Shiners view ...

As a quilt top evolves ...

2012-02-05T20:20:00.000-08:00

... it can have many homes ...

I started this top for my brother ... he's going through a bit of a rough patch right now and is living on his own for the first time in a while. He's got decent furniture, but none of the decorative things that make a house a home.

My inspiration was the Richard Nixon Throw from Jonathan Adler.

However, as it has evolved, it became pretty clear to me that adding the patchwork portion to it made an interesting quilt, but not necessarily something that a 34-year-old bachelor would want to throw on their sofa.

I've been wanting to pull something together for Victoria's Bumble Bean Basic's Quilt Drive to support helping homeless families get into housing in NYC. While it's not something for a 34 year old bachelor ... it is something that a family might enjoy ...

So that was my new plan ... this was going to be my charity quilt. Until I brought it upstairs for a photo op and my husband saw it ... to say this is his favorite of the ones I have done so far would likely be a bit of an understatement!

So this one is now earmarked for John and I've got some new thinking to do on a great quilt for a needy family in NYC.

Hope you had a great weekend!

All the best

Lisa

Curves Introduction

2012-02-02T23:00:00.000-08:00

Well ... I am very excited about my first ever quilting class!

Rachel @ Stitched in Color is offering a class on Curves ... she asked us to do a brief intro of ourselves for the rest of the team ... so my apologies to the rest of you!

I have been quilting for 2 1/2 years, I've learned a lot, but it's all be self-taught, so this will be a welcome change ... someone telling me how to do it the first time instead of me having to do it 3 times before I figure it out!

My goal with this class is to make a built for a little girl who will be joining the world in May. While not afraid of curves ... not willing to take them on without some instructions.

My Flickr ID is also Shiners View.

I will leave you with two images ...

The 1st quilt I made

My most recent quilt (tutorial)

Looking forward to the class ...

Pillow from home ...

2012-02-01T23:01:00.001-08:00

Seattle Pillow

Soon, this will be the front of a 12x16" pillow ... once you give me a little advice!

First, the background. It's a small gift for my lovely cousin who recently left Seattle on an adventure to see the U.S. as a traveling nurse. Having sold most of her belongings, she packed the remainder into her car and she's just arrived at her first assignment in Atlanta.

She was the recipient of one of my first quilts when she graduated from nursing school 2 years ago. I am flattered that quilt is with her on this journey. The goal this time was to make her something small to remind her of her roots and those who love her back home.

My initial plan was to include some of Seattle's iconic features, Mt. Rainier, the Space Needle, perhaps an evergreen or two and then the word HOME appliquéd.

It's gotten a little more grandiose than I had planned ;-). A little Googling of iconic Seattle features, coupled with the word silhouette, produced some pretty cool images that I was able to trace and apply to the pillow cover.

For those of you unfamiliar with Seattle's skyline ... we really do have a 14,000' mountain that feels like she hovers over us on clear days!

I'm actually quite pleased with what I have so far. But I am now at that point we sometimes get to ... where I like what I have, but am afraid to take the next step ... because then I might not like it ...

Here's what it looks like laid on a pillow:

While I like it ... it's not complete and it's a little to monotone -- Black, white and several shades of gray. I only want to add it if will enhance ... the original intent had been the HOME appliqué in the bottom right corner. I could have an Evergreen or two on the right to bring in new color.

But none of them really thrill me.

Does anyone have any thoughts on what this might need or what might help complete it? I am going to use some color on the back ... but do I need any on the front?

Would welcome any thoughts anyone has!

Thanks in advance,

All the best
Lisa

Time to introduce a new quilter!

2012-02-01T05:00:00.000-08:00

So I found a brand new quilter this week (or rather she found me and left a comment on my blog).

Learning to quilt with a chick on my knee

Kim is a brand new quilter who's got some great starter quilts already on her blog ... and a fabulously named blog, "Learning to quilt with a chicken on my knee" -- how fun is that?!?

Kim's 1st free-motion quilting project

Based on Kim's first two quilts ... I know we're going to see some pretty cool stuff from her and I also know what a great, welcoming community we have here ... so I thought I would give you a chance to stop by, say hello and give her a little encouragement as she starts on this fun (slightly addictive) journey!

Welcome Kim ... and I hope the rest of you are having a great week!

All the best
Lisa

Yes you can!!!

2012-01-30T00:02:00.000-08:00

Quilt meets machine ...

You can quilt a queen size quilt, with a meandering pattern, on a small home sewing machine!

As I've shown my progress on this quilt over the past several months, I've expressed my concerns on how I was going to actually get it quilted. Many of you have shared similar concerns about working with large quilts ... and even indicated that you avoid them because you don't have the right equipment.

I am here to tell you ... YES YOU CAN!!!

I had quilted a queen size quilt on this machine before. My first attempt (posted here, here and here) was last year, and I ended up quilting it using straight lines. In part because the HST pattern works well with straight lines and in part, because I felt it would be the easiest way to get the quilt through the little, bitty opening of my machine.

This one, I wanted to do with a meandering pattern. I started on a small section this morning. I usually use a pretty tight meandering pattern, and I knew that I would need to go a little looser on this quilt (or spend a week quilting it ;-).

Once I got the hang of it, I started at it in earnest.

Rolling up the quilt, like you can see on the left on the photo REALLY helps a lot when trying to push it through the throat.

You can see ... ultimately ... there is just a whole lotta quilt! But finish it I did! Used about 1,800 yards of thread!

It still needs to be bound. But I am so thrilled that I got it quilted the way I wanted to quilt it ... on my little machine! I am no longer afraid and am already planning my next queen quilt (for my brother). With a little planning, a large work surface (my dining room table at the cabin), rolling up the quilt & having an extra chair to set the extra quilt on ... it went off without a hitch!

Hope to get it bound this week and then share some pics once we get back out to the cabin and it ends up in it's new home ... cuz this one is totally for me!

While I worked on this ... John went for a 14 mile run in the pouring rain and then came back to relax in the rain in the hot tub ... don't you just love the umbrella hat (memories from our trip to Istanbul in the spring ;-).

Have a GREAT week!

All the best
Lisa

Best part of finishing a project

2012-01-22T19:50:00.000-08:00

... starting on the next one ...

of course ... Madigan wanted to be part of the photo op as well ...

All the best
Lisa

Tutorial -- Scattered blocks

2012-01-21T22:06:00.000-08:00

Scattered Blocks Quilt

This is a really simple quilt to make ... likely a good one for beginners. That said, the tutorial was not the easiest one to put together. I've made several starts and stops ...

The following instructions are for a quilt that is 10 blocks by 12 blocks or (after a wash and dry) 48" x 57". You will need roughly 1.25 yard of accent fabrics (in total) for this quilt. I'm sorry, I'm not quite sure about the sashing fabric requirements.

I will refer to accent color (non-white) and sashing (white) in the following instructions. Note, that Images A & B are NOT what I ended up making, these simply represent how I thought it through when I was originally designing the quilt (so the counts and placement in the images are just to give you and idea of what it will look like ... the actual placement, etc is up to you ;-).

Image A shows the basic design of the finished quilt. While Image B shows the detail of what the blocks are comprised of.

Image A

As you can see from Image B, each block is simply a white sashing, with a accent color square placed inside.

Image B

There are three sizes of accent squares: 2.5", 3.5" and 4.5". In my real quilt, for 120 blocks, my cut accent squares were roughly:

2.5" = 45 squares
3.5" = 45 squares
4.5" = 30 squares

To achieve the random look, you need to place the accent square differently in the block. I used the basic outlines in Image C (row 1 = 2.5", row 2 = 3.5" and row 3 = 4.5" squares).

Image C - each block is 5.5"

Simply piece the white sashing around the accent square until you achieve a block of 5.5" (I am not going to outline the process for this as I'm pretty confident that if you're reading this tutorial, you already know how to add sashing to create the 5.5" block). Creating what you have above doesn't have to be perfect ... the only thing you need to achieve is variability in the placement of the accent block and a 5.5" raw block (5.0" finished in the quilt).

There are 5 designs for the 2.5" accent blocks, so you will make 9 of each design. As there are 3 for the 3.5" block, you will make 15 of each.

Once all the blocks are made, your goal is to lay them out keeping three things in mind:

color variability -- make sure you don't have two squares the same color right next to each other.
size variability -- make sure you don't bunch all your 2.5" squares together for example.
placement -- the accent color sides should not touch there should be sashing between them all -- the only exception to this is that corners can touch.

Laying the blocks out and looking for touches

As you lay the blocks out, spin the blocks around to achieve the greatest variation.

Once you've laid it out -- take a photo and look at it ... I laid the one out above and didn't see any blocks touching until I took the photo and then was able to see several instances where I needed to fix it prior to sewing. Amazing what the camera can help you see.

Once you've got all that taken care of ... simply piece it all together and you're set!

As I said, this wasn't an easy one to write ... so if you have any questions ... please feel free to leave a message below and I will add clarity for you (and everyone else ;-).

Have a great weekend.
Lisa

Scattered blocks - version 2

2012-01-21T18:05:00.000-08:00

Scattered blocks quilt

UPDATE: Thanks for the comments ... I've added a tutorial here.

This is my second version of Scattered blocks ... I posted here and here back in the fall when I was working on version one. I actually started this version first ... but since this one is for ME ... it got back-burnered as I worked to meet birthday and holiday deadlines.

Quilt on the guest bed

The quilt is for my guestroom. This is the bed that I use as my "design wall" when I am quilting in Seattle. Back in the fall, when I was making this quilt for John's new grand daughter, Juliet, I really liked how the colors looked in this room.

Knowing I didn't have a lot of the fabric left, I designed this quilt to create a patchwork quilt with a more limited pallet of fabric

Varied size blocks ... scattered

I didn't have quite enough material left from Juliet's quilt, so I pulled some solids from my stash to add to the quilt.

Quilt back

The back is pretty simple, with a little piecing of left-over squares from the front.

Here's the quilt in it's new home ... on my guest bed ... now I'm really looking forward to having some guests!

Quilt by the numbers:

10 blocks x 12 blocks - of 5 1/2" blocks
Kona white for the sashing
Kate Spade pattern + solids for blocks
Pieced binding
Meandering quilting pattern in white thread

Hope your have a good weekend!

All the best
Lisa

Scrap columns

2012-01-20T23:07:00.000-08:00

I haven't completely decided what I want to do with them ... but I somehow, I continue to find myself making more of them ... in different colors ...

I'll let you know where I end up ;-).

All the best
Lisa

Baby blues and greens

2012-01-16T22:59:00.000-08:00

A former colleague and his wife are expecting their first baby in February ... a little boy. When I reached out to him to see what colors they were planning for the baby, he said he wanted to ask his wife. She checked out my quilts on Facebook that night and said, "... haven't decided, love what you've made so far, and giving you full creative license ..."

Totally thrilled & flattered that they like my quilts ... but have to admit ... also felt a huge responsibility to lead the color choices for this new little lads room.

So I fell back on my recent design that I had created to use up my solid scraps last summer and pulled all the blues and greens I could out of my scrap bin and solid stash.

Awhile back, Elizabeth Hartman at Oh Franson! did a fabulous quilt with a giraffe on the front ... so I used that as my inspiration for the momma and baby giraffes on the back.

I also found some cute Michael Miller fabric for the binding (you can see my straight corners again in the photo below).

Used a light gray thread for relatively tight meandering quilting.

We're expecting snow here in Seattle this week ... which is a big deal for us as the city only has very few plows ... so I doubt that I will get it over to momma and papa until the weekend at the earliest.

Hope you're having a great week!

All the best
Lisa

Couple of questions

2012-01-11T23:34:00.000-08:00

Madigan enjoys the quilting process too ...

I am a self taught quilter ... been at it for about 2 1/2 years ... and for the most part have loved the experience!

But sometimes ... I am challenged. And it seems that a BIG quilt magnifies some of the challenges ... so I thought I would share a few of the ones I experienced this week as I attempted to lay this queen size quilt out for basting ...

First ... how in the heck do you get the batting to laid out smoothly without tearing it?

Quilt batting just out of the bag

Second ... does anyone else get this weird wrinkling on one section of the batting (I think it's coming from the center of the bag) and do you know how to get rid of it?

Special wrinkled section in the middle

Third ... what tricks do you have to try to make sure that the top of the quilt is laid straight on the bottom of the quilt? I try to butt it up against a wall and then do a consistent measurement, but wondering if anyone else has any good thoughts on how to do it effectively?

