Fabric for Quilt 3

Fabric for Cecilia's Quilt

I have the fabric all cut and ready to sew. The last time I made this quilt it was really fun sewing the pieces together to make the "building blocks". I think this quilt will have a little more of the original feel of the Lemongrass quilt that it is inspired from.

The Lemongrass quilt was created by Laura Ducommun

I really can't believe I am starting the 3rd quilt already it has flown by. I am still needing to work more in the other half of my studio and figuring out how that piece will fit in is my next challenge.

Creative Mom

My Studio Mates

Besides a cup of coffee and my iphone I have these two studio mates who are always with me when I work. On the left is Lucy the newest addition to our family and on the right Buddy. They are looking very cute and innocent in this picture and mostly they lounge around on the floor waiting for me to do something. Lucy is a Lhaso Apso Bichon Frise mix and Buddy is a Pug Terrier mix and when we brought Lucy home I think it was love at first sight. It is really nice to have them hanging out with me at least until they start playing which involves lots of nipping, growling, humping, and chasing all as close to me as possible. Sometimes they get shut out and stay in the other room until they have worn themselves out and it's nap time. They make me very happy though and I am so glad we found them!

I will be starting Quilt #3 which is for my wonderful sister Mariah and her super cute baby girl Cecilia. This is the first quilt that is not a surprise as I knew my sister would want to help pick out the fabric and design. She chose the Lemongrass quilt which is the same as Deirdre's Ducky quilt. I am excited to make the quilt again but using totally different fabrics I think it will really be it's own quilt. Mariah chose almost all Amy Butler fabric which I have always loved so they will be really fun to work with. In preperation for these last three quilts I signed myself up for a private lesson at Montavilla Sewing Center to hone some of my machine quilting skills. This lesson is free because I bought my machine there years ago. So if you sew and need to brush up on skills this is a great way to do it. Getting started today and I'll put up some fabric pictures soon yay!

Creative Mom

Finished Peekaboo Quilt

Quilt design by Carly Schwerdt

Finished today! This quilt was really fun and easy to make. We were out of town over the weekend on a yurt camp out at the Southern Oregon Coast so I had to take a little break. Taking a break was hard but the weekend was wonderful, something we should do more often!

Once I started sewing the fabrics really came together and the drawstring is such a good idea. If you are thinking of making a first quilt this would be such a good one and you could simplify the fabrics if they seem a little overwhelming. The finished size is 35" x 34" so it will be perfect to lay the baby on. Below I have the flaps lifted up to see Lily and Avery's drawings which I love but I am the Mom so I might be biased.

All I want to do now is give the quilt to Terie! I don't think I can wait until her shower which is still a month away. Another thing about waiting is I haven't put this blog up where I think Terie would look at it and ruin the surprise. Once I give her the quilt I can share the blog a little more.....hmmmm I am going to have to figure this out.

It's studio cleaning time and it's not even that messy. Also on the agenda is starting some drawings to get some of this wonderful energy going that direction.

Creative Mom

p.s. Not So Creative Mom I think you are very creative!

Layout Time

If you have been following my progress you'll know I can get a little obsessive laying out fabric and this was worse then the last time. This is partially due to the larger quantity and variety of prints but I think my new technique of taking photos of different combinations, uploading them, then comparing them all side by side on my laptop was not a good idea. Of course I really enjoyed comparing six different versions of the final layout it was a little maddening and not until I stopped and went back to just moving the fabric around was I able to come to the final layout. The photo to the left is the last photo I took before I swore off the photos tweaked it a little more and sewed the columns of fabric. In each column is one drawing with a flap sewn on, below is Avery's crab.

Aaron and Terie are both Cancers hence the crab

Lilys bunny and she also made a cool crocodile

I would like to sew the whole front together tomorrow but we are heading out to the coast for a yurt adventure on Friday so I might have to wait. It will be hard to stay away, every day I have been rushing to the studio or working in the evening if I don't get enough time before school gets out. It's a wonderful feeling to have again!

