chimesblog

wow. I don’t remember the last time I did a giveaway, but I think it’s high time I do another.

What am I giving away? Well, how about a camera case (which can also be used for phones and iPods)?

Gotta love the cute little birdies fabric. One of my favorites!

How do you win, you say? Well … it’s easy.  Sort of anyway. It really is just the luck of the draw.

TO ENTER:

1. Comment on this post with your name (be sure to leave a valid e-mail address in the comment box— don’t worry, it’s not published), and what’s currently spinning in your CD player/iPod/record player
2. For a 2nd entry, tweet about this giveaway (be sure to mention @chimes so I know you’ve entered again)
3. For a 3rd entry, blog about the giveaway — post the link to the blog post in the comments box so I know where to find it.

Thanks for playing, and I will announce a winner on August 1 by using the random integer generator.

I’m still working through Denyse Schmidt Quilts and I’ve decided to make one of the actual QUILTS instead of one of the mini projects.

As you’ve probably noticed, I’m kind of in love with square blocks created from strips (mendocino, wonky log cabin and repro fabrics). They’re easy. They’re fun. They’re practically effortless. Just cut the strips and go.

There’s a quilt in the book called What a bunch of squares which isn’t quite as effortless, but it’s a very clean and modern quilt. It caught my attention because it isn’t too far of a venture from what I’ve been doing, but it’s different enough that I won’t end up with yet another set of wonky log cabin blocks.

I’m also stepping out of my comfort zone by using colors I don’t normally use (blue, beige and brown) and by using mainly solids. I’m big into patterns, and I haven’t really delved into solids just yet.

I began this project last Friday night — the night I had set aside to finish a bunch of other WIPs (the boy was at a bachelor party canoe trip all weekend and I like to be a hermit from time to time). Of course, as per usual, I managed to start YET ANOTHER project instead of finishing all the ones I had intended to finish.

I think I got a bee in my bonnet when a co-worker mentioned that she might ask me to make a baby blanket but she didn’t know if her friend was having a boy or a girl. I realized that I haven’t really made anything that looks “boy-ish” and I thought I’d try my hand at it.

I’m making 25 blocks — then I’m going to put a 3-or-more-inch border of white around them and sew them together. Not sure what size the final blocks are going to be, but the idea is that each of the inside squares are a bit different so that they look more like they’re floating when the quilt is put together.

These aren’t too exciting yet, but I wanted to post what I’ve got going just to show colors. Seriously guys. No pink.

Adria lent me her Denyse Schmidt Quilts book a while back and I’ve been slowly working on a few projects in it.

A while back I made a quilted heating pad cover and I’ve been meaning to work on some of the scrappy projects to get through my stash and to build up some fun inventory for Market Day. I came across a project for some greeting cards with fabric sewn to the front. Denyse Schmidt calls them “Dis-Cards”. As a graphic designer, I’ve got a TON of paper samples stocked away. The particular paper I used for these cards was something I’d ordered when I was thinking of re-tooling my portfolio a couple years ago. Obviously (as you can tell by my main website) I haven’t gotten around to doing that. So, instead, I used this lovely Classic Columns duplex 120# cover weight sheet to make cards. Funny thing — it’s like the paper was waiting for this project. The sample sheets I have cut down to EXACTLY the size of 4 A6 greeting cards.

Anywho, here’s a sneak peek at the cards that I’ve made with some of my scraps. I’m planning to have about 100 of these by Market Day (which, by the way, is May 29th this month from 9 AM–2 PM). I’m putting them in coordinating packs of 5 with envelopes.

This one is my favorite one that I’ve made so far. I love the combination of fabrics.

These cards are a LOT of fun to make. It’s a great scrapbuster for those super small scraps that don’t have enough edge to sew together. Of course, most of these cards use Wonderland. I’ve got a few scraps left from the Puzzle Quilt I’ve been working on. I’m digging the frayed edges on these. As well as the faux quilting. I’m having fun playing with a few different stitches. I don’t have a super high-tech sewing machine, so I’m really stuck with zig-zags as my creative stitch, but mixing the different stitches gives a really cool look.

I’ve been obsessed with Wonderland by Momo ever since it came out. So, I’ve started working on two new projects with what I’ve got left.

