Oops!: Now with Finishes.

I had considered calling it Oops!: The Musical, but I couldn't get song rights. :-P

Seems like I forgot to check the internet for a month.  Oops.  Maybe it's a failure to really dig into the new routine or just a need to spend less time with my computer but I've definitely tried to prioritize other things this summer than blogging and blog-reading.  You do NOT want to know how many unread posts are in my Feedly....

I have been busy with the following:  meeting blog peeps in person!, sewing, knitting, teaching Nephew a bunch of stuff his mother doesn't approve of, hiding in dark basements away from sunlight, teaching English as an Additional Language, offering my shoulder, cooking while listening to loud music and kitchen-dancing, watching just about every CFL game (something has to fill the void between hockey seasons....), and reading actual, physical books.  Books, people! Remember those? I love real books, but man, I have a hard time sitting still long enough to get "gripped".

Anyhoo.  I'll ease back into the (ir)regular blogging routine with some finishes I meant to post ages ago.  A couple of months ago, I was giving a little presentation on QAYG at the Saskatoon MQG as part of our meeting.  I had done up a few slapdash sample pieces using scraps and 12" batting squares just to illustrate some things that I'd learned for the prez.  And then, of course, I'm left with these little thingies and no plan.  Blergh.  So I just started throwing them together.

I ended up with two mug rugs from my piles of scrap,

a mini table topper,

and a coffee table runner.

The white on white chunks are leftovers from my brother's Punisher quilt.  The muslin that backed most of these was from yardage, but that too was leftover from another project so I call it a win.  Even the binding was from the leftover basket.  The batting was scrap that had been cut into 12" squares just for practicing free-motion.

Is this my best quilting/sewing? Heck, no, but I used up some scraps , I learned some techniques, and if I spill something on them, I won't cry for days. So there you go.  Not every piece has to be show-worthy.  I think these are like the quilt version of sweat pants. I wouldn't show them off to fancy company, but to protect a table from Hot Wheels or the carpet from living room picnics, they're just fine. :-)

And now I have a month's worth of blogs to catch up on. Again.

Meet: My Machine! BlogHop

Hello, all!   Today is my day for the Meet: My Machine BlogHop put on by Erin @ Sew at Home Mummy and Stacey @ The Tilted Quilt.  Whether this is you're visiting for the first time or you pop by all the time, welcome!

Meet Oscar.

Oscar is my Janome 4120QDC.  I've had it just over a year now.  It was a gift from "Santa" that I was given a budget and allowed to "shop for" to make sure I got one that would meet my needs.  And then I had to wait. Which is fair. Not complaining.  But how in the world I made three quilts as gifts that year on my old machine, I'll never know.... (For the record, it was a Kenmore I had for fifteen years, made in the nineties so good enough to sew with but not good enough to last.  No amount of oil or servicing kept that one from squealing horribly.)

What was I looking for in a machine?

If you ever decide to use metal bobbins in your machine, don't let the lady at the sewing machine store know.  You WILL get a talking to.... Trust me.

1. Free-motion capability. Check!! My old machine made it impossible to learn the technique and I had a couple of quilts waiting, basted, until I could.  Now, I have only myself to blame for any lack in that department. 
2. Multiple needle positions. Check!! I have always had trouble with a scant 1/4" and wanted to be able to move that needle over just a smidgeon.  Scant 1/4" is now possible and very consistent!
3. Drop-in bobbins.  Check!  My old machine, you had to remove the "storage/base" and then flip open the door, fiddle with the bobbin holder case thingy for a hour or so, swear until the air was blue, and then try to sew unsuccessfully before repeating the entire sequence... Not anymore!
4. Versatility.  I don't just sew quilts and things with straight lines.  I needed a machine that I could do clothes, mending, bags, whatever, with and this machine doesn't disappoint.  However, I will confess that sometimes, really thick layers will cause some skipped stitches so I switch to a denim needle for heavy projects.  Though I was afraid of them, it handles knits beautifully.  Look at the Renfrew top I sewed last month (after having the fabric and pattern for two months...)  

