Sewn Studio Summer Swap

It's been a while since I participated in an online swap, but this one did not disappoint. My buddy Heidi organized it for Sewn Studio, where I used to work part time before moving from Cincinnati. Oh man, do I miss that place! So even though it was online and anyone could participate, a lot of the swappers were Sewn customers. 

When I got my partner's info, all she specified was that she liked both modern and traditional stuff, and she didn't like girly purples and pinks. But she also said she really likes baking and canning, so I decided to make her a table runner. It's shown here as a wall-hanging, which it could easily be used as, if she's not into table runners.

My mom and I have been working on a quilt together of all the Anna Maria Horner fabrics my mom bought at her studio when we went to the MQG Sewdown together in April. (I neglected to blog about that, but it was amazing- workshops with Carolyn Friedlander, Victoria Findlay Wolfe, Angel Walters, and AMH, plus dinner music and studio tour at Anna Maria's home here in Nashville. So wonderful!) Anyway, there were a bunch of tiny scraps from that project that I just started sewing together into improv-y little patchwork panels. Then I decided to add Essex linen in steel (I think?) to make them into modern crosses with slight variations on size and positioning.

It's one of those projects that just grew organically without a clear plan and I absolutely love the end result. Every time I sew that way, I enjoy it so so much. I don't know why I don't do things like that more often. Sometimes it feels easier to just reach for a pattern and follow it without having to think too much, but really, when I take more control of it myself and put more thought into the design, it's that much more pleasing at the end and all though the process.

The back is just the leftover patchwork bits along with bigger pieces of True Colors. The quilting is wavy organic lines with my walking foot, and the binding is a Julianna Horner print from Joann. I love how well the mother/ daughter fabrics go together! This one was a little difficult to send away, but at the same time it always feels good to send your best out for a swap partner.

I also whipped up a quick Heather Ross zipper pouch and stuffed it with scraps to send along. (Cutting measurements: 12"x5.5" and 12"x4.5 contrast for the outers, 12"x9" for the lining and interfacing, and a 3" wide boxed corner.)  This is my go-to pouch size for gifts.

The day after I finished up my swap items, I got my amazing package in the mail from Amanda. I could not believe all the work she put into my gift, and she picked the perfect fabrics for me from the Indelible collection. Plus I was so happy to receive from Amanda, a friend I know from Sewn. The bag is the Senna Tote by LBG Studio, and it's a GREAT tote. So roomy with convenient outside pockets- this one will get a lot of use Amanda, so thank you!

Scrappy Circles Pillow

At work this year, we decided to have a little "Secret Santa" gift exchange. It turned into a more of New Year thing rather than Christmas, which was fine with me! The nice things about exchanging gifts with a bunch of sewers is that everyone understands how busy sewing for Christmas can get.

I drew my friend Pat's name to make a gift for. She is so fun to work with and always so encouraging of anything I make, so I felt like I wanted to wow her a little. Plus, I had been wanting to try Jen's signature quarter circles ever since I saw one of her gorgeous quilts in a show last year.

I used her pattern from the Winter 2013 Modern Patchwork magazine. The pattern is for making an apron, but it would be easy to use for anything. I've done improv curved piecing before, but nothing like these precise circles. It was surprisingly easy! You have to take a little more time, pin extra, and be careful. They aren't perfect perfect circles, but I never screwed up too badly or had a problem with puckers.

I used all small scraps I had and Robert Kaufman chambray from Sewn for the background. It ended up being a large 20" pillow, and she loved it!

What's even more fun, is that Pat was my secret maker! She actually knitted me this amazing purple cowl. I was over the moon about it. I've never had a gift knitted just for me, and she really chose the perfect color and everything. It's super cozy and I wear it every day. Yay for friends who make!

A Lush Pillow Gift

A few weeks ago I made this quilted pillow cover for my good friend Julie's birthday. She's actually my boss at Sewn and she's pretty awesome and she's the sort of person who probably hates that I'm even mentioning such things, but I'm doing it anyway. I always like to make her something for her birthday because she doesn't get to sew for herself very much. She is usually too busy teaching the whole city of Cincinnati to sew. Last year I made her this pouch to celebrate our shared love of Arrested Development, and the year before I made her a pretty sewing machine cover. 

