The odd joy of the tedious

I've never much enjoyed machine quilting- mostly because my machine really isn't capable of free motion quilting.  There's something impossibly frustrating about knowing the exact pattern you want on the quilt but being incapable of executing said pattern!  For most of my quilts, I send them off to Sandy back in Oregon. She and her longarm work magic!!  I'll be packing up the Diamond Drop quilt up tomorrow to send her way.

In the meantime, I will quilt little projects with my sewing machine. Though the free motion foot is kind of useless, the walking foot is perfect. I'm not sure what possessed me to make this table runner such a labor of lines and angles but I have to say I am pleased with the results!

The diamonds are left over from my pink/purple/orange adventure that I never named....it's the bright one at the beginning of this blog.  That's not helpful though, is it? All my quilts tend to be bright.  It's the one with half squares surrounded by log cabin strips set on point.

Last Week of...Vacation

I start the new job next week and while I am majorly excited about it, I am somewhat sad that my lazy, free time is coming to an end.  Of course, worrying about paying the rent does tend to make lazy, free time a little less enjoyable. I'll take the job any day over not being able to pay the rent.  :)

Most of this week has been dedicated to finishing the Diamond Drop quilt top.  I have several bed size quilts but no throws.  This quilt is throw size and should be the perfect accent for the back of my futon!  And as I suspected, I do have a some fabric left over.  I think I will try to work them into a bag or pillow case.  At the moment, I am too tired of 3" little squares to think about making another throw.

Joyous News!

Well, it's joyous news for me at least!  ;)  I just found out yesterday that I got an awesome job I applied and interviewed for last month!  Though I moved in order to take a teaching job, it is only part time and doesn't pay enough for me to live.  This new job not only allows me to keep the teaching job but also pays normal money and has benefits!  For a recent graduate, this is fabulous!  And better yet- the job is unique and challenging. It will really give me a chance to expand my horizons.  However, I suspect my quilting time will dwindle quite a bit once I start.... Well, I'll just have to find time!

 

It's a small update today- a new batik throw.  You won't find the pattern in any book or magazine as I made it up. I call it Diamond Drop. I've been collecting black background batiks for a while now and have been experimenting.  Though simple, this pattern allows me to indulge in my love of smaller blocks while still being able to whip them up pretty quick.  The block is 6" square.

Even after making a throw size quilt out of these black batiks, I believe I'll still have enough to make another project.  I told you I'd been collecting them a while!  Any ideas what I should do next?

It's a new year!

2012 has arrived!

How are you celebrating?  I started with a nice round of apartment cleaning  :)  Feels productive to sit here typing while the dryer tumbles and the dishwasher roars.  Being the oh-so-exciting person that I am, I didn't watch the ball drop last night.  Instead, I answered emails, read for research, and tried to figure out some resolutions for the New Year.  Not going to lie, I've never actually had New Year's Resolutions before.  I've always been leery of committing myself to an impossible goal for the sake of tradition but this year it seems like the right thing to do! 

So here goes:
1. Weight- like most people, I have room for improvement on this front.  Am I hoping to be a size 6 by the end of the year?  No- remember, these must be possible!  ;)  Aiming instead for 20 lbs; lost 30 lbs this year and I think this should be achievable, assuming I stay away from Spritz cookies and visit my treadmill more often!

2.  Etsy. I technically have an Etsy store, though it is rather useless at the moment as it has no merchandise!  This must be remedied this year.  No more excuses!  With that in mind, Anna, if you're reading this- your bag is under way, even if the storefront isn't up and running quite yet.  :)

3.  Blog. That's right- this blog is on my official to-do list!  I've been woefully neglect of it over the last year.  In 2012, I promise to be better. 

And to that end, I do have a small update on current project!  I've gotten a bit further in the Starburst quilt designed by Dereck Lockwood that I've shown you pieces of earlier.

Putting the diamond and square block together involves everyone's favorite- Y seams!  I have a tendency to see a pattern or project I want to complete and just jump right in and in this case, this means I get to learn how to do Y seams.  It's been a rough road thus far!  Robin has been majorly helpful (as always) in guiding me along but this project is going to take forever!  I don't want to mess up such a wonderful quilt, so I find myself putting two or three blocks together and then putting the project aside for a while so as to not get super frustrated with it.  When it's finished, the center should look something like this:

Hopefully it will be done by 2013 but I make no promises!

