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April Goal – Get my Mojo Back

By Liz · Comments (5) · April 2nd, 2013

Hey, guess what? I’m not dead! I just… didn’t touch my sewing machine for a full month. There was nothing gradual about the loss of mojo. I was cranking along, super-productive, and then suddenly dropped off the face of the earth. The reasons aren’t important – plenty of personal things, big and small, good and bad, that completely knocked me off my game and had me kind of curling in on myself for a few weeks.

The other night, I decided I was tired of not-sewing. That’s not exactly the same as wanting to sew again, but I wanted to want it. So I decided to push myself into the glorified closet that is my sewing room and fake it ’til I felt it.

Lo and behold, I finished up the blocks for a baby quilt, and the next day, I got the top put together. It was nice to feel that satisfaction again, of progress and seeing something come together the way I imagined it.

I need to figure out the back, and practice the quilting I want to do to make sure it will actually work, but I should be able to finish this one relatively soon. An April finish! Yes! It will happen!

When that’s done, I’m going to dig into the unfinished pile and hopefully make substantial progress on my mom’s Nicey Jane quilts. Wish me luck, and hopefully it’ll be less than a month before I’m back here again.

Comments (5)

Categories : Piecing

Project Priorities – February

By Liz · Comments (3) · February 4th, 2013

Well, I would say my first month of project priorities was a success! I finished both quilts (Little Sister and Linc), and am totally up-to-speed on my Woodland Sampler. In addition to feeling good about actually accomplishing the goals, I really did find it helpful to have laid them out for myself. It kept me on-track at times when I was feeling a little squirrely and might have jumped onto something else before I finished the other projects. Or when one project had to be paused because I was waiting for backing fabric or something, I could feel like moving to another one of my priorities was productive instead of just being ADD.

So, on to February’s priority list! This will be a little challenging, since I’m going to be away for a week, plus the kids have school vacation for a week. But fingers crossed that I’ll get it done!

1. Baby boom quilt #2, a preppy bit of patchwork. The top is complete, I just need to figure out a back and finish it up.

2. Baby boom quilt #3, which I’m rather excited about. I have discovered my new favorite Kona Solid color: Nightfall. Oh, this photo doesn’t even do it justice, it is the most gorgeous twilight shade of navy blue. There’s going to be a lot of it, with a handful of yellows. I’m kind of excited for this design, I hope it turns out as pretty as it looks in my head.

3. Keep up with the Woodland Sampler. Can’t wait to fill in the one blue frame! I think this one will travel with me.

Comments (3)

Categories : Cross-stitch, Piecing, Quilting, Quilts, Works in Progress

Project Priorities – January

By Liz · Comments (5) · January 10th, 2013

Well hi, friends! Happy 2013. Hope the new year is treating you well so far.

Instead of a year’s worth of goals, I’m going to try something new (to me) this year. I’m going to set some priorities or goals at the beginning of each month. Hopefully that will help me be realistic, as well as on-track and prioritized. Or, you know, not at all. Remains to be seen.

So, here are my three goals for January:

1. Finish my sister’s wedding quilt. I was making good progress on it, and then WHAMMO, December totally escaped me in a blur of teacher gifts and a complete lack of plans for school vacation. But now I’ve got the back made, and plenty of batting. Time to baste, quilt, and bind this sucker. Should be do-able.

2. Finish the first of three baby quilts that need to get done ASAP. You know how these things come in waves, right? All was quiet on the baby front for a while, but now I’ve got three new babies being born to close friends within a couple of months. The recipient for this one, in fact, was born almost a month ago. Oops. Gotta get on that.

3. Catch up with my Woodland Sampler cross-stitch, from the Frosted Pumpkin Stitchery. What’s that? Oh, yeah. I’m an idiot and picked up a new craft to completely distract me from everything else I should be doing. But dang, I’m enamored of cross-stitch right now. It’s a really straightforward skill, without being so easy it’s boring. Those little even stitches are so neat and orderly. And the patterns are just so darn cute. What will I do with the finished product? No idea. But I like having a portable little project for when I get a few seconds to sit down. And I love that this is a year-long sampler project, so we get one little piece at a time. (And if you want to do it, the price goes up from $10 to $16.95 after this Friday the 11th, so sign up now!)

The goal for January is to finish up the outlines of all of the frames (I have about 3 of 13 done already), and complete the contents of the January frame.

I’ll be back soon, I hope, to report on some progress!

Comments (5)

Categories : Crafts, Cross-stitch, Piecing, Works in Progress

Tags : goals

Increments

By Liz · Comments (9) · December 6th, 2012

I’ve been trying to push through to complete my stepsister’s wedding quilt (as mentioned in my WIP Challenge list), and am making good progress. As of last night, the top is nearly finished – just needs an outside border. In case you’re wondering, the blocks have a 3″ finished center square, 1″ inner ring, and 2″ outer ring. Sashing is 1″.

I will forever associate this quilt with How I Met Your Mother. Sometimes I like to listen to music when I sew, sometimes I stream a movie or TV show on my iPad. I have a few friends who adore this show, but I had actually never watched it. Since all but the current season are available on Netflix, it has become my go-to sewing entertainment, and this quilt has fit neatly into HIMYM-increments.

