Quilt out of my box with 'The Quilt Show' Challenge - Episode #105

Creativity- that can be really tough sometimes and that is what I have been facing with this challenge. While getting myself ready for this I thought really hard about what I wanted out of this challenge. The most important thing was to just try something that would be a challenge and out of my comfort zone. Barbara Olson  on 'The Quilt Show' Episode 105 was very inspiring. Her flowers are vibrant and alive! Big prints and big color and not things I even have in my stash! So I went hunting in my fabrics and found this bright, striped 1-1/2 yard piece that I have no idea why I even bought...it must of been a crazy moment. So I thought maybe I could do a flower just from this... it is full of color. 

The next step was to draw my own flower. After many sketches I settled on this one and enlarged it a bit.

So far so good! Then I started looking at that fabric and wondered what I was even thinking! But this is a challenge...so next was grain lines and then I decided to fuse everything and use thread to enhance it all a bit. 

Before I show the finished flower I  must say that this was challenging. I really, really like my comfortable box! And my life is quite stressful right now so it is hard to let that go to create and I am not sure I managed that at all but I tried. Most importantly during this process I was not liking this at all but I kept going and kept an open mind and in the end I am mostly happy. So I learned to keep going and maybe something great will be there in the end or maybe not. Or maybe it won't be great in your eyes but wonderful in someone else's. And I also learned that there are many ways to be creative. There is no right way- you just need to dive in and keep an open  mind. Not easy sometimes.

So here is the finished piece- not quilted and I am not planning to.

 

And I know what I am doing with all the leftovers... a pineapple quilt!

The next episode (#106 with Denise Labadie) I will be skipping because there is no where local and easy to pick up the supplies I would need but someday I will probably come back to this one because it looks like fun.

So the next challenge is 'The Quilt Show' Episode 107. 

Happy Stitching everyone!

Testing the Iron

I'm home! So after cleaning up my sewing room I thought I'd better test my new iron that I had picked up at the hobby shop.

I tested to see if it would iron out the wrinkles, press open a seam, press seams to one side and iron on freezer paper.

I tried a medium heat setting first but wasn't happy with that so I turned up the heat to almost maximum. Then it was hot!

It did ok on the wrinkle test. I pulled out a scrunched scrap from my scrapbox and it did not too bad. It didn't get rid of every wrinkle but I spritzed it with water and it was wrinkle free in no time. So far so good!

Then I took some 2"square scraps to sew together. Here is my seam pressed open...I loved how the irons' pointy tip zipped right through that seam. It was a nice clean press.  Even better! I sometimes like to press seams open especially on little quilts so I can already see that the iron will be useful.

Next was the test to press seams to one side...it was ok...but I'll use my regular iron for this task. The larger the area to press the less well it worked. When I started pressing seams that were overlapping it didn't have the heat to get a really flat seam.

Here is a closeup and it's fine...but...

Finally I ironed on some freezer paper and it worked well for that. It would be really great when doing small pieces. With a big iron they sometimes get caught and get turned upside down. I don't think this would happen with this little iron.

Now what about the product itself? It is definately a man tool. There is nothing pretty about it. And it has some things I really don't like. It's handle stays nice and cool but...if you touch ANY other part of it while it's hot then you'll be hot too. That includes the dial to regulate the heat setting. Ouch! And it includes the metal section of the handle. If your hand slips down or if you reach out your finger for more leverage (without thinking about it!) then you'll have a hot little finger. And one more thing..the little stand is HOT too!

I also learned that I missed my steam..I know many people don't use steam when pressing seams for a quilt but I am a careful presser and I LOVE steam. For me it makes a difference.

So will I keep using it? Sometimes...when I am working on a small quilt where I am pressing seams open I will and when I want a little iron next to me at my sewing machine I will. And it might be useful for paperpiecing as well.  But for general use I won't use it too often. I am a little disappointed.

So now I will be starting the next challenge...`The Quilt Show` Espisode 105

Happy Stitching!

I've finally begun!

It was 15 years ago and I had been quilting for just a few years and I HAD to have this book! I really wanted to make the 'Chesapeake Rose' quilt. I seem to recall it was a bit of an obsession.  My Mom and Dad looked everywhere and finally found it for me. I'm not sure now but I think it was a birthday gift.

Well guess who never started the quilt...that's right- me!

Until now.

I decided to do it a bit scrappy. Each block will have one green and one dark rose/red but it will be different for each block. I am using the same background fabric for all the blocks. I may use a different background for the borders though.

Here is my first block done by my prefered method of applique which is freezer paper ironed to the back and basted before I lay my pieces down. I really like to see exactly what it will look like before I start sewing it down. Well this block is big- 24" square and it's a lot of freezer paper between my fingers. I think for the next block I will have to use a different method so I can get rid of the bulky paper.

I am just happy that I am finally working on it.

And now for some show and tell.

I saw Alex Anderson using one of these irons on 'The Quilt Show' and I happened to be in a hobby shop this week and found one. I can't wait until I am home to put it through testing. I love the size. I find those little tiny irons are way too small and don't really press anything well. This one is small enough to sit right beside my sewing machine and big enough to do what I need. The point looks like it will make pressing seams open a breeze. When I am back home in a week or so I'll do a complete test and let you know what I think!

Happy Stitching!

Quilt out of my box with 'The Quilt Show' Challenge - Episode #104 Part 2

I am finally finished! The finished quilt is 22-1/2" square. The fun in this challenge really was the design and to see what you can do with coloring, flipping and rotating. When I had everything cut out and had started sewing I wished I had used a slightly darker green but I didn't have enough red and yellow to recut so I kept it as it was. Now that it is done I like the green just fine! Now I need a design wall where I can take pictures straight on. This quilt was on the floor so it looks a little crooked.

Now I am on to the next challenge - 'The Quilt Show - Episode #105' .

I'll be away from my sewing room for a week or two so this one will take a while. While I'm gone I'll try to post about a few other projects that I have on the go...it's really more than a few!

Happing Stitching!

Quilt out of my box with 'The Quilt Show' Challenge - Episode #104 Part 1

In 'The Quilt Show' episode #104 the challenge is mainly about design and color. I am not sure how Cheryl Malkowski managed to stop making quilts with this simple and versatile block! I started playing on EQ6 and soon found out that the possibilities truly are endless. The challenge turned out to be when to shut my computer down.

I did make sample blocks in both the 6" and 3" size. I really liked how Cheryl constructed them. I often use the same idea to make a block a bit bigger and trim it to size (it only works on the simple blocks though).

Here are just a few of the designs I produced with the help of EQ6. I colored them all in greys mainly because I had to decide on just one to reproduce and I didn't want color to affect my choice.

These are my favourites of the bunch. So which one do you like the best? Which one will I re-create?

Stay tuned for the reveal ! I have all the blocks made now and just need to sew it all together.

Happy quilting!