I didn’t buy the Frosted Stars kit that I talked about recently. I already have a lot of projects going, I have several projects to start, there were some things I didn’t like about it, it was lots of money, etc. You know all the reasoning.
Still I couldn’t get the thing out of my mind, so I went to look at it again today. In addition to p.s. i quilt shop‘s offerings, the Fat Quarter Shop has the pattern as well. I decided to do my due diligence.
Basic Grey Fruitcake
Above is an image of all the Fruitcake prints from the Fat quarter shop. I looked there. I also went to the Moda site to look at the all of the fabrics from the Basic Grey Fruitcake collection. Fruitcake is the fabric collection Charlie Scott uses for the Frosted Stars quilt. It turns out, sadly, that I don’t really like most of the fabrics included in the Fruitcake collection. I still liked the pattern, however, and thought perhaps that I would make it anyway.
I looked around to see if the pattern was available. Charlie Scott, the designer, has a website and has a link to the pattern on the Moda Bake Shop site. YAY! This revelation expanded my options. I could make the quilt with other fabrics. I was thinking aqua/turquoise and red with a little green thrown in.
In the midst of all this I emailed my mom with the various links and she said not to buy the kit, but just to get the pattern and use my own fabrics or other fabrics. Sometimes it is nice to have someone agree with me.
Kate Spain 12 Days... Collection
Somehow, I ran across the Kate Spain Christmas fabrics. They are bright and cheerful and a definite possibility. I printed out the PDF so I could look at the individual fabrics. I am not fond of the motifs on a couple of them and I couldn’t use the panels, which are part of the collection. I don’t know if they come with the Jelly Rolls and Layer cakes.
Lumiere De Noel Collection
I saw this Lumiere de Noel group as I was perusing the Fat Quarter Shop site. I thought that perhaps it might be a nice choice for the Frosted Stars pattern. It has a little bit of a grey tinge in this picture, but looks much brighter in the example quilt on the site. Take a look at the individual fabrics and let me know what you think.
The other day I was looking around the web to see if some company made solid charm packs. My mom is making a food quilt and wants to use the Corner Store design from Pretty Little Mini Quilts. I think that design must have another name, because I wasn’t able to find any photos of it by that name. I knew that one of my contacts had a photo so I have used that to show you the design. I have a lot of pattern names to look up!
Sampler
Anyway, I feel like I have a long history with solids. In my first quilt class, the teacher sent us out to buy fabric. She told us to purchase a light, medium and dark from the same color (I chose blue) and a few other colors to go with it (see the pink, green, purple and muslin above?).
I was pretty overwhelmed when I arrived at the quilt store. Even back in the dark ages, there was a lot of fabric to choose from. The shop I visited had a room, yes an entire ROOM, full of solids. I chose solids for my first project to kind of keep the noise level low. You might notice one print. I went back later and got that print when I felt more confident and decided I kind of liked this quilting thing.
I have used solids on and off since I made the above sampler, but have never done a whole project with solids again. TFQ and I did an exchange where we would send each other a block. I made blocks in solids and she made blocks in tone on tones. This exchange was a good learning experience for me, because I learned how to use tone-on-tones and could compare the interest level in a block made with tone-on-tones versus one made with solids.
Cherri House (don’t you love that name?) has also come out with a book on using solids and their blog is filled with glowing quilts using solids. The Stash blog reviews it here. I need to reserve that book at the library and take a look. Pat Sloan interviewed Cherri House on one of her Toginet Radio shows
In my search, I found that Kona, which came out with a zillion solids a few years ago does have charm packs of their solids. They actually say on their website that they have 221 solid colors. I recently heard about Bella Solids from Moda (love the aqua, green and jade, BTW). P.S. I quiltmentions the Bella Solids, so they are definitely out there.
