a full week planned

this week, i have tons of strips laid out on my dining table, ready for assembly as wonky stacked coins. that's project number one that's underway and in the way.

over the weekend, i found out i have a chance to hand deliver a baby quilt, to someone who lives across the country, next monday. i'm thinking of a strips quilt with three accent blocks and a monogram, like beth's project here. can i get a simple baby quilt done in a week? i think so. maybe.
so that makes project number two that needs attention this week.



sarah's strips - gosh, they're beautiful!

and sarah's barn door quilt along starts today! ack! i've been looking forward to making this quilt for over a month and the fabrics are all pulled. but how do i do it at the same time as these other urgent projects? this week features the seven middle strips. we'll see how i do.

oh, and then there's the four wips on my living room floor that are always in the way!
why on earth am i on the computer right now?!

because i need to link up my lovely finish goal of the month:

i really want to get "paris daydreams" sandwich quilted and bound. that shouldn't be too difficult. once everything else is done, that is. oh, yes. christmas isn't the only time i go crazy.

the last bits

just to drag christmas out a little longer since i missed out on so much of it whilst fantically quilting, i'm sharing the two christmas makes from my oldest girls.

d1 made doll dresses for her little sisters. well, the plan was to make one for each, but like many a good crafter, she waited until christmas eve to sew up that "quick" little make she wanted to gift. she was up all night trying to get just the one doll dress done. it turned out darling, though, and we look forward to it's companion making an appearance soon.

d2, another intrepid sewer, made me a small, decorative, gingerbread house pillow to go with the snowman pillow she made last year. she, however, was way ahead of the game and completed the gingerbread house pillow at the beginning of the month. it's been sitting, wrapped, under the tree, taunting me for weeks. i love her self-initiative and the rustic design she made all by her 11 year old self.

i hope the dress sees a lot of play in the days to come. the pillow, like the rest of christmas, is now safely tucked away until next year, when it will once again appear and remind us of christmases past.

makes 2013

my last post rather confused me. i needed to see, all in one place, all the things i worked on at some point last year. thus, the collage and this little post. it was a great year!

moving forward, looking back

oh, joy - a new year! i love fresh starts and reasons to begin again in the hopes of doing better. the new year always seems like the biggest fresh start of them all. as i get ready to head into the new year, i'm going to take one last look at the past year to see where i started, what i learned, what i did.

really, 2013 feels like the year i became a quilter. technically, i started quilting in late 2010, nearly 3 years ago. but that only lasted for about 6 months before quilting was so wonderfully interrupted by my seventh baby. not only did quilting come to a screeching halt whilst i was pregnant with her, i did not get back to it until she was nearly a year old. that was late last year. yes, she was quite the interruption.

so at the beginning of this year, i had three major wips left from my pre-baby days, another one i'd acquired at the end of 2012, a whole slew of patterns and fabrics i'd already purchased (before i really knew what i was doing), a lonely little blog that was limping along, and a burning desire to get quilting again.

i was spending time working on "taite" at the machine and handquilting "expecting blossoms" when i could. i had "out on a limb" quilted but needing binding, and "twirly" started from a single-day class in december, that were not getting touched at all. to add to that, i signed up for a single-day class, in february, which began "romance in the garden." i was definitely having project ADD and not producing any actual finishes, but just so happy to be doing something with all my fabric again.

in march, the mr and i took a trip to new york city, where i got an unexpected chance to visit purl soho in person rather than just on-line. while there i picked up my first bits of liberty (but was too clueless to realize what it was) and shocked my mr with just how much you could spend on fabric that fit in a small shopping bag. (that was a really good post but before anyone besides my non-sewing friends actually read this blog. someone go read it and make me happy, please!)

the next few months of spring brought two actual, long-awaited finishes: "out on a limb" and "expecting blossoms."

i also discovered craftsy.com and signed up for a few classes. i have yet to make anything from the classes, but i do love watching them. actually, i take that back. i've made the diy pressing board and design wall from elizabeth hartman's class.

at this point i was making a lot of new things, but still feeling like a beginner. my accuracy and confidence were not that great. so it was a complete shock to me when i attempted hst's and found i could do them. yet another beginner's class pushed me out of my comfort zone and into hst land. i learned two different methods for making an hst, both of which i made into tutorials. my infatuation with the hst was such that not only did i start the quilt for the class, "plus a diamond," but i also began to play with my own quilt design.

