A Hearty Recommendation

I was watching the QuiltCon 2013 (first QuiltCon?) lectures on Craftsy again, and I was suddenly reminded of what a breakthrough this lecture series was for me. I had to share it here, because if you haven't seen it yet ... it's totally worth the time! And it's free. I'm not affiliated with Craftsy at all, so this is just my personal, honest opinion. It's one of my favorite "classes" on Craftsy.

All of the lectures are great, but here are the ones I watch over and over again:

David Butler on Homemade Lifestyle Photography

This lecture led to better quilt photos for me. Period. I honestly had no idea about light, shadows, temperature, composition, and staging before that. I used to take photos of my quilts at night (because that's when I usually finish them), with some yellow lightbulb light. No joke. They turned out awful, and I never knew why! After watching this lecture, I noticed an immediate improvement in my quilt photos.

Angela Walters on Modern Machine Quilting

Before this lecture ... I had actually never heard of Angela Walters. I was still fairly new to quilting when I first watched this, and Angela's lecture was my first real introduction to modern machine quilting, and I fell head over heels in love with machine quilting ... and of course, Angela herself! She gives really great tips about how to pick designs, how to highlight, how to combine, and I found myself laughing a lot because, of course, she's also hilarious! This is one of my favorite lectures, and the Q & A that followed is gold.

Mary Fons on Notes From a Quilt Mafia Daughter

Mary Fons is the daughter of Marianne Fons, of Fons & Porter, one of the biggest names in quilting. In this engaging, funny, and touching lecture, Mary explores her past and along the way, quilting history in America in general. I'm really not much of a history person, but Mary made it fun and interesting! One of my favorite things about Mary is that she's so genuine. I've since met her in person and she's just as nice and energetic as she seems on TV and in this lecture.

Jacquie Gering on Quilting Modern, Honoring Tradition

If Mary's lecture is on quilting history in America, then Jacquie's lecture feels like history of modern quilting. While that's not what it's actually about, you get a heavy dosage of that, and it's so interesting! Along the way, I was genuinely moved by Jacquie's amazing style, her genuineness, and her desire to make quilts do more than just cover the bed. Her quilts are beautiful and so creative, and she's really funny!

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And that's not all! There's also Amy Butler on color story, Heather Jones on the process of turning inspiration into quilts, and even a panel that talks about fabric design.

I admit when I first saw this class on Craftsy, I thought to myself, They have lectures for quilts?? But yes, they do, and the lectures are excellent. I wish Craftsy could have taped more from the following years. I would have paid for it!

Starlight Symphony

Awhile ago I finished piecing Starlight Symphony, a beautiful batik paper pieced quilt from season 2 of Angela Walters's wonderful Midnight Quilt Show. And finally, I'm quilting it!

Since I've already seen how Angela quilted hers, and since I love her quilting choices, of course I borrowed heavily from her designs. There's no shame in copying a master!

I love the secondary design that happens between stars! Straight lines combined with free-motion are one of my favorites ways to add contrast.

In the negative space in the center, I had a few ideas in mind. I wanted the middle stars to look like they're sitting atop a bed of ... space bubbles or something. So I quilted a band of pebbles in the center, and gradually changed it into swirls as they reached the outer stars. I also echoed some of the star shapes in that space to add some extra interest.

Taking the quilt off the rollers is one of the most exciting parts of quilting. Since I can't see it all at once when I'm quilting it, the first moment I get the full "reveal", it's quite a feeling! I really love this quilt, as the batiks are gorgeous and the texture is lovely!

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Linking up with: Busy Hands Quilts, My Quilt Infatuation, Confessions of a Fabric Addict, Crazy Mom Quilts, and Cooking Up Quilts.

Just the Essentials Bag

After making Print Shop Tote II, I was emboldened by my success and I wanted to make more bags. That's when I saw Craftsy's Waxed Canvas Crossbody Bag class by Mariah McPherson, so I signed up for it.

Although the instructor teaches using waxed canvas, I had a lot of trouble finding the colors I want in waxed canvas. Instead, I used regular old duck canvas, and I went with a purple. This is my first time using canvas, webbing, and my first time using bag hardware, and I really like the aesthetic!

