Ch-ch-ch-changes

So many changes! Well, not really, especially in comparison to last spring, wherein we house hunted, had two aborted attempts at purchases, bought a place, both looked for and got jobs, etc. But still! Some changes have taken place.

Braces are partially in place, more will be added over time, and so far, so good. I have to brush my teeth a lot more frequently and I narrowly avoided a truly classic moment of spinach smack on my front braces in an important meeting, thanks to a last-minute mirror check for that very reason.

Operation Home Improvement is back from a 6 month hiatus after the marathon that was the kitchen. We bought the most expensive shower curtain we've ever had (i.e., not vinyl and not from Target clearance), and will be painting our tiny tiny back bathroom tomorrow a (hopefully) lovely shade of gray. Actually, "Pelican," but who's counting? The most important aspect of this project is that it has a very high likelihood of being able to be finished, since the room is literally about 4 feet square.

We've been hiking a new trail every weekend for the past several weeks and it's been wonderful. Today we hiked about 4 miles along a trail with great views of the mountains, and Jasper had a fantastic time, as usual. It didn't hurt that it was over 60 today, with perfect blue skies. Everyone has spring fever. And it's supposed to snow again tomorrow (woo. hoo.). I'm so glad we were able to enjoy the weather today.

I finally finished Peter's quilt, which I have been working on for at least 2 years now, maybe more. I definitely work in fits and starts, but I was able to see this one across the finish line! If the light cooperates, I'll try to take a picture of it tomorrow. I'm really pleased with how it turned out, even if it wasn't exactly my own artistic vision being carried out (some clients are rather specific and hands-on in their art direction). Plus, I learned a TON about the whole process and the general idea of machine quilting, which will come in handy when I make my own quilt according to my own specifications.

And with that, I am off to bed, to get one less hour of sleep. Boo to springing forward!

Homey weekend

Such a wonderful day today. It snowed almost all day, though nothing stuck. We had our first fire in our fireplace and I sat in front of it and finished my very first quilt. This is truly a remarkable achievement, not just because it was my first quilt, but because I ACTUALLY FINISHED A PROJECT. And guess what, friends and family who know my tremendous record with projects? It took me less than a year! Actually, less than six months! I think! (You may recall I am still working on a larger quilt, for the same little girl who received this one, to hold her over until the big one is done).

The finished product, in my most domestic picture ever:

In any case, it is done, adorable, and with its new owner already (I was just too excited to have finished it!). It's a doll quilt that began as an experiment with scraps to learn a new piecing technique, but because I was using less-than-great fabrics and not really being super careful, it turned out a little wonky and I decided the pattern would just be too difficult for a larger scale. (Please note it is actually very simple, but I have a long history of struggles with triangles and getting them to look right.). And so the little pieced top was relegated to by sewing basket, where it sat for months until...

Fast forward to last month, when I got a beautiful new sewing machine that could do everything I always wanted and more! I had been using my mom's trusty workhorse, but then I managed to render it inoperable, and couldn't get a new walking foot I bought for it to work, so I went in to get it repaired and walked out with a lovely mechanical Pfaff. Well, I just had to see what it could do, and one thing I really wanted to test was quilting. Why only practice on scraps, when I had a little quilt top itching to be used? And if I messed it up, it was only practice anyway!

I made me a sandwich, did some practice quilting on little scraps, then sat down with my doll quilt. I am so glad I did this because it was a great learning experience. You can actually see, very clearly, my progression down the quilt as I figured out how to get the pattern I wanted. I just did a simple stitch-in-the-ditch, but since I've never done this before, let alone with zigzags, it took me until the last row to have it down pat.

The back. Can you see the progression? (Hint: bottom up)

If this had been a "real" quilt that I had spent hours and hours piecing, etc., I would have ripped out the seams I didn't like and done them again the right way. As it was, I rather liked being able to see the changes and learn from my mistakes.

After the quilting, I squared up the edges (another first! This makes a HUGE difference!), and measured and cut the binding. I would have loved to have used a contrasting dark blue fabric, or even maybe a yellow one, but since this was a scrappy quilt, I was limited to what I had, and the best fit was the same fabric as the backing. Oh well.

This was also the first time I had ever done binding, so the experiences was very similar to the quilting. The first part looks VERY different from the end, but I learned a lot along the way! It's phenomenal what a difference the binding makes! It looks so much more finished with it. I made the binding very narrow, since this is such a tiny quilt, but in retrospect, I could have made it a little wider and been fine.

