Blogger's Quilt Festival ~ Spring 2014 {ROYGBIV category}

Realizing just this morning that each blogger can link up two projects in the Blogger's Quilt Festival, I'm excited to share this second entry.  My other entry, in the large quilt category, can be found here.  Thanks again to Amy for hosting this event each year.

This quilt was a huge challenge for me being that it is improv based, which is something that definitely does not come naturally to me.  It did come together though, and I'm more than happy with the result.  This quilt now graces the wall of my kitchen and it just brightens everything up!

Quilt stats:

Finished size:  27" x 27"
Pattern:  Improv blocks based on crazy piecing technique described in "Quilting Modern" by Katie Pedersen & Jacquie Gering

Fabric:  Colourful scraps from my overflowing bin!  Michael Miller "Old Script" binding.

Quilting:  Spiral quilting using WonderFil Tutti 50wt Egyptian cotton
Festival Category:  ROYGBIV

 

The flying geese experiment continues ~ and a giveaway!

** The giveaway is now over and the winner has been announced here.  Thanks to all who entered! **

A couple of days ago I experimented with a new-to-me method of making flying geese units.  For a tutorial, visit this website and scroll down for the second method described.  I was really pleased with the results, it is truly a no-waste method.  Then on Instagram I was pointed in the direction of yet another method, which I tried yesterday.

Obviously the results look quite the same as any other flying geese but the steps taken are really different.  Another one of those "how is this ever going to end up being what it's supposed to be" sort of things!  The tutorial for this method can be found here.  The previous method I tried really only had pros, and this latest method has a few pros and cons.  

Pros:

• you end up with a unit slightly larger which is then trimmed down to size, so there is a greater margin of error.  A plus if you're not confident in your 1/4" seam.  You will end up with units that are exactly the right size.
• with just 2 squares of fabric and a really easy step-by-step, you end up with four flying geese units

Cons:

• this is not a no-waste method.  Because you are trimming the units down to size you end up with waste, and compared with the traditional flying geese method (the first method described here) where you end up with useable waste (half square triangles), in this case you end up with unuseable waste.  Granted not a lot, but still some.
• you will end up with four identical flying geese units, which is fine if that's what you're after, but if you want to go for a scrappier look (like the units I made a couple of days ago) this isn't the method for you.

I would like to send one of these mini quilts/mug rugs to one of you!  To enter, leave a comment on this post letting me know if you would like this blue one, or the orange one.  For a second entry, if you follow me on Instagram (@windingbobbins) leave a second comment on this post to let me know.

The giveaway will end on Thursday, April 10/14.  Good luck!

Unintentional project ~ flying geese

I started off yesterday experimenting with a new-to-me flying geese method, and ended up with this:

I have made a lot of flying geese in the past, after all I did make a Swoon quilt which has many flying geese units.  These were all made with the method using a rectangle and two squares of fabric (the first method described on this page), which totally works but ends up with wasted triangles, or free HSTs if you like to think of it that way, but honestly when I'm making a project I'm not thinking that way - it ends up feeling like waste to me even if they are useful leftovers. 

Nicole pointed me in the direction of this alternate flying geese method, which actually makes 4 at a time.  This technique is the second method described in the same link I gave for the more traditional flying geese method above.  It wasn't intuitive to me but I followed the step-by-step and it totally worked!  Who comes up with these things is what I'd like to know!!  :) 

I liked my little experiment so much that I decided to add skinny borders right then and there, quilt some dense matchstick lines, bind it and call it a finish.  It ended up being 6" x 10.5" and I actually have a perfect spot for it, a place where my husband likes to put his coffee mug when he's working on his computer.  :)

There is actually another method for flying geese that was pointed out to me on Instagram that I really want to try.  Also from the Connecting Threads website, the third method can be found here.  I'll let you know if I give it a try.