Ah, stereotypical bathroom mirror photography.  Just what you were hoping for...!

It has a free-arm, great stretch stitches, seam finishing stitches, more embroidery stitches that I thought I could use ever (but it turns out that sometimes I want to write apple in both English and Russian. I can do that now.  Why? A whim. )

What are the bonuses?

1. Automatic thread cutter.  Freakin' love it.  How did I ever sew without it?
2. Needle up/down. Optional needle-down-at-stop settings.  A must for turning corners and having to stop during FMQ - no jogged stitches!
3. Computerized settings.  Beautiful.  Makes it easy to ensure consistency in a project that happens over time, as opposed to all at once.
4. Quilting kit.  It came with a walking foot, guide, extension table, 1/4" foot, stitch in the ditch foot and a couple of other doodads for quilters.  Nice perk.
5. It's fairly quiet.  Compared to Squealy McKenmore, it's lovely, and a television or radio can be heard over it.  Very nice for a hockey fan.
6. Lots of little bells and whistles. Stop/lock stitches. Variable speed control. Optional foot pedal. Wide variety of accessories available for it (love the border foot!) Eleventy billion stitches. 

That crazy one over the seam is ugly because of execution, not the stitch setting.  That one's all me.  

There's even an automatic threader but I rarely use it.

What would I change?

1. The throat's a little small for quilting big stuff but I wrestle even large quilts through there.  Right now, I just consider it equivalent to weight lifting and skip the gym.
2. When, oh, when are they going to invent little icons and alerts for things like empty bobbins and feed-dogs-down?  Better yet, have a voice that sounds like Redd Fox that says, "You're sewing with the feed dogs down, dummy!"  That would save me tons of frustration when I forget to raise them and create cumbersome thread knots, ruining fabric, and wondering why it's not going anywhere while simultaneously reminding me that I love Redd Fox. (God rest ye sir!)
3. It's a little tricky to get even my tiny little lint brush into all the crannies that collect lint.  I wish there was a another layer or two of parts I could remove to get better access.  Every time I clean it out, I just know there's lint bunnies hiding in there laughing at me....  I need one of those vacuum kits, I guess.

Oh, and the thread spindle is a little short for things like Aurafil but I've managed to work around it by flipping the stopper around. But it works fine for Gutermann.

Would I recommend it? Yes, absolutely! but maybe not as your first sewing machine.  It's an excellent second machine/upgrade but I imagine it could be quite intimidating if you're just beginning.  Plus, so much stuff you don't necessarily need until you've practiced and gotten comfortable with the whole process.  That said, I've had no problems with mine; it does what I need it to, and then some.  It's given me a lot of confidence and room to grow and develop new skills.  

This is where I usually sew. Very untidy at the moment. And those fabric baskets are a bit of a fail but I'm not ready to talk about it yet. :-)

Plus, I've found I make sewing more of a priority since I got it.  The quieter machine means I'm not alienating people around me and I can use it more hours of the day, it's easier to take down and set up - though it stays out most of the time, and it's just nice to use.  So there you go!

***

Thanks for hanging out and reading about my machine!  There's lots more to get familiar with, if it tickles your fancy.  Go check them out!

SUNDAY, MARCH 17

Erin @ Sew at Home Mummy 

Angela @ Heart of Charnwood

Shannon @ Crafty Turtle

Amy @ Stitchery Dickory Dock

MONDAY, MARCH 18

Ebony @ Love Bug Studios 

Jaclyn @ Jaclyn Quilts

Amy @ Diary of a Quilter

TUESDAY, MARCH 19

Kara@ Me and Elna

Beth @ Plum and June

Nerissa @ Nissa Made 

Elizabeth @ Don’t Call Me Betsy

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 20

Carly @ Citric Sugar 

Celine @ Espritpatch 

Patti @ A Yankee in Queen Liz’s Court

THURSDAY, MARCH 21

Stacey @ The Tilted Quilt 

The Jolly Jabber Staff (Chelsey, Kimberly, Debbie)

Rachel @ Sew Happily Ever After! 

