Autumn Quilt Kit
Thursday, June 20, 2024
My recent blog posts ended up being a bit of a series of the different quilt kits that I have. I don't have too many, but I do also have a few 'blocks of the month' that are in the sidelines that I suppose I should address! I am not sure where I found this. I think that I may have seen it on Instagram. It is just so pretty. The pattern is called "Color Patch Cascade Quilt" by Fancy That Design House. It uses a panel, which I don't think that I have ever quilted with a panel before, and a layer cake, which is also new for me. It is actually quite small (44" x 56"), so it will probably finish fairly quickly, but it looks like a lot of very careful placement of the colors in order to achieve the cascade effect. I purchased a quilt kit from Etsy for this, and realized that I do not have a backing fabric, so I will need to see about some background fabric. I think that this may be a project for Labor Day weekend perhaps as a way to celebrate the end of summer and beginnings of fall. These quilt kits and projects just seem more manageable right now as I have posted about them, pulled them out, and organized them on my quilting cart. I think that I have a general plan for how I am going to work on them over the next few months.
Cheddar Quilt
Tuesday, June 18, 2024
Another quilt kit is in my stash, which is no surprise! I decided to nickname it "Cheddar Quilt". I bought this at a local quilt shop about a year and a half ago. I kept seeing it hung up in the quilt shop, and it just became that I couldn't resist because I thought that the colors were so interesting. I decided to nickname it "Cheddar Quilt". It is a pattern from Villa Rosa Designs, whose patterns I've used before. There are maybe some special rulers that are needed for this quilt- I am not great at doing triangles, so I'll be a bit hesitant to start this one. I think it will be a pretty quilt for early fall. Unfortunately, I am not sure of the fabric that was in the kit. If I can finish about one of these quilt tops a month, it would be really great to work on this in August. I also want to make sure to post some progress as well to show you how it is going!
Journal Panel Quilt
Thursday, June 13, 2024
I just adored this quilt pattern when I saw it. I admit, it was very much an impulse by. I loved the title- I have journaled for a very long time and loved that there was a quilt themed around journals. I have journals going back all the way to second grade! I thought that the colors were so pretty. The fabric and pattern are by Riley Blake Designs. The quilt has these pretty pockets as part of the quilt. The quilt kit didn't come with the fabric panel that is used for making the pockets, so I so I decided to purchase the panel to make the pockets. I also need to find some background fabric and also a binding fabric. I don't think that this will be a complicated quilt to make and I thought that it would be interested to try the pocket component. After I finish the Coin Quilt and also the Garden Delights quilt, this one will be next- it will be the perfect summer quilt project!
Quilt Cart
Tuesday, June 11, 2024
Garden Fresh Quilt
Thursday, June 06, 2024
This fabric is just so gorgeous! As part of my attempt to move myself away from simply sewing charm squares together, I decided to take a quilting class. There was a quilt shop in Mystic, Connecticut that I just adored. It closed shortly after Covid, sadly. The owners just had the most divine taste in fabric, and it was a small cozy shop in Mystic Village. I found this shop on the day my husband and I became engaged. We had been walking around Mystic Village and had found this shop. I miss this shop!
Back in around 2017 I decided to take a course there in the evening, I believe it was in June, because I remember it being almost summer time. The class was for a simple quilt in terms of construction using a jelly roll and squares of white fabric. I thought that it would be a good challenge for me at the time. The quilt is called "Strippy Weave" from the book Garden Fresh Quilts by Gray Sky Studio. I took this quilt out, and am excited to work on it. I hope that it can be a quick finish! I am a little concerned because there was modifications made to the pattern where the class only include one jelly roll, and it was to make a smaller version of this quilt, so I have to figure all of that out. Also, I don't have any binding or background fabric. I am hoping that with some luck that I’ll be able to find some leftover fabric from this collection.
Coin Quilt
Tuesday, June 04, 2024
This has been a project in my stash for a long time- I hope that I don't start all my blog posts with these words, but I may fear the next few! I fell in love with this fabric back in I think 2015. It is called Mon Ami by Basic Grey, a designer with Moda fabrics. I was kind of new to thinking of quilts myself. What I mean by that is I had been quilting for a such a long time, but was limited to two things that I did: buying kits and doing the exact fabric that was selected with no changes, or simply buying charm packs and sewing them into small quilts. It was just how I quilted for a long time, nearly two decades! I bought bunch of this fabric to make a quilt pattern that I had seen. I'm not sure what I had in mind, but I just wasn't sure about anything now that I look back on it. I bought quite a bit of yardage of one of the prints, and then some yardage of a fw other prints. I also purchased one jelly roll. The quantities of everything were kind of random, and I didn’t really have enough for anything.
