starting a stash

 2010 was the year i finally got in to sewing. my desire to sew had started a year or two before that, with some crazy, "i want to create!" spring fever each year. but it wasn't until Scrapbooks, ETC, my local store, began carrying designer fabrics as well as scrapbook supplies that i made the leap. i already had a book or two about some simple projects like aprons and softies. (i always start with a book; i'm a bibliophile and book collector first and foremost.) when my birthday month came around, i took advantage of the store's birthday coupon, good for 20% off an entire purchase, to start my stash.

really, i had no specific project in mind. i just wanted to make something and get some fabric, especially since i could take advantage of my coupon. this is not the best way to fabric shop. once there, i wasn't even sure how much of the fabrics to get. i went for 2 yds each of my favorites. i knew a yard might not be quite enough for a skirt or larger project, so i aimed at 2. it was just a shot in the dark. i also purchased 39 (!!!) fat quarters, a few sewing tools - including my gingher rotary cutter, and some 100% wool felt in about 20 colors. even for my birthday, and with a coupon, it was a large purchase.

last weekend, while sorting scraps with a sick little girl for entertainment, i came across the receipt from that original purchase. it made me smile. then i remembered i still had a stack of that fabric (or most of it) on my stash shelf. so i photographed it. i was curious to see how much of it was still there. looking at what's listed on the receipt compared to this pile, i've only dipped into this once or twice. i've used some of these fabrics for projects, but have always rebought them first, for some reason. probably because i selected them to go with the other fabrics for those projects without remembering i had them.

these are still some of my very favorite fabrics. my tastes haven't changed. sandi henderson and heather bailey are well represented: pop garden, nicey jane, meadowsweet. they continue to be my top two designers and favorite lines. i'm surprised to see there's no amy butler since i know i went in looking specifically for her designs. i'd read enough sewing material at that point to know her name. maybe i got fat quarters of her stuff. those are so thoroughly mixed i have no idea what came when.

it tickles me to see that i have this original pile mostly intact. it actually goes together pretty well. maybe what i need to do is make an entire project out of this "pull." with about 30 yards total, there is more than enough here. i could probably do a couple of quilts out of this.

but i'll start thinking about one.
definitely a quilt.
and i already know the name for it: starting a stash.

scrappy wrappy

i am a scrap lover/keeper. even the tiniest bits have a place around here. and i just found a new use for super skinny strings. they make nice ribbon for gift wrapping small presents. it has sort of a shabby chic look with their fraying edges.

i was running out the door to my mom's 60th birthday dinner party when i remembered that in addition to the event we'd gifted her, i had a cd of the les mis soundtrack i'd gotten her. and it needed to be wrapped, pronto. i knew i had some nice tissue paper on hand and i remembered louise telling me she liked to save her squaring-up strings for gift wrap embellishment.

honestly, i didn't particularly like the idea when she suggested it. so i'd never tried it. but i was in a hurry and i remembered all the lovely strings i'd just sorted a few days earlier, so i rummaged and found some pretty ones to tie on the package.

i actually like the effect. a pretty gift tag added on and i had a nice little package to hand mom, who is a sewer and could maybe appreciate my use of scraps. i have gift bags aplenty around here, but i prefer wrapping if i can manage it because i think it's more fun to unwrap than it is to dip into a bag.

my only regret: i didn't think to recycle the strings after she unwrapped them! now they probably are in a trash bin somewhere.

next "to do's"

with me nearing completion on my chevron quilt, it's time to start a new project. yay! a fresh beginning is always so exciting. i have two in mind that i'm burning to do. after working with a kit, i am sooo ready to pick my own fabrics and do my own quilt design again.

my newest idea: an offset diamond out of hst's made in spring house  collection by stephanie ryan for moda. with the makings for a few dozen quilts in my stash already, i absolutely didn't need another new project, but the fresh, jazzy colors of this line seduced me. i don't think i have anything like them. just a charm pack, i thought? well, i sat down to consider what i could do with a charm pack and my new hst skills. a new design was born and i gave myself permission to get the charm pack. or packs, as it turned out.

it uses 3 charm packs each of the porcelain solid squares and the printed fabric to make the hst's. the yellow and green floral is the backing. the hot pink floral print is the binding.

i love that with a charm pack i get just a tiny bit from each fabric. it's a relatively inexpensive way to get just enough of lots of different fabrics.

