Tuesday, March 13, 2012
For all you cat loving quilters out there
To quote Jenny Doan, our fearless leader--"How Cute Is this?"
I think I saw this on someone's album, so I know it isn't anything that hasn't been tried by this group, but I just found it again. I had seen it with the tails not quite so intertwined, or tessalated, as the mathematicians call it. Or, I've seen it with just two cats together, not four. In the original design, which is called "Kool Kats Kwilt" by Patti Carey for Northcott, she has about 30 cats intertwined on a lap quilt.
Like a cheap fool, I tried to figure out how to do this by looking at someone's picture and not buying a pattern. You think I would have learned my lesson after the "Stars Aligned" and realized that I would never be able to calculate those sizes by myself. I finally got the concept and had it drawn out correctly. But figuring out the size of each triangle and square was going to be my undoing. So--GOOGLE is our friend, and I looked for it on the internet and found it. In Patti's design, the groups of cats nestle in the corners where there is plain black on my picture. After my experience intertwining the stars on the last queen size quilt, believe me, if I continue this, I'll make a lap quilt. After all, it will be for the cat as he lounges in my lap for our afternoon naps! And the pattern is free!
What do you think--how cute is this?
I did a terrible job of measuring on my first try--my cats aren't as wide as they are supposed to be. Guess my eyes are wearing out from all the measuring and 1/4" seaming I've been doing the past 4 days. But the cats work and I can make them work if I want to carry on with this same theme and fabric..
The directions are in PDF format online, you can download them from her website...0
Monday, March 12, 2012
And a Partridge in a Pear Tree!
My shopping rounds today included my favorite fabric haunts, Hancock and Jo Anns, plus two others, Tuesday Morning and Hobby Lobby. My "plan" was to find fabric for the upcoming plays I'm costuming. I did do that, but.......
I was ba-a-a-a-a-d! But coupons made the pain on the credit card a little easier to bear.
Here's my pile of stuff!
12 fat quarters
10 patterns
6 1/4th yard pieces
5 fabric bundles
5 quilting stencils
4 yards of Kona Cotton
3 bolts of batiks (backing for my quilts)
3 jelly rolls
3 Panels and backing to practice my FMQ with
2 apron kits
2 yards of rainbow plaid
and a simple jelly roll quilt book!
You thought I'd sing, "...and a Partridge in a pear tree!" I guess that would have fit this list! It was fun, and my stash is now even bigger than before. I'd better do some cleaning out of non-essential stuff to make room for all this new stuff. I can hardly wait to dig into the new projects! This spring break isn't going to be near long enough!
I was ba-a-a-a-a-d! But coupons made the pain on the credit card a little easier to bear.
Here's my pile of stuff!
12 fat quarters
10 patterns
6 1/4th yard pieces
5 fabric bundles
5 quilting stencils
4 yards of Kona Cotton
3 bolts of batiks (backing for my quilts)
3 jelly rolls
3 Panels and backing to practice my FMQ with
2 apron kits
2 yards of rainbow plaid
and a simple jelly roll quilt book!
You thought I'd sing, "...and a Partridge in a pear tree!" I guess that would have fit this list! It was fun, and my stash is now even bigger than before. I'd better do some cleaning out of non-essential stuff to make room for all this new stuff. I can hardly wait to dig into the new projects! This spring break isn't going to be near long enough!
I had Sushi for lunch!
After a morning at the sewing machine, trying to get my Patternista Star quilt further along to the finish line, I quit about 11, having had enough for the morning. I was starving, my peanut-butter banana had long since worn off.
My mailman usually comes to deliver the mail some time before noon. It was just about noon, I was ready to go out for some lunch and a round trip through the fabric stores (more on that later!), when he drove up, carrying boxes from MISSOURI STAR QUILT COMPANY! I had lost my resolve to not purchase more fabric from them until I was done with other projects. OK, I was nearly finished with one project. So their Sushi Rolls of batiks were more than I could stand. (Deal of the Day on Friday?) Where could you stop, which one would you not purchase? I'm not a real fan of tans and browns, so I didn't order that one. I had 5 ordered, and it came to 99.75--so the free shipping if you are over $100 made me buy one more.
So, here was my lunch for today!
'
I love batiks, I could make every quilt out of them and be happy. I love the variety of patterns, the colors, the yumminess of the mixture of colors. So, I guess I went a little hog wild, and ordered these 6 rolls. They all go together, I can mix and match and use them in a variety of quilts that I have "on my bucket list". It should be fun to create with these beautiful fabrics.
