My Co-workers are Awesome

I purchased the pattern Zipper from Thimble Blossoms a little while ago and have all the materials necessary to make two of them- one for my father-in-law who turns 60 this year and one for my own father for his birthday.

After I printed out the pattern...

I noticed this:

There is a template that I need to cut out and use again and again and again with a jelly roll to get the shapes to make the "zipper." Now, my job is a bit hard to explain but I essentially have nine sets of co-workers, and at one of my work locations I work with a group of Technology teachers with whom I have a great relationship. I inquired about the possibility of cutting my template out of acrylic and...

Ta da! An acrylic template, cut from scrap in the shop, supervised by the teacher and done by the students. It is perfect! It will save me lots of swearing while trying to cut out all these shapes.

This leads me to my post title: My Co-workers are awesome!!

Lynn

Plus One

Friends J & R are expecting their first (and probably only) child this coming July. They are having a little boy, but I had already chosen the fabric (Camp Sur) before they knew because this fabric is so appropriate for mom (an avid camper).



This is the combination of fabrics I selected. It is mostly Camp Sur with some Lotta Jansdotter.



I used a pattern from Jeni of In Color Order and I used post-its to label the rows and columns. When you start laying this out in can get confusing quickly!

This was the layout I first went with, then I changed some of those turquoises because they were a little too similar.

My husband thinks I used too many of the turquoise colour so some of the pluses blend together. He said he couldn't even tell they were pluses, but I got a second opinion who said they definitely look like pluses. I do agree that next time I would use more varied colourways to accentuate the plus shape.

This is a bad photo of the quilt top, pieced and sewn together. I have it basted and ready to go for quilting, hopefully right after I finish quilting my grandmother's birthday quilt.

What do you think? Can you tell there are pluses?

Lynn

Thank You Quilt

My daughter will be finishing her first year at school- Junior Kindergarden- this June. I thought that a nice thank you gift for her teacher would be a quilt, and I knew just the fabric to use. I had two charm packs of Kate Spain's Good Fortune and a charm pack of Kona White, plus the teacher's name is Kate. Perfect, right? I let my daughter pick the backing when some Kate Spain Good Fortune yardage went on sale (shockingly she chose a purple).

I cut all the charms in half and then sewed them back together with one white and one pattern. Around the outside of the quilt will be whole charm squares.

I chain pieced the blocks which meant that it went pretty fast, fortunately.



Chain piecing speeds things up and there is so little wasted thread.

Now I have to actually assemble the quilt top. I am anticipating issues and I am not even sure why. Wish me luck!

Lynn



Glimma and Indian Summer

I have a serious fabric addiction. I order much too much fabric and spend much too much money on fabric. I have few other vices, however, so I indulge (more than occasionally) and just try to draw the line somewhere. (Also, I bully other people to buy fabric. I'm talking to you, C).

I have had a Lotta Jansdotter addiction since I first started sewing- even before starting my first quilt, which was six months after I got a sewing machine. It is no surprise to me that I had to have her entire Glimma line when it came out. I tried to resist. Just not very hard. And when Pink Castle Fabrics had their 20% off all bundles promo code, I jumped on that order!

 

Glimma FQ bundle from Pink Castle Fabrics



Aren't they glorious? The only complaint I have is I don't really like the dusty rose colour  is this collection.

These are my favourite two prints. I might need yardage of these.

I also have been incredibly drawn to Art Gallery Fabric's Indian Summer collection. I figured what better timing than with a 20% off code? I ordered a fat quarter bundle and OMG:


Indian Summer FQ Bundle

Indian Summer- Those colours! Those prints!



How can you not LOVE this print? Those jaunty little foxes trotting around in the mushroom forest? Come ON!

And this print is perhaps my favourite. It is such a beautiful colour combination, just the right scale and so darn gorgeous.



The whole fat stack. Indulgent. And amazing.

Also, there is something about Art Gallery Fabrics. They don't always speak to me- I've only bought a few prints from them before this line- but the fabric itself is just so decadent. It feels thick and a bit shiny and just so...quality. You should try some.