The piecing here is simple, just a great print with a couple borders. The deer and the woodgrain are from the line Lush Uptown by Erin Michaels, which I ordered from Pink Castle Fabrics. (I always feel like I need to use fabrics that Julie couldn't just pull off the shelves at Sewn herself to make something with. Foreign ingredients I guess.) The first border is just a Bella solid that I thought made the prints pop, but I don't remember the name of it.

The quilting is my current favorite as you've seen here and here- spiral quilting! Especially easy and satisfying on something only 20" square. I kind of just randomly chose the middle of the tree to begin the spiral, and it wasn't until I got done that I realized it was a good thing I didn't start on the deer. Julie's not really a big hunter.

THE BACK. 

I was scurrying to take a few pictures on my phone before rushing out to her birthday lunch and I didn't even have the time to put it on a pillow form. But the good news is that it looks great as a pillow and she liked it a lot.


Julie, I think it's safe to say you are the only person who has ever gotten handmade birthday gifts from me three years in a row. Including my kids. I don't know what that means... 

Pillow Talk Swap 10 (Let's talk about fabric.)

I think most of us have a fabric comfort zone right? Most of it has to do with taste, but some of it has to do with confidence. Like sometimes, you might really like a certain type of fabric but you fear you might not have the skill to do it justice. Like it's too unfamiliar to wield it's power. 

I think this project was out of my comfort zone for both of those reasons. If you aren't familiar, the Pillow Talk Swap happens on Flickr between about 100 quilters and sewists from all over the world. Being in its tenth round, it's gained a certain level of expectation. If you join that swap, you do not want to be the one that makes a clunker of a pillow. (Round 9 was my first time joining, you can see the pillow I made last time here.)

So my partner likes things that are light and girly and pink and vintagey. I appreciate that a lot, but it's not my zone. I need edge and angles and contrast and some black in there somewhere. But that is what makes these things fun and stretching right? 

Before I whine too much about these fabrics not being my style, I should say that I really do love them at the same time. Is that weird? I do, I think they are gorgeous. They are mostly from Liberty Lifestyle's Bloomsbury Gardens line and I picked them up at Sewn Studio.  If you didn't know, I work at Sewn and it's a really beautiful modern fabric shop. Here's the thing that's happened to me since working there- I just love every fabric we have. Yes, I still have my tastes and I definitely can't buy and use all of it, but nearly every bolt that comes in the door makes me think about what I would do with it. And even if I kinda "hate" the style of it, I still love it because it's pretty fabric. If we had not got this Liberty stuff in at the shop, I never would have even considered buying it online or anything. I wouldn't have paid any attention. But then you see it in person, and it's just PRETTY. And then you touch it... case closed. I may complain about it's girly-ness, but if I'm being honest I needed an excuse to buy it. (And it was actually my second time buying it, so what does that tell you? Who am I?) 

The pillow is made up of 16 little 4 inch "tea plate" blocks. At least I think that's what they are called. I saw them in a random quilt block book at the store one day and thought they had a great vintage look that would go with my fabric pull. Plus they seemed like they would lend themselves to playing with low-ish volumes and a bit of linen. I don't normally go for something involving appliqué anything, but it really wasn't that painful. I added one linen border and quilted with close together straight lines on the di-ag. That quilting is definitely my zone. I had to hang on to one shred of stubbornness here.

So although this was one of those projects that had me wondering if my choices would actually work out the whole way through, I think most of them did. I'm happy that I made something I like even though it isn't something I ever would have made for myself. But most importantly, I think my partner might love it and I really hope she does. It's on its way now!

This is the new project I'm working on now. Simple block, scrappy, all circles and geometrics, with a limited color scheme involving brights with some gray and black. That is totally my zone. It's funny because someone commented on this IG picture (I'm @alittlegressica there) that they were "glad to see me back" because that pillow cover I had been posting had them a little worried. I kind of love that, because it means to them I have a certain style. Sometimes it's hard to see that in yourself, but I'm seeing it now. I don't think that person was being mean about the pillow, it's just not something they expected from me. It's a very nice compliment. 

