Happy Father's Day

Go get the man (men, boys) in your life and tell them a quilt blog has a Father's Day gift for them.

Watch to the very end.

May the force be with you. ;)

Project Simplify - Day 32

Okay.  It's official.  "Moonlight" is a keeper. 

I think my husband will file for divorce if I give this quilt away.  (Kidding!)   But seriously, blue is his favorite color and there are soooo many pink & girly quilts in this house.  The guy deserves one that ... well ... he likes for reasons OTHER than just because his wife made it. ;)

So much for going traditional with this quilt, eh?  Despite using prints like a fine houndstooth, classic acanthus leaf, delicate florals and a sweet plaid, this quilt looks really modern to me.  What do you think?

About the name - my helper & I talked about where you can draw inspiration from when choosing a name.  We focused on the colors & shapes.  I suggested "Arctic Circles", but she's only in Grade 2 and informed me that, "I haven't learned anything about that in school yet, Mummy."  Her sister suggested "Dancing Circles", but again the assistant explained to us - with all possible conviction of an 8 year old - that didn't make any sense AT ALL because the straight lines in the quilt would not allow any dancing to go on.  (I love hearing their thought processes .. kids are so funny!)

So "Moonlight" it is.

I had quite a bit more back-piecing to do for this one than the previous two Project Simplify quilts.  I just used up a bunch of fabric pieces that came in the "Glace" kit.  (Yay!)

Stash Redux:

• Yardage - 9.8 yds / 10 m
• Weight - 2.7 lbs / 1.2 kg

For a grand total of:

• Yardage - 50.4 yds / 46.1 m
• Weight - 19 lbs / 8.6 kg

Next week ... pillows!

Project Simplify - Day 31

I made a few last minute fabric changes with this quilt. 

First, I had to banish the paisley print.  This post I wrote a while back will explain why. 

See? 

Too bossy.

Second, I planned to use this pretty print for the border. 

I thought it would frame the quilt nicely.  But when I got to the border part, I found it too overpowering. 

The cream just looked waaay better.

Ya know, this is one of the things I love about quilting.  You start off thinking you're in charge, but somewhere along the way the quilt takes over and starts telling YOU what it wants to look like.  Then you have a choice: either obey the quilt and do what IT wants you to do, OR be stubborn, ignore it and then have it hate you for the rest of it's life (and you it). 

I have chosen wisely ...

Project Simplify - Day 30

Geez, I had a string of bad luck with this quilt!  (All me, NOT the book!)

First, my border piece was short by about 2 inches.   (Because I'm using yardage that may have been previously cut, sometimes I have to wing it.)

Then this ... my bobbins ran out with, what, 3 feet to go?

And this ... my binding was short by, what, an inch?

And then this!  What are the odds of a binding seam landing exactly on a corner? 

No, seriously.  Anyone know how to calculate odds?  Six seams, 4 corners, 280”  ...  I really want to know!

As you've probably noticed by now, I retreated to the safety of my boring cross-hatch topstitching for this quilt.  I know, I know.  But I really like how it compliments the diagonal sashing and contrasts with the circles.  Ok, plus I needed to soothe my ego a little after the last chapter. ;)  I promise to get back in the saddle for the next quilt.

I went with blue thread because I like how it gently pops on the cream background.  My other choice was cream thread, but then I'd have these weird lines - only in one direction - on the sashing. 

And red thread would have been too Amityville Horror for me.  (I read the book when I was about 13 ... I'm still traumatized!)

It's What I Do

This is what I like to do for little girl birthday gifts instead of buying toys or loot bags.

Fabric is from the Flower Sugar FQ bundle by Lecien I got at Quilt Market last month.

Whenever my girls attend a birthday party (either as a guest or the hostess) I ask them to find out what the other girls' favorite colors are and I make something special for each with their initial.  You can't imagine how happy I was that the favorite colors turned out to be red, yellow & blue - no two colors the same -and that the Flower Sugar bundle had these fabrics!  (But I was surprised there wasn't a pink girl in the group ...) 

The pink for the monogram came from my scrap bin and matches the pink in the prints almost exactly.

I'll show you what they turn into when I've got them done.

