5 things...

There's a QuiltCon linky party going on over at the Modern Quilt Guild blog. Those who will be at QuiltCon are posting their photo and answering the question "5 things you might not know about me."

Okay, first? This is me:

Fabric makes me dork out!

Now, for the 5 things you might not know about me (I'm trying to find 5 new things since answering this on Instagram):

1. Like my fellow VMQG member Holly, I have ties to the US via a parent - my father is American but has lived in Canada since before I was born. All of my siblings moved there after university; some live in/near Philadelphia, and others live in Baltimore.
2. I left home after university, but stayed in Canada - Vancouver, to be exact.
3. I'm the Social Media coordinator for the VMQG, which means I do most of the blogging and some of the facebooking and little of the tweeting for the guild. I love being involved - it's such a great way to get to know people I'd seen at meetings. If you're lucky enough to have one, I highly recommend taking on a volunteer opportunity with your local Modern Quilt Guild.
4. I have a really loud laugh. It's been known to startle small children and make them cry.
5. I got my first ever manicure at age 33 (for my wedding).

So who else is in? Come and play along and tell us about yourself!

Strippy Rainbow: A Finish + (Brief) Tutorial

Guess what? This post is a two-fer! A finish PLUS a (brief) tutorial! Whee!

I made this quilt for a coworker's ringette fundraiser, so it counts as my charity quilt finish for Q1. Wait, is that a three-fer? Anyhoodle, I am tickled to introduce Strippy Rainbow:

Finished size is 42"x60"

I started this project with a different fabric pull, using a focus fabric and choosing coordinates. But along the way, the focus fabric got dropped and I added the orange to make this closer to an actual rainbow.

Serendipitously, I found this fabric for the backing. It's like it was made for this quilt! I couldn't have been happier when I re-discovered it in my stash!

It's the other half of an IKEA duvet cover. I used the first half backing G's Rainbow I Spy.

For the binding, I went with a black and white stripe cut on the bias and supplemented with some leftovers from the appliance cover binding. I love how it offsets the rainbow!

Here's the label I made, giving the care instructions for the quilt.

So, you wanna know how to make this quick and easy kid-size lap quilt? Read on!

Strippy Rainbow Lap Quilt - A Tutorial

Fabric Requirements (assuming 42" wide):

• 1/3 m (1/2 yd) EACH of 5 fabrics (red, orange, yellow, green, blue)
• 2/3 m (3/4 yd) striped fabric for bias binding (for 2-1/4" strips - get a full metre or yard if you want to cut wider binding strips)
• about 1-3/4 m (2 yd) backing fabric
• 6-1/2" square of light-coloured fabric for label
• batting at least 46"x64"

Instructions:

1. Cut 1 strip 8-1/2" x WOF (width of fabric) and 1 strip 4-1/2" WOF from EACH of the five fabrics.

2. Lay them out in Red/Orange/Yellow/Green/Blue order, alternating the widths like so:

3. Stitch the strips together. They likely won't be the same width - mine weren't. What I did was line up the fold in the center of the strip (I don't prewash so the fold from being on the bolt is still there) and pin outward. You could also match just one edge and go from there. The quilt will be trimmed later in any case.

4. Piece the backing whichever way you want so that it is at least 4" wider and 4" longer than your quilt top (I told you this was brief!). Don't trim those uneven edges of the quilt top yet!

5. Layer and baste the quilt top, batting and backing.

6. Quilt. I quilted straight lines from edge to edge with my walking foot, using the seams to guide some lines, and eyeballing the distance between the other quilting lines as required. The wider strips ended up with 5 lines of quilting and the narrow strips had 3 lines of quilting. If you are a little less laissez-faire than I, you could mark the lines with painter's tape or use the seam guide on your walking foot. Alternatively, this layout is fabulous for featuring FMQ. The size of the quilt is really manageable too so maybe use this project as an opportunity to practice your FMQ!