Measuring quilt top distance from wall

Fourth and final ... it's a big quilt, and invariable some squares get stretched out. How do I account for this stretching when quilting so that it doesn't bunch up?

Green & gray blocks stretched out

Any thoughts you have would be welcome ... both for me and the other 104 readers of this blog!

Thanks!
All the best
Lisa

582 blocks ...

2012-01-07T19:53:00.000-08:00

Queen size quilt back

The back was finished today ...

Queen size quilt front

The front was finished in September ...

440 blocks on the front 132 on the back ... oopps ... goes that math is 572 blocks, not 582 ;-)

Now ... I need to find the courage to pull it together and quilt it ...

All the best
Lisa

Tutorial - Geographic Patchwork

2012-01-05T06:00:00.000-08:00

Thanks for all the love on my Geographic Patchwork quilt! I've had a couple of requests for a tutorial ... and since I'm not going to make another one anytime soon, I decided to try to help people understand what I did with a few graphics.

So the quilt is 53" x 60" and is comprised of 6 blocks wide and 7 blocks tall.

To make it with the same effect that I did, you will need 6 different fabrics. Depending on what effect you're looking for, you could do it with more or less. These instructions are for 6 (and in my case, that was 1 solid and 5 prints).

If you choose to do with 6, your fabric requirements for the blocks on the front will be:

2 colors - 1 yard each (for a total of 2 yards)
4 colors - 1/2 yard each (for a total of 2 yards)

For the 2 colors (1 yard each), you will cut out 6 - 10" x 10" squares from each fabric.
For the other 4 colors (1/2 yard each) you will cut out 3 - 10" x 10" squares from each fabric. So you will have a total of 24 - 10" squares.

Clear so far???

Cutting your blocks as indicated in the diagram below. Two things that you need to make sure of -- if you don't do both correctly, you will end up needing to cut more blocks:

All patterned fabric needs to be cut right-side up
All of the blocks need to be cut the same way (e.g. as outlined below with the 4" and 6" markers)

Assuming you've cut them right side up and all in the same direction, you will have 96 squares.

On the sketch, I used 6 colors: white, gray, yellow, green, orange, purple. The white and the gray are for the 2 fabrics where you've cut more squares. So choose which of your fabrics is each color. I wrote them down to make sure I didn't mix them up in the process.

Update: I've added the following image of the sketch to try to make it easier to understand what I did. You can see the blocks in the image a little better this way. each of the blocks has a white and a gray block and then various other colors based on where it is in the pattern. The white and gray fabrics are the ones where I would use 1 yard of each and the other 4 colors are where I would use 1/2 yard of each.

As you can see more clearly in the following diagram ... row #1, #3, #5 and #7 are the same as are row #2, #4, #6 and #8. Hope this helps.

If you look at the sketch, you'll see that the first column on the left is the same as the 3rd, 5th and 7th and the 2nd column is the same as the 4th, 6th, etc. (note my drawing has 8 columns, but I only had seven on my quilt).

So once you layout the first 2 columns, double check that you've laid them out properly, and then you can set the drawing aside and just replicate every other row.

The biggest challenge for me was just making sure that I kept the pattern going ... as I don't often piece with any complexity, I had use a seam ripper a bit more than I would like to admit on the first two columns but I quickly got the hang of it.

Anyway ... that's all it is. Pretty simple. Good luck and don't forget to share your quilts ... I LOVE to see all the improvements that people make on my simple patterns!

Let me know if you have any questions or if I can add any clarity!
All the best
Lisa

Geometric patchwork

2012-01-03T20:16:00.000-08:00

It started here ...

And then ended here ...

It's for my cousin, who's going through a bit of a rough patch these days ... I thought that maybe something to cuddle under on a wet, cold Seattle night might be helpful right now.

There are 5 prints and 1 solid.

The back is intentionally asymmetrical.

I like the contrast in the colors.

And here ... you can see how I "cheat". Machine stitched binding and no mitered corners ... I didn't know any better at first, and as much as I've tried to miter those corners, I've never been as happy with them as I am with my squared off ones ... so ... I "cheat".

The quilt by numbers:

6 blocks wide by 7 blocks tall
Start with a 10" square which is then cut into 4 polygons (or off-kilter blocks ;-)
Fabrics included:

Lotta Jansdotter

Florine Brass Mesh
Little Florine Brass Mesh
Aneta Ironwood

Rivoli Curl by Alexander Henry
Parisville by Tula Pink
Kona PFD

Quilted in a tight meandering with off-white thread.
Binding is Moda Puttin on the Ritz grey

UPDATE: I've created a tutorial for this quilt, which resides here

It's quite fun to take something from 0 to finished in a very short time frame ... I sure hope that this gives her the little uplift I am shooting for and that I think she needs.

Hope you're having a productive start to the new year.

All the best

Lisa

A minor interruption ...

2012-01-01T16:19:00.000-08:00

I am lucky to have a queen size bed in a guest room at both the cabin and the house, so I have a place to lay out quilts in progress (and I have finally learned to lay down a sheet first to catch all those errant little threads).

Start of layout

I still long for a design wall though.

Quilt all laid out

In part, because it would be easier to see the overall design ...

After Emma's visit

And in part, because then the dogs would be far less likely to attempt to redesign my layouts.

Hope you're having a great long weekend!

All the best

Lisa

Happy New Year

2011-12-31T21:01:00.000-08:00

This was the view this morning out the back of the cabin ... it was perfection ... and it was an amazing way to start the last day of the year!

It's only natural to close a year looking at the highs and lows ... and the highs definitely won this year ... they were big, encompassing and meant so much. A milestone birthday ... 10 years cancer free ... a new grand baby! The two house robberies had financial implications, but no one was home and it was only 'stuff'.

We've had a fabulous day out at the cabin ... relaxing and watching a movie and making process on a few quilts (look forward to more posts this week).

Duck was in the oven

Happy New Year!

I wish all of you the happiest of times in 2012 and that the highs out weigh the lows for all of you!

All the best
Lisa

and it was a busy year ...

2011-12-29T23:50:00.001-08:00

and it was a busy year ..., a photo by Shiners view on Flickr.

new job ... busy year ... and still got a little quilting done! Happy with the outcome!

Holiday Biscotti

2011-12-20T21:57:00.000-08:00

Holiday office presents

A couple of holiday office presents for the team. The mugs are courtesy of Value Village and the Biscotti is homemade by my wonderful husband.

This year's family Christmas presents center around a kitchen theme. John's contribution was the homemade biscotti. After 4-5 test batches (which we SO enjoyed) ... he finally landed on a recipe that has already gotten rave reviews from friends!

As we were mailing these to far away places, we needed to come up with a way to keep them from grating on each other and crumbling. I found some little bags on Amazon, bought some red wrappia and and picked up kitchen storage containers, with festive red lids, from the Container Store. We also coupled it up with lovely porcelain mugs (sets of 6) that we found for a great price on Crate and Barrel's website (with their free shipping promotion).

Mugs and biscotti

You've likely seen the placemats and potholders I labored over this fall. Also added to the package was a flower-sack tea towel in a coordinating color and a little bag of some of our favorite teas.

If you're up for trying some FABULOUS biscotti. The recipe is as follows.

John’s Biscotti recipe

4 Tablespoon unsalted butter

3/4 cup sugar

2 eggs

1/2 teaspoon almond extract

1/4 teaspoon anisette extract

2 1/4 cups all purpose flour

2 teaspoon baking powder

pinch salt

one grated orange zest

3/4 cup silver almonds

1/4 cup dried cranberries

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375 F. Butter a baking sheet, dust with flour and then remove excess flour.

Use an electric mixer to cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs, one at a time, and then add almond and anisette extract.

Mix flour, baking powder and salt in a bowl the add minced orange zest. Add flour to the batter a little at a time.

Divide dough into half and shape each into a 2-inch wide log and place on baking sheet. Bake until the loaves are golden about 30-minutes. Remove loaves from oven and lower temperature to 250 deg F.

When loaves are cool enough, cut each on a diagonal into 1/2 inch slices using a serrated knife.

Place slices on baking sheet, return to oven for 8 minutes, then carefully turn them over for another 8 to 10 minutes until they dry out.

Will keep in an airtight container ... if you can keep them away from everyone!

The biscotti has also found its way into our neighbors hands ... and recipe requests have come in ... including one from our neighbors who came over last night to wish us a Merry Christmas (even though not everyone in the photo was willing to smile). It's always fun to have kids in the house during the holidays!

Family of Santa's

I hope that you're having a Happy Hanukkah and Merry Christmas!

All the best
Lisa

Have I mentioned that angel I am married to ???

2011-12-19T22:36:00.000-08:00

So the cold that I blogged about here has now turned into a sinus infection ... which apparently means [gasp] I am snoring at night!

So my dear husband left our bed last night at about 2AM having tired of trying unsuccessfully to quiet me down and get back to sleep.

He groggily went downstairs to the the guest room where he knew the bed was made ... where he encountered the current WIP. He had the presence of mind at 2AM to figure out that the two rows at the top are only pieced (not sewn) together.

He did find another bed to sleep in ... but it was without any sheets and covered with all the extra packaging from the major Christmas present mailing we just did with packages shipped from Hawaii to Toronto to Virginia. I found him buried in bubble wrap at 7AM this morning ;-).

Sometimes the "process" isn't just about how the quilter gets from point A to point B ... sometimes it's about how the family adapts to the "process".

I definitely married a good one ...

Hope your holidays are full of joy!

All the best
Lisa

A "thank you" pillow

2011-12-18T00:36:00.000-08:00

Patriotic Pillow

Earlier this year ... a long-time family friend, Evelyn, sent me a copy of The Lost Heroes Art Quilt book. This is a book that tells the story behind the Lost Heroes quilt that was made to honor our fallen soldiers from the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. This quilt, which has been on tour around the country for the past year, has 50 panels to represent the 50 states, and a fallen soldier has been chosen to represent each state. In each panel on the quilt, there is a photographic image of each of these soldiers when they were children.

The quilt has been used to honor the fallen and their families, as well as to raise money for charities that support the families of fallen soldiers.

It turns out, that Missouri is represented by Bill Hecker ... the kid brother of a friend of mine from high school. Bill came from a military family and left behind a wife and four children ...

I've been meaning to pull something together to send Evelyn to thank her for the amazing gift of this book. And while I am late in getting it put together ... I completed this 12 x 16" flag pillow for her today.

With our final soldiers now returning from Iraq this week ... it seemed an appropriate time to remember the 4,802 American soldiers who gave the ultimate sacrifice and did not get to come back to their families and friends.

All the best
Lisa

Lotsa pillows!

2011-12-15T23:45:00.000-08:00

Pillows

The pillows are complete! The two on the left go to my brother's two daughters (aged 13 and 16) and the two on the right go to my sister's 2 daughters (aged 16 & 19). The one in the middle is my "oops" pillow and will stay right on this bed in the guest room.

I did finally get them monogrammed correctly.

Monogrammed pillow backs

And each pillow, actually is accompanied by a smaller pillow as well.

Pair of pillows

Pillows by the number:

2 pillow forms -- 16" x 16" and 12" x 16"
Patterned fabrics from Lotta Jansdotter and Metro Living by Robert Kaufman. The gray is Kona Coal (some of the small pillow fronts, and the back on all the pillows).
Fronts have very light quilting with batting. Backs are strictly material with a zipper installed.

The final cost I figure was bout $26 per set of pillows -- broken down as follows:

$16 for pillow forms (with 50% off coupons @ JoAnns)
$4 in printed fabric (total printed material cost was $25, but I have about 1/3 of material left over, so can't assign all the cost to these pillows)
$2 in solids (~1/2 yard per set and a 40% off coupon @ JoAnns)
$4 for zippers
Free -- batting, trimmed from quilts

The weren't exactly the bargain I had initially anticipated ... the pillow forms were over 60% of the cost. But I was really happy with how they came out and they definitely fit with this year's present theme ... home made and from the heart ;-).

Hope your holiday presents are nearing completion!

All the best.

Lisa

Don't you hate it when that happens ...

2011-12-13T06:30:00.000-08:00

I really appreciated your advice a few weeks ago on this post. I did decide to go ahead and monogram the pillows. I sent a Facebook message off to my niece to make sure I had the correct middle initials ... and then waited ... and waited.

So I went ahead and made the pillows ... and of course. The next day got the message back from my niece -- initials are CMN and KAN.

