Row by Row Experience: Blue Crab Quilt Co.

August 30, 2014August 19, 20216 Comments

UPDATE: BLUE CRAB QUILT COMPANY IS NO LONGER IN BUSINESS!!!

As the summer winds down I am reflecting on my Row by Row Experience, a shop hop with over 1200 quilt shops from the US and Canada participating. The theme was “Sew a Season.” I traveled to eight shops in Virginia.

I was at one of my local quilt shops, Blue Crab Quilt Company, a few days after the shop hop began on July 1 and was purchasing fabric for the pattern, White Labyrinth by Zen Chic. I noticed the shop’s block for the Row by Row Experience:

I bought the kit (the pattern was free), but soon decided I wanted the blue crabs to pop against the background. And, I wasn’t going to make a quilt with this block. I used a solid navy for the crab and a white background to make a block for a tote bag:

The photo above shows where I “big stitch” quilted the block. I used fusible fleece on the back of the block. I marked it using Sewline’s fabric pencil. This is the best marking pen I have found.

I adapted the pattern, Mini Bow Tucks by Quilts Illustrated. I made it longer. It’s more of a tote bag than a purse. I also didn’t add a pocket on the outside or inside the bag. I used cording to make the bow tucks on the side:

Nautical is very fashionable right now, and I’m loving this finished project:

The shop hop ends September 2, so I still have time to visit at least another shop. I enjoyed all the shops I visited, and I have more projects in the works from each shop.

“Aerial” is done.

August 17, 20142 Comments

I finished “Aerial,” a pattern by Carolyn Friedlander.

This was the first time I used the method, low-fat quilting. I had purchased the book, Machine Quilting in Sections. Don’t Finish Another Quilt Until You Read This Book, to learn how to reduce the bulk of the quilt. And I’m happy to report it worked. I was able to quilt the quilt in sections on my sewing machine. The only problem I had was re-assembling the batting. I had to be very careful to get the pieces to join without overlapping. Using the 2-inch strips of fusible tape from Marti Michell, I was able to attach the two pieces without any trouble. You can’t tell the batting is pieced.

As I quilted, my free motion skills improved and my circles started looking much better:

I also like the back of the quilt:

I had added an airplane to the back to go with the aerial theme:

My daughter loves the quilt and will be taking it back to college with her. I’m very happy she loves something I have made and wants to use it.

Mini Charm Challenge

August 7, 2014Leave a comment

The challenge from Quilting Adventures quilt shop was to take a pack of mini charms and make something. The mini charm pack included only batiks:

I laid out the mini charms, and they had a water/ocean feel. One looked like a fish. I then attached them to some blue fabric in a wavy manner, using my machine’s feather stitch to applique them to three different strips of fabric:

After staring at it for awhile, I realized I would never hang this on my wall or use it as a quilt. Plan B emerged. I’d make a small pocketbook. I used instructions from May Chappell blog. I liked the finished pocketbook, and I took it to the Atlantic Ocean, Chincoteague Island, Virginia this past weekend:

(The fish inspiration is located on the left side in the middle.) I like how the mini charms add interest with the piping across the front of the bag:

I added a small pocket inside the bag. The instructions did not include a strap, but I wanted one. I used the rest of the piping for that. I used embroidery thread to make the zipper pull/tassel.

There were a few snippets of mini charms left and I created a Project Pouch to store my Row by Row Experiences patterns. I’m planning some projects from my recent shop hop excursions. By the way, one of the shops, Quilts by the Sea, was located on Chincoteague Island, and this gave us a good excuse to visit there for a weekend getaway. More later on my Row by Row Experiences.