Archive for August, 2010

August 30th, 2010

Quilt for Dad

by Julie Hirt

Finished this up yesterday!   I wanted more classic colors for my Dad’s quilt and found Holly Taylor Classics for Moda in a layer cake.  My Dad loves fishing and lives on a lake so these fabrics were perfect.  It took me a while to decide which design to make… I wanted it kind of manly so went with this pattern.

First I went through and paired up each dark fabric with a lighter fabric. Using a tip I saw by Missouri Star Quilt Co for Fast & Easy Pinwheels I put them right side together and sewed around all edges. Then I cut from corner to corner and ended up with a light triangle and dark triangle sewn together.  After they were all done it was just placing them in the design I wanted.

Since I’m a little crazy I had also divided the stacks in red, blue, green and black – then after they were cut I put the 4 cuts into stacks.  So each 1/4 of the quilt has the exact same fabrics and I knew the colors would be more evenly spaced out.  You can actually see 5 of each color block if you divide the quilt along the middle and across.

There is a 3″ border and the binding is in a black design.  I didn’t feel like doing the stipple style of quilting for these so I ‘stitched in the ditch’ around the diamonds.  This turned out roughly 56″ x 66″ if I remember correctly.

The quilts for Tori & Liz are still in progress – I have to work on those when they aren’t around.

August 22nd, 2010

Cluster Bag

by Julie Hirt

I didn’t really feel like sewing much this week but I did work on this.  Just wanted to crochet something quick and not get started on a big project.

I was inspired by A Pensive Adagio‘s pink tote.  The pattern can be found here.

To be honest I had some problems with it. I made the first round of clusters incorrect because the how-to isn’t at the beginning (it was a whole sentence down. How dare they!). Unfortunately I’m not one to read ahead – I just jump in.  This time I jumped in the wrong way. Luckily it wasn’t that much to pull out.  Then I ended up with 44 clusters rather than 40…  and for the handle I made a little adjustment.  Other than my own mistakes which made the pattern more difficult, I think it’s a good project.  I’d like to double the size next time and maybe work in a different type of handle. I’m not sure how much weight these will hold but it certainly looks cute.

It’s not something I’ll carry it around, I just enjoy making things so I’ll probably give it to my niece or one of the girls.   The flowers I added are pretty simple:  Chain 2 and join. 10 sc in the loop.  In the first sc you will *sc, 2 dc and ss. ss in the next sc.  Repeat 4 times from *.  You’ll end up with 5 petals.  The red flower I had 12 sc’s in the loop and ended up with 6 petals.

August 16th, 2010

City Weekend Baby Quilt

by Julie Hirt

I am SO in love love love with these fabrics.   It’s the City Weekend line by Liesl Gibson for Oliver + S for Moda (that’s a mouthful).

I’m still working on the Make Life quilts for Tori and Liz, but when this fabric came in the mail on Friday…  I had to make something with it.  Immediately. It’s probably my favorite fabric ever and I can’t wait for yardage to become available this fall. I may try to make a duvet or some skirts and shirts for the girls. Or just buy a bunch of fabric to admire!

Since I only ordered one charm pack I had limited options for a quilt. I decided to make a baby quilt using the tutorial on Sew, Mama, Sew! for the Charm Squares Baby Quilt by Elizabeth Hartman of Oh, Fransson!   This makes my 4th finished quilt.

I used Kona Ash for the edging, white for the sashing and a light aqua cotton for the back. The remaining charms were pieced together for a little strip along the back.

Machine quilted using free-motion in a stipple pattern.  It’s freshly laundered – heavy on the fabric softener and is all nice and crinkly.

I seriously can’t get enough of this fabric!

Please ignore the grass! Our lawn has lost the battle against the heat wave we’ve been having this summer.

August 6th, 2010

Here she is….

by Julie Hirt