Just Sew Something or Wisdom and Encouragement For the Process

I sat down to a quick brunch at one of the newer foodie places in town. I kinda like eating alone. It gives me time to people watch. To sit. To think. To be among people without having to be with them. Do any of you introverts know what I mean?  

Before brunch, I grabbed a copy of Love Patchwork and Quilting magazine. To my great delight, there's an article by Thomas Knauer. Quilter Extradordinaire. His work is beautiful, inspired and thoughtful. A lot of things I want my work to be. So I'm reading and I read: 

"Go make a lot of stuff. Let it be crappy, because it is going to be. Don't worry about screwing it up, and don't pretend you don't. Be proud of what you make, but don't be satisfied -- you can always do better and more. If you don't look back on what you made six months ago and think it is crap you are doing something wrong." - Thomas Knauer

and then my heart leaps. Not quite like baby John in the womb of Elizabeth upon coming to Mary and Jesus, but a wave of encouraged excitement washes over me. 

Because I relate. I make a lot of crap (in my opinion). I think some of it is pretty,  but it is often simple or my points don't line up or no one on IG likes it. (Wahhhhh -- not an actual problem, but more like one of the hashtag hobbyquilterprobelms).  Sometimes I make things I like, and other times, maybe even more often, I'm just glad the stitching part was fun or that I get to bind the dang thing, because the sewing is cathartic and good for me to get out of my own head even when the product isn't fabulous. 

But TK says this is okay.  That it is normal and that It's a crucial part of the design process.

So  I'm going to keep sewing "crap." I'm going to keep sewing to get better at the stitching and I'm going to play with color combinations that aren't my cup of joe to push myself and experiment.  I'm going to sew the crap, because eventually, maybe, I'll sew something I just LOVE. Something that is inspired and beautiful. Something that has a greater meaning. Something that touches someone else (and no in a blanket on the couch kind of way, although I see value in that, too).  

(Photos in this post are just some of the things I've made or am in the midst of making. Some may be crap (or have crappy parts), but I might like them, anyway). 

Ruby Dancing :: An Improv Curves Quilt inspired by Vintage Modern Quilts tutorial

The most fun day I've ever had sewing was a rainy afternoon, not long after QuiltCon, when I happened upon Vintage Modern Quilts' tutorial on Improv Curves. It was filmed at QuiltCon

Inspired and excited, I busted open a layer cake of Bonnie and Camille's famed line "Ruby" and got to work.After a couple hours and an entire bottle of Ellen's Best Press Starch alternative, I had all the blocks done and a top finished.

I racked my brain and just couldn't decide on the quilting, so the quilt sat and sat. Until one day when I saw a picture Abby Latimer of Latimer Lane Quilting posted of a feathered type of long arm pattern... and instantly I just knew that it would be perfect for my special Ruby quilt.

Off it went and soon enough it came back. I loved it, but couldn't quite decide on a binding, until I realized that the grey in their Vintage Modern line looked great with the grey in Ruby.

I still love this quilt and I really can't wait to make another Improv Curves quilt from a layer cake some day.

Back soon,

Katie

(It's Black and) White and Red All Over!

So hey, it's me! And I'm crazy excited about this quilt I'm about to show you. It's black and white and red all over... except it's only black and white on one side and red and white on the other.

I made it especially for a local red and white quilt show that is happening in my area, that is being modeled after the big old show that had in NYC some years ago.  The local show was only announced about two months ago, and while that might not be a short deadline to make a little something, it also didn't leave ample time for pondering and wandering and procrastinating.

So I got busy on pinterest and came across this lovely post about an old vintage red and white quilt and I knew immediately that I wanted to model my quilt after it.

I could tell the blocks were a simple snowball and 9-patch, but couldn't find a pattern, so I just worked out the dimensions, did some calculations and got to work. Within a solid weekend (isn) of sewing at my mom's house, I had the top pieced.

