Monday, November 16, 2015

La Passacaglia Rosette 6:1

I finished my first rosette 6. I think I have to make a number of these partial rosettes so I'm experimenting with color placement.
The cat fabric is from Heather Ross's current line called Tiger Lily. I had to cut up quite a bit to match the pentagons but the cuteness was worth it. Use it or lose it, as they say. I also discovered that Alison Glass's Party Streamers fabric is based on the same size of diamond as the ones in this quilt. Lots of possibilities there!

Tuesday, November 10, 2015

La passacaglia progress

I decided to use this as a Rosette 4, for those of you familiar with the pattern. For those not familiar---it is a finished piece. Where the stars are missing, it will mesh up with other rosettes. I'm pretty stoked about this one but I'm going to aim for stronger contrast in a few more.
This is the start of my next rosette. I couldn't resist the cute kittens from Heather Ross' Tiger Lily fabric. I'm going to use a grey polka dot for the star points on this one. 

I don't get any scheduled sewing time right now so I do most of this while the baby naps.


Friday, October 23, 2015

Ah La Pas


While it may not look like much these five stitched pentagons are the start of something big. My partner surprised me with Willyne Hammerstein's Millefiore Quilts book for my birthday and I've been aching to start one of her amazing patterns ever since. I'm throwing my hat into the very popular La Passacaglia ring as it is one of the most intricate quilts I've ever seen. I've started by using an English paper piecing method but I may try a few different techniques. The pattern is split up into separate rosettes, known as cogs on Instagram, so there is room for experimentation.

Some of the gals in my quilt guild are taking a stab at this pattern too so we formed a support group where we discuss techniques and share tutorials and helpful hints. We shall see how far we get.

Wednesday, September 30, 2015

Handstitched.

Lately it seems that all I've got time for is hand sewing. Kind of a paradox to only have time for something that takes so long. It's really more about portability. Having a very easily distracted and mobile 15 month old means no time actually sitting down to sew, but rather doing a bit here and there. 

The photo is my progress on the pattern Daisy Do by Jen Kingwell (http://jenkingwelldesigns.blogspot.com/?m=1 ) from her book Quilt Lovely. I am auditioning the dotty background before I cut all the tiny pieces. I plan to make a small quilt with this as the center and a pieced border, to be ready for the next baby quilt gift request(if that's not cheating...). 

Sunday, January 11, 2015

Quilts for Graham's family

I finished this quilt in November of 2013 for my partner's parents. They have been really helpful and supportive and have treated me like family. So what to give to people that have everything? A quilt, of course. The inspiration for this quilt was their back-to-the-land lifestyle of raising food, keeping bees, and hunting deer on their 20 acres. The design is loosely based on a pattern by Boo Davis from the book Dare to be Square and a pattern by Elizabeth Hartman called Honey. I added a paper pieced bee in  the upper right corner and used fabrics that echo their interests.

This little quilt is for my nephew Harper to celebrate his birth. It was finished in November 2013 and is my own design. The majority of the fabrics are Cloud 9 Organics from a couple of lines of their great scrap packs. I quilted it with a square spiral that tilts as it goes around. 

Since these quilts are staying 'in the family', I look forward to seeing them through the years.

Where I've been...

Obviously, I  haven't been blogging. My life has gotten derailed by the news and addition of a baby boy. He's great but takes a lot of time. 
The last quilt I finished was before he was born and is his. I put a lot of pressure on myself to make his baby quilt the best quilt I've ever made, but in the end, I think I could've done better. The thing I realized about having a kid is that now I have an excuse to make even more quilts. Blanket forts, here we come!