Change of {Quilt Along} Plans...

Ok, so there's been a change of plans.  For those of you who don't know who Elizabeth Hartman is, she's a fantastic quilting blogger, among other things, and her quilts are AMAZING.  You can find her at Oh,Fransson!  She just came out with her own book called The Practical Guide to Patchwork that is a fresh, modern and updated book about the basics of quilting.  It also features 12 beautiful quilting projects!  I have been waiting by my mailbox for this book since I preordered it from Amazon.com.  It wasn't supposed to arrive until November 19th, but it showed up THIS week and totally surprised me and made my day!

I WAS going to do a strip quilt for the Quilt Along with all of that lovely Tufted Tweets fabric (and as a XMas gift for one of our moms); however, I was looking through the book and found a quilt that is just perfect (in my mind) for those fabrics.  So now, the Quilt Along is going to follow one of the projects from this wonderful book called Kitchen Windows (p.77).  You can see what the finished quilt looks like here.  I chose this project specifically because it's perfect for making lovely print fabrics the focus, which is what I wanted for these Tufted Tweets fabics. 

To get your own copy of The Practical Guide to Patchwork, so you can follow along... pick it up at the link above or just click on the pic of the book cover above.  

Here's the Materials List for the Stacked Chairs {Quilt Along}:

• The Practical Guide to Patchwork book!
• 12 different 12" x 16" pieces of beautiful print fabrics for the blocks
• 1 5/8 yards contrasting solid fabric for the window frames
• 2 yards neutral solid fabric for the quilt borders and sashing
• 1 3/4 yards each of 1 large-print and 1 small-print coordinating fabrics for backing
• 5/8 yard binding fabric
• 56" x 72" batting
• 12 organizer cards

Can't wait to start this project with all of you!

Infinity Scarf {Tutorial}

As promised, here is the tutorial for how to make an infinity scarf.  I had some questions as to what an infinity scarf is.  It's a scarf with no end and no beginning... so a continuous circle, that you loop around your neck.  They've gained in popularity this year and I've seen them everywhere, so I thought I would go ahead make my own!  Here's how to make your own in time for the cooler weather that's on its way (or already here for some of you).

My appologies for the picture quaility, or lack thereof.  It was night time when I sewed this scarf and the lighting wasn't so great.

STEP 1:  Cut your fabric(s) to the desired length and width.  I used fabric 2 yards in length and 16" in width (enough to accomodate a full panel of Anna Maria Horner's Square Dance voile).  I used 2 different fabrics to make this scarf reversible, as well!

STEP 2:  Place your fabrics right sides together.

STEP 3:  Sew around the 2 long sides and 1 short side using coordinating thread and 1/4 inch seams.

STEP 4:  Turn your scarf right side out and press the seams.  One short end of the scarf will still be open. 

STEP 5:  Turn ~1/2 an inch of those rough ends inside the scarf and press these, as well.

STEP 6:  Insert the opposite end of the scaf into the open end to make a single continuous loop.  Sew the site of fabric insertion and your infinity scarf is finished.

You now have a completed infinity scarf! 

Wear all season long!

{Weekend Update} and Future {Quilts}

Ok, so this post is a bit late... my whole family has been fighting colds for a few weeks and I still feel run down.  My guest room (a.k.a. sewing project room) is full of drawers of soon-to-be quilts.  I admit I feel like I've been so busy (and sick) lately that I haven't made sufficient progress on ANY of them. 

I DID finish the scarves for the giveaway and they are officially off in the mail.  I'm posting an Infinity Scarf Tutorial tomorrow, so keep an eye out!

Here's the fabric for a future string quilt that will use 2.5" strips cut from the fantastic Tufted Tweets line of fabrics from Laurie Wisbrun. 

To make the fabrics pop a bit more in this quilt, I'm going to use Kona Solids in Coal and Iris.  This quilt is going to be simplisticly sweet and a great pattern for letting fabulous fabics be the focus.  Join me in making this quilt by following my step-by-step tutorials with the Stacked Chairs Quilt-Along!  The Quilt-Along will start next Monday and I hope you'll join in, or at least follow along and give feedback and comments.

So many beautiful fabrics waiting in the wings!