 

i know most quilters use graph paper to design, but i just sorta sketch it out myself. i'm not decided on how i will place the hst's exactly, but i have the general idea and am looking forward to playing with placement. i better get my design wall done before then.

 

as much as these colors have me swooning, i really should get my sons' quilts done. so i probably should tackle this design i made for ds#2 next.

 my sketch is almost too light to see, but it's just basically some rows of jelly strips with large panels in between. it'll be quick and simple (i hope) and please my son.

i didn't record my idea really well, so there will be some improv because i'm not exactly sure what i got all the fabrics for now. silly, me. i do know that the large dot is for the backing, the 3 smaller dots are for the panels on the front, and where the jelly strips are to go. it's just the quarter yard bits i'm not sure about. they are either for piecing the back or for a pieced binding. maybe both? i guess i'll find out when i get started.



diy pressing board

i have three quilts in the quilting que, fully pin basted and ready to go. oh, and that little doll quilt i want to use to practice fmq on. so, alas, no finishes there.

this week my friday finish is my pressing board! it's not a quilt, but it's a project i've had in mind for a while and it will help with all those other sewing projects in progress. linking in with other friday finishes at crazy mom quilts.

i've been wanting an official pressing board, as opposed to an ironing board, for my quilting for some time now. when my 12 yr old son decided to use my nice ironing board as a bench press for weight lifting (and consequently busted it), i figured i really ought to get that pressing board made. i knew you could make them because Elizabeth Hartman of oh, fransson! had done so. her portable tv tray pressing board is especially cool and useful.

it's really quite simple to do. all you need are some plywood, 100% cotton batting, 100% cotton canvas, a staple gun, and duct tape.

i found a nicely sized piece of plywood in the backyard, a leftover from one of my mr.'s treehouse projects. it's about 36" sq, give or take. i don't remember the measurements anymore. since i scavenged it from the backyard, it even has some child chalk graffiti on it. but that'll be covered up.

my old, sorry, stained ironing board and the batting for my new pressing board. i'm going to have a lot more room to press those large pieces.

for the batting, i got lucky again. when i sandwiched and basted "romance in the garden" i used a prepackaged, 100% cotton, warm and natural brand batting that turned out to be larger than needed on one side. the leftovers were perfect for my pressing board. when folded in half, it was just large enough to wrap my plywood piece with a few inches to spare per side.

at this point, i was supposed to wrap the batting and staple it down with the staple gun. but our staple gun could not be found. after waiting a few weeks, hoping it would show up, i just skipped the staples and went straight to duct tape. when the stapler emerges, i'll get this baby properly fastened. until then, it is okay.

simply wrap the batting around to the back, making sure it's snug but not pulled too tight, and secure with the staple gun (or tape). repeat on all four sides, securing opposite sides first.

 check the front to ensure the batting is smooth, then lay face down on the wrong side of the canvas piece.

when i went to joann, etc to get a cotton canvas fabric, i went looking for a solid white because i like a plain surface to press on. it helps me see the pieces i'm working with much more easily than a busy pattern would. i think all those ironing board covers in cute fabrics are darling, but not practical for me. however, when i saw the selection of cotton canvases, i started drooling over the designs and changed my mind. it got changed right back when they all read "flammable" on the label. how on earth is an 100% cotton canvas fabric flammable, i wonder? any more flammable than anything else, that is. well, to be on the safe side, i went with the plain cream solid i came for. i don't need my pressing board catching fire. "flammable" and ironing/pressing with lots of hot steam do not mix. better safe than sorry. (this is why you should use 100% cotton batting and canvas - they can take the heat better than a synthetic mix would.)

so, back to the construction. lay the batting wrapped board down on the wrong side of the canvas fabric.

 fold one side of the fabric snugly over to the back. begin stapling in the middle, working your way out to the corners.

 or, like me, just duct tape that baby down.

if stapling, again work your way out from the center of the side you're securing. at the corners, make a fold in so you have a nice mitered corner. it's like wrapping a present.

 then pull that side corner to the back and secure.

this cuts down on bulk and weird corner flaps.

once you've stapled it all down, you can go over the edges with duct tape to keep it clean and prevent the fabric from fraying.

now i have a nice, large pressing area to work with. and because i used a solid cream, i also have a neutral background board to shoot photos on. i love when tools can multi-task.

just desserts

this is what i get for blogging when i should be paying more attention to my kids: my baby got into a costco-sized jar of nutella and took a dip. i heard my younger son yelling, "emergency! emergency!" but not in an urgent tone. i came downstairs to find her covered in hazelnut spread.