New beginnings

Wow..I'm clearly excellent at maintaining this site  :) It has been a crazy couple of months since my last post.  To summarize, I no longer live in Central Oregon.  Instead, an opportunity to teach the art history I love has landed me back in my birth state, Nebraska.  I no longer work in the quilt store, obviously, though I do still manage their webpage to some extent from here. The move to Nebraska has been interesting- driving across the country with all my possessions and a grumpy cat, apartment hunting in a new city, moving in the snow.  The adventures never seem to stop!  One definitely positive outcome of all this, besides the job, is that I have my own space again!  Everything I own, save for clothes, has been in storage since I graduated from grad school and it has been so nice to get out all of my little goodies.  Hello sparkly red mixer, nice to see you my nice black desk...  I digress. I've finally got a second bedroom- can anyone say quilt room?!  Well, quilt room/office.  Have to write those Power Points and lectures somewhere!

 I'm particularly proud of my little design wall, which consists to scrap pieces of batting wrapped around Styrofoam sheets from Home Depot. Not bad for $6.80.

Also, I have discovered that the hanging shoe racks you can buy at discount places are wonderful for storing fabric!  It was so nice to put all that fabric away- you get to reacquaint yourself with all the fabric that inspires you.  It also reminds me of my growing list of projects...and I hope I'll finally get to work on them!

Work! Fun work but still...work

It's been such a crazy month!  June is going to officially end tonight and I'm still trying to figure out where March went....go figure.  Sadly, I have no personal projects to report on- just work samples.  Though, I have to say, I really like the stuff I've been working on for them.  These cuties are my first ever pieces in hand applique!  Readers will likely recognize the pattern for these little month blocks- they come from Art to Heart's Count On It book.  Each employee in the store took responsibility for one or two blocks as a sample.  We'll be selling the kits beginning this week, the week the craziness begins in Central Oregon- the quilt show.  Dun dun duuunnn...  I found I enjoyed the hand work involved in applique, though to be honest, these particular panels are not my style.  I do think, however, that I will start working on an applique project of my own design soon.

The other project taking all of my time in the last couple of weeks has been a panel, "Flurry" by Kate Spain, that the store owner wanted me to put borders on and call it good.  And I just couldn't.  I'm sorry but I am one of those people who thinks panels aren't really quilting.  Putting borders around a panel does not a quilt make.  At the very least, cut it up!  Do something somewhat original with it!  I was pretty basic in my changes to the panel she gave me- mainly due to limited time.  This too needed to be ready for quilt show week and having spent 10 days in Nebraska during the middle of the month, I flat ran out of time to be super creative.

The careful reader will notice some little glints here and there on the quilt...  Yes, I gave in to my crystal addiction and embellished it here and there.  Have I not described my crystal addiction?  Oh...another post then- wouldn't want to scare you away now.

It's...Spring?

Well, it's been snowing off and on here for a few days now.  Yes, it's May, nearly June.  I realize in some parts of the world, this signals the tentative beginnings of summer.  In Central Oregon, however, Spring comes with no guarantee of flowers, sun, or pleasant weather.  This year's Spring impersonation has involved rain, sleet, snow, and wind for about 6 weeks!  Rather sick of it and all the gray, truth be told! 

In the seemingly useless hope that some kind of sunny weather will arrive soon, I've been making hair clips! I found the hair clips in a bulk package at Micheal's, while the flowers themselves are supposed to be used in table arrangements and/or scrap booking.  A little hot glue and viola!


The quilting has been slow going as of late- working 40 hours a week in a quilt store doesn't actually leave a lot of time to sew, as it turns out!  :) I have managed to finish some center diamond blocks for my most ambitious project yet.

 I saw the pattern for "Starburst" in Keepsake Quilting about two months ago and fell in love!  It's designed by Dereck Lockwood and features the intricacy in design that I love.   There are at least twenty templates necessary to create this quilt- and I've never template pieced anything in my life before this!  My quilt group thinks I'm crazy but I think they're finally getting used to the idea that I like the challenge complicated quilts provide.  I'll save my rant about the current simple/block trends of modern quilting for another time, but suffice it to say, I this complicated beauty is right up my alley!

There are two colors of diamonds for the points in this quilt- the picture in Keepsake shows the designers choice of solid fabrics, featuring greens and grays.  While those make a striking contrast with the black outlining and borders, they're not my colors at all! I like the richness that warm colors provide- they really draw your eye straight to the center of this quilt.  I am adding come cool colors to the outer blocks, but you'll have to keep checking in to see when I have time to finish those mirror-images guys.