In Search of Inspiration: September 2013

Monday, September 30, 2013

Tedium

I finally finished sewing Xs into my sandwiches but found I had no more black fabric to cut from (if you remember I had run out of fabric/batting squares and had to cut more) so I had to improvise.

Instead I have this beautiful yellow fabric with stars all over it and I decided it was Halloween-y enough. So I cut 5 squares which was what I had remaining of the charm packs, and I thought of a way to have them make sense rather than being 5 random squares. The idea I came up with was adorable and involved appliqué ghosts drawn freehand using fabric marker (the kind that washes out mind you) and fabric paint markers (the kind you draw on and then heat set with an iron or dryer). The ghosts were made using leftover muslin and I used the fabric paints to make black eyes for them. They are adorable! I then decided to write my kids' names next to each ghost and the rest of the yellow star squares would just be writing.

The process of arranging these squares was tedious and painful on my back. Plus my children wanted to help or feel the fabric themselves ... It took some time. Here is the stack I was up against --

Curious George oversaw the operation as did my daughter's pink glasses ... When I had the rows of eight squares all lined up (ten of them FYI), I stacked them together and made sure they stayed in order (and took a picture in case I got loopy) --

Then, I started working on sewing these bad boys together. I messed up and got the first row slightly out of order.

Then, I screwed up in sewing each piece together. Normally you sew them together with the right side of the fabric facing each other, and I am a creature of habit, so I made a few mistakes in the first two rows alone. I didn't sew them with the wrong sides facing and had to seam rip them c a r e f u l l y and sew them back together. I h a t e seam ripping. The reason my quilts are not nearly perfect is my severe hatred of this act. Just ... I don't do it. I accept mistakes and move on.

Ok it's more like denial. Serious, irreversible denial. I just pretend to not care and shrug off these mistakes as "oh well, it's just proof I am human!" No, it drives me nuts.

I digress.

I decided to get the full effect of this blanket, and to do it properly, I had to fix my mistakes this time. By George, I am turning a new leaf!

I will finish tomorrow and you will see photos of it in all it's PERFECT glory. Rather, imperfect glory. And the close up photos of the special squares will be included. I'm very proud of my little ghosties. Reminds me of my two favorite Halloween cartoons, It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown (I got a rock ... ), and Garfield's Halloween (when he's trying to prove the one thing he's not is a scaredy cat with the little ghosts).

HAPPY OCTOBER EVE!!!!!! 31 days until Halloween!!

Boo Crew Pumpkin Party

Those are the titles of my two charm packs! I am making them into a rag quilt as you know, and my new pack arrived today so I was making little fabric sandwiches. Cannot wait to see these lovelies together and organize them into a cute quilt! Stay tuned!

Saturday, September 28, 2013

Oh and tidbits ...

Finished details of my spiderweb quilt and starting a Halloween Rag Quilt!

Attempting to make my daughter a mermaid

Can I do it??

Saturday, September 21, 2013

Someone's been baking!

It was I who was baking! I made a Swedish Apple Pie and an Apple Crumb Pie. Half the Swedish pie went with my in-laws, a quarter was eaten by me, and the rest was snapped up my the dog as it cooled on the stove :-/

Here are pics! First the Swedish Apple and then the crumb pie. No, I don't know what supposedly makes it Swedish haha maybe just that it is a good looking, sweet, and all around yummy pie. :)

Making a new sewing box!

Hello all, sorry I've been gone so long! I have been busy as you may have guessed. Today I am going to attempt to finish at least one quilt, but first while the kids are playing I am repurposing a box I had used for make up. The inside was junk, so I had to have it removed, but I put down is nice layer of mods pods and am gluing some leftover muslin scraps that I had which couldn't be used on an actual quilt. After this layer, I plan to use various scraps of bright and colorful fabric. It is also my hope that I can add a little stuffing to the top so that I can put some pins in there if necessary. You know how we always thread a needle and don't use it all, but feel like throwing the thread away would be a waste. So we end up with a few threaded needles in our little tomato pin cushion. Not very good idea, they always get snagged or wrapped around something.

Anyway, here are a couple of pictures to begin with. I will try to update later.

The box! It's pretty sturdy!

Here you can see before and after pics of the inside. The bottom still needs to be done.

And there is a close up of the top. So thankful I am a scrap hoarder ;) I also plan on going through my fabric and separating out the smaller scraps because I found a pattern for a depression quilt. I love it! I recently finished the top of a spiderweb quilt which is the one I'm finishing today.

For either of these patterns (for personal use only), visit quilterscache.com. I am addicted to this site!! I did the Easy Spiderweb quilt. But I suggest instead of paper piecing or making the individual little kite pieces, to instead just make a triangle out of blank fabric. Not only does it cut down on time that you're spending cutting out little kites or searching for them, but it also just make a whole lot thicker and simpler. I also find that when you are paper piecing and you go to remove the paper underneath, it puts a lot of stress on the thread.

Happy crafting!