So just to make sure I'm not a crazy person, could you tell me about your fabric zone? And what's the type/line/substrate/designer of fabric you might like, but are also slightly afraid of being clumsy with?

What I've been working on

Now is one of those times when I have a project in just about every stage of production. Except the finished stage. But when I've been sewing these past couple weeks, it's been only to enjoy the process. I sew when I have time. Other times I read a book, or obsessively watch through the first four and a half seasons of Breaking Bad with my husband. No sewing for deadlines. (Although there are a couple deadline-related things that I really need to start on- ahem, Film Petit!)

Here is a peek at my current do good stitches bee quilt, as I was basting it yesterday. I went lazy and sprayed. I feel like I should have strong feelings one way or the other on the whole pin vs. spray debate, but I don't. I just do whichever I feel like. Excited about finishing this all-geese quilt though. Aren't the colors great? I'm usually not prone to use so much white background in a quilt, but sometimes that's just the best choice for this bee. And I hope all the white will be striking in the finished quilt.

I occasionally get the chance to plug away slowly at my oldest WIP, the Swoon. I started it at the beginning of last year. This is block #5, although probably only counts as 4 because I have one I really don't like. We'll see if I change my mind about it when all the blocks are done. I first blogged about this project here. 

Since I was feeling good about finishing a couple tops up, I cut a new one! This will be simple patchwork squares for a picnic blanket. I've had this particular fabric stack pulled and waiting for at least a year. Glad I still like it as much now as I did back then. 

These were last month's do good stitches blocks. I should really try to show you these more often, but I am always so rushed in making them that I never get pictures. This was a really fun tutorial to follow.

 And!!!! I finished my ginormous scrappy trip along top!! (First blogged here.) I basically pulled every single blue FQ off my shelf and started cutting and stitching. That was back in January. I stalled out for a while in February, but then got a new fire under my tush to finish all 56 blocks. I'm going to use a long arm quilter to finish for me for the first time ever, so I'm excited about that.

This is me showing it at our Cincinnati Modern Quilt Guild meeting last night, with Christine's help on the right. I recently became the president of our guild, and I am so thankful to have this group of creative friends. We have too much fun. Tonight, we are having a Modern Meet-Up event in downtown Cincinnati as Nicholson's Pub. If you are in the area, I'd love to meet you! More info on that here. 

Scrappy Trip Confession

Yes, I'm doing this too. I almost feel guilty and weak about it, because at first I swore I wouldn't succumb to the craze.  Then one day, without putting in much thought, I just grabbed my entire stash of blue fat quarters and began cutting them up in order to join in the #scrappytripalong that started spontaneously on instagram. 

It's fast and fun and satisfying each and every time a block is finished. It's based on this great tutorial. However, it's not so fast if you decide to make 56 of them for a queen sized quilt.

I'm now halfway there, with 28 blocks done. The top picture is my first 16, but after that my Lizzy House Pearl Bracelets arrived and all the blue ones were immediately cut up, along with some blues from her Constellations line, which I got at Sewn Studio. I'm loving the blocks even more with all those mixed in now.

I'm hoping I get to make more progress next week, after I finish the new baby quilt I shared with you last week. Sometimes it's just fun to join in, no pressure, no prizes or deadlines. Lots of people are finishing up their quilts now- check out the Flickr group for lots more inspiration. Or search the #scrappytripalong tag on IG. (I'm alittlegressica)




I also wanted to let you know that if you're a newer quilter in the Cincinnati area, I'm teaching a class on this block on Saturday February 9th at Sewn Studio. Check out their site and call the shop for more info.

Something Sweet and New

One thing I want to do on the blog this year is show more of the process. Take things slower, make the time to show the unfinished and the small decisions along the way. I always like reading those kinds of posts when other people do them, but I guess I never think to take the time unless I have something shiny and finished to show. But the truth is, unfinished is much more true to my life and has much greater potential. 

