New blog announcement

Hello readers!  Thanks for following this blog.  It's been fun sharing my sewing shenanigans with you here.

When I started this back in 2011, I was just learning to sew.  But since then, my skills have improved and my interests have widened.  I'd like to write about that growth in a new space that reflects all of the things I enjoy.  I'll leave this blog up for posterity, but I won't be posting anything new here.

My new blog can be found here:

Make Things. Grow

I hope you come along for the ride.

Take care,
Deborah

One goose, two geese, red geese, new house

This year started out so promisingly with two sewing finishes back in early January.  And a knitted hat last month.  There is daily inspiration for both sewn and knitted things.  I see projects on IG, Pinterest and Ravelry that are calling out to me.  But for the past few months, my time has been consumed by house-hunting.  After months of searching and viewing close to 40 houses, we finally found one we'd like to call home.

This process has not been without hiccups.  We actually put in an offer on a house we liked but didn't love.  After agonizing for an entire week about making the wrong decision, we called our realtor to let her know that our hearts were not in that house, and we wanted to put an offer on a different one (which was actually the house our realtor had pointed out would be perfect for us when we viewed it).

Now that the search is over, will there be more time for making things?  Probably not, since there is now an entire household to pack up before our mid-May closing date.  But here is something I did manage to finish this week:

 Back in December, the McKinney Modern Quilt Guild hosted Moda representative Lissa as a guest speaker.  Before she left the meeting, she very generously handed out gift bags with an assortment of 4 Moda mini-charm packs and a 4-pack of Aurifil thread.  Our challenge was to make a project using some or all of the charms (at least a few prints from each pack to be represented in the work).  We could add our choice of a yard of either Moda Grunge or Moda Bella Solids.

I decided to make a throw quilt for our sofa.  (We currently have one large-ish sofa quilt, and family movie nights are usually riddled with complaints that someone is hogging the quilt.)  When I started this quilt top last Tuesday, I decided to make a simple quilt with alternating nine-patch blocks and solid squares of blue.  But when my nine-patches were all sewn up, I felt compelled to cut them into triangles and add some solid white in the mix.  My intent was to make HSTs, but those HSTs morphed into flying geese.  Then I found some solid red in my stash and threw that in, too.

In some small way, the making of this quilt top mirrored our home-buying process.  Choices were presented, choices made, minds changed and new choices made.  I'm pleased with the end results.

Finished things, and not finished things

Contrary to what the silence on the blog implies, I've actually finished a few things.  The projects have been posted on Instagram, but I haven't posted about them here.  The great thing about Instagram is you can share a picture with just a short caption about the subject you're sharing.  The downside is I've become lazy about documenting anything in great depth in this space.  One of my goals this year is to get back to blogging consistently.

Uncle Frank's Shirts was delivered to my parents during our holiday trip to New Orleans.  Despite the unending rain and the unseasonably warm temperatures and humidity, it was good to be back in the New Orleans area for the holidays.  Our last Christmas there was thirteen years ago.  We moved to California and never made it back for Christmas until this year (thanks to our move to Texas, which put us in driving distance).  I don't have a picture of the finished quilt, but I love how it turned out.  I'll be back in New Orleans in March and hope to snap a photo of it then.

Another project I've completed is a pillow cover  made for a paint chip challenge, hosted by the Mckinney Modern Quilt Guild.  Paint sample cards were cut up and thrown into brown paper bags.  The bags were passed around and we were instructed to draw 3 chips without looking into the bag.  We then had to make a project using mainly the three colors we drew.  I was lucky enough to draw three colors that I love and which go well together (see bottom center of the picture).  This Wonky Star pillow has been claimed by Kieran, and he insists on having it in his bed every night:

Delectable Mountains was started long ago, with blocks made by members of Love at do. Good Stitches.  It came out of the WIP bin because it is embarrassingly overdue.  I have a machine that is too small for quilting comfortably, plus it skips stitches and breaks the top thread like nobody's business, despite any trouble-shooting performed.  This makes the quilting of a quilt my least favorite part of the process.  Outbursts of frustration are usually involved.  However, I will soldier on and make efforts to complete this quilt (because there is another charity quilt that is also long overdue and will be the next sewing project I pick up):

The backing was pieced yesterday afternoon and got an unsolicited stamp of approval from Kieran upon his return home from school.  It's just a couple of fat quarters and some odd-sized cuts of orange and blue prints from my stash sewn together.  However, the 6-year old was impressed, and I'll take the compliment any day.