When I started to try to make the pattern I had in mind, I realized how directional the fabric was, and it was going to be a big problem with the design that I had picked out! The fabric kind of then just stayed in my stash for a long time. I'm not sure when I picked it up again, but I think I was searching for a video about using jelly rolls, when I came across a video by Mary Fons about coin quilts. It seemed like the perfect solution for this quilt. I then over time started to assemble it together, until I figured out the number of blocks I needed, and rows, and everything based on how much backing fabric that I have. I am very pleased with how it is coming out, and I am very happy that it is going to be finished I think relatively soon. I will eventually print it out as a pattern when it is finished f I can figure out how to.🙂
Fashion School Diaries
Thursday, May 16, 2024
I am in school for fashion design. It is scary to write, and I am not entirely sure what to say about this. I've kept it quite private. I have been a speech-language pathologist for over twenty years. To be honest, it has never felt right. I can only describe it has always wearing a sock that is on the wrong way. Where the heel is at the top of your foot, and it feels too short on the bottom of your foot. You can walk around, and when you don't think about it you kind of forget that it is on the wrong way. You can ignore the feeling. It isn't the most comfortable, but you can handle it. I've always felt so anxious at my job with the socialization, the unpredictable clients and co-workers, and the work drama that is innate in a hospital or school setting. It feels like a tightness that is there all day and never really goes away.
I have always enjoyed needle and thread, and been fascinated by fashion. When I was in high school it was a dark secret I held that I wanted to be a fashion designer. I didn't feel very fashionable, and also I convinced myself that you needed to be good at drawing and art to go into fashion design. I was told by someone that 'you don't have the patience to sew', and even though I deeply wanted to, this comment haunted me for decades.
The years went by and I've tried to 'fit' myself into my SLP career in a variety of ways. I've worked in every setting available with a variety of age groups. I've gone back to school twice for two related masters degrees to help manage my time as a speech-language pathologist. I also worked several jobs full-time from 2006-2013 when I was also in graduate school. I finished one graduate degree and then the following semester started a third one at a different university.
In addition to all of the schooling, I have tried working two careers simultaneously: 24 hours per week as a speech-language pathologist and 24 hours a week as a librarian. I maintained this for around seven years. Eventually, I was just tired from maintaining this schedule. My brain was split in two different directions and found it so challenging to do my best at both of the professions when I was trying to focus on both. I left my librarian position when I was asked to come on full-time at my speech-language pathology job. It has been eight years since that time where I have been working full-time as a speech-language pathologist. The past four years or so I've started to expand my sewing skills and also began taking classes at the Boston School of Fashion Design. This has been so exciting and fun. Additionally, I began returning to school online to pursue a bachelor's degree in Fashion Merchandising and Design. I would like to begin posting more regularly about this process and sharing my transition into this new field. It has been scary and exciting at the same time! I think I may update about the process here as a way to remember this time.
Stitching Cart
Tuesday, May 14, 2024
The top of my cart is all of my notions, and the little fun things that I have. On the middle rack I have all of my current works in projects in project bags. The bottom shelf is some other projects I have stored in a plastic pin and also my hoops. I have a plastic folder that I store all of my patterns in that I keep there as well. I think that it helps me to stitch more when everything is organized.
Wild Lillies
Thursday, May 09, 2024
I think I have mentioned in previous posts that I had kitted all of the Blackbird Designs Reward of Merit Pincushions I believe going on ten years ago now. I love this series, and think that I have all of them. My kits includes the linen piece and the threads, as well as finishing fabric that I found and even some trims. I take so much enjoyment out of picking out which one I am going to start stitching after I have finished one. I sometimes pick different people who are important to me for the initials. Sometimes I have picked my own initials. For this one, I am picking a "J" for my Auntie Janice. She sadly passed in 2019. She was the most regal, kind person. Her birthday was in May, and I know that she liked lilies (It is also the birthday flower for May.), so I decided to stitch the "J" on this in her honor. The colors on this are so beautiful. I will certainly post progress pictures on this one.