WandaLandQuilts
Making Memories Through Quilts
I’m back …
I may be back, but I’m not sure where all my stuff is.
We moved from Wanamaker, IN to New Palestine, IN. Although that’s only about 8 miles away – moving is moving. We were in that house for over 25 years and in that time you accumulate a lot of stuff and you get very comfortable.
The new house is great – boxes and all. Most of the important stuff is put away – clothes, kitchen stuff, and all the furniture is where it should be. However, my sewing room, aka Wandaland, is still unorganized. If you know me, that’s a world stopper! Things are in the room, but in all different places. My old sewing room had two closets with floor to ceiling shelves, four bookcases, and a wall with four additional shelves. My new sewing room has four bookcases, but they are on different walls – and that’s all the storage I have. Except for the 30 boxes not yet unpacked. So, in time, all will get unpacked and put where it should be.
Anyway, I have some catching up to do. I’ve done some weekly projects but haven’t had the chance to post them – which I will do over the next week or so, that way I can get back up to speed.
I also completed a sports jersey quilt for a customer and it was such fun! I’ll be posting pictures of that soon to.
So let’s catch up…
Week 7 – April 1 – 7, 2012 – Round Beach Tote
If you know me, you know I love bags! Zippered bags (like last week), purses, and tote bags of all kinds, but this was the first time I’ve made one of these. First of all – it’s got a round base! And grommets around the top to pull the cord through. I do remember my mother made a bunch of these when we were kids and we took them camping. I’m sure they got a lot of use in those days.
As I was reading through the directions, I realized that the bottom was just one piece of fabric. It wasn’t reinforced in way. So, if you put just one or two heavy things in the bag, they would practically poke right through the bottom and it would be more like a tube rather than a duffle kind of bag. I decided to make it two layers of fabric with a piece of mesh plastic in the bottom so it would hold its shape. This would also help when digging through the bag trying to find something. It also has 4 pockets on the outside, two large and two small. This would be nice to stick sunglasses, sunscreen, keys, and stuff like that.
For improvements, it might be nice to have at least one pocket with a zipper, but I’ll have to think on how to do that. Perhaps inside pockets the same as the outside pockets – just thinking about where to store money or ID. This particular fabric is an upholstery fabric so it’s a bit thicker and more sturdy than ordinary cotton fabric. I also think this would be nice made from pre-quilted fabric like what I used last week. Rather than using the mesh plastic in the bottom, maybe some stiff interfacing. It would sure be easier to sew. And the size, I would classify this one as XL, so I’ll have to work on downsizing the pattern, too.
Putting in the grommets was interesting to say the least. Of course there’s a cool tool that does this. (Don’t ya just love cool tools?) Well, it seemed pretty easy but it was a bit cumbersome. I’m sure I’ll get better with practice…so keep watching to see when I use this cool tool in the future.
Week 6 – March 25 – 31, 2012 – Zippered Bag
Zippered bags are pretty easy to make and it took just a couple hours to make this bag.
This is my Garmin and it’s been without a case since it was accidentally left in a rental car on our last trip to Florida. Unfortunately, car rental companies are not required to return forgotten belongings to the owners. So, it’s been carried around in a Ziploc baggie for about 18 months. Well, I couldn’t take it anymore!
I had a 40% off coupon for JoAnn Fabrics so I bought some of this wonderful yellow and blue pre-quilted fabric. I had on hand a zipper and some ribbon, so I was all set to make this cute bag. Inside it has a separate pocket to put the Garmin itself so it doesn’t get scratched by the mounting bracket or the cord. Pretty spiffy, don’t you think?
Miss Me?
I’ve been so busy lately I think my head is going to spin clean off my shoulders! Although I can’t tell you at this time just what I’ve been busy doing, but when I do – it’ll be awesome! I’ll let you know in a couple weeks so stay tuned, it’ll be fun.
I have been spending some time in my sewing / quilting room – affectionately known as Wandaland. There are two closets in that room and they each have floor to ceiling shelves. And guess what’s on those shelves – a whole bunch of UFO’s! Un Finished Objects. These are the beginnings of projects either from a class I took or just from a pattern I have.
