1sie

We're headed to a first birthday party for a friend's son tomorrow. I hope the birthday boy will like the onesie I made.

Want one too? Make a custom order in my etsy shop!

Black and White String Quilt

I finished piecing the top. I'm liking the random pink bits. I think they give it movement and a little whimsey. Sorry for the poor picture. I'll use better light when I take a photo of it really completed. Any ideas for quilting something with this many seams? I'm tempted to try freemotion, but I'm afraid the seams will throw me off.

String Quilts Continued

I finally finished all the blocks for my two string quilts. 24 jewel toned blocks and 25 black and white and pink blocks. Phew! Now to peel all that paper off and put the tops together.

Virtual Quilting Bee

I just joined a virtual quilting bee via flickr (see the group icon at the bottom right of this page). For those of you who don't know how that works, let me explain. Each group usualy has 12 members, and each member picks a month. On their chosen month, the quilter sends fabric and a pattern/directions for their quilt block of choice to the other 11 members. Each member makes a block and sends it back. Then the quilter has twelve, including one she has made herself, to put together into a quilt. Block sizes and rules about fabrics or improvisation vary from group to group.

I've seen these groups on flickr before, and I'm so excited to be a part of one myself! I should get my first block to make next month. Photos to follow.

Bounty

Gardening is a craft too, right? Here is my bountiful bunch of cucumbers. More to come too. Now I'm wondering what to do with all of them. I think my neighbors may be coming home to these on their doorsteps :). That's a vase full of basil too (only one lonely squash, as the dreaded squash bug decimated all three plants).And here is the bounty of 12 black and white blocks I got done for my other string quilt. They are 8 1/2 inches square. I think I'll need 20 or 25 for a good sized baby quilt. Again, not my usual choices of fabrics, but it is for a friend who is using this grouping of colors for a baby nursery.

Jewel String Quilt Begun

I got the first 8 blocks completed. This time I'm trying 11 inch blocks, using squares cut from 11 x 17 paper as the foundation. These saturated colors are not my usual taste, but I've got a specific recipient in mind who loves them.

Korean Pojagi

Korean pojagi is a style of patchwork. It is not layered with batting and backing and quilted as American quilts are (although my American version was, and it was featured today on One Pretty Thing!). There are some great pictures of authentic pojagi online, but I've never found instructional materials in English. Please comment if you know of any.

I saw some amazing pojagi in Seoul this past March. Gorgeous stuff! It was very expensive though, so I didn't bring any home with me. What I can't figure out is how the seams are finished. They are often made of stiff linen and appear almost transluscent when hung in windows. From the back there are no raw edges. Here's a picture I took of some pojagi in a store window in Insadong in Seoul. I love the limited color palette and the use of solids only.

Boho Baby Quilt

It's finished, and I love it. The finished quilt is 32" x 32". For basic instructions see my previous post.I quilted it by machine in straightline concentric squares, outlining the piecing.

After I add a label, I plan to take it to my local quilt shop to donate it to Project Linus, a charity that provides handmade quilts, blankets, booties and hats to children is hospitals.

Gotta love Heather Bailey Freshcut fabrics.

Caught the String Quilt Bug

I loved making my first strip/string quilt so much, I've started collecting fabrics to make two more! Here's a sneak peek at my first string quilt with mostly Heather Bailey Freshcut fabrics. I gave basic instructions on it here. I'm just finishing the binding. Complete pics to follow soon!

I'm planning one with black and white - diagonals in pink. I'm also collecting fabrics for a jewel toned string quilt with white as the diagonal.