FRIDAY, MARCH 22

Erika @ Sews it All 

Lisa @ Vintage Modern Quilts

Adrianne @ On the Windy Side

Gifts, the Second

Aha!  A week has fled by and completely unbeknownst to me.

Well, almost.  I am, please hold your disbelief for a moment, yet again recovering from a cold. Say what??  Yes, that's three nasty colds in as many months.  Yes, I'm taking my vitamins, eating right, and getting enough sleep.  Yes, I'm aunt to a toddler who is building an immune system and a substitute teacher who gets the majority of her assignments covering for teachers who have been stricken by illness in various classrooms all over the city. I figure, by the end of 2013, I'll be immune to everything! Mwahaha! [Rubs hands together.] [With Purell.]

Anyways, I have stopped coughing intensely (sorry to the Saskatoon Modern Quilt Guild ladies who endured the very onset of my coughing during our meeting this weekend.... Yikes!) and can return to blogging without fear that a bronchial spasm will cause premature publication.

Here is second half of the gifts I made this Christmas.

A scarf for my dad using this pattern from The Purl Bee.  I splurged for the specified yarn and was very glad I did so - it's soft, knit beautifully! and is as warm as it looks.  It even held up to six different starts without separating into raggedly plies on me.  (The pattern isn't at all difficult but it took me a while to a) cast-on the correct number of stitches and b) read properly. Once I managed to do both those things at the same time, it was quick and smooth sailing.)  One thing to mention is that because the yarn is naturally hand-dyed, it turned my hands all sorts of black.  Luckily, it washed off easily but I made sure to soak the finished scarf in a vinegar bath before blocking to try and set the colour.  Dad has been warned not to wear it with a white shirt for the foreseeable future.  Luckily, he wears a lot of dark colours.

Mum requested a bag for taking on vacation. She wanted something that would hold a little bit of shopping and could double as a beach-taking bag - something that wouldn't show too much dirt.  She also was pretty specific about the pattern, too,  so I used Amy Butler's Birdie Sling.  I followed the instructions to the letter and took my time with it so I'm very happy with how it turned out.  However, I think I'm now addicted to the good-quality interfacing.  Yep, can't go back to the 99cent/yard crappy non-woven fusibles now...  Stupid Amy Butler, raising my expectations of everyday sewing notions! (Ok, I'm not really mad, but it does change my sewing budget.)

And since a certain auntie gave a certain nephew a train set, she also felt he should have a bag to put all his train pieces in.  I found a paper-piecing pattern on Etsy and then built the panels into a box bag using some fabric from my stash.  It was a last-minute project, but took the better part of a day since I had to take a simple idea and tweak it until it was no longer simple...  It's not the best sewing job but it has the choo-choos required and, perspective, the recipient is 2.  He's happy, I'm happy.

So that's the rest of my Christmas makes.  I have been doing some other sewing but that will come later.  I've rambled enough for one post!

Although..... if I squeak in one more ramble, I am overjoyed that the NHL lockout is finally over.  :D Seriously, I've been watching KHL highlights from Russia.  Still trying to decide how petulant a fan I'll be and for how long.  Mostly, I'm just scared that my beloved Leafs will trade for Luongo. If you've talked to me at all about hockey, then you already know that's my hockey nightmare....

Shadow Blossoms and The Punisher

Happy New Year!  I hope you had a fantastic end to 2012 and are already having a spectacular 2013.  I am already tripping over my feet trying to keep up and I'm hoping that will have disappeared by February.  :-)  One of my goals for the year (subject for another post) is to get a little more organized with my time and start editing in various areas of my life.  I've already started with my bedroom closet; the great weeding of 2013 has begun!

I can FINALLY show you some of the things I made as gifts for Christmas. It'll take me a couple of posts but I'll start today with the big ones.  The photos are not stellar - due to a lack of quilt holder-uppers before the day and lack of sunlight and reasonable temperatures after, it's been difficult to get a good shot.  Indoors on a cloudy day.  Blergh!

