2015 - Page 5 of 5 - QA Creations

February 10, 2015

4×7 Sewing Challenge

This February Sarah from Berry Barn Designs is hosting a fun challenge called the 4×7 Sewing Challenge to sew for yourself for 30 minutes each day during February. I haven’t quite made 30 minutes each day – some were more and some were less – but I like trying to sew a little each day.

I’m trying to make my sewing more purposeful. As in, choose projects that I really want to finish. Finish the projects I start. Do something with the scraps or throw them away. Finally finish the quilt for my bed. That type of purposeful.

I made two sets of leaders for my new velcro longer setup (which so far I am in love with, other than having to make leaders). I watched Sharon Chamber’s youtube video on how she loads her quilts, and while some of it doesn’t apply because she uses a different type of machine than I do, I love her leader method. It helps me attach the quilts to achieve a flatter surface which results in a more even stitch especially at the top and bottom of the piece. It’s also easier to load because I can center the quilt easier – and if it’s off by a little, re-center much easier. You can see the newest 50″ leader in action below.

I also pieced a little mini that I had started during the January meeting of the Quilting Circle I am part of. I am really trying to not create new UFO’s so I pieced the top, made a backing (even attaching a label!), found a scrap of batting that fits, and it is in line for the longarm.

I also made another block for the “Real World Red & White” quilt. I was obsessed with that quilt last winter, and then as it warmed up my interest waned. I had though about signing up for the 4×5 block exchange on flickr this winter to get more blocks for the quilt. I did the 2014 Winter and 2014 Spring (received and sent) iterations and received some great blocks, but I have so many blocks that I want to make myself. I had to really ask myself if I was going to sign up because I wanted to do a bee, or if I wanted a forcing function to get 6 more blocks done. I really wanted a forcing function, so I’ve decided to just challenge myself to make 6 more blocks. I would like to get it done by mid-March. That’s one block a week, and seems do-able. This week I started with the Stepping Stones block from Piece n Quilt’s 30 days of blocks.

Week 1 was super productive! Here’s hoping I can keep up the momentum with week 2!

Linking up to Sarah @ Berry Barn Designs, and some of the following: Sew Cute Tuesday @ Blossom Heart Quilts, WiP Wednesday @ Freshly Pieced, Let’s Bee Social Wednesday @ SewFreshQuilts, Needle and Thread Thursday @ My Quilt Infatuation, Whoop Whoop Fridays @ Confessions of a Quilt Addict, Fabric Frenzy Friday @ Ft. Worth Fabric

January 27, 2015September 25, 2015

Hanging Towel Tutorial

Brighten up your kitchen with this fast and easy tutorial to make a hanging towel for your oven door.

I am a blog contributor this winter at Ft. Worth Fabric Studio, and my first project just went live!

Head on over to the FWFS blog to see the hanging towel tutorial to make one for your kitchen.

Let me know if you make one… it’s a quick and easy project. It’s a great way to use up scraps or to add some holiday color to your kitchen. Sometimes you just need a project that is a quick win… and this project is a good palate cleanser that can be completed in one sitting.

Linking to some of the following: Fabric Tuesday @ Quilt Story, Sew Cute Tuesday @ Blossom Heart Quilts, WiP Wednesday @ Freshly Pieced, Let’s Bee Social Wednesday @ SewFreshQuilts, Needle and Thread Thursday @ My Quilt Infatuation, Whoop Whoop Fridays @ Confessions of a Quilt Addict

January 17, 2015January 26, 2015

Round Trip Quilts, Stop #3

I am part of a round robin group made up of quilters from the Plum and June New Blogger Hop last summer. We are on our 3rd round of this round robin, and I’m having a lot of fun and being challenged to continue to come up with something good enough for each of these amazing quilts!

This round I have the center from Chelsea at Patch the Giraffe. She started us off with four paper pieced stars from solids and a low volume background. She didn’t specify how the additions had to be made, just requested that they be solids with low volume backgrounds. Her original center can be found here.

Round Trip Quilts - Chelsea's Quilt, Round 1

Next, it went to Christina (WiPs and Tuts) who added the two side borders.

Kim from Ties that Bind Quilting added the row along the bottom, or rather the top now that I notice Chelsea’s original orientation.

