SewKatieDid

Because thread is the best glue

baby quilt

On-Target Quilt

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Remember this quilt?

SEW KATIE DID*Psychedelic Baby Quilt

I showed and sold Psychedelic Baby at Quiltcon 2013.  It is still one of my favorite quilts and block workshops to teach.  I love blocks that provide so much design potential.

SEW KATIE DID/On Target Quilt

 I instantly wanted to recreate Psychedelic Baby a little differently, so I upcycled the leftover bits into a new quilt with a little different take.

I’ll call it On Target.

SEW KATIE DID*Vortex Quilt Detail

 Just as with any quilting I learned some things.

SEW KATIE DID/On Target Quilt

The amount of linen and shot cotton meant some stretching would occur and my choice of quilting didn’t help.  As I reached the smaller outer edge with my “V” things started puckering.  If I was to do it all over again I would stitch in the ditch between the blocks that create the “V” shape and then go back in between with the fill lines on the blocks.  This likely would have stabilized it a bit more.  I was also lazy on switching directions when quilting the same side and this certainly didn’t help.

But let’s not take things too seriously, it’s just a quilt.

SEW KATIE DID*Vortex Quilt Back Full

On the back I showcased an Alexander Henry print that I love.  This was all I had of it and I’m continuing on my path of using what I have to create quilt backs.

SEW KATIE DID*Vortex Quilt Back Side

SEW KATIE DID*Vortex Quilt

The binding I made twice.  I wanted to reproduce the feel of the original quilt and selected the light blue with out auditioning it.  Poor choice.  This quilt needed the drama of the dark purple.

SEW KATIE DID*On Target Quilt

(Thanks Rachel of Wooden Spoon for the photo;)

I finished it up just in time for Anja and Paul of Island Quilter to take it with them to Quiltcon for their booth.

This year was Quiltnon for me, but three of my quilts made it;)
SEW KATIE DID/Pigeonholed

AND I have another layout in process to add to my Psychedelic Baby Quilt Block workshop samples.

I’d think it might never end, but I’m officially D-O-N-E with this color way.

Happy Week Peeps!

(p.s. thanks to my friend Krista for being my quilt holder;)

::Working the Pile/2::

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Happy Monday Peeps and greetings from Palm Springs:)

palm springs baby;)

It so turns out that I managed with some help to have a finished quilt to show you along with my obligatory palm tree photo.  I’m happy I did because I haven’t been able to talk quilt all week with anyone;)

I can’t even tell you when I made it.  I guess it’s what you would call an ‘Oldie but Goodie’ in the UFO pile.

SEW KATIE DID:Sleepy Owl Quilt full

It’s been folded, refolded and moved.

SEW KATIE DID/HST LOVE AND PANTONE POP

It must have come about around the time I made HST LOVE and Pantone Pop.  Both very traditional quilts in block style, but I had fun mixing up the fabrics, picking the color way and giving them some random placement.  It all breaths some fresh air into those simple half-square triangle blocks that you can do so much with.

I’ve got a huge bucket list of ideas built off knowing this block and how you can twist it or add to it.

Well anyway, babies need quilts and this quilt needed a baby.

Sewkatiedid:Sleepy Owl Quilt Star Detail

It also needed a star center, because of course I wasn’t thrilled with what I originally picked AFTER I had sewn the whole thing together.  With my friend Sandie’s help we decided to fill it in with a corduroy print.

Sewkatiedid:Sleepy Owl Quilt Binding and Quilting detail

 Sandie quilted it up with the maze pattern and finished it with this lovely binding.   The binding and the star points in the Alexander Henry Heath add some texture without too much print distraction.

I never alone would have thought to go with the maze she picked and we both were so happy with how it turned out.  Collaborating on quilts for babies is so fun.

  The color way was inspired by my suitcase.

Sewkatiedid:Sleepy Owl Quilt Back Full

The back turned out amazing.  I’m still up for my challenge to myself of using fabric from my stash and left overs from the front.

Sewkatiedid:Sleepy Owl Quilt back detail

It’s made up almost entirely of a fine wale corduroy and a few left over half square triangles.  I’ve now made four backs with this goal and have loved them all.

Quilt is now with happy baby.  So fun to gift.

