a little help

my daughter and grandkids came over just as i was pinning the binding to "paint lake." little man was very interested in my project and wanted to help. i was thrilled! of course you can help me. granna loves little quilt helpers. we had to keep sister out of the pins, but that wasn't too hard.

 he kept asking me, "do you want it here? can i use this one?" at first i had him help me push each pin through, but when we reached the corner and i was working on mitering it, he just started pushing pins in where ever by himself. after that we worked in tandem doing our own pins. his pinning skills weren't the best, but i worked around him and it was good enough. there were a few ballheaded pins in the pincushion and i kept telling him to use the flat ones, but he reeeaaally wanted to use the round ones. so i let him put a few of those in.

the real fun began when we sewed the binding on together. he didn't know what i meant when i said, "let's go sew it on with the machine." usually when we "sew" together we're playing with a wooden cheese block that you push a string through. he likes to "sew the cheese" with granna all the time so he was confused about sewing on the machine. he learned real quick!

he pulled pins and ran the pedal for me. it was so cute!

when we first started out, i forgot to put the sewing speed on turtle and he laid his foot down on the pedal, giving me a start when it roared to life. he stopped immediately when i said to and we reset everything.

i mostly kept everything lined up, told him when to stop and start, and did the corners. 

sometimes he would tell me to do the pins. he pushed the needle up/down button, scissor button, or held down the reverse lever for me when i asked. sewing on the turtle speed, which is best for the walking foot anyway, was nice and slow, easy to manage with a two year old on board.

he stuck with me right up until about a foot from the end, which is when i needed to join the tails anyway.

what a fun time we had and how good he was at helping! granna will sew with this little man any day.

trimming success(es)

one of my quilt room wishes is that i have a large cutting table covered in mats, large enough to trim my quilts on the table rather than on the floor like i do now. doing it on the floor at least allows me to be over the top of it when i'm cutting. 

but there's all the sliding around of the mat for each cut, the crawling along on my hands and knees, and worst of all, when i overshoot the mat and hit the tile with my rotary cutter. it ruins the blade every time.

not today! this time i was very careful with cutting on the mat and managed not to ruin my blade.

as i was lining up the rulers for cutting, i found the ease of lining up the rulers along the piece edges within the quilt refreshing. squaring up on a top that's already pretty square and has pieces that line up with your ruler nicely make the whole job faster and easier.

 

 i pulled out the binding options to make a final decision. originally, from the beginning, i planned to use the blue print with strings of lights as the binding. i hunted down another half yard of it after a lot of looking. when it arrived, i realized the print runs parallel to the selvage instead of perpendicular to it - the opposite of how i wanted it to make nice long cuts for binding. i started to worry i wouldn't have enough, too.

i auditioned a few other prints from my stash and decided i liked this birch tree on a goldenrod background. it wasn't part of the original pull the fabrics originally came from, but it worked well with them.

so when i pulled it out again, i intended to use it. but then i took another look at the blue lights print. i think it calms the quilt down where as the goldenrod energizes it. i like the calmer vibe with this quilt, so i opted for the original blue print after all.

once i had the quilt trimmed, i immediately processed and put away the trimmings from the backing. i was able to cut most of it into 1" and 1.5" strings. these are sizes i can use for various projects i have going.

i put them in the drawers designated for their sizes in my new scrap drawer tower. it felt so good to have everything dealt with and put away rather than lingering, languishing in some spot in the sewing room for ages as has previously happened with such pieces.

knowing what size scraps are useful to me and cutting for them is also so helpful. it makes putting pieces away for storage simple and more likely to happen, and it will make using the pieces more likely to happen, as well. win/win!

next up was making the binding. i made my first cut the wrong direction and winced. i did check first, but i thought it out wrong before i made the first cut. when i saw the piece and how the lights were lining up along it rather than across it, my brain immediately righted itself and i knew i'd done it incorrectly. ouch. i was already worried i wasn't going to have enough because of all the extra joining up (fabric loss) that would occur when using shorter pieces. i shrugged it off, telling myself i'd either work in the piece i cut wrong if i needed to, or i would add a strip of something else entirely. no use crying over spilt milk/cut fabric or worrying until i had it all complete and measured up on the quilt.