So what the heck ... I can put the intials on the back ... right ?!?!? How hard can it be? Well ... it was a little tricky ... but it actually came out pretty good and I liked the fact I had personalized them, without having to put it on the front.

Not so fast ... her initials are CMN, not KMN ... yup ... I mixed up the sisters initials.

It's not the end of the world, I had already realized that the pillows go great in my guest room ... no one will notice the initials on the back. So I started to make another one for my niece.

I still have enough fabric left ... so I pulled it together and realized I actually like this one a little better than the last one ;-).

Until I see problem #2 ... I forgot to cut off the selvage.

Well ... nothing that a little seam ripper wont fix. At least that one's fixable without having to remake the pillow.

Now I need to pick up a zipper tomorrow and finish it up by tomorrow night ... then I'll be right back where I started ;-).

At least this time I got to appliqué the monogram before I put the pillow together.

Thanks again for the great advice on the first round!

All the best
Lisa

Holiday Hostess Gifts

2011-12-11T21:25:00.001-08:00

Here's a great idea for a hostess gift for all those holiday parties you're heading to over the next few weeks!

I purchased some fabric from Pink Chalk Fabrics last week and Kathy was giving away a pattern for some really cute holiday potholders as thanks for the order!

I loved her concept of the tree from the scrap bin and I've kept that element. But I passed on binding them and instead did a self binding, which I find so much more effective for potholders and placemats (you can see my tutorial for self binding placemats here).

I made them in pairs ... using 2 coordinating base fabrics ... one on the front of one and then the back of the other and vice versa. Then kept the quilting light ... just around the tree, which helps hold everything in place and creates a nice pattern on the back.

I've already given away 2 sets to holiday hostesses ... only 5 more parties to go ;-).

Happy Holidays!
Lisa

Under the weather ...

2011-12-04T13:35:00.001-08:00

Cabin quilts

Well ... the only good part about a bad cold is ... pulling out every quilt I have at the cabin and piling 'em all on ...

Of course ... that comes with the 'not so good' as well ...

Hope to be 'back at it' tomorrow ...

All the best
Lisa

Call to action ...

2011-11-27T16:47:00.001-08:00

Denyse Schmidt's Blanket Statement

I tried to make the "Blanket Statement" from Denyse Schmidt's book "Quilts" several months ago.

The premise is that you take an old wool blanket and update it by sewing on strips of colored/patterned fabric. I thought it would be perfect for the cabin. I am not sure I would recommend the project.

I started with a $4.99 blanket, cut it in half to make it a lap quilt and applied the material. The challenge is that the blanket stretches and you can imagine how that turns out ...

I had applied the fabric back in early summer, didn't like how it ended up and decided not to invest anymore time.

Then I read an article this week. There are an estimated 600 people living in cars in Seattle. It was a number that stunned me. Their stories stunned me. It was a sharp contrast to the weekend we've just had here in the U.S. -- one that starts with counting our reasons to be thankful ... and one that seems to end with a bit too much conspicuous consumption over the Black Friday weekend.

A local organization, "Heroes for the Homeless" is holding a drive for coats, sweaters, mittens, sleeping bags, blankets, etc. If you're living in your car ... a wool blanket is a lot more important than a pretty blanket. So I bound it and finished it up yesterday.

It's that time of year ... and I encourage everyone to take a look through their closets (linen, front hall and clothing) and find those warm items that just aren't getting used and can be better utilized by someone in need. I would also recommend that you look one step beyond Goodwill right now. While I love their business model and think it works well, today, in this economy, there is a real need out there for some basic items for free. Some of these folks are making decisions to stay warm or to eat. Decisions that no one should have to make.

Thanks for taking a peek and remembering those that are struggling right now ...

All the best
Lisa

Happy Thanksgiving!

2011-11-24T08:31:00.001-08:00

Placemats and Potholders

2011-11-22T23:21:00.001-08:00

Each set = 4 placemats & 2 potholders

Four sets complete ... three more in various states of production ... glad it's still only November 22nd!

This is probably my favorite set ...

It's for John's 30-something son who is a bachelor ... I was trying to go a little more masculine ...

and now I want it for me!

Hope your holiday creations are coming along equally well!

All the best!

Lisa

Need a little advice ...

2011-11-20T22:40:00.001-08:00

Update: Thanks everyone ... initials it is!

I am blessed with 4 lovely nieces! For Christmas this year, I splurged a little at Pink Chalk Fabrics on some 1/2 yard cuts from the new Lotta Jansdotter line ... along with a little Metro Living to make them some pillows for their rooms.

So here's where I need help. My original plan, before I picked out the material, was to make them each a pillow with their names on them. They are aged 13, 16, almost 17 and almost 20.

I was thinking of personalizing them along the lines of these pillows I made this summer.

But then I bought the fabric ... and I'm wondering if that would really fit with this material? Or should I go ahead and make the pillows without their names? I'm torn and would value some thoughts (particularly from anyone who has insight into teenage girls ;-).

Thanks
All the best
Lisa

Placemat tutorial

2011-11-19T22:27:00.001-08:00

Placemats

As I posted here, I had a few of these to make ... and as I indicated in my previous post, I have completed 16 out of the 28 needed for this years Christmas bundles.

I got a late start for a variety of reasons ... but one was that I didn't actually know how to make a placemat ... and as I learned from my pot holders ... just treating it like a mini-quilt does not always work.

So I decided to put together at tutorial for anyone else out there that might be trying to figure this out ...

The tutorial is not about how to design the front of the placemat. As I had previously mentioned, the inspiration for my placemats this year was Kate at Needle and Spatula. But rather, the tutorial focuses on how to put the place mat together.

First, I start with the excess batting I have laying around from making quilts and cut a piece for each placemat.

15" x 20" batting

Then lay the back of the placemat onto the batting -- if you're using a print, you'll want the wrong side of the fabric to face the batting.

14" x 19" back of placemat (right-side up)

Then lay the top of the placemat onto the back -- in this case you want to put the right side down towards the backing material.

14" x 19" front of placemat (wrong side up) pinned

Sew 1/4" from edge of fabric, leaving an opening on one of the long sides of the place mat that is large enough to get your hand into (you will need to turn it right side out).

Open seam seen at top

Trim the excess batting and clip the corners.

Trimming

Clipping the corners

You will then need to turn the place mats inside out. Pushing the corners out as much as you can with your finger.

Right-side out placemat

Then I use a letter opener to finish pushing out the corners (be careful here not to push to hard and rip the fabric).

Then gently iron around the perimeter, getting the fabric to lay flat and closing up the opening you used to turn it right-side out.

Ironed (you can see opening on bottom left)

I then stitch about 1/8" of an inch from the edge -- this ensures that you get the opening caught and closed to avoid fraying later. I have also been shifting the needle one notch to the right (as opposed to keeping it central). This gets me that much closer to the edge.

Stitching close to the edge

I performed two rounds of perimeter stitching, as in my inspiration placemat.

Perimeter stitching

I also did some straight line quilting ... which you can see front and back below.

Quilted Top

Quilted back

Let me know if you have any clarity questions.

All the best

Lisa

Place mat Progress!!

2011-11-19T21:57:00.001-08:00

Rainbow of quilted placemats

16 completed ... 12 to go!

10 Amazing years ...

2011-11-13T23:14:00.001-08:00

You've come a long way baby ...

How lucky am I ?!?!?

For those of you who follow this blog ... you've heard me reference this anniversary before ... well ... it's here!

Ten years ago today, November 14th, they removed at tumor that was the size of a grapefruit from my abdomen. It was stage IIc Ovarian Cancer ...

I am alive today because of three WONDERFUL doctors (Drs. Hambrick, Stern and Cecchi) who saw me through surgery and chemotherapy.

I am the luckiest women around because of them and because of the fabulous man I am married to!!! We will celebrate 16 years of marriage on Friday of this week.

Ten years ... WOW ... I am so amazingly grateful ...

But I cannot forget the 154,000 women in the U.S. who have died of Ovarian Cancer in those 10 years ... or the 5,564,900 other Americans who will have succumbed to cancer over those 10 years ...

I will run my first (and likely last ;-) half marathon in honor of those folks in May.

In the interim, I am so happy that I can count 10 years in my list of life accomplishments ...

Have a great week!

All the best
Lisa

Happy Veterans Day ...

2011-11-10T23:23:00.001-08:00

US Flag in Downtown Anchorage, a photo by Keltron (intermittent internet no more) on Flickr.

... or Remembrance Day ... where ever you are ... take a minute to say thanks ...

Thanks Dad (Vietnam) ... Thanks Patrick (brother, Iraq & Afghanistan) ... Thanks Brian (brother-in-law who gave the ultimate sacrifice in Cyprus) ...

Thanks to all the men and women who have served ...

Quilted placemat

2011-11-10T20:37:00.001-08:00

Quilted placemat

I am getting a bit faster on the pot holders ... so decided to try coordinating placemats to go along with them ... this was my first attempt ... which is now off the docket as 1" squares are a bit ambitious for a 'quick' effort.

I used this as my inspiration.

I will keep this one and after the holidays finish out the set for me! But in the interim, I need to try a couple of options this evening for a band of color that will be fun, but not quite as complex as 60 1" squares.

Hope your holiday gift creation is going a bit more expediently ;-()

oh ... and I almost forgot ... welcome Mary ... my 100th follower!!! Who knew?!?!?

All the best
Lisa

Late start for Christmas ...

2011-11-06T19:09:00.000-08:00

I hadn't originally planned on making Christmas this presents ... but I've now decided that I do want to have some of our presents come from the heart this year ... so the theme is around the kitchen and coffee, tea and some of John's home-made biscotti ...

So this weekend I made the trial and first set of potholders to go in the package.

I actually think that they came out better than the photos imply ...

This set is reversible and will go in the package with the Scattered Blocks quilt for my friend Patricia ... as she has also just moved from TX to CA, so this will be a little something for the new house. One is made from the colors in the quilt and the other from coordinating fabrics in the scrap bin.

I searched long and hard for a potholder pattern and finally landed on this one by Texas Freckles. It was designed to be fast ... though I think it's still taking longer to make these than I want ... I like the self-binding option and it makes a nice thickness with the right level of heat protection.

Most importantly ... this is a GREAT scrap buster!

Hope everyone is having a good weekend.

All the best
Lisa

Scattered Blocks Finale

2011-11-03T21:46:00.000-07:00

And it's done! From inception to completion ... in two weeks! It's been a while since I pushed one out that fast ... but I was really enjoying the process of pulling this one together!

I liked it so much ... I actually have a second one I'm pulling together at the same time! The back is pretty simple.

This quilt is for a dear friend, Patricia, that joins the 50-year young club next week!

Quilt by the numbers:

120 5.5" white squares with 3 different sizes of colored squares
All Kona solid fabrics (except 1):

Paprika
Curry
Moda Belle Solids Ochre
Raisin
Butterscotch
Moss
Amber
Brown
Celery
Off white background and back

Pieced binding
Finished dimensions 58" x 48"
Tight meandering quilting with off-white thread

There is a tutorial under way ...

Thanks for stopping by ...

All the best

Lisa

Bloggers' Quilt Festival ...

2011-11-02T21:42:00.000-07:00

Always delighted when Amy gives us an extra chance to showcase our favorites! (and if anyone can help me figure out how to get her button into my post ... that would be awesome) .

As much as I wanted to share my new Scattered Block quilt which is fresh out of the dryer ... my camera is in Toronto with my husband as he meets his new grand daughter ... and it won't be back before the deadline ... so here, is my 2nd favorite quilt this year, which I recently finished (sorry for the duplicate post for my regular readers ;-).

My version of a wonky star quilt

It's for a good friend who played a role in my getting my latest job ... and it's a small way to say thanks!

A WIP capture

It took several months to pull all the stars together ... and my learning on this one was that if I walked away from it and worked on other things, I got more creative when I came back. I found that each time I made stars, I tended to make similar ones, by letting a week or two go by between working on it, I ended up with more diversity in my blocks, which I believe is what makes the quilt work.

My favorite block

The quilt by the numbers:

30, 12.25" blocks (5 wide by 6 tall)
6 empty blocks (negative space)
Stars ... several different sizes -- small medium and large.
Kona Ash is the core background color
Multiple print blocks
Really tight meandering quilting with a light gray thread
Pieced binding

Block detail

Binding

Back of quilt

Overall, I was thrilled with how the quilt came out and I hope that Nichole and her family get LOTS of quality use from it over the coming years!