The pile of finished quilt tops is getting smaller!  I believe I have three complete quilt tops left to quilt and certainly a lot in pieces;)

Have a fun week.

Starry Owl Quilt

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Happy Monday Peeps and greetings from Palm Springs:)

palm springs baby;)

It so turns out that I managed with some help to have a finished quilt to show you along with my obligatory palm tree photo.  I’m happy I did because I haven’t been able to talk quilt all week with anyone;)

I can’t even tell you when I made it.  I guess it’s what you would call an ‘Oldie but Goodie’ in the UFO pile.

SEW KATIE DID:Sleepy Owl Quilt full

It’s been folded, refolded and moved.

SEW KATIE DID/HST LOVE AND PANTONE POP

It must have come about around the time I made HST LOVE and Pantone Pop.  Both very traditional quilts in block style, but I had fun mixing up the fabrics, picking the color way and giving them some random placement.  It all breaths some fresh air into those simple half-square triangle blocks that you can do so much with.

I’ve got a huge bucket list of ideas built off knowing this block and how you can twist it or add to it.

Well anyway, babies need quilts and this quilt needed a baby.

Sewkatiedid:Sleepy Owl Quilt Star Detail

It also needed a star center, because of course I wasn’t thrilled with what I originally picked AFTER I had sewn the whole thing together.  With my friend Sandie’s help we decided to fill it in with a corduroy print.

Sewkatiedid:Sleepy Owl Quilt Binding and Quilting detail

 Sandie quilted it up with the maze pattern and finished it with this lovely binding.   The binding and the star points in the Alexander Henry Heath add some texture without too much print distraction.

I never alone would have thought to go with the maze she picked and we both were so happy with how it turned out.  Collaborating on quilts for babies is so fun.

  The color way was inspired by my suitcase.

Sewkatiedid:Sleepy Owl Quilt Back Full

The back turned out amazing.  I’m still up for my challenge to myself of using fabric from my stash and left overs from the front.

Sewkatiedid:Sleepy Owl Quilt back detail

It’s made up almost entirely of a fine wale corduroy and a few left over half square triangles.  I’ve now made four backs with this goal and have loved them all.

Quilt is now with happy baby.  So fun to gift.

The pile of finished quilt tops is getting smaller!  I believe I have three complete quilt tops left to quilt and certainly a lot in pieces;)

Have a fun week.

::Somewhat Circular Hex::

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sewkatiedid/somewhat circular hexagon quilt

Regardless of my best intentions posting anything here gets pushed to the back.

I have a new season of lectures and workshops coming up and am always hoping to finish up at least one more sample for design options.  I love this practice as it allows me to reacquaint myself with a technique. Often I’ll gain perspective to share with my students that I didn’t originally think of.  Design wall time is invaluable to my process and a main focus of my workshops.  Leftovers from the original project are generally my go to, but more often than not, one project’s scraps merge into another project.

But it’s that desire for a finish that keeps me from here.  What I need to get over is always wishing to post that finished project.  Especially since I sew way faster in my head than real life.

So I think my intention for blogging this year is to focus on process AND post about it.

Marketing workshops is at the forefront of posting too and I wanna say I’m lucky that my classes fill as if late, but I also have to give myself credit that I’ve been working hard to figure out what people are inspired by, it’s not an accident.

sew katie did/somewhat circular hex

But if there’s a spot I like to make sure that I’m working on a sample. And that’s just what happened with this hex quilt.

There’s some quilting that needs to come out here and there, but I’m pretty happy with it. The trend and my love for dense quilting however isn’t fitting for the utilitarian use of baby quilts in my opinion, cardboard comes to mind, but we’ll see how it washes out.  I probably could have helped it out by selecting a type of batting that would be more supple instead of just grabbing a scrap that fit.

sewkatiedid/throwing stars

My To the Point workshop is full, but I’m working on a sample from the hex scraps for it.  They’re wee and currently being quilted.  Hoping for that finish today along with hanging sleeves/labels for Quiltcon quilts and squaring or at least picking out binding for the hex.

Thanks for reading, I’ve obviously got things to do;)

::Spanking New Baby Quilt::

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Baby shower (and baby) up and coming.  The baby, boy or girl, unknown.  My friend, like I, is one of the few that waits it out and like me she is likely to receive a load of yellow.