I'm so glad I already have done a few bags, and worked my way up to this point, because this bag would otherwise have been quite challenging. An indispensable tool for making this bag was a seam jumper. It's not something I ever have to use when I'm quilting, but in making bags, when I encounter a particularly thick seam, my feed dogs just stop working and a seam jumper is the only way to get it through. In all the bag-making classes I've taken so far ... I've rarely seen an instructor mention this.

And it's finished! I really like this little bag, it's just so cute. The duck canvas gave the bag a very rugged, outdoorsy look, which is very different from how it would have looked had I used quilting cotton. I absolutely love the metal zipper detail, even if sewing it made me break out in a cold sweat. The inside lining and the pocket lining is where I put some pretty quilting cottons for a splash of color. I'm so glad there was a video tutorial to follow, because my eyes just glaze over when I try to follow paper patterns on bag-making.

This bag is perfect for carrying the essentials, and the color is beautiful. I hope as I make more bags I'd feel more confident, and eventually be able to tackle the Range Backpack by Anna Graham, which is my current pie-in-the-sky bag. Maybe someday! (And I better get over my fear of written patterns in the mean time.)

Introducing Dynamic Patterns!

I just added a Patterns page to my blog, because I finally wrote some patterns! But instead of the normal patterns, I decided to do something fun called dynamic patterns.

What are dynamic patterns? They are patterns generated on the fly based on a few preferences, just for you. That means you can customize the size, colors, and complexity (usually) and get something wholly unique! The idea came about a few months ago when I wrote a half-square triangle generator and I was having so much fun just trying different color combinations and generating patterns. I then decided to actually make a quilt, Haphazard, using that generator. But I thought, there should be a way for me to put this generator on my blog so other people can play with it too.

So here it is ... bright and shiny on the Patterns page, my collection of dynamic patterns. (Alright, I only have 2 at the moment, but I've already got some ideas for new ones to add in the future!)

Each pattern comes with some options, such as picking your colors and the size of your blocks. Then, a pattern will be generated for you, and you can keep generating until you find one you like, and then you can save it.

So, I hope you will go play with it! If you make something using them, I'd love to see it!

Haphazard

Haphazard is a quilt made of half-square triangles laid out randomly, and the fun part of this quilt is that the layout was completely computer generated! I wrote about this process here. After trying tons of parameters and cycling through many variations, I finally just picked one.

The fabric bundle I used is Creative Rockstar by Rad and Happy for Riley Blake Designs. (It was just begging to be made into a quilt with lots of half-square triangles!) I generated the cutting list with the program, so it was easy to just start cutting and piecing. I didn't end up following the pattern to the T, because that would be too much work, and the idea was that it was random. I followed it pretty closely, though, to achieve a similar effect.

I quilted some dot-to-dot designs in the printed fabrics, like starbursts and flowers and such. I love those! They're so fun, and require no marking. (I'm an anti-marker.) But then I thought ... I really needed a feather! So I started throwing in feathers occasionally ... and they are some of my favorite foreground blocks. What can I say ... feathers are always a blast to quilt. In the background space, since it's all white, it's definitely asking for echoes and some really dense fillers.

But a few blocks in, I realized the background was kind of boring. I wasn't particularly happy with it. All the designs look nicely executed, but the overall composition was lacking. So ... I added some straight lines to some of the background sections, and then I was really happy with it!

I used a solid for the back again, and in a quilt like this, the back actually shows quilting even better than the front! I also love the black/white striped binding.

Making this quilt was mostly about the concept (randomly generated) and letting go of control (a little), and to that end, it turned out well!

But wait ... there's more! I had so much fun generating patterns that I had to write a pattern generator for this quilt. you'll find it here. Pick your own colors and generate a random half-square triangle quilt pattern just for you!

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Link parties joined: Crazy Mom Quilts, My Quilt Infatuation, Busy Hands Quilts, Confessions of a Fabric Addict, and Cooking Up Quilts.

