The North Carolina Museum of History has a wonderful exhibit called QuiltSpeak: Uncovering Women’s Voices through Quilts that will be there until early March 2020. There are some stunning quilts on display, so if you are in the Raleigh area, you will definitely want to check it out.
The exhibit features about 40 quilts, along with a story of the woman who created it. Here’s a few pictures to give you and idea of the type of craftsmanship on display.
Drop and Give me 20!
Quilting Hottie Haven is hosting a fun event on her blog called “Drop and Give Me 20!”
The goal is to quilt for at least 20 minutes a day in the month of February. I am pleased to announce I will be joining her and her merry band in this commitment and hereby post my official statement:
I, Heather Chandler, who is drowning in UFOs am joining Quilting Hottie Haven’s second annual DaGMT event, and pledge to quilt for 20 minutes every day of the month of February, 2013. In doing so I hope to clear out my sewing room so I can start another round of unfinished projects. I also want to thank Beth Helfter (THE Quilting Hottie) for coming up with this brilliant concept and inspiring me to join.
I’ve already put together a list of what I hope to finish. It is very ambitious, but if I complete at least four things on this list, I will consider it a HUGE success. I will tyr to post regular progress reports each week. In no particular order, the projects are:
*Note that this has been a UFO since Jan 2011!
If you’re interested in joining us, head over to Quilting Hottie Haven’s blog for more information. She has some fabulous giveaways!
Keep it thimble!
I can’t believe it’s almost the end of January! This year I am focusing on finishing projects that have been 90% finished for a few years. So far I’ve put the binding on three quilts and have prepped three other quilts for the longarm quilter. In between finishing projects, I am doing smaller projects that can be finished in a few days.
This is the Pineapple Pinkeep from a pattern by Sue Spargo. I saw this pattern years ago and always liked it, but never made it. During one of my thrift store visits, I found this beautiful brass candle bass for 3! When I saw the base, I knew it would be perfect for the Pineapple Pinkeep.
This project was a lot of fun to put together. Picking out the wool and buttons to use was the best part. I also spritzed the wool with some walnut crystal spray so it wouldn’t look too bright (especially on the leaves). The pineapple is the perfect way to “welcome” in the New Year!
Keep it Thimble!
I had a class with Liberty Rose yesterday and we made this Santa Claus pillow. The face is embroidered with one strand of floss and a silver floss was used to get the twinkles in his eye. When the face and other parts were stitched down, a bit of stuffing was added to make him “pop” off the background. I added the “ho, ho, ho” on the side since he wasn’t quite centered by himself.
What Christmas projects are you trying to finish up before the holidays?
Keep it thimble!
I finally finished this project! It a very colorful wool table topper for my kitchen table. The pattern originally appeared in the Summer 2012 issue of Primitive Quilts and Projects, but it was a tote bag. Liberty Rose had a great idea to turn it into a table topper, which has a lot less stitching.
I love the bright colors and it will look perfect in the kitchen! My son really wanted me to add a pumpkin this, but I was able to talk him out of it. Since I already had the bright orange carrots, I thought a pumpkin might be a bit much. What do you think?
Keep it Thimble!
Only 128 more days until Christmas! Normally at this time of the year, I am thinking about Halloween and working on fall projects, but let’s take a quick detour to Christmas today. I have a whole stack of UFOs sitting near my work table, and I am slowly working through them. Today I finished up some wool Christmas ornaments that I started 2 years ago!
This is the “Trimmings” pattern from Wooden Spool Designs (ppst – the pattern is on sale at her website). It’s a great way to use up wool scraps. They also make lovely gift tags and teacher gifts.
Keep it Thimble!
Wow, the summer is almost gone and I still have so much I wanted to accomplish. However, I had a great summer so I’m not complaining. I promise to get back to more regular posts this fall. Everyone deserves a summer break, don’t they?
In order to get inspired for writing up some new patterns and tutorials, I decided I needed a little inspiration. The sewing room is looking a bit drab because I haven’t made the curtains yet (which will be in a very vintage and cheery looking Minnick and Simpson fabric). So I decided to create a sewing machine cozy!
The tutorial is from Strawberry Patches and I figured this would be the best way to bring in a dash of cheer and inspiration to the room. Once the cover was completed, it seemed like it was missing something, so I decided to applique my favorite sewing slogan on it – and voila! – a constant and fun reminder of how to approach life.
For the applique, I used Steam a Seam 2, which is double-sided fusible web. I cut out the letters, fused them on, and then did a basic zigzag stitch around the edges to hold them in place. I love how it turned out!
Keep it Thimble!
Which do you prefer – hand or machine applique? Machine applique is faster, and if you get your machine settings right, you can get that hand-appliqued “look.” Hand applique looks nicer, especially if your stitches are small and neat, but it takes more time to do. This method is also portable, but it can be hard to do in places where the light is poor or there is limited space.
This is my first non-wool applique project and I am experimenting with both the hand and machine method. I think both methods look fine, especially when you are not looking at it closely, but so far I have enjoyed the process of hand applique better. It’s just very soothing to sit down in a chair and work on this in the evenings when all is quiet. What do you like to do?
Keep it Thimble!
First off, here’s my monthly stash reduction report for February 2012:
As you can see, I had a much better month then January, since I actually used more fabric than I bought. My overall net went down by 1 yard, so surely by the end of the year my net fabric used will be running in the negative (that’s the goal).
I also had time to finally finish two pillow kits that I’ve had for at least 4 years! The first is a cute little wool bunny – perfect for Spring. This kit is from a LQS (local quilt shop), and I think the owner of the shop drew the bunny pattern. This is wool applique on top of one of those colorful cotton dishtowels. The trim is a cream colored fringe that sets off the pillow perfectly.
The second pillow is from a Crabapple Hill pattern (I think it was a freebie pattern she offered a long time ago). It is stitched with Red, White, and Blue perle cotton. I love the fireworks!
What projects have you been able to complete this month? What are you working on for Spring?
Keep it Thimble!
I always have a few wool applique projects in process at any one time. I usually cut out all the wool pieces, get the embroidery floss, and the put everything in a Ziploc bag so it can be worked on later. They are great to stitch on in the evening when watching TV or just hanging out. As you can imagine, there are a few Ziploc bags sitting in my closet!
Sharon of Liberty Rose has a great idea for organizing all these items! This project notebook features wool applique on the front and inside cover (so you have a place to keep your needles and pins) and it pretty easy to sew together (I plan to post a tutorial about how to cover the notebook sometime before the end of the year). The notebook contains zippered pouches that are the perfect size for carrying all your project supplies.
The notebook is standard 3 Ring binder. I ironed fusible fleece on my stitching fabric so that the cover is more durable (especially since it will be used a lot). I did some basic applique on the front and and inside cover.
I didn’t go too crazy with the embroidery embellishments, since the main purpose is functional, not decorative. My embroidery time is better spent finishing up the wool crazy block that was started a year ago! A pocket on the back inside cover can carry larger pattern books that won’t fit in the pouches.
Now, when traveling, I just take out a zippered project pouch, throw it in the suitcase, and am good to go. Talk about Keeping it Thimble!
In other news, look for details in the next week or so on my first published pattern. In the meantime, here are some sneak peeks:
Keep it Thimble!
Keep it Thimble 