But no yellow by me.  Baby quilt here I come, or perhaps a whole cloth quilt is time runs out.

Of course the favorite bit for me is combining fabric.  If I had the room, not only would I be surrounded by padded (design) walls, but inspiring piles of fabric combinations.

So I’m thinking of messing with Magic Number Blocks since the deadline is looming.  Magic Numbers are a block building technique we touch on in Quilting Modern.

I hope to piece a few blocks in Magic Number fashion, but instead of recreating the block over and over like I did here for Scrappy Sunshine, I’m thinking to frame them in solids to save time.

Off to run and then work, but Sunday…sew, sew, sew!

::Close to Finished::

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I’ve made some major progress on two quilts in the past few days.

Anything Goes is quilted.  The vertical lines you all gave me the go on look awesome!  I didn’t go organic in their nature, but stick straight.

There are a few blocks that float off the edge of the quilt.  I created a binding with the same strip piecing as the blocks to complete the missing side.  I used the same technique showcased in Fresh Cut.

The front is mostly linen and the back a flannel in deep green.  I used a load of leftover strip piecing and one lonely block to finish it off.  It was a bear to square up in the end and I was happy I’m an over baster, because linen and flannel married like to move around a lot.

My only regret is not going a little further between lines.  The drape of the quilt with these two fabrics was so lovely and next time I’ll give those lines a little more breathing room to keep the softness.

This afternoon with the back door open and that robin singing, I had time to baste Psychedelic Baby.

I’ve got a quilting plan AND the day off tomorrow.

Life is good!

::Summer Pop Quilt::

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The name changed on this quilt.  I finished up the binding on Thursday during some waiting room time.  I was calling it Summer Effervescence, but ‘effervescence’ has been replaced with ‘pop’.

Three reasons for this:

1) Bubble quilting.  Super fun to do.  Jeffrey said he thought I was going to loose my mind doing it, but it’s kind of addicting.  Highly recommend it if you are a newbie to free motion.

2)  Pop Music. The waiting room solidified my distaste for Pop Music, so the word ‘Pop’ stuck in my head.

3) Soda Pop.  I actually drank not one, but two pops as we call it where I come from in one day.  This is unusual for me, but we went all American and had pizza for lunch and cheeseburgers for dinner and pop is the libation of choice with these foods.

The bubbles worked wonderfully on the flannel.  Pulling it out of the dryer was the most joyful experience.

I was concerned that the quilting canceled out the prints, but I actually ended up liking the effect.

By the end I certainly had my stitch length down, thank goodness for flannel, washing and drying to meld all those stitches together.

Plain ole solid binding worked out fabulously.  I think this is Kona Ice Frappe.

Now I need to vacuum up the dust, and LOOK sunshine!  Seattle has only had something like 74 minutes of 80 degree weather this year…polar opposite of the rest of the country eh?

I always like to do a little clean up before I move onto the next project.  It might look something like this.

Pulling from the strips scrap bucket.  It’s too balanced in its blue/orange.  I like to go more one color or another if it’s not scrappy.  Although, now that I’ve seen this wonderfulness I want to abandon it all together.

Do you have proportions of color you aim for or a formula that works for you when choosing prints?

::A Value Quilt of My Own::

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Wow, you all really came out of the woodwork on that last post!  It was delightful to explore some new blogs and I hope I didn’t miss anyone.

Don’t you wish everyone wanted to talk about quilts as much as us?

The quilt on the end of my bed received so much attention that I thought it was time I posted it.

It is the first quilt I’ve EVER made for myself back when I did the Value Quilt Quilt-Along using my Value Quilt Tutorial.

I’ve seen the same design recently on blogs as warm/cool.  From how I understand it, the same designs work with warm and cool half square triangles, because warm colors appear to move forward and cool colors tend to recede.  This contrast makes the design appear, but you still need value or the two triangles will appear blended.

You can learn a little more here.

My value quilt contains a load of larger prints and a high proportion of fabrics that would likely fall under the category of medium value if judged on their own.

Larger prints will generally have a mix of light, medium and dark values, and mediums next to darks or lights will create a less defined line.  These two elements created a quilt where the contrast is low, creating a less defined or blended design.

I also turned some squares to make some of the diamonds one color, ignoring value, which skewed the design in some areas.