I think visiting the Amish Exhibit really put solids back on my mind. They had been rattling around in the back because of the Fresh Modern quilts, but now they are firmly ensconced. As I mentioned, those quilts glow. I haven’t decided whether I want to make a whole quilt with solids, but I think I would like to get them back into my repertoire. I did use one solid in one of the teacher pillows as a border. That is a start. I need to practice so I can make solid quilts that glow. I have a large piece of Kona Snow and, perhaps, that is a good place to start.
I am thrilled that solids are out there again; that people are paying attention to solids again. I like having a wide variety of colors, and the subtle variations, to choose from. I’d love to have 5 yard cuts of each of the Bella and Kona solids. Wouldn’t it be great to have that many colors to choose from? Of course, I would need a fabric HOUSE to deal with all of those cuts.
What is going on? What is it with solids all of sudden? Everything old is new again? I am interested to see where this is all going and what people will do with the solids.
I found this quilt in a round about way. I was listening to the Stash Resolution podcast (look for a short review later), a new podcast for me. She mentioned the blog p.s. i quilt. I went to take a look and saw this quilt was recently posted to the Moda Bakeshop.
I really like the colors of the stars and the way the quarter square triangles come together to make that odd shape in the middle of the star.
I suppose I am attracted to Christmas quilts right at the moment. Not sure why as I never thought I would make a Christmas quilt. Too much work for a month a year. I do think that the expansion of “Christmas colors” to include some blues and tints of red and green have some thing to do with it. I love the red and green color combo, but sometimes it just looks too Christmasy.
I know I haven’t shown Sorbet in awhile. I had a number of different issues and it wasn’t working out as the mind sorbet that I needed. I think what I determined is that quilts are not mind sorbet if I have to amke a lot of decisions. Bags and pencil rolls are mind sorbet.
At some point I got some creativity energy behind the project and decided to make some blocks. My laptop, with EQ6, where all of my design ideas were) crashed and died. I had the basic measurements, so I thought I could plunge on, but then the finished blocks went missing. That sealed it for this project for the time being.
Time went by and I found the blocks! I put this project on my list of TFQ to dos. One of the many good qualities that TFQ has is that she is more than happy to paw through the fabric in my fabric closet. What we did was look at all of the fabric I had set aside and then all the fabric in the pastel/Easter/sorbetish colors that might work. We also figured out that we needed a few more stripes and some graphic designs.
Sorbet Fabric Palette
The fabrics above are all put aside to possibly use for the project. Nice, eh?
Joyce, my fabric temptress, and owner of Quilting Adventures, showed me this fabric, which is gorgeous. I think I might have to have some. It is called Fizz from P&B. See also the P&B page for this line. Call or email Quilting Adventures to purchase. Thanks, Joyce! (I think!)
This past weekend was our annual CQFA retreat by the beach. I spent the weekend working on the FOTY 2009. I also relaxed a little even though I spent a lot of time hard at hard sewing. My body is rebelling a bit from sitting so much and standing so much.
Last few FOTY blocks
First, I found the last few FOTY blocks on my design wall before I left and I wanted to post a picture of them. I didn’t think I would use the one with the earthy brown (middle row, middle block) on the front, but I ended up using it.
FOTY 2009 in progress
I really worked hard on the piece. As with last year’s piece, there is a lot of sewing and pressing. The process, after I figured out the size and laid the blocks out was to sew two Zanzibar blocks together, press, put back on the design wall, sew two Zanzibar blocks together, press, put back on the design wall and then repeat that process 133 times. Once I sewed sets of blocks together, then I sewed two sets of two blocks together to make a set of four. I did that approximately 67 times. Since I wasn’t in my own workroom I had to walk around my table, past another table and into the corner to get to the iron. The distance was inconvenient, but also good, because it forced me to stretch my body. Putting the top together was a lot of rote sewing, but it was the perfect project for the retreat.