tutorials for "traingles on a roll" or easy individual hsts are both available.

by may, i was no longer sewing in my bawthroom space but had migrated downstairs to my "formal" dining area (that's a loose term for a work in progress!) so that i could sew more often and in the middle of the family rather than tucked away in a corner by myself upstairs. sewing in a more public space required attempts at disguising my space.

at this point, two major leaps forward came to my sewing: i began joining link parties with my blog and i learned how to stipple fmq. becoming connected to the blogging world added a whole new dimension to my sewing experience and really pushed me to do more, go farther. linky parties also introduced me to some very sweet quilting friends, from all corners of the world.

i learned to stipple bit by bit, starting with a little doll quilt i'd pieced from scraps. then i moved on to two baby quilts for gifts, the not-a-quilt quilt (inspired by liz) and a simple 3-panel quilt of my design. this helped me work up my courage to stipple quilt "taite", something i'd been needing to do for about 2 years.

but first i went ahead and practiced on "romance in the garden", which was now ready for quilting. along with gaining new skills, i was having plenty of "home ec" moments that were teaching me all the things i didn't know, or that hadn't yet sunk in, about sewing and quilting. the worst was when i nearly broke my machine when i ran into a basting pin.

most all of this explosion of productivity happened on my two-week summer "staycation" where my kids were off to a music theater day camp and i was sewing my heart out. not only did i get all those little quilts started and "romance" finished, i also made another flimsy, a real paris nightmare that eventually became "paris daydreams", i made my 18th and final 4sq blanket, and did a liberty giveaway in honor of my angelic friend, lucy (yay, laura!).

i guess this is the time to mention i got a new machine! when i began fmq, i knew my sweet little brother project runway was not going to cut it anymore for quilting. in honor of my 40th birthday, i talked the mr into getting me a new juki tl2010q. to celebrate and spread the love, i did a few related giveaways on my blog (yay, deborah!) and shared a tutorial for making fat quarter lollies (which later got picked up by favequilts.com and featured on the cover of an ebook).

the rest of my summer was dominated by our 6 week family road trip through the western united states and the introduction of portable english paper piecing (epp) to my sewing repertoire. my epp also followed me to san diego, on a back packing trip to yosemite natl park, and to the east coast in the fall. where i go, it goes. i've enjoyed epp so much that i've started a monthly link party, "in hand", in the hopes of bring other eppers  and their projects out into the light.

one other new technique i attempted was foundation paper piecing. i made a cute little pincushion, something i'd long been in need of, as my first dip into the book patchwork, please! i'm willing to try this more . . . once i get everything else that's in progress done and out of the way.

in the fall, my family hit a baby boom, so i began dabbling in improv-pieced frame quilts. i completed two boy quilts, "patch the puppy" and "go, baby,go", with one lone girl quilt, "rain or shine", nearly done before christmas plans interrupted everything. the idea for Christmas was to complete the 4 wips i had going for the girls and actually make 2 new quilts for the boys (and a sham for the 5th daughter, too).

that got interrupted, too, by my obsession with the penny patch quilt along at stitched in color. there is a trend of interruptions going on here. so maybe my quilting road is full of stops, starts, and detours, but it has been a journey of learning, experimenting, creating, regardless of how immediately productive it's been. ***is anyone still with me?! whew! this is taking forever. it was a lot bigger year and a lot longer post than i realized.***

a mid-season reality check pulled me out of the christmas making madness and back into my family. the quilts got mostly done and gifted as they were. i have their completions to look forward to in the coming year. there were also the children's adorable makes, a few other significant events in my quilting life and on this blog, but i'm just too pooped to go into them. my review turned into rewriting this blog. here's the short list of my sewing life this 2013 year:

• completed - 1 doll quilt, 5 baby quilts, and 2 throw quilts, with 3 more throws that just need binding finished
• wips - 2 sandwiches, 2 flimsies, 3 quilt tops in progress
• purchased quilts - "lolly lolly" from rachel hauser, "beach pow wow" from ETC
• new skills attempted - hsts, epp, foundation paper piecing, stipple and other fmq
• blog highlights - linking in to parties, 40th bday celebration, 200th post celebration, hostessing "in hand" epp link party, two tutorials being featured at favequilts.com
• visited stores across the country while travelling
• met heather bailey, a favorite designer, at church, and embarrassed both of us

now, it's time to look forward to the new year, the fresh start, the new beginning.

