Blogger's Quilt Festival

Hello to all the visitors stopping by for the Blogger's Quilt Festival! I'm Emily and I love to sew. Check out my tutorials here, and my recent finishes here. I also love to make zip pouches, so you'll see a lot of those here too! Thanks for stopping by, and I hope to see you around!

This year for my Blogger's Quilt Festival entry I'm sharing my Bella Quilt for Kathy.

This is my one of my most accomplished quilts ever, my most intense quilt.

The quilt was made for my Aunt Kathy, who has been a crafter for all my life. She's always had a project for us kids to work on, and shared her passion. She went through a quilting phase before finding her real love: polymer clay. For the past 10 or so years she's been passionately creating spectacular beads and necklaces - she's taught and written articles in magazines. She really is talented. 

Back to the story, when I was a kid Kathy gave me her old sewing machine. I was maybe 12? I started sewing and never stopped. So I guess I owe it all to her? So I made her a quilt to show my gratitude. 

So how does one make a quilt for an artist? I decided to work with black and white prints since they are a staple in Kathy's clay jewelry pieces. (it was a real stretch for me!). I started with a standard New York Beauty block and then drafted arcs of blocks to fit around it. Each border was drafted by hand, and nearly all of them are paper pieced. Each bit of this quilt took a lot of work psyching myself up to it. It was scary working on such a different and new to me style! 

In the end I absolutely love the quilt. It's really exciting to see it all together after all the planning and drafting! :) 

And the sweetest final touches? I added prayers written under the binding. Aunt Kathy will always be wrapped up in my love and prayers! 

Stats: 

Size: about 55" x 65"

Techniques: foundation paper piecing, hand drawn paper pattern, raw edge applique.

Quilting: meandering stipple with inclusions of "love," "hope," and hearts throughout. Quilted on my beloved Juki TL98E (Janice). 

If you're interested you can read all the details of the story / piecing here.

Now go ahead and check out all the other great quilts in the Blogger's Quilt Festival! 

A Big Reveal: Aunt Kathy's Bella Quilt!

Bella Quilt for Kathy

Some time ago I posted a poll on my facebook page. This poll was for my family and close friends, asking them if I were to make them a quilt, how involved in the process they would like to be. My aunt Kathy asked to be surprised. So surprised she was!

"bricks" border, close up.

To give you a little bit of back story, when I was about 10 years old my Aunt Kathy went through a phase of quilting - yes a phase (she used to hop from one craft to another before settling down to polymer clay). During the year that that phase lasted she made quilts for her kids, as well as all the nieces and nephews. I still have the beautiful rail fence quilt she made me that year! When the quilting phase passed Aunt Kathy gifted me her sewing machine, I was about 10 or 11 years old, and that was my first sewing machine. 

Delicious binding!

Anyone who knows my story knows that I fell for sewing right away, starting by sewing faux fur stuffed animals, then self designed purses, and a few random articles of clothing. I used Aunt Kathy's old White machine for several years (I still have it and it's still working). 

Much more than giving me a sewing machine Aunt Kathy gave me a desire for creativity. She was always crafting, and selling her creations at craft shows. It was at her house that I really saw that creating is a way of life and not just a hobby. Beyond that, Aunt Kathy gave so much of herself to us that I don't really have words to explain it. I hope that I can be that kind of aunt to my nieces  We always knew she was there, and she took care of us in a special "aunt" kind of way. 

So obviously she needed a quilt. :)

I've been working on this quilt for about a year, under the tag "Bella Quilt." It was originally inspired by my obsession with these giant paper pieced patterns. The book and paper patterns there were inspired by the intricate tile and mosaic floors in Italy. I did in fact purchase the Bella Bella Quilts paper patterns, but I was not very excited about how cookie cutter the quilt would be (I don't like to follow patterns, I like to make the decisions). 

By March of last year I'd created the NY Beauty block for the center (the only piecing in this quilt that was not hand drawn by me), and I'd decided to stray from the Bella Bella style but didn't completely know how I was going to do it. I had hand drawn the paper patterns for that first round of flying geese and pieced it up to that point. I was fortunate enough to be at the Chicago Modern Quilt Guild's spring retreat with Robbi Eklow -- and in chatting with her (late late at night), and looking at her quilts I decided that I should have some of the round borders flowing off the edge of the quilt. Robbi explained that it would make the borders come together a bit easier since they wouldn't have to be perfectly circular. Thanks for the inspiration Robbi! 

Close up!

I gradually pieced the remainder of the round borders. Each one designed and drawn by hand by me (using sheets of freezer paper). It was a bit challenging, and fear of screwing up all that complex work that kept me from finishing it up right away. 

