I'm obsessed with solids!

When I first got interested in sewing I was all about really funky prints and had no interest in plain old solids. I only used them on the back of wall hanging quilts. Now, out of necessity (they're cheaper than prints) and change of taste I find myself thinking about solids and using solids much more frequently. I love putting together different combinations of colors and seeing how other quilters out there are using them. I love Cherry House Quilts and her use of solids. I can't wait to see her new book!

Oh Fransson's Paintbox quilt pattern was the perfect way to incorporate my growing stash of solids with my stash of prints. It felt really good to make a quilt top almost entirely out of fabric I already had (besides the sashing). These are the first 2 blocks I made, a midway shot, and I have since finished the whole top. I'm working on piecing the back of this quilt and will show pictures when I'm done (hopefully soon!)

I've been seeing more and more string quilts in blogland and although I love the scrappy look of using different prints my mind is still in the solids gutter. I made a few blocks, using Film in the Fridge's tutorial, and using varied widths of strips. I like how they came out, but they are intended as part of a swap in the New England Modern Quilt Guild and I'm nervous about whether or not my partner will like them... hmm.... Anyway, I'm committing to blogging more often. I love doing it, but work has gotten in the way. Darn job! :)

Lastly, I'm moving out of my apartment with my amazing sewing area and into an apartment-yet-to-be-determined in Seattle in September. I'm hoping I'll still have room to spread out and tape a whole quilt back to the floor and leave bits of scraps and threads around without disturbing my "roomie." :)

Thanks for looking!

Broken.

Winter months make me feel especially happy that I have an indoor hobby that I love so much. Yes, I miss being able to be outside more, but there is guilt that I feel when it's 75 degrees outside and I'm inside sewing. So winter is perfect for me in that regard. I decided this year that I wanted to get better at snowboarding though and enjoy some outdoor winter sports. I had tried this one time before and liked it, but most likely re-broke my tailbone and was content with only having one really expensive hobby (fabric-buying, and sometimes -using).

I was excited for our big ski weekend and ended the first day like this ( I did cry a LOT, but this was a posed sad face ):

I have to say I still had a really fun time, but this (awesome) purple cast has really put a damper on my winter months sewing. Notice how much better the purple is than the cardboard I have on in the previous pic.


I have pulled out some fabrics to make one of Oh Fransson's Paintbox quilts, but when I started cutting strips, I realized that being able to really grip your rotary cutter is essential to actually cutting in a straight line. I only wasted a small bit of fabric, but it still felt really bad...

Well, one more week of this and then hopefully I'll be back to "normal."

Okay, I posted. You happy Eric??

New Year's Resolution

Well, I'm embarassed to see that my last post was in September. I chock this up to having a really busy fall at work and getting used to our nightly routine at home. I would really like to continue my blog, but I think I need to post more than once per quarter. So, this is a new year and a fresh start. I can't say that I will post daily, but I will be doing lots of sewing and plan on showing some things I'm doing on here. I don't even know if anyone is reading this, but at least if I promise "in public" that I will blog more often then hopefully I will be more likely to keep that promise! Here is something I made recently, as part of Bumble Beans' Wave Runner Quilt Along.

This is very unlike anything I've done before - different color scheme, solids instead of prints, freehand piecing and quilting, etc. I really enjoyed it and have thought about other colors that would work well with this pattern/style too. It was freeing to cut without measuring and piece together random strips, cut into smaller bits, and rearrange them all until it was just right. Definitely felt good, but I still enjoy me some 90 degree angles too. Also, the backing was a fabric (Nouveau by Sentimental Studios) I bought a long time ago that looked very different in person than it did online. It suits this project just fine!

Thanks for looking!

some more quilting injuries

So, seriously. I'm kind of an old lady. In a lot of ways, but most recently because I keep getting muscle spasms I think as the result of quilting for hours upon hours the past few Sundays. I have been so happy having extended periods of time to be at home, to be creative, to make some dinner, and to get to bed early. As relaxing as that sounds (and is) my neck and back apparently don't like it so much and I've been pretty darn stiff. Oh well. The sacrifices we make for creativity! :)

No pictures right now because I just realized that I left my cord at work. But, I'll have some pictures of my most recent project and our trip to the Baltimore/Sox game this weekend!

I'm going to work on a little bit of decorating this week. This place has been too beige for too long!

Thanks for looking!

So, it's been awhile...

The past month has been CRAZY! My work is based around the school calendar, so the end of the summer and the beginning of September is just a lot of running around. I've realized though that padding the bad, stressful, work stuff with positive things makes life much more bearable and enjoyable. With my new sewing space I've constantly been working on things, but I don't necessarily have much finished product to show for it. I'm okay with that, though.


These fabrics are for a gift for someone close to me - not going to say in case he/she is looking at this! I'm trying out AmandaJean's triangle-free zig zag quilt but one thing I found challenging is that I sort of had to cut out all of the fabric and then decide on the layout before i could start piecing together. I like projects where I can sort of "sew as I go" so this one didn't fit the bill so much. I also learned after buying this fabric, that colors can look very different in real life than online. I still like it, but I'm not so sure that all of the fabrics go together as well as I thought they would, especially being part of the same collection. I'm committing to buying fabrics in person from now on. I much prefer feeling them, and putting them next to others anyway, than just buying a collection of stuff online. Also, there's no sunlight in my apartment, so these pictures are pretty much horrible. That being said, the multitude of fabric sale emails I get every day will probably sway me back to buying online again eventually. I can't wait to show my current project. It's basted and almost ready to start quilting - once I peel it off my kitchen floor! More to come...
Thanks for looking!

my new "studio"

I finally have my sewing area up and running. Having this extra space in the kitchen was a major draw to this apartment and thanks to my generous friend Desie, I finally have a suitable table for my machine. It's so nice to sew in between stirring things on the stove, or just having my machine out to work on things a little at a time. Last night in Boston was horribly hot and maybe not the best night to make homemade spicy black bean soup or to iron fabric for an upcoming project. I did it anyway and just sweated it out. It was worth it. I'm thankful to Buddy for helping me put my desk together and to Desie for giving it to me! Now, I just need some color up on the wall - and maybe some batting for my very first design wall!

Another first for me, I just picked out my new glasses yesterday! I'm sort of excited about them, and even though they're technically pink I think it's subtle. You may also be able to see the sticker too - 50% off! Isn't it great when the thing you like most just happens to also be on the sale rack? Hopefully these will help my eyes during all my blog scrolling and sewing. :)

Thanks for looking!

blogging injury

So...after boasting my whole life about having excellent vision, the time has finally come that I need glasses. I've been getting horrible headaches - they last on average for about 10 hours - and my eyes just feel like they're working so hard to see as well as they used to. Oh well. I only need them for reading and being on the computer, but I'm sure that I'll need them sewing as well. I don't really have a problem with this since I just want to feel better. My sister says that sewing hurt my vision, but in actuality, it's probably reading and scrolling through so many blogs.




I don't regret it. People don't really know that there is such a big quilt blog community out there, and are surprised when I tell them how many I follow. Yes, maybe it's a bit much, but it's become something that really inspires me in my own projects and gets me excited about learning new techniques. I really admire all the women that share their thoughts and ideas with others and will just continue to follow their blogs from behind my new frames!

This is a sneak peak of a project I'm working on. I think I loved it more at the beginning stage than at the middle stage I'm at now, but hopefully by the end I'll be in love again. We'll see!

Thanks for looking!