 i have these makes in the que and some fabric fasting to do as my goals for the upcoming 2014 year. i also purchased rachel hauser's ebook versions of her classes handstitched and sewing curves to use as guides through more skill building. oh, there's lots of goodies in there! i'm going to face forward now, with high hopes that 2014 brings:

• more improv-piecing
• designing more of my own quilts
• using the fabrics and patterns i already have
• playing with scraps
• attempting garment construction
• helping the children sew more
• attempting curves

now, if you'll excuse me, i think i'll go sew something!
a very happy new year to you all, each and every one.


linking in with sarah and anne's year in review party

quilts for christmas

 this is as far as things went: 3 quilts needing handbinding, two quilts basted but not quilted, two blocks for the 6th quilt, a handful of applique flowers with decorative stitching for the pillow sham.

rather than wrap everything, i opted to lay the quilts (and pieces) out with the children's stockings. in our house, santa brings one large present, unwrapped, and a stocking full of small goodies (bubble bath, lip balm/gloss, a few sugar treats).

the stockings were made by marmee, my mother, and are the same style as the ones i grew up with. the boys have plaid prints, the girls have holly floral prints, and marmee cross stitched everyone's name on the cuff. (to preserve privacy, i turned the stocking around to protect names for the pictures.) when i chose the pattern of plaids and holly florals, starting with our two original stockings, i had no idea there would eventually be so many more holly florals than plaids, or that finding some i liked would be so difficult! (side note: there are two stockings missing in this photo. that red stocking doesn't belong here, it's d1's ornamental stocking for her bedroom, and s2's plaid stocking was elsewhere when i shot this.)

i waited until there was at least some daylight to shoot the quilts on Christmas morning, with the children impatiently waiting on the stairs. this is another tradition that comes from my family: they can't go down to the tree and presents until everyone is awake and must wait for us to take their photo lined up on the stairs together. then they are allowed in, youngest to oldest. but we drag out the suspense a bit longer by making everyone sit in a circle on the family room floor and share what they are thankful for. as parents, we love torturing them this way! as a child, it was a bit of agony to suffer all this before getting my gifts, but as we matured, my siblings and i grew to appreciate and treasure the delayed gratification enforced on us by our parents. now we do the same to our own children.

on to the quilts! i hastily snapped some photos, so excuse the quality, as the children were waiting and clamoring to be released on the stairs. because there are so many piles of stockings and santa gifts, santa takes them down and spreads them around the room.

s2's "bandwidth" quilt

s1's two completed blocks for his wonky stacked coins quilt

 s1 seemed pleased with the beginnings of his quilt, but was much more excited about his new compound bow and arrows. what 13 year old boy wouldn't be?

finally, almost 3 years later, d2's "taite" is ready for her (with a bit of binding to go, still).

 she made a great point of saying over and over, to anyone who commented on her quilt, "i've been waiting 3 years for this." i suppose i am rather begrudgingly forgiven now.

d4's applique flowers for her pillow sham to coordinate with her "at last" quilt

 i have to point out here that of all the children, the one who got the small pile of unfinished flowers gave me the biggest reaction. my sweet 5 year old excitedly exclaimed, "Mama, did you make these for ME?!" when i told her they were for a special pillow for her bed and that i wanted her to help me decide how it would look, she was quite pleased and thanked me profusely. sweet, sweet girl.

d1's "plus a diamond" quilt, all done except handbinding

 "mom! you need to finish this so i can snuggle it." that and a thank you hug were all the attention the quilt got.

d3's "twirly" quilt

 while d3 did not get very excited about her quilt, neither did she throw a tantrum that it was this one. i count that as a positive response. i did hear her refer to it later as "my new quilt that has the animals on it," so we may yet have to do some negotiating or explaining with it. i showed her where i had quilted her name into the stippling and she replied, "that doesn't look like my name at all!" i explained the cursive letters to her. "well, why didn't you stitch them the normal way?," was her confused response. it was beyond my capacity to explain to a 7 year old the intricacies of fmq, especially when she was too excited about her other presents to care.

