Happy Halloween

Last year I purchased some Halloween fabric and never got the chance to use it. So this year I put it to good use. Since I'm not sure I would get a lot of enjoyment out of a Halloween quilt, since it can only be used for about a week, I decided to make a bag/purse!
I absolutely LOVE the way it turned out! I love it so much, I gave it away. What can I say, it's my nature. I get more satisfaction out of something, by gifting it to someone else than keeping it! I don't mean to toot my own horn, but I really like this bag.

Complete with a Candy Corn inside, did I mention it is reversible? Upon completion Kevin and I sat around pondering what to do with a Halloween bag... to make a long story short, there isn't a lot of options aside from the obvious; using it for a week as your purse and storing it away until the following year.

However, if you happen to be taking little children Trick-or-Treating this would be a perfect (fashionable) item to carry all those necessary items around in. Like the extra hats and mittens kids so often discard while running door to door. Or the candy kids like to keep out of their candy bucket to pretend they don't have a lot (I always found people gave me more when my bucket looked more empty). Or to hold a purse which is now conveniently hidden in a festive, handcrafted bag. As I don't have any children, I thought of someone that did and shipped it off immediately to my sister-in-law! Shhhh, she doesn't know it's in the mail yet...

I'd like to think that Daisy was sad to see it go!

And Pepe too, who found it quite comfortable.

This is a process photo, I really don't use a pattern, or a guide, I just start sewing, cutting, assembling and pray for the best. It usually turns out pretty well.

I tried a new type of stipple, on the inside, just to be safe. I'm not that crazy about it. It might be because I've worked VERY hard at being fluid with my stippling and this doesn't require that technique at all, or because it reminds me of Frankenstein's bolts in his neck. Either way, I went back to traditional stippling on the outside.

Luckily this stipple wasn't that visible on the Candy Corns and actually looks kind of cute when not viewed on the batting.

I also made my first tag for this quilt, I was quite pleased with the way it turned out. It's not permanent, but at least it will get my blog out there for people to see.

And this ladies and gentlemen, is what happens when you "live" where you quilt. This folks, is "Life" not to be confused with "Neglect" (I really do love my quilting projects, I just also live with my husband, a cat, and a dog!) So perhaps, later on today, I will try to fix what Life has messed up and begin to sew these pieces together so Life cannot mess with them again.

Do your quilting projects ever get like this?

Tis that Time

I feel like my summer has flown by. If I wasn't attending a wedding, I was thinking about what to wear to one, buying clothes for the many showers and parties, sorting through gift registries, painting nails, doing hair, traveling or taking pictures.

My husband's sister was married this weekend and it was a flury of relatives, friends, events and excitement. I am happy to say the wedding was absolutely gorgeous and everyone had a great time.

I am however sad to say I have done VERY little quilting. I found it difficult to devote even a moment to my fabulous fabric addiction with all the cleaning and entertaining I have been doing recently. To top it all off I am happy to report I quit my job last week and I will be starting my new job in a few weeks time. I am very excited about this, it was a much needed change.

Needless to say, it has been a hectic month for sure!

And since I will be leaving for vacation tomorrow and will not return until after labor day, I figured I would leave you with at least a little something quilting related.

Above is my attempt at sewing together one of my WIPs. Pepe always enjoys helping me quilt, she is always ready to lend a hand in anything and is very eager to assist when comfy strips need wrinkling. She will always find the most inconvenient place to sleep, and therein lies one of the many reasons why I love her!

Playdate

This might be one of my favorite quilts ever! I love the colors, fabrics, pattern, quilting and sashing. I love it all!
This quilt measures 45" x 58" a good size for a crib. I used a fairly large stipple therefore the quilting took no time at all. I went with a scrappy binding, solid back and random front block placement. For the first time ever I feel that the blocks are truly random, and it feels GREAT!

My little helpers definitely chipped in where appropriate! Pepe made sure to get right in the way while I was quilting...
And binding...

And Daisy helped out too!
I think they both get very jealous of the amount of time I spend quilting. The entire time I am making one Daisy runs around trying to lay on it (at least she has the right idea).

I will be sending this quilt off to its owner (an unborn baby boy) and I will miss it dearly. I have given a lot of thought into making myself a larger version! I really LOVE it so much and I'm sure they will too!

Sometimes I feel as though every time I make a quilt I have to learn how to stipple, baste and bind all over again. It would be great if I had a reference somewhere I could quickly look to when I got confused (which happens pretty often). In addition, I have a lot of family and friends that read my blog with little quilting knowledge.

So I've decided that over the next week I'm going to attempt to explain the basting and binding process and possibly create some nice tutorials along the way.
Aside from being a good reference point for me this will also solve a lot of those "how do you make a quilt questions?" So as I finished this quilt I stopped to consider "how" I was finishing it.
I was lucky enough to have someone teach me some of these techniques first hand, other bits I learned from reading blogs and looking through books. So my hope is that my tutorials can help someone else learn to quilt and along the way teach them the many joys of my favorite crafting project.

I've Been Busy

I've been busy cutting, ironing and sewing, and therefore I have not been diligent about posting my progress. I don't think I've mentioned it, but when I quilt I am deep in thought. Sometimes, I don't even do anything but sit, make notes on a piece of paper, and contemplate my finished product.


There is a lot of math calculations and planning that goes into a quilt, it's not all fabric and fun. I mean it is to me, but to the outsider looking in; it's difficult!
In the picture above there is a lot of planning, cutting, staring and thinking going on.

And finally, the less difficult part of quilting begins, after all the pieces are cut!Here is another quilt that has been taking up my time. I started it about a month ago when I saw this post.

I had the colors all picked out for a few months, ever since I bought that patterned center fabric. It's one of those inspirational fabrics that makes you want to design a quilt around it. And lucky me, Amandajean already had, in the exact color scheme I was looking for.

And as I begin to baste, Pepe takes a seat to watch.