since i was short on fabric and because i wanted the design to be continuous without interrupting diagonal lines, i opted to join the binding strips end-to-end rather than with the diagonal joins i usually use. the design looked really good this way once sewn together. 

i got to wondering why it is i use the diagonal joins anyway? i never cut my binding on the bias. bias binding is where those diagonal joins come from, i think. the diagonal joins are probably more secure, but with the way my binding is double folded and then folded over again on the quilt edge, it seems unlikely there will be much stress on those little joining seams. maybe that's overdoing it? it certainly produces more waste with all those leftover triangles and requires more fabric to start with. i save my triangles for a scrap project, but are they even necessary?

well, all my worry about having enough fabric for the binding was for naught. even without that strip i cut wrong i had a whole extra strip leftover in length. i probably could have even done the diagonal joins and been fine. but i like the way it looks on this print better, so i'm glad i didn't.

all-in-all, it was a successful set of trimmings all the way around.

wilthshire-ing along

yesterday i got to be a quilter again for a day.

there's so much going on in our family life at the moment, some big developments and changes included. next week the mr and i were heading out of the country to iceland and amsterdam to celebrate our 30th wedding anniversary. instead, we are now heading to california for at least a month with our youngest daughter while our older son has medical treatments there. we're uprooting and relocating temporarily while we try to get him fixed up after four long years of increasingly problematic gastro-intestinal issues. as difficult as it's all been and as crazy as relocation will be, we are so grateful to finally have him on an upward path rather than wasting away while his system shuts down, which is where we've been for the last year. there is still no absolute solution, but we have support and help, and a direction to move in for the first time since this began. it's a good thing.

so i've been busy with the multiple home renos we're working on for our family, with a spring break trip for the kids with their cousins while my husband was with our son, with getting ready to move for a while. it's a lot.

for the day i took a break and was a quilter.

this morning i cleaned up my liberty fabric shelf, bringing more order to my sewing room, and worked on projects to take with me on our stay in california. i made and put on the binding of "wiltshire rows" by machine. i started gathering a tin of sewing supplies for the other projects i'm going to take. and i caught up on blogging, including a couple of retro-published posts for the last few weeks because i like to keep things in place and in order.

while we're gone, i've decided to handquilt "improv in an afternoon" if it turns out i have time there. i might be able to trim "fall paint" and prep it's binding, too. i have a few more days. it would be so nice if i could get my liberty courthouse steps quilts sandwiched so i could handquilt those, too, or my liberty christmas log cabin quilt. but that seems a bit much to hope for the time i have left and the list of other things to do.

while i was putting this binding on today, i happened apon a very useful tip to tuck away for future use. most of the time, i can make and put on a binding without looking at a graphic or tutorial anymore. the very last part where you join the two ends is always the trickiest bit. i'm still a little hit and miss on that one. but today i was using a piece that was leftover from a previous liberty + chambray quilt binding, so the end of the strip was already cut on the diagonal. this helped me know exactly how to put it on the other end piece because i already know right sides go together and which direction the diagonal should run. 

it worked like a charm! i think i'll always diagonally cut the one end piece before i put it on the quilt from now on.

doing the machine attachment of the binding is always so dull and tedious. i have to sew on the turtle speed because i'm using the walking foot. the corners are troublesome. mine have been a little wonky lately and i don't know why (too much fabric? not enough? something else?) so i tried to be extra careful with them. finally it was all done and now it's ready for the part i really like - the handbinding.

d3 (away at college) and i were texting back and forth the whole time because i sent her teaser photos. wiltshire is her favorite liberty print and this quilt is for her, which she still hasn't guessed. she keeps threatening to steal it.

 i showed her the stack of wiltshire i still have left and assured her there's plenty for a few more quilts. really, i'm not sure what i'm going to do with all this! 

i also need to figure out where to put it as i neglected to make room for it on the liberty shelf when i was arranging it this morning.

i'm sure it will all work out somehow, just like the rest of what we're working through, too.

a liberty sweep

this could have been a post with lots of pretty fabric pictures if the light in my sewing room was nice. but it's not. so these aren't very pretty even tough the fabrics are. sigh. someday! someday when i have my new house built and a sewing room with glorious natural light everything will photograph much more prettily. until then, on with the discussion.