I love that it showcases my fabric stash, especially since some of these prints are long gone.

But what I wanted to mention, due to all the comments on the last post was the quilting that was done by the fab and artistic Angela Walters (Quilting Is My Therapy).  I was able to meet up with Angela last Summer when I was visiting Jacquie.  The quilting is dense and amazing.  I only wish I would have made the quilt larger.

From the back the quilting really shines.

The flannel back really showcases it nicely.  I’m glad I only put a few spare hsts on the back.

I chose this print for the binding and never auditioned or doubted it.

My friend Chara did some headshots for the book and we thought it would be fun for some photos even though it didn’t make the final run.


(photo by Chara Michele Photography)

It’s perfect, in every way.  And best of all, It’s mine all mine!

::Good-Bye Junuary::

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First day of Summer and the sun has finally made an appearance in Seattle.

I did make it outside to work in the yard a bit and opened up the doors to mop so I could baste my appropriately named Dreamin’ of Summer Quilt.  Although it is made of flannel so maybe I should stick the word Seattle in its name somehow.

The blocks are left overs as I am trying hard to stick it out on finishing up dropped projects around here.  I think I’m done though, my brain is bubbling with too many new ideas.

Effervescent bubbles were suggested as quilting and I think I might start bigger at the bottom and go smaller as they raise and blow away.  That’s theory though, so don’t quote me.

Seeing as last day of school is today, sewing will take a back seat and slow down.

I loaded up the classes however, cause a girl has got to get out.

Hope you’re all getting some sewing time too.

 

::Zip It Up::

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This past week I’ve been working on getting samples done and Spring classes on the books.  I’ve made many a zip pouch and thought a class would be fun.

They make such great gifts that every sewist should know how to make a professional looking lined pouch.

I figured while I was at it, I would kill two birds with one stone and get the end of the year teacher gifts out of the way.

Last weekend digging through Kathy Mack’s scrap boxes at the Pink Chalk Studio I came up with the scraps to create these beauties!

The Lecien is a new favorite for sure and the trip to her studio inspired me to pull out the covered button bin.  Thanks Kathy!

Again, I dabbled in making Amy Butler’s Stash and Dash bags.  The pattern is just so finicky, or maybe it’s just me?

I actually took the large one apart and put it back together AGAIN before I was happy with it.  When using home decor they say, “no” to stabilizer, but I say, “yes.”

The set will go to my sister-in-law with Ethan and Ella’s quilts.

Off to sew.

::Tilted::

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Love how the quilting turned out on this one!  I didn’t really have a plan and was a bit worried.

Just wish I could get the plum sashing (it’s not brown) around the blocks to photograph correctly.  Brushing up on my photographic skills is quickly plummeting on the list.

I got ahead of myself and ordered some more Smitten Kitten for backing when I found it and then of course switched to flannel.

Which the flannel of course had its own spot on the front of the quilt too.

Some other favorite prints nestled in.

Including the wee block, which someone commented earlier that,  “You  just couldn’t help yourself, could you?”

Oh, and the binding dilemma.  Here are the contenders.

I almost went stripe and chickened out at the last minute.

I think I feel a Beginner Quilting Class coming on for this one, plus a lap size with chambrays, but a little less predictable.

Next on the list is quilting this big boy, which isn’t going so well.  I might be getting friendly with my seam ripper.

And then onto its Value Quilt sister which I’m as equally puzzled with how I’m going to quilt.

Of course there is a new pile of fabrics brewing too.

Thanks everyone for supporting my destash!  I had to shell out some cash to have my passport expedited for our weekend in Vancouver and of course support my own fabric indulgence.  I pulled a ton from the stash last night to list when I get back.

See you next week!

::Viewing It Differently::

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Do you ever make a quilt that you just love, but it sits waiting for the perfect person to come along and as it ages you start to not like it as much as you previously did?

I resisted the urge to create another quilt for my friend Laura’s baby.  I originally posted the Butter Block quilt earlier in the year.  It was the first ‘on point’ quilt I’d ever created.  I love the colors.  I love the print fabrics, and I of course especially love that it contains flannel (borderline problem).

Now that it is mailed I am appreciating it more and more.

I have just a bit left of some of these favorite fabrics.  Sometimes it’s hard to use the ones you just adore.

I’m so pleased it has a happy home.