Wednesday, July 27, 2011

Max's Blankie

I've got one more baby blanket ready to go for my friend's baby, Max!

If Max is anything like his parents, he will go bananas for the orangeness of this blanket... I just know he will.  I love this 2-D zoo print, and have for a while.  I'm so glad I have an excuse to finally use it!

And my new favorite binding is the faux bois, any color will do.
The other babies are enjoying their quilts, and  I hope Max will too!

Tuesday, July 26, 2011

Muchos Pluses Completo

I've almost finished the top of my Plus (pronounced "ploos") Quilt . :)  And I loove it!  I still need to add borders, which means a potentially dangerous trip to Peapod.

Warning: blurry photo... but you get the idea. 


D said, "I hate to say it, but they're not symmetrical..." Oh, silly D... I think he was kind of kidding, maybe.

The sashing phase of this quilt was tedious, but not too miserable.  I finished it in an evening.  My favorite parts are the couple pieces of off-white linen I sneaked into the sashing.   See that little middle square?   Cute-a!


One day, I will show you the completed, non-blurry version of this quilt.  I hope that day is soon.  I may opt to professionally quilt this sucker.  I'm just not in the mood.

Saturday, July 23, 2011

Accidental Gee's Bend-ish Quilt


Many moons ago, I started this quilt.  The intention was to make a queen-sized quilt.  But then I got bored and put it away (surprise!).  I picked it up again in efforts to minimize unfinished business before moving, and here's what happened!  I just love it!


I loved how I didn't use any rulers, or rules for that matter, and the lines are a bit squiggly.  I just snipped, stitched, and assembled.  Now it's a fun and easy crib-sized quilt.  I felt like such an original...

...But then I noticed this - sitting right above me on my inspiration board is the very inspiration (albeit subliminal)!


How funny is that?  I swear, I didn't even realize it was there!  Somewhere in the depths of my mind, I must have channeled the Gee's Bend quilters. Wait, what am I saying?? I can't believe I even dared to compare myself to them, because the women of Gee's Bend are waaaaaay more amazing than I'll ever be - true, hard core quilters - using what was available (jeans, mattress ticking, floursacks, old clothing) instead of us modern quilters who take perfectly good pieces of fabric and cut them up only to reassemble them!  So silly, we are....if you really think about it.  I suppose we quilt for art rather than necessity nowadays, but still...

This quilt still needs the perfect backing.  Ideas??  Maybe I'll wait until I have the right recipient in mind.  Can someone please make a baby? JK

Friday, July 22, 2011

I Went With Red

I went with 2 different reds, in fact, and I'm glad I did.  The Liberty of London just threw it all off.  I kept the orange, and although it looks a little rainbow-y, I think I really like it.


Now how to attach them all....

Thursday, July 21, 2011

Also, I Want to Make This...

...in fact, I will probably try to replicate this room in the new house. D doesn't know this yet. 

D, I'm going to replicate this room in our new house.

Ok, now he knows.

It's good to have an inspiration though, right?  Then you're not blindly hoping things go together.  This way, you already know! However, the room in mind was newly painted a very nice (different) color, so I'll work with what we've got.  
 
{image from House Beautiful)

But isn't this quilt great?!  I am in love!

I can probably figure out this quilt pattern, but if someone already has a pattern for this, I would love it!   Anyone interested in a quilt-along? 

Wednesday, July 20, 2011

Things ARE Happening Around Here


Well, I know I've been quiet in the posting department, but things are going on around here.  We're actually in the process of buying a house (!), so that's been consuming much of my time, energy, and adrenaline.

In anticipation of having to move (shoot me now!), I thought I would "consolidate" and start using up some of these fabrics.  Some old, some new. Also, it is very like me to embark on a big project when there are one meelion other more important, more pressing action items to tackle.

This is an (as usual) exceptional evening-time photo of what I've been working on (soon there will be good lighting at the new house!).  We'll have some guest beds to make, so I'm going to make this one a twin-size.  Inspired by this a-dor-a-ble quilt, it's mostly blues and greens, but I'm not sure about the orange on mine.  Maybe the orange will look better if I omit the Liberty of London (for Target) print. I need one more color - what do you color theorists out there suggest?  Would a little bit of red work?  Hmm....  I will sash it with white.

These crosses come together really quickly and require very little ruler action. The more un-straight (I refuse to use the word "wonky"... aw, crap. I just did!), the better.  Anyhow, hopefully you'll see a finished product before too long.

And do get back to me on those color recommendations!

Tuesday, July 19, 2011

Shirt Refashioning

I wish I had taken before photos of these, but I am hasty and I get too excited.  I've discovered knit ribbing!  I'm not very good at using it yet, but I decided to sacrifice a few shirts to practice with.  Please do not scrutinize, they are very un-Virgo with lots of flaws. Whatever - I'm learning.

This used to be a turtleneck.  I liked the stripiness of it, but couldn't justify wearing it when the weather was nice (which is has NOT been in like 2 years - boo, San Francisco!).  But anyway, here's how I refashioned it:


This was a rather boring, ill-fitting shirt I got at the GAP for like $5. I had to take in the sides because it was frumpy (schlumpadinka, as we say 'round these parts), but that was a long time ago.  Anyhow, still not loving it, I added this yellow ribbing.  Mucho mejor. The yellow is a bit too lemony for my taste, but really, you can't please me - if it's not too boring it's too exciting.  Though I am pleased with this shirt now and maybe now I'll wear it to places other than the gym.


And this old thing, well, I still wear it to work even though I had to cut the sleeves off (put a hole in it trying to pull up the sleeves).  It worked as a 3/4 length sleeve shirt, but since it was pretty much garbage anyhow, I experimented with some colored cuffs.  I think I just added a couple months to the life of this shirt.  Nevermind that the cuffs are about 1/2" difference in length (awesome me!).  And yes, I wear garbage to work.


And this, folks, is what I do with a surprise day off.