Sewbot's Favorites - My Mini from Sewgentle

This week, my favorite thing is the July swap with the Mini Quilt Swap on flickr.

I mentioned the July swap here and here  that I joined with the Mini Quilt Swap.   I was lucky enough to be paired with sewgentle this time around.  Check out all the fun stuff she sent to me.


This is the mini I received.  Isn't she fabulous?  It's from a pattern titled "Regina del Mar".  One of Jason's pet names for me is "del Mar" which means "of the sea" in Spanish.  Regina, is also from the sea!  :)


Isn't her crazy hair fun?  I really love her french knot belly button.


Check out this embroidery!  Fantastic isn't it?


Here's the back.


Check out all the bonus stuff sewgentle sent me!


There was this magnetic grocery list.


She picked out these little squares of this robot fabric because it reminded her of my flickr buddy icon (shown below).  Jason has already mentioned that he might like a little of this fabric in his robot quilt.



Sewgentle lives close to the Liberty Bell.  She used this fabric for Regina's tail and sent me the remainder.  How fun!


She sent this fun robot panel by Cosmo Cricket.  I'm thinking it might work it's way into the Robot Quilt I'm working on for Jason. 

 
This is my favorite part of the robot panel.  It says "LOVING YOU IS IN MY CODE".  How funny!  You knew I was a nerd right?  This shouldn't come as a surprise that I love funny robot love talk.

Thanks, sewgentle for a fabulous swap.  I had a lot of fun making you the "Seaside" mini quilt.  I had even more fun receiving your "Regina del Mar" mini quilt.  I really enjoyed being your partner this time around.

Also, Happy 2nd Birthday to my nephew, Lucas!

I'm in!

I was given a spot in the latest and greatest Doll Quilt Swap.  This is round #9 and my first time playing in this swap.

I'm so excited to be a part of this round.  From the conversations I've been reading on the flickr discussions, it seems like I'll be swapping with a fun bunch.  If you're not familiar with the swap, check out the blog here or see the flickr group here.

The basic rules are:

1. Make a quilt for your partner that is between 12x12 and 24x24.
2. It's a secret!  Don't tell your partner that you are making their quilt.
3. You can't send out the quilt before August 15th. 
4. You have to have it in the mail by September 1st (if international) or September 8th (if domestic).

We have some time to familiarize ourselves with our partners by researching their blogs, flickr favorites, or anything else we can find about them before getting started on our doll quilts.

I can't wait to find out who my partner is and get crackin' on making something really fun for them.

Row Robin Swap

I've been waiting for a long time to post about this swap. This was the first swap I ever joined. The sign-ups for it closed way back on February 28, 2009. I am terribly disappointed with the way it ended up.

Things were sailing along smoothly until after the first send out date, our swap mama had to drop out because of some health issues. Understandable.

That's when everything fell apart. One lady in the swap held onto each row she got for months. Yes, I said months. The deadlines were supposed to be every 6 weeks. How nice is that? Not.

Another of the swappers in my group had her father pass away. She told us she was going to get back into things shortly. That was six months ago.

The whole swap was supposed to be done back in November. It's now April. I still haven't got any rows back. In fact, I don't think any have been added. That's nice, because the lady who has been holding things up the entire swap just got a complete set of rows back. Isn't that nice?

I didn't even take photos of the row I did for her. It's been sitting on my desk for about 3 months waiting to be mailed out to her. We decided to hold it hostage in hopes of getting everyone else's rows back. I'm now wishing I hadn't done one for her at all.

I had high hopes for this swap. Do you remember my first wizard of oz row? Well, I'm pretty sure that even though it sat with Lady #1 for six months to be sent off to Lady #2 for an additional six months, it's still a single row. Isn't that a bum deal?

Anyway... it's over. Hopefully, our rows are on their way home. I hope Lady #1 enjoys her full set of rows enough for all of our group. She's the only one getting a full set back. Unless, of course I'm completely wrong and those two actually made rows for everyone else and were just holding them hostage, but I really doubt that's the case.

Fall Mini Swap

I joined my first swap with the 6-12" Mini Quilt Swapping Group on flickr in September. The theme for the month was fall. If you remember from my post a few days ago, I made a mini I titled "Wheat" for my partner.

She sent me this fall mini in return.
I love the leaves! Before making the wheat quilt, I searched and searched trying to come up with a leaf block I liked. I couldn't come up with one. They were all mis-shaped or just plain yucky. These are beautiful!

And the hand quilting! Yum!

The border on the front is from the same fabric as on the back. I love, love, love it!

See the awesome fat quarter she sent? It's the same as on the border and the back! What fun!

And the buttons are adorable! Most of them match the button on the center of the mini.

Thanks for swapping with me Claire! I had a lot of fun with you!

The Quilting Arts Book & the "Wheat" Mini

My library has a very good quilting and crafting section. Often I go there if I'm stuck in a rut and need a bit of inspiration.

