carousel - Sewvivor - Challenge #3

I am SO thrilled to announce that I managed to squeak my way into round three of Sewvivor. This round, our challenge was hexies (hexagons). I have already made a quilt during Sewvivor, so I had initially planned on making something small, like a crafting tote. But the more I thought about it, the idea had less appeal, especially having just made a slightly epic (for me, and don't ask how long it took) tote. So, a quilt it was. I had someone really special in mind. I pulled a stack of fabrics, and waited for inspiration to strike.

I started searching for hexagon quilts, and then star hexagon quilts, looking for that perfect pattern. I couldn't find one pattern that was what I had in mind. But I did find an awesome quilt I really wanted to make, except the person that made it hand pieced it and it took three years. I had about one and a half weeks.

From what I can tell, this quilt design is almost always hand pieced. I've seen this design in the past, and somewhere in the back of my mind, I've thought that there must be a way to make this design machine piecing friendly. I'm happy to say, I've figured it out, come up with a design and absolutely love the result. Each star is encased in an outer frame which creates a large hexagon.

My best friend, and cousin, is the new owner of this quilt. Every single fabric, stitch, and color was chosen with her in mind. She is undoubtedly, always, the first to believe in me and my little creative dreams. I was waiting for the perfect quilt to make for her and this is it. It reminds me of our childhood summers spent together, family, and sunshine. And it's bright, and happy, just like her.

This quilt measures 68 x 76 inches and is constructed completely using diamonds. I love the vintage quality this design has, and I hope I conveyed that with my fabric choices. I used so many of my absolute favorites that had been carefully stashed away (hoarded).

For the backing, I used a couple prints from Heather Bailey's Up Parasol line. This just might be my favorite backing ever.

Together, my cousin and I, named this quilt Carousel, as to us, it evokes childhood and the spinning shape of old vintage carousels. 

After an amazing photoshoot with my cousin, and photography assistant extraordinaire, I sent the quilt home with her. It's already been washed, and loved and treasured. I couldn't be happier.

 

I want to thank, first and foremost, my family, both immediate and extended, that have put up with my slightly distracted state of mind the past few weeks. They've picked up where I've dropped things and been so patient. My kids have been amazingly encouraging. I love that the older two are old enough to know what is going on and are my little cheerleaders.

I want to thank Rach of Family Ever After, for graciously moderating and organizing such a fantastic challenge. It's been fun (and terrifying) to see the ways I've let it push me and grow creatively.

Lastly, and definitely not least, I want to thank you, my readers. You have voted for me, cheered me on, and through the wonder that is Instagram, helped me pick up the pieces when I completely fell apart in the middle of this challenge. You believed it me, and it made a difference. So, thank you.

If you would like to vote in this next challenge (and I promise there is only one more if I make it), you can at Family Ever After. I have my next challenge project work out should things pan out, but if they don't, and I go home this round, I couldn't be prouder of my project.

Have an awesome week friends!

a stitchy update

First of all, I want to thank everyone for stopping by last week and leaving lovely comments on my Sewvivor audition. I am humbled and amazed to report that I made it in as a contestant in the top 16. To be quite honest, I didn't think I was going to make it, as the competition is quite fierce. I've come to the conclusion that the next little while will be fueled by coffee, adrenaline and very little sleep. I'll keep you posted on how things go. You can also follow along over at Family Ever After.

In other stitchy news, I've been bitten. I held off for so long, but my Instagramming crafty friend, M, of Three Owls finally convinced me to take the plunge into the hexie (hexy??) world. And I finally quelled the fear and did it. And guess what? I'm hooked.

I can't get over how satisfying hexagons are! Also, I love the hand-sewing aspect. Take three minutes of basting and you get a little instant shot of cuteness.
I suspect you'll be seeing more of these in the months to come.

A few things I've learned:

1. I love thread basting. I can't imagine using glue, but will try it when I get the appropriate glue for educations sake.

2. Take small bites if you don't want your threads to show through on the top of the hexagon.

my first hexagon flower - see the little stitches?

3. Using enough thread tension (pulling stitches nice and tight) when stitching the hexagons together also helps reduce thread showing through the top.

Less little stiches showing...

