pink lemonade

I finished this quilt the other day. Inspired by some pics of storage containers. Well, it was finally nice enough outside today to snap a photo. So, here's a new quilt! It is about 45x55in I think.

This was improvisationally pieced. It was very freeing (and exciting) to create and make choices with each and every step of the process. There's more pics over at flickr if you're interested :)
oh yeah, do you like the new banner?? about time isn't it?

s is for sewing

Thanks to everyone for the sweet comments about Pierrette's quilt. I was so happy to deliver it to her last week. She loved it, and it looked great on her bed.

To answer a couple quilt related questions...
I never hand-quilt...I started (never finished) a king size quilt two years ago that is hand quilted and I hate it now! I did enjoy watching tv and stitching along but I would rather embroider than quilt.

I always make my own binding, the stuff in stores is never as soft as binding made from cotton fabric. Although, in a pinch it is tempting to use some ready made stuff! My favorite method is to use a double layer like this tutorial describes. It makes it so easy to stitch the back of the binding onto the back of the quilt because you are stitching a folded edge, not a pressed under edge. If I am using a stripe or a gingham as my binding I cut my binding on the bias because I like the look of bias stripes and checks. However for every other fabric I cut my strips on the straight and along the lengthwise grain.

Probably the greatest help to me in my process of learning to quilt was dritz temporary adhesive spray...baste with a can baby! I love this stuff. It is so worth it, for both hand or machine quilting, to use this spray instead of safety pins or thread basting. It washes out great and doesn't gum up your needle.

Anyway, I think those are the couple of questions I wanted to answer!

I am really enjoying quilting lately and I have a few WIP quilts that are going well. I look forward to taking some pics today because it is sunny for the first time in a few days. I started one somewhat modern quilt in varying shades of pink and want to capture that WIP. I also just finished a little boys quilt using some of that awesome Heather Ross gnome fabric, so I'm looking forward to taking a pic of that.
Quilting is a sewing hobby that I have done off and on for around 5 years. My first project was a patchwork bag and from there I went on to t-shirt quilts and then on to traditional quilting. (pieced cotton fabrics with batting sandwiched inside and cloth binding) At first I machine quilted on my regular sewing machine with the feed dogs down. That took a little practice to regulate my stitch length but it was great once I got the hang of it. (although I never quilted anything large on that machine...that would have been REALLY difficult) And then as I mentioned in my last post I recently got a new machine that is larger and roomier to the right of the needle so I can tackle larger quilts on it...here she is...

This machine is a great investment not only for quilting but for other heavy duty projects too. I have already used it a bunch for some custom home dec projects I have been working on and I sew through so much faster now. If you do a ton of straight stitch sewing I highly reccommend this machine. For all of you out there that make purses and whatnot to sell on etsy...this would be a great purchase. It zips through 5 layers of denim like it is butter! I wish I had bought this machine YEARS ago.

I have been doing a lot of custom projects this summer. Thankfully none of them have been bridesmaids like last year! One project I am particularly excited about is a nursery. Can't wait to show that one all done!
I finished a b-day present yesterday but I'll wait to post it till after the celebration...don't want to ruin the surprise!
I finished this headband the other day out of a treasured scrap of Liberty fabric...great for this summer heat!

I also just finished a little present for a friends daughter Ivey, a pillowcase dress in her colors...pink and orange!

and here she is modeling her new dress...

Those little pillowcase dresses are such an easy project, I love them. I used this mccalls pattern to get an idea of sizing but I made it a little wider and a decent bit longer. Well, that's all for now. I'm working on some big news but that will have to wait till my next post!

pierrette's quilt is done!!

I just finished my little sister's 21st birthday quilt. I am especially ecstatic because her birthday is August 22 and I finished it before her 22nd birthday!!! I am sure that many creative families like mine have an unfortunate tradition of gifting works in progress...well I'm starting on Jemina's 21st birthday quilt 2 years in advance and dammit I AM going to give her a FINISHED quilt in 2008!
Anyhoo, here's some pics of the quilt. I have the top row folded over in this pic so you can't really see the whole thing...

It was a fun quilt to make because the squares are large enough to show off the pretty fabrics. This is an especially good pattern for using up little treasured bits of vintage fabric. It is a full/queen size. I used probably 25 different fabrics for the blocks and Kaufman kona cotton in color snow for the other blocks.

**had a question about block size on this quilt...the blocks are 4 in square FINISHED size**


here's the back


I quilted it on my new machine...have I told you I bought (along with my mother) a new sewing machine??!? It is SO fast and can be set up in a quilting frame to stitch with cruise control! It is just a straight stitch machine but it is high powered, can sew through anything AND still maintain perfect thread tension while doing so. I am in love with it. I can sew my custom projects so much faster and can do my quilting on a bigger scale too. It is a Pfaff Grand Quilter, 1600 stitches per minute!! WOOHOO :)

On a whinier note...it is hot as fucking hell here...what am I supposed to do in 100 degrees (F) and 85% humidity weather!? All I can think about is eating popsicles :) mmm las paletas here I come.