Shadow Blossoms

I have already mentioned here that Seester requested a bed quilt to go in the bedroom she painstakingly redecorated this summer.  As I had already been planning to make her one for Christmas, I confessed my intentions, we discussed colours and fabrics, a loose idea of a design, and away I went.  Once fabric was purchased (mostly Bonnie&Camille Vintage and Ruby), I okayed it all with her but that's the last she saw of it until Christmas morning.

The quilting is a mix of meandering for the main and giant pebbles in the border.  I had started out with intentions of doing much more complicated free-motion work but was stymied by both my lack of FMQ skill and the sheer size of it.  It'll fit her queen-sized bed with plenty of pillow-tuck and drape space. Big quilt. HUGE!  (Did anyone else think Julia Roberts in Pretty Woman just now? Anyone? No?)

Alas, this was the best shot I could get of the back.

I'm happy with the way the design worked out - it's my own, right from scratch, and I'm working on a pattern for it.  I do wish the fabrics we'd agreed on had more contrast in value so that it looks more like shadows from stained glass but she loves it so I don't really care.  

She also got a set of matching pillow cases.  I used this tutorial. Very easy, French seams and all.

The Punisher

The gift I was most excited for this year is this one. If I didn't make him a quilt, he'd be the only member of my immediate family that didn't have one.  However, looking at him and his interests, "quilt" is not generally a word that would make the short list of gift ideas. My brother-in-law is a giant(!) and a giant fan of the comic book vigilante, The Punisher.  This skull is his symbol.  Inspired by Dan Rouse's (Piece and Press) totally amazing work, I decided to do it in reverse appliqué. Not wanting it to be boringly solid, I decided to piece random backgrounds (another post) so that the quilt would have a visual texture to it. I had no idea if it would actually work but I gathered up my fabrics, crossed my fingers and started cutting like a hairdresser with no concept of consequences...

The skull is quilted in random jagged lines - very sharp and pointy - while the black is meanders.  I also added a few black "cracks" in the skull.  It turned out exactly like I envisioned even though there were moments in the piecing of the backgrounds that I had serious doubts.  The blacks didn't seem black enough, the whites were going to be too beige, it was all going to be a huge mess...  But it wasn't!  Put black fabric next to white fabric and all is right again. And cutting away the appliqué left all these marvellous raggedy edges after washing.

He was completely excited when he opened it.  He stood to spread it out and get a better look, and referring to the super-impressionable and parrot-like toddler at his feet, said, "You have NO IDEA how much I wish I could swear right now!"  Ah, there's nothing like censored curse words of appreciation...! :-)

The back was pieced using leftovers from the top.  It's just over six feet high and five wide, not quite big enough to fit on a bed. On purpose.  Seester thanked me for that.  :-)  It will go in his man-cave and their newly finished basement for movie watching.

So that's round one!  Thanks for reading this rather long post with very sad excuses for photography. :-)  I'm off to get working on those goals... Did I mention I joined a bee?

Flying Geese Scrap Tip

Wow - hello, two weeks later!  I have been offline this week (and  owe a few back emails....)so that post I intended to do last Monday kinda went the wayside. I won't bore you with too many of the details but I'll tell you that it involved a ton of subbing, getting panicky over the arrival dates of ordered sewing supplies (which led to frantic sewing on all things I have right here so that when said arrivals actually happen I can hit the ground with the sewing machine running), an improv evening masquerading as a Bond girl/spy, and a day of guest directing for the upcoming Christmas dinner theatre of "Sorry! Wrong Chimney!" in Eston, SK, which was soooo much fun.  (PS - if you're looking for a pleasant drive, and a fun farce by really lovely and talented folks, you should totally go.  They've put together a heck of a show! Dec 6, 7, and 8) Phew! If you're exhausted just reading that, I don't blame you.  You can understand why I've been falling asleep a little before I go to bed lately.  :-)

Decent wig, eh?  (Save the ragged bangs.) Add in a very thick Russian accent, red lipstick and gold lame and you get the picture...  "Ah, pleh-zure to meet you, Meester Bond."

