Sunday, November 18, 2012

Lazy Sunday...

All this week, I kept hoping that my little dream for this Sunday would come true - a day to myself to do as I pleased! I turned down a few things and made sure that little block on my iPhone calendar stayed blissfully empty! Time to sew! 

It all began with some green and gold strips... and a great reference book, Word Play Quilts by Tonya Ricucci. I bought this one a while back and have made a few projects. The improvisational method for making letters really makes me feel creative... I'm not just following a pattern, I'm creating something.


 Here's today's masterpiece... so far!

I know the colours are a little jarring, but it's a quilt with a purpose. It expresses my school's motto... and, of course, is made in our school colours.
 I just have to figure out if it's going to become one double-sided quilt or two separate pieces. Must consult the powers that be!

  



Since this project is stalled for the moment, I decided to work on something that was pure fun!

For the first time, I've combined my quilting with a little Yudu action. I made some cool t-shirts with Mr. Nephew & Miss Niece a couple weeks ago. I was so pleased with the print that I made a couple extras on white Kona... just in case.

Custom t-shirts - colour combos picked by the kiddies

 One of those screen print orphans turned into this pillow. I dove into my stash and pulled some funky lime, yellow, grey & black printed fabric (and a dash of Kona solids, of course!) I did a kind of wonky log cabin block to make a 14 1/2 inch square. I thought I might just leave it unquilted, but I was overtaken by an urge to push my limits in the free motion department. So I quilted each fabric with a different (and new to me) pattern... some worked better than others, but it was fun! And I only broke 2 needles. I ended up finishing it with a top stitch needle as that was all I had left in the tool box. Guess I'll be stopping in a my local fabric shop tomorrow!

There`s still a few hours before bed and, if I don`t waste too much time preparing and eating supper, I might just get in some more sewing. Christmas projects await!

Thanks for reading!

J


Saturday, November 10, 2012

Baby steps...

It's been a while since my last post, but I have been sewing! It's just that a few of these little gems weren't for public consumption yet! I don't for a minute suppose that babies are reading my blog, but their parents might be!

 This one's for the brand new grand-baby of my husband's best fishing pal. It's based on a a photo from Flickr that I pinned a while back. I was pretty pleased with the fact that I just made it from a pic... very Q-D of me! It's made from scraps (all blues and whites) for a sweet little boy just three weeks old. It's quilted simply with the one-direction wiggly lines I've been partial to lately.

This one's for my newest little cousin (technically my second cousin). It's not your traditional baby quilt - not that I make a lot of those anyway! But these are the colours of his nursery and just what his mama wanted!I found the perfect pattern over at Sew4Home and decided to make it just like the tutorial - right down to the fabrics. So much fun sourcing them on-line and getting that fat envelope in the mailbox!

The quilting on this one is a total departure! I worked from the back, following the dark grey line. It looks really cool, and it's something I've never done before. Little Sammy will probably get a little something extra with his new quilty- some custom onesies made on my Yudu. Still haven't made a project that really combines quilting and screen printing, but I'm pretty sure I'll come up with one soon.
Though I haven't met him yet (his welcome party is tomorrow), I'm pretty sure he is a catch!

Thanks for reading!

J