So this what I've started this week. A new quilt for a very old friend who is having her first baby. I started with sweet pinks and aquas and golds, then added a couple black/white and gray prints for an unexpected edge. I used almost entirely scraps, but also cut into a couple of fq's from my new bundle of Lizzy House's Pearl Bracelets. They just make everything better. Everything.

I've been wanting to do a more traditional dresden design ever since making my Old World quilt a couple months ago. And it seems perfect for the vintage feel I want here. They are really fun to put together and relatively fast once you get all the blades cut. (You were right about that Maureen!)

The quilt will be about 45" square and have four large dresdens. I have 2 done and 2 more sitting in these very appealing stacks. They are screaming at me to finish them. Tomorrow I'll take one of the finished ones into work and pick out a background, a backing and binding. As one would expect, it's very convenient to work in a fabric shop for many reasons.

We have a couple new low-volume prints in that might be just the thing for the background. The colors would have to be just so to work with these, so we'll see if I end up defaulting to white. Maybe a very pale pink if I go the solid route? More of that floral Liberty print might be really nice for binding. Can't wait to show you the finished product!

Field Study Pillow (and Winners!)

 Last month was my buddy Kristin's birthday and I wanted to make her something she'd love. You probably know her for being my partner in crime for Film Petit and an all-around genius seamstress, but she also listens to all kinds of craziness from me and some days keeps me going sewing wise. So the pressure was on to make something that would impress even the best of sewists.

The design is a granny square made like this tutorial, except I started the squares at 3.5" instead of 2.5" and added a 3.5" sashing. I also used beautiful Anna Maria Horner Field Study fabric from Sewn Studio that I knew Kristin liked.

Then I decided to just try something crazy I'd never done before. Great potential to completely screw up something beautiful that you just made= weird sewing rush. I don't know, maybe that's just me?

So I outlined the seams of the squares with straight lines and then did dense pebble quilting all around the white part. I have done some loopy free motion quilting a few times before, but it still doesn't come easy to me. This kind was stressful. It took a long time. It used a gigantoid amount of thread. When I was done, my shoulders ached and I pretty much hated the way it looked. I shoulda had some wine to relax while I was doing it. But after I put the back on and finished the pillow up with a zipper, it magically became better. I loved it. I wanted to keep it, which is a great feeling to have when you've made a gift for a sewing friend. (I liked it so much, I actually made the pillow top up again exactly the same way for our own couch! That probably won't get finished up until after Christmas though...)

These are both pictures Kristin took of the pillow on her bed. It looks pretty great in her room! You can read more on what she thinks here. Thank goodness for good sewing and blogging friends.






I haven't forgotten about the winners of last week's giveaway! The winner of one full set of my hand stitched Charlie Brown Christmas ornaments is...

#64 Bree!

"ack!!! Those ornaments are seriously to die for!!!!!
My favorite tv special was Emmitt Otter's Jugband Christmas. It was actually a tv special before I was born, and my mom recorded it on vhs. I totally wore the VHS out! My favorite christmas movies are the tim allen Santa Clause trio now, but those were never a tv special :) I can go on alllllll day about Christmas movies!"


The winner of one yard of Jay McCarroll's Habitat fabric is...

#58 Sara!

"I love the charlie brown christmas actually, especially the music. Can't believe you have the drop cloth fabric - awesome!"


I'm so glad to know they are enthusiastic about their prizes! I'll be emailing you both, congrats. 

Pillow Talk Process

Today I sent off my pillow cover for the Pillow Talk Swap on Flickr, just in under the deadline. This one was hard to send away. I really love it and hope it's what my partner was looking for. To me it totally feels like something you would find in Anthropologie, which is hopefully a good thing. 

Originally I had a much different design in mind, but then I saw this photo on flickr and was instantly intrigued. I've never seen that kind of design in modern quilting before. I sketched out some ideas and decided to construct mine in long strips rather than blocks like this, so that it could have a scrappier look. 

So each strip is made of five pieces joined together on the bias, and alternating between high and low value. Once all the strips were together, I staggered them by one inch to get the wavy zigzag look and joined them. They finish at 1" for an 18" pillow cover. It's so unlike me to not use any solids at all in a project like this, but I loved playing with the values here. 

