quilt the book. again, and this time I mean it!

Updated to add this: After writing through this post and flipping through some of my beloved quilt books I was wanting to flip back and forth between books, so I am altering my goal. Instead I will be quilting the bookS. I am going to try and tackle a few quilts from each of the books I mention below and I am aiming for 2 quilts from these books a month. So my new challenge will be #quiltthebooks18 


------------

Two years ago, after flipping through one of my favorite quilting books, Quilt Love, I decided to create a project goal for myself, Quilt The Book. You can read about my earlier experience here. 

I may have mentioned this before, but when it comes to long term quilting projects, I pretty much always fizzle out. I guess I just don't have the stamina....I'm more of a burst quilter. As evidenced by this blog. Nothing for 6 months and then back to back to back quilts in a weeks time. Past quilting projects I gave committed to but gave up not even halfway in- quilt the book 2016, #100days100blocks, the sewcial bee sampler, the 100 day project......wow, this is depressing. I will stop there.

So, knowing what I am and am not great at, I am taking on this challenge again, but with a loose frame so I don't feel boxed in.

The book I chose is Wise Craft Quilts by Blair Stocker. It is AMAZING!! Even if you don't take on the premise of taking fabrics you already have and turning them into quilts, it is packed FULL of amazing patterns that are so inspiring. I have not been this obsessed with a quilting book in a couple years.

Here is my plan. I am going to shoot for making 1/3 to 1/2 the quilts in the book, and while I am tagging this self-guided challenge #shannonquiltsthebook18, I am not necessarily needing to finish by the end of 2018. There are 21 quilts in this book, so I'd like to make at least 7-12 quilts, and I am shooting for one a month. I am not going to limit myself to only making patterns from this book. Which is necessary because I need the freedom to make other things.

So would you like to join me? You don't have to make from this book, it'd just be fun to be in community with others who are putting their own spin on a well-loved book. I am also using the hashtag #quiltthebook18. I would love for you to quilt with me!

Are you wondering about ideas for books? I am OBSESSED with quilt books. I am not sure what specifically it is about them, maybe just the different ideas and translations of this art form I love. So here are a handful of my other favorite quilt books if you are needing a good quilt book!

Liberty Love. (I LOVE this book!! It's top 3 for me!!) The Marcelle Medallion and Sugar Stars are each amazing in different ways!!

Quilt Love. Also amazing, and the source of my earlier neglected quilt the book challenge. I have made 3 favorite quilts from this book -  Morning Coffee Quilt Circle, Leaving The Nest, and New Baby Quilt. You guys-- this book is incredible.

Last Minute Patchwork + Quilted Gifts. Love this one, too! That color wheel quilt!!Just Sweet Enough!! Stacked Coins! And I have made Summer Breeze and it is perfection.

The Improv Handbook for Modern Quilters. This is another book chock full of beautiful motivation to step outside your comfort zone. On my list of quilt scores to make- Floating Squares, Strings, and Modern Block Improv. Seriously, typing all these out makes me want to use this book for my next challenge. 

And last but not least Quilting From Every Angle. These quilts speak to my modern, minimal, negative space loving heart. My list of quilts to make includes Wayward (I LOVE this pattern!!), Colorblock, and that Desert Blooms Medallion is GORGEOUS!

There are dozens more books I love but I thought I would stick to my top 5 and not overwhelm you! I tried to link a variety of sources for these books- I get nothing from it, just wanted to share, but you can google each title and find what works for you :) 

Join me in quilting the book!!!! 

Quilt The Book?

As we are sitting in the airport hoping to catch a flight to Spain, I figured now was a great time to write a post I've been mulling over in my head.

One of my very very favorite bloggers, Jolene of Blue Elephant Stitches , started a little challenge a while back that she called Quilt the Book, I believe. The challenge is pretty self explanatory-- she just quilted her way through the book.

This has intrigued me for many reasons. First, while I have a major obsession with quilting books, I've yet to find a quilt book that had me wanting to make even half of the quilts featured. It would be both exciting and a little off putting to make a quilt that I wasn't initially drawn to. Also, a lot of my quilting lull is a result of TOO MUCH inspiration/ideas/color palettes, that leave me not knowing where to begin. Having something more structured, like a plan to make what's in front of me, would really solve that issue for me.

So. I have decided to go ahead with this challenge after I select a book. I have created a few rules to both keep me focused and give me a little freedom. The rules:

- I have to make 2/3 of the quilts featured in a book. Other projects won't be included. So if there are 15 quilts featured, I need to make 10. This gives me a little freedom in not having to choose something  that really doesn't speak to me.