i've been organizing and cleaning in my sewing room (which i'm so grateful for regardless of the current light quality). most recently i tackled my shelf of liberty of london tana lawns (top shelf in photo above). i have lots and lots of liberty bits which needed some more stringent order than existed. folding was sloppy and the quasi system i had in place wasn't functioning.

so i pulled everything off and began sorting by print. one of liberty's nicest qualities is that their classic collection prints are continuously reprinted in new colorways. i love this approach to fabric production

poppy and daisy print variations and the mini version

i ordered several small plastic boxes that i had previously used in my kitchen pantry to use for fabric organization, sized 3 x 6 x 10. i wanted to use them for all my fabrics, but they turned out too small for fat quarters or folding for file storage, so i decided to see how they did for the liberty pieces.

i generally buy liberty prints in fat quarter/quarter yard sizes or smaller. the way i've been using liberty, i don't need a lot of any one print. if i really like a print and think i'll use it more than that, i get more based on how much i like it. i also have several one yard cuts of prints i really love for use in backings. mostly i buy the same dozen or so prints that i really, really like. or so i thought! today i found i have a whole slew of one-off prints, far more than expected. but i do have plenty different versions of my favorite prints, too.

all boxed in for storage

once i had everything either in a pile with it's mates or in the one-off pile (except for a few color palette bundles), i began sorting the prints into boxes. some i had enough of the one print to make use of a whole box and others i grouped in a box with very similar prints. 

poppy and daisy got it's own box along with the mini version of the print, as seen in the photos above. so when you see the stack of boxes on my shelf, that's what's in them.

i did keep three color categories together regardless of print because i have plans to make quilts from these. they are: fall colors, pastel w/ neons, and red, white, and blue prints.

the fall bundle is sitting atop my pile of one-off prints that's nestled in between the boxes (for some structure). the one-offs were too big for a box of their own, but they're doing fine here between the boxes. the clear boxes make seeing which print family is inside easy. 

some of the other print collections were also too big for a box, like betsy (and betsy ann, the mini version). i have more betsy than any other print. it sits to the far right side of the shelf atop some cuts of chambray that will be used with the liberty for future liberty + chambray quilts.

moving left from the betsy pile past the boxes we come to the milk crate basket that used to hold all my liberty pieces in one place. it now holds my liberty quilting cottons and the other two color palette bundles for my future quilts. the neon pastels actually came together from, i believe, the alice caroline shop. nope, just looked and it's from duckadilly. both are great liberty sources. 

far left is a pile of my favorite prints also too big for a box but not as big as the betsy stack: june's meadow, capel, mitsi, katie & millie, flower tops. i try to keep each print in rainbow order to make locating one easier. it mostly works.

 aside from everything on the shelf, i moved all the scraps from my liberty + chambray quilts into a drawer in my new scrap tower. there are all the chambray 2.5" strip pieces, the flannel binding i've used on all the quilts, some random joined pieces scraps, and 2.5" strips from previous projects. this will come in super handy when i make more quilts in future. working with liberty in all the same size each time (well, two sizes, actually) really helps me make use of the scraps. it makes cutting a lot easier, too. i just cut 2.5" or 3.5" strips every time and i know they will always get used. 

i have also put all the pieces for my liberty christmas quilts in this basket.

that's my liberty swept up and sorted!

i think i accidentally put away the pile of prints i was using for my liberty courthouse steps quilts, which is a shame. i only have two more rounds to go on those and now i'll have to make new selections all over again. might not be too bad, but it was already done and i undid it. cleaning up does have it's consequences and casualties sometimes. if i'd put them together in a box or basket rather than just a pile before, this wouldn't have been an issue. but here we are. doing my best and moving on!

spring break stitches, year 4

for the fourth, i think, year in a row, we spent spring break in mexico with my husband's family. and for the fourth year in a row i brought "cheery (easter) quilt" with me for some handwork. this time it was the only handwork project i brought along, but i still didn't do much work on it. i did, however, complete the last of the lilac and melon colored boxes, so that's something to celebrate.

there's a pair of nail clippers in this photo because this year i accidentally left my snips behind. i started out packing my sewing things for the trip in my usual library bag, then switched it up to consolidate with my carry-on backpack. that's where the snips got left out. fortunately for me, the nail clippers worked. note to self for future travel where my snips might get snatched (like they did in sydney). 

other items of note from this quilt's spring break travels:

2022 - the handquilting gets started

2023 - i misplaced most of my colored threads, but i got the sunburst quilting done and did a photo shoot with the kinda completed quilt.

