decided that I did not like how it looked. And then spent the next hour ripping out the stitches. Have you ever ripped out machine quilting? It takes forever…. two episodes of The Walking Dead in this case.

Paper Pieced Hexagons

While sitting on the couch with JJ watching Season 2 of House of Cards, I’ve been making these little hexagons. I’m using leftover fabric from the Cropshoot Quilt. It’s Kate Spain’s Terrain, which is my absolute favorite fabric line so far. I love that I’m able to work with it again.

Improv Quilt WIP
I pulled out my improv blocks from the Jacquie Gering class my guild sponsored back in November. I’m thinking that this will either be a wall hanging for the living room, or a lap quilt for a friend.

Baby Quilt WIPHalf Square Triangles

And finally, I joined some coworkers at a local sewing machine/vacuum/quilt shop for an Open Sew last weekend. I was able to finish a baby quilt top and started stitching a bunch of half-square triangles. I don’t have a huge stash of pre-cuts, but I was able to make a dent in the stock I do have.

Have a good day, friends!

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