I will have one finished project to show off by the end of the week and it's for a very important little man.  Elliott's Lagoon quilt is almost finished!  I decided to go with parallel "wonky" lines for the quilting.  And, of course, I'm still working on the Folk Dance Quilt in lovely jewel tone fabrics.

Stay tuned...

First {Giveaway Winners} and Happy Friday!

As promised, it's time to announce the giveaway winners.  And the winners are: 1) Christa and 2) Beth.  Congratulations!!! 

Both ladies have selected to have reversible scarves made.  One lady has selected a regular and one an infinity scarf.  Since there was a question as to what an infinity scarf is, I will explain.  It's basically a scarf with no ends (thus, infinity)... one big loop that you can further loop around your neck or drape across your shoulders.  I'll put these scarves together this weekend and will also put together a tutorial for the infinity scarf for those of you interested in making one at home!

Both winners were selected at random using the research randomizer to select two numbers between 1 & 13.  Comments #2 (Christa) and #6 (Beth), where post #1 was the first reply and post #13 was the last reply, were selected as the winners.

Congratulations again on winning my first giveaway and keep a look out next week for that tutorail!  Happy Friday and I hope you ALL have a wonderful weekend.  Keep an eye out for giveaways in the future too!

~Ali

{Giveaway}: Little Folks Voile Scarf

Anna Maria Horner's Little Folks line is printed on voile (French for fantastic!) fabric that is buttery smooth and silky soft and, did I mention, fantastic! Voile is a wonderful, light-weight fabric that feels amazing.  I recently ordered more to use for a super soft quilt that I'm going to make this fall for next spring.  The colors from this line are wonderful for fall scarves as well, so... in celebration of the arrival of cooler temperatures, and the arrival of my Little Folks fabric order, I'm going to do my 1st Giveaway! 

The 4 fabrics the winners can choose from are pictured here.  The winners will also be able to choose if they want a regular scarf or an infinity scarf!

All you have to do to be registered to win is: 1) register as a follower of this blog and 2) leave a comment!  I will select 2 winners at random on Wednesday, October 13th (since 13 is such a lucky number) and will announce the winners on Friday, October 15th.  BONUS: if you REFER A FRIEND, have them mention your name in their comment and your name will be entered into the drawing twice!  Please be sure to leave your e-mail address in your comment if it isn't visible on your profile!

I'm so excited to do this Giveaway! 
P.S. To find more givewaways you can use Giveaway Scout, a giveaway search engine. 

Weekend Update: Elliott's Baby {Quilt} and Giving Up?

We'll start with "Giving Up?" first...  For those of you who don't know, I cannot stand fast food and have a strong (and recently validated) fear of high fructose corn syrup (HFCS).  Fast food and HFCS are both BIG contributors to obesity and heart disease in America.  While I cannot disclose the results of the study, because it's ongoing, I CAN say that the results of the study thus far have motivated me to give up BOTH... FOREVER.  I will no longer knowingly eat anything with HFCS and I will do my best to not eat fast food! 

I make a new baby quilt every time a friend has a baby.  This is a NEW tradition and so far I have made 4 and have 2 more in the works for due dates in December and January, which are the "Big Stitches" projects I have ongoing.  However, I felt this incredible pang of guilt as I was sitting on the couch hand quilting one the other night for a friend since I realized that while I have intended to make a quilt for my son, Elliott (9 months old), it kept getting moved to the back burner along with my Folk Dance quilt for myself. 

Elliott - 9 months

ET's just too cute to leave hanging... so, this weekend I decided that I would pull out the adorable fabric bundle I purchased from Fabricworm the other week and get started.  I put all of my other projects on the backburner to make this one.  Hope you like it!  The fabric palette for the quilt top is Lagoon and Lime and is comprised of the following fabrics:

Michael Miller's Groovy Guitars in Lagoon, Ta Dot in Lagoon, Zoology in Lagoon,
Play Dot in Lagoon, and Dinky Dots in Lime; 
Monaluna Circa 50 Starburst in Pool, Woodland Chain in Pool, and Tree Stripes

I used Kona Solids in Coal for the sashing and worked on the quilt most of the weekend during what little free time I had and here is the finished quilt top!  I hope you like it.  I'll start the quilt back this week and will try to get this finished by the end of next weekend so I can include it in next Monday's Weekend Update!



