I promised that I would write about the quilts and I am keeping my word.  I made them for the two first grade classes' art projects for our school auction.  The idea is not original to me - Daria made one last year and I basically copied her formula, with a few tweaks.

The first grades did the artwork for these quilts in October - one class drew zoo animal and the other class drew sea creatures.  I gave them sheets of paper pre-cut to 5" so I wouldn't have to adjust the size of the drawings.  And then I waited and procrastinated (ahem) and finally scanned the artwork into my computer and printed it onto the fabric.  I used the same fabric that Daria did - I printed 2 drawings on each 8.5" x 11" sheet (which I had cut down from the 11" x 17" sheets I bought).

To set the image on the printable fabric, you soak it in water for a specified amount of time.  The only problem I had in this entire process is that some of my fabric shrunk a tiny bit after soaking.  My original intent was to cut the artwork to 5.5" squares.  On some of the fabric sheets, this wasn't possible as the sheets were no longer 11" long.  To solve that problem, I cut all the artwork to 5.5" wide and then used my judgment on the height - some are 5.5", some are a bit less.

I matched each drawing with a suitable fabric and then sewed 2.5" strips around all four sides.  Once I had that finished, I used solid Kona cottons to complete each block - a tan for the sea quilt, white for the zoo quilt.  I cut long 4.5" strips and chained pieced as many as I could to each strip.  Daria said that this was a huge time saver for her and it was for me, too.  There was some fabric waste, but in the time vs. money debate, time was more precious.

Once I had all the squares sewn, I used my 12.5" square ruler to even them up and then sewed them together in a grid (5 by 5 for the sea quilt, 4 by 6 for the zoo quilt).  I added borders by using scraps of the colored fabrics and some additional bright solids on the sea quilt.  For the backs, I used two solid colors separated by a patchwork strip.  I asked the teachers to have some of the children write the quilt's name, their class, school and the year on paper.  I scanned that in and added it to the patchwork strip.  It's my favorite part.

 

I quilted the zoo quilt first.  I didn't want to quilt over the artwork, so I came up with a geometric pattern by sewing a certain distance away from seam lines.  I can't really pinpoint exactly what I did - I think I have quilter's amnesia.  Regardless, the quilting took concentration and way too much time.  I rethought my idea for the sea quilt.  Because it is square, I decided to go ahead and do an allover diamond pattern.  I sewed diagonally from one corner to the other, using a strip of masking tape as a guide.  From that point on, I used the guide on my walking foot to sew the grid lines 3" apart.  It was fast and somewhat brainless.  And even though I hadn't wanted to quilt over the artwork, I really like how it came out.

 

After binding, I washed the quilts.  The printable fabric cannot be dried with heat, so I threw them in the dryer with the air only cycle on.  Although it took some time for them to dry, it worked well.  I folded them up, took them to the auction.

The quilts were a big success - they both went for a good amount of money.  I'm purposely not telling you how much.  You won't be able to get it out of me.  Why?  Well, let's just say that one matches my family room pretty much perfectly.  If you think I planned it that way, you are right.

I like my new quilt.

I finished quilting both of the auction quilts yesterday. Actually, the second quilt pieced was the first one quilted and that has been sitting around waiting for a binding for a couple weeks. Yesterday, I finished quilting the other one, so now it, too, waits for a binding. Guess what I am doing today? Yes, indeed-y, you are right.

 

Blair and I are completely overjoyed and overwhelmed at the incredible response to the Kids ATC swap.  I knew it would strike a cord with lots of you, but I think we completely underestimated your enthusiasm!  As  of right now, there are over 560 kids signed up and there are still over 200 emails that haven't been opened. You have until 12:00 noon EST (New York City time) today to sign up.  You need to email you child's name, address and age to atckidswap@gmail.com to be signed up. We plan on making the groups this weekend and hope to let you know on Monday.  Please be patient with us if it is Tuesday or Wednesday - we have a lot of work to do.

Hope you enjoy a relaxing and productive weekend.  You'll find me on the couch, under a quilt, stitching away.  See you here next week.

...auction quilts...

...another chunky knit beanie and my February lady sweater...

and I am supervising lots of weaving and hopefully, some painting.

I am looking forward to a laid back weekend with lots of crafting.  What are you working on?

Quilt top number one for the first grade auction projects is done.  It took me waaaaaay longer than I anticipated.  I'm not sure how I am going to quilt it - I don't want stitching over the art work.  I'll figure it out, I suppose.  Suggestions are welcome.

And now it's time to move on to the second one.  Right after I eat lunch, of course.

So, here it is, Monday again.  I had great intentions to be in this space more last week, but it just didn't happen.  I am not sure I can pinpoint why.  Life is just busier at some moments than others.