- I don't have to stick to exact sizes for patterns-- I can size up and size down, but I need to roughly adhere to same dimensions

- my goal is to complete this challenge before Spring of 2017

- I can work on the projects in between, but cannot start another book quilt until the previous book quilt is finished.

So, now the contenders....

I really love Quilt Love. I like this book because it  modern and traditional and I feel like the quilts really allow you to put your own spin on things. Also, I feel like the quilts can come together fairly quickly and really allow for a lot of individual expression.

The other book I'm considering is Sunday Morning Quilts. Another favorite of mine. Love the patterns but also love the use of scraps and the quilts in the book are so fun!

So there you have it. A little self imposed challenge I'm debating. And here's a few pictures of things I've been working on lately.

A rainbow quilt for my shop. 

I used a cotton poly batting and it made have a little extra puff.

backed in double gauze.

I used three different colors of thread for the quilting.

A quilt top I am working on. based on the Tunnels quilt from the book Modern Heritage Quilts.

The makings of a bag for myself.

My go to Spain bag, except we didn't actually get to Spain. 

Okay, so is anyone with me on the "quilt the book" challenge?

what I'm wanting & what I'm reading

This year, I have shown some SERIOUS restraint in purchasing fabric. Serious restraint.

We are trying to save what we can for retirement, and also, I have more fabric than I know what to do with. I tell my husband all the time that I want-- no, I NEED is more like it- to be more minimalist and not have sooooo. much. stuff. Because with 5 kids, we sure accumulate stuff. We have been trying to weed stuff out and over the past few months have filled over a dozen bags and boxes with things we do not need. And I am all about continuing with that....except in my sewing room, it is so hard. I did go through it once, and pulled out a few pounds of fabric that I bought several years ago that I no longer want (chevron, mostly.)

The problem is, I clear out space and then feel like I should be *allowed* to fill it. haha!

So, instead, I just send my husband links to bundles of fabric I want and put "A great mother's day present idea" or "Earth day gift idea" in the subject line. Sometimes I just email him with a link to fabric and say only, I should get a reward for keeping the kids alive this week.

So on the latest rounds of emails, this is what I have pointed my husband towards.

The bundle is available at Purl Soho, and it was designed to make the Color Wheel quilt in the book Last Minute Patchwork + Quilted Gifts.  I already have the book and have made one quilt from it so far. I bought the book solely with the purpose of making the Color Wheel quilt, so the fact that there is a bundle filled with beautiful Liberty florals designed solely for this purpose-- YES, PLEASE!

And then there is this bundle. Where the Liberty rainbow is soft and soothing, this Heather Bailey bundle is bright and energetic.

This bundle is one of several bundles I have been eyeing (and emailing link to) from Stash Modern Fabrics.

Okay, so now that it's clear I am in need of a fabric rainbow in my life, I wanted to share about some wonderful books I have read in the past couple weeks.

First, was Neil Gaiman's The Ocean at the End of the Lane. It was unlike anything I have read as an adult. There were so many bits of beautiful wisdom speckled throughout, that I think I will read it again because I am sure I missed some things. I am terrible at book reviews, so I will spare you my mediocre attempt to summarize a wonderfully written story. But- it is a fast read, one I could not put down, and despite being something I would not have ordinarily gravitated towards, I am so glad I did.  It's been a week since I finished the book, and it keeps creeping its way into my thoughts. I love a book that stays with you and keeps making you think of deep things in a relatable way.

I really love Goodreads. If you are on there, please let's be friends. Because so many of the books I have LOVED, I only came upon because I saw a friend rate it/review it well. I have a handful of friends that have similar reading tastes, and I love browsing their book lists. 

Another one I just finished was Lilac Girls. A tale of 3 women whose stories were independent and heartbreakingly intertwined during World War II and the years that came after. It was, at times, almost impossible to read. It was hard and beautiful material and  it was a story of the both the very worst and the very best things humans are capable of. And the way it detailed these women's stories, the way they persevered, connected to one another, were brave and strong, it just got right to my core. As the tears gathered on my cheeks, I wanted to put it down, but could not. This book is one everyone should read.

And these are the books next up.

Sarah's Key and The Pearl That Broke It's Shell are going to be hard reads, so I have heard, so I am going to need something rather light in between those two. Back to the library I will go. High fives to my local library, who is constantly supplying me with wonderful things to keep up late into the night!