I did a few things differently this year. One was to count up the blocks and try to make a plan as to how I would lay them out before I arrived at the retreat location and was standing in front of my design wall. I knew I had 225 blocks, so I thought I would lay them out in a 15×15 format. What I didn’t take into the consideration was the size of the portable design wall. If I placed 15 blocks down, 3 of them were on the floor. I didn’t want to work with blocks on the floor even though I could have. It is hard to photograph the in progress piece. It is easy to forget some of the blocks, etc. I reconfigured the layout and ended up with, I believe, 12 down and 19 across. I prefer a rectangular layout anyway so it worked out. I needed another block, however, so the earthy brown one ended up on the front. In the grand scheme, it doesn’t scream brown out of the quilt.
Color Sorting
I also sorted the blocks. Last year, I think I just put them up in general areas on the design wall and then I had to move them around a lot. This time I sorted the fabrics on the table, put them in Roy G. Biv + white and black order and then put them up on the design wall. This strategy was a lot easier. I didn’t have move such large groups of blocks over and over. I had to move some groups, but the whole process was much easier. Below is a progression of how the piece evolved as I worked on the color:
#1 Blocks on the design wall#2 Blocks on the design wall#3 Blocks on the design wall#4 Blocks on the design wall
Another thing I did differently this year was ask some of the other retreaters if any blocks stood out to them in an “I am out of place in this quilt” kind of way. Many of the CQFAers are really skilled designers, others are skilled colorists. All of them have something wonderful to offer if I remember to ask and listen.
I was looking at FOTY 2008 last week and found that there were some rectangles I really should have moved. It is by no means a horrible quilt, but I should have played with the layout a bit more. Asking for help was a great strategy, because people mostly liked the color work I did and I got lots of kudos, but some of the blocks jumped out at them. Funnily enough the blocks they noticed, for the most part, did not jump out at me. Almost exclusively, these were blocks that were hard to place – multi-color fabrics, conversationals, light backgrounds almost completely covered by various colors, etc. The CQFA group is great, because they helped me place the problematic blocks to their best advantage. In this way, I also learned.
FOTY 2009 Upper left cornerFOTY 2009 Lower left cornerFOTY 2009 Upper right cornerFOTY 2009 Lower right corner
I spent a good portion of the retreat sewing the quilt top together. Open house at school was today, so I had to leave the retreat early and only got some straps for my next Anna Maria HornerMulti-tasker tote done. I really wanted to stay, but am glad I was able to have a chat with various teachers at school as well. There is always so much to do!
I spent Sunday, and a few minutes on Saturday night, finishing up the FOTY blocks so I can take them to the CQFA Retreat. When I return from sewing bliss, I hope to have the quilt top ready to show you.
FOTY January pt.2 #1
I really like the warm colors in this group. Some of the darker colors, especially the greens were given to me by my sis for my 2009 birthday.
FOTY January pt.2 #2
Getting down to the bottom of the pile made matching up fabrics difficult. I tend to pull out the ones I really like and press and use those first. Some (not all!) of these were my lesser favorites.
In a way the FOTY exercise helps me train my eye and mind to choose fabrics I really love and want to use right away. At the same time, it trains my eye to avoid fabrics that are not my colors. Yes, I did find fabrics that I bought that made me wonder why I bought them. Before I buy, I think I will have to not just look at the fabric next to lovely coordinating bolts. I think I need to take the potential bolt off the shelf and unroll it a little to see more of the fabric. That will make me shop slower, which can’t be a bad thing.
I pressed, cut and sewed the last fabrics on Saturday. Sunday I counted all of the blocks and consulted with DH about the layout. Not the layout in terms of color, but the layout in terms of numbers of blocks across and down. He told me I had to have an even square root number (or something). I ended up needing 14.83 blocks across the top and down the side. I don’t know what a .83 block looks like, but I knew it wasn’t going to fit evenly into my quilt.
I immediately grabbed the fabrics I received for Christmas and shoved them in the washer. Then I went to work on a pencil roll, which you can read about later in the week. When the fabrics were done, I had figured out that I needed to make 7 more blocks to come out with an even 225 (15 across by 15 down). I pick out some pairs of fabrics and sewed them together. Now I am ready to arrange the quilt and sew it together.
