Quilt tops and circles

I was in my sewing chaos, sewing a quilt block for the first person in the online Quilting Bee I joined, when I realized I'd need some scraps of my own. Once I started poking around in my scrap bag, I found that I'd stuffed several unfinished quilt tops and a few unfinished other sewing projects in there as well.

The pastel one I show above is, well, not my style at all. I don't do pastels - they seem colorless to me. I'm much more into the brights.

These are more my style, but they're both unfinished. Well, the second one is closer. I could, at this point, slap some edging on it, back it and quilt it. It's a bit small, but it could be a cute baby sized quilt. I don't know any babies right now who need a bright quilt.

Now that I think about it, though, I do have a friend who's going to have a baby girl soon. I am planning on making the baby a pretty pinks and browns quilt - maybe her older sister would like this quilt if I made it a bit bigger. (I would have the added benefit of having finished another old project!)

I'm working on eating better and exercising more. I've been trying to lose weight for quite a while now and haven't gotten anywhere. Now I've signed up for a government website to track my daily exercise. Since it's public, I have to do the cycling every day or it shows! I did six miles at a hard push today and I'm hoping to get 12 in tomorrow.

Anyway, this breakfast is grits with some peach and a little butter and milk. Yes, those aren't low fat, but I'm counting calories rather than obsessing over every fat/sugar/carb I eat. It lets me eat a wider range of foods without having to feel deprived. I just eat less OF the higher calorie foods.

I've also been embroidering - I worked on this while in New Hampshire. I don't think I'll sell the pattern for this; it was just to be some fun with different stitches. I'd like to do something with it, though. What if I framed this and then did other geometric shapes - so one all squares, and one hexagons?

Anyway, it's late, so I'm for bed. G'night.

SongBird

So, I promised Marion I’d post about Coin quilts and why they’re called that. I’ve put it off for far too long. However, I seem to have wandered around a bit, and this turned into a post about stripy quilts and tutorials for different types.

What prompted her question is this quilt I made, which I called Dollar Coins.

I’ve also made this one, Pound Coins, for Geordie’s mom, for Christmas. She’s said, by the way, that she uses it all the time on her bed. I’m glad she has something warm to sleep under; it’s been very cold in the northeast of England.

So, coin quilts. Right. Sometimes they’re called Chinese coin quilts, sometimes they’re called Roman Stripe, some people combine Roman Stripe with Rail Fence.

This is a good tutorial for Roman Stripe quilts: Mary's Quilts Roman Stripe. She also has a tutorial for Chinese Coins: Mary's Quilts Chinese Coins. (In point of fact, she has good tutorials for lots of interesting quilts.)

This post seems to have wandered off topic. Coin quilts and the history of same.

I’ve always heard that the “traditional” method for coin quilts is based on the Charm Quilt, one in which each piece is the same shape and size and each fabric only occurs once. The name comes from the small, coinsized, pieces of fabric used. Since I made the first one for his mom, who’s British, I used their monetary system. For the one on my couch, I used mine. I like the format, and will be making more.

Most people making modern quilts seem to use the faster, strip-piecing method. Here's a tutorial Quilter's Cache tutorial. Moda Bake Shop has a tutorial for a smaller, baby-sized one that uses two charm packs.

I haven't been able to do much crafting or sewing in the past couple of weeks.  The house is diabolically cluttered, and I've spent the time trying to clear things out.  I've managed to do some good downstairs; I'm hoping the upstairs will go quickly.  My craft room is kind of scary, though.  It's seriously over-filled and under-organized.  I think the best way to deal with it might be to take everything out (or as much as possible) and start with an empty room.  I've made some progress, though; one side of the room is going to have mostly sewing and knitting supplies and the other will be mostly paper crafts and other stuff.

I can't wait to get back into the craft room to make things!

SongBird

Busy few weeks

I've been busy the past few weeks with non-crafty stuff.  I did make some things:

I love Coin Quilts, but I'm interested in quick results, so I made this quilt top from 6 fat quarters and some white dot yardage I had already. I'm planning on making a quick tutorial - I can't be the only person who's looking for something fast, fun and colorful.  Plus, I'll be making more of these!

I love math and science - so the thought of making a crocheted hyperbolic plane, something that's the opposite of Euclidean geometry, made me very happy.  Again, I'll be making more.  Lots more.

We got a new fridge (it's seriously ginormous - I think you could fit enough food in it to feed a family of a zillion).  However, we needed to put new light switches in, so I made a quick, pretty new cover.

I have lots of other things to post about, but I have chemistry homework to do.  Anyone want to do it for me?

SongBird

Kitchen Mat

So, our fridge was having deepseated emotional problems, so our landlords said they'd give us a new one.  I stared around at my kitchen, realised I needed to clean it up and ... decided that the logical first step was to sew a new kitchen mat.  I saw this tutorial on Sew Mama Sew a while ago, but didn't bother to look at it again today.

I started with a pretty fabric for backing

and started piecing fabric together to make a fun, bright front.

I always enjoy sewing the different fabrics together.

I used to iron my seams to one side or another, but recently have found that ironing them open is much better for me.

I like quilting in gentle curving lines for something like this - noting too complicated, but definitely interesting to look at.

 This is what the quilting looked like near the end.

Trimming the edges square was a bit tricky; my rotary cutter didn't like cutting through the towel I used as the batting.

I put on a pretty mottled blue pre-made binding.

Sewing on the binding is not my favorite part, but ...

It does look pretty when it's on, doesn't it?

And, here's the mat in its new home.

To top it all off?  The fridge the landlords gave us is too small, so we'll be buying a new one, all for our own!  I wonder if I'll need another mat.  *grin*

SongBird

New Home

I've planned and thought and sketched and played with ideas, but really, there's no way to start except to start.  So, here's my new home.  It looks unfinished, doesn't it?  I'll decorate soon.  Curtains, I think this blog needs.  And a nice rug.

I have so many projects working right now that I can't even think of all of them.  Luckily enough for me, I've finished a few recently, so I can at least start with something to show for my time. 

I made this for a friend who's just had her first child.  I hope the baby enjoys it.  I'm sure she'll enjoy the blanket that it came with:

I like making rag quilts; the way they get softer and better each time they get washed is wonderful.  

Right now, however, I have to bike to the store for more lemons.  I made a lemon pound cake yesterday to give to friends and now my family wants one for us.  I think I used 12 lemons!

See you soon.

SongBird