(Oh dang, my finger is there on the screen, too. Good blogger.)

And because I loved the orange peel quilting on the antique I had my mind SET on getting orange peel on this quilt. A little googling and I came across the super talented and fabulous Jessica Toye's quilting blog. (If you want something custom quilted, CHOOSE Jessica! She's fabulous to work with!)

After a few emails back and forth we had a plan! And I was more than thrilled to send it to her. And BOY did she work some custom quilting magic.... She took my orange peel idea and made it even more fabulous. (Seriously, go check out the detail pics in her post about my quilt!) I'm so very pleased with it.

And honestly, because of the quilting and the awesome Britten Numbers fabric, I like the back as much as the front.

 (I lifted this picture from Jessica...)

This quilt will be on display for several weeks in May (if you're local and want to see it, contact me and I'll send you the info) and then it's coming back to live at my house. Woohoo!

Details:
Dimensions:
Pattern: Snowball and 9-patch
Fabric: Sandy Gervais (Flirt-related?) solid for the red, Not sure about the white...
Backing: IKEA Britten Numbers
Moda: White jelly roll strips for the binding
Finished: Easter Sunday

P.S. This is my first actual QUILT to finish this year! So...go me! (hashtag "it's April, nothing to brag about")

Modern Insta Bee & February and March Bee Blocks

One thing I haven't mentioned on le blog, is that I joined an Instagram Bee {the #moderninstabee} with 12 new friends. Each month, one queen bee gets to choose her color and block options and I get to try out new fabric combinations, use scraps, and have fun sewing with women from all over North America. Pretty cool, huh? If you're on IG, I'm in Hive 3... and you can see what my hive is up to my checking out #instabee2014hive3

We are using this awesome book called Modern Bee by Lindsay Conner. There's a baker's dozen of pretty cool quilts in this book! Get yourself one!

And so far, I've gotten two months finished and shipped off!


Emily (@elephantgrace) chose this cool lattice for her for February block. She asked for bright scrappy colors with a white background!

And for March, another Emily (@emilykimlee), chose this cool triple star and she requested yellow for the bitty star, aqua-y blues for the middle star, and greys for the biggest star. Due to some traveling and not LOVING stars, I totally procrastinated making this block. Right until the very end, but once I got to the sewing HSTs into 8 pointed stars, I started having fun and ended up LOVING this block!

I'll keep posting these every few months, so you can see all the wonderful bee quilts being made!

Katie

Civil War Sampler Block of the Week : Week 1 : The White House

I spent a good bit of 2013 sewing, but I mostly sewed things that were FAST and sort of pattern-less. One of my (unspoken) goals for this year, is to spend some time making some more complex quilts. Things that require following a pattern and don't become a finished top in an afternoon or a week. It's because I want to expand my skills and grow as a quilter...

So late in the fall, I started thinking about this and realized a good way to do this would be to do some type of quilt-a-long or block-of-the week. I got really excited about it and mentioned it to my mom and we did some investigating and have decided to quilt-a-long to Barbara Brackman's Civil War Sampler as a BOW.

She chose her fabrics and I chose mine.

I'm going to use Dowry, AMH True Colors, Florence and Botanics.  I love mixy scrappy things, and all of these lines, so I'm excited to see how they'll look all together.

We've set out to sew this really cool sampler quilt, in fabrics we love (even though they aren't "civil war" fabrics).

Here's my block #1 :: The White House

Moving Forward! Exciting 2014 Plans

So we're about a month into 2014 (crazy, right?), and I think it's high time that I talk about the rest of the coming year. I'm so excited about the months to come and what this year means for my quilting journey. I have a number of quilts in my brain that I want to work on and some tops in my closet that must be dealt with, ehem... finished. Yay for the possibility of finished quilts!