Thanks for visiting!

Lisa

How to quilt ...

2011-10-29T14:59:00.000-07:00

In the midst of quilting

Several weeks ago, I had a comment on a post that intrigued me ...

"interesting to see that you quilt from one edge to the other and not from the centre out"

The reason it intrigued me ... was that it had never occurred to me to quilt from the center out ...

I typically quilt down the length of the quilt in middle ... but from one end to the other. As I paused to consider why I do it that way I don't have an answer.

As much as I LOVE the fact that in just two short years I have taught myself how to quilt ... and that I've made a few that I'm actually quite proud of ... I also realize sometimes that self-taught can have some limitations.

A couple of weeks ago Amy at Diary of a Quilter had a great post on the use of a 'scant 1/4 inch' that I tried on the Scattered Blocks quilt and it definitely made it SO much easier. Turns out Amy had taken a class ... yup ... Amy the amazing quilter had taken a class ... where she learned this trick.

So now I wonder what else I might have missed in the this self-taught journey. Does anyone have any thoughts on what types of classes might be beneficial at this stage? What has been your best learning experience as a quilter ... self taught or in a class?

Hope you're having a great weekend.

All the best
Lisa

50 years of marriage !!!

2011-10-27T23:50:00.000-07:00

I turned 50 years old this year ... and really enjoyed the fact that I hung around long enough to enjoy the day with great friends and family ... and John did a great job making sure I had a surprise party befitting the occasion ... But I'm thinking 50 years of age is NOTHING compared to 50 years of marriage ...

This weekend, we are heading off to Harrison Hot Springs in BC, Canada, to celebrate the 50th wedding anniversary of John's cousin, Anne, and her husband, Don.

Anne's sister has come over from England for the celebration and their son and daughter-in-law have recently moved to Seattle. We were fortunate to have them stay with us for several days earlier this month and I was blessed to be the fly on the wall to listen to the stories from their youth. The sorrow of John losing his older brother when he was nine, to the laughter at work they all did to keep Granny happy. It was an amazing weekend filled with love and stories.

But 50 years of marriage ... wow. 50 years of marriage takes work. John is the love of my life ... but marriage takes work. In a day when it is so easy to say I don't instead of I will continue to try ... hats off to Anne and Don ... I know that some of those years were fabulous, but I am equally confident that some of them were tough.

Congrats Anne and Don and I look forward to celebrating with you and your family this weekend ... thanks for letting us join in your fabulous day.

All the best
Lisa

Scattered blocks ...

2011-10-24T23:30:00.000-07:00

I find a camera can serve dual purposes ...

... in addition to recording and sharing ... it can also seem to capture what the naked eye can't ... like the two colors that are touching over on the top left.

I started this quilt in my mind about a month ago and sketched it out last week. I actually liked my sketch so much, that I am now in the midst of making two of these ... this one in all solids and a second one in some solids and prints left over from Juliet's quilt.

My eye really like the randomness of it ... though I often find myself amazed at how much work it can take to actually make something look random.

And in this photo ... I noticed another two blocks just up and right from center that are facing the wrong way. I am actually short 2 blocks, so I will peruse these in more detail tomorrow night when I've made the extra two.

Oh ... and you've probably noticed the blog. I thought I might try some of the new features ... I'm not sure. ~~On the one hand it's SO different, I am quite intrigued, on the other ... if it's too confusing for readers, that won't be very helpful ...~~ OK ... apparently not very good ... only one thumb up and lost two followers today ... so I guess some folks voted with their feet. I will work on updating within a more standardized view ... not really a lot of point in having a blog that others can't easily read or follow ... and I'm with Jen ... I HATE it when Facebook changes my page ;-). I will clean it up a little later ... but at least it's back in a normal blog view right now ...

Please let me know your thoughts ... on either the quilt or the blog ... won't be offended by dislike of either ;-).

Hope you're week has started off well ...

All the best
Lisa

Juliet's Quilt

2011-10-22T19:50:00.000-07:00

Thanks so much for the kind words and wishes for the newest grand-baby in the family ... Juliet. I finished her quilt today! Just in time, John is heading off to Toronto next weekend to meet his new grand-daughter, and spend some quality time with his sons and grandson.

The fabric is Moda's Central Park by Kate Spain mixed with some of the great solids I've gotten since I joined Pink Chalk's Monthly Solids Club. The sashing is Kona Coal.

The pattern is Rain or Shine from Elizabeth Hartman's "Practical Guide to Patchwork". I saw a rendition of it at my LQS and fell in love ... so of course I had to buy the book. I didn't add the rosette that was in the pattern in the book. I didn't really feel it added a lot and thought it might just be one of those things that a baby would like to suck on or pull off ... and my points in the center of each of the circles didn't look so bad ..

This is the first back I have done without piecing ... basically, I am a pretty thrifty quilter, so I piece together whatever I have in the cupboard and that's usually what a back is made from. But how often does a grand-daughter come along ... so I went all out on this one ;-). I kind of miss the piecing, but do feel that on this one it was worth the added expense, and it does seem a bit more advanced than my typical quilt backs.

The binding is pieced.

And what's a photo shoot at the cabin without a little of the view included?

On a personal note, the stress fracture is healing nicely and I was actually able to venture out for a walk today. Hope to be running again by early December. As some of you are aware, I had planned to run the Seattle half-marathon next month as a way to celebrate being 10-years cancer free ... which also happens next month. I have had to delay the 1/2 marathon and am now planning on running Vancouver in May instead, but I will still be celebrating good health (and 16 wonderful years of marriage ;-) next month.

Hope you're having a great weekend!

All the best
Lisa

A finished project and a WIP

2011-10-13T00:03:00.000-07:00

The 'finished' project ... my new step-grand-daughter ... Juliet ...

The 'unfinished' project ... Juliet's quilt ...

Hope your week was as joyful as ours ...

All the best
Lisa

Birds of a feather ...

2011-10-07T22:06:00.000-07:00

Star and improv block quilts

I purchased the teal and yellow prints earlier this year and spent the better part of the summer making star and improv blocks.

I finished the Casual Star quilt last week. And this week, I finished the improv block version.

Back of quilt -- hard to get a photo around here without a dog in it ...

I used REALLY tight meandering quilting on this one ... over 20 bobbins worth! I really love the effect that the tight quilting gives.

Once again, the back ended up too short (a habitual problem around here) ... hence the additional of the yellow strip. The quilt by the numbers:

Blocks are 12.5" each
Sashing is 2.5" strips
24 blocks -- 18 prints and 6 solids
Gray solid on front is Kona Ash
Back is Kona Ash and Kona Coal with some of the solid piecing.
Finished quilt is 53" x 78"
Meandering quilting with light gray thread

This one is for my sister-in-law who will be graduating from college this fall ... hats off to this amazing woman who's done a fabulous job raising her 13-year-old daughter (for the first 8 years virtually on her own) and who took advantage of the opportunity to go back and get her degree over the past 2 years while her husband was off fighting a war ... Congrats D ...

A little bit of disappointing news on my end this week. We're off to Victoria, BC for my husband to run the 1/2 marathon. I was supposed to run an 8K in prep for my first 1/2 marathon coming in November. But it now looks like I am nursing a stress fracture (maybe 2) and won't be running again anytime soon ... oh well ... maybe more time for sewing ;-)

All the best and Happy Thanksgiving to my Canadian readers!

All the best

Lisa

14 bobbins and counting ...

2011-10-02T15:21:00.000-07:00

Quilt back ... 2/3rds quilted

I've never had a quilt use up quite so much thread before ... actually ran out and will have to wait until I get back to Seattle to get more.

I like tight meandering ... must have taken it to the extreme on this one ;-).

Hope you had a productive weekend ...

All the best
Lisa

Casual stars

2011-09-29T19:33:00.000-07:00

I must say ... I am REALLY happy with how this came out! First, I must share my inspiration quilts ... here and here. And then when I was near completion of the blocks, I saw this awesome star ... and of course had to add a couple of those as well!

This quilt is for my friend, Nichole, who helped me get my current job ... my little way of saying thanks!

The back is fairly simple solids ... with a very little bit of piecing.

The quilt by the numbers:

12 1/4" star blocks (there are 24 of them)
12 1/4" solid blocks (there are 6 of them)
It's quilted in a tight meandering pattern with a light gray thread
There is a mix of designer fabrics, the gray is Kona Ash and the darker gray is Kona Coal.
It's bound with a mixture of the the prints used in the quilt.

Nichole ~~is actually in the hospital tonight ... her water broke this afternoon and there is a baby on the way~~ had a 7lb 8oz little boy named Wyatt last week ... while this quilt isn't a baby present (and she still hasn't seen it), I did get a chance to deliver the baby and sibling presents this past weekend that I blogged about here.

I spent the first half of it at a trade show in San Francisco -- a 13 hour day standing at a trade show booth on Monday and 11 hours on Tuesday ... collapsed when I landed back in the room at the end of the day ... so I am looking forward to getting a chance to peruse all of YOUR productivity sometime this weekend!

Hope you've had a great week.

All the best

Lisa

The baby package

2011-09-11T20:26:00.000-07:00

I have always embraced the thought of giving a present to siblings when babies are born ... the question for me is always ... what's a good sibling present?

Then this month I hit on it ...

Pillows

I was able to finish up the remainder of the hedgehog fabric that I have and create a couple of sibling gifts!

Oh ... and then there's the baby quilt ...

HST neutral baby quilt front

HST with straight-line quilting

Pieced backing

Now I just need to finish up momma's quilt ...

Not much quilting got done this weekend ... instead I got to spend some quality time out at the cabin with my mom, her sister and 2 of my of cousins ... it was good ... really good. And a wonderful way to spend the 10th Anniversary of 9/11 ... with my family and a chance to be thankful for all that I have in my life.

I trust you had a good weekend.

All the best

Lisa

Making a little progress ...

2011-09-07T22:15:00.000-07:00

This one has been in the works for a couple of months ... only 7 blocks to go ... or maybe a little white space is needed ... hmmm ...

WIP

This quilt is for Nichole, a friend of mine who introduced me to my current boss and helped me get my current job.

She's also expecting a new baby in October ... the baby quilt is completed ... but this one's for momma ... to say thank you. The new baby has a big sister who is 4 and a big brother who will 3 be later this year, and I'm working on a pillow for each of them ...

So it looks like everyone but daddy will be getting a quilted gift!

My favorite block

We had a fabulous time at the cabin this weekend -- I took Tuesday off as and made it a 4-day weekend. The simple beauty of the place really helped erase the challenges over the past month. And look at the show the garden gave us! John's found some fabulous new spray that really does keep the deer off.

The bloomin' cabin garden

Hope you're having a good week!

All the best
Lisa

Color mix

2011-09-03T23:53:00.000-07:00

It really didn't matter how many times I ran her off ... she was convinced that this was here for HER!

I did finish all the piecing tonight and now have a quilt top that is 83" x 91" ... perfect for the murphy bed in the den at the cabin.

I realized when I was looking at the back tonight, just how much piecing was actually involved with this baby ;-). And it really did make a dent in the solid scrap bin as well!

As I was finishing up the top this evening, I got carried away, fantacizing about sandwiching this tomorrow and then quilting it on Monday ... until I remembered that I haven't even thought of what I want to do on the back yet, and the nearest fabric store to the cabin is 45 minutes away ...

Umm ... guess I will work on another quilt tomorrow ;-).

Hope you're having a great long weekend where ever you are!

All the best
Lisa

And then there was good ...

2011-08-30T22:03:00.000-07:00

It has been a long month and I am thrilled to have seen good ... as well as ugly.

It's time to share the good ... from the alarm installation technician who agreed to commute out to the cabin for no extra charge to install the alarm system there, to one of my amazing blog readers who was willing to send me an extra camera to help get me posting again, to the fabulous support and comments I've received from so many blog readers, to my wonderful husband who has had to deal with all of this over the past month and still organized a surprise for me this evening ... a new camera was waiting for me when I came home tonight!

And more good news ... John will be a grandfather for the 2nd time in October! His youngest son and daughter-in-law are expecting a little girl in late October! I am playing with the Rain or Shine pattern from Elizabeth Hartman's "Practical Guide to Patchwork" as a baby gift for her.

I am using Moda's Central Park by Kate Spain with a couple of additional fabrics and solids. Quite happy with how it's coming out so far ... particularly my ability to match up all those points!