2024 - i found the missing quilting threads! yay! i didn't use them much, but they did make the trip. a lot of the handwork was done alongside my new little grandaughter.

granna at work, for once not making a horrible "quilter concentration face." this was because i was actually focused on someone cute nearby, not just the stitching. i'm smiling for fluffy.

i spent a lot of time with my grandkids this trip because their mama is pregnant again and needed the extra help. their dad was still doing schoolwork online while we were there, so i got a lot of time with the littles.

the aunties are really helpful, too.

 just look how cute her curls are getting! her hair is finally growing some and it's adorable.

we're home now and "cheery (easter) quilt" is actually getting more work done. i decided not to put it away quite yet, to see what i can do for it before next spring break. it's the main handwork project i have a the moment. sometimes i need a break from the other stuff in the photo - house design for the kitchen reno on our current home of 22 years, a house for our daughter's family, and our new home. whew. it's a lot. so i occasionally take a break to listen to a story with d5 and stitch.

since we are about to relocate to the LA area for a time as our older son receives medical treatment there, i just may have a lot of handstitching time on my hands and finish this off at a different beach than it's used to seeing.

quiltcon 2025

d5 and i went to quiltcon in phoenix for a day. short trip, in and out, so much packed in! the quilts were, of course, mindblowing and so inspirational. i did a photo dump of them on IG if you need to see more photos of quiltcon quilts. what made this day so special for us was the people! we had some really fantastic interactions with quilters and designers there that were almost overwhelming. we left so happy.

my first priority was to meet up with my long-time online quilt buddy from the early heyday of blogging circa 2013, michelle bartholomew. (this post! this is from when we first met online. i'm in the comments. so are sarah schraw and nicole/snips! oh, i miss the old blog days.) michelle is so talented. i've loved her quilts and her quilt photography for over a decade. we were actually going to room together at quiltcon 2017 in savannah, but my husband had a little accident and that went out the window. this year we were both at quiltcon and finally got to meet in person! turns out we're kind of hair twins, with similar (all-natural) coloring and highlights. 

michelle was busy in the morning helping a friend do book promotion, so we met midday for lunch. the easiest place to find each other - at her award winning quilt! i told you she was talented. we went to the convention center food court for lunch because it was convenient and i didn't remember the food from the last quiltcon, which seemed to mean it was at least okay. michelle and i picked a stirfry shop and got in line. as we approached the counter, i notice AMH was a few people behind us. wow. not a place to fangirl, so we didn't say hello.

we ate our lunch, which was not good at all, and talked, which was great. d5 was patient with me while we chatted, but eventually we all needed to move on. there were a bazillion more things i could have talked to michelle about. next time! and next time we will eat at a real restaurant.

while d5 and i were perusing quilts before lunch, i happened apon this cutie. i've followed amy smart "diary of a quilter" for a long time but somehow i did not expect her to be so darling. she was just the nicest, so friendly and engaging. we talked like we were old friends and she talked to d5, too. i was completely smitten with what a lovely person she is. i had no reason to expect otherwise, but it made me so happy to hit it off with her this way. i think i should have given her my bag - it matches her cute pants.

after lunch with michelle, we did the vendor booth side.

d5 tried out a longarm machine. no room for that around here, but it was a fun experience for her.

i met meghan of "then came june." her booth had so many adorable bundles and it was really fun to see so many of her quilts in person. d5 wasn't around so i didn't get a photo.

i also loved the "low and behold stitchery" booth. the eye candy!! i decided it was time to make a few purchases. i got an adorable retro fabric backing and yellow bundle. d5 picked some quilt stickers for herself. when we got to the register, my credit card didn't work. i had misplaced my backup card (in a clothing pocket) earlier in the week and only had the one card on me. i had to make a phone call and it turned out there was a security freeze on the card. good thing we got in the show and paid for our lunches before that started! i got them to unfreeze the card while i made my one purchase and then put it back on hold. darn. that was the end of my shopping for the day. i can get everything else i wanted online anyway, but it would have been nice to take it home right away and not pay shipping.