My mailman usually comes to deliver the mail some time before noon. It was just about noon, I was ready to go out for some lunch and a round trip through the fabric stores (more on that later!), when he drove up, carrying boxes from MISSOURI STAR QUILT COMPANY! I had lost my resolve to not purchase more fabric from them until I was done with other projects. OK, I was nearly finished with one project. So their Sushi Rolls of batiks were more than I could stand. (Deal of the Day on Friday?) Where could you stop, which one would you not purchase? I'm not a real fan of tans and browns, so I didn't order that one. I had 5 ordered, and it came to 99.75--so the free shipping if you are over $100 made me buy one more.
So, here was my lunch for today!
'
I love batiks, I could make every quilt out of them and be happy. I love the variety of patterns, the colors, the yumminess of the mixture of colors. So, I guess I went a little hog wild, and ordered these 6 rolls. They all go together, I can mix and match and use them in a variety of quilts that I have "on my bucket list". It should be fun to create with these beautiful fabrics.
Sunday, March 11, 2012
When you Wish Upon a Star....
Crazy as I am, stars fascinate me! When I was teaching in elementary school over 20 years ago, I was known by my love for astronomy, stars, and space. I was the "Miss Frizzle" (of Magic School Bus fame) of my school. I even put glow in the dark stars on my classroom ceiling, so when we turned the lights out, the students could view the Big and Little Dipper and stars surrounding them! Even though I don't teach elementary school anymore, I still have a love for stars.
When I started to get serious about becoming a quilter, I saw a quilt in a magazine about a year and a half ago, and said, "That's the quilt I'm going to make next!" It took 75 different batiks to make and it was all stars, on point, to make 72 beautiful Ohio Stars, with the other three fabrics as the border and setting triangles. Little did I know what I was about to get into.
I had a blast finding the 75 batiks. I know I went a bit overboard, because I had way more than 75 in my stash to choose from. I went with the teal/purple color scheme, my favorite for decorating!
Next was the mammoth job of cutting! Because of the size and shape of the pieces, it couldn't use precuts, just fat quarters, so I had to cut all the star parts myself. I think there are at least 13 parts for each star.
Here's the pattern.
Here is my progress so far, all cut and sorted, ready to begin the sewing process.
After making the "Stars Aligned" project, I'm not so sure I'm ready to tackle this one just yet. My original plan was to make a few blocks at a time, and I think that is a good plan. This will be a WIP for a long time!
In the mean time, I have other more pressing projects on my mind! Like "Dogwood Trail" that I would like to finish by April 4. Dogwood trees were my late husband's favorite tree, and we were married April 4, 1964. It would be a nice anniversay memory for me to have that quilt on my bed, thinking of him and how beautiful the dogwood trees that he planted looked during April.
Or, I could work on this. I found out that Janome sells three different models of "Hello Kitty" sewing machines. I just ordered one for my granddaughter to use as her first machine. Found this darling fabric today while at the fabric store, I just had to get some!
Right now there are 3 layers of UFOs on my guest bed, two jelly roll quilts and the Patternista stars. I'm hoping this week during spring break I can get to finishinig at least one of them, and start on the Dogwoods. Plus make several costumes for upcoming plays in April. It is going to be a busy week!
When I started to get serious about becoming a quilter, I saw a quilt in a magazine about a year and a half ago, and said, "That's the quilt I'm going to make next!" It took 75 different batiks to make and it was all stars, on point, to make 72 beautiful Ohio Stars, with the other three fabrics as the border and setting triangles. Little did I know what I was about to get into.
I had a blast finding the 75 batiks. I know I went a bit overboard, because I had way more than 75 in my stash to choose from. I went with the teal/purple color scheme, my favorite for decorating!
Next was the mammoth job of cutting! Because of the size and shape of the pieces, it couldn't use precuts, just fat quarters, so I had to cut all the star parts myself. I think there are at least 13 parts for each star.
Here's the pattern.
Here is my progress so far, all cut and sorted, ready to begin the sewing process.
After making the "Stars Aligned" project, I'm not so sure I'm ready to tackle this one just yet. My original plan was to make a few blocks at a time, and I think that is a good plan. This will be a WIP for a long time!
In the mean time, I have other more pressing projects on my mind! Like "Dogwood Trail" that I would like to finish by April 4. Dogwood trees were my late husband's favorite tree, and we were married April 4, 1964. It would be a nice anniversay memory for me to have that quilt on my bed, thinking of him and how beautiful the dogwood trees that he planted looked during April.
Or, I could work on this. I found out that Janome sells three different models of "Hello Kitty" sewing machines. I just ordered one for my granddaughter to use as her first machine. Found this darling fabric today while at the fabric store, I just had to get some!