FOTY January pt.2 #3
I do have one extra, which I will stick on the back.
Some of the fabrics I bought at the very end of 2009 will end up in the 2010 quilt. As the Quilt Mavs say “my quilt, my rules.”
Unrelated notes:
* I have no Internet at home at this time, so if I am a little slow responding to comments, I apologize! It makes it a challenge to get blog posts up as well!
Yes, this photo is a little bleary, as SherriD says. I took it with my phone, which creates bleary pictures unless the picture is of a water bottle or something I want to remember at the grocery store.
Yesterday I drove to Monterey to attend a Kaffe Fassett lecture. It was put on by Back Porch Fabrics, a local Pacific Grove/Monterey quilt shop. I have written about that shop a couple of times, most recently on November 4, 2009 after my late October visit.
During my last visit, I saw that they were selling tickets to a lecture by KF. I decided to buy 2 tickets and just go. I knew it would be after a 2 or 3 day holiday extravaganza, but I decided the opportunity was too good to pass up and that I would worry about who to take later.
Signed Books
I left in time to arrive before 2pm, which is when the book signing started. I got about 6 of his books signed and he didn’t mind. He said that I was supporting him and he was glad to sign. 😉 I don’t know why getting books signed thrills me so much, but it does.
Quilt Road Signed
My SIL went with me and she was pleased to see and shop at Back Porch Fabrics. She bought a few fabrics for another Infinity block project she is working on. I bought a few of the Lonni Rossi fabrics so I could make another bag. I bought some FQs there in October and used them all up on Marilyn’s Multi-tasker.
The lecture wasn’t until 7pm, so we had time to hang around Pacific Grove a little bit. We spent a fair amount of time in the shop, partially because it was REALLY crowded and the lines were long. One thing I love about my SIL is that she makes me slow down in quilt shops. She really looks at things, which is a good reminder for me to do the same. Not much else in PG was open, so we went out to eat and then to Home Depot to find some paint colors for MIL, and to Borders to look at books.
After some technical difficulties with the projector and the Powerpoint, the lecture got started at about 7:30. Things I didn’t know about Kaffe Fassett:
He found the name Kaffe in a children’s book about an Egyptian boy he thought looked like him. He took it to replace his boring given name, which he is trying to forget. He refused to tell us the boring given name. I imagine it is Joe or Rod.
He was born in San Francisco, grew up in Big Sur and is now living near the Camden and West Hampton (Hampshire??) sections of London in Kilburn.
He went to a museum studies program in Boston
He learned to knit and purl in 20 minutes on a train, which was followed, later, by another 20 minute lesson from his cleaning lady on weaving in the ends and casting off.
He feels that color is in instinctive, that people have to work hard at conquering their fear of color and to learn to listen to their instincts. He enjoys going to places where there is intense color such as South Africa, India and Guatemala. He feels that color is life enhancing; it can make something elegant. He finds color to be a gift that people can give to themselves every day for a very low cost.
He thinks that there is a lot of visual pollution in the US, such as concrete parking garages, and hideous buildings. He thinks that the buildings in the US are very drab. Every morning I go to a horrifyingly ugly concrete parking garage and wish that someone would add some color to it or embellish it with tiles or mosaics or something, so I have to agree with him. He finds developing countries o be filled with intense color, which he calls visual poetry. He showed a number of slides of buildings in various countries, which were painted and embellished in a different ways.
As you may know, Kaffe started as a knitter. He said that knitters are never bored, are happy in their own company and make things that are very personal. He also said that anyone who says they can’t do what he does hasn’t tried. This is the point where he said he learned to knit in 20 minutes on a train. His point was that people certainly cannot make what he makes if they sit and whine. People have to go to their knitting needles or sewing machine and try, then try again. He said that he makes simple things and spices them up with glorious color. I am not sure his needlepoints are simple, but I get his point, which echoes one that TFQ says:
Go to Your Studio and Make Stuff!