Uncle Frank's shirts

My mother came to the States from the Philippines in the early part of the 1960's to study.  Her Uncle Tony (my godfather) was the only member of her family who was already here (at that time), but he traveled a lot.  Frank and his wife Sarah were close friends of Uncle Tony.  They had 3 daughters of their close in age to my mother, and so she was taken under the wing of the Reyes family and became part of their family.

Uncle Frank passed away earlier this year.  My parents were heartbroken, as they were in the Philippines at the time.  Uncle Frank's daughters gifted my dad with a few of his woven shirts, and my parents offered them to my husband, thinking he might wear them.  I quickly stepped in and told Ken to take them because I knew what I wanted to to do with them.  I think I'll add two more rows to make it a little longer (pardon the horrible cell phone picture):

It's harder than you think cutting up the shirts of someone who meant so much to your family and is now gone.  It took a while for me to take the rotary cutter to them.  And it was quite emotional cutting and then piecing them together.  I know they're just shirts, but they're not just shirts.  Does that make sense?

Anyway, I'm pleased to make a quilt for my parents to remember a dear family friend.  There is a sense of urgency for me to complete this quickly because my dad will begin radiation therapy in a couple of weeks.  I'd like him to have a quilt to snuggle under while he rests in his recliner in front of the television.

Let me esplain. No, there is too much. Let me sum up.

This little old blog has been collecting dust.  Much has happened since my last post: we took the kids on vacation to several national parks and to a family reunion; my husband and I went to Bavaria and Prague; I ran a half marathon; I went back to work for 4 months then "retired" again because we moved to Texas; more travel after our move to Texas, and the little one started kindergarten.  This left so little time for blogging.

Now that you're caught up, here's a quick rundown on the status of things I was working on and finished, or started and completed since the last post in May:

My "41" quilt, which was my epic Sis Boom fabrics project, which I finished and it lived on my bed until we moved.  It has since been appropriated by Martina for her bed, since she claims it looks better in her room than in mine.  Here it is looking gorgeous on the lawn:

My Delectable Mountains quilt top for do. Good Stitches was pieced together at a retreat in June.  Quilting it is at the top of my sewing list.

My Friendship x and + swap blocks were temporarily lost, then found again, as I was unpacking my sewing paraphernalia after the big move.  Hooray!  I finished all 64 blocks and sent Jennifer her half. Jennifer finished her quilt (see her beautiful work here) while I completed my quilt top.  Pardon the grainy photo... I took it with my iPhone, which got wet when I slipped into a creek on a hiking trip this summer.  It hasn't taken a good photo since.

I participated in *a few* swaps.  It got to the point where my whole family was exasperated that I would start another swap item immediately after finishing one, and my little one was ever on the lookout for a swap package delivery from the postman.  I won't post photos of all of the completed swap projects because they are so numerous, but you can find them on IG (I'm @little_mama_d) if you have the inclination and patience to scroll through my feed.  Here are a few of my favorites:

I designed and made this mini quilt for the #AnnaMariaHornerMiniQuiltSwap on Instagram .  It was terribly hard putting this one in the post.

This mini and zippered pouch were designed and made for the #cottonandsteelminiquiltswap on IG:

This mini was designed (loosely based off of Aunt Rachel's Star quilt block) and made for the IG #rainbowminiquiltswap.  This was the first time I'd used variegated quilting thread.  I will definitely be using it again.

I hope you enjoyed this little recap of my makes over the past year.  Have you participated in any swaps lately?  What is your favorite swap item that you've made?