7. NOW you can trim your quilt's vertical edges so that they're even with the shortest strip, and square up your quilt.

8. Make the label. Fold the 6-1/2" square of light coloured fabric in half on the diagonal, and write the quilt's information on it. Turn your quilt to the back and line up the raw edges of the triangle with the bottom left corner of the quilt back. Pin in place and stitch it in place with a 1/8" seam allowance.

Note: label is attached before attaching binding - don't let the photo mislead you!

10. To make the binding, cut a 26" square from your binding fabric and use the tube method to create a 2-1/4" wide continuous length of binding. (I use this tutorial).

11. Fold your long binding strip wrong sides together, and attach to the front of the quilt top with a 1/4" seam allowance. Machine sew or hand sew the binding to the quilt back.

12. Enjoy your new quilt.

Any questions, feel free to email me - my email is on my About page at the top of the blog.

I'm counting this toward my Q1 FAL goals! Leanne She Can Quilt is hosting- come and see what it's all about!

Friday Felicities

Something that never fails to make me happy is overcoming a fear of trying something new. Behold these leggings I sewed up for G (Kwik Sew 3476).

That's not my felicity, even though I am really happy with them. Look closely at those leggings. Notice anything?

I overcame my fear of twin needles! As is the case with many fears, this one was firmly rooted in ignorance - I simply hadn't figured out how to use one, and I hadn't educated myself on the many uses of such a delightful little notion. A little googling and I'd rectified both situations (tutorial). Twin needles are fantastic for sewing knits because they create a straight seam that can stretch. Ta daaaaah! Happiness!

WIP Wednesday

Happy Wednesday!

Let's get to it, shall we? First up, we've got my new pencil skirt.

The pattern I used is McCall's 3830, "Quick & Easy." And it definitely was quick and easy. Even the zipper was easy to install. I chose to make it out of some stretch cotton I had around, and the result is a skirt that's super comfy. I love it! Next time (there will be a next time), I'll lengthen it slightly, because it's a wee bit short, even with the very narrow hem I ended up having to use. 

I've been doing a fair bit of garment sewing these days, which means my sewing space looks like this:

On the far left, some "jeggings" for G (too skinny - glad I had her try them before bothering to put the elastic in), and on the right, my "fix-it" pile of things awaiting repair. (I wish those leopard print leggings were mine!).

And finally, I'm about to start on my Triple-Zip Along project! Just waiting for my order from ZipIt, and these precious Mendocino scraps will be transformed into a Triple-Zip purse for my niece.

Did you go see what everyone else is working on? Linking up with Freshly Pieced, and The Needle and Thread Network.

Appliance Covers

I'm darn pleased to report that I've knocked off another Q1 Finish A Long project!

Last year, I showed you the first of two appliance covers I made for my friend Cathy.

And now the second one is done!

The fabric is Retro Kitchen by Michael Miller, with some coordinates thrown in. I used this tutorial, and since Cathy lives far away, I had to go by the measurements of her two appliances as outlined on Amazon.com. Please cross your fingers and toes that they fit properly!!

Linking up to Fabric Tuesday (when Tuesday comes) - link in sidebar.

Giveaway winner!

Thanks, everyone, for entering the Friday Felicities giveaway! After a little comment housekeeping (sorry I wasn't clear that you didn't need to add a comment for your linkup), there were 69 eligible comments plus 10 Friday Felicities linkups.

Random.org has done its thing and drew comment number 44, which belongs to Leanne. Leanne has a delightful blog - go check it out!

Thank you for your very kind comments - I really enjoy a good love-fest every now and again!

Friday Felicities

The sun is shining, I successfully delivered a talk to our company's senior executive yesterday, G slept through the night more nights than not this week, and I've got a joint Fraser Valley Modern Quilt Guild/Vancouver Modern Quilt Guild sew-in tomorrow. Life is good.

I have been meaning to do a wee giveaway as a thank you to you lovely readers - just because you're lovely. So here it is - a chance to win a copy of Quilting Modern by Jacquie Gering and Katie Pedersen.

Source: amazon.com via Pinterest

To enter, simply comment on this post. Kindly make sure I can contact you via email if Random.org selects your number. One comment per person, please.