 oh, goodness. i hosed her and the clothes off in the shower. fortunately, and quite unexpectedly, it came off of her. i fully anticipated it to stain that darling dress.

 she'd done a number on the table, too: 2 placemats, a sippy cup, the jar, the table top, and a chair were all well coated. i really thought i'd put that jar away after the kids used it on the waffles son #1 made this morning. guess not.

my favorite part of the mess: the sharpie marker she must have been stirring with.

she is safely napping in her crib now and i can blog some more.
but i better check on the other 6 first.

chevron basted wip

i'm linking today for the first time. lee at freshly pieced hosts a wip wednesday link and i am in.

 my biggest accomplishment in the last few weeks is getting my chevron quilt top completed, back made, and the whole caboodle sandwiched and basted. it is now in the que for quilting.

 as soon as i pulled it out to photograph, littlest one jumped right in for a cuddle. never fails.

 and when i flipped it to show the back, she decided to roll on it, too. even better.

the back is pieced from a tiny monochromatic green dot and pink-on-green floral. it's a change of tone from the front where the blue colorway of the line is more prominent. but i like it. i probably should have pieced from some of the blue fabrics once i realized i was going to need to stretch the floral a bit, but i didn't want to take the time. i just made do and it will be okay.

i also completed my diy pressing board! i'm particularly excited about this addition to my sewing space and quilt tool arsenal. i'll be posting about it next.

it's been 3 weeks since i posted a wip. my sewing time was spent almost exclusively on the chevron quilt and in class for the duration of last month. but i did do a few other things.

completed: pressing board (although technically it needs to be permanently stapled, not just duct taped)

in progress:
chevron - top & back completed, sandwiched, basted
"romance in the garden" - untouched (but i did take it to church to use as part of a demonstration for a lesson. that was fun.)
"twirl" - untouched
"taite" - untouched

internet activity: still watching craftsy classes. made headway in the free-motion quilting class and am almost ready to tackle a real quilt. exciting and scary all at the same time.

class: done with my Monday mornings beginner's quilting at ETC. i'll miss the ladies and the quilting time.

purchases: no new fabric. really. but a whole slew of new crafting books. because i need more ideas and projects, you know. like a hole in the head, i do!

organization: sorted all my scraps

sewing with kids: dd#4 and i made some play jewelry for her out of scraps.

next up, i think i could use some pin cushions.
and i have a baby shower to go to this weekend for my newest expected nephew so this pile needs to become a 4sq blanket pronto.

beach pow wow

i saw this pow wow quilt made out of seaside fabrics by october afternoon for riley blake hanging on the wall in ETC last december. love at first sight! i thought it was part of the ETC bucks auction, but it was just a sample. i kept waiting for it to go on sale but when i went to class in april, it was gone from the wall and no one could tell me what happened to it. i decided i'd just have to make it myself after all. there was a kit at the store.

 

but lucky me, the next week it showed up again and was for sale. unfortunately, the price was higher than i was hoping it would be. and when i couldn't talk them into taking the expired $50 ETC bucks i found in my studio last month (argh!!! - still makes me sick), i rebelled against the idea of paying for it. so i decided to just get the kit and add it to my "to do" pile. but when i added the cost of the kit, the backing and binding not included in the kit, and the batting, it was going to be the same price. that decided it for me. i just bought the dang thing. no point in doing it myself if it wasn't even going to save me money.

 

 

if i'd done it myself, i might have included more of the themed prints, like the children playing at the beach it's backed with. but i like the look of it the way it is just fine. my favorite fabric from the collection is this sweet tiny floral print in mint. it's soooo yummy. love the colors and the itty bitty blossoms. i did buy some yardage of that for an undetermined future project. maybe to go with the charm pack of this line i bought when it first came out. beach blanket?

 

i thought the quilting was a sort of swirly, water-like design, but my kids noticed it actually resembles turtles. loopy, swirly turtles. there are definitely tails, eyes, legs, and a shell. i bet louise did it. when i picked it up, i found out marti jones, the store owner, pieced the quilt. cool. i like knowing who made it.

 

my seaside pow wow has been added to the growing collection of "couch quilts" in my family room. they technically belong to me, but they are draped on the couches for anyones use whilst in that room. i now have 3: pow wow, the abbey lane diamond quilt i used my ETC bucks for at the auction, and my "out on a limb" quilt. i hope to soon have more of my own make in here. in the meantime, i just love having handmade quilts in the room no matter who made them. they get cuddled and used for forts all the time.