In the works

The Bay Area is in the midst of a late spring heat wave.  It's 93˚ as we speak.  My poor tomato plants have wilted, causing an emergency run to the nursery for row cover.  Thankfully, the house stays pretty cool, thanks to many mature trees in the yard providing shade.  Luckily, the forecast shows temperatures cooling off by the end of the week.

My do. Good Stitches quilt has sat basted and ready for quilting since Friday.  The thought of handling a quilt in this heat is unbearable, so I've kept myself busy working on quilt blocks.  Aren't those japanese x+ blocks (tutorial at Badskirt Amy) all over blogland, flickr and instagram so cute?  They've been on my to-make list since I first made a trio of them for Ara Jane's do. Good Stitches quilt.

I'm finally getting around to making my own quilt based around those ubiquitous blocks!  Jennifer and I decided to join the Friendship x and + Swap party (albeit really late).  We are using only Art Gallery fabrics in our friendship quilt, which is fitting since we first bonded over Art Gallery fabric a couple of years ago.

Here is the first block:

Doubles are made so one can be kept, the other exchanged.  Two down, six more to go for this month's blocks.  Maybe more if we decide to accelerate the block-making process so that we can finish the quilt tops in September along with the other members of the Friendship x and + Swap.

Linking up to WIP Wednesday at Freshly Pieced.  Head on over there to check out some really inspirational projects in the making! 

Mendocino Brick quilt

It's been quite some time since I posted a finished quilt.  As I was making Kieran's bed this morning, I realized that I never got around to sharing his Mendocino Brick quilt.  It was finished earlier this year (can't remember exactly when) and hastily thrown onto his bed for warmth.

I was afraid the binding I chose (Bob's Shirt from an old Erin McMorris line) would be too dark, but I think it's perfect.  And I adore the back, an oldie but goody from Deer Valley by Joel Dewberry.  I would adore it more if the lines were seamless, but apparently, this is what happens when you buy a stripey print from two different bolts:  

See where the lines match up perfectly on the left?  That's the middle of the quilt.  As you veer away from that middle point, the lines become more and more off-kilter.  It took me a whole day to get over it.

Kieran already has plans for his next quilt.  Take a number, kid.  I still have three other finished tops to quilt, plus a quilt to start and finish for an August wedding.

It's that time again!

It's the first of May, which means it's time to share the plan for my next do.Good Stitches quilt.  I'm embarrassed to say that I have not yet quilted the last quilt I made for the group, but I intend to remedy that situation this month.  Must get that quilt finished before the May blocks start rolling in!

If you've read my blog (or have seen my Flickr or Instagram stream), you'll know that I'm drawn to vintage things.  Whilst perusing pictures of vintage and antique quilts on the web, I came across this lovely quilt.   A search for "rising sun quilt block" turned up similar blocks, but not the exact one used in this quilt.

After a little digging, I found that the block itself goes by a few names- Delectable Mountains, Sawtooth and Kansas Troubles (and each of these blocks have other incarnations).  Sawtooth sounds a little sharp-ish, and I’m hesitant to use the word “troubles” in a gift destined for a child via the Wrap Them in Love Foundation.  Delectable Mountains is whimsical and pleasing to the ear.  Perfect for a child's quilt! 

Below is the palette I've chosen  for this quilt: bright orange, blue (ocean, sky, navy) and white/off white.  The blues are a departure from the green-tinged blues I normally use.   

Below, I’m sharing the method I used to construct this block.  To my Love Circle friends, please make three blocks- one orange, one blue, and the third block in your choice of either orange or blue. 

Delectable Mountains Tutorial

 

Materials needed:

Rotary Cutter

Quilter's Ruler

Cutting Mat
Pencil
Pins

Fabric:

Main color (in this case blue)

(1)    6 ⅞” square, cut corner-to-corner to make two triangles (you will only need one)

(5)    2 ½” squares- please feel free to use a mix of prints for variety!