d5's "paris daydreams" quilt

 there are so many quilts around this house that it went right over the two year old's head that this one was for her. she was much more happy with and interested in the new pair of shoes, the play cell phone, and mini purse santa brought her than a piece of fabric that's been lying around for months anyway. oh, and the candy. the candy was the best of all.

aside from their big presents, which each loved (good job, dad!), there was one gift that dominated the day. after everything had been opened, and breakfast eaten, i brought out my one last gift: lego mini people. we discovered these mini people collections this summer when travelling. three times a year, lego puts out a collection of 16 mini figures that come in sealed, opaque packages. without seeing who you are getting, you try to collect all 16. the kids have enjoyed the two series we have so far so much that i shopped amazon to get some of the previous series we missed. putting together their new people and playing with them occupied my children for the better part of the afternoon.

 

so my quilts may not have gone over hugely, but i did get the satisfaction of finding the perfect gift for them after all. i'm so glad i didn't kill myself trying to finish the quilts by Christmas. i would have been sadly disappointed if i had. instead, i enjoyed the season more. the quilts will be done soon enough and i am confident they will be well-loved and used.

 

i hope everyone had a very merry and blessed Christmas wherever in the world you are. despite being in the northern hemisphere, i've never lived in a climate where Christmas is white. around here it's more like sunshine and citrus colors:

 



our navels are ripe

crisp blue skies and changing leaves

a few Christmas reds in fallen leaves

it's neither snowy and cold, nor warm and summery here, as most of the world thinks of Christmas. what we have is bright sun, ripening fruit, and slightly cool weather. it's the best time of year, the time we love to call this our home. and it's Christmas, too. nothing better.

 

see y'all next year!

until after christmas, then!

no. 1 elf daughter, d2, busy baking

 i was so busy with quilts this year, that the kids have done most of the christmas-ing around here. it was fun to see them take on baking and decorating completely by themselves, but i feel like i short-changed myself and them, too.

chocolate satin cookie people for gifting with caroling

  honestly, for the last few years, i've become a bit of a humbug. i am at the point where i would dispense with most of the season entirely. my house is so overflowing with toys, clothes, and whatnots already, that one more item will break the dam. we just don't need anything. gifting in these circumstances seems pointless and greedy.

 i've done the huge, over-blown, toyland-under-the-tree types of christmas, where i sit back on christmas eve nights, basking in the glow of the lights, surveying my christmas handiwork, and think to myself, "i did this! i make the magic." admittedly, it has been enjoyable. but i am left wanting. i am over that type of christmas, ready to move on to something deeper, more meaningful, more memory-based.

it's not that Christ has ever been missing from our Christmases. we're very religious around here and do a lot of religious events and activities through out the season. giving to others in need has long been a part of our celebrations, too. it's more about the pressure to be so many places and the christmas morning gift fest, with all the accompanying stress and expense beforehand, that leaves me wanting. maybe i'm just an idealist. but where is the simple, heartfelt christmas of the ingalls family? you know, little house on the prairie, where children get a set of red knit mittens and a few bits of candy, maybe a rag doll, in their stocking and are overjoyed about it. they were just happy to get a day to spend with the family, an evening with cousins spent eating few special dishes.

s1 did all the lights in the front yard himself

 my mr took over the gift giving for the kids last year. and we scaled back to one santa present, one parent gift. i, of course, still overstuffed their stockings with little goodies without meaning to. (how does all that stuff just build up so quickly?) letting him do the deciding was a big relief. but i still want something different. we don't need any of that stuff. can't we move toward christmas really being about giving rather than getting? i've been contemplating how to accomplish this for two years now and have yet to come up with anything brilliant.

i have to admit, though, that watching the kids give to each other is greatly satisfying. they earn their own money and buy the gifts themselves. i'm amazed at how excited they get over the things they do for each other. and sometimes at the expense they go to for their siblings, too. so although we might not need the extra trinkets around the house, it is gratifying to see them truly give of themselves.