Right now there are 3 layers of UFOs on my guest bed, two jelly roll quilts and the Patternista stars. I'm hoping this week during spring break I can get to finishinig at least one of them, and start on the Dogwoods. Plus make several costumes for upcoming plays in April. It is going to be a busy week!
Patternista Progress!
This weekend was busy, but the major thing I accomplished was putting together my quilt top using the fabric line Patternista. This was something I saw on line from Missouri Star Quilt Company which caused a bit of controversy among the quilters who saw the line when it first came out.
Some hated it--said it made them sick, nauseated to work on, not my style.....
Others gushed about how beautiful it is! I am one of the gushers!
I love this line of fabric! I also love the pattern, which is called "Stars Aligned".
I had 30 of the 50 star blocks made about a week ago, but couldn't for the life of me figure out how to add the other 20 stars to make them "align"! Fellow online quilting community members tried to help, showed me pictures, but I must be dense because I didn't get it. I needed the pattern to finally show me how it went together. That came last Saturday.
As I whined about in my last post, I didn't actually get to do much in the way of quilting this past week. My daughter had a babysitting crisis, needing grandma on call, and I had tons of papers to grade and grades to compute before my spring break could actually start. That chore wasn't officially over till about 2 p.m. Friday. Of course, then it was time for a nap!
But I got going early Saturday morning. Sleep had eluded me by 4:30 a.m., even though I had only been between the sheets for about 5 hours. I just had to start putting my blocks together, so I couldn't sleep!
The stars go together by using three parts of the other 20 stars as sashing. The vertical points of the stars are sashing between the main blocks, and the horizontal points of the stars are sashing between the rows of blocks. You have to build this slowly and carefully, to make sure you get the right vertical point with the same horizontal point. I was about 2/3 done on Saturday when the body said "Enough!"
So here it is, the top is all pieced together. I think it turned out very well, and oh, so pretty! It is bright, to be sure! I need to make a black border and perhaps add an outside border of one of the prints from yardage, then really make my pillow cases.
Like most nosey cats, my boy Al had to jump on the quilt to make sure it was fitting for his lounge pad, he gave me about 3 minutes to take the picture before he was on it.
No, this quilt does not come from a pet-free home! Recipient (at this point it is unknown) will just have to deal with fur. In the meantime, I am sort of proud of this quilt because it has the most detail of any I've done so far, and most of my points do match up, not all, but most of them! I got better as I got closer to the top,catching on to how to make it all go together more smoothly.
Now, any suggestions as to how to quilt this beauty?
Some hated it--said it made them sick, nauseated to work on, not my style.....
Others gushed about how beautiful it is! I am one of the gushers!
I love this line of fabric! I also love the pattern, which is called "Stars Aligned".
I had 30 of the 50 star blocks made about a week ago, but couldn't for the life of me figure out how to add the other 20 stars to make them "align"! Fellow online quilting community members tried to help, showed me pictures, but I must be dense because I didn't get it. I needed the pattern to finally show me how it went together. That came last Saturday.
As I whined about in my last post, I didn't actually get to do much in the way of quilting this past week. My daughter had a babysitting crisis, needing grandma on call, and I had tons of papers to grade and grades to compute before my spring break could actually start. That chore wasn't officially over till about 2 p.m. Friday. Of course, then it was time for a nap!
But I got going early Saturday morning. Sleep had eluded me by 4:30 a.m., even though I had only been between the sheets for about 5 hours. I just had to start putting my blocks together, so I couldn't sleep!
The stars go together by using three parts of the other 20 stars as sashing. The vertical points of the stars are sashing between the main blocks, and the horizontal points of the stars are sashing between the rows of blocks. You have to build this slowly and carefully, to make sure you get the right vertical point with the same horizontal point. I was about 2/3 done on Saturday when the body said "Enough!"
So here it is, the top is all pieced together. I think it turned out very well, and oh, so pretty! It is bright, to be sure! I need to make a black border and perhaps add an outside border of one of the prints from yardage, then really make my pillow cases.
Like most nosey cats, my boy Al had to jump on the quilt to make sure it was fitting for his lounge pad, he gave me about 3 minutes to take the picture before he was on it.No, this quilt does not come from a pet-free home! Recipient (at this point it is unknown) will just have to deal with fur. In the meantime, I am sort of proud of this quilt because it has the most detail of any I've done so far, and most of my points do match up, not all, but most of them! I got better as I got closer to the top,catching on to how to make it all go together more smoothly.
Now, any suggestions as to how to quilt this beauty?
Friday, March 9, 2012
It's not fair!
Being an English teacher, today I have a whole stack of papers to grade so I can post my midterm grades and get on with SPRING BREAK! The teachers look forward to it as much as the students do! But it's not fair! I haven't been able to work on my quilt much this week. Hope I can get some done next week!
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