Do y'all have any books you think I'd like to read? I'd love to hear your thoughts.

some finishing and thoughts on pricing

I shared before how I was in a creativity funk and I attributed it to several different things. I think I partly wore myself out from a frenzy of making in the spring, and I was also trying to sort through my feelings on putting quilts in my shop and processing my feelings when certain quilts just sit there for a while. I think the factor that weighed heavy on me was my huge pile of "in process" quilts.

I knew I had a few quilt tops done and ready for quilting and backing but I had no idea I had SO many. When I went to sort through them all I counted 14 finished tops. FOURTEEN. That is not even including the piles of blocks that I have that are all meant to be a quilt top. So to say I have a problem finishing what I start would be an understatement, to put it mildly.

But putting it out there that I had so many unfinished quilts really motivated me to tackle that huge pile of quilt tops and turn them into finished quilts. And in one Saturday, I was able to get 3 finished! Yay me!

This one was intended to be a crib quilt or baby girl quilt for my shop. I was making a pattern from Camille Roskelley's book Simply Retro.  But I was WAY overzealous when trimming my HSTs for the churn dash blocks and cut several too small. Which means that when I pieced the blocks together, several of the pointed ends of the blocks got chopped off and didn't align well with their neighbor blocks. That is why I tossed it to the side about a year ago-- I was bummed I messed up my last pieces of this Heather Bailey fabric. Heather Bailey is probably at the very top of my list of fabric designers. So then I decided I would keep it for our house and decided to just add a border of this bright aqua around it to make it bigger. I quilted it and then bound it in a sweet little pink polka dot fabric. Then I had a few people comment that they wanted it and I realized my list of essential oils that I want to buy is LONG so I decided to list it in my shop, at a lower price than I would have charged had I made the blocks perfectly (more about pricing in a minute). It is listed for sale in my shop here. 

This is my Doe quilt. I don't normally like to make a quilt exclusively with one line of fabric (although that's difficult to argue when both this and the quilt above are solely from one line of fabric) but this one I felt really stood well alone. This quilt top was backed and quilted-- all it needed was a binding when I tossed it aside. I didn't like how there was a couple puckers in the quilting -- then I had a breathe and reevaluate moment and realized the little puckers I was talking about did nothing to diminish the overall look or feel of the quilt. That said- I did seam rip one of the bigger puckers and left a couple smaller ones. After I washed and dried it, I couldn't even find the spots that initially drove me crazy - that's a deeper lesson, I'm sure. This one is also listed in my shop. p.s.  you might be able to tell that I am STILL in love with incorporating essex linen whenever I can in a quilt. In this case, it's the binding. 

And then this one. I honestly had just forgotten about this one. Which is funny because it's pretty big and occupied a rather large space in my castoff pile. I made this with a fat quarter bundle of Tanya Whelan's Lulu fabric, but I mixed in a couple low volumes because I have a thing about having ample white space (in my quilts and in my life), I made it quilt as you go style, so all it needed was a pieced backing and a binding. I finished it and went to take pictures to add it to my shop when I saw it! I splotchy mark that splattered across 3 different clocks of fabric. I literally had to keep my tears from falling. I totally wanted to blame my kids, too, but I remembered exactly what it was. I had started this quilt top when we were packing up to move to our house in the winter of 2015. I remember loading stuff into a box and tripping, spilling my coffee everywhere and in the box that held my works in progress. I thought I had cleaned it all up. Apparently NOT. Ugh. I have worked to get the spot out and it is certainly faded but still there. My lovely friends on Instagram are telling me to list it with the spot and maybe discount it some. I feel really bad about selling a quilt with a spot on it though. A little puckering  or not perfectly pointed points is one thing, but a spot.....I am still trying to figure out what I will do with this. 

Okay....now about something that I have been asked about and I guess just feel the need to share out loud. Pricing. How do you price a quilt. I have read ALL kinds of articles and thoughts on this topic and it definitely seems to be a relatively heated issue with quilters. You can read about pricing quilts here , if you are interested, and HERE is another great article. 

To give you an idea-- the fat quarter bundle I used to make the Lulu Roses quilt top above was $56. The backing consisted of 3 yards of fabric and almost another full yard for the binding, and 4added low volume fat quarters-- at $9/yard, that is an additional $40ish with me rounding down. The batting was about $11, and I got it with a coupon. So we are at $107 just on materials. Then there is my time, which took me about 12 -14 hours to make. So if I am just recouping my materials and paying myself a minimal hourly wage, we are at around $200, and that is only paying myself the bare minimum and making no profit. Based on a lot of the pricing methods I have read about, I would need to charge about $400 for the quilt top above using their methods. 

