Quilty Pleasures: Sew Together Bag

Well, Hello, Strangers!

I guess I'm the stranger because dang, where have I been?  Let's blame it on winter. I guess I just don't feel like I have enough to share with you, so why be lame and bore you?

But spring is finally here and the days are gorgeous.

I've been stacking wood.  Lots and lots of wood. It's good exercise, so don't feel sorry for me. This morning I started my fourth woodpile and  suspect there will be one more after Tom finishes splitting the logs he has cut.

But let's get to the cool stuff. I actually made something and finished it, too! Not finishing is a "Paralyzed Perfectionist" thing where lots of projects are almost, but not totally, completed.  It just might not be perfect, so that fear of completion is real. Right now there are four very cute quilts waiting for binding, and they'd be done! So lame, yessirree, but I am working on it.

The bag is called the Sew Together Bag, pattern by Sew Demented. The Chicken River Modern Quilters hosted a class at ThreadBear a couple weeks ago taught by the extremely patient and highly talented quiltist from Albuquerque, Becky Welch. The twenty students had a good day with several completing their bags right there in class. I had to take mine home to finish because, well, sewing machine problems.

So here are some photos of my completed bag. Every bag I've seen using this pattern is cute!

The fabric I used for the outside is from Windham fabrics and designed by Carrie Bloomston.

I think it's called Basket Weave. The main zipper is extra long, and the ends are anchored to the bag's base, so it acts as a handle.

Because the zipper is extra long, the bag opens wide.

I had so much fun choosing the zipper colors. I wanted them to be very "zingy." The blue lining fabric is Avantgarde designed by Katarina Roccella.

This will be my new traveling sewing kit. Check out the pocket lining. I can't remember who the designer is here. But I purchased all the fabric, the pattern and zippers at http://www.threadbear-nm.com/

If you look in the background of this photo you can see The Blessed Mother, keeping an eye on me. Who knows what trouble I might be getting into next?

Quilty Pleasures: Scrappy Trip Around the World

Many of us love to start quilts. The thrill of making something new, with different fabric,  and learning new techniques certainly gets me going. I'm gung ho all the way, up to a point.

Finishing in a timely manner is another matter, altogether. I am a paralyzed perfectionist, so finishing means I must accept any mistakes, real or imagined, if  the task is complete. So there it sits.

That's why there are about 15 neatly stowed away project boxes illustrating this petrified perfectionism. But I'm working on it.

This photo was taken a little over a year ago, when I had almost all the blocks complete.

Other, more juicy projects intervened, so it isn't until this month that I finally finished my Scrappy Trip Around the World quilt. It's from a Bonnie Hunter tutorial.

I have to say it was quite the stash buster, but of course there's always more where that came from.

It's queen sized, with enough to cover the pillows and to have a ten inch drop off the sides.

The batting is bamboo, something I haven't chosen before. The quilting was done by Michael Siewert at ThreadBear, my local quilt shop in Las Vegas, New Mexico. If you don't live nearby, you can mail your quilt to them and they do an excellent job. I chose a widely spaced, loopy design because I didn't want the quilt to be too heavy.

The backing is 108 inches wide, by Kaufman.

The binding is scrappy and machine stitched because it's going to be used a lot. I used this tutorial by Cluck Cluck Sew. In a perfect world, the stitching is unobtrusive on the front, and I am still working on that.

So even if it's not perfect, it's done and I love it and it's on the bed.

Quilty Pleasures: The Chicken River Quilters Modern Traditional Quilt Part 2

The previous post was about this quilt:

And I promised a closer look, so here we go:

The individual block is called Nine Patch Straight Furrow.  You can see there are two light fabrics, a medium and a dark. The light shading is subtle. That's what we were trying to achieve.

The block came from this book:

I purchased my copy at ThreadBear, my local quilt shop.  I'm linking up to their website because they do web orders and because shopping local is my first step when looking for something I'd like, quilty-wise.

Here's is one block, close up, so you can get a sense of the subtle shading and texture created by using two "whites" or lights. We used a white on white dot paired with Moda Grunge Basics Mint. Yes, there is a touch of minty green in this white.

 

ThreadBear is now accepting quilts for long-arm quilting, so that's who quilted it. I love how the pattern is centered and reaches out to the block's sides and corners. (Just so you know, I work there once in a while, but didn't receive any compensation for mentioning them in this post. I am just so happy they are near--well, for me, 29 miles near.)

