In search of flannel . . . for design wall

March 15, 2014April 29, 20153 Comments

In the middle of making the Aerial quilt, I had an idea — look on wordpress.com to view other people’s design walls.

The blog, Sew Katie Did, had a nice design wall made from flannel:

In that post, she had a link to Garnet Hill for buying a flat flannel sheet for covering the insulation boards. Well, the sheets weren’t on sale at that time. The search began — the Container Store, L.L. Bean, Bed, Bath & Beyond, but no luck. I found 108″ flannel, made by A E Nathan, on fabric.com but “zero” yards were available.

In the meantime, my husband and I found the insulation boards at Lowes:

Each piece is 1/2 inch thick by 4 feet by 8 feet (total 96″ by 96″). They cost $10.43 each. We also purchased screws and washers. (total cost $31.31). I need 3 yards of 108″ fabric to cover the boards.

I checked back a week later at fabric.com and now it’s available. I ordered it immediately ($10.18 per yard at 3 yards equaled $30.54) and added some red fabric to get the free shipping for buying $35. When it’s all put together, I’ll post some photos.

Identity crisis: traditional? liberated? modern?

March 5, 2014June 5, 20145 Comments

Around 2008 I began taking quilting classes. I wanted to learn all the techniques — paper piecing, applique, Y-seams and so on. My first class was machine applique and the quilt pattern was Thirties Treasure using Thirties fabric:

I then took a class beginning in October 2009 using the book, Sylvia’s Bridal Sampler, by Jennifer Chiaverini, where I learned a different technique each month over a nine-month period:

I followed that up with the Christmas Greetings Sampler by the same author:

I also took a class in 2011 where we made the quilt Vintage Moments. I’m still hand quilting it:

I consider these quilts “traditional.”

I’ve made a few baby quilts. I have a photo of only one of them. I designed this one:

Last year I wanted to use my “scraps” from these quilts and found the quilt book, Sunday Morning Quilts. One of the authors has a wonderful blog: crazymomquilts.blogspot.com My first project was fabulous:

Without these other quilts, I could not have made this quilt.

I recently joined a group at Blue Crab Quilt Co. The group initially used the book, Liberated Quiltmaking by Gwen Marston. I took fabrics left over from Sylvia’s Bridal Sampler and made these liberated blocks:

I’m not sure what I’m going to do with these, but it was nice experimenting with liberated quilting.

While looking for a pattern for a gift for my sister, I saw this quilt pattern called Aerial by Carolyn Friedlander. This is a modern quilt. I’m about half way through making the “plots”:

By the way, on the right in the photo are a few of the Quilted Storage Boxes I made using directions from Sunday Morning Quilts:

These boxes have been essential in organizing all those “scraps.” They make it more likely that I will continue to make more liberated and/or modern quilts.

I did make that gift for my sister:

I can’t escape the fact that this turtle is very traditional and I liked it so much I made one for myself:

I’m trying to decide which of these design styles I like and how can I incorporate them into my life. I wonder if there’s a market for a modern liberated traditionalist quilt pattern and what would that pattern look like?

Scrapper’s Delight

November 12, 20132 Comments

I finished Scrapper’s Delight from the book, Sunday Morning Quilts. I love, love, love this quilt. I chose fabrics from all my fabric scraps, except brown. It made the most happy quilt. I loved using all the fabrics from my previous projects. I was pleased that such different fabrics and colors could go so well together.