Where's My Tape?

Back to the Lil Pieces, originally uploaded by shanleytulip.

The title of this post is the way to announce that you're coming off break in my family. This ticker tape quilt is one of the projects that I'm working on at the end of 2010. I've reloaded and added a couple of more rows. Between June and December I've created plenty of new scraps to finish this off. Here's the post from when I was last working on it.

In between placing the little bits and tacking them down with the machine, I'm working on some borders, some clean up and some planning for next year.

Final 2010 Finish

Green Fair and Square, originally uploaded by shanleytulip.

At least I'm trying to talk myself into this being the final finished quilt of 2010. I don't know if you've realized but I'm a big fan of numbers. And this is my 22nd quilt of the year. I had wanted to do 24 this year and I've got two really close to done. But in the interest of sanity (mine and my poor housebound due to rain puppy) I'm not going to try to finish the other two. I'll just have two early finished in 2011.

Anyway, these are the green squares I won from a giveaway by crazy mom quilts and I whipped up the top in October. The quilting is wavy lines and went super super fast. Then I attached the binding to the front and it languished in the to be worked on pile (on my couch). The flurry of December presents with deadlines took priority over this quilt so I just finished the binding this morning. It's a great lap quilt size and the flannel backing from my stash was perfect.

Green Fair and Square, originally uploaded by shanleytulip.

The flannel is super soft and I think it's going to wash up really well.

Green Fair and Square, originally uploaded by shanleytulip.

For the MacGuyver portion of the photoshoot, I used a preexisting hook in the wall with a little clip thing that was on the table I keep meaning to clear off. Add one empty wrapping paper roll to extend my gorilla arm and voila, a picture of almost the whole quilt is achieved.

Of course as soon as this was accomplished a friend texted she was coming over so if I had been a tad more patient, she'd have held it up for me outside in the sun. C'est la vie!

Fruitcake Gifted

IMG_1581.JPG, originally uploaded by shanleytulip.

Here's the completed quilt for my sister's family. I used a pantograph pattern of bells and holly for the center and quilted in the whole family's names on some of the bells. Should have taken a picture of that for it to really make sense. My brother-in-law kindly held it up for me so I could get a full picture. Then he used it immediately for a nap.

I started out using 2 charm packs but then found that I needed a lot more squares so I got a layer cake and cut it into 5 inch squares. I still have a lot leftover which is nice. I did a disappearing nine patch and this is one of those quilts I liked way better in the pictures than in real life until I got it quilted up.

IMG_1581.JPG, originally uploaded by shanleytulip.

Here's the label before attaching to the quilt and yes, after gifting to the family. The binding was finished by my mom on Christmas Day (we open presents on Christmas Eve) while I finished the label by hand.

No Really, By Hand, originally uploaded by shanleytulip.

Really, I did the label by hand. Even the tiny binding around the words. I sure hope it lasts through a washing.

Winter Solstice in Purple

Purple Solstice, originally uploaded by shanleytulip.

This is the finished just before the deadline and gifted hours before I left for SF quilt. I decided to gift a solstice quilt for a friend of mine who celebrates the winter solstice. She mentioned awhile back that her favorite color was purple so I got a few purple batiks and went to town. I posted about the strips previously here. This was one of those projects that just seemed to be calling to me despite my already over long holiday sewing list.

Quilting on Purple Solstice, originally uploaded by shanleytulip.

I quilted with wavy lines which seemed to go well with the varied patterns in the batiks. You can see a fabric or two in the first picture that I would likely have taken out if I'd had more time to worry over this puppy.

Quilting on Purple Solstice, originally uploaded by shanleytulip.

The backing worked out really well though (and at 25% off) but since it was sorta plain I went with the lighter thread on the back too so that it would show up better.

I'm trying to be better with listing sizes so this one is about 60 inches x 72 inches. Theoretically. I didn't measure after washing but it didn't seem to crinkle as much as some of the others.

Happy Winter Solstice All! Remember the days only get longer from here!