4. I need a bigger pouch/organizer. Someone said I'd giggle once I was hooked that I initially thought this pouch would suffice. They were right. :)

And that's it for now friends. Thank you for stopping by. I'm off to go tackle my ridiculously long crafty to do list.

xo
Jade

concrete - a finished quilt

It's been a pretty incredible and busy week. This past weekend, my husband and I celebrated our 12th anniversary. My gift to him was his very own (first ever) quilt.

For the photo shoot, I decided to go back to where we took some of our wedding pictures.

It looks a bit different now, but still has a cool feel to it.

You can read more about the design process for this quilt in this post.

Be warned. (This post is pretty photo heavy.)

I really wanted to include my children in the making and documenting of this quilt. My oldest son was intstrumental in the basting and trimming process. And he's a pretty great photographer as well.

I decided to let them help me on a fun quilt photo shoot.

They had a blast. It was so windy under the overpass.

For the backing, I used this lovely Waterfront Park Birds in Flight print. It is so fantastic. I made three blocks of mini plus's to break up the print and add visual interest.

Four crocs photo-bombing. (I love this shot.)

I quilted it using a spiraling hexagon. I used one the hexagons from this Simply Style fabric as the point of origin.

As with any spiral quilting, the beginning was a difficult process as you push and pull most of your quilt through your machine over and over. Eventually, as you make your way from the epicenter, it gets easier.

It was too windy to get a really good flat picture, so I set up another shoot.

For binding I used a great 1/4 inch black and white stripe.

Our baby wanted in on the action...

He cannot help himself if there is a quilt on the floor.

All in all, having the whole family involved in this quilt process really added to all the love that went into every single stitch.

 

It's been washed, dried and crinkled. It kept him cool last night.

This post is for all the memories of years gone by, of a growing family, and of many, many years to come.


This week I'm doing something fun and entering this quilt into the Blogger's Quilt Festival. This is a first for me, and it's SO exciting.

Books
I am also linking up with Amanda Jean for finish it up Friday, Needle and Thread Thursday, and TGIFF.

a hexagon quilt, finished

This has been a big month for me. I finally feel like I'm making progress on some old (old) projects that have been sitting around the sewing room.

It is amazing how good that feels.

My first big finish of the year in the world of old WIP's is my Chinese Lantern Hexagon quilt.

I started this quilt around 3 years ago. I was struck by the fabric at a local quilt store and had recently been bitten by the hexy craze. (In retrospect, I believe that this is also where my obsession with teals and turquoises and blues and greens came from.)

The pattern was something I designed myself. It is really simple. I drew a hexagon (using the circle method) onto template plastic using a compass. The radius was 5.5 inches, and from point to point the hexagon measures 11 inches. After using the template to cut out my hexagons, I laid them out in a off-set hexagon pattern, one row with 7 hexagons, and the next with 6 hexagons and a half hexagon on either end.

To stitch them together, I watched a u-tube video on y-seams, and away I went. It only took me 3 years. (In all honesty, the actual piecing didn't take that long... it was all the life in between that was behind the delay. And procrastination - that may have had a part in it.)

In the last year, I completed the quilt top, and then I pieced a lovely quilt back. And then I had the brilliant idea (BRILLIANT) of hand-quilting the entire quilt. I started quilting it, and got pretty far along, but I got hung up on what to do in the middle of the hexagons. I hadn't thought out my plan for quilting when I began, so any ideas I had now wouldn't work with the existing hand-quilting.
 

And then it sat, and sat, and sat, while periodically being rearranged like a piece of furniture. Last week, I snapped. This quilt needed to be done, and it needed to be done immediately, because quite frankly, I was tired of looking at it in its unfinished state. And needless to say, it no longer inspired me with it's current quilting.

 My new bamboo Clover stitch ripper and I got busy.

The next day, within about 2 hours, the quilt was quilted with an allover stipple, and the binding was being prepared. The finished quilt measures 62 x 46 inches. It's not huge, but it's a great lap size.

I finished hand-stitching the binding this week and I am SO pleased that I went with quilting it this way. It had sat around long enough. Now it's done and ready to be enjoyed by someone that really loves it (and that hasn't been staring at it for 3 years).

I know just the person.