We knew what colors our friend loves, so left it up to the individual quilters in the group as to which fabrics to use. It shows how well we work together that all the blocks look great together.

And it's amazing how a traditional block can be made new by using fresh fabrics in a contemporary setting.

Quilty Pleasures: Chicken River Modern Quilters Are At It Again

One of our quilters has relocated to Albuquerque, so The Chicken River Modern Quilters decided a friendship quilt was in order.

Today I'm posting how it looks from afar.

And a Behind the Scenes look at Susan on the left and Linda on the right, holding the quilt up on a very windy afternoon. Check out the flying hairdos. Susan is our newest member and drove two hours from Trinidad, CO for the meeting. Our other new member is Jane Ann, who was taking photos.

Don't you love the setting? It's a traditional block, but modern quilting likes to take the traditional and add something new, like this off center design with white negative space.

The photo was taken in the alley behind Thread Bear, our local quilt shop in Las Vegas, NM. That rock wall is historic old, which is older than old is. This area dates to 1835 when the Spanish were in charge.

Next post: A closer look at this quilt and how the blocks are made.

Quilty Pleasures and Ranch Life: A Scrappy Trip With Thistles

It's been a while since I posted anything quilty because, well, I've been busy! But I've been working (somewhat) steadily on Bonnie Hunter's Scrappy Trips Around the World blocks whilst binge watching this season's Orphan Black. I restarted my unfinished scrappy trip quilt thanks to Diana.

Diana, a Girl Scout, has been working on her Gold Project and sent out a call for Scrappy Trips blocks. She wants to make 16 quilts (actually, it's going to be more than that) and gift them to kids who have aged out of the foster care system. The Chicken River Modern Quilters and another group of quilters at ThreadBear, my local quilt shop, spent some time making blocks to send to Diana. All this scrappy tripping inspired me to find a box of blocks already completed and finish this baby up!

Only four blocks remaining for a queen sized quilt. Then it's time for assembly.

So what's been making me so busy? Thistles! Scottish Thistles! We've been out and about on the ranch chopping these invasive, noxious, non-native weeds. Actually, Tom chops.

These thistles are biennials, which means they live for two years, first as a rosette baby and the next year as a flowering nuisance that can reseed itself many times over. They will take over a whole area and although cattle might eat the babies, they will not eat the mature ones, crowding out anything nutritious growing there.  So Tom is chopping both, trying to dig up the rosette babies, roots and all and chopping down the ticking time bombs which are the thistles in their flower stage.

Here's what the flowering Scottish thistles look like:

We've been chopping for a couple weeks now and it's touch and go as to whether we will get them all before they start reseeding.

My job is to gather up the chopped down flower thistles and toss them into the Ranger.

Here are my grabbers because those suckers are evil! I bought them years ago to collect leaves and then for pine needles. Tom suggested using them for the thistles which was a wizard idea.

 We both wear snake chaps because there have been too many close encounters with rattlesnakes to take chances.

 Using the grabbers and sometimes the garden fork for big piles, I throw them into the Ranger and dump them where there will be a big bonfire when they dry out. (Why do I have a sneaking hunch that even though they will be burned, we will find a thistle forest next spring?)

So far we've collected seven loads of these nasty fellers (Scotland's national flower). As I drove this load back to the dumping area, I spotted so many more growing in our field.

And so it goes. (thanks, kurt)

Pillowcases: Fun With Fabric

If you know Sheldon Cooper, he has an excellent video podcast series called Fun With Flags. It's everything you'd ever want to know about flags and then some.

If I were like Sheldon, I'd have a podcast called Fun With Fabric, but we have to settle for this blog, instead.

I had a rather nasty flu and was abed for a week or so, with guest appearances on the sofa every once in a while. Drinking Lipton Noodle Soup was pretty much the high point of each day and the rest was just a blur. Several days ago I finally turned the corner, though, and needed to Do Something. I was going nuts!
A couple years ago a group of us had fun making pillowcases at Thread Bear, my local (around here local is 24 miles) quilt shop and in my improved health, I remembered some recent posts about O'Quilts' pillowcase sewing flurry and said, "Oh, yeah." So I did some searching, found this helpful video and zoomed full speed ahead.
I've been making two pillowcases a night and have the cutting and sewing down to forty-three minutes per case, the time it takes to watch one television show, like Sherlock or Hell's Kitchen. So far I've made eleven, and today I gifted two. Here's what I have right now. I am missing the beautiful bird pillowcases I gave away and think I might just need to make a couple more of them.