Bits of Wood

Bits , originally uploaded by shanleytulip.

This is a picture from when I was quilting the Bits quilt. I was basing the quilting on a filler pattern from the Free Motion Quilting blog called Desert Sand but as I was stitching it, I mostly thought of it as Dragon's Breath. Except for this picture which is the strip of brown I added in to make the backing big enough (the bits really added up!). This one is wood grain for sure.

Bits , originally uploaded by shanleytulip.

Here's a closeup of a couple of the squares. I made this with leftover bits of the Bento Box that took years (by not working on it) and started out just sewing as many 3 inch strips together as I could. Then I cut those into 3 inch bits. Then I made a gazillion 4 patches. Then a bazillion 16 patches. Then just started sewing those together. Until I ended up with 952 squares all in a quilt.

I'm happy with the final outcome but don't have any full pictures to include since I finished it just in time to drop it off on the porch for the birthday I intended it for. I hope he likes it. And if not, I hope he lies about it.

Gifts Gone Wild

IMG_1521.JPG, originally uploaded by shanleytulip.

I do feel like gift prep has taken over my life but here's one that I gave recently that didn't quite turn out the way that I'd hoped.

Idea: a half dozen photo cards I made in a cute little cupcake themed bag for a true cupcake connoisseur. I hoped she'd use the bag for books or something.

Result: the bag was waaaaaay too small to hold the cards and unless she reads little cardboard chewable books, it won't be much use for that either. Ah well, the tutorial was from Happy Zombie and she does call them Tiny Treat bags so that should have been my first clue.

Calculator

Calculator, originally uploaded by shanleytulip.

It's a Festivus Miracle!

I actually have enough fabric to tweak the bindings on this quilt that is no where near ready but is due very soon.

I'm hoping for about 42 more Festivus Miracles this weekend so if you have any extra, please send them my way.

Bits Label

Bits Label, originally uploaded by shanleytulip.

First present is done and delivered! Here's the hand stitched label. It slows me down on the part where I just want the project to be over but at least I know it won't fade. And to some extent I can use fancy fonts.

Central Park and Sunkissed

Central Park and Sunkissed, originally uploaded by shanleytulip.

Green Fairy Quilts ships fast! These little lovelies were waiting on my door for me to get home yesterday. Shall I do a search on how many times I've said Kate Spain is my favorite? The one on the left is her new Central Park collection and the right is Sunkissed by Sweetwater.

They are both little bits of spring trying to keep me from putting up my holiday decorations. I will finish presents before I open the bundles. . . I will try anyway.

Not What I'm Working On

Not What I'm Working On, originally uploaded by shanleytulip.

But will probably use these next year. Or not, I do have a ton of other fabric calling my name. I'm actually doing some free style quilting right now. At the moment I feel like I've wrecked my quilt top and should start over. Or gouge out the eyes of the person who will receive it so they don't notice that it could have been pretty.

HOWEVER, there is usually a point on every quilt that I make where I wonder what the hell I was thinking and want to dump the whole thing. So I think I shall wait until it's done before becoming violent on someone I normally like well enough to make a quilt.

Success!

IMG_1424.JPG, originally uploaded by shanleytulip.

I not only finished the top but I even pieced the back. And I do mean pieced since I only had 5 yards of flannel and I needed 6 yards. How did I not guess that I would need 6 yards? I always guess 6 yards. Luckily, I had a big long left over strip from my grandpa's quilt which made up for it. Bins of flannel to the rescue.

I treated myself to a couple of purple-y blocks and retreated to the more easily heatable house.

Solstice Strips

Solstice Strips, originally uploaded by shanleytulip.

I'm spending some time this weekend working on a quilt to celebrate the winter solstice. It's one of my favorite days of the year because I'm not so secretly solar powered. December 21st is the shortest day of the year which means the days only get longer from there. And yes, I know that 25 days after the solstice, the daylight will be just as short as it was today but it's the knowledge that the next day will be just a little sunnier that makes it okay.