Linking up with Amanda Jean for finish it up Friday.

"starstruck", a finished quilt and lessons learned

If you've been following my blog for any amount of time, you have probably heard me going on and on about my star-flower quilt along quilt. I've been working on it since mid-summer. I'm happy to say that it is finally (FINALLY) done. Pieced, basted, quilted and bound. I don't think I've ever been happier to finish a quilt.

I'm calling my quilt "star struck". It measures 66 inches by 72 inches. The fabrics are Happy Go Lucky, by Bonnie and Camille, some Avalon, and a few other stash fabrics that I had on hand. The backing is Aqua Kona Cotton.

The back was pieced with the remaining diamonds from the top. I included a few tiny stars made from the little scraps left over. I love it.

I free-motion quilted it using stacked lines within the stars and stippling everywhere else. I am hooked on free-motion quilting now. And it doesn't scare me anymore, so that's something.

It was bound in a red and white bias print from the "Scrumptious" line by Bonnie and Camille.

I need to get more of this print. It is so pretty.



It's been a bit of a journey. Here's what I've learned:

-    Know what you are getting into when you commit to a project

-    Backstitch at the beginning and ending of seams

-    Take the time to fix your mistakes when you figure this out, even after your quilt top has been sewn together.

-    Remember it's just fabric.... It's really hard to wreck it and if you do, the world won't come to a halt

-    Stretch your comfort levels... Try new things or techniques that intimidate you

-    Be inspired by other crafters but don't compare

-    Press, press, and press some more

-    Break the quilt down into chunk sized tasks

-    Be proud when you accomplish one of these tasks

-    Press your seams open

-    Don't bite off more than you can chew (ie. a really complicated quilt back)

-    But if you do, chew it well, and admire the effect

-    Sleep periodically

-    Don't be annoyed when your family asks for dinner.... Again.

-    If you are having a bad sewing day and making really obvious mistakes, put it down and try again tomorrow

-    Know when to pick out stitches and when to embrace them

-    Remember. It's just a quilt... Not brain surgery. No one will die (or even notice) if you make a mistake. Hopefully.

-    When you've put upwards of a hundred hours into a project, savor every stitch of the binding. Revel in it. You are almost there.

-    When free-motion quilting, periodically re-tighten your machine foot. Apparently they can wiggle loose.

-    Try to remember that you have children needing to be picked up from school. (If applicable)

-    When doing that, try to remember not to show up at the school looking like you've been hiding in a cave for a year with thread in your hair.

-    Do your best, not someone else's.

-    Know when to give up on an idea if you just don't like it. Don't be afraid to take time and re-evaluate.

-    Blink when quilting. (Took me a while to figure out why my eyes were hurting.)

-    Acknowledge that your quilt will not be perfect. BUT, it will be perfect for you.

-    Bury your thread knots as you go.

-    Know when to take a creative "break", but remember to come back.

-    And most of all ... don't give up.


Linking up with Amanda at Crazy Mom Quilts for finish it up Friday.

Plugging away...

Back when I started this blog in August, I joined the Star Flower quilt along hosted by Amanda of A Crafty Fox. The diamonds were quick to cut out and the stars came together in record time. But the row piecing has kind of been slow. The first several joins didn't work out and I ended up having to undo and redo some stars and seams which got me a bit discouraged. It's also not very conducive to chain piecing, but I'm trying to sort that one out.

So it's sat for a bit, staring at me from my work table.

Anyways, last night I decided enough was enough and got going again. School is back in session, all three little rug rats were in bed (on time!), and my hubby was working late. After the usual self pep talk that practice makes perfect and perfect isn't necessarily the goal (ahem... maybe sometimes), I started.

I've adjusted the row/column ratio for the quilt. The length/width in the original design is a bit long and narrow for my taste. I've finished my first row and am looking forward to doing the rest.

Its not a lot, but rows are coming together. And I love the fabrics so much that I just want it done, now, in time for fall. (It's still meltingly hot here, but that can change quickly.)

 

That being said, my baby just went down for morning nap, I've got a fresh cup of coffee and a stack of stars calling my name.

Today I'm linking up to two smashing new blogs (new to me) I found called "My Quilt Infatuation" and 627handworks. Thanks ladies!