Pillow Talk

In a bid to be creative, I sewed something yesterday. Unable to finish a quilt (due to my inability to think ahead) I opted to make a pillow as a preview to a Christmas present. I love it.

I’ve been having issues coming up with a pattern for the quilt so I have been fiddling with that instead of, well, quilting. Of course, I am my own worst enemy when it comes to these things. I plan and plan and plan and end up doing something spontaneous that doesn’t involve a plan most of the time. So I decided to make a pillow yesterday afternoon using the same fabrics I picked out for the quilt. This would accomplish two things: First, it would gauge whether the colors would actually work together; and Second, it would allow me to present to the birthday girl a little taste of what her Christmas present will be. If she hates it, I’m back to square one.

The pillow was made almost entirely of five inch squares, or charms, with a four-patch in the center surrounded by wonky half-square triangles to create an eight point star. The half-square triangles I used the solids I’d picked out from my stash, while using Kate Spain’s Fandango from Moda for the four-patch. Honestly, after making the pillow, I might just use that pattern for the quilt because it looks fantastic!

I quilted the pillow front to cotton batting using a free-motion amoeba-like technique. Why? Because I love how it looks after washing it. It gets a crinkly and instantly looks cozy. It originally was a little too big for the sixteen inch pillow form I had lying around from a previous project that never saw the light of day, as in three inches too big, but after quilting, washing and drying the cover, it fits the pillow form perfectly! For the back I used a tea stained muslin and sewed it in two sections with a flap in the center for easy removal and washing. I have to say, I love how it turned out and can’t wait to make the quilt now.

The Fandango Dilemma

I need more fabric! Okay, so really I need more fabric that goes with the Fandango line by Kate Spain from Moda.

Subdued reds, corals and pastels mingle among ivory and aqua. These colors aren’t necessarily part of my repertoire. Oh, I have a red or two and ivory I’ve got as well, either in the form of quilting fabric or muslin, but the overall pastel color scheme? Not so much. Also, I calculated just how large, or small to be more specific, the finished quilt will be. Perfect for a child, not so much for an adult… even it will be a lap quilt.

Do I continue my search for fabric from this line? Do I look for similar fabrics to fill in? Or should I simply break down and buy some pastels to add to my stash? That’s it! I’m giving myself until Christmas to finish this quilt instead of next week!

Possible Quilt Pattern

With my day off being, well, today, I thought it best to figure out a plan for the Fandango quilt. I’ve decided on combining four and nine patches… maybe.

Unable to blog this morning without a plan, I sketched out a quick idea for a possible quilt pattern. I’m spontaneous like that. Okay, so every morning I wake up, make coffee, feed the animals then start writing whatever comes to mind (as if it wasn’t obvious.) Some days, inspiration hits easier than others. Lately I’ve been in a rather disgusting slump where my daily write-ups are a tad on the boring side. I apologize to any daily readers out there. Anyway, after I started sketching out what I could do with those two charm packs of Kate Spain’s Fandango from Moda I’ve had in my stash for years just begging to be turned into something fabulous, I couldn’t stop thinking of four patches and nine patches. From there I thought it would be cute to make some of the nine patches using smaller four patches. This got me excited to start the quilt.

While I would love to get this done in the next week, I’m not going to push myself just for the sake of pushing. It will get done; just maybe it will be a Christmas gift instead. Part of me wishes we had the money to buy just a little more fabric for it, but at the same time one must be frugal in times of financial drought. This project will instead rely on ingenuity.

Charms

Precut fabric should make quilting easier, right? Then why is it so hard to find a design I like?

I’ve been thinking a lot about the two Charm Packs of Kate Spain’s Fandango line by Moda. I just don’t know what to do with them. I have gone through most of my quilt books and searched online for inspiration, but alas, nothing catches my eye. Perhaps something in the design of the fabric itself will help lend to a pattern. Perhaps I simply need to break open the packs and fiddle with it. Perhaps I need to stop thinking so much about it and start doing something.

Project Planning

When planning a new project, it’s best to start at the beginning. The beginning is definitely the best place to start.

For most quilting projects, I usually will buy fabric for the pattern. For my latest challenge, I’ve decided to use fabric I already have in my stash and make it work for the pattern. Currently I’m trying to make a quilt kit I got for my birthday of Kate Spain’s Good Fortune work for a pattern in the book Material Obsession called Fanciful Flowers. In the book they used Denyse Schmidt’s Flea Market Fancy line, which has just been re-released, but I wanted to take the design and give it an Asian flair.

First and foremost I have to figure out just how much fabric I have, what else I have in my stash that coordinates, and exactly how much fabric I need to create this quilt. This requires math. Math is hard. Last night while I was in the planning stages I decided it was all just too much to wrap my head around so I opted instead to watch a couple episodes of Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

New Fabric

Do you ever intend to do one thing and end up doing the exact opposite of what you said you were going to do? That’d be me yesterday.

