chimesblog

Yay!  I finally finished it.

A while back my grandpa had given me a bunch of quilt blocks that my granny (my great grandma) had made some time ago before she died in 2002.  She was kind of the queen of WIP, so I’m still collecting some random crafty things she’d started and going through to see what I can do to finish them or turn them into something else.

Mom and I went antiquing in March and found another set of blocks that went well with the ones my Granny had made since there weren’t enough to make an entire quilt. Even with these, it’s a pretty small lap quilt, but it’s really pretty anyway.  I ended up tea staining all the blocks since some were more aged-looking than others — they’re all about the same now.

As you can tell by the crappy quilting, I did it myself on my machine. I have a ton of quilt tops waiting to be turned into quilt sandwiches, but I need to send those off to somebody professional to do them. I probably should have done the same with this one, but I was impatient and wanted it to be finished — not to mention, I wanted to be the one to do it since my Granny had hand-pieced the blocks.

I have a couple more blocks she’s done, but I’m trying to figure out what I want to do with them still. This is a really neat quilt, and I’m really glad I have it.

I made this cute baby blanket for a friend. It was really easy. I actually just used my method from handmade napkins but used larger pieces of fabric.  I sewed with fleece for the first (and hopefully last) time. That was an adventure! Fuzzies everywhere.  I almost poked my eye out finishing this thing too! My needle busted in half on the very last few stitches, flying up in the air and BARELY missing my eyeball. I should maybe think about wearing safety goggles?

Anyway, here it is! One side is fleece and the other side is cotton. She’s having a girl.  I know she likes pinks and teals together so I picked a fabric that I thought she would like.  It seems like something she would wear on a bag, scarf or another accessory.  I hope she loves it!

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!

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!!

I made this quilt out of two tops I had lying around for my niece for Christmas. I had planned a cuter quilt, but I didn’t have the money to get it professionally quilted, so I put two of my tops together and qulited this blanket with wavy stitching. The stitching is pink on one side and yellow on the other.

AND surprisingly, she loved it. She’s one.  I figured she wouldn’t care, but she picked out all the patterns and she wrapped her dolly up in it. Super cute!

Here are some photos and of course, action shots!