endlessly stuffing cards

back to christmas present. i was engrossed in those 7 quilts i was trying to complete for christmas gifting and took it as a good opportunity to just ignore pretty much everything else. i was excited about giving them the quilts because it was much more meaningful to me that they have something made by their mother than another toy to litter the house. (dad and santa will still come through with a toy or two.) while i was quilting, two of my children took over all the decorating. and basically made a mess. they also did some of their own baking, which they are really good at, to deliver while caroling. i gamely went along for the caroling and was surprised to realize how much i was enjoying it.

cute detail shot courtesy of s1

after a week or two of watching them trying to create christmas around here, i started to feel guilty. i began to realize i was throwing the baby out with the bath water, so to speak. there is plenty of even non-religious stuff about the season that is good, that i like, that is worthy. apparently my children like it, too. they wanted a festive home, caroling to neighbors and friends, to bake for giving, to be with their family doing wholesome and creative things. i began to see that i was missing out on something important, on an opportunity to help christmas be about more than just the presents. to my children, it already is about more than getting presents. (to give them further credit, they really don't ask for or expect a whole lot in the the gift department. maybe it's more about me feeling like i have to figure out something they might like but don't need just so we can keep up with tradition.) i need to take a cue from them, to embrace those good parts they already cherish and encourage that.

in short, like in all other aspects of life, there needs to be balance.

i also realized my children's christmases are numbered and i'd better stay involved while i have the chance. making christmas about family time and togetherness happens now, while they are young and here. the older ones have already gotten that ingrained in their systems. i better make sure the younger ones do, too. it's going to require some exertion and careful planning from me for a few more years, and then it will all be gone.

so i backed off the quilts. i never did fix all the sloppy decorating. that can wait until next year. but i did start doing more of our normal holiday activities with the children and found a few extra "giving" activities to do. that means the quilts aren't going to be done. but christmas has been rescued, so it's okay. i still have quilts in various stages of completion that i'm going to gift them.

and i decided that next time i want to hand make any christmas gifts, it's all got to be done by thanksgiving. this leaves the season open to being together and making those memories we enjoy so much.

that said, last night, i got an unexpected chance to work on my sewing. the baby got sick, so i had to stay home from the extended family christmas party and watch her. i got about two hours of sewing done before she started throwing up, refocusing my attention elsewhere.

 i've added one little item to my making list (that i threw out): an apron for d3. she's had these two bright and crazy fat quarters in her sewing box for over a year or more. she wanted to make an apron out of them. when d4 brought home the cute red and aqua apron (on the left) from a party, i knew i had a quick and easy pattern for d3's apron. i'm going to make a skirt out of the pink fat quarter, use the polka dotted grosgrain ribbon for the ties, and use the floral to line the skirt and make the bodice. it should come together fairly quickly. i could have had it done last night, but realized that i should prewash it since it's clothing.

 while the fat quarters for the apron were washing, i got started on s1's wonky stacked coins quilt. with only 4 days left to Christmas, i did not think i was going to get to touch this one and was trying to figure out what to gift him. but it looks like i'll have a few blocks, at least, to put under the tree.

i'm using the same blue solid from s2's "bandwidth" quilt for the background fabric on this one. the prints are a variety of graphic blue, green, orange, and grey prints. i included a few of the prints he liked from his brother's quilt, too, so the two quilts will coordinate but not exactly match each other.

i have to say, this was really, really fun to put together! all the improv cutting and sewing is very cool. i'm not working from scraps, like the pattern in the book is designed for, so i've modified the methods a bit. i'll share them later when there's time.

as for the last and final project, i've been blanket stitching the flowers for d4's pillow sham whenever the girls bathe at night. some good ole splish splash stash time like in the beginning of my sewing days. i still have no real plan for the sham. i think it might be best to gift her the flowers as they are so i can consult with her over what to do with them.