InKaffe’s career trajectory, he moved on to needlepoint after knitting. Some of the chair covers and cushions are just wonderful. I love his vegetable cushion and chair covers. He also create rugs and does quite a bit of needlepoint commission work.
He finds knitting and needlepoint to be slow, so was amazed when he discovered patchwork and saw how fast quiltmakers can cut up fabric and put a piece together. He loves teaching quiltmakers and commented several times on how he loves seeing how people put his fabrics together in new ways.
His adjectives of choice were ”thrilling and ‘exciting’. He uses those two terms a lot when he talked about fabric. He said that making books and fabric allowed him to give part of his creative mind to others and he commented again on how thrilling it is for him to see how people put his fabrics together.
For him, the different media are all about manipulating color and the knitting, needlepoint, fabric design and patchwork all are ways that he can work with color. He said that he painted white on white still lives for a long time, because he was also afraid of color. He continues to be fascinated by neutrals. He talked about how he enjoys putting colors and textures together so they almost merge (you can see what he is talking about in some of his vegetable needlepoint works, in the shading, especially the Lichen Auriculas at Ehrman Tapestry, which is part of the needlepoint slide show). He showed the Vegetable Rug Border Pack in the rug form and also made into cushions. He makes me want to take up needlepoint!
He got around to talking about stripes as well. He said that he is thrilled by stripes and finds that lots of ordinary stripes put together become extraordinary.
He talked about hanging an exhibit of his quilts in France, where he was thrilled to find that the quilt stands had shocking pink background drapes/curtains. He was thrilled and said that he would never find such an occurrence in the US. He finds mostly black and, the most ghastly color against which to hang quilts, white in the US. “Ghastly” was his description and I immediately thought of TFQ.
Philip Jacobs and Kaffe Fassett are now working together. Apparently, Philip Jacobs does large realistic paintings, which Kaffe then recolors in different colorways. One of the recent collections includes some very large sea shells.
Someone asked about creative waxing and waning. He said that life serves up the rhythm and since he travels quite a bit he gets quite hungry to get back to his studio and work, especially when he has been surrounded by inspiring views. He often will see something and go to his studio and make something from the inspiration. This is a piece of advice that I also like.
He hangs up projects which have gotten stale and works on something else. Leaving the stale project around so he can see it affords him the opportunity to be reinspired.
He doesn’t usually plan his projects from beginning to end, but makes the color combination up as he goes along. He also keeps looking at it from different views and angles to see what the piece needs.
Kaffe’s theory about fabric design is that he is working with a palette of color and continually works with those ranges so that newer fabrics work with some of his older fabrics. He is also working on keeping fabrics in print for longer by recoloring them and adding older designs to new collections. He doesn’t want to create a line that is in today and “so yesterday” tomorrow. I completely appreciate this and whish more fabric companies would take this advice. He seems to be going for more of a classic look/feel. I am not sure if that is the right description, because I am not sure I would characterize his fabrics as having a classic look. Perhaps they are the ‘new’ classic?
He said that he is basically a shallow person who likes pretty things. He claims not to have much depth. I think he was saying that we should make things that we like, things with which we want to surround ourselves and I think that is wonderful advice. He encouraged people to just start playing and put something into repeat to see how it looks. He also reminded us to work with simple shapes.
Kaffe finds inspiration everywhere and said that in England the gardens are where the passion is hidden. Aside from this, I think the best advice he gave was that ‘manifesting’ was vitally important and that having the confidence to make the statment [with your work] and enough energy to make the thing in the first place are the most important parts of the battle. Finally, he said it is important to surround myself with other positive people. This advice is stuck in my head and I think the confidence part is particularly pertinent.
His next book will be out in the spring of 2010 and will be called Simple Shapes, Spectacular Quilts.