I bought a jelly roll a while back and decided to make Thea’s Puzzle Quilt (a pattern by Amy Butler). I’ve got the middle section done, so I just need to create the border of solid color that goes around it — and for Mark’s sake, I’m going to do brown instead of pink (apparently he hates pink … and I’m hoping that both him and the quilt stick around for a while!).  Then I’m going to add an oatmeal-colored fabric for the border and possibly the backing.

Above is a close-up of my favorite block. I love how the scissors pattern is echoed a bit smaller in the patchwork fabric.

I’ve also been wanting a DayRunner for a while, but I didn’t want to just buy a pre-made one. It’s not as fun if you do things the easy way! So I bought the “guts” for a DayRunner and figured out a pattern (which I will post eventually after I do a testrun with it on the road).  Of course, I used Wonderland.  Here’s how it turned out.

I need to sew a button on the front yet and I need to add some binder rings and sew those in, but otherwise, I’m loving it.

I’ve decided to drastically reduce the price of my Butterflies in Wonderland quilt on etsy.  This quilt is made from a now-discontinued line of fabric (my absolute FAVORITE) by momo from Moda.  The machine quilting is done in a contrasting yellow stitching and is in a butterfly pattern — which, when seen as a whole, turns into a centered flower pattern.

Original price: $300
Sale Price: $85

It’s almost killing me to do this — I love this quilt so much, but I’m moving soon and need some of my items to go.  I love this quilt and it’s hard to get rid of it, but it’s just got to go!

I’ve been reading the Denyse Schmidt Quilts book that Adria let me borrow and saw the heating pad project and just HAD to do it. I hardly make anything for myself, but it annoys me that I have my heating pad out in the middle of my living room and it’s so not cute. It had some weird 90s pattern on the cover.  Not a fan.

Well, now, it’s stylin’!  I used the original cover for insulation and quilted the patchwork piece to it. The original cover had a snap closure on it, so I didn’t have to mess with putting a closure on the new cover.  Pretty smart, eh?

My grandpa had given me a bunch of things that my granny (great grandmother) had left behind when she passed in 2002.  I’ve been using some of her materials (embroidery thread, fabric, pins, etc.) to create some of the things I’ve been making.  I’ve had 10 quilt blocks that I’ve been hoarding that she had made a long time ago.  The fabrics were impossible to match with modern-day or even reproduction fabrics.  The block pattern was too complex for me.  So, I’ve been sitting on them.

Last weekend my mom and I went to Valley Junction and found some really amazing vintage blocks that matched pretty well.  So, I finally got out the blocks and made a quilt top.

Here it is!

Again, going through my scrap box and found some scraps that Adria had given me from her Hello Betty quilt.  I had enough left to make a large block and I decided to finally cover the 18″x18″ pillow form I’ve had lying around.

I did another wonky log cabin block because those are just too easy and addictive.

Here’s the finished product. It doesn’t go with anything I own other than the chair in which I photographed it.

I took today off since I had to take my mancandy to the airport at an obscenely early time and wanted to sleep/clean/catch up on crafting the rest of the day.

Needless to say, I didn’t get a whole lot of cleaning done (I did put the dishes away!), but I got a little sleeping and a LOT of crafting done.  I finished off both sets of wonky log cabin blocks I’ve been working in — one with my repro fabrics, and the other with Wonderland and Amy Butler fabrics that I’ve been hoarding.  I have 17 of the repro block and 24 of the Amy Butler/Wonderland blocks.  I’m going to make a queen-sized quilt with the AB/W blocks, but not sure what I’m going to do with the repro blocks.

Here are some of the more fun blocks from the repro log cabin set (8″x8″).

And here are some cool ones from the Amy Butler set …

Eventually I’ll make these into quilts, but until then, they’re just pretty patchwork pieces.

Since I’m feeling sassy, I’m having a February $5 off sale on all my wallets on etsy!  Also — if you follow me on twitter or if you found this sale through my blog, convo me and I’ll give you free shipping on your wallet.

Check it out!

Oversized Clutch Wallet — $35

Funky Patchwork Wallet — $25

Wonderland Patchwork Wallet — $15

Funky Patchwork Wallet — $15

Funky Patchwork Wallet — $15

Large Park Slope Patchwork Wallet — $20

Large Park Slope Frog Closure Wallet — $20

Medium Echino Wallet — $15

Enjoy!!