The Bella Wave crashes onto shore!

So, I did it. I made a bed sized quilt. WHOOPPEEEE! It is finished and I'm using it now. It was almost 2 months in the making, but that's because I would work diligently for a day and then leave it alone for a week or more. I think I probably have about 40 hours of work in this quilt. Are there some places that I could have picked out and restitched? Yes. But I like the idea of looking at this first large effort in several years so I can see how far I've come.

The backing is a clearance sheet from Target- can't beat a single queen-sized piece of  fabric for $11.99. The batting is not as warm as I would like. I chose a thin cotton/poly blend because I didn't want it to be bulky. On reflection though, a bit more bulk would be welcome. The binding is pre-made Wrights cotton bias quilt bias in navy. It took a little more than three packages. At $2.99 per package, this was worth every penny because of the time it saved. I'm talking hours. Have I mentioned that I hate making bias binding? Well, I do. So a big thank you to Moda, Wrights and any other company who makes bias binding.

I'm very pleased with the free-motion quilting. It has a Matisse vibe.

Panel with Mask

110 x 53 cm.
gouache and cut out paper
Danske Kunstindustrimuseet, Copenhagen
1947

      After practicing with some scrap sandwiches to get the feel of the motion and the thread tension correct (this was way more difficult than I expected) I just dove right in. It was pretty hard at first and I only got a single row done the first night. I decided because I am using a small machine to put the batting in in three sections. I did the middle third first. I then started in the very center of the quilt and worked my way to the side of the row. Then I started back in the center and worked my way to the other side of the row. I worked my way out from the center in this way. One row further in each direction. Then another row. I only quilted the green background rows and kept the thread the same color as the fabric to enhance the patterned parts of the quilts. This was the suggestion of the quilt designer, Faith of Fresh Lemon Quilts. I made her pattern with just a few tweaks. First, I made it bigger so it was bed-sized. Second, I used a different Art Gallery fabric, Splendor 1920's by Bari J. Third, I used a green background instead of white.

Bottom line- this was a successful first major quilt job. I am already planning my next project which will be a pattern from my very own brain. I am going with a strippy quilt in blues and greens for Annika, my 11 year old. It is going to be twin sized and perfect for her bed this summer. Stay tuned for for progress on that one. If I am lucky, I'll get it cut on Monday because we have a day off of school. That all depends on how well grading goes tomorrow, though. I have 65 tests, 65 power points and 195 maps to grade and enter in the gradebook before Tuesday. OY! Wish me luck.

PS. A big thank you to my two favorite tall students, who graciously hid behind the quilt so I could get a picture! You can see their fingers at the top of the quilt if you look closely. Tall students. One of many benefits of teaching eighth graders. :)

My Emerald Mosaic- Pantone's color of 2013

Absolutely GORGEOUS! Here's the link to the contest- vote for me so I can win fabric!

Bella Wave Progress

This weekend, I began the construction of the blocks for my current project. They are very easy to put together and I got about a dozen done. Here is a sampling. Check out the directional alternation in the blue geometric block- not intentional, but really cool and I'm going to attempt to recreate it on the other blocks of this fabric. I think the green background is interesting with all of the different prints. It doesn't "match" but it "goes". It reminds me of grass providing the backdrop for a flower garden. The messy wildflower kind- not the manicured-topiary-rosebush kind. :) It will definitely be colorful and give the eyes somewhere to go.

Bella Waves and a wristlet

This weekend, I may have encouraged the development of carpal tunnel in my wrists by cutting all 400 or so pieces of a quilt top. There are 13 fat quarters from Splendor 1920's by Bari J. for Art Gallery Fabrics in a combo of both colorways. For the background, I chose a coordinating warm green solid. The original Bella Wave pattern is smaller than I wanted so I am going to make extra blocks and extend the size. To what? I'm not sure. My math is a bit shaky and frankly, I don't really care as long as it is bigger. I would like to have it finished by summer for my bed, but we will see how it goes.

Two of my favorite combinations. 

 Now this is my very first attempt at free motion quilting. There is no batting, just 2 scraps of fabric. I just got the quilting foot on Friday. I am going to need a lot of practice.

When I got a tired of cutting, I took a few minutes and whipped this up. It is using pieces of 2 fat quarters and and a little fusible fleece for body. I used a pair of bejeweled buttons and an elastic hair tie for the closure. It was completely free form and took maybe 30 minutes to make. It is perfect for my wallet, phone and a lipgloss.

Christmas Break Projects- Done!!!!

So I spent most of Christmas Eve in front of the sewing machine. I let the girls design patchwork scarves which I backed in flannel (no pics of those) and I finished my very first, fully quilted and bound project. There were a few hitches along the way, but I think it turned out alright. Here is the first project I completed, a mini quilt. I used the DoubleFatJack tutorial from Lily's Quilts. All in all, I found it easy- the only mistakes were from my misreading of the instructions and were easily fixed.

 Here's the back. I decided to piece both sides. These are 3 inch strips.

I was experimenting  with techniques here. A zig-zag.

I think this is called channel quilting, but I like to call it "triangle swirls". Pretty, right?

 Mistake. Extra fabric on the back. Annoying.

Next project- a huge- I mean enormous- tote bag. I completely winged this.

 Here is the tote bag with two large throw pillows inside to give you an idea just how big it is. I could have added another pillow and a small toddler and still have room inside. Tips for next time: use interfacing in the straps and put something solid in the bottom to stiffen it up. 

I chose my first project!

I looked for hours at patterns online to use my special delivery fabrics on. I finally settled on making 2 projects a tote bag that I will just make without a pattern and an amazing Double Fat Jack mini quilt using the easy to follow tutorial from Lily's Quilts. The front piecing is finished after about 3 hours of cutting and sewing (while dealing with two rowdy children- so it probably won't take you as long) (and also I messed up at least twice and had to rip seams and start over). I have also decided to piece the back in two inch strips of grey chevrons and a white and goldenrod brocade print. I'll be finished in the next day or two and will post picture then.

Special Delivery

I got a very special delivery today in the mail! On Friday, I won the Jolly Jabber's Pattern Play which meant that I got a $50 gift certificate to the Fat Quarter Shop. I have a mile-long wish list there so it was really easy to order something wonderful almost immediately. I ended up choosing the Bloggers Choice Fat Quarter Bundle from Kaye Prince. The color in the photo does not do these amazing prints justice- especially the goldenrod prints. The combo of purple, silver and gold is very regal and the sheen on the solids is just beautiful. Now the hard part- what to make? It's a toss-up between a new tote bag and a mini quilt right now. Thoughts?