Handsewing at the Cottage

This year I took some hand sewing to the cottage to work on....If I was out on the dock I would read, but if I was up on the porch I would hand sew....it is a peaceful (piecefull) thing to do. I made 11 blocks, each block is 5 inch square finished, and then started putting some sashing in... 4 blocks....then 6 blocks...

then 9 blocks...the others ask me what is it that you are working on...

I do not know, but I will let you know when it is done.....

Nine Patch Mystery Solved!

Do you think it needs borders? I am thinking in the black fabric, if I can find it again.

The card, the couple, the quilt...

Inside the card, I added a hard copy of the label, should the one on the quilt wear out after washing.

Amanda and Dan very happy with their new quilt!

I could not find the room at my own place for such a big quilt so took these photos on the bed at my parents' place. King size quilt on queen size bed. The intended bed has a foot board so I did not make this quilt hang a lot on the bottom.

Hawaiian Punch Label attached!

Yep! it is all bound and label attached, ready for presentation on Sunday! For the label I used Avery's Printable Fabric sheets, that I bought at Staples. They printed up real nice but they did not stick fully when I tried ironing it on....I must remember to make the label before quilting next time.! and it is pretty thick to hand stitch the sides on for extra protection....so I came up with the idea to frame it in fabric and iron it on in the middle and applique the "frame" on. I really like the results! I also created a QR code that will bring you back to all my posts on my blog about the quilt, a sort of unique copyright protection. I am going to design a card with a hardcopy of the QR code in case the label becomes worn after washings.

I would like to thank Cathy Shepherd from Eagles Wings Quilts for the lovely job of machine quilting! Click on the above link and you can read about the machine quilting on her blog.

4 more strips!

Nine Patch Mystery Progress Report

I have finished nine of these blocks! and managed to sew one strip of three :

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Hand sewing progress report

Summer hand piecing

My sewing room is too hot in the summer, so I like to have some hand work to do. I received a whole bag of pre-cut plaid strips at a retreat, but have not done anything with them. 

I chose Bonnie Hunter's Nifty Thrifty from Scraps & Shirttails. I've adjusted the size to what I have on hand. I pre-cut my squares and away I go. One block takes an hour or so, just the time between supper and movie....there is no hurry for this project it takes as long as it takes, I will get it done whenever, and eventually it will be a gift or charity quilt.

It's at the quilter's!

My T-shirt Quilt is Done!

What is black and white and sleeps on quilts?

Conan!

With Gwen's final Beaver Island Quilt Retreat coming up, I thought I should finish up a few projects I started at the retreats. I found my t-shirt quilt, all sandwiched and basted, ready to be quilted. I never got around to quilting it as I just didn't know how to quilt it. For 3 years it was in the cupboard...so just to finish it, I went with some simple "organic line quilting". All of wednesday I spent machine quilting, took a break, came back and there is Conan all curled up snoozin'! so cute! working on the binding hoping to finish it tonight!

Nine-Patch Mystery Quilt

Spoiler Alert if you are participating in the LFQG 9-Patch Mystery Quilt!
 
Step one: buy 2 light and dark fabrics. I bought these last year in Elk Rapids.

Step 2: make lots of these, squares, rail fence, hour glass, half square triangles

Step 3: make 20x 9-patches in the designated colour for the month and trade with the other participants. We did this at our guild meeting each month.

Step 4: Now start putting them together in this formation:

 and more strips according to the diagram:

Step 5: arrange in a pleasing fashion:

Step 6: sew together...ok not quite there yet! still having fun arranging them in a pleasing fashion!

I think I have kept it sufficiently vague as I do not have the right to publish the instructions for this mystery quilt, but if you think your guild might want to try this mystery quilt contact Cathy at Eagles Wings Quilts.  It was a lot of fun, quite a bit of work as completed it will make a full size quilt!

You have got to be kidding!

This is one of my pet peeves: copyright gone stupid! I think if you manufacture fabric you have got to expect some people will make things out of said fabric and may even sell a few. what is next copyright on blank paper do paper manufacturers need to get a cut out of the novel you have written or give you permission? what about the thread we use, or the sewing machine we produced it on?

City Harbour done!

 working on binding!

 nice neat corners!

all done!!!

Joseph Low, meet Jessica Hogarth

I picked up some fabrics by Jessica Hogarth on a recent shopping trip just because it reminded me of animation and illustration from my childhood years, in particular this one:

I bought a few matching fabrics and this one from the same line with these cute birds:

I played with my fabrics and came up with a sort of slash and sew design:

but I was stuck at the green border where to go from here? but in my internet search for cool album covers I came across this one by Joseph Low:

Omg! everything old is new again! the style of drawing is so similar to Jessica Hogarth, don't you think....and do you recognize the art style? Apparently Joseph Low is a Caldecott winner for a children's book called Mice Twice and was a frequent cover artist for The New Yorker magazine between 1940-1980.
....but I digresss! this album cover inspired me to play with a black and white background, from this:

to this! The converging lines remind me of the opening credits to North by Northwest (Saul Bass) and the added touch of The Birds fabric make this the perfect Alfred Hitchcock tribute don't you think?

 

Now I have to figure out how to quilt it!

Homage to the square

My husband collects vinyl. Records, that is. We have been spend a lot of time at used record shops when we go on vacation. I like to check out fabric and quilt shops and he likes the used record stores. I have found a new way to enjoy my time in the record shop, checking out the album covers! Many of them are quite inspirational from a quilting perspetive! I have come across quite a few artists that I like and want to collect.

It started with Saul Bass:

 He designed everything in the 1960's, really. ok exaggeration! He was a graphic designer famous for such iconic logos as Kleenex, Quaker Oats, United Way,  and Dixie cups. He did title sequences and posters for movies such as North by Northwest, It's a Mad,Mad World, Man with the Golden Arm, and Anatomy of a Murder. I think he is one of the most copied designers ever.

 

This stuff makes me want to run to the sewing machine and make bright bold colourful quilts!

Then I discovered S. Neil Fujita, another designer, best known for the cover to the novel The Godfather.

I soon discovered jazz is where it is at for inspirational album covers!
Jim Flora:

(is it just me or do I see a future Laurel Burch here)


 Then I discovered Command Records and Josef Albers

see previous post, I already made that quilt!

does this not remind you of one of blogger's early templates?

broken nine-patches?!

I am now reading Josef Albers A Retrospective. It turns out he is known for Homage to the Square.

There is nothing more quilty than that!