Here's a close up of my quilting as I was working on it. The diagonal lines 1/4" apart switch directions a couple times. I love dense quilting on a pillow like this. Crazy cozy. 

On the back I used a bright yellow print from Indi, which looks so fun against the fairly neutral front. I put a zipper in the side seam using the great instructions in the new Modern Designs for Classic Quilts book. (You can still enter my giveaway for the book here!) The Indi collection by Pat Bravo was one thing that my partner said she loved a lot, so I started with a few of those prints and picked the rest from my stash. I'm so glad I got to work with this collection because I don't think it's something I would have bought otherwise, but the colors are so rich and pretty. 

It's on it's way now and I can't wait for it to get to it's new owner! Also can't wait to see what might be on it's way to me. There are always so many super beautiful pillows that come out of this swap, I was a little intimidated to sign up for the first time. But I'm glad I did. It's things like this that push you to do things you wouldn't have thought of otherwise, and just become a better sewist. I love when that happens. 

Giveaway- My Friends Wrote a Book!

{{giveaway now closed, winner is comment #7, Allison C. Thank you!}}

You guys, I know a couple of quilting rock stars.

Andie and Kelly's brand new book is called Modern Designs for Classic Quilts and it's truly a gorgeous book. Now it is true that they are two lovely and hilarious people that I love to hang out with, but aside from that, if this book was crap I wouldn't be posting about it :)

I've only had this book a very short time and I've already been inspired to make two of the quilts- and pseudo started on them. That cover quilt by Kelly absolutely breathtaking, don't you think? This is the stack I've picked out to make the quilt for someone special who loves these kind of bright and tropical colors. I've still never made an all log-cabin quilt, and as soon as I saw the cover of this book, I knew this was the one I've been waiting for. Just need to pick out my two solids and I'm ready to cut!

One thing I love about the this book is that there is no shortage of photos and diagrams of every single quilt. Plus clear illustrations of each construction step. The 12 large quilt projects cover all the traditional-gone-modern blocks and styles you could want to learn as a quilter- log cabins, dresdens, New York beauty, flying geese, postage stamps, hexies, and even wonky improv. And while the quilt patterns are beautiful and clear to follow, the projects are each presented in a way that make it easy for you to make it your own. Learn the basic block from the book, then make their quilt or make your own riff on it. I love that kind of freedom in a quilting book!

The second project I've already been inspired by is Andie's simple flying geese quilt. This is my month to pick the design for our charity quilt in the Harmony Circle of Do Good Stitches. I loved the idea of geese floating in all that beautiful negative space, so I told the girls in my group to make strips of 12 flying geese in a gray, aqua, navy, and citron yellow color scheme on a white background. I'm so excited to start getting their strips and put this quilt together!

The book is set up to have a smaller project that goes along with the skill learned in each big quilt project- stuff like table runners, pillows, and wall hangings. Projects with smaller time commitments are always great in a craft book. And I LOVE the little notes on each project that give tips starting with "Andie says..." or "Kelly says..." I can tell you that these are written exactly how the girls would talk. They are hilarious and totally make you feel like you are just quilting with some favorite friends.

You know how every quilting book has that part in the beginning that teaches you really basic stuff like rotary cutting and binding? Most of the time, these sections are kind of just a throw away and you can skim past them. But I think this instructional section is one of the most valuable reasons you should own this book. The picture tutorials go way beyond the basics and cover so much skill. They teach you how to do foundation paper piecing, English paper piecing, piecing curves, installing a pillow zipper, making ruffles, appliqués, and all kinds of things. It's so valuable to have all those tutorials in one place on your bookshelf. Sometimes the two of them even share different ways of doing things. (Spoiler alert: Andie presses seams open and Kelly doesn't. Gasp!)

This is just about the cutest picture of Andie and Kelly and it makes me so proud of them! It's very cool that the book is written by just a couple of friends who love to quilt. You can really hear both their voices and styles in the book. In the intro, they share their thoughts about traditional and modern quilting in a way that really sums up beautifully what the two styles mean to each other and what the modern movement is all about. 