I specifically told myself when I went shopping for fabric yesterday for my birthday present from my husband, “No Kate Spain and no Sandy Gervais.” Well, the quilt shop I went to, Fiddlesticks (www.fiddlesticksquiltshop.com), didn’t have any Sandy Gervais, but I did end up buying a bundle of Kate Spain’s new line, Good Fortune. Shoot. I tried. Honestly, I tried to look at some of the more muted and subtle tones of French General or 3 Sisters, but I was immediately drawn to Kate’s modern take on Asian influenced design. Maybe to torture myself I’ll wait until after I work on the Flying Geese Quilt using Central Park before digging into this pile of luscious cotton.

Another surprise came from our good friends Rob and Sarah: Lorax fabric! I share my birthday with Dr. Seuss and love all things Seussical and can’t wait to make something with them. I don’t know if it will be a quilt because I’m thinking they would make absolutely adorable market bags, which would totally fit the theme of The Lorax. We’ll see!

Itching to Start Something New

Ever since finishing the Uninspired Quilt, I’ve been itching to begin a new project. Well, maybe I should rethink this prospect.

While technically the Uninspired Quilt is finished, I’ve been toying with the idea of adding appliqué tikis to turn it into a Polynesian quilt. I haven’t washed it yet for that very reason. Perhaps if I make it into something fun I’ll like it more. Hmm… I wonder if I took enough pictures of various tikis in the Tiki Room at Disneyworld a few years ago to use those as either inspiration or tweak them in Photoshop and print them out onto fabric? This would certainly give the quilt not only more character but more meaning as well.

Still, between the Alexander Henry In the Kitchen line that keeps staring at me to make That 70s quilt, the Figgy Pudding charms and yardage by Basic Grey for Moda to make my Christmas Stars Quilt and Central Park layer cake, charm and yardage by Kate Spain for Moda telling me to make a summery flying geese quilt, the temptation to take the plunge into a new project is great. Perhaps what I really need to do is stop contemplating a new project and simply dive right in.

Central Park by Kate Spain

Sometimes when you see something you have an impulse to buy it. This was definitely the case with the Moda’s Central Park by Kate Spain.

On the Moda Bake Shop where I can frequently be found for a bit every day, I saw a quilt pattern by KarrieLyne from Freckled Whimsy that pretty much followed my requirements; simple and quick. It utilized a Layer Cake by Kate Spain and I had been eyeing that particular line since I first saw it a couple months ago but never had a reason to actually get it. Well, after knowing how difficult it can be to find a line of fabric even just a few months after release I decided not to take any chances and, after checking my favorite local quilt shop, I went onto Etsy and purchased it. Two days later it arrived in the mailbox, but since I was in the middle of working on my sister’s baby blanket I refrained from opening the package. Last night I couldn’t hold off any longer.

Normally I can refrain from such frivolous purchases, especially given our current circumstances, but I also knew that I’d kick myself in the ass for not getting a Layer Cake of this fabric before it was gone forever. I don’t know if I’ll actually make the pattern I saw or use the line for another type of quilt or make my own, but I know that I will use it and soon. Also, I can’t feel too guilty about the purchase since I bought it with money I made from selling puppet patterns in my Etsy shop.

There doesn’t seem to be just one thing that I love about Kate Spain’s Central Park, but it is the whole package. Her color choices; the perfect blend of flora and fauna and architectural details; large, medium and small scale prints that all work together cohesively; it’s fun and reminds me of my childhood even though I’ve never been to New York.

Alas, I have more pressing matters to attend to, like finishing my sister’s baby blanket and starting one for my brother who’s expecting his third child in June. It may seem silly to want to start work on this quilt when I’ve got my Fall Quilt started and unfinished from last year and my Winter Quilt still in planning stages, also from last year, but this will be my Summer Quilt. I don’t know if that is a reason to justify starting another quilt, but frankly I don’t give a damn, I’m going to anyway.

Baby Quilt

Sometimes limiting color choices is challenging, as with the current baby blanket I am working on. However, more challenging is me staying within those boundaries, which I rarely can ever do.

My sister’s baby blanket is coming along nicely. The appliqué is sewn on and everything is pieced together for the top. If my calculations are correct, I should be finished with this quilt by day’s end. Of course, I still need to do all of the embroidery work, part of which still needs to be designed. And then there is the matter of embroidering the baby’s name into the quilt, which, let’s face it, parents have a way of changing names before the baby is born, which is why nearly all of the baby quilts I’ve done have been after birth. My sister on the other is a planner, and when things don’t go according to plan, watch out!

So here’s what I need to do: Text or call her to confirm the baby name; design an Odd Bug character for the embroidery on the back; embroider both the front and the back of the quilt; sandwich with cotton batting and sew together; tie the quilt; lightly wash and dry the quilt. That is all completely within the realm of possibility for an afternoon. However, will I be in the mood to do so when my Layer Cake of Kate Spain’s Central Park arrives today? Alas, I’ve been bad and bought more fabric for my stash right before we have to move, which means one more thing to pack. Then again, this line of fabric seems to be incredibly popular, so I figured if I wanted to get my hands on some I’d better buy it now while it is still somewhat widely available. We’ll see if I can stay focused on the task at hand and not be tempted to open up the Layer Cake and drool at Kate Spain’s latest creation.