I seem to be a ‘process’ person. I want to learn a new process, method, or learn to use a new tool, then I’m done. Finish the project? Are you kidding me, there’s too much other stuff to learn. That’s how come I have all these UFO boxes on my shelves.
One time my sister, Janet, overheard me being asked to teach a class on quilt borders. I thought it would be fun and I had some great ideas, but before I could agree to teach the class, my sister pipes up with “Borders? She never gets that far!” Although not entirely true, it’s pretty darn close. Ok, so it takes me awhile to actually get to the borders, but I do finish quilts.
The last few weeks I’ve been going through those closets and all those boxes. Wow – I don’t even remember some of those classes or projects, but here are a few…there are two flannel quilts with the squares already cut and ready to be sewn together, a Christmas quilt with the pieced blocks ready to be sewn into the quilt top, two appliqué blocks (each 36” square) of a four-block quilt and several appliqué pieces cut out for the next block, a bomber jacket, a collection of 1930’s fabrics, and the list goes on and on. Wouldn’t it be nice to just pick a box and complete one of those projects? I just may have to do that.
I’ll post the next couple weeks of the 52 Week Challenge. I’m behind in posting but I’ll do my best to catch up. And stay tuned for that big surprise!
Week 5 – March 18 – 24, 2012 – Finish That Quilt
I took an all day class on how to do maintenance on my Gammill Classic quilting machine and it was amazing! If you don’t have a long arm quilting machine think of it like this… I learned how to tune up my car myself instead of shipping it to the next state to have someone else tune it up my car and change the oil for me.
Kevin and I loaded up the machine then I drove 4 hours over to Zanesville, OH, to A Touch of Thread quilt shop for the class. I learned how to do all the maintenance myself, such as, cleaning and rebuilding the disk and rotary tensions (three top tensions and one bobbin tension), the bobbin winder, needle bar, presser foot, hook assembly, adjusting the belt, and so much more. But the best part of the class was removing the fear of trying to adjust something myself. Now, I won’t hesitate to pick up a screwdriver and take it apart. You just can’t buy confidence.
So, to check out the machine and make sure it works like it’s supposed to (once I got back to Indy and got the it back into the frame), I pulled this quilt top off the shelf and quilted it. It’s a fairly small quilt, only about 40” square, but it was a good test. (I’m still working on sewing the binding to the back of the quilt.) Works great for an 18 year old machine!
I have several quilt tops in Wandaland that need to be quilted. So, in future weeks, you may see more ‘Finish That Quilt’ projects.
Note – Between the time I took the picture and actually made this post, I’ve finished the quilt binding. I’ll run it through the washer and dryer then it’ll be nice and soft and ready to use.
Week 4 – March 11-17, 2012 – All Around the Square
This is a pattern from Easy Quilts, Summer 2012, that was really fun to make. And yes, it was easy. First of all it’s only 12” x 12” and uses just a little bit of fabric. What a great way to use up some leftover fabric from a larger project. Actually, I got these fabrics as a collection of 2 ½” strips from Keepsake Quilting (Fabric of the Month Club – how fun is that?). Normally, I wouldn’t have chosen them, but they came as a set. And you know what, I kinda like them. What a great way to try out new fabrics. Expand your color and pattern choices – and have fun at the same time.
Week 3 – March 4-10, 2012 Sweater Candle Jar Cozies
Sorry this post is late…we were out of town the last two weekends at a friends’ house putting tile in their bathrooms. The tile looks great and we had a good time so it’s taken me a couple days to catch up. (Love ya Debbie!)
OK, so this is really a continuation from Week 2. Did you ever have an idea and just couldn’t let it go? That’s what happened here. After I made the candle jar cozies last week, I just couldn’t stop thinking about them. From out of the blue I got the idea to use a sweater sleeve to make the cozy. So off I went to Goodwill to buy a sweater.
I cut off the sleeve near the cuff and made the cozy for the smaller candle using the cuff edge as the top edge of the cozy. This way the top edge is already done for you. It still has the fabric bottom to protect the glass. I then cut up a little further on the sleeve where it’s bigger for the larger jar. However, I now had to finish the top edge with a bit of elastic. Also it was not a true cylinder shape because of the shape of the sleeve, so I had to sew another seam close the one already there to make it the same dimension around the top and the bottom, sew on the bottom and magic – a Sweater Candle Jar Cozy!
