Valentine's Day Patterns

I go through long stretches where I just don't feel like sewing - then, I get the bug and can't stop. Since moving to a tiny (I can't emphasize that word enough) apartment in Salem, I haven't really had the wherewithal to work on much, even though fully half of my new living space is set up for quilting. But, as with most things, once I force myself to sit down and work on something, I can't stop until it's finished.

Valentine's Day is coming up and I wanted to get a few new patterns out there and ready to go and since I am the animal applique king (self proclaimed), I went straight for the applique and decided to make these two quilts...

I found the images of the animals and they just screamed out to be immortalized. I was a little hesitant to put a skunk on a quilt until I remembered this picture of me as a 1 year old...

Me @ 1 year old

 And I figured that if my mother could dress me in skunks, it would be fine for a quilt. And, if I do say so myself, they came out very well. I've finished the tops of both (and got rid of some of that "Love" fabric that's been haunting me since a certain post-Valentine's sale at my local fabric store 4 years ago - it seemed like a good idea at the time). Both of them will be completed this (thankfully, long) weekend.

And since my applique patterns don't sell as well as my pieced patterns, I also plan on having a pieced Valentine's pattern up by Tuesday. I'm only going to make the baby quilt as a sample, because that's all the floor space I have and I always bind on the floor - so much easier.

Wishing everyone a happy (and productive if you want it to be) weekend.

Baby Quilt w/ 6" blocks

Twin Quilt w/ 6" blocks

Tangled Up in Blues

I have always feared blues... not blues as in sadness, the actual color. Matching blues is all hard and stuff. There are so many different undertones and shades that finding complimentary blues is a headache. But, I decided to confront my fears and designed a throw that would incorporate five different blues.

I was getting ready to take a hand appliqué class at my local quilt shop, so I came up with this quilt and went in for fabric help. Usually I can stand in the doorway of a fabric shop, scan, and see exactly what I need (and then I buy an extra $100 worth... because obviously I'm going to need it later), but since blues were involved, I asked the nice ladies for help.

I should stop here and say that I've been in quilt shops that have treated me like dirt. Being a guy who quilts has given me a pretty good taste of what women have had to deal with when they take their cars to less than enlightened mechanics. However, the women at Cambridge Quilt Shop have always been wonderful.

I found five great blues and a very black black for the appliqué. Then the appliqué class was canceled because I was the only one who signed up. I could have just learned it from youtube but I was annoyed enough that I just set the project aside for a while (read that as "about a year").

By the time I got back around to it, I had already made a few patterns to sell and realized that the 32 pages it would take to make the appliqué pattern probably wouldn't fly. I also realized that a bed quilt pattern would sell better than a throw, so I ditched part of my original design and increased the size to make it a double quilt.

Since I bought quite a few cones of white thread at my last quilt show, I went ahead and did heavy quilting in all of the white areas. And, apparently my recent aversion to borders also applies to bindings because the only way I could see this was with a white binding. I didn't want the pattern to be blocked in, but to look like it goes on and on.

Another gift from my neighbor

If you read my blog, you might remember that my 90 something year old neighbor is cleaning her house and decided to give me her sewing things as she runs across them. This is great because she's promised me a couple of 100 year old quilts, when she gets around to the cedar chests they are in. But so far, I was given this sewing box a couple of months ago...

Now, she's given me a lot of appliquéd stars that her aunt made before she passed. I love the fabrics and assured her I could do something with them which made her incredibly happy. 

But when I got home and looked at the stitching... I had some second thoughts. They are not very well constructed.

The points are a mess and I just can't take them all apart and redo them, but I'm committed. I've been thinking that I might be able to appliqué a circle or something over the offending part in the center. And since the hand-appliqué class I was supposed to take today was cancelled, I need something to practice on anyway. I thought about sashing them and making her a lap quilt out of these, but she keeps her house at a balmy 85 degrees all winter, so I'm not sure that's the best option. If any of you have suggestions on how to fix the structural issues or, in the bigger picture, what to do with 42 of these 7.5" stars, I would appreciate any feedback.