Little Things

Posted on August 26, 2014August 26, 2014 Posted in Bags, QuiltingTagged bags, paper piecing, recycled, repurposed14 Comments

Although I love making quilts, there is a special place in my heart for projects I can complete in a day or two. One feels so productive when one has a nice bag, block or cowl to show after a short period of time. My days have been filled with such projects of late.

I have been exploring paper piecing a bit more and am becoming increasingly intrigued. I found a free brassiere pattern and made the block above. It is asking for some underwear to go along with it so that is soon to come. Free pattern here: Paper Panache–Free Bra Paper-Pieced Quilt Pattern.

I have also been working with my scrap and recycled leather and putting together small bags. I was the lucky recipient of a new delivery of suede clothing and leather scraps in amazing bright colors that have my creative wheels spinning. I am so grateful to Stephanie Ruyle of Spontaneous Threads (Spontaneous Threads.) for sending them my way. Crafty, blogging friends are the best!!

Loving the 80s vibe this colorful suede brings. There is much more in the works. I also stitched together this more traditional pouch and yes, I am drowning in handmade bags. 😉

To end, I had a nice surprise again yesterday when my crazy yoga pants/french knot project picture was picked as a weekly fave in Craft Magazine Online. Who knew a quick project shot while I was waiting for the kids to dress for school would be so popular? A good reminder to me of the beauty of the mundane, little moments of my life.

Hillary

Mentor Pillows

Posted on August 23, 2014 Posted in Everything Else, QuiltingTagged modernquilt, pillows, quilting2 Comments

Does anyone else have project images in their heads begging to be made? I am plagued with many. Sometimes the translation into tactile pieces hits the mark and sometimes . . . not so much. These pillows to be honest are better in person then in my brain – a heartfelt success. Not too long ago I ordered some hand dyed fabric from Malka Dubrawsky of Stichindye and wanted to use them for pillows. If you’ve never checked out Malka’s patterns and work, you need to – so inspiring.

A Stitch in Dye.

I also have been pouring through Carolyn Friedlander’s new book, Savor Each Stitch as well as her other patterns.

carolyn friedlander | fresh, modern quilt patterns.

I was hoping to translate her Circle Lattice pattern into a pillow but couldn’t make it work dimension-wise so I made up my own pattern. Using Marcus Fabric Organic Cotton Canvas combined with Malka’s hand dyed lovelies and following Carolyn’s techniques, I needle turn appliquéd the designs on.

On Instagram I’ve been inspired and loving the work of Chawne of CauchyComplete.

completely cauchy.

I have especially been drawn to her hand quilting, Using some thicker Aurifil thread, in a much more simple fashion then Chawne, I hand quilted to finish the fronts.

These pillows begged to be called Mentor Pillows because they are inspired by artists (in my mind mentors) whose work I admire: Malka, Carolyn and Chawne.

The next idea waiting to come to life in fabric is a quilt design based on a wooden table I have been lusting over. This project shoud be fun!

Happy weekend everyone.

Hillary

Busy Hands

Posted on August 17, 2014August 19, 2014 Posted in Bags, Knitting, Quilting11 Comments

Oh my goodness, these last couple of weeks have been busy work and family-wise. Looking back I’m a little shocked at how much hand work I’ve been able to accomplish and have several finishes and works in progress to share.

First off, I decided to get creative with some of my leather scraps and made up this clutch with a moth out of leather for the front. Being able to use orange leather as accents and as a zipper pull tickles me to no end and has me searching vintage shops high and low for unique colored leather to repurpose. With the orange feather Anna Maria Horner fabric lining I want to walk around with the bag open at all times however impractical.

I also got busy making another Sew Together Bag for a friend. The Koi fabric has me calling this bag “Why so Koi?”. Don’t tell anyone but I think my favorite part of creating is coming up with names for my makings. 🙂

You can find the Sew Together Pattern here: Sew Together Bag by SewDemented | Sewing Pattern.

I’ve also been busy with yarn. My husband and I are headed on a vacation to a cooler climate in a few weeks so I made up this double cowl in anticipation. The lovely grey yarn got a little monotonous so I decided to add a mustard stripe. Best. Idea. Ever.

I used a grey yarn by Neighborhood Fiber Company (Studio Worsted in the color Thomas Circle) and the mustard is Malabrigo Worsted in Sunset. The free Ravelry pattern can be found here:

Ravelry: Casu Cowl pattern by Galia Lael.

