First Quilt in a Long While

Fresh out of the wash, Oh Fransson!'s Mod Sampler quilt-along quilt.

It's a gift for the daughter of an old friend.

There's a WHOLE lot of pink in this baby. Much more than I would normally go for but when someone looks this great in pink, come on! I'm pretty sure I had no choice.

The blocks were made entirely from fabric I already had. That was great. These are all fabrics that I really like but I just don't find a lot of opportunities to use them.
I bought the backing and sashing fabrics. The sashing is linen which I've never used in a quilt before. It was a little trickier than cotton. It can be pretty wily. I do really like how it turned out though.
The label is a piece of the linen I used for the sashing. It's stamped with Jacquard textile ink.
Gracie's mom is allergic to cats so I tried really hard to keep this quilt cat free. Stabone is sulking because I won't let him lie on it.

Long Time No Blog

There's no good reason for my recent lapse in posting so let's just pick up where we left off, ay?
At long long long long last I have finished this beast.

A Denyse Schmidt inspired queen sized quilt for my sister Lauren's birthday. Her birthday, in case you were wondering, is June 6. Guess what tomorrow is! It's her half-birthday! Yes, this gift is 6 months late. But it's such a special gift, surely that's okay!

So what took me so long? I don't know. It's not like there was anything particularly difficult about this. I think I just reached several plateaus of motivation and had a hard time working my way past them. But it is done.

Hey, here's something cool: because Lauren lives in Connecticut where a thin quilt doesn't cut it in the winter I turned this quilt into a duvet so she can use it year round. I quilted together the quilt top, batting and a queen sized sheet from Ikea. Then I bound that together with the actual quilt back, leaving a three foot opening at the bottom to stuff a comforter into. It's convertible! Clever, aye?

Of course you can't put a new quilt out anywhere without this happening:

If the quilt weren't going to my sister I wouldn't let the cats love all over it. But where this baby's going there will certainly be much more of the like.

PS Check me out: I've been nominated for a major award! I'm very excited and there's no mirror in here but I think I'm blushing as I write this. The ceremony isn't until February and in the meantime I must find something fabulous to wear. Wish me luck!

Sunday

The sick puss (still). At least he gets a real kick out of getting in the carrier.
The queen on her throne.
The extent of Halloween in our house as well as a swatch of fabric from the new couch we ordered.
A whole mess of fabric, washed and taunting me.
This is all I've managed to iron so far. Dun dun dunnnnn.
I will sew today! I'm committing!

Stuff.

Lots of non-crafty things have been holding my attention lately.
Taking care of this guy.

Visiting the LA county fair.

Just a little bit of sewing.

This is just a little sneaky peek. I'll share more soon!

The Week in Quilting

My sister Lauren's quilt top is almost finished. The squares are all assembled and ready to be sewn together.
When I laid it out last night, Harv came in the room and asked "What does Lilly think of it?" On cue, she came sauntering in and went right for the center square. I think that means she likes it.
We don't get very good light in our house so this morning I opened up the front door to brighten things up a little and tried to take a better picture.
If there is one thing that cats are more interested in than a quilt it's an open front door.
I don't think Lauren ever ever reads this blog but I'll have to direct her here. This quilt is a belated birthday gift and I let her choose the pattern (it is Denyse Schmidt inspired) and the color palette but I'm still nervous that she won't like it. I guess I'm mostly nervous because the colors she asked for were blue and cream. I insisted on adding a little contrast with the yellows and browns. Oh well. I'm crossing my fingers!

Crafts of Late

Harv and I have had this week off from work. It has been exceedingly pleasant and super relaxing. I've been reading a lot, making some yummy dinners, had tea with some friends at the Huntington and spent a couple of nights camping at Big Bear. I have not done too much crafting however. I very often feel a lot of pressure to be productive make the most of my spare time. When I have two+ months of hiatus I feel lazy and purposeless if I am not sewing every possible moment. I typically like there is no where near enough time to make all of the things I am inspired to make and that can feel kind of stressful. I made a conscious decision this week to just take it easy, do what I felt like doing and try to relax. It actually worked! I feel refreshed and ready to go back to the studio, not disappointed about all of the projects I didn't quite finish.
I did manage to complete a few crafts this past week, crafts that didn't interfere with my lounging and hammocking. First, a table cloth for our outdoor table that always looks very gross and dusty.
Now we can just cover up the yuck! Note the handy slit for fitting around the umbrella.

Second, I finished the bedside rug that I started a long time ago, inspired by the new bed we bought this week.
Stabone really digs the rug.
Lilly digs the new bed. The quilt was made by Harv's mom as a wedding gift.
Speaking of parents, mine are winging their way west as I type this and will be arriving at Chez Us tomorrow morning. With all of the relaxing I've been doing this week, there hasn't been much time for cleaning. Yeeps. That's my night. Hopefully I will be able to whip up a pair of slippers for my Ma as a welcoming gift. I also wanted to make some napkins to match the outdoor tablecloth so we could have an extra classy meal out back while they're here. We'll see.

Goings On

Remember this? I have just been plugging away at it over here, taking full advantage of the full days I can spend sewing right now.
Also, listening to a little of this and having MAJOR high school English flashbacks. I'm pretty sure I never actually finished reading it back then. So maybe the ending will be a surprise.
And last, we let the cats out in the backyard for a little bit on Easter and they have not gotten over it yet. We have been dealing with a lot of whiny Stabone and a lot of this:
You can just see in her face, she really thinks I'm going to open that door.