Project Simplify - Day 29

(Sigh.)  Time for a cup of tea ...

This happens to me once in a while when my hand accidentally moves the stitch selection wheel on my machine as I'm shoving a large quilt through.

I think there's a way I can lock the machine from doing this, but that would A) require me to remember how to do it or B) dig out my manual  ...

Me pick PINK! ;)

Project Simplify - Day 28

I'm a cheater.  And I'm not afraid to admit it.

Yes, sometimes I look for the easy way out and bend the rules a bit.  In this case, I'm talking about the circle template for Spot On.  It requires enlarging.  I don't mind.  I'm lucky to have a printer/fax/copier thingy here at home. 

But I was thinking more about my little helper and making tracing easy for her.  So instead of making a template as per the pattern, I rooted around my kitchen for something round.  The best I could do was a plate that's about 1/4" smaller than the actual template.

It was so easy for her to use.  (Yes, that's a Laura Ashley saucer!)

I don't think the quilting police will come and arrest me because the circles are a smidgen smaller than the pattern said.  

But in case they do - and you'd like to make my prison stay more comfortable - I like Ghirardelli brownies (with chopped walnut, if you don't mind), Irish Breakfast tea and Japanese craft books & magazines. 

Thanks in advance.

Logic is TOTALLY Overrated

So.  My husband was at Costco the other day and came across two women & a toddler, who was sitting in the cart. 

Halfway through the store the little one got antsy and started demanding her freedom. 

The mom said, "You have two choices:  either sit here in the cart, or let your Aunt carry you."

Little's response?   "Me pick PURPLE!"

Next time someone offers me two unacceptible options, I'm picking PINK!

Project Simplify - Day 27

Well, after MUCH fabric play & yardage consideration (I kept running into the "crap, I don't have enough of that fabric" problem) I surprised myself by going with this two-color grouping which is mostly Roman Holiday, and the blue and cream tonals from Glace - another 3 Sisters Christmas line (the same line Camille used for this quilt in the book) that came in a kit I've had for a while.

I mean, I love two-tone quilts and I really love this smokey blue-gray & cream combo (with little hits of red!).  But for some reason I was trying really hard to use the entire Roman Holiday line. 

For years I'd walk into a store, see a quilt and want those.exact.fabrics to make it for myself.  I had trouble imagining quilts in different colors.  I know lots of other quilters struggle with the same issue.  Let's face it, fabric ain't cheap and making quilts - especially big ones - is an investment in both time & money.  And believe me, I've made my fair share of costly "experimenting with fabric" mistakes.

I'm still not the world's best fabric picker for quilts.  I really admire people who can walk through a quilt store, "cherry pick" bolts from all over the place and put together a fabulous fabric collection for a quilt. More often than not, I rely on a fabric line when I make a quilt.  But time and experience has made me a little more comfortable & confident with my personal fabric likes & dislikes.

Plus - just a personal goal - I'd like most of the quilts I make for Project Simplify to look at least a little - and preferably a lot - different from the ones in the book, if only for those of you who are still learning to visualize quilts in different fabrics.  Maybe you'll be inspired to give future quilt designs a second look if they're made up in colors & prints that don't appeal to you.  You just might find an unexpected treasure!

Project Simplify - Day 26

Chapter Five - The halfway mark!

I really like this quilt - Spot On. 

Remember Donnie & Marie Osmond's hit "A Little Bit Country, A Little Bit Rock & Roll?"  This quilt - to me - is a little bit traditional, a little bit modern.  The large graphic circles strike me as contemporary, but the sashing & on-point set of the blocks reads traditional.  I think you could tip the balance either way with the fabric selection.

I'm going traditional with this fabric collection from a few years ago by 3 Sisters for Moda called Roman Holiday.  I'm a sucker for a good Christmas fabric line and 3 Sisters - more often than not - has me at "Hello". ;)

I made this quilt by Bunny Hill a few years ago for the shop and most of the fabric was from this collection.  It was so pretty I had to buy the FQ bundle (plus yardage, of course) for myself.

I also made this little wall hanging (my own design) a few years ago.  I hang it over my kitchen sink at Christmas time.  Kinda cute, no?

Hmmm, what a surprise ... it's cross-hatched.