Modern Scrappy Bits Swap

It's no secret that I love swaps. I especially love simple and quick swaps. One of my favourite is Leona's Modern Scrappy Bits Swap. A quick project made with scraps, a fat quarters worth of scraps, a sewing notion and a postcard. Easy peasy.

I've participated in all four rounds that she's hosted. And this time, we were asked to make mug rugs. To be honest, I really don't care for mug rugs. I think it is kind of silly to have a rug just for a mug. My kids would swipe it in an instant for a doll quilt, Lego tent or train shed. So I just hang them on my wall.

I found a fun (and free) pattern on Craftsy for a mini-Dresden. The pattern includes photo instructions and a template for the wedges. The pattern calls for 19 wedges, but for some reason I could only fit 18. I'll try it again and see how many fit.

Rainbow Mini Dresden

The downside of the pattern is that it does not include a circle template. I found glass to trace, and used Oh Fransson's tutorial to make the centre.

And because I hate hand sewing, I sewed it down by machine. I think it would have looked nicer hand-stitched, (and hand quilted) so next time I'm going to give it a try.

Rainbow Mini Dresden Mug Rug

My partner asked for scraps in gray, green and blue, so this is what I pulled out of the bins.

Blue, Green and Gray Scraps



And the package is now on it's way. Leona's already talking about Round 5 of the swap, with a Quilt As You Go theme. If you are interested, I definitely recommend joining.

What about you? Are you a swapper?

Just One Slab (Or 6)....

I had so much fun digging through my scraps to make some Slab blocks for the people of Southern Alberta. I love these blocks because I get to use my favourite scraps, and it feels like a puzzle putting all of the pieces together.

I started with green. Really, I could probably make five more in green....there are just so many green scraps.

Green slab block for Southern Alberta

That block was so fun, I decided to make a pink one:

Pink Slab block for Southern Alberta

Then last Friday, I took a trip to visit my friend, Kristine. She has amazing scraps. And she loves 'girly' fabrics in pink and purple. She was sweet to let me dig through her scraps and take some home to make more slab blocks. I couldn't resist the cute seahorse in this one:

Another Pink Slab Block for Southern Alberta

Kristine had so many purples, I was able to make both a light and dark purple block:



Light Purple Slab Block

Dark Purple Slab Block

 

 

After I made the pretty purples and pink blocks, I made a quick aqua block with my own scraps.

 

Aqua Slab block

 

Making these blocks really reminded me of crazy piecing the kite blocks for my Maple Leaf Rag. It is so satisfying to grab a bunch of scraps and just sew, sew, sew. It was my favourite part of that entire quilt.

 





Crazy Pieced Kites for Maple Leaf Rag Quilt

Here are a couple of quick hints on how to make a successful slab/crazy pieced block:

1. Sort your scraps before you start. If you have lots of scraps (like me), you may be able to make a light and dark block from each colour. I did find that some scraps fit well into both the light and dark blocks.
2. Don't think about it too much, just sew.
3. Start by sewing 6 or 7 sets together of one colour. Then add to those sets at least once before you start sewing the sets together. This will help you avoid a log cabin look to your block.
4. Once you have some larger pieces, I lay them out on my cutting mat, and start puzzling them together.
5. Don't think about it too much, just sew.
6. Make your block at least an inch bigger than you need (15.5"). I didn't want any seams in my seam allowance, and having a bigger block allowed me to trim as needed.
7. Once I got started, I made 2 or 3 blocks at the same time, which lets you chain piece. But once I got to the puzzling stage, I focused on just one block at a time.
8. Don't think about it too much, just sew.

These blocks are very addictive.  And to be honest, I think they are one of those blocks that look better in real life than in pictures. Now I want to make an entire quilt. And of course, I have enough scraps.

Aren't they pretty?

Are you making Slab blocks for Southern Alberta?

The cobbler's kids get new shoes...

Or, the quilter's couch gets new pillows.

We've now lived in our new house for just over a year. When we moved, we bought our first ever, brand new chesterfield/sofa/couch. And for the entire year I had the pillows from the factory just sitting there, begging for fun, patchwork pillow covers.

After making fun pillows for a swap, I was finally inspired to make some for us. I found an old UFO(Pillow Talk Swap from 2010 that got rejected for this pillow) and quilted it up.

Then I picked some of my favourite blue and green prints and made a simple patchwork pillow.  I found some coordinating Nicey Jane fabric for the border. I love simple patchwork. But please ignore the funny shape of this pillow. The form is weird...I really need to get a different one!

My favourite is this little Heather Ross Van. Here it is up close:

And now my couch is happy.

Just One Slab

The amazing Cheryl (co-author of Sunday Morning Quilts) and Calgarian is collecting quilt blocks for the people of Southern Alberta affected by recent flooding.