Matrushka dolls, Viking ships, dragon seas, constellations, stars, snowflakes, flowers, birds in trees (those are the ones gone), fleurs, bugs and fairies. I have one last pillowcase to make which will be all about nature and maybe a couple more that are tres elegante.

Each time I make one, I say, "This is my favorite!" Right now these two are my faves:

The one above is made of Bugaboo fabric from Northcott.

The one below is Dawn Fairies from Michael Miller.

I just hope the pillowcases don't keep the little kiddoes from sleeping. If these were for my younger self, I'd spend a lot of time just looking at the pictures instead of napping.

But then, I was also the one whose mom had to nail the window shut so I wouldn't escape nap time and end up at the corner gas station.

Cheers!

Humbug Bag Class at Thread Bear

 Hmm, what's this? It's a Humbug Bag. What's a Humbug Bag? It's a place to store small items: Sewing stuff, school supplies, makeup, a small portable project.

I'm going to be teaching how to make this Humbug Bag at Threadbear on Saturday, November 15.

But you won't make just one Humbug Bag.  Nope.

And you won't make just two Humbug Bags.

You will make three, totally cute Humbug Bags. They are that easy to make, even if you are zipperly challenged. Really!

Aren't they cute? The class will be on Saturday, November 15, 1-3 p.m.

Come in to the store or give Thread Bear in Las Vegas, NM, a call to sign up for the class.  (505) 425-6263

The Chicken River Modern Quilt Guild's Round Robin Quilts + Tula Pink Blocks

The Gallinas River meanders through Las Vegas, New Mexico, so it was an easy decision to name our quilting group The Chicken River Modern Quilt Guild, since gallinas is Spanish for hens. We meet every month on the first Monday, alternating between day and evening meetings so those with day jobs can join in the fun at least every other month. If you would like to join us, give me a shout out.

Anyway, we had the unveiling of our round robin/circular chicken quilts project the other night and we have some very artistic people in our group who produced some amazing quilts. We took turns adding to each quilt, although we didn't all work on every quilt due to a hitch in our rotation.

This one is mine, the photo thanks to Sophie, who drove up from Santa Fe for the meeting.

If you'd like to see the rest of the quilts, and also the Tula Pink's City Sampler modern blocks we are working on, here's a link to Sophie Junction. Sophie's blog is much more quilty than mine, so I feel like a total slacker when I read hers. But that's okay, because her posts inspire me to Get Going.

And really, that's what we all need to do is Get Going.

Quilty Pleasures-This String Quilt is Hot

It was cold when I started making this string quilt, so I must have been over compensating when I chose its colors. Those are definitely colors to make someone feel nice and warm! If you want to know more about how I picked the colors for this quilt, click this link.

Anyway, it's done and ready to be used as a model for the string quilt block workshop I'll be hosting at ThreadBear in Las Vegas on April 26.

String/strip quilt blocks are fun to make. They are a totally mindless endeavor, perfect when you want to make a quick quilt with little fuss.

I was going to use the sunflower fabric for borders, but when I auditioned it, the quilt looked way too busy, so it's part of the back along with a neato red batik I bought at ThreadBear.

This is the sunniest, warmest quilt I've made in a long time and it makes me happy just looking at it.

If you're interested in learning how to make quilt blocks like these, sign up for the class, because we're going to have some fun!

Quilty Pleasures: What the Heck Am I Doing?

Today I am off to ThreadBear in Las Vegas, NM, to quilt the string quilt, but in the meantime, in a hyper moment, I took out the Go cutter and made some half square triangles. I've been collecting solids with the idea of a series of  a couple of Amish-style quilts in the back of my mind.

Look at the lint on these blackies.

So the triangles morphed into these:

Which made their way into one of these:

I've been looking through a book called Amish Abstractions, by Faith and Stephen Brown, and have an idea.

Ms. Pearl is not impressed.

Quilty Pleasures-Mi Familia

Friend Ann, owner of my local quilt shop Threadbear, asked me if I'd like to work with her on a quilt, so we have been collaborating for a couple months on something very different.

The center panels are from a collection by Jesus Cruz called Mi Familia (My Family) by Andover fabrics.  I apologize for the photo quality. I think I messed up my phone camera lens so everything looks a little fuzzy.

