All-over Starburst quilting

I used this quilting design on my bunting quilt but I never showed how I did it. It goes fast, and has a really dynamic, joyful feeling to it. It's also a terribly easy free motion quilting design. Very beginner friendly.

Make a star.

Extend a line outward to start another star.

Make a second star, using the line you extended as one of its points. Then, to get to a place you can start a new star, trace along what you've already stitched to get to an open space.

And start another star.

And so on. Stars touch each other just at the points. Each star touches two other stars.

It's kind of like pebbling, with stars!

Varied sizes and numbers of points work well. Precision is optional. Just the kind of design I love!

Burning Curiosity

Any of you going to be a part of Black Rock City this year?

We're starting to make our plans.

Tickets, check.
Yurt, check.
Grandparents to stay with the toddler for a week, check.

For the first time since we started going to the Burning Man festival, the essentials are already taken care of and my mind is free to think beyond our typical gifts (lemonade) to some fun interactive joy to bring to the playa. Naturally my thoughts turn to sewing.

Is taking a treadle sewing machine to the desert crazy in the good way or the bad way? Would the dust just ruin it or are those things bomb-proof? Anyone with treadle experience (or a treadle they want to unload, or a Really Good Idea) chime in please!

I've got a project percolating... If you're going, let me know!  We could collaborate or just try to meet up there. And for the people who aren't going, the plan I'm hatching involves you too! More soon, after I get my hands on a treadle...

Fabric pastels experiment

I do some mental math when considering a craft project. Expected enjoyment divided by the time it will take to clean up afterward = my overall interest. 

So wet projects like screen printing and fabric dyeing haven't made the cut yet. But I did enjoy some fabric pastels recently. Dry! No clean up! Only $3! Sold.

For this experiment I used a piece of freezer paper. I traced around a glass to makes some circles on the paper side, and then drew over those circles with a thick black sharpie.

I ironed it to a light colored piece of fabric so I could see the marks through the fabric as a guide. Then I used all the green and blue fabric pastels in the kit to draw the circles. The freezer paper was a great stabilizer and kept the fabric from shifting while I drew.

Afterward I thought the circles needed more definition so I traced around them with a fabric pen. Then I removed the freezer paper and ironed it all to set the colors. So far it's passed the vigorous rub test.

So I've entered the world of DIY textiles. I think a little bonus about this method is that freezer paper can be reused several times. So when you pull it off you could iron it again and again down a length of fabric to repeat the design. Neat! I think I'll get the kid involved next time.

Modular Cathedral: single window block



Here's the first variation I'm trying on the modular cathedral window. This is a 9 inch finished block. To make it, you need:

-four 5 inch squares for the background.

-four white 4 inch squares for the curves.

-one square for the center that measures 4 and 3/4 inches (not shown, oops!)

Start by pressing the four white squares in half along the diagonal. Then lay one folded square in the corner of each background square.

 
Use a dab of glue or a glue stick to secure each corner of the folded white squares.



Arrange the blocks and sew together with a 1/4" seam allowance. (Midstream fabric change!)

Lay the center square in the middle of the block. Use a dab of glue to secure each corner.

Fold down each curve and pin. Starting at one corner, stitch along the curve edge slowly.

As you approach the end of one curve, raise the presser foot and coax the next curve underneath it. Lower the foot, stitch to the end of the curve and continue directly on to the next curve.



When I finished this block I realized you can hear angels singing when you see it all completed.

Modular Cathedral Windows experiment

I recently had my head cracked open by a little zipper bag from Patchwork Notes. Holy smokes. The same curves you know and love from cathedral windows, but not in a cathedral window. It made me think new thoughts about getting down with rolled bias edges.

Since I saw that photo I've been pondering the different possibilities, and poking at one in particular over and over when I get a few minutes in the sewing room. Obsessing and making messes are what I do best.

I'm calling it a modular cathedral window. The advantage of this approach is that you can have different colors across the block and even different colors within the modules. It doesn't require calculations or complicated folding. It's great for using up scraps. And because each quarter of the block is constructed individually, it's easily adapted to variations.

 

Mmmm.....variations....

To make the base module you take three squares of the same size. Press two of them in half along the diagonal. Lay them over the other unfolded square, with the folded edges meeting along the diagonal.