One more thing.....until recently I have always joined binding strips straight, end to end, and have always been a little bit frustrated with how bulky those joins are.  On a recent project I decided to try joining my binding strips on the diagonal and I found myself wondering why I had never done this before!!?  It's a bit more effort but it distributes the bulk and makes a much smoother finished binding in my opinion.  BUT I was still joining the two final ends of the binding with a straight seam.  Yesterday when I was finishing this little mug rug I decided to try joining the two ends on the diagonal and I found that it was so much easier than I thought it would be (like so many things!!) and will do it like this from now on.  You can find the tutorial I used here.

Have a wonderful day everyone!

Linking up with finish it up Friday @ Crazy Mom Quilts
 

Spiral Rainbows

This small (finished at 27" x 27") scrap busting project has been in the works for quite a few months.  I didn't know when I started exactly where I wanted to end up, but I'm very happy with the final destination.  :)

I started by digging through my scraps and dividing them into colour groups, then put the blocks together using the crazy piecing technique described in "Quilting Modern."  This falls under the category of 'improvisation' which as I've said many times, does not come easily or naturally to me, so for me these blocks were a lot of work.  I have a hard time just letting random be random and I probably put way too much thought into it!

After seeing Debbie's 'Unlocked' quilt quilted in a spiral, I knew I wanted to give it a try on this project.  I had quilted concentric circles once before, quite a long time ago, so I needed a refresher on how to get started, and any tips and tricks I could gather to make it as smooth as possible.  I hope to write a blog post soon with what worked for me as far as the spiral goes, so stay tuned for that! **quilting a spiral blog post is up, you can find it here**

I found this really awesome Michael Miller "Old Script" fabric to use for the binding, and I just love it.  And in case you're wondering, the backing is nothing to write home about, a plain solid cream, which is why it is not pictured!

I hope your day has been as beautiful and sunny as ours has been!  Thanks for stopping by.

Linking up with finish it up Friday @ Crazy Mom Quilts

Memories

The little embroidery piece I purchased on our overseas adventure over Christmas has found its way into a quilting project, and I couldn't be happier with how it turned out.

I hummed and hawed over pretty much every aspect of this project, starting off with how to get the embroidery itself as square and as warp-free as possible, to choosing border fabrics, to how to quilt it, how much to quilt it, and what to bind it with!  Also my decision to use a double layer of batting, which had me doubting all the way till the end. 

But now it's finished, it lays nice and flat (bonus!), the double layer of batting adds a really nice dimension to it and the minimal quilting is just enough.

Many of you helped in my choices along the way, so thank you!  It all works together and this project will serve as a wonderful way to remind us of our trip and the memories we made with family and new friends.

Just a few days ago, this particular spot on the wall had became home to the other wall hanging we brought back, and needing an indoor spot for photos today I swapped it out for the embroidery and I have to say, I prefer the embroidery here!  So I guess we'll see where everything eventually finds a permanent home.  :)

Linking up with Finish it up Friday @ Crazy Mom Quilts

W.I.P. Wednesday

My work in progress this week has been bordering and finishing the embroidery I bought while on holidays.  Thanks to everyone who gave input regarding the border fabrics - the majority said orange for the outer border and that's what I ended up going with.  I'm really happy with how it turned out and now need to figure out how in the world to baste & quilt it!  Obviously I won't quilt over the embroidery block, and probably some straight quilting lines in each of the frames would do, but we'll see!  Any ideas?

Linking up with Lee @ Freshly Pieced

Opinions please ~ choosing borders

This weekend I worked on making the embroidery piece I brought back from our holidays a little bit smoother and less wonky/wavy in order to make it more workable in a project and I'm happy to say that I've been mostly successful.  

I slightly stretched it out and pinned it to the carpet, then gave it a thorough spritz with water and left it to dry for the past few days.  Most of the waviness is gone, and while it'll never be perfectly square (the embroidery itself is not square or on grain to begin with) it's far better than it was and I'm excited to give it a little colourful fabric treatment before hanging it on the wall.

