DWR Quilt - otherwise titled as "Never Again"

So let's get right to the pictures, shall we?

I guess I should start with what started this crazy idea in my head - it was after seeing this blog post by Faith on her blog Fresh Lemons Quilts.   If you follow the link it will take you to the exact post with the DWR table runner she started.   I saw that and automatically my mind went to the latest AMH collection that I'd purchased, Hand Drawn Garden.   I thought those big melons would be a great way to showcase those amazing prints in the line.   I'd also purchased a coordinating solids bundle from Westwood Acres.  So I thought about it for a few days, how would I do the arcs, what fabric would I use for the squares, etc.   I also didn't have the templates, so I entered the giveaways still open in the EZ Quilting DWR Challenge blog hop.   I had actually priced the templates online, decided Amazon was probably the best place to get them when I got an email saying I'd won a set of templates!   So, of course, I had to do it!   The only thing left was to determine which fabrics I would use for the 4 square centers.

Auditioning fabric for squares!

After a few fabric auditions, I decided on using all of the hugs and kisses prints from AMH's loulouthi line.   All of her fabrics play so well together!   I didn't have any concerns about them not looking great together!

Once I got started I ran into a few hurdles.   I didn't have enough variation in the solids.   So I consulted my stash.   Lacking.   So I consulted the post "What goes with What?" on Pink Chalk Fabrics here.   I was able to flesh out my blues, greens, oranges, purples, and yellows.   It's hard to see in some of the pictures, but I used several different shades of the same colors.   There are at least 3-4 different shades of red/pink-red alone.   The purples and blues?   Lots of those too.

You can see some of the different tones of the same colors I used!

The templates made it so easy to cut the fabric!   It wasn't exactly fun, but that was because there were so many pieces.   

A design wall was definitely a "must-have" for this project.   There's no way I would have been able to accomplish this without one.   I mean, carpet would have been okay, but with pets/kids there's no way it would have survived til morning!

Once I had the top assembled, I had to decide on quilting.   If you've been following me on instagram (here), you'll see that I had quite a bit of trouble.   I unpicked a LOT of quilting.   But as you can see from the pictures, I finally decided on something!   I'm really happy with what I settled on.

Binding

The binding I settled on is the green Hugs and Kisses print.   Attaching the binding was ... hard.   I consulted The Plaid Scottie's DWR QAL she hosted a few years ago (here).   That really helped me out quite a bit.   I think if I needed to bind another DWR quilt I would choose 2.5" binding instead of 2.25".   That extra wiggle room would have been really nice.

Now here's a couple more shots to end the post:

I'm entering this quilt in the Double Wedding Ring Quilt Challenge hosted by EZ Quilting & the NYC Mod Quilt Guild, along with a lot of other people that you can read about here.  

Quilt Stats:

Size: Twin

Fabric: AMH Hand Drawn Garden, AMH Loulouthi Hugs & Kisses, various solids

Binding: AMH Loulouthi Hugs & Kisses

Quilting: Me (machine and hand)

Finished: 10/31/2013

A Xmas Pillow Swap

My new Christmas Pillows!

They were made for me by my sewing buddy Emily.   She said they were her first pillows ever!   She did such a good job making them.   The star one on the left might have a permanent spot on my couches.  :)




She seriously spoiled me with this swap.   I got those chocolate goodies, which Claire demanded to have one of right away, some Tula Pink scraps, Thangles (can't wait to try them out!), a sample of Soak, and a drawstring pouch that had the best gift of all - a hand-knit by her cowl!   I feel so incredibly spoiled.   Claire wanted to wear it, but I took it away and told her never to touch it again!   It's all mine.  :)   And isn't that bottom left face hilarious?   I told her to smile.   That's what I got.   Ha!

She should get her package on Monday - and I'll write a post detailing what I sent!  

Thea's Baby Quilt

So I have this awesome friend named Johanna.   We've been friends since 8th grade.   I wasn't really interested in being friends at first... in fact, I kinda hated her.   Ya know, cause I was 12.   Anyways, the usual 12 year old drama played out and 1 month later we were the best of friends.   Ha!  