So here are my thoughts on the topic. I love to quilt. I really, really love it. But there really isn't a need for my children to each have 7 quilts, so I decided that I would create a little shop to sell my items, if anything, to help recoup the cost of fabric and continue to fuel this passion of mine, and maybe just maybe, make a tiny but of money. I would LOVE to make 

$400 on a quilt....but I remember a key phrase I read about when getting my MBA and that was "what the market can bear". I don't think the average etsy buyer would be willing to pay $400 for a quilt. And though it is a one-of-a-kind, original, handmade item, I am still competing against Target and TJ Maxx because for people who are purchasing from a utility perspective, they can get a quilt the same size for around $50. ugh. So I am somewhere in the middle of this pricing equation. I want to recoup my costs and pay myself, but I also want to make something that people can afford and would be inclined to buy.

So that quilt top above-- I would have listed maybe a little under $200, had I not seen the spot. Some quilters would scoff at that and say I might be belittling the art of quilting by charging that, and some customers might think it is crazy to spend $200 on a quilt when they could buy a (poorer quality, mass produced - haha) quilt at a super-store for $40.  I am just doing what I think is right for me.

So there you have it.  My perspective on pricing. And if you still think that handmade quilts on etsy are expensive, click on over here and check this out.

A rather racy name for a quilt block

Whenever I begin a quilt, it usually starts from one of two or three different foundations: knowing what pattern I want to make, knowing what color scheme I want to use, or having an idea of what I want the quilt to mean, and building from there.

With this particular quilt, I bought a bundle from Cassie of @sewstitchinghappy_shop and decided when I got it, that it begged for a traditional block, but one that really showed off the fabric. Some prints want to be cut up tiny, and some really want to be on display.

In this photo above, it was the pink unicorns set against the olivey, mossy green that I knew I needed to keep in tact. 

So I began thinking of more traditional blocks that I have been wanting to make-- there are plenty of those, because I usually end up creating a more modern design that isn't based on blocks, or of I am doing blocks, stick to simple patchwork, wonky stars, or geese. So my list of "want to try" blocks is long!

I have been wanting to make this "Big O" block for a bit, but wasn't sure about rows of the same blocks.  

First of all, can we take a second to address the fact that I am really an adolescent boy at heart. I read the name of the quilt block and totally giggled. A friend texted me while I was making the blocks asking what I was doing that I couldn't answer her call and I said "just working on the big O!" and I think she about choked on her diet coke. hahahaha. Okay, back to being a grown up.....

The Big O block. (hehehe) I wanted to make it, but not row after row of the O. So I decided to vary the size of the blocks and break them up some. As always, it would have been much simpler and easier on my brain had I devised a plan right away. Instead I just made blocks in random sizes as I went along and placed them where I thought they looked best using my fancy design wall -- master bedroom floor-- and then stitched them together when I had a design I liked. Which occurred after about 329 rearranges. 

I am a big fan of varying the sizes of blocks-- I feel like it makes a design look fresh, but that's definitely just my own taste and preference. 

I feel like rather than rows of O's, it looks more like pretty little donuts floating about. 

Someone on Instagram recently asked fellow quilters about which part of the quilt making process they dread most. I was surprised how many people said binding! I love that part!! Binding, to me, is like reading a wonderful book.You have invested so much time and energy and thought into this book, and you get to the last few pages and it all comes together. That feeling of closing the book and setting it down, completely gratified! That is what binding feels like to me. 

On the other hand, making a quilt backing makes me grumbly. When I finally finish piecing and constructing the top, I really DO NOT want to piece a backing. I just want to get to the quilting! I have a habit of paying my children to do the housework I really dislike (putting laundry away, cleaning toilets...), so maybe soon, I can pay my oldest daughter to stitch up a backing for me! #momgoals

This is the third time I have quilted in big ol' infinity loops, and every time I am pleased with how it looks. Not perfect, not precise, but the curves provide ample crinkle and make it a little more laid back, to me.

This quilt is all done and sitting contentedly in my shop here. 

Happy Wednesday friends. 

Linking up here:

https://sewfreshquilts.blogspot.com

muted

I am going through a muted phase. Not the non-speaking variety, unfortunately for my children......I am talking color palettes.

