Getting in the mood...

For Christmas, that is! Get your mind out of the gutter! I bought some Christmas fabric awhile back, and also last Christmastime, and actually, to be honest, I have a separate box of Christmas fabric because they don't really go with the rest of my stash... I just saw this giveaway over at Stitched in Color that is making me excited for Christmas (especially as the days are starting to get a little shorter, this is the next big thing to look forward to!) and because every Christmas I realize that if you are going to make gifts for people you really need to start before December 1st. Being that I'm unemployed for the next unknown period of time, I think it would be pretty smart of me and non-procrastinatory of me to start now. (p.s. I know that's not really a word) I always like to include a picture, so I guess I'll show some of my favorite Christmasy fabrics from my stash. I have so much I think I better start cutting and stitching soon! Yikes! I think these dots could make an awesome binding!

Unemployed productivity

Friday was my last day at work, and now the clock is ticking for our big move to Seattle. There is so much to do, but I gave myself today to have fun and do whatever. I dressed for the gym, and never made it. Oh well. I was amazed to find out how much you can get done when you don't work (and don't have kids, etc.)! Today I pieced the back of a quilt I started long ago, basted it, AND quilted it. Ridiculous. I mean, it's a pretty simple quilt, but to have such a long stretch of time to work on it was such a luxury! More pictures to follow - it's a present for someone! :) I kept reading about people who use a spoon to close their safety pins while basting and I'm totally amazed and converted! It made that slow and physically painful process so much quicker and easier! Now I'm watching Twilight and finishing the hand-stitched binding on my paintbox quilt - this is taking me forever to finish!Here's a picture of a pincushion my friend Laurie made me. What a generous person she is. I really will think of her every time I use it even when I'm very far away from her! That apple fabric is her signature. :)


Thanks for looking!

Wearing gloves in July

I am SO happy to say that I finished stippling my first big quilt yesterday ( I had practiced on a small baby quilt before ). I picked up a pair of quilting gloves at Jo-Anns and they worked pretty well so I wasn't gripping and pulling the quilt the whole time! I'm very happy with the end result, but there were definitely a few fumbles along the way. I took pictures, but they didn't really come out. All I can say is that I definitely need to take my safety pins out!! I thought I could scoot around them but I ended up sewing one of them to the quilt, ugh, and another one got completely punctured by my needle. I have to say I am so lucky that nothing broke/flew out at my face. I have never seen anything like that. Because I used spray baste there weren't too many safety pins to navigate anyway, and I don't see any puckers! I think I'm sold on spray basting now, although we'll see if my next project yields the same result.




This is a bad flashy picture, but I'll take better sunny pictures when it's done.

Another thing I learned is that even if you're anxious to finish, take a break! I had sore arms and shoulders all night because I just quilted for 2+ hours straight. Yikes. I also need to learn to not be so tense in my shoulders and jaw. I'm glad no one has video of me because I know I make weird faces while I quilt. :) So now I'm cleaning up loose threads and trying to decide which fabric to use for the binding. Yay! I can't wait to show my peeps at the NE modern quilt guild meeting next week!! My next projects are some little gifts for my sister-in-law's baby shower next week. I'll post pictures after she receives them. Can't wait to meet little Patrick! :)
Thanks for looking!

Thank goodness for chain-piecing!

I was feeling the need for a repetitive project that I could just do in stages and see my progress as I go along. I've been hoarding this charm pack of Lila Tueller's Soiree for a long time now and was waiting for the perfect project. Well, I have lots of fabric that I'm "saving for the perfect project" so I figured, eh, just get sewing!! It felt good to work on all these half-square triangles in stages. I haven't done a half-square triangle quilt before, so hopefully I still enjoy the process later on in the project. At this point I'm just trimming the squares down, which I think will be the worst part, but I am watching Julie and Julia on loan from the Boston Public Library, I'm home alone and it's a beautiful day. Things are going well! :) I actually don't know what the final product will look like, but I feel okay with that. I just want to finish these HST's and think about the layout and the size of the quilt later.

Thanks for looking!
Siobhan, was this less excruciating??

2 days in a row!

So I'm really trying to be better about posting more, so this is my best effort - 2 days in a row! I have been kind of agonizing over this doll quilt swap that the New England Modern Quilt Guild is doing because I have never made something for another quilter! Usually when I make something it's for myself - I'm picky, but not too picky, or a friend/family member - definitely not picky, but making something for someone who knows all that went into making it and could pick up on little mistakes (not that they're going to be looking for them or anything) feels very exposing. It's also with sadness that I work on this project because I will only be able to attend 2 more meetings before I leave Boston and move away to Seattle. I've met some great friends through the guild and I know we'll stay in touch through blogland and talking excessively about modern quilting. :) So, this is a little peak at the project I'm working on. It's almost done, just need to hand stitch the binding... I'll show the whole thing after my partner receives it!

(not a great skyline shot, but view of Boston harbor at sunset)

My first adventure in spray basting...

I looove piecing a quilt top. I don't even mind binding my quilts (I know, that's weird), but the basting process is so stressful to me for some reason and it's so time consuming! When I read people's blogs who seem to be finishing projects quickly and they spray baste, I figured, what the heck. I'll give it a try. So, in the spirit of "process" I wrote this post as I was spray basting (like 2 weeks ago).

I'm finding that my seams are getting a little wonky, but not in a good way. I'm trying to flatten the top out, but it's sort of distorting things. Now I've realized that half of the top is "glued" to the batting, which is "glued" to the backing and it's completely off.

If I reposition the whole top, I run the risk of stretching the fabric and making it permanently "off." I used some pins anyway, per the suggestion of some posts I saw about this. So far I'm not convinced this is a big life changer. I also have a LOT of seams in this quilt, so there's more room to stretch and get a little crooked. More to come on this process. Maybe since I just basted the whole thing including some pins, while watching glee, in under an hour (amazing!), I'll just have to settle for now and get a bit more practice in the future. I'm sure that my boyfriend will appreciate the "taped to the kitchen floor" stage has drastically decreased in time. I'm interested to see how this goes stippling, especially since that's brand new to me too.

Okay, okay, I'm rocking the stippling, the layers are staying together well with the spray baste and a few pins. No puckers so far, and then...

Okay, back to real time now: This keeps happening, so I ended up taking my machine to get repaired/tuned up for the first time ever (which is so bad of me!) and I was without it for 9 days. aaahh!! I played with a lot of fabric, kind of went crazy during the last week or so, and finally got to work on something new yesterday. I'll show that later I guess. I'd love to hear if anyone out there...(echo, echo...) has any thoughts on spray basting...
Thanks for looking!
Meaghan
p.s. for those of you friends/family of mine who read this just to be nice to me, sorry this was a boring quilty blog post. I'll have prettier pictures to show soon! :)

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!