I'm pretty excited about all the quilts I made and finished this year...and the fact that in the last month I have become increasingly confident about quilting on my domestic machine. (Yes, only straightish-type lines, but I happen to love lines, so that's a good step forward). BUT, I'm even more excited about what's on the horizon.

So let's talk about what's to come::

Category 1: Ready for quilting

1. Etchings Pluses
2. Ruby Curves
3. Scrappy Trip Along
4. A couple Santas I made

Category 2: Tops to Finish

1. A low volume
2. A quilt made with Happy-Go-Lucky and Simply Color
3. The X and PLUS along. (I only made one block for this one, so I'm kind of on the fence about moving it forward).

Category 3: Brand New Projects

1. QuiltCon 2013 inspired
2. Giant Star x 2 or 3 (?)
3. A super Swoon
4. Civil War Sampler BOW with G

Category 4: Surprises

1. Something of a curious nature
2. Something simple and sweet

I'm going to update this list quarterly... To stay accountable. I'm hoping to get Category 1 finished by the end of March. And have some of Category 2 moved into Category 1 by that time!

I'm in no rush on Category 3 (they are just like somethings I want to prioritize before 2015!) , and Category 4 has a definite finish date, but I can't share that or I might be giving away the surprise.

I'm going to try and be better at posting pictures of some WIPs.... BUT we'll see. :-)

Perhaps in the next year I can also tackle some more free motion quilting at home and maybe even take a long-arm certification course, for those extra large quilts, but let's just wait it out and see.

WIP Wednesday: Un-quilting (mostly)

Linking up again with Freshly Pieced.

 So I didn't make as much progress on as many WIPs last week as I wanted to, but I did successfully turn one WIP into a Finish!! It is the cutest little bright baby boy quilt! 

I also started the quilting on this little pretty, but am now, unfortunately, in the process of ripping it out.

 

The backing puckered! So thanks to the advice of IG and my mom, I'm going to re-baste it and try again. I thought I had it as taught as I needed, but apparently not.  See the damage:

Yikes! At least I can rip it out while sitting on the couch watching old One Tree Hill episodes.
Hopefully I'll have more progress on my x and plus blocks by next week! And maybe have another finish or brand new WIP to report as well.

Thanks for checking in! 

QuiltCon 2013: Lectures

While we were at QuiltCon, we attended a number of lectures.
Some of the highlights were:

Yoshiko Jinzenji was the first lecture we went to and Wow! Yoshiko's quilts are stunning in person and she is adorable. She spoke very quickly and showed us so much about her process and many of her quilts. To say they are a work of art is putting it lightly.

Angela Walters: was a crowd favorite for good reason. She was full of jokes and information about how she quilts and why she got started. It was really fun to hear her talk about blending thread, getting bored at the machine, and how her husband's grandfather got her started sewing and quilting.

Here is some of her free motion quilting up close. No picture of her because she moved around a lot and all of them are very blurry! 

David Butler, the designer of Parson Gray, was probably my favorite of all the lectures, which is saying a LOT considering the all-star line up. One of the main things he said that struck me was about how to create a "feeling" in a photograph. He said "exaggerate so it isn't dull. Add 20% to everything you shoot."  He also said "It will always have your voice on it if it is something you love.

I didn't get any good pictures while David was talking, because we were too far back, BUT I did get a picture with him afterwards. Since I love both of his fabric lines, I was thrilled!

Amy Butler  showed her color design process. It was fascinating to see how she takes inspiration from 100s of photographs, and uses paint chips and markers to come up with several different color palettes for her fabric lines.

Weeks Ringle and Bill Kerr showed a ton of slides of their quilts. They talked about how hard it has been for them to feel recognized as "quilters" in a world that is only starting to embrace modern quilting. Their story was interesting and their quilts, as expected, were wonderful.

This is a blurry picture, but they were very cute with each other. Unfortunately, it is all I've got. 

Denyse Schmidt was the keynote speaker. She was wonderful and I'll be back tomorrow with a post about some of those details! So check back in.