I'm going to keep it simple and do just two borders but I'm having a hard time deciding.  I like the aqua check as the first border, but then I have three options for the second border.  What do you think?  (click photo for a larger view)

Thanks!

Really Random Thursday, and a kind word about 'No Reply Bloggers'

My Notting Hill mini is finished and is up on the wall in my sewing nook!

Currently being held up with tape.  Am I the only one who does this??  :)

It's hard to really capture the matchstick quilting with such busy fabrics, but these two photos below give a better idea.  I LOVE it!  I wouldn't do it on a project much bigger than this, and definitely not on something that I wanted to be soft and snuggly, but for this type of project it is perfect, or for anything like placemats, runners, etc.  Uses a lot of thread though so be prepared for that!

Next topic.  Now, I am the last person to be talking about technical things but I have something to say about the whole 'No Reply Blogger' issue.  I am currently holding a giveaway and so have received a lot of comments.  Many of them are 'no-reply comments' which means that in some cases I have no way to respond.  Any of you who have held giveaways on your blogs know what I'm talking about.

I have always thought that these commenters just don't know that they show up as no-reply and that those of us who do know can help by sharing how to fix the issue. 

Well, I've done some reading over the last few days and this is what I've learned.  People who blog using anything other than Blogger will always show up as a no-reply commenter and there is nothing they can do about it. (short of creating a Blogger account just to comment, but that would be like asking a Blogger user to create a Wordpress account for the same reason....shouldn't be expected)

Lots of non-Blogger bloggers (if that makes sense!  ha!  I'm talking about Wordpress blogs, Typepad blogs, etc.) include their email address on their website and many times if you actually click through to their blog from the comment, even if they show up in your email as no-reply, you can find some way to contact them.

Let's have a little love for non-Blogger users, shall we??  The ironic thing is, it's a Blogger (put out by Google) problem and yet it's us Blogger people who make such a big deal about it.

Now, there are also many people who happily comment using a Blogger account (lots don't actually have a blog themselves but still have a Blogger account), but do not have an email address associated with their account.  In these cases, there truly is no way to reply to the comment.  So in reference specifically to my current giveaway, if one of these commenters is the winner I will not be able to contact them, therefore a new winner will be chosen.  It is these who could benefit from articles like this one that describe how to make sure that an email address is associated with your Blogger account, if that is what you want.

If you choose to not associate an email address with your Blogger account (not everyone wants their personal info out there) and you like to enter blog giveaways, please just leave your email address in your comment!  And if you're worried about being spammed, you can format your email address like this: email (AT) address (DOT) com

Alright, that's it for me for now.  Chime in with your opinion if you have one, let me know if I'm missing something, and I hope that we can all just get along.  :)

W.I.P. Wednesday

Last week I was just finishing up the binding on my Roller Rink quilt, and I'm happy to report that it is finished and being well used and loved already.  It's SO big, which we love!  You can read all the details here if you are interested.

If you follow me on Instagram (@windingbobbins) you will already know that this week I took out my scraps of Notting Hill and put them together randomly into half square triangles.  TINY half square triangles!  Each one finishes at 1.5".  So obviously, this is a mini quilt project and one that will be finished quickly.  I hope to hang it in my little sewing nook. The super dense 'matchstick quilting' is inspired by some of Leanne's recent work.

P.S.  I find it kind of sad that my ipod takes better photos than my camera!!  haha  The above is an ipod photo.  :)

Upcoming Projects:

• Stack & Whack wonky quilt for my friend's daughter.  All of the fabric she ordered for it has now come in so I should be in business soon on that one.
• Family Passport Wallet (6-pocket version) for my sister's friend.
• Still planning to make myself a Have It All Wallet (my test version, which I've swapped with the lovely Lucy, can be seen here) but it's not high priority at the moment.

Also, I am currently holding a giveaway, sponsored by Sew Sisters Quilt Shop as part of Blogathon Canada.  The giveaway, which is open to everyone, will remain up until the end of week so if you are interested, visit this blog post for more info!