I joined a little swap on flickr in September. The swap group is called the 6"-12" mini quilt trading swap. The theme for September was fall.

My head was immediately filled with all sorts of ideas. I spoke with my partner and she only requested fall colors and not Halloween. I did a lot of inspiration surfing on flickr and started adding images I liked to my favorites. I loved the detail I found in this photo titled "Golden Harvest", but couldn't figure out how to create it in a quilt.

I kept meandering from the wheat idea and started on numerous other variations on the "fall" theme. I attempted a scarecrow paper-piecing pattern and gave up. I debated a pumpkin quilt similar to this, but my heart just wasn't in it.

Eventually I gave up on my current ideas and headed to the library. I discovered a book titled The Quilting Arts Book. I brought it home thinking it would be a good inspiration for how to quilt the mini.

It turns out that I was inspired by this book for more than quilting. I went to Utrecht the next day and got 2 linoleum blocks. I went to JoAnn for some Tulip paint, fabric, and gold thread.

I came home and pulled out our printmaking supplies. I carved the blocks.
I printed the images onto the fabric.
I sliced the printed fabric into manageable rectangles around the wheat image. I developed an arrangement and determined the rotation of blocks.

I sliced the blocks to close to the proper size.

I pieced the rectangles together to create the quilt top.

I layered the top, batting, and backing together.

I quilted the mini.
I attached the binding.

I added the quilt tag.



This is what I ended up creating.


It's amazing to me that I came up with this. I was drawn to this book because of the phenomenal stitching on the cover, but ended up with such a simple quilting pattern in the end.

The inspiration for this project that I did take from The Quilting Arts Book was from the Layered Printmaking project by Lucie Summers.

Note: I'm fairly certain this blog belongs to the Lucie Summers who authored the project in the book. If I'm wrong and it actually belongs to a different Lucie Summers, it's still worth checking out. She does some wicked cool work.

I altered the project quite a lot. I used a different type of paint/ink. I actually never completely read the entire instructions (I usually don't. I read maybe 1/2 to 2/3 of the project instructions and then force myself to create from that starting block.)

This was my first stab at printing onto fabric. I've took a printmaking class in college and really enjoyed it. Printing on fabric and at home is a lot different though. I wish we had the room and expendable income to buy a printing press. Just imagine the possibilities!

I'm really digging this book. Our library lets you recheck out the same book multiple times in a row (It is actually quite ridiculous how long I can keep a book.) if nobody else has requested it. So, I think this is a book I will either hoard from the library or if they force me to... it might be one that I purchase.

What I love about Quilting Arts is that everything they write about is something fresh. I think that's what I find lacking in other quilting magazines. You can only do the nine patch so many ways that traditional quilting magazines seem to just be more of the same.

Quilting Arts touches on thread painting, fabric dyeing, embellishing, fusing, etc. It touches on so many different ways to make your quilt have a texture. (Texture is one of my favorite elements in design.)

Okay, maybe I should give this copy back to the library and buy my own. It's a great book that could get anyone out of an inspiration rut. I totally recommend you check it out (just not from my library because I'm not quite ready to forfeit this copy just yet).

Completed row!

It's done. My row is ready to be sent off.



It's surprisingly difficult to photograph because of it's length. I figured out how to get it though! Please disregard the grilled cheese. I was making lunch when the idea of how to photograph it came to me.

I also redid the bottom part of my hot air balloon. I'm much happier with it.

Blocks #8 & 9

It's done. I've completed all the blocks.

Block #8 - Hot Air Balloon



I have decided to leave off the text from the film. It says State Fair Omaha on the balloon when the wizard takes off. I've decided that since this is just a representation, I don't need all the fine details.

Block #9 - Ruby Slipper



This one is a mirror image of the other slipper.

This is something I did in Photoshop. I used the images of each of the blocks and lined them up to see how the strip will look.

Block #7 - Ruby Slippers

I chose the witch fabric for the background, since when Dorothy first puts on the slippers, the wicked witch first appears. The blue is to represent her blue socks. I think the sparkly red is self explanatory. I was considering adding a bow to the toe that would be three dimensional.

Blocks #4, 5, & 6

Here's a few new blocks I did for the swap over the weekend.

Block #4 - The Basket


There is a basket in the beginning of the movie when Ms. Gulch takes Toto away on the back of her bike. Dorothy also carries a basket on her journey.

Block #5 - Kansas Tornado


This is the tornado that hits the Kansas farm. It's the point in the movie that turns from black and white to color.

Block #6 - Glinda's Magic Wand


This is the wand that Glinda, the Good Witch of the North, carries. I chose the pink splotchy fabric to represent Glinda's dress.

Block #3 - Toto

Block #3 down.



This is Toto. The background is ruby red slippers.