Creative Mom

Quilt #2

The beginnings of Quilt #2

It looks a little crazy but I am going to make it work. This quilt will be for our friends Aaron and Terie who are expecting their first baby this December. They are both artists and have a wild house full of art, vintage linens, thrift store treasures, and hook rugs. They have an orange, green, dusty blue, and gray nursery which began with some vintage fabric Terie found. A few weeks after I started the Ducky quilt Terie posted on facebook that she already had been given so many blankets and quilts that she couldn't imagine how she would use them all. Of course many Moms commented that she would use all the blankets for so many different purposes and she could never have to many. I chimed in with you never know which one the baby will attach too, my son Avery still sleeps with a blanket that was his Dads when he was little (that's a secret by the way) and Lily latched onto a blanket that had Avery's name on it. This all left me a little worried about making a quilt for them but the solution came when I found the Peekaboo quilt by Carly Schwerdt. This quilt is a smaller and interactive with flaps that have pictures underneath. Another cool feature is a drawstring that can pull the quilt into a bag.




It might be hard to tell but there are 20 different fabrics used in this quilt and the bunny creatures are iron on transfers. I am using 17 different fabrics and it is seeming like a lot, I know my patterns have much more color and I went off the oranges and greens that Terie likes. I wasn't sure what to do at first for the art. I could have done some drawings but I thought it would be too forced, Ed could have done something and it might be too slick. The answer was with the kids. Avery and Aaron have done a lot of drawing together and the kids work has so much personality in it. Here are the pieces ironed onto the fabric.



I need to pre-wash these tonight and then I can start sewing tomorrow.

Creative Mom

Finished Ducky Quilt!

I finished Quilt #1 which I have named Ducky Quilt! I can't wait to send it on to Deirdre.



The binding turned out well, I tried a double fold technique and it is so much easier then a single fold binding. If you are really interested I can go on and on about why I like the double fold better but I will spare you of that this time.

Now it is time to clean my studio. I always have to tidy up a bit when I have worked on something for a few weeks. I get in a frenzy and start knocking things on the floor and there are little pieces of thread and fabric everywhere. So tonight when my tired husband goes to bed early I will clean up and be ready to start quilt #2 tomorrow. I can't wait to start and it is a really unusual design so it should be interesting.

Creative Mom

The Quilting is done!

I took these pictures outside today to show more of the quilting details.

After I finished last night I spent an hour snipping thread while watching Americas Next Top Model. The perfect mindless show to watch after focusing on circles for a few days. I can say now just diving in and having to do a whole quilt is one way to learn a technique. I think my circles improved greatly by the end and the beginning ones don't stand out too much. I do love how it looks though........love it love it love it! I am so excited to put the binding on and see the finished quilt and that's the goal for tonight.

I started thinking ahead to quilt #2 and went to the fabric store today so I can get started over the weekend! I'll show the fabric and plans soon but I don't want to get ahead of myself.

Off to the binding!
Creative Mom

I had a breakthrough last night! Over the weekend I was able to work a lot on the quilt and my circles were looking much better but nothing was really flowing. I still felt like I wasn't getting it. Then I sat down to work a little last night and realized what I was doing wrong...... I had still been turning the quilt around and around to make the circles instead of moving the quilt in a circle under the needle! Well that would be the point in disengaging the feed dogs wouldn't it. The book my pattern is in definitely assumes you are a more experienced quilter and I am still learning.
I am about halfway through the quilting now and am ready to knock it out!

By the way tomorrow is the first day of school here in Portland and I will have my days back!!!!!
I had a taste of what my days will be like when my wonderful husband took the kids up to the mountain for the night over the weekend and I had time alone at our house. Now we have always believed in taking vacations and having time to recharge but I have never had two days in the house uninterrupted. My inspiration was from a few of my smart Mom friends who had arranged this for themselves. It is amazing how much you can get done! I was able to work on the quilt for hours and do things like put a rubber anti-slide matte in my makeup drawer and unpack all the quarantined toys from the lice fiasco. It was perfect timing because I now have the momentum for tomorrow when the kids are back in school!
Creative Mom

Free Motion Machine Quilting is HARD!

The part of the quilt I have been most excited to do has begun and I am sucking at it! After basting the layers together I am supposed to "quilt random circles 1/2 to 1 inch apart" they look like targets. The random part of this made me think it wouldn't be an issue, Ive sewn circles before, but when I tried this with the darning foot it's a mess. I think because I have a good amount of experience with sewing most of this quilt has gone smoothly. I can cut fabric, pin and sew straight lines but this has slowed me down a little. Today I have been scouring the computer for tips and now I am going to check out some other blogs and get some more support. According to the book "wobbly lines make the quilt more interesting" so I will have an interesting quilt!