I can't wait to see what it looks like once it is washed (I was too excited to give it to its new owner to even do this). I hope it gets that nice soft, crinkly look I love in quilts, but we shall see. Maybe the quilting needs to be closer together to get this? If so, it will be another learning experience!

Quilt Update #2

News! All of my fabrics are here and I just finished cutting the first one! Very, very exciting. Below are the patterned fabrics with their coordinating solids, though I think I'm still going to play around some with the pairings. The great news is that since I knew that monitors never display the right color and since I was buying fabric from two different places, I couldn't tell how their colors might even remotely match up, I bought four more solid colors than I really needed. That way, I had a lot of options and could mix and match if my first choices didn't pan out, color-wise. Good thing too, since several of them were WAY more orange or pink or purple than I had hoped. (Extras not shown in the pictures below).






So there they are! Yay! I got a comment that I should maybe use the orange on the left (unpaired, currently) in one of the pairings to balance out the orange and the pink. I will have to play around some more and consult the mother of the girl for whom this quilt is destined.

Cutting!

I have cut the first fabric (the octopus print) and so far, so good. I have to say, the directions on Oh, Fransson! are impeccable. I have only had a few experiences piecing a quilt before, and her tips solved many of the frustrations I usually ran into. Mostly because I am an impatient person and not as careful as I should be. But her tips (expecially the one about cutting ON the grain) helped to make this an experience to bring out the perfectionist in me and to help me revel in the feeling of perfectly straight lines. We'll see how long this perfection lasts :-)

The good thing is that it seems like mistakes multiply in quilting, so the better off you start, the better off it will all be in the end. Hopefully it works OK!

Oh, and I should get my sewing machine fixed tomorrow. That will make me much, much happier!

Quilt Update #1

Not too much to update. I've received the first fabrics I ordered and the coordinating solids should be here tomorrow (I hope they match! I really don't like fabric shopping on the internet, but I haven't found any stores that carry the specific fabric I am looking for in town). I ordered many different options, since it was only $4 a yard and I only need a 1/4 yard (so it was only a dollar to get several different colors to hedge my color bets).

I hope to get the fabric cut and prepared within the next couple days, and then I will be ready for sewing.

Sadly, I managed to break my sewing machine while cleaning it, so it's out of commission for a little while. It's really not broken, but I sure as hell can't get the piece I pulled out to go back in! I'm sure it will be very quick and obvious to the sewing machine guy who comes to JoAnn's every two weeks. He'll be there on Thursday, so I plan on stopping by. Also, I can't seem to get the walking foot I bought from him to work right, so hopefully he can help me with that too. Unfortunately, I don't have such high hopes for that one because I just don't see how it's going to work right with my machine.

Hmm... maybe if I really get into this, I will need to buy a sewing machine of my own! I'm using my mom's old workhorse, bought literally 40+ years ago, which still runs great...er, well, it did until I broke it. It's solid metal, solid as a rock, but has pretty much zero "features" and is so old that I may not be able to get different feet for it (see above). But then again, I've never even used the four other stitches it DOES have, so why would I need another 70 (or 300, or 1,000)? We'll see what sewing machine repair guys says about the foot. Free and working is much better than a couple hundred dollars and unknown.

Hopefully I will have pictures of fabric choices and/or cut fabric to post shortly!

Guilty Pleasures

I am doing something I shouldn't. I simply don't have time. But dammit, I'm making time!

Oh, Fransson! is doing a quilt-along, and I am joining in. I always have to have some kind of crafty project going on to inspire me, and I've gotten back into quilting again in the last month. Granted, I've never actually fully made a quilt before, but I have pieced a comforter cover with my mom, and (started) hand quilting a pillow top. I've just never done it all together. But now with the quilt along, I can do it virtually with more than 200 other people (fun!) and with some excellent, excellent instructions from oh fransson (I love how that is not her name at all, but that's what everyone calls her online).

Even though I am way behind everyone else (I haven't even ordered all of my fabric yet), I have already learned so many great tips and tricks, especially ones to avoid all of the pitfalls that would prevent me from continuing on a project in the past (imperfect seam allowances, unsquare-squares, etc.). It also makes me feel better to know that I'm not the only one who can't always sew in a straight line!

Without further ado, here is the quilt I will be making. I am making it for our neighbors' little girl, who is two and a half, so I wanted something girly and sweet, but not too gross, you know?

I will be using these fabrics:


To make this front:
And this back:

The first prints should come tomorrow, and then I will be ordering the coordinating solids. Yay!