It was 2 hours each way and I didn’t get home until 11:30 pm, but it was totally worth it and I am glad I went. I am now very interested in taking a class from him.
Today is another travel day for me. I am heading home after a week away. I have sewn and relaxed and been allowed to just be. All of my normal stuff is on hold until tonight or tomorrow or whenever it calls loud enough for me to pay attention.
This is my last trip of the year and my last trip for awhile. Now I get to settle in at home and try to enjoy the holidays.
TFQ's Hexagons
TFQ is working on two hexagon projects. The one above looks like sorbet or sherbet. It is so wonderful to look at. She is also working on a 1930s hexagon project, which is her main focus right now.
She works in a similar manner to me in that she explores the process and technique thoroughly as she works on it.
QL Fabric, Nov. 2009
Above is some additional fabric I bought at the Quilting Loft in Ballard and at the new shop in Magnolia called Fabric Crush. The dot fabric is an oilcloth and I plan to make a Multi-tasker tote in the original size whether or not I decide to abandon that pattern completely. In carrying around the Julie tote in the rain, I found that something with a waterproof bottom would be very nice. I am missing my clear tote bag.
Fabric Crush had a fresh look and feel. They are still stocking their store, but everything was fresh and new and wonderfully displayed. It is worth a look. I went into a bookstore as well and saw some restaurants nearby also.
I bought the black and white print for some other bag, but am thinking it would make a nice skirt as well. My SIL once explained to our husbands that we didn’t see masses of fabric in the quilt store, but finished projects and possibilities. So true. Now I just need to make some of those dreams a reality.
While in Monterey last week, I stopped in at the Back Porch quilt shop. They don’t allow photos inside, so no photos of the shop, the light filled space, the huge amount of books or the exhibit of Gwen Marston and Freddy Moran quilts that were on display.
I have written about this shop before. Each time I go is a different experience. I always find something that I like and this time was no exception. There were a lot of books I wanted to snap up, new and fresh fabrics to fondle and different tools to consider.
Collaborate Again
Back Porch usually has an exhibit up in the back of their shop. This time I was fortunate to hit the quilts from Freddy Moran and Gwen Marston from their new-ish book, Collaborate Again. The quilts I saw were bright, cheerful, full of checkerboards and dots. They look like Freddy and Gwen really had a good time making them. The exhibit brightened up an already airy and light space. The quilts which were shown had elements of Gwen Marston’s liberated quiltmaking techniques incorporated in them. They also include chickens, flowers, baskets and houses. The thing about the quilts which were on display is that the elements aren’t difficult. Any quiltmaker can make a house block or a basket block. The key to what made this exhibit special (and the book as well) is the combinations of fabrics and the fabric choices.
Late October 2009
Yes, more fabrics. The dots (3rd from left, top row) are destined to be a bag, perhaps even this week. The pink and green leafy floral (5th from the left, top row) will also be a bag. The blacks and whites in the second and third rows towards the left are already mostly a bag. I worked on another Multi-tasker tote yesterday for a friend from those fabrics. One thing I learned was that you can almost make a Multi-tasker tote from a fat quarter pack. I did it, but needed to piece some of the fabrics together in order to have a large enough enough piece to cut out the pattern piece. I also brought a Jane Sassaman half yard with me and cut the straps from that fabric. Anna Maria Horner never claims you can make the tote from an FQ pack. A friend admired them and her birthday is coming so I thought I would make her a tote. Pictures to follow.
The two bottom rows of fabric are all from Lonni Rossi’s new collection. I really like a lot of them. I have the ones I have, because they were in FQ packs and I was too lazy to have my friend, Jean, who works there, cut half yards. Now I wish I had bought some half yards. Perhaps I’ll see the ones I really like somewhere else.