"beach pow wow" is already getting a lot of use around here. baby wanted to play peek-a-boo with it this morning right after breakfast (before she got dressed for the day). every time we tried to take her out of it, she threw a fit.

it also makes the perfect sling for her older sibs to carry her around in or use for the classic swinging and toss up the baby games. (don't worry, there was no tossing her over the tiles, just carrying her from one room to the next.) lovin' it.

child's fabric scraps jewelry

i mentioned that daughter #4 commandeered some skinny string scraps off of me and determined to make necklaces out of them. well, she did that and made some bracelets, too.

she decided if she sewed two strings together that she could make a loop large enough to get around her head for a necklace. out came her smaller tapestry needle and some embroidery floss. i helped her make some x's to secure them together. she had the general idea of how to shape the x's, but i had to give some guidance.

sometimes, i have to help her hold her pieces as she works. usually when she's getting started. often, if any kind of precision is needed, i'll help her place the needle in position (although she's getting better at her fine motor ability to do this and should soon be independent) and she pulls the needle and thread through.

 

we secured the first side with three x's.

then she added a button for flair. she joined the other side together all on her own with "stripes," as she called them, while i was talking to my seester and her necklace was complete!

she wanted to give it to her grandma, but i gently talked her in to keeping this one for herself, partly because she'd used one of my heather bailey scraps for it. i said it might be perfect for her dress-up box. she responded, "dress-ups?! no! this is more like for church." i guess she thinks it's pretty fancy.

next she cut up some more strings and made a bracelet "for grandma." i showed her how a bracelet would have to fit over the wearer's hand and she used mine to measure her scrap loop. then she stitched it all by herself. i had to help with knot-tying and explain that each section had to be sewn separately, but she got it assembled mostly on her own.

i don't know how much use these jewelry pieces will actually get, but i love that she created them herself. and it's opened the door for me to teach her more about other ways to use these scraps to make similar items. very cute.

and it has now been gifted to grandma, who "gave me three hugs and said she didn't know i could sew this good!" thanks, grandma, for the confidence-boosting gratitude.

scrap sorting and inspiration

 

every sewer has scraps. many people save some of the large pieces that are obviously still useful. lots of the little stuff just gets thrown away. i understand the mentality of not wanting to deal with scraps. i really do. but i just can't part with them. when i've invested in designer fabrics, every little piece is precious to me. i know it could be used for something if i just hang on to it. there are problems with this, however. like piles of little bits that stick around forever. messes. 

 

the good news is there are lots of ideas out there for using scraps. just google it; you'll see.

 

or check out this beautiful book, sunday morning quilts, by amanda jean nyberg and cheryl arkison.

i can not wait until i have enough scraps to make some of these amazing quilts. but i just haven't been quilting long enough or made enough scraps yet. in the meantime, i diligently store every single bit of fabric scrap i produce. amanda jean and cheryl not only show you what to do with your scraps in their book, they also help you classify and store those lovely little bits.

for now, my system is pretty simple. i have a large white wire basket (found at marshall's) where i throw pieces as i work on my projects. it sits under the dining table where i work, so it is readily at hand.

 

certain types of scraps are further sorted and housed in sterilite see-through plastic boxes i got at joann.

 

i keep all selvages so some day i can make one of those awesome selvage quilts i've seen in blogland. the selvage blog is a great place to get an idea of just how many things selvages can do.

those pretty little triangles that are born every time i make binding go in a box all their own so i can make a specific quilt in sunday morning quilts. i love that it will be a sort of scrapbook of all my quilting projects.

and i even keep all the skinny, stringy pieces that are just too little for anything at all. i keep them for stuffing other projects. i also throw all of my cut threads in here, too. i don't remember who gave me the idea to use those pieces for stuffing, but i think it's brilliant.

like i said, i keep every little bit. all of it. even the threads.

and this morning, when i was sorting scraps from yesterday's quilt class, my 5 yr old daughter (#4) begged "the skinny pieces" off of me. pretty please, mama? i was loathe to give them to her since i do have plans for them, but i swallowed my greed and shared. even my heather bailey strings. ouch.

