novamade

walking feet across a striped star

I made a thing! I meant to blog about this in pieces--in process as it were, but obviously, that didn't happen.  In any case, look at this little mini quilt! I am so pleased with it. It's not perfect, and I don't care at all. There was a great deal of learning involved, which was really the point. Also, I finally got to use some of the fabric I purchased in France 8 years ago (8 years!!). So, there's that.

I was never one for the mini quilt, but now that I am interested in exploring processes of quilting (literally--like the actual quilting of a quilt), it's sort of a helpful thing. I knew that I would use this mini-quilt to try out straight line quilting with a walking foot. I tried it a few years ago and it was a disaster. I am pretty sure I had a faulty foot because when things work as they should, the quilting itself looks amazing, a lovely quilt is produced in an efficient way, and the act of quilting doesn't make you hate your life. 

This walking foot did have a hiccup on me, but it turns out that it needed to be cleaned and oiled a little bit. Once I took care of the walking foot, it took care of me. There is a section or two that are not as cleanly quilted.  Meh. This is still the best quilting I have ever done. And I do mean ever.

I did add fabric to the edge (see above--see the seam right next to binding, yeah, don't care) and pieces of the quilt top (center of the star--not going to lie, I felt like a genius when that worked out) as I was piecing it together because things didn't match up properly (one of my French fabrics was really bias-y).

Also, I used the walking foot on the quilt binding as well just out of curiosity.  It's the prettiest machine sewn quilt binding I have ever done. I mean, you'd not want to do it for a quilt going into a show or anything, but a gift that going to get washed 80,000 times, yes.

I have no idea why I have not employed this tool earlier. Every one of the sewing machines I have ever owned came with a walking foot (or even feed foot, if you prefer) I believe. Like I said, I did try it once before, but I should have tried again. Reading Jacquie Gering's Walk was very inspirational, too. So, I am sure I will gain further inspiration as I work through that, but I am loving this straight line quilting right now.  It's a beautiful thing. You will see it on a ton more quilts. Probably soonish.

The Thing: Striped Star Mini Quilt (link goes to a great pattern/tutorial so you can make your own, you'll need to design your own quilting plan though--the one provided is pretty simple, which is fine, of course)

The Thing's Designer: Purl Soho /Purl Bee (obviously a specific human, but I am unsure which one)

The Thing was Made with: Cotton fabric, cotton thread, cotton batting and considerable patience

The thing Measures: app 21" x 21"

fifth day of novakkah (2012)

In the past, I have been known to take my birthday off from work.  My birthday is on Saturday this year; but, I am still technically taking the day off because it's finals week and I could have been working from noon till 10 at night, which is about as much fun as it sounds.  In any case, if I had a free day for my birthday this year, I would have spent the day quilting.  I just counted, I have 14 quilts in the "mostly done" or "pretty much done" stage.  It's pretty ridiculous.

Speaking of quilts, yeah, my segues are horrible this year, I know... today's big give/gift is a novamade quilt pattern.  The astute among you are probably thinking "but Nova, you don't have any quilt patterns..."  Well, yes and no.  I have been sitting on a quilt pattern for a few months now.  I am cleaning it up and will be releasing the pattern, let's say next week (if I say it, then it will be so?).  In any case, if you play the novakkah game today, you can win the pattern before you can buy it (hey, I sound like a radio station ad, no?).

It's my Interlocked pattern (yes!  I finally got around to it!).  It's been test quilted, I have made a few versions, and it's a great pattern (she says humbly).  It's beginner friendly, and fun (and pretty easy, too).  In any case... a pattern, and since a pattern with no fabric is no fun, I will throw in the accent squares for the quilt.  I will talk to the winner to get an idea of what size quilt you want to make (the pattern is written for three sizes) and the kind of fabric you'd like.  I am pretty sure I have most preferences covered.

To be considred for this prize today, please tell me: if you were given the gift of a "free day" for your next birthday, how would you spend the day?

I will take comments for this post, and all Novakkah posts, until 11:59 EST (or2359, should you prefer that), Saturday, May 12th. Please leave your responses on the appropriate post. One entry per post/person. I will show you what I have to gift each day and let you know what you need to tell me to try to get it. Giftees will be selected on the 13th and gifts sent out shortly thereafter.

xo(xo)

Okay, so the birthday quilt isn't done yet, but you know what is done?  This set of two baby quilts.