Background color (in this case white/off-white solids or subtle prints with a white or off-white bkgd)

(1)    9 ⅞” square, cut corner-to corner to make two triangles (you will only need one)

(4)    2 ½” squares- again, varied white/off-white fabrics are welcome!

(1)    2” square

All seams are  ¼”

Make the half square triangles

Pair up the four light 2 ½” squares with four of the blue 2 ½” squares (you will have one extra lue square to be used later).  With right sides facing, pin them together and lightly mark a line down the center from corner to corner on the back of the light colored fabric.  Alternatively, you could draw two sewing lines ¼” from either side of an imaginary corner-to-corner line. 

If you marked a corner-to-corner line down the center, sew a line 1/4" to the left and to the right of the line using your presser foot as a guide.  

If you marked the two sewing lines, sew your seams on top of these lines. 

Cut the squares down the center between the two seam lines using your ruler and rotary cutter.  Repeat step for all 2 ½” squares (I speed cut mine by stacking and cutting multiple squares at once).  You should have eight hst's. 

Press the newly sewn hst's open and trim the dog-ears. eta- the hst's should be trimmed to 2" square.  (Thanks for the feedback Ara Jane!)

Lay four hst's in a row with the blues on the bottom left (see photo on the left).  Lay the remaining four hst's in a row, this time with the blues on the bottom right.  With rights sides facing, pin the hst's in pairs, (see photo on the right).  Sew the pairs together, then press open.

  

Repeat the previous steps with the newly made hst units above so that you have two strips of hst's.

Cut the remaining 2 ½” blue square from corner to corner, making two triangles (below left).  Lay them next to the two hst strips as shown below (right).  Pin the blue triangles to the hst strips, right sides facing and aligned at the top.  Sew together, then press and trim.

Place the first hst strip (blue prints on bottom right) along the left side of the large blue triangle.  Pin together with right sides facing.  

Pin the light colored 2" square to the left side of the remaining hst strip (blue prints on the bottom left), right sides facing.

Sew these units together, press and trim.

  
Pin the long edge of this newly sewn unit to the long edge of the large light colored triangle, right sides facing.

Sew, press and trim to 9 ½” square.  You’re done!

I hope this tutorial was clear and easy to follow.  Go forth and make Delectable Mountains! 

Faux Snow Day

Once upon a time, I worked.  During the hour-long commute by train to San Francisco to my job, I taught myself to knit and crochet.  And I knitted and crocheted (and occasionally read or slept) on the baby bullet between San Jose and San Francisco.

Then I had another child (my third), and my hubby and I decided that it would be in our family's best interests for me to stay home and man the homefront, as it were.  And I learned to quilt.  Which became my new obsession.

Fast forward to 3 years later, when knitting and crochet projects on instagram and flickr inspire me to pick up the needle and hooks once more.  Besides, the sewing machine needs a break.

This week I've seen snow day pictures and posts from family and friends in other parts of the country.  Oh how envious I've been.  All the fun things you want to do, compressed in a single day.  I thought I'd take a snow day this week, too.  Of sorts.  Because I couldn't really take a whole day to do only fun things, I stole pockets of time on Sunday and Monday. 

I started a new project on my faux snow day.  Since watching Nanny McPhee with the kiddies a few years ago, I vowed I would make that granny square blanket.  After watching Nanny McPhee again last week for the umpteenth time, I'm finally making good on my word.

It's looking overcast today... a good opportunity to steal another hour or so for my faux snow day. 

A New Quilt Top and an Old Cardigan

My first project of the new year is well underway- in fact, it's already a quilt top.  In starting this quilt, I decided I wanted simple patchwork with a riot of color.  With this in mind, I pulled together a stack of favorites, old and new (no low-volume prints) and settled on the simple half square triangle.

There's a certain pleasure in the whole quilt-making process.  The tranquil task of sewing small pieces of fabric into blocks under the needle of a machine.  Pressing these blocks into smooth squares under a hot iron.  Watching your fabric selections and blocks manifest themselves into the vision that started the whole process. And finally, that moment after the entire top is pressed, when you hang it up or lay it on the floor, step back and just take in the whole thing. 