Elliott's Finished Lagoon and Lime
Charm Square Quilt Top

Now I just have to decide HOW I want to quilt this one...

Fabric, Fabric Everywhere...Organizational Help from the Experts!

So, I just started quilting approximately 3 years ago and I've used so many beautiful fabrics.  I LOVE fabric!  ...so much so that I can't seem to stop buying them up when I see some I like and I also can't seem to part with scraps that I think I may use in the future.  The problem with this is that I have drawers full of unorganized fabric.  I'm SO type A that it's driving me CRAZY just knowing these drawers exist, but at the same time I don't know HOW to tackle this issue... so I keep the scrap/extra fabric drawers closed so that I don't have to look at them.  I felt motivated to remedy this problem yesterday, so I emptied out 1 drawer onto my workspace in the kitchen.  In the end, I was so overwhelmed that I ended up just putting it all back into the drawer!

I'm in need of some advice from the experts out there on HOW to organize my fabrics!  I'm overwhelmed by the amount that I'm begining to accumulate.  I don't want to just throw them away, but how do I organize them for future use WITHOUT becoming a fabric hoarder!?!?! 

I posted a topic about this in The Modern Quilt Guild group on flickr.com online and I sincerely hope to get some suggestions as to how to approach this. 

You can see this post at http://www.flickr.com/groups/themodernquiltguild/discuss/72157625010128160/

I hope that the suggestions come rolling in and that you all find them helpful as well!  I'll post in the future about how I handle this issue and what the end result looks like.  Thanks in advance for the help and advice!

Modern Blocks in Eggplant and Mustard

My colors for the AMQ quilt blocks are Eggplant and Mustard.  I was so excited about contributing to this project that I went this afternoon to the fabric store to get some additional fabrics for the Eggplant palette and I already had plenty for my mustard block.  Below are the Eggplant and Mustard palettes I put together to use for my blocks.

Eggplant Palette

Mustard Palette

I actually don't make alot of quilts using quilt blocks, so this was a new experience for me.  BUT, I had so much fun doing the Rolling Dice block that I think I'm going to make a whole quilt of them in the next few months!

For these blocks, I first fussy cut the image I wanted to be the focus of each block: 1) a bird from the Echino fabric by Etsuko Furuya, to place at the center of the eggplant block, and 2) a flower from Patty Young's Flora and Fauna collection in Mustard, to place at the center of the mustard block.  I then pieced strips to each side, repeating this process until I had a final quilt block of 12.5in x 12.5in.  The blocks are shown below.  I've included a tutorial for how to make the rolling dice block as well!



Mustard Block in Flora and Fauna - I fussy cut the first two fabrics
to make it look like the hummingbird was landing on the flower.



Eggplant Block in Eschino, High Society, and some Batiks

Rolling Dice Block Tutorial

Here's how to get the rolling dice look for your blocks:



STEP 1:  Cut your focus fabric square for the center 4.5" x 4.5".



STEP 2:  Then piece strips to each side of the block with a width of your choice. 
I used strips anywhere between 1.5 inches and 2.5 inches. 
To add the strips, place right sides of fabric together
and stitch the first 2 strips to opposite sides of the block and continue to step 3.

STEP 3:  Press seams open and square up your block on both sides.
Repeat this same basic process for the other two sides of the block.

STEP 4:  Lay your block on your cutting mat, squaring it up with
the gridlines on the mat. Place your square ruler on the block,
tilting it as far as possible to the LEFT while keeping the ruler on the block.

STEP 5:  Trim around your ruler creating a square block. 
I repeated this process several times where I used my 6.5"x6.5" ruler 1st,
followed by my 9.5"x9.5" ruler 2nd, and finally my 12.5"x12.5" ruler last. 
If you’ve done this correctly, each square within a square will be set at an angle.



FINAL BLOCK:  Your final block will look someting like this.

I can't wait to show these to the AMQ group at the next meeting! 

Atlanta Modern Quilter {AMQ}

I've been MIA from blogging these last few summer months thanks to a crazy work schedule and traveling to conferences... but, I'm back!  I have so many new and exciting projects and things to write about, so I'll start with this one:  the Atlanta Modern Quilt Guild.  I was on the Modern Quilt Guild checking out their new Project Modern Challenge and saw that Atlanta has a chapter.  So, I joined and am now a member of the Atlanta Modern Quilt Guild, which I'm going to call AMQ for short.

