Monday, December 10, 2012

Loosening up from perfectionism



This little coffee coaster is for my sewing room, using just scraps of fabric. I'd just read "15 Minutes of Play" by Victoria Findlay Wolfe, and since I had a little basket of small scraps nearby, did just as she advised. Her method uses crazy-quilted scraps like the above that are then cut into traditional shapes and pieced together with solid or coordinated fabric, for a very attractive combination. For me it's an appropriate blend of sane methods and crazy quilting. I really like it.

On this sample, I pulled up the backing fabric to make the edge, then sewed a decorative stitch down the raw edge. The first time I tried it, I used some left over binding that turned out not wide enough (now in the trash). The next ones I make I'll use some of my other left over binding. I like the more finished look. These might even make a last minute Christmas gift from me to someone. They're a ball to make!


Friday, July 20, 2012

Nonny and Lily



This is when Ryan and Sue were engaged, and I stayed with Ryan and Lily while she visited her Dad. We saw Ruby Falls and the caves there and had a great time.
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Friday, January 27, 2012

The next two borders: STARS






For each color combination, four 6-inch blocks and eight 4-inch ones are made. The half square triangles are created by using paper patterns, then cut apart and put together into a variety of star designs. These stars will be laid out on point, then, to make the next two borders. It's fascinating to me to see the effects of combining the colors in different combinations.

There are 17 colors altogether in this quilt, and they are ones I chose to replace the colors designated by the quilt designer. This means my teeth chattered when I chose them, from fear that the colors are not going to  work in the whole design. I'm a real beginner here, but I tend to jump into complex things early in learning a craft, just because it's more interesting. I'm too impatient.

One of the challenges is that the printed out half square sewing paper patterns are just about 1/32 off on one direction, so every six inch block had to be sewn with that in mind. Next time watch me use the professionally printed grid sheets instead of my own printed out ones.