Oh yeah ... I ran a 10K with my husband on Saturday of this week. He won his division ... I was a little slower than I had hoped, but still came in 12th out 27 of women in my age division ... so I'll take it and progress continues for my goal to run the 1/2 marathon in November.

So I am back ... and I am looking forward to sharing and reading more over the coming weeks! I am indeed a luck lady ...

All the best,

Lisa

What are the odds ...

2011-08-29T12:46:00.000-07:00

... that someone would own two homes and BOTH homes would be broken into within a one-month time frame ...

yup ... that would be us ...

first our in-town home and now our cabin ...

at this rate, it may be a while before I can replace the camera

... some quilt progress which I hope to record via photos soon ...

stay safe out there ...

Lisa

No more pictures for awhile ...

2011-08-08T22:08:00.000-07:00

Today while I was at work, and my husband out walking the dogs, someone climbed through a 9" x 12" open window and stole a laptop, a MacBook Pro, 2 cameras and about $40 in loose change off of our kitchen counter ...

In the end, it was a good wake up call ... albeit an expensive one.

So ... my public service announcement ... tips from the nice police officer that took the report:

80% of ALL home break-ins happen during the day, through an unlocked door or window,
Get the loudest alarm you can with both an indoor and outdoor siren, pass on the monitoring,
Don't leave your goodies on the counter top where the thief expects to find them ... putting them in a drawer or closet will decrease the likelihood of theft by over 90%.

The MacBook was replaced tonight ... the rest will have to wait ... which means no photos of quilts for a bit ... guess I can't give anymore away for a while ;-).

Anyway ... stay safe and I will look forward to watching YOUR quilts for a little while!

All the best,

Lisa

Small gains ... big smiles

2011-08-04T21:05:00.000-07:00

Piecing this quilt top together is really making me smile!

Do you ever start a top and discover that it's not working for you ... or better ... that it's working better than you thought it would?

I started this year knowing I wanted to use my solid scraps to make a queen size quilt for the other guest room at the cabin. Where I spent my thinking time was on a pattern that would work with what I knew were some pretty small scraps. I finally came up this pattern ... 3-piece squares. Then ... the cutting began.

The next question, was whether the blocks should be monochromatic or mixed all up. The analytical side of me had me leaning to creating color cohesiveness ... the creative told me just go for it!

The next question was to sash or not and my quilting buddies definitely weighed in on that question!

I'm only about 1/4 done ... but it's definitely putting a smile on my face ...

Hope you're having a great week.

All the best
Lisa

Progress ...

2011-07-31T10:34:00.000-07:00

The pieced squares

Happy with yesterday's progress ...

And a couple of beauty shots from the day as well ...

The bee enjoys the lavender

The bee-balm begins to to bloom

The anti-garden crew

Our first robins this summer

Hope you've had an equally productive and beautiful weekend!

All the best
Lisa

Quilt backs

2011-07-24T14:00:00.000-07:00

It's interesting how much time we can spend working on the back of a quilt. I mean, it's the back right? It should be a lot more simple than I seem to be making it. You know, find a coordinating print or solid and get on with it ...

Yet ... for some reason, I am drawn to add a bit of interest, or complexity, to what could be a very simple element on the quilt.

I have seen the quilt backs from most of you out there ... so I know that there are definitely more like me than less ...

I am curious, however, why do you end up spending, easily, an extra 1/2 day on adding incremental piecing to the backs of your quilts?

Oh, and I got a bit of the front of a quilt worked on too!

All the best
Lisa

Thank you ...

2011-07-23T19:20:00.000-07:00

Balloons for the team for tomorrow's walk

Tomorrow I walk ... for those who can't. I cannot tell you how amazing it feels to have friends and family that would support me in raising $4,870 over the past 3 weeks for a cause that matters so much to me.

You guys have heard the story ... here and here ... while I've shared the symptoms and statistics of the disease ... what I haven't shared is how important friends and family are to getting through something like this ...

They have never ceased to amaze me. From the invisible neighbor who mowed our lawn several times during my 6 months of treatment (we still don't know who that angel was), to my parents' (who lived 3,000 miles away) next door neighbor who sent me a 'dancing skunk', to my hair stylist who cut and styled my wig for free, to my employees who subscribed to People Magazine for me so I would have something totally frivolous to read during my weekly chemo treatments, to every friend who said how can I help ... and then did ... humans have an amazing ability to turn on the good and help their fellow human beings.

I know in a world where political infighting, celebrity bad behavior and seemingly senseless acts of violence rule the news ... I want to take a minute to salute you, my blog readers.

Not for what you did for me ... that was 10 years ago and I didn't know any of you ;-) ... but for what I know you have done for others who have needed a lift, a hand or a smile. You gave it unconditionally, just as strangers and friends did for me ... so THANK YOU ...

All the best
Lisa

Awareness Matters !!!

2011-07-19T22:04:00.000-07:00

Awareness Matters … that's the name of the team that I have set up to walk in the Swedish SummeRun 5K for Ovarian Cancer this coming Sunday. I will be joined by my husband, 4 cousins and 4 friends to walk on behalf of those that can't.

The Orange shirt is for the walk ... the Teal shirt for us survivors!!!

This post is not about fundraising ... I've already raised just over $3,000 toward my $5,000 goal for 2011 -- I am 10-years cancer free and have set a $5,000 goal to raise this year in honor of my win and for those that did not win the fight -- this blog post is to continue raise awareness for this disease ... thanks for indulging me.

The Facts:

21,500 -- the number of women in the US diagnosed with Ovarian Cancer in 2009
14,600 -- the # of women who lost their battle that same year
73% -- the % of diagnosis that occurred in the later Stages III and IV (compared to 7% for breast cancer)
25% -- the 5-year survival rate for women diagnosed in Stages III or IV (similar statistics to breast cancer)
1 in 71 -- a women's lifetime chance of developing Ovarian Cancer
1 in 95 a women's lifetime chance of dying from Ovarian Cancer
0 -- the improvement in mortality rates for Ovarian Cancer in since the 'war on cancer' was declared 30 years ago
70% -- the improvement in the mortality rate that is believed to be achievable if an early detection test could be developed

The Quest:

To develop an early detection test -- the following tests have had a measurable impact on early detection for breast, cervical and colon cancers

Mammogram
Pap smear
Colonoscopy

SummeRun supports researchers around the world who are working on the development of this test
It also funds the Ovarian Cancer Early Detection Program at Swedish' First Hill Campus

This program has three primary goals:

Present screening for women at high risk for developing ovarian cancer;
Build a repository of well-characterized blood samples for use in research;
Provide genetic counseling for women.

Since opened, this clinic has diagnosed 4 cases of Ovarian Cancer … but this time 75% of them were found in Stages i and II … a significant improvement.

The Symptoms:

Bloating
Pelvic or abdominal pain
Difficulty eating or feeling full quickly
Urinary symptoms (urgency or frequency)

The Losses:

While it seems that the numbers are relatively small … take note of the many admired women who have lost their battle with this disease:

Ann Dunham -- Barack Obama's mother
Marcheline Bertrand -- actress and mother of Angeline Jolie
Dixie Lee Crosby -- Bing Crosby's 1st wife
Sandy Dennis -- actress
Cassandra Harris -- actress, Pierce Brosnan's 1st wife
Madeline Kahn -- actress
Coretta Scott King -- civil rights activist and Dr. King's wife
Shari Lewis -- puppeteer
Helen Simpson -- Dana Reeve's mother
Gilda Radner -- actress
Patsy Ramsey -- JonBenet's Ramsey's mother
Dinah Shore -- actress
Jessica Tandy -- actress
Margo Fonteyn -- prima ballerina

Definition of Relaxing ...

2011-07-04T09:48:00.000-07:00

The definition of relaxing is different for everyone ... fortunately, it's somewhat similar for John and I.

To us, relaxing is getting to work on the stuff we want to ... as opposed to the stuff we don't. So here's our 4th of July relaxation ...

The start of my OvCa raffle quilt

And where all that creativity is currently occurring

And for John ...

It's about producing the next set of Adirondack chairs

Getting closer!

We're fortunate to have a very relaxing place to do all this in ... Happy 4th!!!

All the best
Lisa

Envelope Quilt v3

2011-07-03T22:30:00.000-07:00

More progress in the guest room

This my 3rd version of the envelope quilt ... my second from this fabric set! This is for the guest bedroom at the cabin ...

I finished the HST quilt that's underneath earlier this year. Thrilled with that, I headed for the box spring cover (tutorial here) ... which I like, but definitely realized I needed something a little darker on top to balance it out.

The new nap quilt

Straight-line quilting

Binding

Back

The quilt by the numbers:

65" x 75"
Freebird by MoMo fabric by Moda
Moda Lollipop Chocolate Bias Plaid
Straight line quilting (well ... kinda straight, done with the eye, not measured).

Happy 4th!

All the best

Lisa

Cabin Thrifting

2011-06-28T14:00:00.000-07:00

I love Value Village! Presenting last night's finds for the cabin ...

No more hauling the Cuisinart from house to house ... look at this workhorse ...

Yup ... you read it right ... $7.99. Why you ask? The blade is missing. Following a quick trip to Amazon when we returned home, sometime next week we will have a working Cuisinart at the cabin for around $30 (including the blade)! A quick trip through the dishwasher for the moving parts and a little bleach on the base and we are good to go!

John has 'volunteered' to make 2 more Adirondack chairs for the cabin ... so of course, I needed more stadium blankets for those chilly nights ... found two in perfect condition, for $2.99 and $3.99 respectively.

Someday I'll share the love affair I had with Craigslist when we built the cabin 2 years ago ;-)

All the best
Lisa

Solid Scraps

2011-06-26T23:38:00.000-07:00

I dreamt up this idea last month to use up some of my solid scraps.

I started with this:

My solids scrap bag

Which were then cut up and turned into this:

Little pieces

Which then became this:

Test block

And now it's grown into plans for a queen size quilt ... which means that despite the volume of solid scraps I had ... I don't have enough.

Enter a new order from Pink Chalk Fabrics ;-)

My first Solid FQ Collection purchase

4 yards (16 FQs) of fabulous color! That should be enough to finish this up!

Given the length of time this is taking ... I'll give you an update in a few months ;-).

And it was a gorgeous day (finally) at the cabin today!

All the best
Lisa

!@#$%^&*#@ !!!

2011-06-25T19:39:00.000-07:00

Ugh ... found out I made, and taped, a back for a 60" x 69" quilt top ... unfortunately, I made a 60" x 80" quilt top ...

This is why I like to focus on one project at a time!

They look how I felt about an hour ago when I figured this out ... (their frustration, however, was centered on having been ordered out of the kitchen for the 10th time).

Hope you're having a more productive weekend ...

All the best
Lisa

A little cabin living ...

2011-06-21T23:06:00.000-07:00

The fire set

I love camping! And since the cabin was completed 2 years ago ... my husband has struggled to understand why we would want to sleep in a tent ... so there has been no camping.

What I really came to realize that I missed most was not the tent sleeping, but the campfire! So as part of the 50th birthday that keeps on giving (and hopefully will all year ;-), my fabulous husband bought me a new fire ring and built two adirondack chairs to go with it!

He started with this book and plan.

And then assembled them here.

and here

Before staining them barn red (yes, I know they look pink in the photo ... but they are a perfect shade of red).

To complete the set, for $6.98, I was able to pick up two throws at Value Village to keep us warm on the chilly summer nights we get here in the pacific northwest.

We christened everything Friday night ...

... I am thinking it might be time to put the camping gear up for sale on Craigslist ...

Didn't he do a great job ?!?!?

Update: The book that he used with the pattern is Better Homes & Gardens Furniture Projects

All the best
Lisa

If I were a knitter ...

2011-06-16T22:14:00.000-07:00

I would SO want to knit these!!!

Sock Kit for Ovarian Cancer

The Skacel Collection, a wholesaler of high-end yarns and needles, has introduced the "Egg-stra" Special Sock Kit. Designed by Rosemary "Chappy" Chapman, the Teal color of Trekking in this kit is the official color designated to ovarian cancer, and has been specially dyed just for this cause. Every design aspect of this sock, from the cuff to the toe, is a reminder to all of us that ovarian cancer can be beaten if we, as women, unite.

Skacel will be donating $15.00 for each kit sold, to the Marsha Rivken Center for Ovarian Cancer Research. To date ... they have already raised $34,550 of their goal of $100,000.

