Kristen's Quilt Completed

Wine of the Day: Cavit - Sauvignon Blanc

 I don't know what they think is happening but as soon as I turned on my sewing machine I had 3 very eager helpers ready and waiting...

Moments later, I had 3 very lazy helpers sleeping and watching...

So this is how I worked as I finished Kristen's Quilt for Baby #3.  We're getting close to Baby's arrival and still don't know the gender.  I was hoping Kristen would crack and open the envelope to reveal the gender but she held strong!  No matter though, because the quilt will look just fine in a baby girl or baby boy's nursery.  I even tested my theory.

Girl

Boy

After this lovely photo shoot I finished up by washing and drying the blanket and it is now ready for delivery!  I cannot wait to meet the little one and hope he/she enjoys the blanket as much as my little furry ones do.

Front

Back

Sleeping cats

Cheers,
k

 

 

Holiday Banner

Wine of the Day: Running with Scissors - Cabernet Sauvignon

This year for Christmas I decided to make a few presents that I gave people.  My favorite of these I gave to my mom.   The idea for the holiday banner came from a few different locations but I put my own twist on it. 

The letters are cut from felt and glued on with no sew type glue.  Felt worked well because it doesn't fray, but the burlap is another story.  I cut the squares out along one thread on each side so there wouldn't be any little pieces to fall off.  This wasn't enough though.  So, I used a no fray glue around all of the edges and it worked like a charm!

Sewing on the burlap proved easy enough though.  I just used a wide zig zag stitch to ensure that each stitch held onto the burlap.  A red ribbon was sewn onto the back of each piece to string them together.  I just looped the two ends of the ribbon to create a way to hang it.  And then of course I signed it.

After I made this one for my mom I decided to make some for a few other people that said "JOY".  I then wrapped and gave them out without taking any pictures. oops!

Where were the cats when this was happening???

Oh... just hanging out in the Christmas tree!  No big deal.  We're lucky the whole thing isn't on the floor already.

I hope everyone had a lovely and peaceful Christmas this year!  See you in 2013!!!

Cheers,
k

Baby Blanket Completed

Wine of the Day: DeLoach - Cabernet Sauvignon

The baby blanket is all finished and ready to be delivered to Wes and Kristy!  They still do not know that I made them a quilt so I am nervous and excited to have them open it. 

I am so glad that I went back and redid some of the quilting.  The fabric laid perfectly (well, almost perfectly) flat for me as I sewed on the edge.  The edging I decided to use is white to blend with the border so that the zebra print will stand out. Here is the finished product:

Front

Back

I think the fabric I used for the back was a good choice.  It has flowers in it without being super girly or too baby.   The color should be perfect to go in the nursery as well.  I know one baby that already loves it!  Here is Brutus taking his last snuggle before it goes into the wash. 

 Washed, dried, pressed one last time, and finally signed; the baby blanket is complete. You may notice that I signed this one 2013 when it was actually completed in 2012.  I consulted some crafty friends and the general consensus was to date it for the baby.  She will be arriving in January 2013, so that's the date I used.  I will be delivering it to the soon-to-be new parents this Thursday night at book club (which got rescheduled to Dec. 6, 2012).

kara

Signature: Adventures in Embroidery

Wine of the Day: Flying Fox - Viognier

I have been trying to come up with some sort of signature for my quilts ever since I finished my first quilt.  I looked into everything from sewing on a tag to simply signing the back.  Instead, I decided to embroider my signature.  This way it would be more finished looking than a fabric pen and I could do it in any color to match the quilt.  So here is what I originally came up with:

It's simple enough that I could easily adjust the size to fit the quilt.  I simply wrote a k on the fabric and then did a back stitch over it.  This seemed ideal too so that it is still in my handwriting.  I then moved on to the baby blanket and decided to add a heart like this:

Since it is a gift I wanted it to be more like "Love, Kara" than just a signature.  After consulting some fellow crafters, we decided that all quilts are made with love so I decided to incorporate the heart into all quilts, not just the ones given as gifts.  We also decided that they should really be dated too.  I picked a different color for the date so it would stand off as it's own piece and let the signature be separate.  I also used thinner thread for the date so it would be easier to read since it is so small.

So here it is; the official quilt signature!

First Quilt

My first quilt was designed to be a throw in my living room.  I went to Joann's and got all the necessary supplies for a beginner: rotary cutter, cutting mat, transparent ruler, all of it.  Fabrics were selected, money was spent, I was ready!  I bought this pattern online from FortheLoveDesigns on Etsy.  It looked simple enough; just straight lines right? Wrong!  Turns out there is an art to aligning and pinning the pieces just right.  Now, remember I was a beginner, but I will admit that I sewed quite a few pieces front to back rather than front to front.  Then, finally, there was progress.

It was pieced, it was batted (is that a thing?), it was backed.  Lucy loved it!  NOW comes the hard part; the edging.  I thought all of this was frustrating and time consuming (but still awesome), I was wrong again.  The edge was by far my least favorite part.  Until yesterday I honestly believed it was always that hard and people are just better at it than me.  Yep, still wrong.  I have now learned that I did the edging the hard way and that normal people actually sew on one side at a time rather than pinching and cursing and sticking your fingers with pins while trying to keep everything together and straight inside 2 sides of double fold bais tape.  See, we are learning things!

I finally finished it though. And what do you know... Lucy still loves it.



I love it too!  It looks great in my living room.  It is the perfect size for a throw.  I made it!  Yes, there are some mistakes but I prefer to think they are just quirks of a handmade quilt.  And, they most certainly provide lessons learned. So here's to the first adventure of many! 

Cheers,
kara