This baby quilt is for her newly arrived daughter, Thea.   Last Friday I finished the quilt (and jokingly said that it's okay if she arrives now!), and on Saturday she was born.   I made a trip to Dallas to visit and deliver the quilt.  Little Thea had to stay at the hospital for a few extra days, but today she's home!   We're all so delighted she's at home and healthy.

The quilt is from the book Liberty Love.   Or, the main idea is.   I skipped making the drunken path blocks and just appliqued the circles onto 4 patch squares.    I wish now that I hadn't have already cut out all of the squares before I changed my mind about the pattern, but I think it turned out all right!   I kept the quilting simple and sparse, so it would be nice and soft.   The binding was machined on for durability!   I'm sure this guy will get lots of washes!   The background polka dot fabric is Riley Blake's Le Creme line, and the circles are all from stash.   Some Lizzy House, Heather Ross, Amy Butler, an Art Gallery print with no selvage, Violet Craft, and Cloud 9's Organic line for Joann's.   The backing is the pink herringbone from Cloud 9's Organic line at Joann's.

Baby Showers & a New Project

My best friend is having a baby.   So this means lots of sewing on my part, right??

I decided on sewing up two fabric baskets for her using Noodlehead's Divided Basket Pattern.  Here they are:





I included some goodies in both baskets.   Basic baby essentials.   Butt paste, Tylenol, Motrin, burp rags, bottle brush, and some wipes.   (Not all pictured.)

I edged the burp rags with leftover pieces of 2.5" strips I had laying around from my scrappytripalong quilt.   There were 10 in all.

I enjoyed the pattern.   It was pretty easy to assemble, and once you made the lining it goes together really quickly.   I also enjoyed using fusible fleece.   It was my first time, and I think I'm going to have to get some more to use again!

My friends were all a-wonder at how everything went together.  They asked things like "how did you do it?!?"   My reply was "magic".   Why?   Well, every time I try to get my friends to come over and sew, or for me to teach them how to sew, they shrug it off like they could never accomplish something like this.   I try to tell them that I follow patterns.   That I research tutorials on the internet.   That it's all about just doing it and getting it wrong a few times until you get it right.   It's frustrating.   But what can you do?   I can't make them.  It's my hobby, not theirs.

But they all just love my hand-made presents.   I'm thinking that next year for my birthday, we're going to have a dedicated sew-in day.   I'll teach them to sew.   I could even gather up a few extra machines so everyone has one.   :)

I currently have 2 quilt tops mid-assembly.  (Not counting the ones that are basted.)   I also have a few blog posts in order over completed projects... they're coming!   I need good pictures.
#1:  AMH voile St. Louis 16-patch


I have 14 blocks.   And I love it.   But I'm putting this on hold for my new completely awesome....

#2: AMH Hand-Drawn Garden Double Wedding Ring Quilt


Here's a picture of the first block.   Currently, I'm at the first two rows being completely finished.   I'm making it Twin sized, which will end up being 5x6 of those main "squares" you see.   The cutting is complete, but the piecing takes forever.   There's not a tutorial for the specific DWR templates that I'm using.   (EZ Quilting acrylic templates)   I've had to cobble together some information from other tutorials, quilt alongs, and youtube videos.   I think I've got it completely figured out so that I can get perfect points though.   This is quite refreshing, because I've got a lot of fabric awaiting assembly.   I hate to let it down.  

I mainly post updates on my instagram account, @elizthany if you want to keep up with me.   I had a complete "OMG!" moment on instagram the other day.   THE Anna Maria Horner "liked" my picture.   Yes.   I know.   She's just a person.   But I would totally freak out over meeting her!   I am totally kicking myself that I didn't attend QuiltCon and go to one of her sessions, especially when it was so very close.   Oh well.   Another day!

Hope you have a lovely week!

