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Rachel
Saturday, April 17, 2010
Friday, April 16, 2010
More Journaling on the 365 Quilt
Just a quick update on my 365 Quilt! I have been doing good about keeping up with my journaling ideas for each day on paper, and I write a few blocks each day to try and catch up on fabric. I went Scrapbooking with a friend this past Friday, but instead of scrapbooking, I wrote out a bunch of my journal blocks. I go more for the company anyway, so it was good to get close to caught up. I have blocks through April 1st written now. Here are a few more of the journaling I have done, I will add the rest soon!
March 6 – Got our tax refund – Shopping Spree!
March 7 – Visiting my Mom
March 8 – My son buying 3 Nintendo DS games
March 9 – All about our cat Whiskers
March 10 – Doing our calorie diet
March 11 – My son watching Spongebob Squarepants
March 12 – Eating at a new Pizza place in town
March 13 – Watching the new movie, Alice in Wonderland
March 14 – My son’s first sleepover at a friend’s house
I hope these give you some ideas for your own quilt if you plan on making one! It’s fun for me to look back at these even now as I have already forgotten much of it. I am very excited to see this whole quilt come together.
Happy Quilting!
Rachel
March 6 – Got our tax refund – Shopping Spree!
March 7 – Visiting my Mom
March 8 – My son buying 3 Nintendo DS games
March 9 – All about our cat Whiskers
March 10 – Doing our calorie diet
March 11 – My son watching Spongebob Squarepants
March 12 – Eating at a new Pizza place in town
March 13 – Watching the new movie, Alice in Wonderland
March 14 – My son’s first sleepover at a friend’s house
I hope these give you some ideas for your own quilt if you plan on making one! It’s fun for me to look back at these even now as I have already forgotten much of it. I am very excited to see this whole quilt come together.
Happy Quilting!
Rachel
Tuesday, April 13, 2010
Grandmother's Garden
When I was in high school, I had to do a senior project. I decided to learn how to sew. I chose my grandmother as a mentor for the project. I learned a lot, but one of the best things she did was give me a beautiful quilt that was unfinished. It was a grandmother’s garden quilt. The quilt was in various stages when I got it, and I was only able to work on it a tiny bit at the time. When I went off to college I packed the quilt away and it has moved from place to place with me for the last 10 years. I finally pulled it out a few weeks ago to look at it again.
There are a few parts to this quilt. First I have the parts that are already sewn together.
Then there are the flowers that are done, but not attached yet.
And finally the small shapes that will eventually make up more flowers, but are not sewn to anything yet.
The fabrics are beautiful.
I asked for some help dating these fabrics on a quilting board I am on. Most people seem to think the fabrics are from the 30s. I pulled a few of the newspaper centers out of the parts that didn’t need them anymore to look for a date. I found a 1931 date that looked like an advertisement for farm equipment. This tells me that it was put together right around that time, so it would make sense that the fabrics are from that time too.
I love this quilt though it has to be pieced by hand, so I don’t know how much of it I will get done any time soon. But if I do a little bit here and there, hopefully one day I can finish what was started in 1930.
Happy Quilting!
Rachel
There are a few parts to this quilt. First I have the parts that are already sewn together.
Then there are the flowers that are done, but not attached yet.
And finally the small shapes that will eventually make up more flowers, but are not sewn to anything yet.
The fabrics are beautiful.
I asked for some help dating these fabrics on a quilting board I am on. Most people seem to think the fabrics are from the 30s. I pulled a few of the newspaper centers out of the parts that didn’t need them anymore to look for a date. I found a 1931 date that looked like an advertisement for farm equipment. This tells me that it was put together right around that time, so it would make sense that the fabrics are from that time too.
I love this quilt though it has to be pieced by hand, so I don’t know how much of it I will get done any time soon. But if I do a little bit here and there, hopefully one day I can finish what was started in 1930.
Happy Quilting!
Rachel
Sunday, April 11, 2010
Bee Creative Swap Blocks - March
I used to do a lot of swaps when I was a part of online scrapbooking communities, but since I have gone digital with my scrapbooking, I haven’t been a part of any swaps. Recently I joined a quilting community, and found swaps again! I have been very into sewing lately (my passion for one craft or another comes and goes), so it has been fun to join a few swaps and see what other people create too.
If you have never done a swap, there are a few kinds. I will outline quickly the two types I am in now.