Have a great week everyone!

back in the {modern} groove

Three posts in one day - I promise, this won't be a regular occurrence!  I didn't sew very much over the summer, but I'm quickly getting back into it now that my crafty time has increased......a little sneak peek for you, one more little project.  Just finished, but it's too dark to take proper photos.  Until tomorrow.....

{un} nesting block

If you read my post a few hours ago, you know I had a bit of trouble using a decorative stitch to finish off this little project.  But I figured that if I fiddled around with it and tried to make it work, I'd be potentially wasting a lot of thread, and really I didn't want to spend that much effort on this project, so I went with a simple double straight line of stitching instead and let's call it done.

The pattern is 'Stack & Nest Quilted Blocks' by Elizabeth Hartman.  It has instructions for 4 different sized blocks that nest into each other.  The one above is the 5" block.  As usual with Elizabeth's instructions, they are very thorough and clear, very nice finishing techniques, and lots of helpful photos.  I recommend it!

The pattern calls for a heavyweight sew-in interfacing for one step, which I'd never used before.  My fabric store does not carry the common brand names that I see around online (Timtex, Peltex, etc.) so I just picked one of a few choices that were there, and it worked out great.  The block has really good structure, stands up perfectly on its own, but is still soft and quilty.

Just had to include a photo of my favourite part of this Heather Ross fabric.  The little underwear-toting owl.  My kids were pretty amused by that.  :)

So as with most of my sewing projects, all's well that ends well!

Two family finishes...

Both of these projects have now been gifted so I can finally share!

First up, my scrappy postage stamp quilt.  This started out as a possible donation quilt project but when the patchwork was finished I liked it so much that I didn't know if I could part with it.  So it sat for quite a while as I decided how to do the borders and binding, which took a long time as you might remember!  Fast forward to more recently...my sister and her family are moving overseas this fall and I really wanted to send a quilt with them but I wasn't sure if they would be able to/want to pack a quilt, so I asked and she said "yes!", so I knew this quilt would be for them.

It is bordered in Kona Snow, bound with Kona Grass, and the backing is a gray gingham that I really like.  I figured that the back needed to be a little bit more subdued than the front!

The second finish that I want to show you is a mug rug that I made for my Dad, at his request.  I sorted through my fabric leftovers and picked out a bunch of different grays.  I went with a simple string block design, trying to make the strips different widths to make the "rounds" a little bit wonky, but I realize now that I should have varied the widths a lot more than I did to achieve more of that effect.  But oh well, I still really like the result!  It measures about 7.5" square.

I have to say - I've made a lot of quilting projects over the last couple of years and a lot of them have been for our own home, which is great, but making things for other people is even greater I think. 

Hexagon Pencil Case

This little project is the Pencil Case from "I Love Patchwork" by Rashida Coleman-Hale.  In the end, it turned out soooo very cute, but it was very fiddly and this was a huge learning experience for me.

I've worked with zippers a few times before, but the way this one was installed made the process so easy.  You create a 'zipper panel' as opposed to sewing the outer and lining pieces directly to the zipper, which is where I've struggled in the past.  So, zipper - check!  Applying heavy interfacing to all outer pieces - check!  Making adorable 1/2" hexagons with scrap solids - check!  

Sewing large end hexagons to outer pieces....hmmmmmm.  I really thought there was an error in the pattern because I could not figure out how this size hexagon was supposed to fit!  I even sent the designer an email.  In the meantime though, I figured it out - sort of.  I got the hang of it by the end, having to do it 4 times - twice on the outer and twice on the lining - but believe me it is NOT pretty on the inside!  Thankfully, that is the part that will never be seen.  :)

The lining was another struggle, and hand stitching it in place was not easy and there really is quite a bit of excess lining bagging in the bottom of the pouch (not sure why?) but in the end I got over that hurdle as well. 