I also had thoughts of making them from lace or pretty ladies hankies, but that may have to wait for another day.
Week 2 – week of Feb. 26, 2012 – Jar Candle Cozies
This was an interesting project – making fabric jar candle covers. New candles aren’t the problem, it’s just after they’ve been used for awhile that they become a problem. The wax often burns unevenly, the wick breaks off and get stuck in the melted wax, the top of the jar often turns black, and there’s the company logo or writing on the outside of the jar. All of this can make them unattractive. Well, with these little “cozies” they are a lot more attractive. I tried a variety of techniques – elastic or ribbon at the top to make it fit the jar, appliqué a design on the front, and even sewing on some lace. The one with the lace is about half way burned and now when the candle is lit, the light shines right through the lace and was a delightful surprise. These also have a fabric bottom to protect the glass jar if it’s sitting on a hard surface. After I wrote up the directions, since I designed these myself, I mentioned to Kevin (my wonderful husband) that I hope there isn’t already a pattern on the market because I had the bright idea that I invented this myself! Here are the before and after pictures of the candles…
52 Week Challenge
I’m starting a new project, one that will actually take 52 weeks to complete. It’s from the book A Daily Creativity Journal 365 by Noah Scalin. Create something every day or every week for one year. It’s geared toward anyone who wants to jump start their creativity no matter what your “medium” is. It could be cooking (did you see the movie Julie and Julia or read the book?), or it could be painting, or writing, or drawing. For me, my medium is fabric. So, my personal challenge is to do something with fabric every week. Now I’d love to say I’ll make a quilt every week for a year, but I don’t think that’s realistic (at least not until I retire). So, I could make a small quilt as a table topper or dresser runner, a wall hanging, a tote bag, a purse, anything I can think of! But it’s once I run out of those quick ideas is where the challenge will come in, what will I make next? Where will the ideas come from? Where will my creativity lead me? What new skills will I learn? What will I accomplish? What will I learn about myself on this journey? So many questions waiting to be answered. I hope you’ll enjoy yourself as you follow me along this journey. So, I’m ready to start with my first project.
Week 1 – Week of Feb. 19, 2012 – My 52 Week Challenge Journal
Here’s a picture of the journal cover I made for one of those composition journals. These are relatively easy to make, just a couple rectangles of fabric sewn together; there are flaps on each side that the cover slides into to hold it onto the book; and it has a ribbon to keep my place. I cut out the shapes for the “52” and appliquéd them onto the cover. In this journal I’ll put a picture of the project along with a description.
Winter Retreat Quilt Block Exchange
Saturday was a “Sew Day” with my sister, Janet, and my best friend, Shelley. The goal was to work on some quilt blocks for an exchange at the Indiana State Quilt Guild winter retreat. Each winter retreat the “back row ladies” (a group of wild and crazy gals) organizes some kind of quilt block exchange. At the 2011 winter retreat they choose to make these star blocks in batik fabrics which we will exchange at the 2012 retreat. This sounded great, but I didn’t have any batik fabrics – I know that must be difficult to imagine, so I spent all summer collecting fabrics. Then in the fall once sailing season was done I’d have plenty of time to whip up these blocks. Well, here it is just three weeks away from the retreat and I don’t have them done! A good way to get some focused quilting done is with friends! Janet already had hers done (the little project finisher that she is), but Shelley and I really needed some help. Shelley is using a method to sew triangles called Thangles and I used a method of sewing squares together then cutting them apart to make the triangles. Both methods turned out beautiful blocks! Here are some pictures of my blocks:
As of this post, I only have 4 more blocks to make. I will cut the sashings and borders before we leave for the retreat. At the winter retreat in Shipshewanna, IN, this wonderful group of ladies will exchange blocks and I will be able to set mine together into a quilt top. I’ve not worked with batik fabrics before and I’ve found this to be very interesting and a lot of fun!
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