 

 

it's the last weekend before Christmas. here's my final installation on the making Christmas list:

d1 - "plus a diamond" needs handbinding

s1 - wonky stacked coins blocks begun

d2 - "taite" worked on handbinding

s2 - "bandwidth" top completed, sandwiched, basted

d3 - "twirly" needs handbinding

d4 - flowered pillow sham some flower centers blanket stitched

d5 - "paris daydreams" sandwiched and basted

penny patch qal - a flimsy, on hold until all children's quilts done

the final link party for making Christmas is with Janine at rainbow hare.

spray basting - not a fan

yesterday i pieced two quilt backs: "paris daydreams" and "bandwidth."  i found out why my girls had such a hard time holding the flimsy up for the photograph - this fella is huge! i wanted it to be around 72" x 80ish", but didn't measure how the length was coming out as i added in the solid blue panels. turns out my top is more like 71" x 99"! it's long and skinny, like my son. i had to crack open a queen sized batting to accommodate the length. oh, well. we expect this son to be tall. this quilt should keep him covered for life. i had to piece the backing a lot more than expected. i used the yardage i bought for the back, another yard, and bits leftover from the front strips.  it's barely big enough, but i wasn't going any bigger. i can always trim off some of the blue panel ends if it doesn't work out when quilted.

my formal living room now looks like a quilt bazar. there are two basted sandwiches and two flimsies sprawling about. the flimsies aren't even for christmas, they are on hold until i can get the christmas gifts done. 

 

i gave spray basting a go. it seemed like the best way to get 3 or 4 quilts basted at one time so that i could gift them in a state that at least resembled a finished quilt. i don't have enough pins to do that many sandwiches at once, so it had to be spraying. since i decided on this measure so late in the season, i was unable to order any spray online. i picked up a can of (i think) thermoweb at joann craft's with a half-off coupon. but i wasn't confident it was a good brand. so while at the quilt store the other day, i asked what they recommended. 505, of course. but they didn't have any and i was told to stop by another nearby sewing store to see if they had any 505 or Sullivan's in stock. the experienced quilter who was advising me assured me Sullivan's was her favorite and that it didn't stink. Sullivan's was all they had at the other store, so it was the winner.

i had hopes of liking spray basting, but they were soon dashed. perhaps it's the brand i got. however, there are things about the entire process i just didn't like. after getting the 2 quilt sandwiches basted, i'm leery of doing any more. the large quilt, especially, was difficult to manage.

Sullivan's smells just like rubber cement, if you can remember that from your elementary school days. it doesn't last long, but there is most definitely a smell. there is also an overspray residue no matter how careful i was. i tried not to shy away from the edges to ensure that they would stick well, but it was hard not to. fortunately, for me, i was basting on a large, well-ventilated, tile floor area, so the residue should come up easily.

i opened the nearby courtyard doors, as well as my front and back doors, to keep the air circulating while i worked. there was a nice breeze blowing through, which kept the fumes moving. it also brought a lot of fall leaves in! (see photo above.) i know a few tiny ones got sandwiched in the quilt, despite my efforts to remove all of them. then the doors starting blowing open and closed, leaves were flying everywhere, dogs and kids were curious. it was like a bad comedy seen from primetime tv. all i could do was laugh and keep working. ok, i did want to cry a bit, too. laughing and pressing forward seemed better, though.

i got out some of my old towels to line the sides of the second quilt while i sprayed. there was still residue right along the edges of the quilt, all over the towels, and beyond them. i think a bit of the stuff just floats on the air until it settles somewhere no how you try to avoid it.

my socks were picking it up as i walked around. they also picked up a few other things, like leaves and fabric scraps.

i had a hard time getting the top smooth in a few places. it was a matter of being patient, pulling the fabric up, and repositioning very carefully, but i didn't like it a bit. the time difference was not significant enough to justify spraying over pinning. thank goodness the spray is repositionable!

i will say the top turned out pretty darn smooth. it was definitely easier to get all the seams to lay flat working this way. however, the back does not look as smooth as the front. it's slightly ripply or pocked looking. there are no full-out wrinkles, mind you, but it has a texture of sorts. i'm not sure how this is going to fair when i go to quilt.

i have yet to see how the machine and my needles react to the spray basting.

also, i'm uncertain how well the sandwiches are going to hold together until i get them quilted. i'm afraid to let anyone handle them, which was rather the point of basting this way. in addition, I'm concerned that the can says the product's properties will "lessen or diminish" with washing rather than saying it will wash out. did i just add some nasty chemicals to my babies' quilts that they will be inhaling while they cuddle their mama-mades?

it's definitely pins for me from now on.
besides, d4 will be out of a quilting job if there aren't any pins for her to remove.