Original Sewing & Quilting Expo 2017

The Original Sewing & Quilting Expo is happening in Schaumburg this weekend, and of course, I went! Schaumburg Convention Center is literally 15 minutes from my house, and though it's not a big show, it's still got plenty of vendors and lots of eye candy. Although I really think of this as more a sewing show and less a quilting show.

I took just a few photos of my favorite quilts on display today. Disclaimer: These photos are for personal enjoyment, not for reproduction.

Left: Essence by Susan Mann
Right: Sailing the Ocean Blue by Diana Minor

Left: Primordials #5 by Rahel Elran
Right: Tactile Architecture by Simona Peled

One fun feature of Sewing Expo is their Make-It Take-It projects, where for a small fee, I get to make something and take it home. I stopped at the Babylock station and made this bag with a serger. This is my first time ever using a serger. How cute is this bag!

I'm primarily a quilter so I really don't need a serger, but it was fun to use. And who knows, maybe one day I'd wake up with an insatiable urge for a serger. (That happened with my longarm.)

I was in the area when the BurdaStyle fashion show was starting, so I thought I'd sit and watch. What a treat! The models were beautiful, and the clothing was very cute and on trend. I'm pretty sure all of these are way, way out of my skill range, but it was a fun experience anyway. Here are some of my favorite pieces:

And then ... at the very end, BurdaStyle announced a collaboration with Spoonflower / Sprout coming up. I didn't get too many details but it sounded fabulous. I adore Spoonflower, and it sounds like we get to pick a fabric, pick a size, and it'd come shipped to us with the cutting lines printed on it. The worst part of garment sewing, to me, is dealing with the paper pattern. And that's not an issue! I saw this adorable top that had my name written all over it, and maybe I'd try it come November!

I stopped at both Babylock and Janome to look at their sewing machines. I really, really want a new sewing machine. I admit I'm very much fed up with my Pfaff, but shopping for a sewing machine is really scary. Not only is it a big hunk of change, but I don't know for sure that it'd solve my problems with my Pfaff, and I will have to learn the ins and outs of the new machine. Besides, my Pfaff still works, so I can't justify getting a new machine, either.

But what's a quilt show without some shopping? I found this gorgeous yellow / blue quilt kit, and I picked up a few more Akonye Kena bowls. I'm obsessed with them! Not only are they absolutely gorgeous, but they're fair-trade and made in South Africa. And they're amazing thread catchers because the thread never sticks to the bowl. I've got enough thread catchers now, but I'm sure I'll find some uses for them!

You know you visit too many quilt shows when the cashier of Missouri Star Quilt Company recognizes you. However, I think I'm done with quilt shows for the year. My next show will probably be ... QuiltCon!

Poppy Infinity Scarf

I was on quite a long knitting hiatus. I blame it on the weather, though. Who can think of wool and cashmere when it's 85 degrees outside? (I'm sure my lack of knitting has nothing, absolutely nothing to do with the fact that my new longarm is taking up a lot of my attention.)

But something magical happens when fall starts to think about kicking in. Suddenly, my box(es) of yarn starts to look much more appealing, and then, I wanted to knit again! It helps that I fell in love with a gorgeous pattern called the McCallum Cowl. And so, my Poppy Infinity Scarf has become my first finished knit project of the year.

The yarn I used is Dream in Color Jilly, and it is a truly beautiful, luscious yarn. Jilly is a single-ply 100% merino yarn that is super soft and completely luxurious feeling. It is actually superwash ... but I wouldn't have known without reading the label! A lot of superwash yarn feels so dead, but Jilly is vibrant and amazing.

The pattern is easy enough to be relaxing, but interesting enough to be fun. When I first read it, I was very unsure about it because it seemed really complicated for a simple looking project. But once I started working it, it was quite easy to follow. I love that this cowl is bias knit, making it more interesting looking, and the best part about bias knit stockinette is that the edges just don't curl as much.

I'm primarily a quilter and will remain so for the foreseeable future, but I'm happy to bring back knitting into my life. After all, when I'm watching the kids, or on a 6-hour car trip to visit the in-laws, I can't quilt ... but I can knit! Knitting is a different experience as it's so much slower, and as much about the process as the results.