Sunset Over Sedona

A couple years ago, I talked Michael into buying me a kit of material for Christmas. I was really attracted to a Laurie Shifrin quilt that was hanging on the wall at The Quilting Loft for a while but the colors were all wrong. So Michael and I pulled a few bolts of fabric we really liked and Laurie finished putting the rest of the kit together. After opening my gift - Yes, Michael wrapped it and put it under the tree for me (ahhh!) - I read through the instructions and promptly put it away. Laurie's quilts are for a more advanced quilter than I thought I was.

This year, I've been on a mission to complete all the projects that are above the counter in my workspace and Sunset Over Sedona was the last one I picked up. I decided to just trust my skill and start cutting. I may have made a few mistakes along the way but we like the results so much, this is one we are going to keep for our own bed. The colors are simply stunning and getting to work with Batik was a real pleasure.

So far, the top is done to the end of the pattern but it isn't quite big enough for our bed so I'm going to have to improvise (and get some more material). I've put it away again until I get back to work and have some excess funds.

Here's what it looks like:

Lava Meets Sky - ready to deliver

I can't believe we finally made it - this quilt is finally ready for it's owner to take possession. Who would of thought that a simple half-triangle square quilt would take some much time and effort.

AND, I'm really pleased with the results!

Lava Meets Sky - progress report

I know there has been a long silence on this project but that doesn't mean we aren't making progress.

The design for the borders finally got worked out - took a lot of math to determine how much material was needed and to get the angles just right but the customer is happy and so am I.

The backing material is from Robert Kaufman - Raspberry chambray. It is a combination of red and blue that totally changes color with the light and angle you are looking at it. My pitiful photography skills certainly do NOT do it justice.

We took it to the long-arm and selected the quilting design and thread. I was really glad that Angie was there the day we took the quilt in - she had great recommendations for the thread. And it turned out just gorgeous!

I'm working on getting the binding done - and the label put on it. The customer will be in Seattle for Labor Day weekend so it will be ready to deliver. It is the biggest quilt I've done so far - wow is it big. Seemed a little silly to be tacking down binding on a queen sized quilt in the hottest part of the year but it just takes a little fussing to keep it off my lap but still close enough to hand-stitch the binding. Boy the things we do just to get a project completed, huh?

Stacks of Support

A very long time ago, I bought a pack of fat-quarters and from then on, I've wondered what I was going to do with them. I loved the old-school feel of the prints and the muted colors were just beautiful so I knew I needed to find a pattern that wouldn't distract from the fabric.

I've been on a mission this year to work through all the "above the table" project in my work room. I have a lot of counter space but I love open/naked counters so I wanted to get some of my space back. This older pack had been pushed to the side of my cutting table and had actually started to collect dust.

I didn't really look for a pattern but one time when I was just wandering around looking at quilt-type stuff, I found the Stacks of Support pattern and knew it was the right one for this old-school material. The pattern was very easy and went together in just a few hours.

It's now at the long-arm being quilted. Can't wait to get it back to show off what can happen when I'm on a mission.

Sassy Bag

I recently spent a couple months going to downtown Seattle on the bus and began to notice that everyone (even most of the men) had a bag of some sort. I've always carried rather conservative brief cases - no surprise there. But in looking at the amazing variety of bags, I started designing one in my head and convinced myself I could make one.

So I went to JoAnn's - because I knew they had upholstery fabric on their sale table and I didn't want to spend a lot of money on such an extreme experiment. And when I got home, I discovered I had a Charm Pack that would make a lovely compliment to the fabric I bought.

I took my lead from a couple online patterns I found but most of the results was just me wanting certain things to fit in certain places. I'm pretty pleased with the results. I just might fit in on the bus a little better with this rather unusual bag.

Memorial Quilt

A few weeks ago, I met a customer who wanted to have a quilt made from clothes worn by her partner who had passed recently. These kind of projects always make my eyeballs sweat a little – I never know what I’m getting myself into when working with used clothes. Plus, this one was emotionally charged. BUT, I was interested in doing something I haven’t done before and after meeting the customer, I knew she would be great to work with and maybe the quilt would help her get through this period in her life with a smile.

So, she gave me a box of clothes and we found a pattern she liked. The pattern is from Laurie Shifrin – it’s called Crosswalk and it’s for a table runner and placemats. So right off, I know there is going to be some “design as I go” in this quilt. I went to The Quilting Loft and talked with Laurie about how to convert this pattern into a lap-sized quilt and her recommendation was to create three panels and sew them together.

Original Pattern

The 3-panel mock up

The customer asked if the original design could be done in a lap size – instead of 3 panels, just one panel but broken up with the three slices. So that’s what we are going to do.

The box of clothes had T-Shirts, ties, running gear and a kimono. All very subtle colors so even though there isn’t a color theme, they are all going to look very nice together. The biggest challenge is there isn’t enough of most of the fabrics to create a row the size of a lap quilt. So we decided that the rows could have a couple different fabrics in them – as long as the colors in the row were coordinated. It will create a little extra interest (or chaos if you want to look at it that way), but every row will be something that looks good together. The solid borders on both sides of the slices are going to be from dress slacks – beautiful olive and black material.

Here are some pictures of the original garments and the resulting rows:

And here is where we are now… all the garments have been made into rows.

The next step is to meet with the customer so she can help put the rows in the order they will be in the quilt. There turned out to be more material than we expected so this could be a larger quilt if she wants. We have already talked about putting a border on this quilt – to help tie everything together and make it look finishes/framed. The border will be a great place to put the patches her partner has from working for the forest service (rather than trying to figure out how to make them part of the pieced quilt).

More pictures to come, I’m sure.