Double Rainbow All the Way

Ok, First go and watch this... my husband almost peed his pants when he showed me this video a few months ago, he was laughing so hard.

Now look at what we saw a few weeks ago in our back yard.  Really???

This double rainbow made my month. While standing on our back patio, looking up the hill we could see the complete arch from one side to the other. 

I should mention that I live in San Diego.  It NEVER rains in San Diego, but this October evening we got a true gift.  When was the last time you saw a rainbow?

Tic-Tac-Toe

Whew!  What a busy month.  The good news is that I have been sewing.  The bad news is that I haven't been blogging it as much as I would like.  So now let,s get down to business.

Here is a really fun baby quilt that I made for my neighbor's little boy.  His shower is this weekend, so I got it done just in time.  The nursery is blues and greens with an elephant theme. I couldn't resist adding in those green Japanese elephants.

I'm calling this quilt Tic-Tac-Toe.  I followed Elizabeth's instructions for a crazy nine-patch lattice quilt and used an Ikea grey sheet for the alternating solid blocks.  That part was a little risky in my mind, but I love how it turned out. 

When I was working on the back, I hesitated about adding in the orange fabrics.  It was quite a departure from the greens on the front.  However, when I picked the birdie fabric out of my stash for the border, I was sold.  The green and orange and blue birds tie both the front and back together.  I love how it makes the blue hints on the front pop out even more. 

So baby to be, I hope you like your little Tic-Tac-Toe quilt. 

Tokyo Trains

Here's Block #1 of the Tokyo Trains quilt-along.  Its been so much fun choosing each fabric to make up the colored rail-lines. 

Working with the tiny 2" squares has been a challenge. I tried some new techniques to try and get the seams super-straight and consistent. Usually I press the seams to the side, but followed Elizabeth's advice to press them open. It did help to relieve the seam bulk and allowed me to sew straighter seams. I need to work on better pinning though.

I also tried using my zipper foot with a 1/4" seam guide. I found that I got a very consistent seam, but that sometimes the feed-dogs reached up and sucked my fabric down into the gears. I think for the next block, I am going back to my standard foot. I'll just have to go steady and slow.

Flea Market...but not exactly Fancy

I like shopping at Nordstrom and Banana Republic like the rest of you...but there is something to be said for "upcycling."  So yesterday my husband and I took the baby "thrifting." We found this great block that has about 6-7 little thrift shops all in a row. There's a little indian grocery store squeezed in between the last thrift store and the used book store where we got some spices for tonight's dinner.

When poking around second hand stores, most of the stuff is truly junk.  Sometimes there are treasures like solid, well-made furniture that just need a new finish.  I didn't see any of that yesterday, but I did find some fabric bins filled with all sorts of bargains.  I paid $1.00 for all of these lovliles.

There was a pretty piece of blue velvet that was really tempting, but I decided an important rule of "Flea Market" fabric is that it has to be washable.  I need to be sure that way-ward fabric is nice and clean before it lives on the shelf with my other fabrics.

The top black and white print has already become part of my latest project.  See if you can spot it later this week when I post on my works in progress.

This bottom one is intriguing, it is called "Liberty of London" and is 36" wide vs the standard 44"   

But my favorite is this stone colored woven, with teeny red crosses on it.

I wasn't expecting to find fabric at the thrifties, but it was a wonderful surprise.  Do you have any other good ideas about where to find good deals on fabric?

Bees

Lets start with some beautiful fabric inspired by ocean, waves and kelp.

I get to be "Queen Bee" for September for the Sew Fun sewing bee. I am asking my friends to make wave-runner type improvisational blocks based on this  tutorial by Victoria.

I wanted to use an analogous color scheme, but I am hoping I have enough contrasting tones that I get the modern look that is so fabulous in Victoria's original quilt. You need to see it for yourself here. I cannot wait to see what the ladies come up with for their blocks.

Speaking of blocks, I am working on August blocks for Natalie. I thought I'd do two blocks that were pretty different from each other. The first is an improvisational block, I like to call it Jacob's ladder.

For the second, I thought I'd stretch myself and try something new, so I decided to paper piecing this block.

 

Really, paper piecing sounds intimidating, but I found it a very handy way to do intricate blocks. This is a great technique to have in the arsenal. I hope Natalie likes them!