i did not pay any attention to who was going to be at quiltcon beyond michelle. so i was really surprised and delighted when i happened apon several designers i admire. first up was heather bailey.

this picture cracks me up - my face! hahaha. d5 took several photos for us, but this is, unfortunately, the best one. i think i was trying to get daughter to stop taking photos with a look, but instead i look like a maniac. in reality, it does kind of show how ecstatic i was to meet and talk to heather in person. she is my favorite designer! i'm so happy she is designing again. we got to talking and we have a couple of mutual connections. like, my seester went to art school with her and is good friends with her sister. i think this means heather and i should be good friends, too.

d5 fell head-over-heels for linsey's "pen and paper patterns" quilt designs in another booth. maybe when her skills get a little better she'll be ready to tackle something that complex.

we walked around another corner, i saw denyse schmidt in her booth, and my jaw dropped. we perused the booth a little and d5 told me i had to talk to denyse. i wasn't buying anything (stupid security block on my card), so i didn't want to take her time. but the daughter made me.

the colors in this "snake trails" sample quilt were so good! i may need to make one. or at least borrow the fabric palette.

we waited in line a minute and got to talk to denyse. (only one photo and she has her eyes closed - sorry denyse!) she was very gracious and nice to converse with; such a gentle, beautiful soul so full of creativity. i'm glad i listened to d5 and talked to her.

at this point, we were near the end of the vendor booths. our feet were tired. we were a little overwhelmed with all the sensory overload of quilts and fabric. i was giddy with the people we'd met. one more row to go and we would be done.

on the very far side, last row (or very beginning, depending on where you start from), i saw heather ross. it felt like too much for one day! i was so happy with my encounters with heather bailey and denyse schmidt. heather ross on top of that felt like a little too much. but again, d5 insisted we speak to her.

this turned out to be probably the best part of the whole day.

d5 recognized some of the fabric designs in the booth and was excited herself to talk to heather. she approached the first lady in the booth and started gushing about how much she loved her work. it was heather's assistant, haha. but she was really kind and talked to us for a bit until heather was available.

then we had the pleasantest experience of the day. despite there being a line of people behind us, heather gave us all the time in the world. and we weren't even buying anything. d5 is about the same age as heather's daughter, bea, and heather took a real shine to her. heather mentioned how bea and her friends will hang out in her studio sometimes and create things there. i said to d5, "can you imagine having a mother like this?" you know, an uber talented artist with tons of fabric lines under her belt and an amazing art/quilt sudio. d5 responds, "i do have a mother like that!" she melted all our hearts.

heather then asked us if we could take a picture together. i wasn't going to ask because of the line, but it was her idea. she suggested we do it in front of the strawberry print wall. great choice.

then she asked d5 if she could give her some fabric. uh, yes please!!

they spent a few minutes combing over the bundle options heather was offering d5.

and they kept conversing. 

you want to win a mother's heart, do something for her child. this was no sales gimmick, but i am for sure a hard and fast heather ross fabric fan now.

it's a good thing this was the end of the vendor booths because there's nothing that would top this meeting of heather ross! we walked out of the convention center stunned by heather's generosity, not just of the fabric, but of her time and attention she lavished on us. we were on cloud nine.

last encounter later on was at the phoenix airport. i found kate "quarter mile quilts" on display in terminal 4. somehow i had missed her posts that her quilted family portraits would be there, but i immediately recognized them. nice work, kate!

 

creating some order

in january i happened across karen brown of "just get it done quilts" 's declutter challenge and started watching her prep videos, which cover a lot of different ideas about quilt room organization and decluttering. although i am not currently able to follow her month-long decluttering schedule, i picked up a lot of ideas from her!

i have been exploring scrap storage options ever since i read jolene klassen's new book "scrap quilt diary." jolene said she uses lori holt of "bee in my bonnet" 's scrap storage system, so i went to lori's blog to learn about that. basically, these smart ladies cut all their scrap pieces into strips and squares of specific sizes they frequently use and store the scraps by size, further sorting by color or value is optional. so smart! having ready-cut strips and squares in standard sizes is like making your own precuts. most of the ladies i learned from have set patterns they know they can make quilts from using the standard sizes. this means the scraps are more likely to get used.