I had been drooling over this gorgeous Kelly Ventura lawn print in Cottoneer Fabric's shop for a bit. That picture isn't the best at showing the color-- this picture is better  I think it is the top right fabric, because the gray is actually like an icy blue-gray mix. I bought it, along with a bundle and some other fabrics, and as soon as I saw it, I fell in love.
this picture is better
I started building around that main fabric, and eventually had a color palette. (which definitely evolved to include another color, with one of the fabrics below being omitted.)

And in keeping with my idea to Quilt the Book, I flipped through the book to determine a pattern. I knew I was going for a soft, modern look, one the did not look overly planned. So the Tagged Quilt was the clear choice for me.

And so I began constructing a basically improvisational patchwork quilt, using bigger blocks, and keeping a soft palette.

I knew  before I began quilting it that I loved it.  But the quilting just amped up the love.

Sometimes that happens for me, where I am not sure if I love it until I quilt it. And sometimes even after I quilt it, I'm still unsure. Fortunately, the latter is pretty rare. Because I know pretty early on during the piecing process whether or not I am liking a quilt. And the ones I am not are usually cast aside. There have been a few I continued on with. And of those, most I am happy I did. -- I will be honest and say that I have made a couple that even after it is finished and washed and all crinkly and cuddly, it still feels blah. I can think of 3 right off the top of my head, but I don't think I should share which ones because one was a gift, one went in my shop, and one is still sitting here, and I don't want to attach my meehhhhh feelings to these quilts. haha.

sorry.....I got sidetracked.

This quilt was not meeehhhhhhh AT ALL. I loved it. Here she is!

This quilt is available in my shop here  :)

When one sewing machine door closes....

I feel like I have been hustling since the last week of August. Between the kids and their homework and their sports and my job and everything else, I finally feel like I can maybe sit a minute and even read a book.

This past week started with an incredible amount of stress, when my sewing machine started skipping. I tried all the normal things, several times and realized none of those things were working. So I took in to be serviced only to be told that the timing was bad. I was already completely stressed because at the time I had three people who were waiting on me to finish custom orders. But then to hear my sewing machine basically bit the dust and I couldn't sew a straight stitch anymore? Ugh.....

I decided immediately I needed a replacement machine. I could just purchase another machine that wasn't too expensive.....OORRRRR...I could bite the bullet and get the machine I  have been saving for and dreaming about right then and there. You guys?!?!?! 

I got my dream machine!!! A Janome Horizon Memory Craft 8200 QCP. I looked at the 8900, but I really didn't need all of those fancy stitches. I use a straight stitch 90% of the time, occasionally a zig zag, and less frequently a satin stitch. I really didn't need a machine that could sew 1,000 stitches. But I did purchase the extended quilting table with my machine!

Here she is!!!

And here we are, doing our thing!

Every single time I turn her on, I do a little happy dance.

The top 5 things I already love about her:

1. TONS of throat space

2. Automatic thread cutter!!

3. Knee presser foot lift

4. The light is powerful and awesome

5. She sews like a dream. 

I feel like I am quicker, more efficient, and I have more control when I sew with her. I am so smitten! You guys, I have literally been dreaming about upgrading to this machine for over a year!! And now I get to sew with her whenever I want. I am so happy.

Here are some quilts I have been working on. 

I loved the one above. It was centered around Sarah Jane's beautiful line of fabric called Magic. You can get a bundle here!

This was made with a charm pack of white squares and Lullaby, and I love the soft and tranquil look that these colors bring!

This was made for my Quilt The Book challenge! I am doing a spectacular job---- being that this is the only quilt I have made so far :/ But I sure do love it. These colors are everything!!

This was a quilting in progress shot of something I will be sharing later. This quilt was one I designed myself, specifically to have something more original that was definitely me! I am sure there have been other quilts like this, but if so, I had never seen them. I will share about this one in another post!

I did several that were like this, and I love them. I am a sucker for big pieces that really showcase color and pattern of fabric, and I tend to think the simpler designs look cleaner, more modern, and more in line with my style. 

That center patch of fabric!!! Love it!

Another quilt I dreamed up in my head one night and got out of bed at around midnight and went downstairs to my quilting room to get it going.

This one was made Annabel Wrigley's Maribel, which is so perfectly charming!

I realized it had been a while since I made a boy quilt, and I tried to branch out from my typical aqua or navy, and included some greens.

Made around the Sommer line of fabric!

I think this style will always be my favorite. Big patchwork with some fin blocks mixed in!

This one is in my shop now. This fabric line is one of my all-time favorites!!

Heather Bailey makes BEAUTIFUL fabric! This quilt design was based on the Peaches and Cream quilt tutorial. I changed some dimensions and sashing, but it is the same idea!