This sweet stack was bought while in Florida over the holidays.  I don't have any specific plans for it - well, except the bottom one, that is for a skirt.  The rest will end up in small projects, maybe some quilts, who knows.  Before I start cutting, I have two quilts to finish for the school auction next month.  I have one pieced and the other is still waiting to be sewn up.

This sweet fox is Kate's contribution to her class quilt.  She's a big Ed Emberley fan.  Can't you tell?

While I am busy putting the quilts together, I thought I would share some things that are inspiring me these days.....

Blair's single girl quilt - Every bit of it is just so good.
Habit - I find this just so right in so many ways.
Rachel's painting - it makes me want to try something new.
Dawn's dolls - I think I might need a redhead.

I've been listening to She & Him and just read Loving Frank.  Both were Christmas presents from Fatty.  He chose well.

Back to the sewing machine.  See you all later.

It's Christmas Eve and I think I am mostly ready.  Mostly means I have a hat to finish knitting and gifts to wrap and groceries to buy....all very doable in the 8 hours I have until we go to church late this afternoon.  My fingers and toes are crossed that my parents and uncle can get here from the land of snow.  No snow here, just rain.  But my new gutters were installed yesterday so I'm okay with the rain.  Don't get me wrong - I would rather have snow.  But I have gutters and that is an improvement from yesterday.

I beaded and sequined these little ornaments for an ornament swap that Linda invited me to join.  Heather, I have so much respect for you and your hearts.  Wowzers.  That is some fussy sewing.  Once I got in to a rhythm, I rather liked that fussy stuff, just to be clear.  I sent off 6 little Joy pillows and kept one for myself.

My paperwhites started blooming Monday.  That made me smile.

Many of you asked about the big spool of red and white twine.  Every time I post a photo with twine in it, the emails start coming.  I should have known better so here is the info a little late.  It came from Tilda's  which Laurie pointed me to a long long time ago.  You can get it in blue and white, too.  I wish they had green, but no such luck.  And the brown paper?  I got that at Target - in the gift wrap section.  I also use just packaging paper which can be found by the heavy duty tape and boxes.

I think that just about covers everything.   I hope you enjoy your holiday, whatever that might be. 

Happy Always and Merry Everything!

A few of you guessed what I was up to.  Some of you knew.  So, yeah, I made a quilt for the craft swap.  And I really, really love this quilt.

It's throw size - I forgot to measure it.  I think it ended up around 50" x 60".  I made the six colored blocks on Monday night.  I was in a piss poor mood and playing with fabric changed my frame of mind completely.  I used the same paper bag method that I learned at Denyse Schmidt's studio in November.  I loaded the bags with 5 solids and 6 prints.  I can't tell you who made the solids, but all the prints are Amy Butler's Midwest Modern that I had in my stash.

I pieced the blocks in about an hour and a half.  I made myself move fast so I wouldn't overthink.  I knew that it would be cohesive because I had loaded the bags with the fabric myself.  I kept going until I got tired.  On Tuesday morning, I got up, looked at them all and started adding the dark green around them to make a rectangle.  I then used large strips of green to make the quilt top bigger.

For the back, I made a small horizontal patchwork strip and sewed it between the orange and darker pink solids.  I couldn't resist putting a piece of this cute little house print in.  It's Japanese and came from Purl.

I quilted it with a green thread that matched the lime solid.  I chalked lines 4" apart and free-motioned loops below each line.  I bound it in the lime solid, using a zig zag stitch.

This block is my favorite.  Something about it just speaks to me.

So there you go.  The craft swap quilt.  I really do love it.  So much.  In the end, though, it went home with someone else.  And I let it go willingly.

If you want to see the rest of the goodies that were swapped, and the very cool piece I ended up with, go visit Caroline's blog.  Everything was fabulous - I would have taken any of it willingly.  Caroline tells the story so so well - play by play, actually.  Plus, she took photos and I didn't.

Have a great weekend.  I think I have one or maybe two more posts in me before I disappear for the holidays.  See you soon.

For back-tack, I was paired up with the lovely Theresa.  She sent me some beautiful goodies which I promise to share soon.  I still need to get decent photos (that darn winter light!).  For her, I made a simple throw.

When I found the very last piece of this fabric in my studio, I knew it was meant for Theresa.  I considered making a bag out of it, but I just couldn't cut it.  It is a wool cashmere blend and I had just enough to squeak out a 60" square throw.  I used a Japanese polka dot to bind it.  Simple, but luxurious at the same time.  I hope she enjoys it during these cold winter months.

I sent some other goodies as well - vanilla tea, sea salt caramels and an ornament.  I never tire of brown paper packages and red and white string.  That is my go-to wrap this year.  Speaking of which....time to get back at it.