It's exactly what I envisioned and I'm very happy with it.

I've started the back, and I'm none too pleased with it.  I decided to use leftover hst's with some yardage of Paper Snowflake from Meadow Sweet.  Not content to just sew the hst's up into a couple of rows and frame them, I decided on a scattered effect.  This led to the (perceived) need for more hst's to be made.  Which then led to quilt maths to decide how to cut the low volume yardage for maximum efficiency given the "random" hst layout.  Which led to my pulling out this old project (from 2011!) to give my head a break. 

Here is the Maple Street Cardigan, fresh out of it's holding place in a bag of scraps (I did pick off the threads and fluff before photographing it):

Thank goodness I noted where I left left off when I put it down.  It's been over a year-and-a-half since I've worked on this so I'm a little concerned about gauge.  The thought of frogging and starting over, complete with gauge swatching, entered my mind for a teeny moment, but I quashed it.  It'll block out, right?!

Now I've just got to remember where I put the rest of the yarn during the big move.

Post-holiday post

Now that the hubbub of the holidays is behind and the older kids are back to school, Kieran and I are getting (somewhat) back to our old routine.  We've spent the mornings playing multiple rounds of the Match game, Sneaky Squirrel, and Wii, plus reviewing alphabet flash cards (gotta throw in a little learning somewhere).  He didn't take a single nap while the "big kids" were home for the holiday break, and it's been a little bit of a fight getting the little guy to go down for a nap the past couple of days.

I've gotten in a bit of sewing time, either while the little guy naps or plays on his Leapster.  In fact, I've worked my way through a stack of 168 half-square triangle blocks.

   
I happened to have some 6.5" squares leftover from my Crazy Penny quilt top, and I thought "Why not cut them into hst's?  I dove into the fabric stash to supplement, pulling recently acquired as well as long-hoarded prints.  They're going to be sewn into a simple HST quilt, inspired by this one at Cozy Things (minus the low-volume prints).

This quilt works well with one of my 2014 goals:  maximum stash usage, minimal stash enhancement.  It's going to be tough, but I think I can, I think I can, I think I can...

Linking up to WIP Wednesday at Freshly Pieced. 

Christmas sewing

I've been in denial that Christmas is upon us.  Despite the cold winter weather, the Christmas spirit has been notably absent.  The tree, chopped down, brought home and put up the day after Thanksgiving, still sits half decorated.  We've made two paper ornaments (ten more to go).  Christmas presents are in the early stages of being made (and by early I mean that I have only just hatched a plan this very morning with the help of Pinterest and a cup of coffee). 

The holiday spirit I felt when this picture was taken has fled the building.  I blame the Spare the Air alerts we've had the past couple of weeks.  Cold weather, and we can't light the fireplace.  How am I supposed to get into the holiday spirit without a crackling fire?   

Before presents can be worked on, though, these must be finished. 

Rumor of a just-after-Christmas visit from my sister and her husband necessitates that I finish these pronto so that they can grace my table for a family holiday dinner.  My fingers are crossed that they are able to make it.  Distance means holidays spent with family other than my husband and children are few and far between.

Now that my bout of Bah! Humbug! has been properly documented, time to get on to the holiday sewing.  Fellow handmade holiday-makers, have you finished your holiday makes?

Linking up to WIP Wednesday at Freshly Pieced.

Crazy Penny

Risking frostbitten toes this morning, I managed to take a photo of my finished Penny Patchwork quilt top. 

The recipe is from the Penny Patch Quilt-along at Stitched in Color.  Because of the scrappy nature of my version, it looks a little crazy.  But my family loves it.  There was a chorus of "oooh... pretty!" from my children, and my husband declared it his favorite of all the quilts I've made so far.

And speaking of recipes, I made this little gem yesterday.   

