Tag Archives: quilting

Wonky Universe

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After last week’s cushion top, I received the best compliment, my 5-year-old son asked if I could make him a cushion.  I started the strips and posted on Wednesday my start with the “space” themed cushion top using “Constellations”  by Lizzie House for Andover.

When sewing the strips together, I realized that I can take advantage of my errors purposely inaccurate alignment of the squares (and the wonky star) 😉 and we have a cushion we are calling “The Wonky Universe”.

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I can say this about working with postage stamp squares (and probably other squares too)….It doesn’t take much for the strips not to align just slight errors in cutting and probably inaccurate seams makes all the postage square not line up.

The quilting on this one I went with dark blue straight lines radiating from the wonky star, which is our sun, to kind of represent orbits. These lines were alternating to make sure the softness was left in the cushion cover. I also added yellow lines both horizontal and vertical directions through the sun.

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When I showed my son this morning his response was “AWESOME!!”. It made my day 🙂

I am linking up with Amanda Jean @ Crazy Mom Quilts for Finish it up Friday.

Quick update: After seeing the amazing cushion from Adrianne @ On The Windy Side, I asked how she gets her squares so aligned….she gave this great advice:

  • accurate cutting helps a lot. Personally, I don’t find pre-cut charms or mini charms very accurate, and I find the pinked edges make it difficult to line them up accurately. I would recommend cutting your own squares or cutting down pre-cuts so they have straight edges.
  • sewing a consistent 1/4″ seam is a matter of practice. Sewing lots and regularly (like at least an hour most days) will help you get better faster. I’m not sure that my 1/4″ seam is exactly a 1/4″, but after a lot of practice, it is at least consistent. If you’re not already using a 1/4″ foot, it is worth the investment. I can’t sew a consistent seam without one.
  •  when accuracy is important, I use a LOT of pins. I line up the seams I want to match and pin through the seams. Depending on how big the squares are, I might also put a pin (or 2) between each pinned seam. I also pin in a slightly unusual way (I didn’t realise this until I started sewing with friends!) – I put the pin through the fabric perpendicular to the edge, with the point towards the edge I will sew along. If you put the pins back from the edge a little bit, you can sew along without removing them as you go.
  • I don’t usually pre-wash or starch my fabrics, but when I know something might be tricky (like the Essex linen in black I used for these cushions), I do starch just for that extra bit of control.

I hope you go over and check out her blog :-). Have a good weekend all.

WiP Wednesday {24.04.2013}

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I am continuing on with postage stamp cushions this week and thoroughly enjoying piecing them together. Last week, I posted about this one below, which I hope to finish by this Friday:

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The biggest reward I got after sharing this one with everyone, was my 5-year-old asked if he could have one too. Surprisingly, I felt so proud and delighted he wanted one :-), of course I replied and off I went to make one.

I recently purchased the Constellations bundle by Lizzie House for Andover,  as I want to use it in a quilt for my son. I decided that I would use a strip of each fabric and add a wonky star in yellow for the sun. I have sewn all the strips for the pillow (10 of them) and here are the top 8 (all I could fit on my hanger). You can see the wonky star which was my first wonky star – it was fun seeing how the pieces come together. I am loving the constellation fabric – great for a boy. The photo has been rotated so you can see what the final pillow will look like.

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I am thinking of either quilting straight lines 1/4 inch from the seams (both horizontal and vertically) or diagonal lines through the corners. I am again hoping to have at least the top finish by Friday to show every one.

Anyway, we are over the hump of the week, hope everyone’s week is going well.

Fabric stash additions {21.04.2013}

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Oh where to start, I suppose the best place is what I have added within the last 2-3 weeks….

I just realized that this may actually put some clarity and “accountability” on what I have in my stash.

Solids: I am in desperate need of solids. There are a couple of blocks of the month (BOM) or Mini Quilt of the month that I have signed up for and I really want to use bright solids.

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The first 3 on the bottom of the pile are actually Essex linens (which I am loving at the moment). The light blue grey and the blue are from our local fabric store – Thimble Pleasures and the Orange from Fresh Stash (an Etsy store). The rest of these solids are 1 yards of Kona cotton that I purchased at Thimble Pleasures.

Geometrics: Who can resist?

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The bottom of the pile are the tone on tone chevron from Riley Blake. I have always liked the yellow on yellow and my 1/2 yard is almost out so I brought this fat quarter bundle from Hoot Couture (an Etsy store).  I like most of it except maybe the brown on brown one. The hexagon fabric on top is probably one of my favorites at the moment – from a color perspective. The fabric is Oink-a-doodle-Moo Chicken wire by Jenn Ski for Moda and I purchased this at aMaterialGirlQuilts (an Etsy Store).

Favorite Complete Bundles: I have two complete bundles I have been hanging out to buy, both are modern and simple prints which is right up my alley. My only issue I am going to have is how do you break up the set or even make that first cut…..

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This first complete set is Pure by Stof. It is a 33 piece fat quarter bundle. Look at the first one – aren’t those navy and reds great together. The second picture equally amazing with the gray’s, greens (loving the mix of green and navy too), and plums. My only disappointment in this bundle was once I saw the plum fabric I wanted more. I hope that Stof consider to do another release with more of the plum and maybe orange or yellow print colors (and then more grays to go with that release). I purchased this bundle from Tactile Fabrics (one of the few Etsy stores that carried this line).IMG_7205

Glimma by Lotta Jansdotter, who can not like this. I am super excited to do her surface printing workshop in June to celebrate my birthday….I cannot wait….6 weeks to go. I was not sure about the indigo prints but the more I look at it the more ideas pop into my head about what projects I can do with this fabric. I think though that the bundle will have to stay complete for a while longer. Of course this new bundle is available several places, I did however want a 1/2 yard bundle with the solids included. I found that Westwood acres had the 24 piece 1/2 hard bundle (I love this Esty store; next week I will show you the other bundles I purchased from here..there is a list ;-)).

Fun Prints: Lastly, I have been buying prints for making kids pouches or pencil cases etc.
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I thought these prints are perfect for girly pouches or even chair bags. These are 5 prints are from the Little Matryoshka Collection by Lori Whitlock for Riley Blake Fabrics. I was not able to get them from one vendor. So from left to right; 1 yard of the Green polka dots and cream dolls were from The Sew Sweet Shoppe, 1/2 yard of Stripes from Bee Yourself Fabrics, and the last two were a 1/2 yard bundle, the pink polka dots and pink dolls, from Hoot Couture .

My last admission, is I am almost finished the 5th 100 comic board inserts set that I use to store my fabrics nicely (as you see above). So, the proof will be in the pudding – I need to start using some of these and put items in my Etsy store, that will be my goal for May and June. Linking up with Plum and June “let’s get acquainted”.

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Hope you all are having a great weekend. Thanks for stopping by, leave a comment and let me know what exciting purchases you have made recently!!! I love seeing others fabric obsessions too 🙂