Plus isn't that a fun collection of purple strips to work with? I'm faking the self control today by not sewing them together until I have a Christmas project top completed though but my design wall is emptied and ready for the new blocks.

Happy Holidays Everyone!

Colors of Fall

IMG_1321.JPG, originally uploaded by shanleytulip.

or so I've heard. We don't have a lot of trees that change colors in San Diego and since we've had some rain, the roses are all blooming like mad again. I've been sewing away on Christmas and Solstice gifts all weekend but it'll be a few weeks before I show anything from that.

I'm taking better/more pictures though. And thanks to much tweaking of the settings and tricking the card with a friend's Mac, my camera uploads the pictures as I take them. A backup to my home computer and a copy to Flickr. If I get a few more kinks worked out, this bodes very well for posting on both my blogs now.

Safety First

Safety First, originally uploaded by shanleytulip.

Matilda is usually eager to go into the sewing room ever since she once found a treat in there (never mind that she's the one the left it in there). Tonight I worked on a present and vacuumed the sewing room at the same time, thanks Roomba! While the Roomba is very helpful, it also could go crazy and attack us at any time. Lucky for me, I've got someone watching my back. Of course, she finds it best to watch from my chair where it can't get to her. So I perch on the edge and she worries and leans on me. But I'm happy to say, the robot behaved, the floor is clean and almost half the blocks are done.

Blogger's Quilt Festival

Brooke's, originally uploaded by shanleytulip.

My Blogger's Quilt Festival post is about the quilt I made my sister for her 30th birthday. Well, I gave her the top for her 30th birthday, I just didn't have the skills to quilt it until she was almost 33. I learned the importance of a good sewing machine for applique as this one had a lot of it. I used interfacing on the long white strips and probably should have used something a little thinner, but it held it together well enough.

Check out the rest of the posts at Amy's Blogger Quilt Festival.

NOLA Placemats

NOLA Placemats, originally uploaded by shanleytulip.

Here's the finished placemats just in time for the birthday party. The rainboots are the back and the front of each has a scene from NOLA.

NOLA Placemats, originally uploaded by shanleytulip.

NOLA Placemats, originally uploaded by shanleytulip.

NOLA Placemats, originally uploaded by shanleytulip.

NOLA Placemats, originally uploaded by shanleytulip.

Holy Scraps

Holy Scraps, originally uploaded by shanleytulip.

In a search for backing fabric last week, I found a bag of scraps. And a box of scraps. So I got out the bins for sorting. I now have 3 bins of blue scraps and could probably make a dozen quilts just from these bits.

As ever, it's nice to see all the pieces of former projects.

Really Good at Math

White Stack, originally uploaded by shanleytulip.

I am, as the title of this post suggests, good at math. Ask my mother. Mom, you can comment directly on the blog instead of emailing me if you want to back me up on this one.

So with my math skills and my rotary cutter, I misjudged the number of squares one might need from the rolls of fabric and I know have enough 3 inch squares (in pairs) for a 70 x 85 inch quilt

AND

a 40 x 63 inch quilt

AND

a 28 x 18 doll quilt

at minimum, since I suspect the number of squares out in the sewing room will have doubled by the time I get out of work tomorrow.

I also found the rest of the backing flannel for the Whirlygiggle II, which is another showcase of my math skills because for the last two weeks, I thought I was short a bit. Nope, I have close to a yard remaining. Not counting the big scraps. Ah well, if I don't get 6 yards to back a quilt (even a baby quilt) I'm sure to run out.

Fair and Square

Fair and Square, originally uploaded by shanleytulip.

I didn't mean to finish this quilt top (apparently held up by a very tall robot) so quickly but when the instructions are great and the green squares were already cut, things move fast. I won the squares in a giveaway from Amanda Jean of crazy mom quilts in August but since it arrived during the big deadline push, I only managed to get some Kona khaki for the sashing and tucked it away (but in a pretty gold box so the sparkles would call me back). This weekend I decided to get some of my projects moving so I listed eight that I want to get done for various deadlines this year and resolved to work on them all a little bit each week. This week for the Fair and Square, I wanted to cut the sashing strips. Check.