We have quite a bit of family in Calgary, and fortunately, they were not immediately affected by the flooding. I am shocked at the level of destruction in Southern Alberta and my heart aches for the people who are now dealing with the receding flood waters. What I love Cheryl's idea of collecting blocks is that it is easy for us quilters to make a couple of blocks. And every block sent brings our love and prayers with it.

I am pledging at least two 15.5" blocks. For all information, including block construction method, please visit Cheryl's blog.

What about you? Are you sending anything to Alberta?

Frustrated

Thanks for all of your encouragement about my Drunkard's Path quilt and helpful suggestions about thread and needles.

I must admit, quilting this quilt has been an extremely frustrating experience. I thought that I had solved the problem with a larger needle, but the thread continued to break literally every 30 seconds. After I realized that the needle wasn't the problem, I spent a long time on the phone with my machine dealer in Kamloops, and he patiently walked me through every potential problem. We quickly discovered that my bobbin tension was too tight (I didn't even know that it could be adjusted!), so I was hopeful that the issue was finally resolved. Not so! Even with a larger needle, and the correct tension on both the bobbin and the top thread, I realized that my Grand Quilter hates Mettler thread.



Results of my picking!

I decided to try quilting the quilt from the other side with my go-to Aurifil thread, and of course, it quilted like a dream. The only time I had to stop was when my bobbin ran out! Unfortunately, it meant a few days spent unpicking all of my stitches made with the other thread. I had only quilted 12 blocks, but it still took forever to unpick all of those stitches.



Beautiful thread....just not for my machine!

I am officially donating the almost full spool of Mettler thread to my quilt guild, hopefully someone has a machine that doesn't eat it. And from now on, I'm sticking to what I know works.



Aurifil Thread

 What about you? What thread do you use for machine quilting?

Drunkard's Path Quilt

I started a new quilt a few weeks ago. I am making it for someone who loves circles, and asked for bright colours with pink, green, orange and aqua.

Drunkards Path Quilt

I decided to dig out my drunkard's path templates that I've had forever (mine are Elisa's Backporch Design in both 3.5 and 7 inches), and use only fabrics from my stash. These templates are amazing. The cutting was so quick and easy as compared to paper templates.

 

The blocks were easier to piece than I expected (the templates came with great instructions for only using 1 pin per block). However, once I got all of the blocks made and placed out on my design wall, I hated this quilt. It just seemed much too bright. When I was picking fabrics, I really tried to mix my mostly medium tone prints with both light and dark prints, but it was difficult to do using only stash fabrics. I think now that I really needed more low volume, or even a light neutral background fabric to tone down the brightness of the quilt.

I must admit, however, that it is slowly growing on me. It helps to take a step back, and to take a look at it through the camera lens. Then it is possible to see the circles, and the quilt is a little less crazy.

Drunkard's Path on the Design Wall

I am now working on quilting it. But I'm having a terrible time. I bought new thread - a pretty variegated Mettler silk finish thread, and it keeps breaking. The tension doesn't seem to be the problem, so I think the needle is too small for the thicker thread. Of course, I can't buy needles for my machine locally (I need heavy duty needles for my Pfaff Grand Quilter) so I ordered some new ones today. I'll give them a try, and if that doesn't work, I'll have to change thread.

Free Motion Quilting

I'll leave you with a photo of me and my youngest. She loves having her photo taken, especially by her big sister.

A Fun Swap

In the last couple of years, I've become obsessed with Waldorf inspired dolls. Obsessed. I love that they are homemade. I love that they are all natural. I love that each one is a little piece of art. Kind of like quilts, don't you think?

I don't love that they are pricey (like quilts). So at first I tried to make one. Or I did make one. She's lovely, and my daughter actually plays with her. But I discovered that I really don't like making dolls. Actually, I discovered that I really don't like hand-sewing.

Waldorf Inspired Doll - Little Amigo Pattern from Growing Up Sew Liberated

So, recently, to get around both having to make a doll, and having to pay for one, I did a private swap with a mama. I made her some pillows. She sent me a gorgeous Bamboletta Little Buddy.

Bamboletta Little Buddy

My swap partner was the best 'customer.' She asked for bright and modern. She told me she wasn't afraid of colour. That was it. I was free to make whatever I wanted. Here's what I came up with.

The first was a simple string pillow. I used Ashley's tutorial.

The second was a simple bright and low volume hst pillow. It feels so good to actually use some of my hoarded Denyse Schmidt fabric.

Finally, I used a pattern from Amanda Jean Norberg for my last pillow. The pattern in Math Facts and it is in the Winter 2012 issue of quilty magazine.

Math Facts by Amanda Jean Norberg

Isn't the barter system wonderful?