We thought it would be fun to work on this quilt collaboratively, not really knowing what the end result will be,  making parts like the four patches and flying geese and trying them out as we go. Some parts we made worked, and others were, "What the heck was I thinking?"

Working by the seats of our pants can be scary and absorbing at the same time. "Stop Staring and Start Sewing!" is our refrain.

Mi Familia is still a work in progress, but the way Ann decided on the orange border is neato: Ann had a quilt top in her "whoops" collection. You know those projects you start and almost finish, but have enough misgivings you don't want to complete them? I have a few of those and I'll bet you do, too.

Anyway, the discarded quilt top looked like this, but multiply it by a zillion circles because this is just a piece.

Ann cut each row of circles in half. We thought a scalloped border would be interesting and tried that, but then she started playing around and staggered the rows of half circles until they made a type of serpentine pattern.

She's been fussing around, sewing the two half circle rows together, offset, and making sure they are all the same size. As you can see in the first pic, Ann needs to fill in some spots which requires cutting and matching half circles, not always matching the fabric.  Recycling in action! And it looks really cool!

I made some flying geese using hand dyed fabric supplied by quilting friend Linda S. and the "sky" for the geese is a cosmic, spacy looking black fabric.

There are still more borders to go, so we will keep you posted on how it's going.

Have you ever made a quilt with someone else? Have you ever "winged it," not really knowing what you were going to do with your quilt before you started?

If you haven't, take some time to play a little.  Whether you call it liberated, intuitive, or improvisational quilting, you will have a real mind stretcheroo and may find yourself standing and staring at your in-progress quilt for much longer than you realize.

You may even start dreaming about your quilt. And that's a good thing!

Quilty Pleasures Friday: Chicken River Modern Quilt Guild (Las Vegas, NM)

I wanted to share a link to our Chicken River Modern Quilt Guild's (CRMQG) new blog. Linda, our secretary and communications director, is doing a good job keeping us up to date and chronicling not only what we are all about but also what our guild members are creating.

This is my modern Jacquie Gering-stye quilt in the assembly stage. I am actually almost finished with it, but decided to post the pic to get my rear in gear.

The background fabric is Moda Grunge and I love it!


 Here's the link:

  http://chickenrivermodernquiltguild.blogspot.com/


If you live in the Las Vegas, NM area, come join us! We meet at Thread Bear the first Monday of the month around one-ish.

Quilty Pleasures: Locally Grown Giveaway

I'm all for locally grown foods: my garden (soon to be gardens), the Lazy Boys and our friends' chickens' eggs all contribute to our food chain here in Northern New Mexico. Once I find some pork and locally grown chickens, we should be in excellent shape.

But today we aren't talking food, but fabric--Locally Grown, a new collection from Andover Fabrics by Marisa and Creative Thursday.

Ann at Thread Bear in Las Vegas, NM, our local quilt shop, is giving away a fat quarter bundle of these cutecutecute fabrics with goats and sheep and fruits and chickens.  Oh, my!

You may enter the giveaway twice if you follow these rules:

1. Make a comment on this blog saying what foods you would like to buy or already buy that are locally grown.

2. Visit Thread Bear's website and after you've drooled over all the fabric there is to buy, come back and make a comment on this site telling us what fabric you liked the best.

So you may make two comments for two chances to win. Oh, yeah. Deadline for entries is Midnight, Pacific Standard Time on Thursday, June 6.

Just remember if you are a no reply blogger and don't leave any contact info, you won't be able to win!

And here is a neat idea:

Cover an empty oatmeal box with cute paper or fabric for a neato thread and scrap catcher in your sewing room.

Quilty Pleasures: Modern Hexagon Quilt

At QuiltCon Jacquie Gering taught me how to machine piece hexagons, so our Modern Quilt Guild in Las Vegas, NM, asked me to share with them what I learned.

So I shared, in my kind of muddly way, and now we are working on some pieces using giant hexagons. I have been doing my usual procrastination thing and haven't made much headway but Betty brought her finished quilt to the last meeting and it is impressive, more so in person.

Note that the gray background isn't one piece of fabric, but hexagons, too, which adds depth to the quilt. The gray isn't your standard quilting cotton;  Betty thinks it might be auto upholstery fabric. It is tweedy and textured, a fun contrast to the center solids.

This quilt is going on a special trip to a long arm quilter where Betty will quilt it herself, her first time.

Betty is one of my quilting heroes: a fearless experimenter, always up for a challenge, ready for adventure.