 

If you remember my string pillow from last year, then this should look familiar.  The funny thing here is, these quilts aren't even the main attraction, as it were.  These quilts were put together from leftover blocks that I didn't need for a twin-sized bed quilt (that one just needs binding--which is, honestly, becoming the story of my life).

 

I originally started these last year for a friend of mine with twins but her twins are too big for these now, they are toddlers.  These are "baby" baby-sized quilts (as in tiny!)--approximately 27 inches square.  Fortunately, another friend of mine has decided to accomodate my gift-giving needs and is having twins in two or three months.  So if she is reading this, when she opens these next month at the baby shower I am throwing her, she should just pretend to be surprised. Ahem.

I mixed strips from "vintage" linens (I have discussed this already, go clicky!) with some coordinating solids to make the string blocks.  I did an "x" and an "o" because I could; and, well, it seems like a good idea at the time. The quilting was done on my old trusty Kenmore, so it was basted properly and then quilted with straight lines...a little echo quilting action, but really, "a bunch of straight lines".

The baby quilts are infinitely cuter than the twin-sized quilt will be when it's done (it is a proven thing, small things or things in miniature are just cute); but, when I finish the bigger quilt, if you all could just ooh and ahh, a little, it will make me feel as though it was time well-spent.

1/24 :: a test, and an explaination

Some of you are probably wondering where the sweaters and quilts are.  I have them (some), but today, let's talk about quilts since I haven't really done that and it's March.  The first quilt I am trotting out is a small test quilt I made (pretend like the quilt is on a white wall or that the background fabric is not the same color as my family room wall.  Apparently, beige is the color of my life right now).  It's a little wonky (the way the quilt is hung on the wall exacerbates the wonkiness) and has some minor imperfections.  It doesn't really matter.  The whole point of this quilt was to practice quilting on a quilting frame. 

I spent the last year buying a mid-arm quilt frame system.  Instead of buying a package like a normal person, I bought the components of my frame over the course of a year because...well, that's how I do things, apparently.

I bought the frame first...and then I stained it.  As quilting frames go, I have found Grace frames to be 1) affordable, 2) reliable, and 3) well supported (the customer service is beyond fantastic).  I think it does need to be said that I am in no way affiliated with the company (aside from being a customer), nor am I am paid endorser of the company or its products, okay, so now that that's out of the way...  The frame is sturdy.  It holds a sewing machine and it works!  Regarding equipment of any scale, I am  sort of like the Dyson man, I feel like th thing should just work.

The reason it took so long for me to get this thing operational is the sewing machine situation.  I thought I would use a machine I already owned on it...but then thought better of it, so bought another machine (a Juki--it's a workhorse), but then I needed a new carriage (the carriages are machine specific, fyi).  I was getting a new carriage at the same time as the Grace company started making aluminum pro carriages (as opposed to the wooden carriage)...so I ended up having to send a carriage back and getting  a new one (well, I didn't have to, but that's what the company offered to do for me...see, they are good like that).

And then I tested a Juki/frame set up at the International Quilt Festival last year and realized that my quilt-frame life would not be complete without a stitch regulator.  K got that for me for Christmas because he just became annoyed with the monster in the room.  Seriously, it's huge.  I have the queen set up (I now wish that I got the king set up (I bought this well before the new versions that can easily convert came out)--learn from my mistake.  If you can accommodate a king set up, get the king set up).

So I practiced.

And then I practiced some more.

 

And then I thought I would try a quilt.

I love this thing (the quilt frame...the quilt, like I said, was just a practice piece--I like it, but am not enamored).

And that's why I feel pretty confident that I will finish 24 (not 48) quilts this year.  They won't all be quilted on the frame...but well, most of them will.  I am okay with that. So one down, 23 to go.

hey, it's a new year!

I think I unintentionally started a new tradition last year. Instead of my first post of the year being about goals, hopes, dreams and what-have-you, it was all about the things that I did the year before that I forgot (or was too lazy) to blog about. So without further ado, this is the cool stuff that I did in 2011 that I never talked about.

knitting

Log cabin baby blanket. I had a ton of Mission Falls Cotton so I just started knitting with it. And I produced this really tiny baby blanket…but now I don’t have anymore MF Cotton taking up space on my shelves, so win.

