Blogger's Quilt Festival: Spectacle quilt

It's that time again- the fall edition of the Blogger's Quilt Festival has begun over at Amy's Creative Side.  I have mine listed in the baby quilt category! Can't wait to peruse the quilty goodness in Blogland!  Welcome to any newbies to my blog, and thanks for stopping by :)

A newly finished quilt to share with you today.  Isn't it funny that when fall hits and everything around me starts to wilt and die, I always seem to get a surge of creativity?  Lately I have been ON FIRE, people!  Sewing this and that, knitting my brains out, and a bunch of quilts coming together.  Lovin' it.  Just wish there were more hours in a day!

And I THINK this may be my new favoritest quilt of all time!!  (Yes, this is the part where I start to get all braggy.  But seriously.  Check this out. )

I can't think of a single thing I don't like on this quilt, or that I would do differently if I had the chance.  Which is rare for me (overanalyze much?).   I made this for a baby boy on his way into the world, but I am thinking that he may get a Gap gift certificate instead ;)  It all started with inspiration from this quilt, by Blue Elephant Stitches.  Now I am usually a girl who digs symmetry...total Type A personality, like to control everything, so on and so forth.  But that said, my favorite quilts to make, or look at, for that matter, are often the ones that have very little rhyme or reason.  

This one was just like that.  I took some scraps in blues and greens out of the overflowing bin, cut them into triangles, and decided to use two tones of grey to piece them together randomly.  I used Kona-something (charcoal?) and Alexander Henry Heath.  I had no plan, just assembled the top row by row, and had so much fun in the process as I slashed and hacked and stitched away.

I knew the quilting should be unstructured as well, and decided on a wonky free flow grid, somewhat mimicking that in the Heath. I used a light blue cotton thread, which of course I ran out of half way through the vertical quilting.  Le sigh.

Well, as often is the case for me, unexpected mess ups stimulate creativity (i.e. being too lazy to go to the store to buy more matching thread, I came up with a Plan B).  So, I decided to add some turquoise and goldenrod thread lines to the grid to fill in the spaces, and a small segment of hand quilting as well.  In the end, I think this adds so much to the finished product, we are just going to pretend it was a product of genius instead of laziness, okay?

The binding- I used a Sunkissed Sweetwater texty print cut on the bias.  I am normally one for hand stitched binding, but have dabbled in machine sewn too, with little success.  But this time- total triumph!  I used a WALKING FOOT, people...geez, whey haven't I tried that before??  Made all the difference.  It turned out perfect.

Last but not least- the backing!  How fun is this?

What is it?  It's a piece of a sheet, bought at Winners (Canada's equivalent to TJ Maxx), made by Colin and Justin.  What can I say?  It makes me so happy. Perfect amount of funky fun for this quilt. And I have plenty left for another (or two!).

This quilt measures in at about 40" by 50".  Annnnnnd I think that's all I have to say about that.

Thanks for stopping by and have a great day!

Kristie :)

Ghastlies quilt is finished!

It's done!  Muahahahahaaaaaa!  (Did that sound evil?)

This quilt has to be the most "unnecessary" quilt I have ever made.  And the most fun!  It all just fell into place so instinctively, and I enjoyed every minute of the process.  Let's face it, normally I utter more than a few curse words in the quilt-making process,  but this one was smooth sailing!

Truth be told, I don't even really like Halloween.  But when I was introduced to Alexander Henry's The Ghastlies while at Sewing Summit last fall, I loved it, and bought a half hard with no particular plans.  I started making some wonky blocks with it last fall, inspired by Thumbelina's quilt.  I thought I would just make a wall hanging, but as the blocks accumulated, I ended up with more than enough for a quilt, especially once adding the wonky border- this thing finished at 65 by 75 inches!

Once the top was made, I instantly had visions of quilting it with a large, sprawling spiderweb. The epicentre is to the top left of the quilt (you can click on the photo to enlarge and see the quilting better).  I used a thick Aurafil thread in a yellow-orange shade so that the quilting is quite pronounced.