 

she made off with quite a stash of my super skinny strings and told me she was going to make necklaces out of them. can't wait to see how that turns out. i love all the crafty self-initiative she has had lately.

last chevron class

monday was the last day of my beginner's quilting class for the chevron quilt. i had to skip week 3 because the mr. had a last-minute business trip come up. last minute, as in he tells me sunday afternoon he's flying to vegas in the morning. and the kids have appointments all day. so i missed last week's class session and stayed clear through the night class this week in hopes of getting near completion.

i loved seeing everyone else's nearly-finished quilts as they worked on their bindings. i am always surprised with how different each quilt looks because of the fabric choices even though we all use the same pattern. (you can click on the photo to get a better look at the quilts.)

veronica used a robert kauffman eyelet-style ivory solid for the neutral on her quilt. i love the added dimension and unique look it gave her project.

loni was making a quilt for her daughter, an only girl with 3 brothers. so the front is bold colors and houndstooth fabrics. not very feminine by choice. but for the backing she found this lovely little floral that had all the same colors as her chevrons. it's a perfect touch that is subtly feminine. then she bound it in black with tiny white polka dots like the floral fabric.

louise demonstrating attatching binding

while everyone else was oohing and aahing over louise's quilting work (she long-arm quilts as well as teaches) and getting their binding started, i was getting my top finished off. the main panel was still in four pieces and it needed borders. after the first class, i accidentally mixed up my rows and had sewn some of the middle of the quilt to the bottom of it by pairing the wrong white rows together. i didn't immediately undo them, waiting to see if maybe it wouldn't matter. but when i had all the pieces done, i decided it did matter and would need to be fixed. it just threw off the flow of the quilt to have the rows rearranged.

so i unpicked everything at home and got to work reassembling in class. however, when i was done, it was glaringly obvious there was now a different problem.

you can see it, right? that row of white diamonds where there is supposed to be a chevron. (i was not the only student to do this, by the way.) oh, boy. it was fixable if i unpicked the seam i'd just sewn and moved a block from one end of the quilt to the other. but i so did not want to do that. louise talked me in to leaving my "happy mistake" as a special design feature. this is the first time i've had one of these. i've seen them before on other people's work and usually like them, but it was a first for me. oh, well. it is okay and we are moving on.

my next challenge came when putting on the borders. while there was a lot of leftover solids from the kit, the blue floral i needed for the borders was running short. i was supposed to cut 7 strips 5 1/2" wide, but i could only squeeze out 6. the remaining fabric was literally 1/4" too short. i couldn't believe it. fortunately, i had my scraps from the chevron rows with me and i was able to get some short strips out of them. when all was done, i had about 5" leftover. that's very little breathing room!

the photo is of my pieced border (wrong side up) at bottom, the last strip that was 1/4" short under the ruler at top, and the little square that is my only remaining scrap, to the right. i was sweating this one out and wondering how the heck i was going to make do if i didn't have enough. thank goodness i eked out what i needed!

having all the rows together and the borders on makes for one huge piece of fabric to maneuver around. it always feels so strange to work with such large pieces after all the tiny piecing at the beginning of a project. and then i put together the back which is just yards and yards of material. turns out i was a bit short there, too. the backing didn't come with the kit and i think maybe i had more at home, but i just used part of the fabric intended for the binding as a filler to make it stretch. i double bought for the binding, but it still may be close. we'll see when i get to that point.

i had high hopes of getting started on the machine quilting before i had to go home, but, as usual, i underestimated how long it was going to take. i did manage to get the whole thing sandwiched and basted (yay!) and then i made the binding. at least i came home with what looks like a quilt. i'm just going to echo quilt all the chevrons, which should be fairly easy. this quilt should be knocked out in another month or two. almost there!

oh, what to do next? that's always the fun part to decide.

louise does have this fun quilt going for class the next two months:

there are even two options: the simpler quartered block or the union jack looking one for the more confident beginner. it's quite tempting. it might even be a good use for my strawberry fields layer cake. i was daydreaming about actually mixing the block styles in the quilt so i wouldn't have to do all of those hst's with mini sashing. but it probably won't happen.

and i'm itching to do something of my own design again. i found out this round i don't really like working with a kit. as much as i liked the way the kit looked, it makes me feel like an assembler and less like the quilt is my own creation when it was all picked out for me. some people like color-by-numbers. not me. i like at least selecting my own fabrics even if i'm using a pattern. and i really enjoy the surprise of watching it come together since you're never really sure exactly what it's going to look like beforehand. all that fun was gone with the kit. it makes me even happier i purchased the pow wow quilt instead of getting the kit.