The asters have started blooming and that means only one thing — summer is over.
This year I attended summer camp. Well, it was a virtual summer camp, sponsored by Modern Quilt Studio. We all worked on a Mystery Quilt together. Well, together separately. If you are interested in the pattern, you can purchase it here. I’m not sure how long it will be available…possibly only until Oct. 1, 2023.
I was very pleased with my color palette, as it caused a great deal of agonizing on the front end of the project. But I was very happy with the way it turned out. The quilt is approximately 83 x 60.
In between installments, I was inspired to start some handwork. I really haven’t done any hand embroidery in years. Yet, my garden this year got me interested in trying something new.
Here is a pic of one of the cosmos in the garden.
And below is my interpretation of this flower in hand embroidery. Obviously, it takes quite a bit longer to stitch out when it’s done by hand…and designed in my head as I go along. A few more days, maybe a week.
And then what am I going to do with it? Well that’s a good question. I’ll have to think about it when it’s done.
I hope you have been keeping your head and hands busy this summer. As I sit here, it’s over 90 degrees outside. The warm weather seems to hang on longer into the fall season these days. But I know it’s time to start hauling out the autumn decor. And even as I stitch a piece of summer onto this fabric, I am thinking about the cooler weather, orange lights, and spooky trees.
Well, it’s finished. Quilted on my trusted 780, which is no longer as trusted as it used to be. I think it needs to see the doctor.
I’m not sure why, but suddenly, one of the knobs is not functioning properly. So that is the first problem. Second, the machine just stops sewing from time to time. When I’m embroidering I have to push the button again to restart. It’s not a nightmare, but clearly, I’m in need of some replacement electronic boards. (Yikes, because that is not necessarily the easiest or cheapest fix on a sewing machine.)
Whatever the problem, I was able to finish this quilt along with a quilt label. And now, the quilt will head off to a friend of my Dad’s who has been very kind to him. And the machine, well I’m afraid it’s going to the hospital. Or at least a trusted tech.
And that’s all just fine.
You know why? Because I’m starting a new project which I’m sure can be done on my other machine. (I don’t know about you, but I have at least 3 sewing machines and a serger…or two. Because the instant one goes to the shop, I just HAVE to sew something. Immediately.)
So I keep spares.
But the exciting thing that I’m participating in this summer is run by Modern Quilt Studio. They have a “Summer Camp” that is a mystery quilt. All that I know so far is that we need a cohesive palette that contrasts from a background fabric. The fabrics should not be high contrast. Solids or tone-on-tones preferred.
If you are interested, go to their website, and click “Shop”. The Summer Camp project is listed there for $25. You can use your stash, as I am, and can participate on their Facebook pages. They also have a Youtube video announcing the project. See below.
I’m looking forward to it.
I’ve been curating this collection of colors for awhile without any purpose for them. I tend to do that with my scraps…put them in bundles that look good together. So this is where I’m starting.
The Summer Camp starts June 1, when we’ll find out more about fabric choices and see the first video. Then it skips two weeks and then every week after that for eight weeks. Check out the video here:
So what’s my palette?
Here we go:
“Deep greens and blues are the colors I choose…” As James Taylor would say.
As we go and as we learn more, I’ll add or subtract. For instance, I have some concerns that some of the shades are too close to each other. Nevertheless, I’m gonna go for it. That navy-ish blue in the back is my contrasting background color. It’s not a true navy, it’s much brighter.
Now.
Since this pattern and whatever it will be, belongs to Modern Quilt Studio, I won’t share anything else on this pattern until the end, where I’ll share my finished quilt.
So I invite you to join on their website.
In the meantime, check out the video, check out your stash, and get on the bus for Summer Camp!
I wanted a clean-lined quilt for my newest great-nephew. His mom had mentioned that the colors of the baby’s room were tan and forest green, with woodland creatures.
The curved piecing was very reminiscent of leaves, so the first challenge was rounding up all the fabrics that I thought would work for my project. I didn’t want to go with the grey background and thought I might be able to substitute a tan and still get the same transparency effect.
In keeping with my effort to only purchase organic fabric, I found some that were nearly perfect from Hawthorne Supply Company. Many of their regular quilt fabrics have an organic option.
So the above fabric was the inspiration, but I knew it would just be on the back. I really loved the idea that the quilt would have this slick modern look/feel on the front but still have an element of the baby’s room and theme on the back. It’s always nice to have something that will extend beyond just “baby”.
At any rate, I was a little concerned about the curved piecing, but to be honest it was pretty simple. The directions and graphics in the pattern are very straightforward. I made a copy of the template on some template plastic that I had hidden somewhere for years. (It was perfect for the task.)