February Baby Sweater. I originally started this in pink yarn, which was a knitted nightmare, and then realized that is was confining the creativity of my soul (or something akin to that). I had some Dream in Color Smooshy, I think it’s Candy Apple Red (I could be making that up, is that even a colorway?). I think it’s fabulous. It’s going to give it to a friend of mine scheduled to have a baby in three days. She asked for something knitted; and you know, I like to make wishes come true.

I also made some baby socks. I had a hank of Koigu yarn that I bought when I was pregnant with Little Mister…thinking I was going to have a girl. Yeah, not so much. The fact that I bought pink yarn should have been the first clue, really. Why would I want to look at pink baby feet? I wouldn't.

Stockinette Socks of awesome. So they are just plain and simple stockinette socks; but, they are awesome. I started knitting them last May when I hung out with some knitterly friends of mine, and they make me smile whenever I wear them. Yarn is from the Barefoot Spinner. There is no colorway on it, so let’s just call it “purple” shall we?

quilting & sewing

I sewed my kids some pillowcases. It wasn't rocket science, but easily, probably the highest impact gift I've made in a long time. Every time we pull one of them out of the linen cabinet, it's like Christmas! It's a fact, kids love ridiculous pillowcases.

 

Locked Squares. So I made this baby quilt. And then thought, it might be a nice quilt to try pattern writing. So... still doing the pattern writing bit, but the blanket was a huge hit. It was really fun to make (and quite easy), actually.

 Lilly’s Quilt. A friend of mine from library school asked if I could make a full sized quilt from her daughter’s baby bedding. Her daughter was moving up to a full-sized bed and she wanted to save the baby bedding. Because I don’t really think things through sometimes, I said “sure!”. Um, I have never made a bed-sized quilt before this quilt. In case you were under the impression that a full-sized quilt is “no big deal” let me dissuade you from this notion. Cramming a full-sized quilt into the throat of a domestic home sewing machine pretty much made me want to gouge my own eyes out with a dull pencil. But, it came out really nice and I was unspeakably proud of myself after I shipped the quilt off last month. I really was. I should probably get out more.

embroidery & x-stitch

Every summer I get interested in embroidery, because, well, it doesn't involve wool and it doesn’t make my hands sweaty. I was involved in various quilting bees last year (more on that later, this post is getting long) and when Chawne’s month rolled around for one of the bees (I honestly can’t remember which one since she and I were in three bees together, no, I am not kidding), she asked for redwork, we could do anything we wanted. Since I am bookish.... Well, yeah.

 

I did a little drawing, traced it onto some Kona cottong and then stitched it up.  I ended up doing a multi-color version and framed it because I liked it so much, so now I can look at my handi-work (ha…did you see what I did there, oh, nevermind) everyday at work.

I also did some cross stitch last fall.  I needed something for my dining room wall, so I stitched an appropriate eating area command.  I am a fan.

So that’s it. That was the hidden craftiness of 2011. I also went to the International Quilt Festival, but apparently, I was so overwhelmed by it, I never blogged about it (but here is a photo set in flickr). But, I am getting my blogging house in order now, because, well, I pay for this space, so I might as well get my money’s worth. I am all about getting my money’s worth.

In my next post, I will tell you all about my hopes, dreams, and goals (or whatever) for 2012. I just need to think of something to share with you first. While I think of an unfeasible list worthy of my frustrations and energies, check out my studio shot of the Littles that I foisted upon friends and family for Christmas last month.

Next year, the Christmas shot will feature knitted sweaters, I mean, the Littles in knitted sweaters (or course that’s what I meant). Oh, that’s a goal, right there!

big love

 
Are you amazed?  I am not going to go all falsely humble on you, this quilt is fantastic; but, feel free to drop comments of praise, should you feel so inclined (I always appreciate a heartfelt "attagirl").