 I used the same thread to topstitch the binding for continuity.

I even love the back- found this perfect spiderweb fabric at Fabricland on clearance for $3.50/meter.  Score!

It was Canadian Thanksgiving yesterday, and we headed out to rural Manitoba to have dinner with The Hubs' family.  This "Haunted House" is just down the road from their farm....all perfectly rusted and falling down!  Even the day was grey and rainy and desolate...perfect for photographing a Ghastly quilt.  I have to give a shout-out to The Hubs for climbing over barbed-wire fences, avoiding the multiple cow patties, and patiently holding this up in the rain while I gleefully took photos!

Wishing you a SPOOKTACULAR day!

Shared at Quilt Story and linked up to A Ghastly Gathering at alidiza, which runs until October 28!

Ghastlies quilt top

I had never even heard of The Ghastlies until I was let loose on a bunch of genuine quilt shops in Salt Lake City during Sewing Summit last year.  I am not much of a Halloween person, but when I saw this fabric I couldn't resist picking up a bit, just in case.  I managed to put together a couple blocks last fall and decided to pull it out again to see if I could make some progress this year before Halloween came and went again.  My intention was to make a wall hanging for our front door, but I was having too much fun and soon amassed more than enough blocks for a full quit!

 

I did the individual blocks with no rules or measurements in mind, just added fabric until I felt they were fun.  I added some purples, pinks and marigold oranges from my stash for pops of color along with the greys and blacks, and I love the combination.  I spliced the blocks all together very free form with some Alexander Henry Heath (I am sure there is an easier way to do this than what I did) and then decided to frame the collection with a wonky border in the coordinating fabrics.

Some of my favorite characters! Of course the knitting sisters are featured in there :)

Even spliced a few extra ghastly folks in along the borders.

I had fun every minute making this quilt top.  Now to decide on some fun quilting...I am thinking spider webs??

Tutorial: iPad 2 sleeve

I am loving my new iPad, and it needed a home. So I made it this cozy quilted cover! It features a padded main compartment with a loop strap closure to securely hold your iPad inside. On the back I have added a convenient pocket, just the right size to stash some cash, your charger or some earbuds.Do you want a new sleeve, too?


You will need:

A fat quarter of home decor weight fabric for the exterior
A fat quarter of quilting cotton or other fabric for lining
A fat quarter of fusible fleece interfacing OR you can use scraps of quilt batting like I did :)
Scraps of coordinating fabric for pocket
Long piece of coordinating fabric for strap (15" by 4")
2 coordinating buttons
Thread


Cutting your pieces:

This pattern can be easily adapted for the original iPad, laptops or Kindles, etc. For thin devices, add 1.5 inches to the length and width of your device. If your device is thicker than 0.5 inches, then increase proportionately. Email me if you need any help with the calculations!

Here are the instructions for an iPad 2:

Exterior fabric, interior fabric and batting:
Cut two pieces from each measuring 11" wide by 9" tall. If you like, you can piece the exterior front panel like I did to a final size of 11" by 9" and use that!


Cut one piece from each for the exterior of the flap measuring 11" by 4". Fold in half width wise and trim at an angle (see photos and instructions below for back pocket flap).
Loop: cut piece measuring 2" by 3.5 " from exterior fabric, or coordinating scrap if you wish

Strap: cut piece measuring 15" by 3" from each both the strap fabric and batting.


Pocket:
For pocket body, cut one piece measuring 5" by 5" from each of the exterior and lining pocket scraps/fabrics and batting. Then cut exterior fabric, lining fabric and batting measuring 5" by 3" for pocket flap.

To make angles for pocket flap and sleeve flap:
Fold exterior fabric in half width wise (i.e. for pocket flap, fold the 5" end and for sleeve flap, fold the 11" end). This is done to ensure that the angles will be symmetrical.

