Choosing a new project

I just finished quilting (still hand stitching the binding down) a quilt for my daughter, and now it's time to begin thinking of something new for my young man. I've seen some blue and brown quilts floating around the blog world, and it seems this would be just the right combination for my teenager.

I saw this quilt on Pinterest, fell in love with it and immediately downloaded it. I thought the pink and brown could easily be switched out for blue and brown. The little scattered stars give it some interest, but it's still unfussy enough for a boy.

 

Then I started to figure out how I would resize it for a twin or an extra long twin (that he could take to college in a few years). First I mapped it out using the orignial 2 inch stars and immediately chickend out when I realized it would take 115 of the 2 inch stars for the first layout I had in mind.

 

Then I started over using 4 inch stars. This looks more doable at about 40 sawtooth stars. It might work, adding a couple of stars to each corner to even things out.

 

 

I then reconfigured it so the 4 inch stars were again represented by one grid sqare each. And I started to try to figure out the square-in-a-square border (represented here by triangles). I kept playing with the borders to find a number that would work to jump up to the outer border of larger squares. At one point the area inside the square-in-a-square border was so large, it didn't need the outer border.

 

But I really like the floating square-in-a-squares.Maybe with less space in between the sawtooth stars?

 

 

After a couple of hours of this, I'm thinking I just need to find something else for the young man and make this quilt as per the pattern directions. It would make a cute throw or baby quilt.

 

It's a good thing I have one more quilt in line that I'm sashing and adding borders to while I let this gel in my mind a little bit more.

 

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Santa's Village Update

I continue to plug along on my Santa's Village project. I love how it is turning out, and I've been able to complete each one before I pick up the next pattern each month at my LNS. Hopefully I will be able to complete the last one with enough time to have it framed for the holiday season.

 

 

 

 

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iPad bag

If you stitch it, an idea will come.

 

Over the summer I stitched a couple of small cross stitch projects because I needed something portable: the bee from Blackbird Designs' Honeybee Hill and a parrot from Sampler and Antique Needlework Quarterly, Fall 2008. I had no idea what I was going to do with them, but I liked them.

 

Meanwhile, my iPad has become an essential tool at work. I take it to all my meetings. It's so convenient to be able to email people notes without transcribing them from a notepad. But it's a pain to juggle my iPad, phone and files from place to place.

 

So I decided to make a bag from my iPad. I took inspiration for the embroidery from Jardin reve, jardin brode by Cecile Franconie. This is the most gorgeous embroidery book I've ever seen. It's definitely worth the shipping price to order from Amazon France.

 

I combined the cross stitch with some batik 5" squares I've had forever. Unfortunately, it didn't put much of a dent in my baggie of squares. Many more projects in there.

 

It's hand quilted on one side with tatting thread that happened to be a good color, and machine quilted on the other. All of the lace on the parrot side is hand-dyed by me - more of my stash that was going unused.

 

 

I like carrying it around, and I like the fact that I made something usable instead of my work sitting around unfinished.

 

 

 

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Denim Quilt finished

We have a special friend of the family going off to college this year, and I thought a denim quilt would be the perfect thing for a young man's dorm room.

A simple pattern with diagonal quilting to modernize it a bit... easy to care for... just the ticket.

 

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Stitching on the road

I was traveling for a conference and loved my little bit of quiet time with Netflix and some stitching. I'm working on a couple of Christmas ornaments to commemorate a family visit this summer. They're small projects that require just one color of thread. Perfect for taking a long.

 

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Cross stitching in progress

My year long Santa's Village is coming along. Half way through and I've stayed up-to-date.

 

I've finished a couple of other smaller patterns that I'm stitching up to be a bag to carry my iPad around work. It's obviously still in progress.

 

The first is a Black Bird Designs pattern from their Honeybee Hill booklet.

 

The other side will feature a parrot from the Fall 2008 issue of Sampler & Antique Needlework. Since parrots are native in this area, I've been collecting parrot patterns when I see them.

 

The embroidered flowers and leaves are inspired by the book Jardin Reve, jardin brode by Cecile Franconie. Her blog is absolutely beautiful, and I ordered the book from Amazon Francis. The book is well worth the hefty shipping price.

 

The lace is hand dyed by me, and the leaves and flower petals are from wool that I have been hoarding saving, as are the batiks I scored in a 5" square swap.

 

 

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Mystery project revealed

I started this project months ago, with the goal of finishing it time for Mother's Day ... Mission Accomplished!

 

After my dad died in 2006, I packed up a bunch of his jeans and twill pants and hauled them 1,000 miles to my house. I completed quilts for my brothers pretty quickly, but the quilts I had planned for my mom and I have taken a little longer.

 

Of course I've since missplaced my quilt book so I hope to update soon with the pattern and designer name.

 

 

The patriotic colors are fitting for his service in the military, and I thought the X's and O's made for an obvious name: "Hugs and Kisses." Made in memory of my dad; given to my mom on Mother's Day.

 

 

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