The shop had some Philip Jacobs fabrics. His fabrics, by Westminster, are bright and cheerful florals. TFQ was madly choosing fabrics to make Jane Market totes last night and it occured to me that the Philip Jacobs fabrics would make fabulous Market totes. The tote pattern is by Alicia Paulson and reasonably priced at $6. She also provides instant gratification with an instant download! TFQ is going to make sets of these totes as Christmas gifts. I imagine a day when everyone in the grocery store is carrying around a tote made from gorgeous quiltmaking fabric!
Finally, the book selection at Back Porch is fabulous! They have tons of books, many of which I had never seen at a quilt shop. First, there was the New Handmade by Cassie Barden. This book reminds me of the Lexis Barnes book, Sew What bags that I wrote about. Really great bags to make, including one that is similar to my handbag. I also found a new book by Sandra Meech, Connecting Art to Stitch.
Art to Stitch, Meech
I have always liked Sandra Meech’s books. They are not just about a step by step technique process. She talks about design and inspiration and all the things that take quiltmaking to the next level. I like her writing style as well. I don’t yet have this book, but will put it on my Amazon list.
I didn’t think there were great books out there, but recently I have found a number that I can’t wait to add to my collection.
I was shocked to find that Back Porch is offering a class in the Flowering Snowball pattern! They had a sample on the wall done exactly the way mine will be finished – using the self bordering technique. Sigh. I guess I am not so unique, after all.
Last time I went to Back Porch, I left with a bad taste in my mouth. I went back anyway, because I had heard a podcast interview with the owner, Gail Abeloe and they have a nice shop with great fabric. One thing I admired about Gail was her firm grasp that a quilt shop is a business. Her philosophy is that you have to keep your stock fresh and your customers interested and that you have to sell fabric. As a former small business owner, I can appreciate that attitude.
Yes, this baby is complete. I can chalk another finished project up on the list. I quilted it a long time ago and only had to do the facing and the sleeve. I really don’t know why I waited until the last minute. I did and ended up with some unsewing that needed to be done. When I sewed the facing on, I kept sewing through all three layers quilt. Duh! I don’t know what that was about. I ended up clipping the threads from the front and sewing the back, very carefully the second time, shut again. It was sent off with the Nosegay on Wednesday and should have arrived today. We’ll see.
A few weeks ago I posted about Exuberant Color’s journal cover directions. This was after I saw directions for a journal cover on the Quilts and More website, Allpeoplequilt.com (you may have to register and login). I began the journal cover last Friday and finally finished on Sunday. In the end, it wasn’t difficult; I just didn’t have much time and struggled a bit with the directions.
As I may have mentioned, I liked the idea of this project, because it is useful. I also liked the idea of having an accessory using some of my fabric with me on a daily basis. Finally, it gave my journal a bit more privacy. The journal cover got its first outing with me on Tuesday.
I started madly sewing turquoise scraps together when I was angry and needed to calm down. The repetitive nature of the sewing helps me. Not only do I calm down, but I also make progress, an added bonus. I am loving turquoise more and more lately and, found, as I rummaged through my scrap basket, that there were a lot of really pretty, if small, pieces.
Journal Cover Piecing, Oct 2009
Sewing scraps together is also an exercise I do when I don’t know what else to do. I sew like-colored scraps together to make new fabric. I have quite a large piece of red and have just started creating a pink piece. Other than tests and using them to make ATCs, I don’t really do much else with my scraps, so making new fabrics can create something useful.
The blue piece quickly turned into a journal cover. The technique is inspired, as you may have read before (March 2007 or July 2008), by Shannon Williams’ Mosaic Quilting technique.
Finished cover, Lining detail
I also used the fabric I wrote about (used as another source of inspiration) as the lining. I thought I would be able to see more of it and enjoy it, but the lining is pretty covered up. I might be a little miffed, but I know it is there and I can look at it whenever I want.