To be honest, if I had the right color thread, I'd be out there quilting it right now. Thanks to my flannel stashing powers I have enough of a green flannel to back this.

Striped Binding

Striped Binding , originally uploaded by shanleytulip.

Here's a roll of binding for one of my gift type projects. I do like a happy striped binding although I've long since given up trying to match up the stripes when I'm sewing the strips together.

With all the projects I've got in line, I think I'll be able to put together the coin quilt from leftover binding bits.

Grandpa's Quilt

Grandpa's Quilt, originally uploaded by shanleytulip.

Bound, labeled and properly crinkled in the washer. I'll post a few more pictures of it and other projects that moved forward this weekend.

Pillowcases for the Orphans

Pillowcases, originally uploaded by shanleytulip.

So I just hired a gal with the agreement that we'll giver her a few months off to go to Kenya to take care of orphans every couple of months. She gave a lovely presentation at lunch one day to give everyone an idea of why she's called to do this. It inspired us to turn the lunch room into a sweat shop* for pillowcases for the kids at the home. So I brought in a bunch of fabric (lots from Annette, thank you!!!!!!!) and an extra sewing machine, rotary cutter, mats, pins, etc. We started a regular little assembly line and completed 28 pillowcases in time for her next trip. We got in a new influx of fabric for the last week but were slowed down a bit by the supervisor's table. Lots got really involved although some of the guys wanted to be clear they were not sewing so referred to whomever was rotary cutting the fabric as "The Architect".

We'll put together a few more to send with another staff member who is going for a short volunteer stint in a few months.


* The sweat shop did not use forced labor (much) and was freezing most days due to a huge HVAC project that's going on in the building.


**  I'll try to put up a replacement picture when they are delivered.

Rolls of Strips

3 inch strips, originally uploaded by shanleytulip.

I'm using up some extra strips of fabric on a little (well, that depends on how many squares this ends up making) project. I'm still binding away on my grandpa's quilt this weekend as well.

According to my handy dandy Excel tracking sheet, I will need to finish a quilt every 5 days in order to finish all the quilts I have planned before the end of the year. Not holding my breath on that one. Some are presents though so I'll finish out the year with pictures of previously done quilts mostly. Or you know, pictures of my shelves of pretty folded fabric.

Before and After

Before, originally uploaded by shanleytulip.

I don't know if it's been obvious but I do get sidetracked easily. Last night I ran across this blog, Sew Fantastic, which has a great idea for storing my shelves of teetering fabric (let's be clear that it's the fabric that teeters, not the shelves which are bolted to the wall (thanks Chuck!)). Warning though, it's one of those sites that plays music so you have to scroll down to the bottom of the page to turn it off . . . every page. At any rate, the idea for using comic book boards is delightful and I happen to have a store that carries them just a few miles away (and a friend willing to move her car on Street Fair weekend) so we came home with two sizes.

And voila, my new, non tumbling, non hiding other fabric, blue shelf. Added bonus, all my blues will now fit on the same shelf.

After, originally uploaded by shanleytulip.

I just need to get the smaller bits to wrap the fat quarters around. Oh and a zillion more boards but at least they are inexpensive.

After Blue, originally uploaded by shanleytulip.

I also finished the quilting on both the new project and grandpa's quilt. Hands, get ready for some binding!

PS If anyone needs any of that blue dragonfly fabric, just let me know. I'm a sharer.

New project

New project, originally uploaded by shanleytulip.

While waiting for the thread to finish my grandpa's quilt, I sorted a bit of stuff in the sewing room and started donating stuff. And hey, while I'm at it, why not start something new? I started loading this project before work, pieced together the batting and was ready to start quilting tonight. So wouldn't you know it, the thread showed up at my door this afternoon. Thanks FedEx but could you have put that on your website maybe?

