SewKatieDid

Because thread is the best glue

half square triangle quilt

::New Homes::

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I’ve got quilts in closets, quilts under beds, quilts on beds, quilts hanging in stores as class samples and two bowls full of quilts that are used daily in the living room.  Most made by me, some created by my Mom and a few tied quilts by Jeffrey’s Grandmother that he used as a kid.

I’m a true believer in quilts being used, so some of mine needed to find loving homes.

The baby cross quilt stayed somewhat local.  Safely delivered to a new baby in Spokane.  The new mother, a dear friend of mine is a true lover of fabric.

The free-motion orange peel quilting on this is so fun and the same that I used on the Leftovers Quilt below.

I don’t think I’ve ever meet a charm square quilt I didn’t like and all the extra 4.5″ squares from my Scrappy Sunshine magic number quilt needed a home.  Leftovers will travel back home to Northern Ireland with my niece Ella this month.

My sister-in-law Allison scored HST LOVE for her living room.  I’ve still got the similar Pantone Pop for myself.

The first Unknown Direction traveled to LA to live with Alissa’s new baby.

Roan’s remake of it now lives on his bed, so this quilt still is with me in a way.

I’m sure more will find homes as the pile increases again, but I do have a few that will live with me forever.  What do you do with most of your quilts?

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Flip Triangle Quilt Class

::Psychedelic Baby Quilt::

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My friend Laurel and I made it over to Island Quilter to retrieve my quilts from the exhibit.  I enjoyed viewing them one last time displayed together, but am so happy to have them back home where they belong.

I also snapped some photos.  In the rush to finish things up in time for exhibit I neglected getting a photo of Psychedelic Baby Quilt all bound.

I’ve got shot cotton, linen and Kona in this one, all leftover scraps.  The list of the materials can be found over at my Pantone Pop post.

The block is a mix of two quilts in the book.

Fractured.

and Swirling Medallion.

I really like the effect.  Not having a plan, just enjoying the process of sewing can lead to good things.

My leftover half square triangles with the linen that DIDN”T make it into Pantone Pop became the impetus for this quilt.  It wasn’t till the end that I thought I could turn it to be square rather than diamond.  I think it makes it look a bit more modern.

Washed it is a crinkly delight.

It kinda matches the flowers in my back yard right now.  Too bad the lilac flowers are gone.

and psssttt….a little bird told me about a sale:

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::Thanks for the Quilty Love::

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Wow everyone, thanks for the love on my Pantone Pop quilt.  I was able to battle the snow and get it to the shop as a sample for my Seeing Value Class coming up.

It seems that this quilt caught the eye of WordPress enough to make their Freshly Pressed page.

The quilt produced a flurry of questions so I thought I would address them here.

*Yes, it did snow and NO, I didn’t eat my quilt.

*Yes, I use equal parts of each color fabric.  I listed the colors in the original post.

*The key to perfect points for me is cutting down my half-square triangles, see here.

*Finished squares are 6″.

*I believe the Quilting Loft is kitting this fabric bundle up for sale.

*The arrangement is totally random.  After I finish the hts blocks I give them a shuffle and where they land is where they go.

*Information on how I make my dual layer quilt design wall is here.

*No, this quilt is not in the book.

*I’ll likely just quilt it in linear lines like I did for The HST LOVE quilt.  That will have to wait until I get it back from the shop.

*Need further information?  Come take the class!

We’ve dug out from the snow and are back on the usual program here in Seattle.  I’m just itching to show you all an adaptation of a quilt from the book, but will have to settle with just my family, that truthfully haven’t even taken notice of how cool it is.

I’m looking forward to a Sew-In on Friday night with the Seattle Modern Quilt Guild and quilting this puppy.

Here’s to Friday not coming soon enough!

 

::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!

::Lounge or Snooze?::

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Today Roan and I took a breather from the day to do some reading.  As I pulled a quilt up from the end of the bed onto us I realized that we don’t sleep under any quilts I make.

We use them on the couch and to cover up on a cold evening in the yard or for a quick snooze when the beds are made, but never for an all-night snooze fest.

I think for me it’s a weight thing.  I like a down comforter and lately with the weather it can stay on all year.

How about you all?

::Summer Visits::

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and gifting.

Family in town, no sewing, just fun.  But I’ve had some gifts building up.  Dad got a laptop cover as belated Father’s Day gift.

This is the second I’ve made.  I quite like Keyka Lou’s patterns and have a few more to try.

For my Mom and Sister-in-Law, roomy zip bags for traveling with their skivvies.

Clean:

With a lovely purple zip and this interior fabric that has been waiting for a home for a bit.  The lingerie print I adore and found on auction.  I’ll be making one for myself with it for my next travels.

Dirty:

Dark red just made sense.