From the center out, here is a description of the round borders:

• NY Beauty (paper pieced, pattern found online)
• Circular Flying Geese (paper pieced, hand drawn)
• Pebble raw edge applique (segments of the arc drawn out by hand, the circle fabrics were fused with Wonder Under, then die cut using an Accuquilt Studio cutter, then the circles were fused down and free motion quilted into place)
• Teal and white bricks (strip pieced units which were then cut with a template, then paper pieced into arcs)
• Large black and white border (paper pattern pieces drawn by hand, cut from yardage)
• Large flying geese (paper pieced, hand drawn, then appliqued into place using feather weight fusible interfacing to enclose the edges, then top stitched into place on the last border)

The crazy backing!

I used all the leftover scraps for the backing, and stippled the entire quilt with a few random hearts included.

Prayers in binding.

The final step in making this quilt was writing the prayers in the binding. I inscribe my quilts with prayers to the recipient in the seam allowance of the binding. The prayers aren't visible once the binding is finished, but Aunt Kathy will always know that she's wrapped in love and prayers. 

Pretty binding, pretty backing!

As I mentioned above, Aunt Kathy requested that this quilt be a surprise. So she didn't have any part in the decision making process. I asked my uncle, her husband for suggestions of what colors to use (without skipping a beat he said "black and white" because of Aunt Kathy's favorite signature jewelry pieces she makes). I also drew a lot of inspiration from her pinterest boards. I even had my own sneaky board where I'd hoard all these ideas. 

Crazy paper pieced curved borders!

Last weekend we went back home to visit family, and I was able to give Aunt Kathy her quilt in person.  It was a pretty awesome experience since she was surprised! I feel really lucky to have an aunt like Aunt Kathy, and it was a lot of fun making this quilt for her!

Sewing on a strict deadline...

Do you guys do this to yourselves? 

Paper pieced arcs of flying geese.

I've been working on a quilt for ages. It's the most complex quilt I've ever made. I thought I'd have it done by Christmas, but things got away from me. I pushed it back a bit, but now I've committed to finishing this before a family get together in a week and a half nine days! Whoa it's only nine days away! lol.

Last night I spent a lot of time figuring out the last bit of piecing - and decided to applique the last round of flying geese down instead of piecing a gigantic curve twice (while maintaining those perfect points!) So now I need to schedule my time to ensure I'll finish - goal setting time!

Tonight I'm going to work on backing the flying geese to turn the edges to applique.

My goal tomorrow is to acquire the final bits of Kona Ash (why is Ash so elusive?) for the final corner. I'll also applique those flying geese to the quilt top tomorrow.

By the end of the weekend my goal is to have the backing pieced (and any additional fabric needed for that purchased). 

Here's hoping I can pull this off! 

In Times of Tragedy... I Paper Piece.

I think we have all had a bit of an emotional day with the tragic school shooting. We're all hugging our littles and trying to grasp the reality of what happened. 

After watching approximately one news cast this evening I couldn't take any more. I needed something to provide a bit of numbness. So I went to my old friend, foundation paper piecing.

Yes, I paper piece when I need to clear my mind / when I don't want to think / when I need to feel something other than the emotions in my head. (is that weird?) 

It seems that I haven't taken a photo of this since adding the last border -- which is a wide border in a black and white print... 

It didn't hurt that I've been wanting to finish this quilt before Christmas... but I keep putting it off because this next step requires drafting another giant circle of paper pieced flying geese... which to say the least, is not easy. (I'm fairly sure there's a computer program out there somewhere that would do this for me, but I haven't yet learned). 

So. That's what I did tonight. I drafted up that giant arc of geese... each "unit" includes 8 geese (approx 3" x 4" each) - and the arc will require six units of geese. I finished one unit and cut the fabric for the other 5 units! I feel accomplished. The piecing of the other units should go fairly quickly since everything is prepped. 

This is truly mind-numbing work - but not in the normal sense -- doing all the drafting and prep work takes a lot of brainpower / measuring / double checking  It leaves no room for any other thoughts. Such a luxury on a day like today. 

WIP Wednesday!

Is it Wednesday again? I don't feel like I've been accomplishing very much sewing in the past couple weeks. So here we go - the never ending list (I wouldn't really want it to ever end!).

Finished!

Tova Tunic is FINISHED! There's no real evidence of this though since my husband is terrible at taking flattering pictures. Heck I would be ok if he took semi-alright pictures! lol. It's finished and I really like it. I'd like a little more give in the back of the shoulders, but that may just be because I'm not used to wearing a shirt that's not knit.

Box pouch for Shruti!

Pouch for Shruti is FINISHED! This has been on the back burner for a while. Look around at my fabulous blog - Shruti designed it for me, and as 'payment' we agreed on a pouch with a tiny star! I sure hope she likes it because I'm pretty fond of it too! I'm hoping to get it in the mail soon - I wonder how long it takes to mail something to India?