Anyway, the backing is fantastic and perfect for the intended recipient of this little project. It's a great pantograph of New Orleans which I ran across not long after going to Jazz Fest there. I'm just hoping that you don't have to know exactly what it is before you can see the pictures.

Inspiration

Starting with this picture and a vague plan. . .

photo.JPG, originally uploaded by shanleytulip.

We got to this little tiny quilt. . .

photo.JPG, originally uploaded by shanleytulip.

With little tiny (1/2 inch by 1/2 inch) raw edge labels on each drawer.

photo.JPG, originally uploaded by shanleytulip.

It was delivered this morning to my co-worker who has taken over the filing system with pizazz. She promptly hung it up and will now just point to the drawer that people need papers from. Ahhh, silliness pays off :)


In keeping with my new plan to record things about things, this quiltlet finished up at 11 x 17 and the binding matches the backing.

Grandpa's Crackle

Grandpa's Crackle, originally uploaded by shanleytulip.

Some of my progress this weekend. And yes, I was thinking about finishing the quilting on a twin size quilt the same day I started so that I could drive it up to my mom before she left for her drive to Utah. And yes, that would have meant leaving at 5 am this morning to get it up there in time.

I would have done it too, if it weren't for those pesky kids, errr, lack of thread. Turns out that 1,200 yards is NOT enough for swirling all over this big quilt. So the order is in and I'll wait patiently for my thread order and finish this puppy.

Here's a few more pictures from the front where the quilting looks a little less random.

Grandpa's Crackle, originally uploaded by shanleytulip.

Grandpa's Crackle, originally uploaded by shanleytulip.

Oh, and yummmmmm, I'm back to these now -

Grandpa's Crackle, originally uploaded by shanleytulip.

All the extras

All the extras, originally uploaded by shanleytulip.

I've got the whole center piece together now and hope to add borders tonight so I can hopefully quilt it over the weekend. But as I was putting the blocks together, I realized that everything still on my wall was how much I added to the original kit. It's going to be big!

I also have a couple of small projects to work on/finish for gifts so hope to have that done this weekend too.

Sorry Buckminster Fuller

photo.JPG, originally uploaded by shanleytulip.

I'm just not a fan of triangles these days. There's an awful lot of matching, measuring, resewing, measuring, trimming and deciding that it doesn't matter in these triangles once I got done with the laser cut pieces.

I've finished all the mega blocks though (although there will not be holes like this picture shows).

A Traveler

A Traveler, originally uploaded by shanleytulip.

Not the usual thing I picture when I refer to a traveler but this will have to do for my next adventure since open containers are frowned upon at the airports in this state.

So I shall tuck my scissors in my checked luggage and stitch away on the plane while I plot how to get out of a bridal fair extravaganza that my lawyer, er, sister wants me to attend.

Bundle a Little Love

http://ibol.wordpress.com/I'll be taking advantage of some Labor Day sales this weekend to add needles, etc to a couple of bundles to send out on this project - Iraqi Bundles of Love (IBOL II). It's the second round for this project.

IBOL Website

Progress

Progress, originally uploaded by shanleytulip.

I've made some progress on a quilt for my grandpa. This much is a great kit from Quilter's Paradise. I normally don't buy kits but they had me at laser cut with this one. Throw in some swirls and I was hooked.

My grandpa is a big guy though so a mere lap quilt just wasn't going to be big enough. Enter the search for 2 fabrics the store didn't have at the time. The ladies there were very helpful though and we were able to track down the fabric lines (if not exact numbers) and I was able to find one online and one that worked well enough. Those that know me though know that well enough doesn't work for me. Hooray, the store got in more of the aqua blender and the project was saved!

The pieces up here are 12 blocks with a finished size of 12 inches. I'm adding on 18 more blocks and taking it from a 52 x 64 lap quilt to a 76 x 88 twin.

So far I've got all the new pieces cut (and did not once consider getting a laser cutter) so can start sewing tomorrow morning and sighing over the fact that I have to trim corners with this batch.

More Pieces, originally uploaded by shanleytulip.