The first swap has 12 members. Each member has a month. When your month comes up, you send a packet of fabrics to each of the other 11 members. You tell them the type of block you’d like to see (size and style), and they make it for you using the fabrics you sent and their creative ideas. Once completed, the 11 members send their blocks back to you and ideally when done you have a completed top. In the months that you are not the chosen member, you will be on the receiving/creating end. It’s a lot of fun, and you get a whole coordinating top using techniques you yourself may not know how to do!
The second type of swap is more similar to the type of swaps I used to do when I did scrapbooking swaps. These swaps have a centralized hostess. The hostess will choose the theme and style of the swap. Then members sign up, some swaps have limited spots, but most allow for any number of members. Each member makes blocks in the style the hostess has set, usually in sets of 6 or 12, sends them into the hostess, and then they get all different ones back (so if I send 12 blocks, I get 12 different ones back). Each member uses their own fabrics to make the blocks. This type of swap gives more variety than the last one, since it’s not all the same fabrics. These are also fun because they don’t involve a one year commitment like the first.
I am currently involved in a few swaps, but the blocks I want to share today are from the first type of swap. The name of our group of 12 is "Bee Creative." The first girl that had March sent us lovely Kona solids and asked for sharp lines, no wonky. Here are the two blocks I created for her.
I am not usually a straight line kind of gal, so this was out of my comfort zone, but I still had fun making them for her.
Happy Quilting!
Rachel
If you have never done a swap, there are a few kinds. I will outline quickly the two types I am in now.
The first swap has 12 members. Each member has a month. When your month comes up, you send a packet of fabrics to each of the other 11 members. You tell them the type of block you’d like to see (size and style), and they make it for you using the fabrics you sent and their creative ideas. Once completed, the 11 members send their blocks back to you and ideally when done you have a completed top. In the months that you are not the chosen member, you will be on the receiving/creating end. It’s a lot of fun, and you get a whole coordinating top using techniques you yourself may not know how to do!
The second type of swap is more similar to the type of swaps I used to do when I did scrapbooking swaps. These swaps have a centralized hostess. The hostess will choose the theme and style of the swap. Then members sign up, some swaps have limited spots, but most allow for any number of members. Each member makes blocks in the style the hostess has set, usually in sets of 6 or 12, sends them into the hostess, and then they get all different ones back (so if I send 12 blocks, I get 12 different ones back). Each member uses their own fabrics to make the blocks. This type of swap gives more variety than the last one, since it’s not all the same fabrics. These are also fun because they don’t involve a one year commitment like the first.
I am currently involved in a few swaps, but the blocks I want to share today are from the first type of swap. The name of our group of 12 is "Bee Creative." The first girl that had March sent us lovely Kona solids and asked for sharp lines, no wonky. Here are the two blocks I created for her.
I am not usually a straight line kind of gal, so this was out of my comfort zone, but I still had fun making them for her.
Happy Quilting!
Rachel
Friday, April 9, 2010
Bow Tucks Purse
Last weekend I worked like a little worker bee on a purse. Having never made a purse before, I wasn't really sure how it would go. It ended up working out really good though! I was pretty impressed that I ended up with a purse I am actually proud to carry around with me. I love purses, but my problem has always been that I can’t find a fabric I like when buying one. Now that I have made my first purse, I think I might be making all my own from here on out! I can pick my own fabrics, make the pockets the size I need them, and I can be proud that I did it myself!
Here are some pictures. This is an every day purse that carries all my stuff. The pattern I used is called “Bow Tuck.” If you Google that you’ll find plenty of places that sell the pattern (your local quilt shop probably even does), it is a pretty hot pattern right now.
This first picture is the front view.
A side view, my bows ended up a little short, but I think I like them that way actually.
An inside view, I had a lot of fun making the pockets just the right size to fit everything I carry.
A close up shot of the beading I did. The pattern calls for quilting, but I wanted to do something different, so I stopped by the bead store and got some little flower beads and sead beads and put these on instead of quilting the outside.
Happy quilting!
Rachel
Here are some pictures. This is an every day purse that carries all my stuff. The pattern I used is called “Bow Tuck.” If you Google that you’ll find plenty of places that sell the pattern (your local quilt shop probably even does), it is a pretty hot pattern right now.
This first picture is the front view.
A side view, my bows ended up a little short, but I think I like them that way actually.
An inside view, I had a lot of fun making the pockets just the right size to fit everything I carry.
A close up shot of the beading I did. The pattern calls for quilting, but I wanted to do something different, so I stopped by the bead store and got some little flower beads and sead beads and put these on instead of quilting the outside.
Happy quilting!
Rachel
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