Anyhoo!  In my frantic sewing of things I can't share for another month, I did have the wherewithal to snap a few photos of a trick I came up with while working on my Swoon, since the project I'm working on has similar building blocks.

If you've spent any time reading this blog, then you know I love scraps and hate wasting even the tiniest of pieces when they can become something else.  Flying geese blocks have potential for a lot of waste. However, if you take a little bit of time (which is negligible if you're already marking lines), you can actually have the scraps sewn together before you even trim your geese.

This method only works if you're using squares and rectangles to build your geese. If you're using triangles, you've got different scraps entirely and will have to find other scrap-saving tips. :-)

Flying Geese Scrap Saver Tip:
Step 1) When marking your diagonal sewing line on your square, draw a second line 1/2" away from the first.

Step 2) When positioning the square on the rectangle, face the second line towards the corner of the rectangle as opposed to the centre side. If you've sewn flying geese before, you're familiar with which side is the scrap side.  You want the second line on the scrap side of things.

Step 3)  Chain piece:  Sew along the first line to make your flying geese block.  Turn your chain of geese around.

Step 4) Chain piece: Sew along second pencil line.

Step 5) Trim/cut your flying geese blocks between the pencil lines - 1/4" from each - to separate the block from the scrap.

It's tidier if you use a rotary cutter but scissors work, too.

Step 6) Viola!  You have both a flying geese block and a bonus half-square triangle ready to square up for use in another project.

For the record, on HSTs I recommend pressing seams open but as this was the ONLY one I pressed that day, I went with the quick press-to-the-side.  Geese I always press towards the outside.

The size of the half-square block will truly depend on the size of your flying geese but a reliable estimate is subtract 1" from the short side measurement of the geese block for your HST.  For example:  my geese block unfinished is 2.5" and the HST trims to 1.5".  Obviously it's small but if you're geese are larger, so are your HSTs.  The Swoon has 3.5" flying geese and my HSTs trimmed to 2.5"...  Regardless, they are already sewn and you don't have to mess with bias-cut tiny scraps.  Yay!!

Okay, off to return back emails and race out for batting.  I foresee many sore safety pin-poked fingers in my near future....

Brown Sugar Swoon

Well, I've been busy, among other things.... but to write it all down would probably bore the lot of you half to internet death so I'll give you the Coles Notes (American version: Cliff Notes).

A) Olympics.  Great fun, glued to the set and thankful that the coverage was so good I didn't have to watch a single event on NBC... Marvelled at the irony of watching such elite athleticism while wearing an increasingly deeper butt groove in the sofa and scarfing nachos.
B) Attended a wedding. Had a birthday.
C) Got a job I don't really care for. Not field related. Kinda menial.
D) Kept up my "try new recipes" resolution.
E) Got the flu.
F) Suffering the heartache of a 3rd NHL lockout.  It's very depressing. Not surprisingly, I side with the players.  I'm starting to develop a facial tick from the withdrawal. My regular ranting and raving is spilling out into all sorts of strange subjects.
G) Joined the local quilting guild and have yet to make it to a meeting.  I had it on my calendar for last night but got a call yesterday for an interview today so I sacrificed the meeting in favour of prepping my portfolio, etc.
H) Got a new job. :-)  A real one. In my field and everything. Happy girl.

Phew! Anyhoo, I'll have more time this week to catch up on two months worth of blog reading.  I've missed ya, folks...

* * * 

I did find time in there to finish up the Swoon quilt I was working on. Of course, by the time I realized it was taking me forever to do the pebble quilting, I was already in too far to back out.  Four solid evenings but I'm really happy with how it turned out. I did a diagonal grid over the centre block to really emphasize the square idea.

 

The background looks a little grey but it's Kona Stone, so it's much warmer and brown than the photo shows. A stick-tap to Seester and Dad for quilt-holding.

It should be pointed out that I wasn't paying them to quilt-hold and it was very close to supper time...

I really took my time with this quilt and as such, my points were the most accurate they have ever been which thrills me to no end....!

I had gotten into the habit of sewing an extra seam on the flying geese blocks so that after I trimmed them, I already had the trimmings made into HSTs. 