This brings me to my next small project, about which I'll be blogging in the next few weeks, which is part of a bigger project by AMQ.  AMQ was asked to submit a quilt to the new Georgia Textile Museum.  The quilt is to displayed, possibly used for advertisement, and then auctioned as a fundraiser for the museum.

Each person is making color block squares that measure 12.5 x 12.5 and each block will be a different color.  I'm going to make 2 blocks and am currently awating my color assignments.  I think it's going to be a lot of fun designing my blocks.  Our only restriction, if you even want to call it that, is that we sew our block of almost entirely (95%) of that color. Otherwise, we can design it however we want, as long as we use modern print fabrics and put a modern push on the look.  No problem.

I'll post again in a few days about my color assignments, designs I'm thinking about for my blocks, and possible fabric choices.  I'm so excited about this project and that my blocks may be used for something so cool!

Mother's Day {Sew}

With Mother's Day just around the corner, I wanted to make something for my mom and for my mom-in-law.  I, personally, ALWAYS appreciate a handmade gift!  They take thought, time, and effort, which is always appreciated... especially by moms.  So, for Mother's Day this year, I chose to make the Grocery Tote on page 174 of One Yard Wonders for each of our moms. 

While my husband and I split the grocery shopping duties in our family, our moms do all of the shopping in their relationships. These totes were pretty easy to make and one yard of fabric per tote was exactly enough (with a few inches to spare). The Alexander Henry mocca fabric is definately a statement and a bit more fashionable than your average Publix or Kroger tote bag ;).  I used decor weight fabric for this project to make the bags more durable.  I think these totes would also be super cute to carry to the beach or while running errands around town. You could even use them to carry your stuff for a picnic or overnight getaway. The possibilites are endless!

I am in love with this fabric print and ordered more of the decor weight fabric from Hawthorne Threads yesterday!  I can't wait for it to arrive.  I think I'm going to make Amy Butler's Weekender Travel Bag and Sweet Harmony Tote with it.  Those are going to be long term projects though, since I want to finish my quilt first.  Stay tuned for posts about those projects in the future! 

Tactile Tag Blanket from One Yard Wonders {Sew}

My first project from One Yard Wonders was the Tactile Blanket on p.221.  Elliott and I went to Intown Quilters today and picked out the fabrics.  I decided I would make it out of the first one that caught his attention.  So... here it is!  I used grosgrain and satin ribbons for the tags.  The entire project only took me about an hour!  Simple and sweet.

You May Have This Dance {Quilt}

Follow this link to check out Anna Maria Horner's Folk Dance quilt pattern, which uses her "Good Folks" line of fabrics.

I absolutely love this quilt pattern, but when I went to buy my fabrics from Intown Quilters, they were all sold out of the fabrics I had chosen to use for my own Folk Dance quilt.  I was really disappointed and had to come up with a new color palete on the spot and select fabrics from the other lines they carry in the store.  Lucky for me they have a fantastic selection, which made choosing the 13 fabrics for this quilt super easy!

Quilt Color Palette

I ended up chosing fabrics from Patty Young's Flora and Fauna line in the mustard and turquoise palettes.  I also picked some solids and small prints in jewel tones to pick up some of the subtle colors in those fabrics, since I really want the patterned fabrics to pop.  Can't wait to share more with you in the coming weeks!

Newbie

I have a Ph.D. in Molecular and Systems Pharmacology, which is completely unrelated to arts and crafts!  But I LOVE creating things in what little spare time I have. Scientist by day, crafter by night!  However, I also just had a baby in December, so I've been on a little crafting vacation until just recently.  Now I have to wait to do projects until after the little man goes to sleep each night. 

These days I primarily quilt and sew, though I'm also known to paint and make stained glass. I started crafting and sewing as a young girl after learning how to cross stitch from my grandma and grandpa. I recently fell in love with quilting after taking a class a few years ago.  I've been making quilts for friends and family, but am currently interested in making something for myself... maybe a quilt and a bag? I think it is so much fun to get creative with different materials. Anyway, I hope you enjoy my blog about my creations!