So, the verdict:

• a beautiful book and a really sweet pattern, even though it's tricky - maybe I just need more practice.  I look forward to trying more of her patterns.
• I LOVE this way of installing a zipper
• I omitted the little fabric loops on each end of the zipper, and now I wish I hadn't.  I can see their use now that it's finished.  Something to grab onto when opening/closing the zipper, of course!  Duh!  I omitted them because it involved turning a 1/2" wide fabric tube which I could not figure out how to do, and didn't have any ribbon suitable to use in its place, so I skipped that step.  Now I wish I'd been more patient.
• Would I make it again??  Maybe.  I want to make more zip pouches but I think I need to practice on some designs that are a bit larger (and maybe with no hexagon shaped ends!) to get the hang of the process before attempting something small like this again.  

All said though, my Crayola marking pens now have a new home!

Tell me, if you've made zip pouches, what have been your favourite patterns/tutorials??? 

Mini drawstring bag

Being so excited today that my sewing machine received a clean bill of health, I felt the need to sew something small and quick! Enter Jeni's lined drawstring bag pattern. So many bloggers have been using this pattern and posting about how quick and easy the pattern is, and I must concur. This one is the smallest bag version, which I will admit was a bit finicky, being SO small (only 4.5" high, 3.5" wide), but it's pretty adorable, hey??

Linking up with Finish it Up Friday @ Crazy Mom Quilts
Sew Darn Crafty @ Sew Many Ways

Another scrappy finish {is there a theme here?}

{finished size 18.5" x 24"}

Things have been very scrappy around here lately, haven't they? This particular one started out as a cover for my sewing machine, and ended up as a wall hanging to go above my sewing machine! The majority of the prints came from Elizabeth when I won a giveaway on her blog. She asked which colours I liked, so naturally I loved the selection of charm squares that she cut for me from her own stash.

The gray background fabric was mostly leftovers from Chrysalis. I did have to order a little bit more to finish this off, and then ended up using pretty much the last little bit to make the binding so it worked out perfectly.

I decided to quilt this with very minimal diagonal lines, and I like it! It's just enough to still allow the colourful prints do most of the talking!

For the first time, I made a hanging pocket on the back following this tutorial at Stitched In Color, which was so easy and I will definitely do it again on future small projects. I do still need to buy a skinny dowel to hang it properly, but since I'm impatient I straightened out a wire clothes hanger as well as I could and am using that for now. :)

{My humble little sewing corner}

Linking up with the following:
{Sew} Modern Monday @ Canoe Ridge Creations
Sew Darn Crafty @ Sew Many Ways
Fabric Tuesday @ Quilt Story

Little Quilt Monday @ Pieceful Life

Modern Mini Challenge, and it's a giveaway!

Edited on April 20/12: After being reminded by Krista about this mini and that it would qualify for the Festival of Half Square Triangles, I decided to link up.  

The giveaway for this quilt is now closed and the winner has been announced here.

I waffled back and forth, whether or not I would participate in this challenge. I was drawn to it (ahem, can we say awesome prizes???) but I know that I have a habit of making minis and then not knowing what to do with them, no matter how cute! I ended up emailing Jennifer, the challenge hostess, and asking if it would be okay for me to do a giveaway for my entry quilt - I didn't want to step on anyone's toes! She gave me the thumbs up, so here we are. :)

{finished size: 14.5" x 14.5"}

For this project, I used only scraps. Many are from past projects of my own, and some are scraps that I had received from a few of my lovely readers (Debbie, Lucy, Elizabeth....). I followed this tutorial for the spider-leg block design. I had so much fun putting this little quilt together, and as much as I love it I will be happy to send it off to one of you.

No major rules for the giveaway. Just leave me a comment if you'd like win this mini quilt. Please make sure that you are not a "no-reply blogger" because I must have a way to get in touch with you if you win. If you are still not sure, just leave an email address in your comment and that will do. The giveaway will end when the link-up for the challenge ends, on March 5th.

Good luck, and do make sure to check out all the other entries in the challenge over at Ellison Lane starting on March 2nd.

Linked up at Pieceful Life - Little Quilt Mondays.