Block #2 - Kansas Farm House

Do you remember the beginning of the Wizard of Oz movie? Do you recall how it is filmed in black and white before the Technicolor kicks in?

Block #2 for the Row Robin Quilt Swap is my representation of Auntie Em & Uncle Henry's farm house in Kansas.



This image is the sketch I made prior to sewing my block.



Jason and I watched the movie over the weekend (which is an excellent movie if you haven't seen it recently) and I sketched a few more ideas during our viewing.

Here is an image I cartooned out of my strip. We'll see how close it ends up to this.



I also drew this block design. It's of the farm being hit by the tornado. I'm planning to paper piece it. We'll see how it turns out. I might decide to leave off the farm and just do the tornado. That would really simplify it.

Block #1 - Emerald City

I worked on my quilt blocks for the Wizard of Oz quilt over the weekend.

My first block is nearing completion. I still need to clean it up a bit (miscellaneous threads, etc.) and decide whether or not to leave the sign, but I like it.



I think the sign might be too big and too dark. It'll be easy to remove if that's what I decide since I appliqued it on. Does anyone have any thoughts on this?

A few new things to blog about....

It's been a while since the last time I posted anything, so I have a little catch-up to play.

1: I finished the write-up for Singer's website and have sent that off. I think it turned out well. I made some diagrams (all those hours in Architecture school may have finally paid off) and they really seemed to help clarify the directions. My mom did a run through of my directions to find anything that needed more clarification and was able to get most of the tough stuff without me being there, so that's definitely a good sign.

Thanks for helping me out, mom!

2: I've joined a Row Robin Quilt Swap! The way it works is we were split into groups of 6. Each person makes a row for the quilt theme they have chosen. They have 6 weeks to complete it. When they are finished, they stick it in a ziploc bag and mail it off to the next quilter. That person makes a row to fit your quilt theme and style within 6 weeks and mails it to the next person on the list. Each bag of strips gets sent to all 6 group members, so by the time it gets back to the original person, there are 6 different strips for them to complete a quilt top with. They can add sashing and arrange as desired before finishing the quilt.

I'm really excited to see what comes back to me at the end of the swap. Throughout the swap we are supposed to check in periodically on the flickr group so that everyone knows their quilt is still in good hands and hasn't disappeared.

The theme I've chosen for my quilt is the Wizard of Oz. I'm thinking I'll have a finished quilt of 54" in width. If I make 6" blocks, that gives me 9 to make my strip out of. My mom (who also joined the swap) and I went to a quilt shoppe in Plattsmouth, Nebraska over the weekend to shop for our swap quilts. I got a few really cute Wizard of Oz fat quarters to use in my strip. My rough plan for my strip is this:

Block 1: A simple block with one of the scenes from the fat quarter I purchased.

Block 2: Ruby slippers. This will probably be appliqued (which reminds me I should get some library books to teach myself how to do that exactly). I'm planning on using some of the red sparkly fabric I had sitting in my stash.

Block 3: The hot air balloon. This will most likely also be appliqued.

Block 4: Maybe something with the witch fat quarter I bought.

Block 5: The emerald city. I'm not quite sure how to make this yet, so we'll see what I end up with. My mom loaned me this green fabric that I think I'll probably use. I think maybe inventing some sort of strip method may be the answer.

Block 6: Is still up in the air. I might do some sort of really simple frame for one of the scenes from this awesome fat quarter I scooped up.

Block 7: Also up in the air, but maybe another framed scene from the same fabric.

Block 8: I was thinking about doing the ruby slippers again, but this time putting them on the wicked witch. Do you remember the scene when she was squashed by the house in the tornado?

Block 9: There are several scenes on the same fat quarter. If I don't end up using them in the strip, they'll probably end up in the corners on the finished top. I'm really excited to see what I come up with for my strip and then to see what else turns up in all the other strips that I'll recieve at the end of the swap.

I also scooped these few fat quarters up, but haven't decided how to use them yet. I just couldn't leave the quilt store without them.

My mom's theme is all 30's prints in pastel colors. She found a lot of them at the quilt shoppe over the weekend, but was still undecided on what sort of pattern she wanted to do. I'm glad we didn't end up in the same group of 6 because I think it could ruin part of the surprise of what each of us would end up with at the end of the swap. I also think it would have been neat if we had ended up in the same group because we've never done a quilt together. I have a few she's made for me, but we've never done one where we both have worked on it. I suppose we'll just have to save that for another project.

3: I'll keep this blog from going to much longer and add my other stuff in the future. A few things to look forward to in the near future:

• A Plastic Bag class I took at Urban Arts + Crafts. I'm considering turning this into my first tutorial, which is why I have yet to write it.
• A tour of my quilt collection.
• A blog on a few different print methods I've tried recently.
• I'm considering starting some sort of Etsy find of the week
• A review of the Seams to Be Quilt Shoppe in Plattsmouth, NE