The owner of Skacel's sister, Susanne, is now a 3 year survivor of Ovarian Cancer. I met Susanne last week at the kick off for a summer fund raiser to support the Rivken center.

Sadly, 10-years after having been diagnosed with this disease ... Susanne is the only other survivor that I have ever met ... there just aren't enough of us. Susanne is doing well and I was so happy to introduce myself and let her know that I am about to hit 10 years!

Know the signs and symptoms of Ovarian Cancer:

Bloating
Pelvic or abdominal pain
Difficulty eating or feeling full quickly
Urinary symptoms (urgency or frequency)

Recognizing and knowing that the change in my "urinary urgency and frequency" is why I am alive today. It took 3 months to convince my doctor that there was an issue ... but we still caught it early enough.

I am not a knitter ... but I know some, and I am definitely going to buy a few of these for them ... won't you join me in helping raise money for such a worthy cause?

And thanks to all of you for continuing to help me spread the word ... please help me share the message ...http://www.skacelknitting.com/s.nl/sc.2/category.52585/.f

All the best

Lisa

I will be a pillow very soon ;-)

2011-06-12T01:03:00.001-07:00

I will be a pillow very soon ;-), a photo by Shiners view on Flickr.

I tried to get this completed before we went over to a friends for dinner tonight as a little gift for her ... but new patterns sometimes take a little time ... I am really happy I tried it though as I think there may be a wall hanging of this, or of Lynne's version, in the cabin sometime in the near future ...

Blue + Blue = A lot of Blue

2011-06-08T21:00:00.000-07:00

I am not typically one for posting photos of fabric ... but there's a funny story attached to this one.

I am making two quilts in the same color scheme (one for my sister-in-law who is just completing her Bachelors Degree & the other for the woman who networked me in to my current job). I decided I needed some blue solids in the quilt and went on line looking.

Solids for me are the hardest to find. My LQS has some fabulous prints, but the solid selection isn't so great. I have tried to use JoAnn (because I love my 40% off coupons), but noticed that all the solids except Kona, have started to pill from the first quilt I made 2 years ago. I'm not a big fan of buying solids on line, as minimum quantities are 1/2 yard and, even with my Kona color chart, it is always hard for me to decide which one I want.

So I went on line and came across a cool concept from Pink Chalk Fabrics.

A monthly solids club! It apparently comes in FQs, half yard and full yard options. I chose the FQ option ... for $14.95 per month, I get 8 FQs in a color theme every month. And I have NO pinks in my stash ... so I thought what a great idea!

I also went to eQuilter.com and came across their Kona FQ Pack in Aqua and Turquoise -- which was perfect for my current projects.

I got back from the cabin last night and my Pink Chalk fabrics parcel was in the mail box. Yey!!!

I opened it ... and found some fabulous Bella Blues!!! Silly me ... the photo with pink fabrics that I saw advertising the FQ solid monthly club was for the club ... not for the month ;-).

So ... I have now gone from an under-supply of blues to an over-supply ... overnight! Good news is that all 28 FQs are gorgeous rich colors and not a single one is duplicate ;-). Can't wait to see what Pink Chalk sends me in July ;-).

Update: Kati advises that we can purchase smaller amounts of Kona solids @ FabricShack.com.

Hope you're having a great week!

All the best
Lisa

Blog give away ...

2011-06-06T21:43:00.000-07:00

Not over here ... over there ...

Kati has a great giveaway on her blog, from the blue chair ... "Inspired to Sew" by Bari J.

According to Amazon, the book is definitely worth a visit. But then again ... so is Kati! Fabulous work ... head on over if you haven't been there yet or lately!

All the best
Lisa

I got featured!

2011-06-05T17:25:00.000-07:00

Sarah Craig, over at Confessions of a Fabric Addict features the blog of a fellow quilter each Sunday. I have been introduced to some GREAT new quilters through her Sunday posts and imagine my pleasure when asked if she could feature ME today!

I continue to be amazed at the generosity of the quilting community I have found and Sarah is no exception ... spend a week looking at her blog posts and you will see recommendations, sharing, thanks, and an amazing number of quilts being made ... and most of them for charity.

Thanks Sarah ... for all that you do to provide quilts for people in need, promote fellow bloggers and introduce me personally to a whole bunch of new and cool people.

If you haven't visited Sarah yet or lately ... make sure that you do soon!

All the best
Lisa

Box-spring cover tutorial

2011-06-04T23:16:00.000-07:00

New quilt with new box-spring cover

When I completed this quilt for the cabin guest room this past winter, I realized that I needed to make a box spring cover ... which I blogged about here. (and the bed frame was a great find on Craigslist.org).

I had done a number of Google searches looking for a pattern or tutorial and couldn't find one. So I thought I would go ahead and make one and took photos as I was figuring out how to make it.

First, I started with an old fitted sheet. I had one hanging around the cabin, but if you don't you can pick one up for a relatively low cost at Goodwill or Value Village. Pull off the mattress and put it on the box spring.

Then mark lines on the fitted sheet where the feature fabric will attach the top of the sheet. To ensure that the sheet doesn't show once the mattress was put back on, mark ~3" from the edge of the box spring.

The Material

The amount of fabric you need depends on the size of bed you're making this for. This is going on a queen size bed, so the longest piece I would need would be about 95" (80" for each side + 8" overlap for a 4" minimum on each end + extra yardage (7") for shrinkage. I also wanted some extra for a throw pillow, so in the end I bought 3.5 yards. Typically I don't prewash, but I did with this material. I was pretty confident that at some point I am going to want to take this off and wash it, so it needed to be pre-shrunk so that it would still fit on the box spring after washing.

After the laundry, I first made sure I had 88 lineal inches of fabric and cut there, setting the extra fabric aside. Then cut the 88" piece into 3 pieces length-wise. This minimizes piecing, which was important with the material that I was using, but may be less important for your choice.

My material was 44" wide, so I was able to able to cut three 14" wide pieces (once I removed the selvedges). Meaning I ended up with 3 pieces -- each 88" x 14".

Then finish all four edges of each piece with a tight zig-zag stitch. You don't want it to fray when washed at some point in the future and you don't want any threads to end up hanging down below the bed where people could see them.

Then remove the fitted sheet from the box spring and sew the side panels in place (right sides of fabric to to right side of sheet so that it folds over neatly). You should sew along the lines that you had previously marked on the sheet (3" from the edge).

This is the part that you have to feel your way through ... at the top of the bed, I simply tuck the material in and stitched, at the bottom, however, unless you have a footboard, you want to take a little more care so that you don't have bulges.

First, pin the end in a continuous line from the top. Then bring the extra material over from the right (like a hospital corner on a sheet) and pin it. Then removed it from the bed and stitched it ... as seen in the photo below:

Stitching down the vertical as well as the diagonal.

Repeat for the other side.

Then take the 3rd panel that you cut, which will be go along the base of the box spring. Finish one end ... I simply rolled it on itself several times and then stitched.

Then pin it to the box spring and measure where to finish the other end.

pinned on to get feel for where to make final stitches

measuring where to finish the other end

Once measured properly, stitch onto the fitted sheet -- the bottom of the panel will still be hanging loose. Put the bottom of the fitted sheet back on the bed (leave the top of the sheet loose).

Pin the bottom panel to the finished ends of the sides. Note in the photo below how the pinning actually sits under the box spring slightly -- this shouldn't be an issue getting off as the top of the sheet should only be sitting on loosely, not tightly.

Fit and pin both ends.

My bed has slats, so I was able to stop at this point, simply tuck the 3" of excess material in under the slats and I was done. If you don't have slats, you may want to purchase some lightweight elastic to stitch around ... you don't need anything tight, just a little bit of tension to keep it from drooping under the bed.

In the end ... while I was really happy with how the box spring came out, I wasn't happy with how it looked with the quilt that I had made for the bed ;-(. So I am in the process of making another slightly smaller quilt that will sit at the bottom of the bed and bring a little depth to the top, not just the bottom.

Still to be quilted, but believe this will help bring it all together -- and I will use some of the extra material I had from the box spring cover to bind the quilt and make a throw pillow.

And since it's a cabin, you can NEVER have too many quilts on a bed ;-).

Let me know if I can add any clarity on this ... it wasn't the easiest tutorial to write ...

All the best

Lisa

Public service announcement

2011-06-01T23:05:00.000-07:00

I've thought long and hard about how to do this ... how to send out a message to a predominantly female community about something that I personally know matters ... and have decided that the direct approach makes the most sense ... so here goes.

This coming November, I will be a 10-year Ovarian Cancer survivor. I have spent the past 9 1/2 years living ... making sure I didn't take for granted the things that I had in prior years.

But as my 10th anniversary nears ... I feel different ... and I want to make a difference. So I have set a goal to raise $10,000 by November of this year to donate to the Marsha Rivkin Ovarian Foundation. But this isn't about fund raising ... it's about awareness.

You see, Ovarian Cancer is known as the 'silent killer'. There is no early detection test ... no mammogram ... no colonoscopy ... it quietly effects and then it is too late. But there are early symptoms ... and the difference between an early diagnosis and a late diagnosis is the difference between life and death with this disease.

So while I want to raise $5,000 ... that's my measurable goal ... I really want to raise awareness ... that is a lot harder for me to measure ... but what REALLY matters.

What are the signs and symptoms of ovarian cancer?

Ovarian cancer may cause one or more of these signs and symptoms:

Vaginal bleeding (particularly if you are past menopause) or discharge from your vagina that is not normal for you.
Pain or pressure in the pelvic or abdominal area (the area below your stomach and in between your hip bones).
Back pain.
Bloating, which is when the area below your stomach swells or feels full.
Feeling full quickly while eating.
A change in your bathroom habits, such as having to pass urine very badly or very often, constipation, or diarrhea.

Pay attention to your body, and know what is normal for you. If you have vaginal bleeding that is not normal for you, see a doctor right away. If you have any of the other signs for two weeks or longer, see a doctor. These symptoms may be caused by something other than cancer, but the only way to know is to see your doctor. Treatment is most effective when ovarian cancer is found and treated early.

I was diagnosed right as I turned 40 ... so was Gilda Radner ... we were definitely younger than the average, but not the youngest. Know the symptoms and know your body ... and if it doesn't feel right ... see your doctor.

You will hear more from me over the next few months ... I promise not to become a pain ... but if I can help one woman find it early like I did ... it will be worth it.

Think of your mothers, sisters, and friends and make sure that everyone is aware of the symptoms of Ovarian Cancer -- one in 70 of you will be diagnosed with it in your lifetime ... and the difference in being diagnosed early versus late is the difference between life and death ... I know...

All the best

Lisa

A real doll quilt ...

2011-05-30T16:37:00.000-07:00

Lily's doll quilt

Last week I shared a quilt that I made for my friend Julie who had a little boy on the way. He arrived safe and sound in the wee hours Saturday morning. This is for his big sis Lily ... for her dolls.

Test quilt

It is also a 'test quilt' for me. I created a simple pattern to use up some of my solid scraps. I might be a bit ambitious, as I intend to make a queen size quilt out of them for the cabin. Which means I will need to cut about 1,380 pieces.

360 down ... only 1,020 to go ;-)

I also tried some straight-line quilting without any guides.

Back with alternating width between quilting lines

I like them on the doll quilt, but would likely struggle on my little machine to carry this off on a large quilt, let alone a queen size one ... so will have to figure out the quilting at a later point.

Quite happy with the effect with the 3-piece blocks and looking forward to some additional scrap cutting so I can get started on the bigger version. A couple of learnings ... including to pay attention to my patterns, as I ended up with two of the same pieces side by side ... but figure Lily won't notice ;-).

Will get this packaged up and over to them sometime next week.

Great weekend here in the Pacific Northwest ... hope it was also a happy one for all you. On this Memorial Day in the US, remembering those who made the ultimate sacrifice so that we could have our freedom.

All the best

Lisa

Envelope Quilt tutorial

2011-05-28T21:24:00.000-07:00

I've made this quilt twice now:

And have been asked several times for the tutorial ... so here it is:

Update ... the brown in the to quilt is Kona Coffee by Robert Kaufman (thanks for asking GoneAussieQuilter).

The quilt by the numbers:
The quilt is based on 5" squares, turned into half-square triangles (HSTs), which make 8" blocks.

You will want to start with a variety of prints and one solid color.

Each block is made from two solid 5" squares and 2 print 5" squares (the same print).

In the brown quilt above, all 4 prints were the same in each block. In the white quilt, the HSTs that comprise the base of the envelope were the same print, and the reversed out HST (or the top of the envelope) was made from a different print. Up to you on which you prefer.