I had the pieces for the blocks set out in ready-to-chain-piece stacks, with seven blocks per stack. One stack? Two episodes.

Time to add sashing and put the blocks into rows? One episode per row.

Assemble the quilt top? Two rows plus sashing per episode, booyah!

I’m well into the second season, now, and plenty more to go on my ever-expanding to-do list. I wonder how long it’ll take me to catch up to real-time on this show?

What about you? Do you have a favorite playlist or show for when you’re sewing? Or are you content to just listen to the whirr of the machine?

Comments (9)

Categories : Piecing

Tags : Boston Modern Quilt Guild, how i met your mother, netflix, streaming, works in progress

A Cautionary Tale

By Liz · Comments (9) · July 26th, 2012

Several months ago, on something of a dare from my husband, I designed a quilt.

Why yes, that is the Google Mobile logo.

Anyways, I put it all on graph paper, broke it into blocks, pieced them one at a time. And, honestly, the top came together exactly as I planned it, and it looks really cool. I can’t wait to show it to you.

So then I started working on the back. I decided to do it mostly in a very dark gray, with little pops of color from the front, designed to actually line up with where those colors are on the front. The plan is this: quilt it in five different colors of thread – red on red, white on white, etc.. So, on the back, you’ll sort of see the same design as the front. And the color thread would overlap with the colors on the back, so there wouldn’t be any red thread on yellow fabric – the thread would either match the color on the back, or would be on the gray. Make sense? Kinda cool, huh?

And when I pieced the back, it came out pretty much exactly as I had drawn it. I love it when that happens.

Then I started basting. I went to put the top down onto the batting when I realized my stupid, stupid mistake. Have you spotted it, yet? Well, if not, please learn from the error of my ways.

On the quilt top, the blue is on the top left. On the quilt back, the blue is on the top left. But it SHOULD be on the top… right. If I want it to line up, the back should be a mirror-image of the top.

DAMMIT.

Honestly, I nearly had a heart attack. I called my husband in from the other room to talk me down from the ledge. We talked through the options, but there are no straightforward ways to take the quilt back that I have and turn it into the quilt back that I need. And I simply cannot bring myself to pick out all of the seams.

OH, DID I MENTION that I already submitted this quilt for the Boston Modern Quilt Guild exhibit at the Lowell Quilt Festival? WHICH IS IN ABOUT TWO WEEKS???

Holy. Crap.

Anyways, another four yards of Kona Charcoal is on its way from Sew Fresh Fabrics, and dammit, I am going to try to re-make the back in the correct orientation. I was so psyched about that back, I can’t let myself give up on it.

So, I’ve got two weeks to re-piece the back (the quilt is 60×70″, by the way – it’s no mini), quilt it, bind it, and put a hanging sleeve on it.

By the way, any suggestions for what quilting design/texture I should do would be more than welcome – the whole thing is solids, so I feel like the quilting should add a cool texture, but I can’t decide what to do.

Oh, and my second submission, a mini quilt for the Guild’s mini quilt challenge… also not quite done yet.

Something about counting chickens, I know, I know. Lesson learned.

Now, who wants to come watch my kids so I can sew all day for the next two weeks?

Comments (9)

Categories : Piecing

Tags : Boston Modern Quilt Guild, Lowell Quilt Festival

Summer Sewing

By Liz · Comments (4) · July 9th, 2012

Really, I swear, I have been doing a reasonable amount of sewing! Just, you know, no finishes.

I’ve got this stack of finished tops (plus another about half-done), but only one has a back and I’m a little afraid of quilting it.

I’ve got a nice pull for a commissioned baby quilt (the bright pink towards the bottom is getting nixed), and even an idea for what to make with them. But haven’t cut the fabric yet.

I took a longarm quilting class and will hopefully do my first quilts on the longarm later this summer (see the aforementioned quilt tops).

I’ve got my hexagons sorted by color and a big stack of them ready to go with me to Chicago to make a mini quilt. Hopefully.

Oh, I suppose I do have a finish that isn’t entirely mine. My local Modern Quilt Guild was making a charity quilt, and I volunteered to quilt and bind it. I’ve been relatively inactive in the guild for the last year or so, but am trying to jump back in. This quilt has a lot of unusual fabrics – I’m not sure if they’re shirtings or what – but I think the madras-like effect is pretty cool.

The top and back were a bit uneven, so I did a big, forgiving meander over the whole thing and machine bound it. Easy peasy, now I just need to get it passed along so it can be given to someone who could use a little something cozy.

So, anyways, it’s a funny feeling. I do feel like I’m getting more sewing done than I had in the Spring, but I don’t have a lot of finishes to show for it. Hopefully that will turn around soon…

Comments (4)

Categories : Piecing

Speed Work

By Liz · Comments (3) · January 26th, 2012

After the almost-year-and-a-half that was Triangle Madness, I feel like I’m making up for it with speedy projects.