Progress Made:

Cathedral Window QAL block is finished - but I still need to type out the instructions and edit the pictures in... I should be doing that now! :) Keep your eyes open next week for my block!

Bee Block September - I'm a little late on this one - but I do have the hexies all basted, I just need to decide on a good block layout and finish it!

Bella Quilt - It's getting big!!

Bella Quilt - I drafted the paper pattern for the next round. I tried out the paper pieced design but then ditched it since it wasn't going quite as planned. I picked up some extra fabric to do that section in one print.

No Progress:

Lindsey's Quilt / {Sew} Beautiful Bee 2012 quilt - I really should get this basted and start quilting it!

Mug Rugs for Christmas - I should really challenge myself to making one mug rug top a day until they're all finished. I want to quilt them all in one sitting... 13 total!

3E's Swap - still gathering ideas and supplies.

Hm... I'm sure there are more things on this list, but that's all I can think of offhand!

WIP Wednesday - I'm guest hosting!

Hey there faithful readers! Head on over to Freshly Pieced to check out my guest post for WIP Weds!

WIP Bella Bella quilt!

Check it out, link up, and get inspired by all the other linkups! 

Also, you'll be able to read about some of the dozen or so projects I'm bringing to work on at the CMQG retreat this weekend! I'm so excited for the retreat!!!

Late Night Sewing...

I've been doing a lot of sewing, but not in big chunks of time. 

I am itching to finish some projects that have been lingering - 1 quilt is basted but not quilted. Another quilt top is finished, but the backing has to be pieced (and I keep forgetting to buy white thread for it!). I have a couple smaller projects in various stages too. At least one of these will be finished this week (deadline!)

I'm really looking forward to having some daylight sewing time soon. School will be starting in another month and then I'll have at least one of those mornings to sew / take daylight pictures!

The Chicago Modern Quilt Guild fall retreat is coming up soon too! I can't believe it's so close. The round of blocks that I added to the quilt pictured above was the first that I'd added since the spring retreat! It's been slow going since that project has no deadline! I'm loving it but it's so very complex. Each step makes my brain hurt a little. It's fun to be so challenged sometimes though!!

There are some really great things on the horizon. I'm pretty excited to share them with you all. 

Until then, I'll be sewing late at night. 

Intricate.

Is late March too late to declare a word of the year? 

The word "intricate" has been written up on my inspiration board for months now. It is how I frame my thoughts about most of my projects. Not necessarily tiny, not necessarily hard to do, just intricate.

I thrive in the challenge. I want to learn precision and structure. I want to design it all myself. 

I want to be my own sort of quilter. And yet, I often get bogged down by what my peers are doing, how they're succeeding, and gaining popularity that I don't have. I think spring will help me sort these things out...but I need to just keep pushing myself to do my own work - rather than following the crowd. 

Where does that leave me though? Is my desire to teach? Is my goal to write a book? Do I just want to sit around and create however I please? I'm not sure. 

But as for now I want intricacy. I want little complex points, and circles upon circles, nesting together perfectly. 

Who knows where it will take me, but I like the journey I'm on. 

The pictures here are from my current project which I'm calling "Bella Bella..." It's for someone special and is inspired by this book (although I haven't used any of the patterns in that book...) I'm really loving it. 

Re-stashing and a new start!

The other night I started a new quilt. This one has been in my mind since before Christmas, and I started pulling / stashing fabrics for it after vacation a few weeks ago. I'm calling it "Bella Bella" for now, since the general idea comes from the book "Bella Bella Quilts" by Norah McMeeking. I purchased the paper patterns that go along with the book - but I didn't buy the book - I know I won't follow those instructions anyway! I don't like following patterns. So my idea though, is based on her book which is all quilts inspired by Italian mosaic floors. Pretty fabulous, and I'm hoping it works out as I plan. I don't have a really solid picture in my mind about this quilt - but lots and lots of ideas. Truthfully my DQS12 quilt has helped to solidify the "you can do this" for me. It's not going to be easy, but it'll be a challenge and it'll be a lot of fun! I imagine you'll see a lot of this quilt as it moves along. 

The block there above, is the first bit of the quilt. Lucky for me Sara is hosting a NY Beauty Quilt Along right now, and posted the awesomest block. So I followed along for that one! Not hard at all, time consuming, but not hard. :) My paper piecing is getting better and so is my curved piecing! 

As for the re-stashing I went to Connecting Threads last week, looking for some light grey and a couple other solids for this quilt - only to find that most of their solid selection was half off.... so yes I filled up a box! (I never do that!) I'm also going to be giving their thread a try. I've never used it so we'll see! :) 

I can tell you on a super secret note, that you'll be seeing some even lovelier solids around here soon!!! I can't wait!! Stay tuned, I'll be making that announcement later this week or next! :)