Quilting Queen

I think I must be crazy! I'm planning on starting a quilting project in the next few days. I'm feeling motivated to make one.

Daddy-O bought me a really awesome book that's all patterns for quilts but all the quilts are "strip" quilts. Meaning, all the pieces are cut from strips of fabric or are strips of fabric, or just blocks. There are no triangles, no little pieces, no appliques, just strips of fabric to be cut in various lengths, which makes piecing a quilt top rather easy, and makes it a quick process, too. (If you know what a log cabin quilt looks like, that is considered a 'strip' quilt. Here's a log cabin quilt I found on the 'Net, that's made of scrap pieces. I didn't make it, though. Oh, and scrap means it's all colors, used from miscellaneous fabric, or the left over fabrics from other projects that quilters save.)

One of the quilt patterns is called a "sampler." It has 12 blocks and each block is something different. You can make a whole quilt of 12 different ones or take one block and make it 12 times. I found a simple block that I plan on using 12 times. It will take 7 different fabrics.

I own enough scrap fabric that I don't think I'm going to have to buy any. I keep picking up fabric every time I see something I like and if it's on sale I'm all over it! I love to shop for fabric, though. Every time I go in the notions department of any store, or go to a fabric store, I always have to browse and I usually come out with something. There is something special about a fabric store- all those projects just waiting for creativity to spill onto it. All the colors and textures... one of my favorite things to do, just walk around and touch all those fabrics.

Anyway, like I said, do have tons of fabric in my goodie scrap bag. I also already bought the fabric for a new baby quilt. Since the Divine Ms. K is going to get a brother or sister in June, and I made her a quilt when she was born, I have to make her new sibling a quilt as well (In January my sister-in-law is having an ultrasound that will reveal the gender and they want to know and will tell us so I can have the quilt made before the baby is even born!). I have the pattern all selected, and I have the material if it's a girl. If it's a boy I need to go shopping!

I also have the fabric and pattern to make a denim quilt for Mac. I also have the fabric and pattern to make a Texas Lone Star lap quilt for my Aunt and Uncle who live in Texas. I also have Daddy-O's quilt to finish from two years ago. Actually, I should do that first since all I have to do is the binding. It's all pieced and quilted so I should my ass in gear and finish that.

I should get sewing rather than typing about sewing. But typing about it is a lot less mess; I don't have to haul all the fabric and mat and cutting tools out. Or try and fill bobbins, read patterns and hunt for scissors. Hmmmmmmm, maybe I'll just keep looking at my quilt magazines and books and admire the handy work that's already done and keep the scrap bag in the corner!

In the mood for quilting,
Maggie

Hecate's Quilted Bag... a post in pictures

My friend Hecate decided she wanted to use a BUNCH of quilt squares she bought on eBay. Instead of starting with a quilt, she decided to make a purse. I had a purse pattern and I bought an extra one so she drove here to Civilization with her material and we decided to sew for an evening.

After looking at the patterns she picked a hipster bag style that would be a cloth bag- quilted- similar to a Vera Bradly type of bag when we got done.

We spent a better part of 2 hours arranging the fabric into a pattern. I had quilt patterns we could use but Hecate wanted something a little more freeing.

So we arranged the squares and then she actually pieced the material together using the sewing machine. She was not impressed at sewing together 36+ squares, but only sewing 4 inches at a time, stopping the machine, cutting the thread, and then sewing some more squares.

Then we needed a border and we didn't have enough black fabric so a trip to Wally World was needed. Upon the return from Wally World, Hecate decided she was done sewing. She was NOT enjoying this process.

So, I volunteered to finish the purse and I knew I would ask my friend Curley to help me out if I needed it. So I added the rest of the border. Then the piece of material was done. Then I attached the batting and did an "in the ditch" stitch on the quilt pieces. After all that was done, I was now ready to actually take the pattern out of the package and start following the pattern.

I called Curley and told her where I was in the process and I went out to her house and she and I went the rest of the way together.

Hecate quilted all her pieces together and added the border, which looked like this when she was done.

Here are the pieces of the fabric with the pattern paper still pinned to the fabric.

Here are the pieces of the quilt after we cut out the pattern and took it off.

Here's the outside of the bag- all put together!

The lining is sewn over the red and black fabric and has to be turned inside out- here it is prior to the "giving birth" (inside out tuning) process.

The lining and the purse are sewn together wrong side out so the inner lining needs to be pushed through- reverse sewing, you might say!

Now that the outer bag was shoved through a hole in the lining, it just needs to be tucked inside.

A peek inside the bag- see the inside pocket?- after the lining was stuffed down in!

Sewing on the shoulder strap!

Here's the finished product!

Now Hecate and I just need time to get together so I can give her her bag!

Some people don't like sewing...

Hecate bought a whole bunch of super cool fabric squares on ebay and me, being the crazy friend I am said I would help her make a quilt. She being the reasonable friend that she is thought we could make something smaller to start with to see if she likes quilting since she had never quilted in her entire life. And the last time she sewed anything was about 20 years ago when she was in junior high school.

So we decided to make a hipster purse. That we would quilt first. Well, that she would quilt under my tutelage.

She came to my house and after pouring over all her beautiful fabric, we had no clue what she was going to do. She had all colors from the rainbow selected and i was trying to arrange them to make some sort of sense. We didn't have a pattern for piecing the quilted part, just a pattern for the purse itself. So I took a piece of tissue paper and traced the 1/2 yard x 45 so we just had to arrange the 4 inch squares in this space.

We arranged the fabrics over and over until we developed a pattern- then, we started weeding out the colors and she had all...pinks and reds. Now all of you know I ADORE pinks and reds but Hecate isn't a pink person. So we hauled out all the black and reds and whites and replaced the pinks and suddenly we had a design and color scheme that she liked. Now all she had to do was piece the fabric, cut the batting and the backing, pin it together, quilt it- then we could cut all the purse pattern pieces and then sew the purse together! Simple! Yeah.....right.

So I park Hecate in front of the sewing machine and I show her how to match the squares and the direction in which to stitch. She sewed them altogether, then she stitched the strips. And we found that we had worked for about...3 hours. And that's all that was done. And Hecate was done. She didn't really like sewing, or quilting. She like did picking the fabric and arranging our own pattern.

I was very excited about the whole project and those of you who know me know I can be HAPPY! and highly ENERGETIC! about things that I find FUN! Some might consider me BOUNDLESSLY ENTHUSIASTIC! and PERKY! I was afraid that I was trying to take over her sewing project by volunteering to do different parts of it, and by trying to give her helpful hints and creative ideas! Ummmmmm-- she wasn't buying.

I'll be finishing the quilt top, adding the padding and the backing and then quilting it. Then I'll be evoking the help of my dear friend that I love so much and who is creative and a wonderful seamstress who is going to help me put it together as a purse- if I need it!

Then Hecate will have a purse.

And I will have completed (with a little help from my friends...) another quilting project!

And I just can't figure out why she didn't think sewing a 4 inch long seam over 50 times was fun?!?

All sewn up,
Mags