And I set about piecing and laying out the quilt. It had plenty of white space so overall it was a fairly quick assembly. The hardest part was all the planning in order to get the colors just the way I wanted them.
The result was an extremely cool pattern and vibe.
I ended the quilt with some machine embroidery which I put on the front of the quilt next to the binding in one straight line. It added an element of interest, like a painting signed on the front. I don’t have a pic of the quilt label, because I don’t want to make all the names public. (sad face emoji)
From this pic, you are seeing the bottom half of the quilt as it hags over the railing, so it’s about twice that high.
In general, it was one of the most satisfying quilts I’ve done. Matching the colors to the back, maintaining the theme, and still incorporating craftsmanship and interest. I wanted it to be a quilt that could be washed and washed and loved to pieces.
Don’t be afraid to walk away from your usual work or traditional quilts once in awhile. You might be surprised to find a fun and interesting new aesthetic. I never want to be boxed into a corner or predictable in this craft.
If you’ve been plugging along, feeling like you are in a rut, try something completely different. In fact, try the opposite of what you normally do. I’m personally feeling like I need some improvisational quilting these days. Structure is feeling a little uncomfortable.
I guess we’ll see what comes next. Happy stitching, friends!
I know I’m getting ahead of the game, thinking about Easter. But I felt like I needed a bit of Easter cheer early on, so these are what I found.
Do you have an embroidery unit you haven’t taken out of the box? (You know who you are, my friends.) This is about as simple a project as you can imagine.
Go to embroideryonline.com and search for “in the hoop”.Just download them onto a USB stick.
Prepare some fabric…you only really need scraps. And find some scrap batting. You know, the stuff you cut off around the edges of your last quilt.
Tip: After cutting small amounts of batting on your cutting mat, use a lint remover to clean up the batting.
Here’s the trickiest part. You need a nylon zipper. At least 7 inches. These are unbelievably common in the sewing world. Anything over 7 inches will work.
I used 14 in. zippers because that’s what I had on hand. Here’s a source that your local quilt shop may have even used: atkinsondesigns.com
And here’s a bonus. If you purchase her zipper pulls, you can easily change the color of the pull. Here’s instructions on how to do that. Your life will never be the same.
Back to the Easter egg pouches. I’m sure they come with instructions but I never read them. (Surprise, surprise.) Take some scraps of batting, approx, 6 inches x 6 inches, along with some scraps of fabric, about 6 inches x 12 inches. You’ll need 2 of the smaller size for the top and bottom half of your egg, a larger quilt sandwich for the backing/lining.
Wrap the smaller size fabric around the batting, so you have a straight edge to lay against the fold.
As you can see here, I didn’t even cut my scraps with any precision, as they will be completely trimmed away. You are just making sure that the batting is covered front and back. The fabric shown is Modern Quilt Studio’s Dot Crazy. I love this because it has fabric with a line of larger dots through the center…no piecing necessary.
Hoop your large oval or any 5 x 7 or larger hoop with sticky back tearaway stabilizer. I used OESD Stabilstick tearaway.
The design will walk you through all the steps on your machine. The first stitch out will be the placement line for the zip, which stitches directly onto the stabilizer.
Then stitch down lines on the zipper, then you lay down the top part of the egg with the fold right up to the zipper. The design will then stitch across the top fabric on the zipper. The goal is to make sure you have enough fabric wrapped around the batting to cover both sides of the egg.
Next, it will stitch the top half of the egg down.
Then lay your bottom fabric with the fold up against the zipper, as you did with the top. The next stitch will secure the bottom fabric to the zipper, and the stitch after that will secure the bottom half of the egg.
Move your zipper pull to the middle of the design!
This will allow you to turn the pouch inside out once it has been stitched. Now, you can also add a ribbon or handle at the top before the backing/lining is stitched down. (As I did). Add a quilt sandwich with the backing and lining down on top.
The final stitch is a zigzag to secure the seams.
This entire stitch out is a total of 6 minutes–almost as long as it take to read this blog post. These are easy and really quick, using fabric and scraps you likely have lying around.
When you take it out of the hoop, trim close to the stitching. Remove the stabilizer from around the zipper, and then open the zipper as far as you can. This will help when you turn the bag inside out. Remove as much of the stabilizer on the rest of the bag as possible. You should only see a bit of stabilizer around the outside seam, and a tiny bit where the zipper is attached. Everything else can be removed. Turn your little egg inside out and press.
Use your egg pockets as decorations or gifts–a great gift card holder or candy pouch!
