Late Night Sewing

You know you’ve stayed up too late sewing when you start time traveling.

This label was my first attempt at machine embroidery.

I had to redo it several times before it came out right.

All's well that ends well, right?

Seattle Modern Quilt Guild Summer Fun

I am so psyched about all the fun events happening this summer with the Seattle Modern Quilt Guild! July 6-August 2, the Seattle Modern Quilt Guild 2012 Exhibition will happen at Island Quilter on Vashon Island, WA. (I have two mini quilts in the exhibition!) August 10-12, the first ever Vancouver-Seattle-Portland Modern Quilt Guild Meet-Up will take place in Seattle. It’s going to be an awesome summer to be a modern quilter in the Emerald City!

Cheerful Zakka Potholders

Ever since I found Pink Penguin’s blog, I have been intrigued by Zakka sewing. I was thrilled when my mom gave me a copy of the book Zakka Style by Rashida Coleman-Hale just before the start of the Zakka Style Sew Along. As soon as I saw these potholders, I knew that I had to make some for my kitchen. Most of my kitchen accoutrements are blue or orange, but I wasn’t feeling inspired by the orange fabrics in my stash. The yellow Half Moon Modern dots led me to a blue and yellow palette that I find especially cheerful.

Of course, I’m not one to follow a pattern when I can find room to make it my own. Since I didn’t have any linen on hand, I used 100% quilting cottons, which I cut into 1.5” and 2.5” strips. I didn’t see the point of binding the pockets, so I just traced the pattern along the fold of the backing fabrics. After digging through my scraps, I found enough 2” double-fold binding to bind both potholders. This is the first time ever that I bound something curved! Speaking of binding, if you make these potholders, check out the corrected instructions on retro mama’s blog before you start. Incorrect instructions aside, these potholders were quick and easy, which is just what I needed.

Linking up to Tuesday at the {summer} Table and Zakka Along Week 13 :: Patchwork Potholders.

Zany Zigzag Baby Quilt

The evolution of a quilt can be interesting at times. This one started when a friend of mine told me she was expecting a little girl. Her colors were purple and pink, and her theme was flowers and butterflies. Since I didn’t have many pink fabrics in my stash, I bought a few half yards and pulled more fabrics from my shelves. The stack sat and sat until I decided on a pattern. I knew I wanted to use half-square triangles, but was stuck until I saw Cluck Cluck Sew’s Scrappy Chevron quilt. Then I had to swap out fabrics until I had an equal number of light pinks and dark purples. Each block is a chevron made from one purple print and one pink print. I made more blocks than necessary so that I could rearrange them until the zigzags turned out how I wanted them to.

Quilting this baby quilt was especially satisfying. I used two colors of thread, pink in the pink zigzags and purple in the purple zigzags and followed the seams. The back is a flowery print that I’ve used for a backing before. The binding is Thistle, a Kona solid. I am quite satisfied with the results and can’t wait to give it to its new owner.

Linking up to Sew Modern Mondays.

Wordless Work in Progress Wednesday: June 20, 2012

Wordless Work in Progress Wednesday: June 13, 2012

Baprons, Baby!

Kids sure are messy. It never ceases to amaze me how messy my sweet girl can be when she eats. She can decimate a bib in no time flat, so when I saw the baprons (baby aprons) that Jess at Craftiness is not Optional had made, I knew I had to make some myself. There was no flannel in my stash, so I made a little quilt sandwich and quilted them by machine. If only I had started sooner! The pattern that Jess so generously shared is not quite big enough for my growing girl. These baprons just barely fit right now, but she will most likely outgrow them before she wears them out. I plan to enlarge the pattern, though, because baprons are just too dang cute! (Also, she can’t rip them off like she can rip off traditional bibs.) I love the two I made out of stashed fabrics and binding scraps, even though they aren’t my best work. Baprons are the perfect size to experiment with different quilting techniques and I had fun trying out free motion quilting for the first time. I need to make plenty more baprons before I can move on to free motion quilting on actual quilts. In the mean time, I enjoy gazing across our dining room table at my sweet daughter enjoying her meal while wearing something I made. Eventually I intend to sew actual clothes for her, but in the meantime, I will enjoy the baprons.

Linking up with Tuesday at the {summer} Table and Fabric Tuesday.

Between the Cats Crib Quilt

My first introduction to modern quilting was via FunQuilts, now known as Modern Quilt Studio. I have long admired their patterns. The first one I chose to make was a freebie from their website. Between the Lines is simple, small, and perfect for showcasing favorite prints, such as the ones I hoarded from Benartex’s Paris Cats line.

I finished piecing the top in July 2010, while I was pregnant with my sweet daughter. It sat neglected as my focus shifted to the challenges of pregnancy and then caring for an infant. After I finished the twin-sized Kitty Kaleidoscope for my sweet girl last December, I decided that this quilt would be the perfect crib quilt for her, even though she already has quite a few baby quilts made by family and friends. I machined quilted in the ditch along the purple sashing, and then added some hand quilting to one block in each row for added interest. I finished this quilt in May 2012, close to two years after I started it.

When I presented it to my sweet daughter, she said “Ooooooh!” High prize from a toddler! She then promptly used it to cover one of her dolls. Guess I need to make a matching doll quilt now.

Linking up with Sew Modern Monday, since this pattern is most definitely modern.

UPDATE: Also linking up to Summer Sewing Contest.