I wanted to share the August block.  It was for Sam, and she asked us to do valentine’s inspired blocks.  All the fabric used was hers except the white.  This is what I came up with.

I knew that Sam wanted the blocks to be 12.5 inch squares, so I cut out a piece of packing paper in that size and drew a heart in the middle of it.  Then, I cut out the heart and used the idea behind Ashley’s String Block but with the heart.  When I had it all covered, I cut it out, tore the paper off the back, raw-edge appliqued it onto a piece of white Kona cotton.

I think it turned out pretty cool!

I think that I am safe to post this here.  I don’t think my brother-in-law, Sam, reads, so I wanted to share the way his quilt turned out. I explained the whole scenario before, but as a brief recap.  My husband’s great grandmother, Mawmaw, made this quilt for Sam when he was younger.  However, the original black fabric used around the edge of the quilt disintegrated, making the quilt unusable.  So, I told him that I would fix it for Christmas this year.

I seriously had such a good time doing this.  I love the combination of modern elements with the existing quilt.  I know that this isn’t technically a restored quilt because it wasn’t repaired to look exactly like the original, so I guess this is a repair.  What I did was add the muslin on the front with the new black strip.  Then, I bound it in the same black fabric. Then, I added muslin on the back of the quilt over the old backing.  I did a loose hand-quilted stitch around each of the designs on the front through to this new backing.

One of my favorite parts of the whole thing is the fact that I was able to save his grandmother’s original label (it doesn’t say anything now) even though I added the muslin on the back of the quilt.

And, of course, I added my label here as well.

What I would like to do is take some inspiration from the Alabama Stitch Book and cut out the shapes quilted through out of the muslin and fray block the edges, so they won’t fray.  That way some of the original machine quilting and the red backing fabric can come through.  Otherwise, I think the back is a little boring.  What do you guys think?  I would love some advice!  Has anyone tried this before?

Regardless of what I decide to do, I really love the way the whole thing turned out.  I am hoping that it will be modern, and sturdy, enough now that it can be used again.  This is the second quilt I have worked with from Mawmaw, and I love that it feels like I am working with her to create something across generations.

I wonder if this is something that I could do for others?   I don’t even know if there is a market for something like this, but I think it would be awesome if there was.

…bad….

1. A student likened my class to masturbating (yes, you read that right) with something you would use in a wood shop on a public forum.
2. Another student emailed me a very questionable and aggressive email where he claimed I was technically illiterate.  (College students are getting way more ballsy than I ever was with my teachers!  Sorry, bad pun!)
3. I accidentally sent four emails to a complete and total stranger that likely now thinks that I am crazy or a stalker.
4. I just realized that completely forgot my grandmother’s birthday.

And, those are just the things that I can think of off the top of my head (ie: happened in the last few days).  However, in the midst of all the yuck, I have discovered two happy mistakes this week.  So, instead of dwelling on crap I can’t completely fix now, I thought I would share two happy mistakes that happened this week.

First, I already introduced you to the new baby at our house, Wilson.  Well, I may have mentioned that my bgf got his sister.  Her name is Dozer.  Unfortunately, the bgf didn’t check with her landlord first, so Dozer needed a new place to live until her mom’s lease runs out.  So, she is staying with us.

The interesting part of this whole thing is that while the kittens were at different houses we determined that they were twins, which apparently can happen with cats.  But, we really didn’t realize how closely they looked like each other until they were together again.  They look almost exactly the same, which is very rare because usually orange tabbies are boys.

You have to really look at them in order to tell which one is which (Dozer is on the left above).  So, we now have two kittens scampering around the house instead of one. Happy Mistake #1

Second, I decided to finally bind this quilt.  And, I have never really hand-bound a quilt before, so I thought that I would give it a shot.  I know that as a quilter I shouldn’t even be admitting that I have never done this before, but I am self-taught, so I don’t fully know what all the rules are.  I like to make it up as I go along.

Like most of the stuff I do, I just jumped in and started cutting fabric.  I have made bias binding before, so I had an idea of how to do it.  And, I had read something about french binding, and it seemed like it would work for me.  So, I just starting cutting strips of the orange fabric that I had planned to use.

However, once I had everything cut out, pieced together, ironed, and sewn into place, I quickly figured out that I hadn’t made the piece wide enough.  So, I had to decide whether to rip everything out or try to make it work.  And, here is what I came up with.  I decided to just leave the orange on and make another binding in another color to actually bind the quilt.

I still didn’t make the green quite wide enough (I now did some more reading and figured out what I did wrong), but I think the end result is really cute, and it made the front of the quilt more interesting(this is going to be a floor quilt, so the top is cozy flannel).

All in all, I am super happy with the way it turned out, and I will be keeping this unique little trick in my arsenal for a fun and easy way to jazz up the back or front of my quilts from now on.  Happy Mistake #2!

I have wanted to do free motion quilting since the first time that I ever saw it.  I have had the machine for a year or so, but when I tried it, it didn’t turn out the way I expected, so I put it back in its box and vowed to try it again after receiving a little more instruction.  Lisa, who sold me my machine, was the perfect person to tell me to get over it and just do it.

Before we even got started, I told her that I just wanted to watch (because I knew she would make me try too and I didn’t want her to see how bad this was going to be).  She sat down, plugged everything in, and showed me how simple it actually is.

Lisa: “It is that simple.  And, it would be so much easier with my gloves.  Where are those gloves?”

Me: “Wait, you use gloves?  I see all these women on the blogs I read using gloves, and I never know what the deal is.  Why do you need them?”

Lisa: “You don’t have gloves!  Oh Sandy! Now, you have to sit down and try it!”

And, after trying it with and without, now I see what the big deal is!  Working with the gloves is like trying to open a jar with one of those little rubber thingies.  Everything is much easier to hold on to.

When I got home from Lisa’s, I decided I was going to start knocking out the Christmas list with one of the things I knew that I could free motion quilt.  This is just a simple baby’s quilt for a friend’s new little girl.  It is a floor quilt, so I used drapery fabric on one side and flannel on the other.  I put a piece of batting between and just went to town.  Super simple gift, and I am pretty happy with the way it turned out.  The stitches and pattern are far from perfect, and I started out a little tighter than I wanted to, but I am okay with all that.  I think that the fabric pattern and the matching thread mask all those tiny imperfections enough.  All I have to do now is bind it!

It is one of my favorite ones that I have ever done. I love the Heather Bailey fabric in this quilt. In fact, groovy, the one in the center block in the second image, is perhaps my favorite fabric ever. So, when I found out yesterday that it was no longer in production, I vowed to start collecting as much of it as I could afford wherever I can find it!

Truth be told, I already have a little stash going.  But, a little more of your favorite fabric couldn’t hurt, right?  That is what I am going to keep telling myself!

So, I wandered right over there and did just that, but I did exhibit some restraint!  I will show you my goodies when they arrive.

First, for the last 6 or more months, I have been working on a quilt for Joe’s mom. This quilt top was originally hand pieced by joe’s great grandmother on his mom’s side. I hand quilted the whole thing, and it was probably the largest endeavor I have ever taken with anything like that. Then, I made the stripey bias tape and put the whole thing together. I am really happy with the way it came out, so I thought that I would share.

So, because every true man room, particularly ones that also double as guest bedrooms, should look good in a manly way, I made him some curtains.  And, I also made one of the pillow covers that will be in the room, so I thought that I would share!