You can get an extra entry if you link up to Friday Felicities this week. Just write a post, and link it up before Sunday January 20th at 11:59 pm (Pacific). The giveaway will close then as well.

International entries are welcome. Giveaway closed! Winner announced here.

Have a great weekend!

WIP Wednesday

Welp, my two quilts are packed up and on their way to Austin for the QuiltCon Quilt Show. Fingers crossed that they arrive in time!

With all the labeling and hanging sleeve-attaching going on, I haven't done much other stitching since the baby quilt finish of last week.

I did finally finish the appliance covers for my friend, and they're on their way to Texas as well, coincidentally. Here is the second cover, awaiting the final bit of binding to be hand sewn down:

There will be a full post on these in the next few days with better, non-Instagram, photos!

Oh, and I almost forgot! The PE teacher/principal at my daughter's school is expecting a baby next month, so I whipped up a quick blanket using an upcycled IKEA kids' duvet cover and some Minky I had lying around.

That line through the centre is a shadow, not a blemish on the quilt or rug.

Isn't the fabric adorable?

I'm currently working on a quick baby/kid quilt for donation to a friend's fundraiser in support of her Ringette team. I'm thinking a simple strip quilt not dissimilar to this one I made a couple years ago, also for a fundraiser:

I'm also about to tackle some more garment sewing - G is blowing through the knees of her leggings at a rapid rate and a few pairs have been removed from the rotation because they're no longer repairable. Mama and her serger to the rescue!!

Linking up with WIP Wednesday with Freshly Pieced, as well as The Needle and Thread Network! Happy Wednesday!

Friday Felicities

Hello! Happy Friday!

There's a couple of things that are making me happy today. First, these two quilties are heading to Austin in a short while:

Sea Glass on Sand (L) and Bohemian Confetti (R)

They'll be featured in the quilt show happening at QuiltCon! I'm completely thrilled and it's making me even more excited to be going.

My second felicity is that Debbie A Quilter's Table is hosting a Triple-Zip Along starting January 28th and the timing couldn't be better! I want to turn one into a purse for my niece. Have you been meaning to try her wonderful tutorial? Why don't you join in?

I hope you have a great weekend!

J is for Jaden: First Finish of 2013

Woo hoo! I'm off to a great start with my 2013 plan to finish stuff.

J is for Jaden is done!

It's a straight-up I Spy quilt, but I arranged the patchwork so that the values contrasted to create the initial J on the front.

I kept the quilting simple because I wanted a quick finish, and because I'm annoyed at Bernie right now for having such a terribly small throat that it really impedes my FMQ.

The light bits got quilted with a larger meander in white (Aurifil 50 wt):

And the darker bits got quilted with back and forth lines or concentric squares done via FMQ for a more organic look and so I didn't have to keep turning the quilt under the needle. Colour is a dark grey (Aurifil #5004 in 50 wt) which ended up blending beautifully with all of the darker-value fabrics.

nice blurry photo! *eyeroll*

I made the label by folding a square in half and stitching it on with a less than 1/4" seam allowance prior to applying the binding, which is Michael Miller Clown Stripe in a great blue.

I'm delighted with how it turned out, and it was a relatively fast project. Final size is 36"x48" - a nice playmat/crib size.

Here's G giggling as she is giving it a test-drive.

This counts toward my Q1 Finish A Long goals. Admittedly, this one was kind of a gimme since it was a quick project and already started. But I achieved my mini-goal of finishing it in time to gift it to my niece tonight. So yay for finishes!

Looking Forward: 2013

I had some lofty goals for 2012. As I said in my last post, the main one was more sewing for myself (and loved ones), which I achieved. Yay!

I also had a long list of quilts I wanted to make. Here's that list, with some notes:

1. Rainbow I Spy for G. Done.
2. New Wave for niece. Carry forward (again).
3. Traffic Jam/Zig Zag or other charity quilt. One done. Carry forward others.
4. Heather R. memory quilt. Done.
5. Habitat pillow covers for sister. Done.
6. Placemats for Mom. Done.
7. My own bee quilts (3, once I have my month in Stash Trad). Carry forward.
8. Kaleidoscope QAL quilt. Carry forward.
9. Super exciting project that I will reveal very soon. That was Easy Going Modern, which is done

Throughout 2012, I started and finished other projects besides those on the list, which I'm totally okay with. Having said that, there are a few projects on my list that I really do want to complete.