 I knew I wanted to use them in the back and with the two leftover blocks but I had no idea how.  So I started playing around with the graph paper.

I ended up with interlocking pinwheels.  The chart became a little map for me and helped me figure out how many plain squares and rectangles I had to cut for the background.

It's all ready to go for the silent auction at the Advent dinner in a couple of months.  I've been asked to provide a minimum bid value for the quilt, though, and I'm stuck.  I don't want to underprice it but I also don't want it to go without bids either.  I was thinking $250 since that's the approximate value of materials, etc., including the 3km of thread. Lol.  What do you folks think?  I'm a little lost...

Regardless, I'm proud of it.

On to Seester's quilt!

Which Nine? Decisions, Decisions...

Thanks for all the love for my sister's table toppers!  She absolutely loved them and within hours asked me to do a quilt for her bed, as well.  Of course.  That, I'm sure, will be an ongoing saga.  I have virtual carte blanche, provided cream is involved.  Since Ruby is getting scarce, I'm thinking Vintage by the same designers will be a perfect alternative...  More on that another day!

Having finished all my Swoon blocks, I find myself in the arduous position of deciding which nine will take their place on the front and which two will do to the back.

One & Two

Three & Four

Five & Six

Seven & Eight

Nine & Ten

Eleven

I think I've figured it out... but I'm open to second, third and fourth opinions. :-)

Yeah, my design wall is berber. With a trace of setting sun. Deal with it. LOL.  I have to. :-)

These two will be heading to the back, I think...

I'm planning to use the trimmings from the flying geese units in the back somehow though not sure yet exactly what they'll look like but they're already sewn together into half-square triangles.  That leaves me with 176 HSTs, 8 each in 22 colours combined with the background fabric.  Any ideas??  This quilt is promised to a church silent auction at so I want it to have broad appeal so that it raises as much as possible. Therefore, I'm a little less sentimental regarding placement and quilting - it won't help to get attached. Lol!

With so sadness on the news right now, it's nice to have a little goodwill project.  I'll save the philosophizing for today and stick with the comfort of fabric beneath my fingers. 

Wishing you well this week, 

Carly

Seester's Request

My darling sister has begun the process of redoing her house.  They moved in two years ago and haven't done much to it but now that they have a little space to work, she's grabbed the paint brush and the staple gun and gone to town.  She started in the bedroom, painting, making a tufted headboard, and bought a couple of really cute white nightstands.  The stands have a little recessed area - perfect for keeping a late night cup of tea from tipping due to act of cat, dog or toddler.  And she, with a giant "please, please, please" smile asked me to make a couple of toppers for them.  She loved the pair I made for my parents' nightstands a couple years ago.

The paw on the right is Dash's "stomp" of approval.

After I showed her a Ruby charm pack (which I'd stowed away knowing someday, it would be perfect for her.  It's vintage feel and aqua-red colour scheme screamed Seester!), she oohed approval and out came the sewing machine.

She was a little concerned that she was froofing up the bedroom a bit too much, though.  Her husband, my darling brother-in-law, is a black boot-wearing, Johnny Cash-loving, zombie-killing giant.  So I suggested a compromise. I backed them both in some leftover Riley Blake pirate fabric.  That way, he can have a manly black topper and it can be flipped whenever needed.  Grrrr..... manly! Hahaha!

I made them mirror image and since I only wanted to use one charm pack, I figured out how to make two mini-pinwheels from a pair of 5"square.

I also made a couple of tiny log cabin blocks and then cut and sewed with the rest until I had the right size.  All told, I think I used 29 of the 42 squares, and I still have some crumb-ish scraps.

The binding is not as sloppy as this photo indicates.  Photos lie!

She's due over here tomorrow so I'll be able to show them to her.  I hope she likes them, but she's pretty generous with her affection for my work.  They should match the blue accent wall she painted and I know she loves the fabric. My fingers are crossed. Finished size: 13.75"x 11" (x2!)

And I've also started a Swoon quilt.  I've finally joined the party on that one.  I get around to everything eventually....

Have a good weekend, everyone!