As each block is comprised of 4 squares (2 print and 2 solid), you can calculate how many squares, and therefore how much fabric you will need, by simply counting the number of blocks you intend to use and multiply that number by 2.

Example: A quilt that is 6 blocks wide x 8 blocks tall would be 48 blocks in total (and yield a quilt ~48" x 64"). Doing the math, you would need 48 x 2 = 96 print squares and 48 x 2 = 96 solid squares.

Making the blocks:
First ... chain stitching the squares to make half-square triangles:

Mark the squares from corner to corner (I choose to mark the solids)

Sandwich it with the print square (right sides together) and then stitch 1/4" on either side of the line

Your square will look like this

I chain stitch a number of these squares together, clip and then chain stitch again in the other direction. This saves a lot of time in the creation of the blocks.

Cut down the line (between the two stitched lines)

Press the seams open and arrange the 4 HST like this

Sew together at seams to create this block

Each finished block measures 8.5" and is comprised of 2 print squares and 2 solid squares.

Layout:

As you can see from my two quilts at the beginning of this post, I laid them out so the 'top of the envelope' points one direction in one row and the in the other direction for the next row.

Here's a couple of different options:

Top of envelope left to right, varied by row

All envelop tops pointing to the left

Alternating envelope top by column

As you can see, there are a variety of different patterns that you can make. Mine are most symmetrical because ... well ... that's me. But you could also use a random pattern as well.

My newest version -- putting all the envelop tops in the same direction

Let me know if you have any questions.

Hope my US & UK friends are having a great long weekend. I am looking forward to getting a little running in.

All the best
Lisa

Question for my knitting friends

2011-05-25T22:47:00.000-07:00

Thanks everyone! I have forwarded your thoughts on and I know that she is very appreciative!

Trying to help out a friend ... she's going through chemotherapy right now ... stuck at home, bored and feeling a general lack of accomplishment. She wants to return to knitting, something that she has enjoyed doing in the past. She can't go into stores (concerns about picking up germs from others), so I am looking for some on-line resources that she can use for yarn and needles.

Can anyone recommend some online resources that I can share with her?

Thanks!
Lisa

Strip quilt for a little boy ...

2011-05-22T19:02:00.000-07:00

He's almost here ... 2 weeks to go! My friend "J" is SO close to delivering a little boy and the excitement in their house is contagious!!

Quilt front

So a little strip quilt was in order!

I made my first strip quilt with some of these fabrics for little "D" two years ago ... and his mom reports it is now his go-to blanket and dragged everywhere he goes ... nothing excites a quilter more than that now does it ?!?!?

Quilt back

I put a little salmon color into this one with the Lizzy House Red letter days ... and I adore the color composition! In fact, took the quilt down to my LQS this afternoon, to pick up some new prints that are similar to what I used in this quilt.

I also mitered the corners for the first time! They aren't perfect, but I finally tackled something that I have a bit nervous about trying!

Quilt by the numbers:

37" x 48"

Front: 9 prints and a little Kona Ash Gray solid, in 18 strips

Back: Chocolate Kona with some pieced prints

Binding: Kona Ash Gray

Quilting: Tight meandering with a light gray 100% cotton thread

Now I've got to make a little doll quilt for their 4-year old daughter before I deliver this next week.

Hope you all had a great weekend!

All the best

Lisa

Birthday banner for a 2-year-old

2011-05-18T22:43:00.001-07:00

Birthday banner

My friend saw this birthday banner that I made to celebrate my husband's birthday back in March and commissioned me to make one for her two-year-old's birthday.

Since I had used this tutorial that someone else had put together, I didn't feel right selling it, so it was MY present to little "D". I also had some of the great hedge hog material that I had won in a drawing from Stephanie over at Loft Creations last year -- but don't have kids to use it on -- so it helped me clean out my stash a little bit too!

We were out of town and didn't get to attend the big event, but the banner was a hit and now she says ...

... she has 3 more commissions if I am interested ;-).

All the best
Lisa

Bloggers Quilt Festival ... Already???

2011-05-16T22:59:00.000-07:00

Wow ... it has definitely been a busy year ... the Bloggers Quilt Festival over at Amy's Creative Side is back!

While I have been busy ... I haven't been quilting quite as much as I would have liked to ... so my entry this year is a quilt I designed and made back in the spring of 2010.

Corner Block Quilt

I designed the pattern for this quilt and called it the Corner Block Quilt. I also created my first tutorial and shared the instructions on how to make it here.

What I like most about this quilt is how creative you can be with 4 solids and a print!

I also enjoyed creating a special quilt for a good friend.

Mostly, I miss the creativity of quilting ... and after looking through so many of the Blogger Quilt Festival quilts last night ... I actually started on a new one tonight!

Enjoy the show!
All the best
Lisa

Share the love ...

2011-05-08T13:42:00.000-07:00

There are some lovely people out there in blog land who are working to lend a hand to raise money for those that have suffered so greatly in Japan ... yes, now that the nuclear melt down is not in the media daily, it can be easy to forget the massive suffering that is going on over there ...

One of my favorite bloggers has put a fabulous quilt up for grabs ... and I would encourage you to do two things today ...

head on over to a site that is going to continue to provide help and hope to the people of Japan AND THEN ...
head on over to Alison's blog and let her know ... for a chance at winning a beautiful quilt ... and a jelly roll thrown in for good measure ...

Spread the word ... and you get more chances!

Don't know who to donate too? Here's a Google search page that can help get you started! Big or small ... ALL donations help and can make a difference to those who have already suffered so much.

Thanks ... and a Happy Mother's Day to all of you mom's out there!

Last non-quilting post ...

2011-05-03T20:01:00.000-07:00

... for a while!

For those of you who have been following my non-quilting adventures ... this past weekend was my BIG race!

John and I spent the weekend in beautiful Vancouver, BC which was home to a Canuck's hockey play-off game and the Vancouver Marathon ...

Nope ... neither of us ran the marathon ...

My story first, because his is SO much better ... humble beginnings ... I started running in 2010 for the first time in my life! I made some progress in the summer, but didn't get serious until I found "Couch to 10K" in the fall and started my real training. I figured out how to turn a 13-week program into a 6-month one ... and even ran 30 miles whilst on vacation in Europe in April (now that's a great way to see a new city!). So trained I definitely was ...

John's race was to start exactly one hour before mine ... he was running the 1/2 marathon with a goal of 1 hour and 55 minutes and I was running the 8K with a 55 minutes goal ... which meant that since we had started 1 hour apart ... the competition was on ... who would cross the finish line first ...

Long story short, I was just over 7K when his text arrived ... he won!

I persevered and finished 21 seconds over my goal and placing me at #22 out of 47 women in my age group ... as a brand new runner ... I WILL TAKE THAT ...

My husband, however, at the ripe young age of 67, ran it in 1:51.36 ... which is over 8 minutes better than his best time ever. That placed him #3 out of 40 in his age group, and placed him in the top 20% of ALL 1/2 marathon runners in Vancouver that day ... absolutely amazing and TOTALLY motivating!

I am so happy with the weekend ... in the process of learning how to run, I lost 17 pounds and have really focused on making sure I am eating a far more healthful diet ... I am equally proud of my man ... he did a GREAT job ...

Promise ... back to quilting for the next post!

All the best
Lisa

A Surprise Party!

2011-04-23T21:23:00.000-07:00

And boy was I surprised!!!

They got me! Last night, my husband, along with 20 wonderful friends, created an evening that I will forever cherish!

Yup ... I turn 50 next week ... a half a century, five-decades, a life lived well! It's a birthday I have been eyeing for awhile and really looking forward to and I am thrilled to have arrived (see ... there's something good about cancer ... "zero" birthdays are something you aspire too ;-).

And I couldn't think of a better way to kick it off then to arrive home last night with a house full of friends gathered to help me celebrate this milestone!

I am a lucky lady ... very, very lucky.

All the best
Lisa

Color inspirations

2011-04-20T21:12:00.000-07:00

It is hard to believe that just a little over a week ago, we were in one of the most amazing cities I have ever been to, Istanbul. A couple of photos from the AMAZING spice bazaar and fabulous color inspirations ...

Spices

Dried Fruit

Tea

Meats

and ... Pillows!

It was an amazing week ...

All the best

Lisa

Dutch prints

2011-04-19T06:02:00.000-07:00

We are home safe, sound and exhausted from our trip to Europe. While in Amsterdam, I was able to get to Dutch Quilt shop that Alison from Little Island Quilting recommended and that I blogged about here.

One of 6 remaining "working" windmills in the city

The "loot"

Some "antique" prints for my "modern" quilt ... hmmm

The very happy shopper

The view from our apartment to the canal below

My definition of a good shopping day!

I have another week to figure out what I want to do for my quilting bee with these ... but I am very excited at the prospect and truly appreciate everyone's help in providing me with potential fabric stores while we were on our journey.

Hope that spring is warming up in your neighborhood.

All the best
Lisa

Greetings from Amsterdam!

2011-04-12T09:59:00.000-07:00

While I don't have the ability to send photos remotely right now, John & I were able to visit Dutch Quilts here in Amsterdam this afternoon.

I was told the "American fabrics" were upstairs, though I never made it ... Falling in love with lovely "Dutch" prints instead.

Though they are not my traditional fabric choices, they are traditional fabrics and I am excited to use them for my month in the Modern Quilting Bee II in May. I know ... traditional fabrics in a Modern bee ... let me work on that on the flight home ;-).

And for the trip ... 5 days in Berlin was fabulous, one morning we went for a run in the Tiergarten (the large park in the center of the city) and they were starting to close down some of the roads ... turns out that the Berlin half marathon started about an hour after we finished (with over 25,000 runners)!

We met up with some friends from the UK for 5 nights in Istanbul. Truly one of the most AMAZING cities I have ever been to and a fabulous chance to spend time with dear friends.

We arrived in Amsterdam last night and have the cutest little apartment. Where I sit now admiring my fabric purchase, enjoying a cup of tea, peeking through 100+ year-old glass at the lovely canal below.

Holiday fabric shopping

2011-03-26T09:44:00.000-07:00

It is getting closer! And I want to leverage this international community.

View April Holiday in a larger map

We will be heading to Amsterdam, Berlin and Istanbul ... and I am hoping to pick up some prints to be used in my month for Fresh Modern Bee 2 in May. I figured it would be a great way to remember my trip as well as my first [but I hope not last] experience in a quilting bee.

So does anyone have any recommendations for any quilt shops in these cities?

I'm off to run in the rain ... hope you're having a great weekend too!

All the best
Lisa

Blog sharing ...

2011-03-24T20:58:00.000-07:00

New job, preparing for vacation, ramping training mileage for my first 8K and trying to figure out how to use iPhoto as we traded in our PC for a MAC (don't laugh ;-).

Reality ... quilting has suffered. But the reason for this post ... blog sharing. Earlier this year, there were a number of folks out there giving credit to smaller blogs ... sharing our work if you will. I was fortunate to be mentioned in a couple of places and hopefully, have been a little inspiration to a few more bloggers over that time period. One of the bloggers who so generously mentioned me was Marianne over at The Quilting Edge.

I don't point you back to her because she mentioned me ... I point you back to her because she has done some amazing quilting! I first discovered Marianne on Flickr last fall when she had posted some photos of her incredible stash in her studio. I had actually shown the photo to my husband so that he would know what good restraint I had been exercising!

Then I saw this quilt:

To me ... it represented EVERYTHING I could love about modern quilting ... colors, pattern, unique quilting, and most of all vision and courage.

Vision to create incredibly unique improv blocks and the courage to execute them.

Stop by and visit her ... I think you will be equally amazed!!!

All the best
Lisa

Fresh Modern Bee March 2011

2011-03-19T21:09:00.000-07:00

Allison @ PioneerValleyGirl is this months block designer for Fresh Modern Bee II.

These are from her design called "Walk in the Park", and are made from Kona Coal and Central Park. These types of blocks appeal to my sense or order ;-), so they are a joy to make and the fabric is quite special.

"Played" outside at the cabin for a little while this afternoon -- getting a little Vitamin D! Friday was my last day at my old company and Monday will be my first day at my new company ... an internet start up (yup ... really). I will be employee #8! Keep your fingers crossed ;-).

Hope you're having a great weekend!