Wiksten Tank

Whew!   I'm giving my blog a workout today, huh?!?




Well, I braved the whole "cutting into my AMH fabric".   I love it!   I made a size medium and took in the sides about an inch on both sides.   If I hadn't done that it would have been way too blousey for me.  I like shirts/tops to fit close to my body.

Here's the dress on me:




And a side view, so you can really see how much I brought it in:




This was super simple to make!   I can easily see myself making a whole army of these for my closet.  

Quilts and Mug Rugs tomorrow!

Sewing for Claire

My daughter likes me to sew for her.   Which is thankful, because somebody needs to want and appreciate all this stuff I'm making!   I've made her 3 items lately.

Item #1:



Another Roller-Skate Dress.   This was quick and easy, especially since I didn't have to refer to the directions all that much!   She likes it because it's soft.   She's also been in a "I only wear dresses" phase, so hopefully this one will get lots and lots of use!

(This dress still has no button, and it's been worn twice.   Oops.)

Item #2:



Some place mats using a novelty fabric I had purchased quite a while ago.   I wanted it to feature Churn Dash blocks (see above), and I wanted it to use some of the fabrics I had accumulated from the Stash Stack Club from Pink Castle Fabrics.




The blocks ended up being a lot of improv - making these scraps of fabric fit.   I didn't like it.   Give me a pattern any day and I'll be happy.   But hand me fabric and tell me to create, and I'll be stumped and annoyed.   They ended up turning out quite cute if I may say so myself.




They also used up some fabric.  :)  After doing these, I've decided that I love polka dots and stripes, and I need more of them in my life.

I used a new to me quilting pattern:



The contrast is high on this one so you can see the detail.   It was super easy to do these, and I have plans for a quilt in the near future using this FMQ pattern.




I find that even my mistakes are hard to see when you view it as a whole.   Some of the clamshells are obviously wonky, but frankly, if you see that I think you're looking too close!   All in all, I would definately recommend this pattern to anyone wishing to try something different from straight lines, but not too different, if you know what I mean.

Item #3:




A travel pillow for our upcoming beach 9 hours away vacation.   I totally made this up on my own after googling "travel pillow for kids".   There were some similar items, but at the price of $30, I knew I had to make my own.   It's roughly 7"x26" and has 4 velcro straps on the back.




Claire loves it.   She slept with it the night I gave it to her, and it's currently hanging out wither some baby dolls on the living room floor while she naps.   :)

The best part is that I got to use that Kokka fabric you can see in the last picture.   My very first "on a whim" fabric purchase.   Two years later, it's found a purpose.   Joy.  I think it's absolute perfection in this project.   Claire also made very sure before she went to bed that if we lost this pillow, ya know, if it got lost in the woods or anything, that I could make her another one.   After I reassured her that it would rarely leave the car, and would never get lost, she nodded off to sleep.   Still making sure I had enough fabric to make another one.

TovaSewTogether

This post is a little late, considering I think I made this, what?   A few weeks ago?   Better late than never!

So after making my daughter the Roller Skate dress, I knew I needed to make myself something!  I'd bought some fabrics from Sew Mama Sew's $6 sale, and I had some AMH linen.   My sewing buddy Emily and I decided to encourage each other by setting a deadline and messaging each other through instagram.   We both decided on the Wiksten Tova.



I decided quite last minute that I was too scared to use my precious AMH linen on my first attempt at garment making, so I headed out to Hancock Fabric and pick up this Madras material.  It wasn't that hard to put together, and I really like the results.



I decided to leave off the sleeves.   I thought they looked kinda funny, and I had seen sleeveless versions around the web and liked them more than the ones with sleeves!

I made a small and used a medium length since I like long shirts, and did no other alterations.   I've worn it a few times and noticed that the top is tight across my back and shoulders.   I think when I make this again I'll size up to a medium and perhaps take in the sides just a touch.   It's a cute shirt that I think will get plenty of use!

I've got a lot of things to blog about (I've been busy) so stay tuned!