i have already been cutting scraps from my dump-them-all-in scrap basket for this fun "bonnie lass" project, so it makes sense to me to have scraps precut in standard squares and strips for other projects. once i have my scraps organized, i will share the results.

i read more about scrap storage from amy smart of  "diary of a quilter,"  she's also doing a purge and sewing room declutter for january. additionally, amy had an organization guest post from andy of "a bright corner," which i think is how i ended up with karen brown. maybe.

anyway, all these ladies had great ideas for decluttering/organizing the sewing room and for sorting/storing/using scraps. it was inspiring!

my space has needed a major overhaul for a while now. i took the ideas i gleaned and decided on a few to implement in small doses when i have time.

i tried a few containers from target for scrap storage, which i'll get to in a moment. what i'm going to start talking about is my new project boxes and tower, because this is what's working best and is most exciting for now.

i ordered two iris brand six-box storage towers (which come with optional wheels) and have stacked them together. there is one more tower i'll be putting under my sewing table for scrap storage

the boxes in the tower are 12" x 12", 3" deep boxes with snap-close lids. they are fantastic for individual project boxes! i'm so happy with them. and the 12 in this tower are already full of wips. so i've ordered another two towers, which should do me. (my wip page says i have 17 works-in-progress that are in the piecing stage. there are actually a few more than that, but 24 boxes will be adequate.) projects to the flimsy stage or further along are stored elsewhere in my room.

the box above contains all the finished blocks for my "sunny crossroads" quilt. there is a pile of fabrics still to be used somewhere in the room, which i can add to the box.

this box has some finished blocks and a lot of the as-yet, uncut fabrics for my "cute betsy hearts" quilt.

many of the boxes have all the fabric, including the backing, in the box. this is so convenient!

i really like that these boxes are clear for visibility. i feel like visibility means i'm more likely to work on the projects and not forget them. the aesthetic in me wishes these weren't plastic and looked prettier, but they look good enough and are quite practical. the tower included all the boxes, which was great. no guess work about fit!

these deeper, narrower sterilite rectangular boxes are what i used to store projects in; a few of the projects, at least because i only have about 8 of these. the rest of my wips were stacked and scattered around the room.

i like the shallower square boxes because they accomodate larger finished quilt blocks. these boxes now hold fabric pulls for future quilts that i haven't cut into yet. these live at the back of my pressing table. i can reach them pretty easily, but they aren't in a prime spot. they are further down the to-do list, so this is fine.

i ordered a set of iris's slimmest boxes, which i'm sure are absolutelly perfect for scrapbooking. however, they were a little too thin for quilt projects. if i had all the blocks done or maybe cut, they would store those fine. but they aren't deep enough to store additional fabric with blocks. so i'll be using those elsewhere in the house. to be determined.

before i ordered the iris boxes, i made a stop at target to see what they had to offer. i was really hoping for something pretty that would add to the look of my room and be practical. my sewing room has this set of square cubby shelves where i store a lot of my books, notions, and fabric pulls. but i feel like it's underutilized with far too much empty space. 

target no longer carries the milk crate boxes i originally got with these shelves, but i found these skinny woven baskets i was hoping i could stack in the cubbies. but they don't work at all. they stick out more than an inch and i can't fit two side-by-side in the cubby.

but that's okay because they weren't ideal for my scrap storage anyway. i put my 2" strips in this basket to test it out. now that i've tried the iris boxes, i think they will be perfect for scrap storage by cut size. iris also makes the tower with drawers instead of the boxes, which is what i plan to put my scraps in. i think drawers will be more accessible and appropriate for scrap storage than boxes. individual boxes with lids are good for items that need to be contained and moved around a lot. i envision opening and closing a drawer that stays in place rather than taking out a box and opening a lid for scraps. since it doesn't need to be portable, open top is better.

i got these white plastic baskets from target, as well. they were inexpensive and not too offensive looking. my issue with these is they don't stack and they don't fit my cubbies, either. 

somebody should have measured before she went shopping.

they did fit my scrap strips okay, but i think the 12" x 12" drawers are going to be better.

so, my room is getting some much-needed organization! hopefully, this helps with making more quilts more easily.

i have another system i bought to maybe put my fabric in. when i get to try it out, i'll report back on that next.