As I was making the fabric for the outside, I had to know how large to make the piece. I found the Quilts & More pattern not to work very well for me. That pattern requires that you buy a specific journal – the black & white composition notebook type, I think – which is a specific size. I did read this when I started the project. What I didn’t read was that they had no instructions for those who wanted to use a journal that had been laying around the house. Wanda at Exuberant Color came to the rescue, giving me an idea of how to measure my own journal so I could use that journal instead of going out and buying a new one.
Measuring, pt.1
First, I put the measuring tape down on the back of the journal. You can’t see it because it is in between the ironing board and the journal
Then, I wrapped the measuring tape around the back so that I could see the total width the fabric should be. You do have to close the book to make sure that you have enough. I found that if I put the beginning metal bit of the measuring tape right up against the binding, then there was plenty of fabric, even with the book closed and seam allowances.
I was a little confused by the direction on Exuberant Color about the amount of fabric for a seam allowance on the top. I eventually used about an inch larger than the book and that seemed to work.
I ended up with a total of 26″x 9 1/4″ for this sized Miquelrius journal cover. You can either cut two pieces of fabric this size or piece fabric scraps together in the appropriate size. Then cut another piece (not pieced) the same size. It reduces bulk not to piece both.
Press fusible interfacing to the inside piece. It is easier to press the fusible to the fabric that has not been pieced. I use scraps of fusible. You can also using batting, which I did in this turquoise pieced journal.
Now is the time to add your label. Use your journal to estimate where your label should go.
Next, place the fabrics right sides together and stitch around the whole piece. Leave an opening large enough to turn the piece. Reinforce the stitching near the opening, so the stitches don’t come out when you are turning the fabric.
Clip the corners.
Turn the piece and press. Press the opening so that it will look neat when caught in the final sewing stitches.
Fold over the edges towards the middle using the journal as your pattern. Make sure you close the journal with the cover around it. You will need a bit more than you think to cover the journal in the closed position.
Pin flaps in place. You will only need a few pins
Sew along the cover flaps as close to the top as you possibly can and stitch catch all four layers.
Place your journal cover on your journal and enjoy!
Finished Cover, Oct. 2009
Above is the finished piece. I put a bit of a selvedge on the front cover to add interest. That bit of selvedge had been hanging on my design wall for a long time. I liked the name of the fabric: The Butterfly Queen. I may cover up Jason Yenter’s name with a flower or something, but we will see.
Journal Cover, Back Flap detail
This picture shows the journal open and how much changes from my original measurement of 25″ (see photo above) and this photo (directly above) once the journal cover was completely sewed.
I didn’t have to buy anything to make this journal cover, which was nice. It is a project you can complete with materials around the house. It is one of those projects that works when inspirations strikes late at night and everything is closed. 😉
I want to make another one and possibly a few more as gifts. One thing I want to try is fusible interfacing like one of the thicker Pellon products rather than batting. I find the batting to be too squishy, especially when I fold the journal backwards to write on both pages.
This is the piece of pie and whipped cream, which you have seen four dozen times. I am forced to continue to show it to you until you scream for mercy. Only because you asked for it. 😉
Okay! Okay! I am not so mean. This is actually a slightly larger drip than before. I took your advice and decided to make the drip a little larger. I don’t think it is large enough here. When I stand back, it still looks like a speck. I don’t want people to think I made a big boo-boo on the applique’.
Tarts, Big Drip
Here is the big drip. It looks like something! I used the same shape; just made it a bit bigger. I like it and it will probably be sewed down this weekend.
Sewing it down would be very nice, because then I can get it off of my design wall and put something else up.
Oh. The back. I still have to make the back. Sigh.
I get a Janome email periodically and when I have a chance to look at it, I am usually impressed with something. One thing I like about the photos below is the different colors – not the usual red and green – they use for Christmas. The ideas are still holiday-ish, but very fresh. Even if you are not a Janome owner (or don’t do Christmas), check it out. There are some fun ideas.
, which is part of the needlepoint slide show). He showed the Vegetable Rug Border Pack in the rug form and also made into cushions. He makes me want to take up needlepoint!