Inspired by the Tangerine Tango challenge and some adorable bundles of Lizzy House’s newest line, Outfoxed, I decided to make an orange-and-plum quilt using Jeni’s Plus Quilt tutorial. I cut the squares on Tuesday and the (not small!) quilt top was done by Sunday! Oh, man, that was super satisfying and fast! Now I just need to order a bit more fabric to make the back, and I may have another finished quilt on the books.

And speaking of fast finishes, last night I got it in my head that I needed a new little zippered pouch for my credit cards. A regular wallet just feels too bulky, I like to be able to throw something small in my jacket pocket when I’m dashing into Target with three kids in tow. A quick look at Cara’s tutorial, and about 10 minutes later I had this cute little gray and orange number.

It’s not perfect, but for a quick grab out of the stash and a few minutes at the sewing machine, it’s perfectly cute and functional. Win!

Any quick projects going on in your world, friends?

Comments (3)

Categories : Crafts, Piecing

Tags : Lizzy House, outfoxed, plus quilt, tangerine tango, zippered pouch

Like a hole in my head

By Liz · Comments (7) · August 31st, 2011

Someone help me. I’ve made my first hexagons.

I know, I’m so far behind the trend on this one, hexagons are probably so last year. Whatever. I’ve been thinking about giving them a try for a while. Really, quilting is so often NOT a portable project – even if you have binding to sew, you’re still hauling around a great big finished quilt and trying not to get grass stains on it. And I don’t do embroidery or really any other hand-sewn projects. Oh, but these little hexies. So stinking cute, so many possibilities. I love that I could bring them along on a flight (like, say, the very long one to Salt Lake City in October…), or to kill time during my kids’ activities. I have to credit Angela from My Three Sons for all of my hexagon inspiration and instruction.

For a little bit of instant gratification, I turned my first two hexagons into a needle book, thanks to Angela’s tutorial.

So quick and easy, so useful, so adorable. Maybe now that I have something so cute, I won’t constantly lose my sewing needles. Yeah, right.

Regardless, I expect to make a whole mess of these cuties this fall, between dance class and preschool pickup and whatever else my kids are up to. I’m even collecting supplies to create a travel box like Angela’s. I swear, I’m not a stalker, she just has really good ideas! Leave it to the engineers.

Here, then, is the question. If I’m going to start collecting 3.5″ squares of fabric (the templates I have are the 1.5″ hexagons)… what should my plan be? Should I even have a plan, or should I just start making hexies and see where it takes me? Should this be my new triangle madness (even though I haven’t fully finished the original, though I swear it’s in progress), and just go nuts with the scrap bins? Decisions, decisions.

What about you? Have you caught the hexagon bug? Do you have any favorite projects you’ve seen with them?

Comments (7)

Categories : Finished Objects, Piecing

Tags : felt, hexagons, needle book, needle case

Productivity

By Liz · Comments (3) · August 30th, 2011

I suppose I should thank Hurricane Irene for making us stay inside all weekend. Thankfully, we were spared in my piece of Eastern Massachusetts – the power stayed on, the basement stayed dry, and the worst I can say is that my yard is strewn with sticks and leaves. Thinking about everyone who didn’t get off quite as easy.

So, while we abandoned all previous screen time limits and let the kids watch movies and play Wii to their heart’s content, I turned last week’s (oh, shoot, two weeks ago…) pile of fabric into a completed quilt top AND back!

(Please ignore my gross ironing board. Guess it’s time for a new pad…)

I’m really excited about this quilt, and am just waiting for some basting spray to put it together. Oh, and some inspiration for how to quilt it, of course. For the first time in quite a while, I don’t feel like I’m way behind the eight ball. In fact, before I got too into this quilt, I finished one that’s been in progress for MONTHS, which I will share when it reaches its destination.

Between the forced indoor time of the weekend and finally feeling caught up, I feel like I’ve gotten a big burst of sewing energy back. Hoping to have more and more to share in the coming weeks.

Comments (3)

Categories : Piecing

Hello, old friends

By Liz · Comments (5) · March 27th, 2011

After more than a month away, I sat down in my sewing room this weekend. It wasn’t a lot, maybe half an hour of sewing, 20 minutes of cutting. But it felt nice to be thinking about fabric again. Browsing online fabric shops, checking Flickr and blogs looking for an idea for a (yes, another!) baby quilt.

Sewing rows together for an early May baby. Mendocino, pinks and purples and gold and a little orange.

Cutting up a jelly roll for a late May baby. A fun new variation on a coin quilt that I stumbled across, and happy to continue using fabrics from my stash (another 1 7/8 yards used!).

A few rare minutes of peace in my own house, big kids napping, grandparents at their hotel, me in between pumping sessions and hospital visits. It sucks, big time, to not have Ellie at home with us yet. But I suppose I might as well take advantage of the little pieces of free time while I have them.

Comments (5)

Categories : Fabric, Piecing

Archive for Piecing

April Goal – Get my Mojo Back

Project Priorities – February

Project Priorities – January

Increments

A Cautionary Tale

Summer Sewing

Speed Work

Like a hole in my head

Productivity

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Works in Progress

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