Cut off fabric from one corner at an angle as shown. I started a small amount away from the folded corner so that the flaps would be flat at the bottom and not pointed, then angled to the flap outer edge. In the photo below (showing the pocket flap), I started 0.5 inches from the folded corner and angled back to about 1 inch from the corner of the outer edge. For the sleeve flap, I started 0.75 inches from the folded corner and again angled it to 1 inch from the outer corner. This is NOT precise, only a guide, so don't panic, you can make this angle whatever you would like! It will look great!

Once you have made the angle on the outer fabric, you want the other 2 layers to match. To do so, use the cut layer as a template, placing it on top of the other 2 layers to cut as shown:


Unfold, and you will have 3 identical flap pieces like these:


Assembly:

* All seams are 1/4 inch unless otherwise noted*

Make pocket:
Make fabric sandwich starting with batting, then exterior right side up, followed by lining right side down. Sew on 3 sides leaving the top open.

Use opening to turn right side out. Tuck in raw edges.

Press and top stitch.
Do the same for top flap of pocket. Add button hole of appropriate size to flap centered near bottom of flap using button hole function on sewing machine (refer to your machine manual, or visit the Sew Mama Sew tutorial here).

Pin pocket to back exterior panel. I layered it with the batting so that attaching the pocket would sew through all layers for added security. Insert a label if you would like!


Sew on along two sides and bottom, leaving top opening of pocket unsewn. Pin flap to exterior, sew on along top edge. I did this twice- once with the flap in the "up" position as pinned in the above photo, then I flipped it into the "down" position and top stitched it in place as shown below:


Make loop:
Take loop fabric and fold in raw edges along length to center. Press. Then fold in half along center line as shown:
Stitch along both sides:

Fold raw ends under and attach to bottom center or front exterior flap. Do some quilting of the exterior front flap by hand or machine with the batting layer, if desired.


Sewing sleeve exterior:
Make sandwich as follows: exterior back (facing UP), exterior front (facing DOWN), batting.

Sew along two sides and bottom, leaving top open. Turn right side out.
Sewing lining:
Arrange lining pieces, right sides facing. Sew along two sides and bottom as for exterior, but leaving 3 inch opening in bottom center.

Make strap:
Align strap batting on wrong side of strap fabric. Fold in half lengthwise with batting facing outward. Sew along raw edge.

Turn right side out (I do this using a safety pin, as seen in this tutorial) and press with seam along one side. Tuck raw edges in at one end- I did mine so that it came to a point, but it could be square or any shape you wish. Top stitch close to edge around all sides. Add a button hole of appropriate size approximately 2 inches from the end.

*Note: It is a good idea to refrain from adding the button hole to the strap until the final step, to verify its position once the sleeve is completed. Run the strap through the loop and back up, with your iPad in place, to accurately measure where to place the button hole. Otherwise, you could end up with a strap that is too long or short!

Note: the other end of the strap can remain raw as it will be sewn inside the flap.

Sewing the sleeve flap:
Make flap by assembling fabric sandwich as shown below: batting, exterior right side up, strap with raw end aligned in center of the flap bottom edge and button hole end pointing to top edge of flap, lining right side down. Sew along sides and bottom edge, leaving top edge open. Turn right side out.
Press, and top stitch by hand or machine along 2 sides and bottom edge.


Attaching flap and finishing sleeve:
Align flap with exterior fabric facing exterior of back of body. Sew with quarter inch seam to attach (Note- be sure to sew to back layer fabric only!).

Insert exterior bag, which is facing right side out, into lining, which is inside out. Tuck in flap and strap.

Sew with half inch seam all around the top edges.


Turn right side out via the hole you left in the lining.

Tuck raw edges of lining opening in and press. Sew closed along edge as shown.


Hand stitch buttons in place in proper relation to button holes. Measure and prepare strap button hole as discussed above.

You're done!

I hope you have enjoyed my iPad sleeve tutorial. Any questions? Email me at obsessivecraftingdisorder@yahoo.ca and I will be happy to help.

As always, my tutorials are copyrighted for personal use only. I donate many hours of my time to prepare this pattern for your use, so please be courteous and give credit where credit is due- link back to me if you blog about your newly made sleeve. I'd love to see your creations! Be sure to hook 'em up to my Flickr group! :)