All the best
Lisa

Remembering our fallen

2011-03-16T20:06:00.000-07:00

For those of you who followed the saga of the Fallen Star quilt ... my sister-in-law, who lives in Hawaii, received the quilt (and table runner) last week and was thrilled and she really like the 'fallen star' theme (their silent auction is on April 30th).

My brother was home in on R&R from Iraq for 2 weeks ... his Facebook post on Saturday before he left to go back to Iraq.

Torrential rains, day and a half without power, sick family members, and a night huddled in the car like gypsies due to a Tsunami evacuation; one heck of a R&R, but I wouldn't trade the time with my family for anything though.

These guys do so much for us ...

"D" had this video made to support their cause ...

Worth a view ...

All the best
Lisa

Color for a cause

2011-03-15T21:26:00.000-07:00

A new version of my envelope quilt. This quilt is part of a collection that will be taken to a local hospice in another week or two. The quilts are gifted to the patient when they enter the hospice and the family keeps them after their loved one passes.

We were asked to keep them bright and cheerful and I couldn't think of a better reason to cut into my Freebird by MoMo fabric by Moda.

I first came up with this pattern last summer and blogged about it here. It's a pretty simple and I am delighted how it came out on with the Chocolate Kona and the bright colors.

The back is Kona Chocolate and Kona Artichoke with some patterned blocks in the middle.

I tried some different quilting techniques on this one ... a little meandering mingled with a little loop-de-loop. I am kind of indifferent to the outcome.

The birthday weekend in wine country was a success. In the end, I made quiche and cranberry/orange muffins on Saturday morning. I premixed all the dry ingredients and wet ingredients in Seattle on Thursday night and then simply combined the wet and dry on Saturday morning.

The birthday banner was a hit ... and I have now taken orders to make 4 of them for friends ;-). Finally ... running was great on Sunday morning (while all the other wine tasters slept) and I was able to run 4 ten minute segments with only 1 minute walking in between ... never, ever, would have thought I could have gotten here just 4 months ago ;-).

Hope you're having a great week!

All the best
Lisa

Piecing batting

2011-03-08T22:52:00.000-08:00

I think I have finally used up the bulk of the excess batting lying around the house ... I make mostly lap quilts, but buy bags of batting that are meant for either twin or full size quilts. Leaving me with quite a bit of reasonable size excess batting pieces.

It's actually quite simple to piece. All you really need is for each piece to have a cleanly cut edge ... I usually fold it up and cut a clean edge with my rotary cutter. Butt the two edges of the pieces together that you want to sew ... position them under the presser foot on your machie and set the zig zag stich for a large, and broad, stitch (I set my Pfaff on 7 and take it to the largest zig zag). Allow the materials to move through as they flow, being careful on to stretch the batting, or you'll get a seam that won't lay flat.

Three separate pieces of batting sewn together

One thing that has suprised me is the variability of the thickness of the batting. As I only buy one brand, I had expected that there would have been more uniformity from bag to bag of product.

I also got the envelope quilt basted tonight ... this is for a local hospice ... I like the top ... I LOVE the back! (pics to come once it is quilted).

And I got 4.88 miles running in this evening ... I am still a lot slower than I want to be by the time I run my 8K in May ... but still plenty of time to improve the pace.

Hope all is well
Lisa

Birthday banner

2011-03-05T18:09:00.000-08:00

The fact that it's not 'perfect' makes it that much more appealing to me!

John's birthday is next Thursday ... and a good friend of ours, Janine, is celebrating her birthday on Wednesday. So next weekend we are joining Janine and her partner Daisy, as well as another couple, and heading down to the Willamette Valley in Oregon (about 4 hours south of Seattle and an hour south of Portland) for a wine tasting weekend.

We rented a 3 bedroom house on VRBO, and rented a limo to take us around to different wineries on Saturday. Then on Saturday night, we're going to cook dinner together at the house and have an old fashioned Birthday Party!!!

John knows, but the other folks are in for a big surprise! I made the banner from a great tutorial on VanillaJoy.com and today ordered an ice-cream cake from Baskin Robbins. John and I then spent some time at the party story picking up party hats, napkins, candles, streamers, poppers -- don't you know I am married to a Brit -- and ordering up a balloon centerpiece for the table.

I don't have kids and John and I have moved around enough that we've never really had a big enough pool of friends to throw a birthday party for each other. So I am REALLY looking forward to throwing an old fashioned birthday party next weekend!

Lots to get done in the next week as I am responsible for breakfast (any thoughts on a quick make-ahead breakfast would be welcomed!!!) and appetizers on Saturday ...

Hope you're having a great weekend!

All the best
Lisa

Fallen Star Quilt ...

2011-02-28T20:07:00.000-08:00

UPDATE: And the quilt sold at the silent auction last weekend, raising $350 for the cause!!!

Well after a whole lot of drama ... I am happy to report that this quilt will get mailed this week.

For those of you who are new to this quilt saga. It started as a contribution for a silent auction to raise money to add the names of fallen soldiers from the 2nd Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division who are currently serving their 3rd tour in Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation New Dawn.

While it is the Air Force, not the Army, that has the tradition of "the missing man formation", the missing star on the bottom right of this quilt, is meant to represent the soldiers who will not come home.

The inspriation for this quilt came from one of my favorite quilters, Jen at Little Scraps of Happiness, who also made hers for a silent auction to raise money for a Navy charity ... you could say that I pretty much copied her quilt ... [ but she's ok with this total copy cat because she knows it's for a good cause ].

Along the way ... this quilt became fodder for my first blog giveaway ... in exchange for hearing a variety of opinions on what clicks with YOU ... I gave away a few FQs from the LQS. Kati at from the blue chair was the winner there (Kati ... I PROMISE ... in the mail tomorrow ;-).

I also learned a ton about bleeding fabric colors yesterday (here and here) ... and my heartfelt thanks to so many friends who reached out (on the blog and in email) with thoughts, concerns and solutions! All I can say is thank goodness for Kaufman's Kona White ... because every other white in this quilt thought seriously about becoming a pink ... and several did ... So as I waited to see who had won the Oscar for Best Actor, Actress and Picture ... I also waited to pull this puppy out of the wash and ultimately determine the damage.

General conclusion ... some stars are now pink ... and I can't do much about that ... but it is still worthy of being listed in the auction.

And Glenn from yarn + needle had some great insights for me last night ... "If you don't want to pre-wash try doing a "crocking" test. Take a a 5" or bigger square and put it in a warm glass of work with the soap you intend on using. You'll be able to see if the fabric will bleed in the finally wash."

And Laurel from Lively Stitches also some thoughts on color bleeding.

The quilt by the numbers:

Each star block comprised of 9 4.5" blocks.
White sashing = Kaufman Kona White
Most of the reds and blues a custom scrap bag from Pink Chalk Fabrics
Finished size 60" x 72"
Quilting = tight meandering
Back pieced out of a variety of fabrics

And while I know this is a long post ... I must share some work that my friend and colleague provided for this auction. When I first told Michelle about what I was doing, she immediately raised her hand to help ... and today she delivered this gorgeous table runner for the auction as well!

This was also Michelle's first attempt at wonky stars and I am SO impressed! And I love the star quilting!

Thanks Michelle ... for caring and for making such a great auction item!

I am happy to get these off to my sister-in-law and hope that they help, in an earnest way, to support this cause.

All the best
Lisa

Lesson to be learned

2011-02-27T18:39:00.000-08:00

So here's what happened ... while I used the Color Catcher, the blue and white fabric in the center of the following star was also a magnet for the loose red dye in the wash (kind of its own 'color catcher').

Before

In the following photo ... you can see how the material in the center has turned pink ... I have also laid a piece of unwashed fabric below the star, which really reflects what happened. The background to the star points has also turned somewhat pink. Though not quite as much as the center.

After the first wash ... there was some pink extending beyond the star and into the white sashing. That seems to have come out with the 2nd wash.

I am not thrilled with the 'pink' stars, but agree with John, that, "if you didn't know"...

What are your thoughts?

Before

I will try to get some overall photos of the quilt this week to share ... will reserve final judgement for a day or two.

Crushed ...

2011-02-27T14:46:00.000-08:00

Note: Thanks everyone ... the 2nd wash helped a little ... looks like one of the materials has the same fibers in it as the color catcher ... as it caught the red and turned it pink. I will post some separate pics of what happened. John thinks it will be ok ... would value everyone elses thoughts.

Well ... at least I got a couple of photos taken before I washed it ...

Here's the color catchers ...

The one on the right is unused

Unfortunately ... the color catchers did not catch all the color ... the quilt is now going through another wash ... but based on what I saw a few minutes ago ... I suspect that I won't be able to send it to the silent auction ...

I guess the good news is that I allowed extra time ... the silent auction isn't until April and my plan was to finish before the end of February ...

Painful way to learn a valuable lesson ...

Tickled pink!

2011-02-22T22:10:00.000-08:00

I ran 5.35 miles today in 63 minutes!!! That's the best I have EVER done! For those of you who've been following ... I started running (for the first time in my life) last spring and then gave it up in late summer. I tried again in the fall with a "Couch to 10K" program, which is supposed to last 13 weeks ... I've now been at it technically 20 weeks and this evening I completed the 8th week of the program. I had some fits and starts, and a number of weeks that I repeated as I wasn't sure I was yet ready (physically or mentally) to move on. But overall ... this program has been transformational!

To say that I am thrilled with my progress would be SUCH an understatement! I had really struggled over the past month ... I was now running far enough (5 minutes running for each 1 minute of walking over an hour) that just training on the weekends wasn't working any more, I needed some mid-week endurance runs as well. But with the dark days in Seattle (I won't run in the dark and I can't stand treadmills) I wasn't getting the mid week training that I needed.

So this week I decided enough was enough. I put a 4PM running appointment on my calendar for Tuesday and Thursday and today I kept my appointment ... it was great. The Interurban Trail is a biking trail that goes right by the office and I was able to get out and run, come back before dark for a quick meeting with one of my employees and then get home, showered and fed by 6:30 ... it was perfect!

I've also made some progress on my next envelope quilt -- Sarah ... I promise a tutorial on this one! If you remember, I designed this last summer and gave it to my sister-in-law for her birthday.

I am not so good in the 'planning' department for quilting and I know that I often waste a great deal of time because I cut, piece, sew, iron then cut, piece, sew, iron then cut, piece, sew, iron (you get the picture).

So Saturday evening was spent cutting. Cutting 448 - 5" squares (half solid and half print). I am making a smaller quilt (50" x 60") for a community outreach program to a senior citizen's home and then a larger one (60" x 70") for my guest room at the cabin. In the cabin, this will be the brown on top of the bed that ties into the box spring cover I blogged about here.

And Sunday afternoon was spent piecing, sewing and ironing. I got 25 of the 112 blocks I will need completed. Tonight I chain stitched an additional 44 squares and will get them cut and ironed later this week.

I'll share photos soon ... as the dark brown with the Moda Momo fabrics really creats some great contrast!

I hope you are all finding a little time for yourselves as well.

All the best
Lisa

And the winner is ...

2011-02-21T21:43:00.000-08:00

And #28 is Kati who blogs at from the blue chair!

My thanks to ALL of you who played in my first blog giveaway ... it was a brilliant exercise to learn not just what people liked and disliked ... but to see the blocks through others peoples eyes and understand the why! I learned a lot about patterns, color and composition through this exercise ... so my thanks to all of you!

And now a little of that analytical mind ... there were a total of 78 votes, 41 likes and 37 dislikes.

There were a total of 29 blocks
Six blocks recieved no votes either way
Nine blocks had at least one person like them (but no dislikes)
Four blocks had at least one person dislike them (but no likes)
Most interesting to me ... ten blocks had both 'like' and 'dislike' votes!!!

There was a clear winning block ... 7 readers chose block #26 as their favorite. They like the "dots, colors, mix of fabrics and overall composition".

Block #26

There was also a clear loser ... a total of 9 readers chose Block #23 as their least favorite (and no one claimed it as a favorite). It was "blah, monochromatic, and just didn't fit as the only single colored, solid block".

Block #23

As I mentioned, there 10 blocks that had votes from readers that were both 'likes' and 'dislikes'. Most intriguing was block #6 ... 3 readers called it their favorite and 5 readers called it their least favorite block.

Block #6

So it was great fun to see this quilt through multiple sets of eyes. I will post photos when it's complete ... using the TV room as my quilting room makes it a bit of a challenge when I am actually quilting ...

Oh ... and my favorite? Block #21 ...

Block #21

All the best
Lisa