Some beautiful hand dyed fabric by Malka of Stitch N Dye came into my possession and has also been spurring my creativity. Riffing off techniques I learned from Carolyn Friedlander in her latest book, I made up a pattern and am working on some needle turn applique pillows. These have me really excited.

Are you still there? 🙂 Lastly, I’ve been exploring a new idea for the theme of Nude as a clothing color. If you have been following me you know that I oppose this still common designer habit. My previous post is here: Needle Turn Applique with a Message | Entropy Always Wins. Using Carolyn Friedlander’s pattern and trying out paper piecing for the first time I have been making several dresses in various shades of “nude” and a quilt idea is coming together. I purchased her pattern here:

Carolyn Friedlander Shirts [1PA-CarolynFriedlander-1112] – $11.95 : Pink Chalk Fabrics is your online source for modern quilting cottons and sewing patterns., Cloth, Pattern + Tool for Modern Sewists.

Blessings everyone.

Hillary

Wait, Wait Don’t Tell Me

Posted on August 5, 2014August 5, 2014 Posted in QuiltingTagged modernquilt quilt quilting12 Comments

A little over a year ago, this former News addict made a change. This girl who was tuned in to NPR almost constantly (who was so into it that she donated an old car to the cause) decided to disconnect a little from the constant stream of News that bombards us daily. Much to my children’s relief when riding in the car or relaxing at home we now listen to music instead of the News and I feel lighter for it. Because of the intensity of my job, I felt I needed a break from being so bombarded in my free time . . . and I am happier even if guiltily uninformed.

In May we took our kids to Washington DC and visited the Newseum which I would highly recommend. It had me thinking again about the minute to minute stream of News we now hear about from all over the world. With this running through my head, the colors of our Bonaire trip still fresh and inspiration from my Denyse Schmidt quilt I came up with this new design.

Monday Musings-Creative Inspiration Plus a New Quilt | Entropy Always Wins.

I knew I wanted to use concentric circles and thought I would use bias tape. This concept failed fairly quickly and I moved on to folding my fabric in quarters and drawing quarter circles with a compass. Truth be told this gal has never taken any formal quilt/sewing classes and I’m kind of a Macgyver in my constructing. I started by making and quilting my quilt sandwich with random straight lines of 5 different colors of Aurifil blue thread then machine embroidering the circles on top. (I have no idea if this is how it’s supposed to be done but it seemed to work.)

The quilt is made out of several text print fabrics. The solids are Peppered Cottons and it is backed with Ikea Numbers fabric. I’m calling her “Wait, wait, don’t tell me” in reference to my previous NPR addiction as well as to the fact that sometimes I’m happier not knowing every detail of the goings on in the world.

Hillary

A Palate Cleanse

Posted on July 26, 2014July 26, 2014 Posted in Knitting, QuiltingTagged Knitting, modernquilt, Quilt, quilting14 Comments

Bold, Graphic, Black, White – These themes have been calling me this week, perhaps in reaction to the color overload of our recent vacation. I’ve ditched the small needles and delicate lace weight yarn for some lovely worsted weight hand dyed yarn in dark gray by Neighborhood Fiber Company. I also finished up a quilt top this morning in black and white linen/cotton by Rober Kaufman that is all bold and graphic. These have provided quite the palate cleanse.

My quilt top was heavily inspired by the work of Mark Grotjahn. You can find some of his paintings here:

PHILLIPS : Art Auctions | Contemporary Art | Exhibitions | Private Sales | Private Collections.

I’m calling it “Queuing Theory” which per the Wikipedia definition means “the mathematical study of waiting lines, or queues”.

I’m not quite sure how to quilt this bold beauty up. A big package of Aurifil thread came into by possesion recently. Here’s hoping it lives up to it’s amazing reputation.

in other news, the challenge of working with lace weight yarn paid off and a picture of my Windspiel shawl was picked up by Flickr Explore. My husband is happy to remind me that it is actually HIS picture. 🙂

Windspiel Lace Shawl- Explore | Flickr – Photo Sharing!.

I have about 4 more quilt designs and several bag designs percolating but the next few weeks are full of work and family.