Then it was my turn… You can tell I was working late on this and how dark and stormy it was so far in January by my complete and total inability to get good in-process photos.

First, I pulled my solids and realized I needed to buy more because I had used up my stash. I like using solids, but don’t have a huge stash of them, but was still surprised by how little I had.

Luckily these are colors that I personally enjoy, so I had no problem adding a few to the stash.

I used the “Goosing Borders” pattern from Jeli Quilts on Craftsy. I printed out 3 pages, which is 6 sections and got started! Once each section was done, I alternated them to create the wave you see below.

Chelsea, I hope you like it because I love how your quilt is turning out! I enjoyed getting to work in this color palette, and if you decide you don’t want this – I will totally take it off your hands for you!

Linking up to some of the following: Fabric Tuesday @ Quilt Story, Sew Cute Tuesday @ Blossom Heart Quilts, WiP Wednesday @ Freshly Pieced, Let’s Bee Social Wednesday @ SewFreshQuilts, Needle and Thread Thursday @ My Quilt Infatuation, Whoop Whoop Fridays @ Confessions of a Quilt Addict, Fabric Frenzy Friday @ Ft. Worth Fabric

January 5, 2015

Looking Back at 2014

2014 was a good year. It was my second year at home with my daughter. My husband was in the middle of grad school to get his Master’s Degree. My brother-in-law got married. And I kept sewing!

I didn’t realize how much I sewed until I started making mosaics and realized how many pictures I have! I did not make as many quilts, because there are only so many quilts a person can use and because I choose to do more challenging work for the ones I did make. This also reminded me that I need to start making blocks for my Real World Red and White quilt if I ever want to get it done.
I also joined bees and a swap for the first time, so some of my quilting time was dedicated for other people. I really enjoyed pushing my boundaries and learning new techniques as part of these bees, so I am continuing in Stash Bee this year – and already signed up for two mini quilt swaps!
I joined the Plum and June New Blogger Group. As a part of that group, I joined a round robin bee – the Round Trip Quilts group. It’s seriously one of the hardest and most awesome quilty things I’ve done. I love the challenge and creativity that our group is demonstrating each round. I can’t wait to see how everyone’s quilts turn out!

I also started sewing more and more clothes this year. This isn’t near all of them. Much of what I sew are basics like leggings and shirts that I apparently did not feel were photo worthy. I should think about whether or not I feel that way for the future. Also, fancy dresses are fun to sew, but don’t get worn. Those leggings get worn to death.
And I embraced “selfish” sewing, and made a few things for myself! Taking pictures of myself in clothes I’ve made is much harder than taking the pictures of a quilt block or of my daughter. Not only does the light have to be good enough to take pictures, the weather has to be appropriate to wear the garment, it can’t be wrinkly from wearing all day, and my hair has to look acceptable. Sewing bloggers, I salute you and your herculean efforts to document your makes. In the coming year I want to become better about blogging what I’ve made for myself.
I also entered a quilt show for the first time. I didn’t really enter thinking I would win anything, but it does make the experience more fun 😉 I really entered because my local shows are full of quilts that all look the same. I wanted to show that there are quilts that aren’t made from drab colors. I wanted to enter a wearable category and show that you can quilt a sophisticated bag. I hope my work demonstrated that you can be young and make technically sound work that is modern and beautiful.

I also have to brag on myself for a minute – I took 2nd in the Group category in the NC State Fair. I was pretty proud of that because I had heard that the group and dual category are the most competitive categories. Luckily I found that out after I entered – otherwise I may not have had the nerve to enter the group category. Then I found out that a quilter who has been quilting longer than me and does amazing custom work had quilted the 3rd and 4th place quilts in the group category. That made me feel pretty good!

Last year I tried to participate more in the bigger quilting world – through bees and swaps, and also through guest blogging. I wrote a tutorial for a paper pieced block for Sew Mama Sew. I guest blogged for Angela Walter’s Business of Machine Quilting Blog. I took a couple longarm classes and learned some great techniques.

That’s my year in summary. This coming year I want to piece a little bit more. I have a to-do list that hopefully I can follow. I want to quilt more. I want to continue developing my skills – in piecing and sewing and quilting. And accomplish all this while moving over the summer and potentially going back to school in the fall… eek. Here’s to 2015!