Tokyo Trains

When Elizabeth Hartman (Oh, Fransson) posted her Tokyo Subway Map Quilt Along, I knew I had to participate.  First, this is just a great quilt, second I have been itching to do a quilt made from tiny squares, third...Tokyo Trains simply blow my mind.

I've been to Japan a few times on business, and the complexity and efficiency of the train system simply blows my mind. You can see, though my pictures aren't the highest quality, the train map fascinated me. I had to capture on film, the tangle of trains.

Shinagawa Station is smack in the middle of Tokyo.  1 Million people pass through this station each morning and each evening.  It is the strangest thing.  You will be standing in the middle of the largest throng of commuters, rushing to their train and the only sound you will hear is their foot-falls.  No talking...just the sound of "step-step-step" times one million people. 

It is absolutely mind blowing.  You'd never see this in America.

Maybe on the back of the quilt, I'll incorporate some of the signage from inside the stations.  Tonight I am going to peruse the stash and get my supplies together. 

Why don't you join us in the Tokyo challenge?

Lets talk about process

I cherish Sundays.  I get to spend time with my family, avoid work-work and usually can find some time to quilt.  Today I decided to to start a new quilt and I though you might be interested in my thought process.

8:05am Choose fabrics, I have so many ideas:

• Cut into my FMF stash- No, I’m not ready to do that yet, I need the perfect quilt for that.
• Use my oranges, golds and reds… I have some great Katie Jump Ropes and with some Mendicino and FMF it would be beautiful
• Then again, my aqua and reds have been calling to me
• A few castle peeps prints came in the mail this week. I’d love to use more than just two prints though, I might need to order more before I'm ready to make a quilt with these guys.
• Wait…the first fabric I ever purchased was a Hope Valley FQ pack from Denyse Schmidt. I have been itching to dig into those. The cloudy grey undertones would look great with either grey or khaki sashing. Oh yeah, I bought that khaki sheet from Ikea for $4.99 a few weeks ago…that would be perfect.

9:12 am Get inspired while nursing the baby

I’m queen of multitasking (as I am sure most of you ladies are) so while feeding the baby his “second breakfast” on the back porch I begin to surf.

 Starting with flickr and fresh modern quilts I quickly browse and remember some of my favorite designs. I refresh myself on some of the fun tutorials I have seen lately. These were the top contenders this morning.

• Oh Fransson’s crazy 9-patch lattice
• Quilt Dad’s Off the Grid
• Red Pepper Quilts' Sticks n’bricks (love how it looks in hope valley, but I cannot bring my self to copy both the pattern AND the fabric selection…I like to feel more creative)
• Oh Fransson’s New Wave pattern

I cannot say exactly why, but the new wave pattern really resonated with me today.  I like the large pieces of fabric that go into this design.  You really apreciate the beauty of the print with a larger cut vs tiny pieces.  I also enjoy how sashing looks around shapes other than squares.  It's fun and a little quirky.

10:23 am As I iron my fabrics I begin to think of ways to make the pattern unique
How can I take it one step farther? Here are some of my ideas. This is my stream of consciousness.

“Train tracks…crosses…plaid…stripes…zigzags (oh, I LOVE zigzags…maybe I should forget the wave and go straight to zig zags)…what about a plaid, cross quilt? I could make it look like the new wave quilt but build my waves in both directions. Maybe I can figure out how to cut the fabrics like in the crazy-nine patch lattice.”

Then I sketched a few ideas out until one felt good. Notice the baby monitor...the little guy is napping so I have a few hours of uninterupted thinking time.

11:10 am Make a turkey sandwich and get out the colored pencils
I began sketching out my concept and tried out color placement to see how my idea would work.  I liked the idea of creating darker and lighter vertical bands.  It would add subtile excitement while leaving the main focus on horizontal bands of color.

11:42 am Do the math

Before cutting ANYTHING, I do the math. Figure out the size of my finished block. And then mock it up in the actual dimensions to make sure I like my choices.

12:45 pm Blog the Process
\So that’s where I am. I probably need to do a little bit more planning before I am ready to cut into the fabrics. Truly, this is my favorite part of making a quilt. Planning and scheming about what it will become. At this moment, the potential is so endless. I am so full of hope for my new creation.

12:58 pm The baby’s crying
It must be lunch time, so its time to run.  There's a pretty good chance my design will keep evolving so stay tuned!