Brother unfortunately has only gotten the tab for his Slurpee picked up.

I’ll find time through my students to sew this week.  I have a HST class on the books for Wednesday.

and Split Decision on Thursday.

Hope you are finding some time to sew this weekend.

::Twin Value Quilts::

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Twins.

One Value Quilt in a Zig Zag design for Baby Boy.

One Value Quilt in an off-set diamond design for Baby Girl.

Free-motioned zig zags are fun.

So is echoing a single flower.

Loads of medium, low contrast and a few spots that kinda lose it.  I like that.

All goodness.

Except for needing that picture of them together.

Go make yourself a Value Quilt with that overwhelming amount of fabric you’ve been hoarding.

Took these pictures a few weeks ago, and although the weather hasn’t been great, it looks a hell of a lot less dreary around here.

::Quilting Inspiration::

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A little dose of quilting inspiration for your day, one click away.

I’ve just learned of this site when they featured my HST Love quilt yesterday.

Big thanks!

This class is coming up!  Learn half-square-triangles and how value affects design.

::HST LOVE Done::

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I’m so in LOVE with this quilt.  Perfect for my half-square triangle class and value class coming up in a couple weeks.

One of my favorite quilts E-V-E-R for sure.  Maybe a hair behind Split Decision.

I did remove some of my first quilting and went with horizontal lines at 1.25″ apart.

It really allows the design to shine.  And while we are on the subject of design, I’ve been asked about the layout for this quilt.  There was no plan, seriously.  Make your half-square-triangles and then put them up on the design wall.  Don’t over think it.

However, if you want to play with value you could come up with some stellar designs.

I think I’ve found my go-to wedding gift for sure and already have a bevy of color combos nestled on my pin-board.

I was happy I used the Lush print for the back, it added a softness that can disappear with denser line quilting.  I finished it off with binding made from the same purple shot cotton that forms some of the triangles on the front.

Pretty plain Jane and pretty pretty.

Hope everyone has a great holiday weekend.   Don’t spend all your money on fabric sales.

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destash

quilting and sewing classes

::Half Rectangles or Something::

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I messed with Half Rectangles today, or at least that’s what I call them.

Has anyone else played with these?

Tucking them aside, but will play more later.  They do weird things.

I made some progress on Anything Goes.  The pictures are not good and I’m at a standstill.

When I stall out on the direction of an improvisational quilt design my general default solution is too make more blocks.  However, this involves buying more linen, so I might stick with the original design option above.

That sounds like I’m unsatisfied with it, but I’m not.  It’s that large neutral space.  I have to let it sink in my brain that the right quilting can transform that space into part of the overall design.  I know it will be simple quilting, but beyond that I’m lost.

Or I could just throw the fabric budget to the wind and start going in another direction with more blocks.  But wait, I already threw the budget to the wind…

Sewing with a friend tomorrow, and if I’ve learn anything from my collaboration with Jacquie, it has been that sometimes you need a new set of eyes to see the vision clearly.

I embrace that.

I’m trying hard to stick to my list of unfinished projects, but I’m really itchin’ to ditch it all.

I have a pile up of ideas and am in the mood for a sunny, picnic sort of Summer Love Quilt.

Oh, I think it already has a name.

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classes

destash

::Yes::

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Yes to horizontal line quilting.  It was looking like a ‘maybe.’

All other quilting designs just seemed too busy and the piecing lost its luster.  I’m setting HST Love aside for couch/sew down binding time and a date with the fourth season of Dexter.

Time to piece together Everything Goes.

Apparently I’m also saying yes to purple and green.

Monday’s looking good.

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destash

classes

::Mission Thread::

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Today while the sun shines I’ll quilt the HST Love quilt.  I think I’m going with straight horizontal lines, everything else seemed too much for the design.

I darted over to Bernina NW yesterday to get some light gray/purple quilting thread.

Bernina NW’s new space (right next door to the old in Northgate) is crisp and clean like their old space, but airy and larger.  My jaw must have been on the ground.

When I went to purchase my thread Glorianne made me an offer I couldn’t refuse for the whole box of Mettler quilting weight thread.

I almost peed my pants and actually was having one of those moments on the car ride home where you hope every light is red.  I just wanted to gaze at it all.

I cracked up after yesterday’s post that it is now all organized and contained.

I don’t think I would actually quilt a regular quilt with some of the less neutral colors, so I’m going to have to come up with some free motion ideas that purely makes up the quilt, no piecing required.  Maybe more 3’s the Magic Number Quilts.

Any ideas?

And speaking of thread, the new rave after Market is this Auriful thread that is suppose to make piecing heavenly.  It sure is silky and light.  I had to try it.  Bernina NW had a million colors.

Stay posted on that one.