Cheers,

Hillary

Big Blue Complete

Posted on July 1, 2014 Posted in QuiltingTagged modernquilt, Quilt, quilting13 Comments

I came home from vacation to a wonderful surprise. My Big Blue quilt top had been shipped to me from Emily Sessions. I quilt most of my quilts but when I am looking for something special I have turned to Emily to do custom quilting for me.

emerson quilting | longarm quilt design.

Emily does a wonderful job. You can see her work on another quilt of mine here:

Life in the ER Quilt | Entropy Always Wins.

Loving how this quilt has turned out. It was heavily inspired by a painting of Alain Bilteryest.

Alain Biltereyst – Minimalist Geometric Paintings / Aqua-Velvet.

I think it looks a little like a flag while one of my friends says it looks like “two sergeants getting married”. That comment had me investigating military badges and medals. . . I may have found a new fount of inspiration.

Happy creating everyone.

Hillary

Monday Musings-Creative Inspiration Plus a New Quilt

Posted on June 8, 2014June 8, 2014 Posted in Monday Musings, Quilting10 Comments

Yea, yea, I know it’s not Monday here yet BUT it’s 109 degrees out and I just got done wrestling a king sized quilt through my little machine. And it has to be Monday somewhere already right? 😉

My creative inspiration this week and almost every week in regards to quilting is Denyse Schmidt. I have all of her books, several patterns AND three of her quilts from Sarita before she stopped selling them. I count myself very lucky. My fave of the three is this baby circular quilt. It is front and center in my sewing room and keeps me warm draped over my legs on cool days.

This weekend I decided to quilt up my Plus/Minus Quilt and looked to Denyse and this quilt for guidance. I decided to home machine quilt it in the concentric circles I so love in her baby quilt and I was guided by her color scheme to add similar colors in the binding. I used a linen for the back and an ikea canvas for the binding.

As painful as it was to quilt this baby, I really love it especially the binding and the simple back. I hope you are find a ton of creative inspiration this week. I would love to know and see what is inspiring you.

Hillary

“Flower Pots” Baby Quilt

Posted on May 30, 2014May 30, 2014 Posted in Quilting26 Comments

Our babysitter of the last two years is having a baby boy next month and I wanted to make something special for her. I used Anna Maria Horner’s Little Folks Voile combined with Peppered Cotton by Pepper Cory in a Quilt As You Go hexagon pattern I learned about in the book Quiltopedia by Laura Jane Taylor.

I call it “Flower Pots” because the center earth tone looks like soil for Anna Maria’s voile flowers. I think the neutral grounds (forgive the pun) the bright fabrics well. So fun to try a new quilting technique.

And to all my crafty friends, Umbrella Prints is now displaying their 2014 Trimming Competition Entries. Check out my two bag entries as well as all the other lovely handmades there. Vote for your faves by commenting on their Pinterest snapshots.

Now I’m off to buy some flowers for my own garden.

Hillary

Blogger’s Quilt Festival Modern Entry – Striped City Quilt

Posted on May 20, 2014May 25, 2014 Posted in QuiltingTagged blogger's quilt festival, Quilt49 Comments

My second and last entry into the Blogger’s Quilt Festival is a quilt design by the amazing Kaffe Fassett using his fabrics. It is the Striped City Quilt from his book Quilts in Sweden. I have made several, what I consider modern quilts over the last year but this one has special significance for me. It was made and raffled off to generate money for a friend’s 6 year old stepson who has advance cancer. I raised $2000 and the winner of the raffle was a friend with cancer who has defied all the odds having survived 10 years after getting the diagnosis of metastatic melanoma. Those things alone make this quilt one of my favorites ever.

Blogger’s Quilt Festival Original Design Entry – Life in the ER Quilt

Posted on May 18, 2014June 29, 2014 Posted in Quilting28 Comments

Have you ever heard of the Blogger’s Quilt Festival?

I hadn’t until this year. People introduce their quilts virtually into one of several categories. I thought I would throw my hat in the ring for a couple quilts I have made over the last year. If you’ve seen these quilts before please forgive me for the repeat posting.

Into the Original Design Category, I decided to enter my “Life in the ER Quilt”. It is a quilt design based on a painting I saw on Pinterest. I made it out of Marcus Organic Cotton Canvas which gives it a very solid and bold feel. It gets it’s name from the fact that it reminds me of the ER I work in with the central “heart” of the ER in red and the beds on either side. This quilt was beautifully quilted by Emily Sessions.

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