So have I gushed enough to sell you on this book yet? The quilts are absolutely beautiful, but even if you aren't one to follow tons of patterns in books, the basic instruction and general inspiration is priceless. I'm super lucky that I get to see all the quilts in person at the Cincinnati Modern Quilt Guild meeting tonight. 

You should go buy it now!

Also be sure to check out these other fantastic stops on the blog tour:

Monday, Nov. 5         (Andie and Kelly, AndieJohnsonSews and Stitchy Quilt Stuff) Tuesday, Nov. 6       (Lindsay, CraftBuds) Wed., Nov. 7             (Jill, Darling Jill Quilts) Thursday, Nov. 8      (Faith, Fresh Lemons) Friday, Nov. 9            (Tracy, Generation Q) Saturday, Nov. 10    (Angela, Quilting is my Therapy) Sunday, Nov. 11       (Shannon, Stitch Craft Create) Monday, Nov. 12      (Laurie, Scarlet Fig) Tuesday, Nov. 13     (Lindsay, The Cottage Mama) Wed., Nov. 14           (Jessica, A Little Gray) Thursday, Nov. 15   (Mary, The Tulip Patch) Friday, Nov. 16         (Deborah, Whipstitch) Saturday, Nov. 17    (Kaysie, KZJo’s Studio) Sunday, Nov. 18       (Jenny, Sew Kind of Wonderful) Monday, Nov. 19      (Carla, LollyQuiltz) Tuesday, Nov. 20     (Thomas, Thomas Knauer Sews) Wed., Nov. 21           (Brenda, Pink Castle Fabrics) Thursday, Nov. 22    (Lindsay & Liz Rea, CraftBuds, Inspire Me Grey) Friday, Nov. 23            (Sarah, The Last Piece) Saturday, Nov. 24        (Andie and Kelly, AndieJohnsonSews and Stitchy Quilt Stuff)

Ok, ready for the chance to win your own copy? Just leave me a comment here about which type of quilt block or design you've always wanted to try but haven't gotten around to yet. Make sure to include your email in the comment! (Sorry, U.S. entries only please.)

On Fat Quarterly Today

Yesterday we had the most lovely time celebrating Hendrix's third birthday with just the family. That kid is one awesome three year old.


Today it's "back to work" for me, but in the meantime you can find me on Fat Quarterly sharing a simple stack and slash tutorial for how to make something like this wonky curves pillow cover. It uses Jenny Pedigo's quick curve ruler, which is awesome.

Hope everyone has a fantastic Easter weekend!

Doing Good Stitches Lately

Here's what I've been up to for the do. Good Stitches charity bee lately. I love getting to make these blocks every month. I get to try all kinds of things I normally wouldn't think to try, and the girls in my circle are awesome. 

 For example, Diane is so awesome that she designed a whole new quilt for us this past month, complete with mock-up graphics and tutorials for two different types of blocks. It's going to be the "Candyland Quilt." Could not be a more appropriate name.

And Leigh is so awesome that she assigned us these very fun and easy wonky stars in January. She knew we needed a break after frantic holiday sewing season. 

I, on the other hand, am so un-awesome that I still haven't put together my quilt from back in November. Everyone did such a great job on these blocks, but I really wanted to make this into a twin sized quilt for Project Linus. So I kind of log-cabined each block with different shades of aqua blues. It added a lot of size, plus kind of unified the different background colors. I like the look of it, but I think it needs another color. 

It still needs some size, so I was thinking a golden/ mustard yellow border? Would that be weird? I was this to have a boyish look overall, like something a teenager could use on their bed... should I just do a white border? I don't know, I think it needs some warmth. HELP me! Either way, I'm going to bind it in this great oversized black and white houndstooth we have at the shop. I need to at least finish this sucker before it's my turn to be quilter again in May!

For March I still need to make some heart blocks for Melissa. I've been working on some curves lately so maybe I'll tackle a curvy pieced heart. 

What about you? Have you been working on any new skills lately? Are you in a bee that encourages you to? Find out more info about do. Good stitches right here.