Therefore, I hereby declare 2013 the Year of Finishes. To help with that, I'll be finishing along with Leanne and the gang each quarter. Here, to kick off the Year of Finishes, is my master list of 2013 projects, with my FAL projects highlighted.

1. Baby quilt. My niece is pregnant and due February 14th, so this is a Q1 FAL project as well. In fact, I am going to try to get it done for January 10th, when she and her boyfriend are coming over for dinner.

They've already chosen the baby's name so I decided to play with value to make an initial.

2. Appliance cover #2 to go with this one. Q1 FAL Project.

3. Donation Quilt. Q1 FAL Project. It may be simply finishing up this quilt, currently just a top, or it may be another donation quilt:

4. New Wave. I really, really want to give this to my niece this year!!



5. Bee Quilt. At least one of these is getting done in 2013, and it's a tossup between the Scrappy Churn Dash and the Jeweled Squares.

Aren't these adorable? I LOVE THEM!

This is only some of the blocks - mosaic maker is not cooperating tonight!

6. Kaleidoscope (Don't Call Me Betsy QAL). Most of the fabric for this quilt has been cut out and I've even started piecing it, so...yeah. On the list.

7. Finalizing the pattern for Easy Going Modern and putting it for sale.

I'm keeping Q1's goals modest because I've got QuiltCon in February and busy times at work. Who knows - maybe I'll exeed my goal!

If you're intrigued by this Finish A Long business, click the button and read all about it!

Friday Felicities

It's a new year! Happy 2013 to you all!

What's making me happy today is that I opened my mailbox to find an unexpected and beautiful gift from a friend.

The folio is lined with vinyl! It's awesome! And it contained two mix CDs, one mellow and one upbeat. The latter was out of the folio and in the CD player because a certain Miss G wanted a dance party. I love this so much and I so appreciate Kristie's thoughtfulness (while being simultaneously intimidated by her creative output - she's got 3 kids and works outside the home!!).

I'm so grateful for the friendships in my life. Whether they're in-person or within online communities makes absolutely zero difference; they're all very special to me.

2012's Projects, December's Just Three and 2013 Goals

It's funny - I do the same thing every year when I mentally compose my recap post. I assume I did very little and then I'm pleasantly surprised when it turns out I actually did a lot!

This year's recap was no exception. When I started making my mosaic, I selected a 4x4 layout, planning to use the blank square(s) to insert a title. As it turns out, I made a few more than 16 things in 2012! Go, me!!

Click through to Flickr for the individual links for each photo.

I made quilts, some placemats, pillow covers, a bunch of clothes (for me, for G and for the Barbies), a couple of mug rugs, a fair number of pouches, a couple thread catchers, a cover for Bernie (my machine) and a bunch more stuff. I also wrote a few tutorials, taught my first workshop and joined the executive of the Vancouver Modern Quilt Guild. It appears that my 2012 project theme was "variety" - I'm really proud of that!

So my December Just Three goals were:

1. Make a new outfit for each of G's Barbies. YES - birthday present!

2. Make at least 2 of 5 teacher gifts. YES - reusable shopping bag and 2 gift card holders.

3. Make myself a black pencil skirt. YES! Post with photos to come!

My 2012 goal was to sew more for me and my family and I am glad that I did that. I have been thinking about goals for 2013, and I've concluded that 2013 is going to be the year of Finishes. To that end, I'll be joining in the quarterly Finish-A-Long hosted by Leanne of she can quilt. I'll have a separate post on that in the next week or so. Until then, I hope the first day of 2013 treated you well and I wish you many good things for this year.

Update: I forgot to state my Just Three for January!

1. Complete the second appliance cover for my friend Cathy.

2. Make baby quilt for my niece who's due in February.

3. Donation quilt for a friend's fundraiser.