If you live near Las Vegas, NM, come to our next MQG meeting. We meet the first Monday of the month at 1 pm at ThreadBear.

April Snow

Yesterday afternoon while we were sewing at ThreadBear in Las Vegas, the sky and the air looked gray and moisty, like Newport Beach in the winter. Minus the beach.

"I wish it would do something," a friend said.

"Maybe rain?" someone else said. And then she added, "Hah!"

And then it started snowing. We packed up and hightailed it out of there just in case it was a blizzard or something. It wasn't a blizzard, but at home there was a nice two inches of the wet stuff.

By this afternoon it will have soaked into the earth and the grass trying to grow will say, "Thanks, buddy!"

I like the hopeful vibe of the hammock hanging behind the picnic table.

Quilty Pleasures: ThreadBear Has a Website!

I have previously written about my local quilt shop, ThreadBear in Las Vegas, NM, but when their new website went live a couple weeks ago, I just had to do another post about them. Why? They are a small business in a small town and we all know that supporting small businesses makes our communities stronger. I hope you will visit the shop (where I teach quilting classes now and then) and if you aren't close, check out the cool stuff they have on their website. Click this link to see what they have.

When we moved to Northern New Mexico just a little over three years ago, I knew I was going to miss Recreational Shopping. You know, that hop into the car, drive a few miles, hop out and wander around where you really aren't looking for anything in particular, but the "isn't it nice to be out and about" kind of shopping?

Yeah, that kind of shopping. Nowadays, a shopping trip is a 50 or 100 or 200 mile one or two day expedition. It's important to have a list and to get everything on the list, so there is little aimless meandering. It's like those old westerns where we ride the buckboard into town with Paw to get supplies and want to linger over the ribbon counter at the general store. "C'mon, Sarah, it's time to go back to the ranch, now." And we hop into the wagon and ride back home.

Luckily, ThreadBear, the fabric and yarn shop in Las Vegas, NM, is close enough so I can visit every one or two weeks, wander around, see what's new, talk to Ann and Michael, ThreadBear's owners, and fondle the goods. I love to fondle fabric; it's good for the soul.

Here are Ann and Michael, standing in front of their comfy sitting area, where the knitters meet each week and hapless males recline while their wives shop.

The store is on the historic plaza in Old Town Las Vegas, just catty corner from the Plaza Hotel, where a bunch of film people will be staying in the next few months. Tommy Lee Jones and Meryl Streep will be filming as will Seth Macfarlane. The tv show Longmire is filming again, too.

I love the bright, colorful fabric at ThreadBear. All my fave designers are here: Amy Butler, Malka Dubrawski and Kaffe Fassett. Fabric heaven, right here.

Alexander Henry fabric is everywhere. That's Paseo de los Muertos in turquoise on the top shelf along with other Hispanic designs. The bottom shelf holds something more sedate from the store's art nouveau collection.

The traditionalist isn't left out: they have my favorite 30's fabrics, plus Civil War, Victorian, Mid-Century Modern repros. One corner is all southwest style fabrics, another of my favorites.

 Each week the website features Our Favorite Fabric, where Ann and Michael each choose something they like, offer 20 percent off, and write about it. This week Michael has chosen one of my faves, Midnight Pastoral, by Alexander Henry.

Michael's fabric descriptions are almost literary, a peek into the origins of a particular fabric, connecting the fabric to other works of art and to history and showing, in this case, how the fabric plays with tradition and then socks you in the eye.

Ann writes about Botanica Journal by Jason Yenter. Her descriptions appeal to my love of color, design, and that question, "How can I use this fabric?" She also alludes to her fabric hoarding tendencies, which makes us sisters from another mister.

Here's Ann's gardening apron, Apple Cobbler by Mary Mulari Designs, an apron with the Botanica fabric.

A couple weeks ago I ordered some Favorite Fabric on sale and could have had it mailed it to me. Instead I picked it up, ready to go, the next time I went to the store. That's a good reason to visit, don't you think?



And don't forget the yarn! I am an inexpert knitter who once spent two years knitting a 12 hour afghan, but there is a vibrant knitting underground here in Las Vegas. Here's a shout out to the Thursday Afternoon Knitters, the cool kids on the block!

I've only touched on the basics here, so visit the website to see all the stuff ThreadBear has to offer. I haven't even mentioned the precuts and novelty prints, their batiks and their classes.
 
Just so you know, ThreadBear hasn't paid me to do this post; I just like their store!