 

I experimented with stitching along the module edges with a straight stitch and a zig zag and didn't like either approach. I also tried using a tack stitch in the corners where the edges met, but I don't even think that's necessary now. Instead, I am just using a dab of fabric glue to tack down the corners where they meet.

Rolling back the bias edge and stitching it down was easier than I expected. At first I did it as I completed each module, before stitching them together, but some of the rolls got into the seam allowances that way. So now I'm waiting to roll back the bias edges until I've stitched my modules together. I am not given to patience in the sewing room, so I'll admit that waiting to see the end result is hard. (Photo below prior to my glue and patience revelations)

The downside of the modular cathedral window is those seam allowances. Six layers of fabric coming together. The traditional cathedral window definitely has an advantage here. Press the seam allowances open and hope for the best.

I almost didn't show that last picture. I don't really know what a "good" cathedral window looks like so I'm not sure whether to be impressed or embarrassed with myself. Silliness. Not important. Just an experiment.

So what do you think, is it in your brain now too? I just want to keep playing with this so I'm thinking I'll post a new block using this technique every week or so. It won't have the structure of a full quilt along because I don't want to make all those decisions about size and yardage right now, but I can tell you: 9 inch finished blocks. Lots of five inch squares required. I'm buying a couple Kona charm squares packs to make it easy on myself, but I'll be cutting into yardage too along the way. I can't wait to show you some of the variations I'm cooking up. I'll start with the first block this week!

Single window block
Squared window block
Sweet garden block
Little spinner block 
Big spinner block
Flora block
Groove block

Hits and Misses

Hit: winning this awesome bag from Kristen at Kmac Quilts. Kristen is a fellow PMQG member and hers is one of my favorite blogs to read. She's talented and hilarious and she is the only quilter whose cat pictures I get excited about. You'll see why. My husband is already tired of me talking about this bag but seriously, I can't stop.

Miss: Sew Mama Sew Giveaway Day. Apparently one month warning is just not enough for me to get my act together on this one.

Hit: witnessing my daughter's first "pre-symbolic" art piece. I got to hear her narrate, "snail eye, snail other eye, snail mouth, snail nose, snail curly hair...". I am totally blown away, I had no idea she was about to do this. Last week it was still all lines and circles.

Miss: My Bernina 830 record is doing it's overheating vintage pedal nonsense again. Back on the Singer slant-o-matic and planning to trade in the Bernina towards an extended arm Juki.

Hit: Cathedral window epiphany. Serious love. Coming soon, in great detail.

At it again

This week I helped a co-worker finish her first ever quilt block. That's right: paper piecing! We are at it again with a group baby quilt and she found this paper pieced raccoon block on Etsy and I figured, why not go for it? We had several hours in my sewing room together and she totally picked it up. We did adjust the pattern slightly to eliminate some of the unnecessary details. And we used up just about all of that green and blue background fabric. I'm wondering if anyone knows what it's called? I really want more of it now!

Here are all the blocks. There was supposed to be a bat too, but that friend just had her third baby and appliqueing a quilt square is waaaaaay down on her list. The theme for this group quilt is "nighttime creatures". There was some concern that with this theme the quilt would be "too dark" and as it turns out, all the squares are very night-like. I think it will work though. As with past quilts, the members bring me not only their completed square but also their scraps, which I then use in constructing the quilt. Having the scraps really ties it all together and seems to cushion us from the cacophony that could result from having no predefined color scheme.

I've put together several baby quilts for/from this group of friends, but I've never blogged the process. Having just seen all the squares together for the first time on Friday, I want to sort of document the path I go down with these. So far I've played with the blocks a bit to get the arrangement that seemed to balance the various colors and values around the quilt. The only thing I'm not sure about is that the moth and the dragonfly are each flying, one above the other, at exactly the same angle. Too weird? Next I have to figure out what to do for the missing square. I'm thinking a scrappy variable star on that solid blue. Star, nighttime, it seems like it should have at least one star in there. Maybe stars in the corners too?

I still have some strips hanging around from the Cascade quilt and on a hunch I pulled them out. They really sing with these blocks. So the plan right now is, sash the blocks in white, and construct a scrappy string border. I think the border will alternate the solid blue strips with scrap strips from the block fabrics. I hope this comes together quick! (Quick in my house is two months, so I think Project Modern round 3 is out of the question, too bad but kind of a relief). I hope to have some progress to show on this in a week or two.