I saw a picture of a chocolate-glazed banana cake at JulieLou, and Julie was kind enough to share with me the recipe she used.  The only modification I made to was to replace 1/4 cup of white sugar with brown sugar to make it a little richer.  I would have added walnuts, but the littlest one has a nut allergy.  I used this recipe for chocolate glaze, but replaced the water with milk, then added a couple of ounces of melted milk chocolate.  Divine.

Pennies and Scraps

As I look around my sewing room, I am overwhelmed by the jumble of fabric, sewing machines and WIP's cluttering the space.  Fabric scraps from other projects litter the floor, having spilled out of the buckets and baskets meant to contain them.  This is a problem.  The entryway-turned-sewing room is the first thing anyone sees upon entering the house, and right now it's giving off a hoarder vibe. 

Things are in disarray because I've chosen to ignore the mess in favor of sewing.  By taking part in the Marcelle Medallion and Modern Maples fun, I've come out of self-imposed exile and find myself jumping into sew-alongs with gleeful abandon.  So before Marcelle Medallion or Modern Maples are even finished, I've already joined the Penny Patch Quilt-along at Stitched in Color.

I love the simplicity of design of the Penny Patch quilt.  It's squares upon squares- different sizes, but all squares, nonetheless.  This lends itself easily to power chain-piecing.  If you decide to join in the fun, Rachel has an excellent post about choosing a color scheme.  Because I kept waffling back and forth between color palettes and couldn't commit to just one, I'm going to make a scrappy version of the quilt.  Going through the scraps seems a perfect start to cleaning up the sewing room.

Linking up to the Penny Patch linky party at Stitched in Color and to WIP Wednesday at Freshly Pieced.

Improv Stripped Geese tutorial

November is my month to host the Love Circle of do. Good Stitches.  I've really enjoyed being a part of this lovely and talented group of quilters.  Many of the quilts we've made together are unique and original.  The quilts made in this bee are sent to the  Wrap Them in Love Foundation, which then sends the quilts to children in need around the world.

Inspired by the color palette of this quilt, the design of this quilt, and a love of flying geese blocks, I've chosen a design that mixes all of these things in one quilt.  Here's the method I used to construct the blocks.

Improv Stripped Geese

What you will need:
rotary cutter
ruler
cutting mat
8" strips of fabric, varying widths (I cut mine between 2.5" to 4")
one 4" square piece of fabric
one strip of fabric 4"x9.5"

All seams are 1/4."  Please press seams to the right unless otherwise noted.  Block measures 6.5"x12.5" unfinished. 

To make the improv geese unit:
Start with the 4" square.  With your rotary cutter and ruler, cut an improv triangle. 

Lay your triangle over the 4" x 9.5" strip, ensuring there is at least 1/2" clearance of the background fabric at the top of the triangle (to allow for seams).

Place your ruler over the right edge of the triangle and cut the background fabric with your rotary cutter.  Do the same on the left edge of the triangle. 

Flip the triangle over the right-side background piece, centering on the angled edge. 

Sew together and press seam towards the background fabric.  Trim the dog-ear at the top.

Place the newly sewn unit right sides together over the angled edge of the left-side piece.

Sew together and press seam towards the background.

Trim the top and bottom edges.  Set the flying geese block aside.

To assemble the improv strips: 
Take one of the strips and, with your rotary cutter and a ruler, cut the right edge at a slight angle.

Take another strip, align on the angled edge right sides together.

Sew together.  Press seam to the right.

With your rotary cutter and ruler, cut the right edge of the newly sewn unit at a slight angle opposite to the first angled cut. 

Take a third strip, align on the angled edge, right sides together.

Sew together.  Press seam to the right.

Repeat these steps, working in the improv geese unit somewhere in the block.  Stop when the block reaches 13" or so in width.  Trim block to 6.5" x 12.5."

Congrats- you've successfully completed a Stripped Geese block!  I hope you found this tutorial clear and helpful.

eta: To my Love Circle friends... please feel free to add more than one flying geese unit in each of your blocks!

Have a great week!