Lynn

Future Quilts for Possum

I have the privilege of having been friends with someone for my entire life. My mother and my friend C's mother were best friends before either of us were born, and she was born six months before I was. We have been friends ever since, sometimes going long stretches without talking to each other or seeing each other but always easily and naturally picking up on our friendship when we are together. We were in each other's weddings, hers happening seven years after mine. C's wedding was last September, and, not surprisingly, she and her husband are already expecting their first baby!

I am thrilled that C is having a little girl. The day they had the ultrasound confirming the sex I ordered some fabric. We have been calling the baby Possum Blossom (since they are keeping names a secret and because why not have a silly rhyming name until she gets here in August?). The other weekend, however, both C and her husband, P, spent the weekend at my house while their house was busy with an real estate open house. C decided to raid my fabric stash and we put together two additional bundles of fabric for possible future quilts for Possum. I already warned them these ones may have to wait until 2014!

Possum's Eggplant & Mustard Quilt:



The background fabric was the starting point (C loves the eggplant) and the rest were also all pulled for my stash. This is a very classy baby quilt!

Here is Eggplant and Mustard in a stack. Pretty, right?

Possum's Pretty Paisley Quilt:

That is a Heather Baily print as the jumping-off point, and the other FQs were pulled to complement the numerous colours in the inspiration fabric.



Here is Pretty Paisley in a stack.

The Dad-to-be liked both stacks, but preferred the Pretty Paisley pull. Mom-to-be really likes the eggplant. Possum herself moved around the most when mom stood in front of Pretty Paisley. So I guess she was the tie-breaker! In reality, both stacks are tied up and saved for Possum. I will happily make this little girls dozens of quilts! Of course, Possum is extra lucky in that her Grandmother is a skilled quilter (who does everything- even piecing- by hand!) and her Great Aunt is also a very talented quilter. The fun, though, is that I am the modern quilter amongst them, so though all quilts will be made with love, my fabric choices are more to mom and dad's taste.

C has not seen the fabrics I have already picked for Possum's quilt for her baby shower. Here they are, from the Little Red Riding Hood line:

Those greys are so precious!

I have since also added a print from Lotta Jansdotter's Glimma line. I love how these turquoises and greys look together with the little pops of red!

Lynn

Comma Sutra: A Finished Quilt

When I saw the fabric line Comma by Zen Chic (on sale at Fresh Squeezed Fabrics this week!) I coveted it. (Not surprising considering my serious fabric problem). I did not buy it right away because I couldn't think of a specific use for it. Then I thought of two friends, both high school English teachers, getting married this spring. I ordered a layer cake the same day! After all, is there anything that appeals to English teachers more than punctuation?

I'm calling the quilt Comma Sutra because of the commas and because it is a wedding quilt. :)

I used Kona White for the sashing and a tutorial I found on Pinterest by Mommy by Day Crafter by Night.

It took several cracks at the layout to get it right, and my trimming of the blocks was not as accurate as it should have been. I still think it turned out looking fabulous!

Here is Comma Sutra:

Front- It is a very generous lap size perfect for two!

Straight line white quilting in the sashing, stippling with matching thread on the blocks.

Back- three different modern grey fabrics.

You can really see the impact of the quilting on the reverse.

This is a shot of the intersection between the three grey fabrics.

The binding is scrappy black and white and I think it might be my favourite part!

I hope they love it!

I don't know if I would do this pattern again because of the amount of waste from the trimming but I do think it is pretty visually stunning from a distance (particularly since you can't see all my poorly matched points from a distance). The modern fabric will appeal to them both, I think, and I know the male half of this couple will appreciate that it isn't flowery or girly. I can't wait to gift it to them!

Lynn

A Little Something Extra

While working away on a baby quilt using a plus pattern (taken from Jeni from In Color Order) I found I had some leftover squares. I decided to take them and do a simple patchwork to add to some white wash cloths so that this baby can have coordinating quilt and cloths! I purchased a stack of simple white wash cloths from Target (now in Canada!) to use. I cut off the binding, sewed them with the patchwork right-side-down and then turned them right side out. Then I did a finishing stitch all the way around the outside of the cloth.

Here are the three cloths together:

My favourite one is the blue and orange. The fish are perfect for a wash cloth!



And here they are neatly stacked. I have since tied them up with a pretty white ribbon. Now I need to finish the actual quilt.

I hope to get this top finished this weekend, and maybe even a back pieced!

Lynn