Every year I make one thing that climbs the scale of "best thing ever?" and stays there refusing to be toppled, this might be the thing for this year.  Babette was 2009, Ruby was 2010 (though Starry Night, did give it a run for its money).  This year, it's probably going to be Big Love. 
This quilt was made for Little Sir's former Pre-School teacher.  She was a fabulous teacher and we consider her a friend, and well, my children love her.  So when Little Sir asked if "we" could make a quilt for her to give her as a wedding present, of course it was the best idea ever, and I said of course "we" could.  

Though I had an idea what I wanted to do back in April, I didn't start making the quilt until a week before the wedding in July.  What?  That's how I work--if you only have a minute (week) it only takes a minute (week).  I know, the philosophy is flawed, but it has worked well for me for at least two decades.  In any case, I wanted to do something modern, but yet harkening back to tradition, because, well, love...it's an old concept....and, well, it's a big deal, right?  

 
I was thinking of making a traditional Double Wedding Ring (DWR) quilt, but since I am not sure I love even myself enough to go through the pain and torture of all that curved piecing, I nixed that right away (or, I dragged my feet until I had to do something else, you pick).  Also, the traditional DWR quilt is just so....traditional.  And well, modernity, I am all about it for the most part.  So I began playing around with the idea of wedding rings.  And then I made them big, terribly modern, right?

 
At somepoint in the design process, I thought it would be a great idea to hand draft the arcs for the rings.  I am pretty sure that stroke of brilliance occured on a night where I slept very little because any quilter who has embraced technology will tell you that that is probably the stupidest thing ever thought.  But it seemed like a good idea at the time, so that's what I did.  

The handdrafting makes the arcs not so perfect, which, to be honest, I kind of like.  The piecing in the arcs was entirely improvisational, which is so modern, it kind of hurts.  This is the largest quilt I have ever free-motion quilted on my machine (it measures 63 inches square--I intended to make a throw, and I like 63"-65" for a throw).  

The quilting was meander stitched (some people call it stippling, my sources lead me to believe these people are wrong, but there you are) pretty tightly and then I pieced the continuous binding with bits and pieces of fabric used for the rings.  

Backing was remnants with blues and purples prominent (the giftees favorite colors) and after attaching the top of the binding by machine, I hand sewed the binding to the back.  No, you read right, I sewed it by hand--who am I?

 
I hope that the quilt is well used and well loved.  And while this quilt design drove the development of other designs, I think I can safely say that I will likely not be making this one ever again.  

 
Notice I did not say "never."  

 
Now I think I am going to go and knit something.  Cooler weather, it is around the corner, after all.

regarding wedding quilts

 
A long time ago (more than a decade) I started quilting.  Most novice quilters latch onto the concept of miniature quilts fairly early on.  Though impractical (I mean really, who is going to be kept warm with a 13-inch quilt?), miniature quilts give quilters an opportunity to play with design, quilt a smaller area on machine or by hand (as opposed to a huge quilt), and offers a chance to practice quilt binding techniques.  But mostly, due to its size, a miniature quilt is doable. 

 
To be perfectly honest, miniature quilts no longer appeal to me.  Since my goals are usually to produce something pretty and functional, that's where I throw my time.  But eleven years ago, shortly after I got married and relatively shortly after I learned to quilt, I became fascinated with wedding ring quilts.  At the time, I did not have the skill to make a pieced wedding ring quilt, so I opted to try a miniature one, with the rings fused onto the quilt using fusible interfacing (my first time working with that too).  I found the pattern in an old issue of Miniature Quilts Magazine (no longer published--print run 1990-2000/2001) that I picked up at a yard sale somewhere in Maine (where I was living at the time).  In any case, the mini-quilt top got "lost" which, is pretty understandable considering it was, basically, a 13-inch square of fabric.  I found it during our move and decided to finish it, because, well, it was a quilt eleven years in the making.

 
It's a miniature quilt, not terribly useful, but there you are. 

 
Speaking of wedding ring quilts, I am in the process of making a wedding quilt for Little Sir's teacher from pre-school.  She got married last month and, not surprisingly, I am running a little behind.  While I now have the skill to make a wedding ring quilt (at least I think I do...), honestly, I lack the patience for it.  I designed something more modern but the project has become the bane of my existence lately, but I need to cross it off the slate and move on, so you'll likely see that sooner rather than later.  No really, I am basting the quilt tonight...so that's something, right?