The Quilting Process
This past week has been so energizing in the quilting arena. With all of the Christmas presents finally done and shipped off, I felt like I could start something new. So, while Becca was sewing her quilt that Friday afternoon (January 2), I stared at my wall of fabric looking for inspiration for the wedding quilt I'm making. To say that I have a wall of fabric is a little bit of an understatement. Several years ago I became tired of having all of my fabric in boxes. I would have to get several boxes moved so I could get to the box I wanted. Yes, my fabric stayed dust free and hidden from sunlight. But, I find myself so drawn to the colors and the textures that it seemed sort of backwards. Several years ago, while Jeff was fishing in Canada, I enlisted the help of my friend Karen, and we swapped the sewing room with our spare bedroom, as it was bigger. I purchased two 48 inch wide x 72 inch tall book cases from Sam's club. Wish I would have purchased two more! My rainbow of fabric (well most of it) is open and free for me to gaze at every day. Yes, it gets dusty. Yes, there are some pieces that are showing fading. But, who cares! I love the color. I love staring at the wall and seeing a piece of fabric I bought for this reason, or a piece of fabric I got while traveling, or fabric that just spoke to me so loud that I had to purchase 3 yards.
Selecting the Fabric
I did find the perfect blue fabric for the quilt I'm working on. On Saturday, I got the graph paper and pencils and started penciling out my plan. The bride-to-be, Liz, had commented on liking the wedding quilt that my Grandma Moore had given Jeff and I, so I'm going with that for inspiration. I kept pulling out coordinating blues, reds, greens, golds, and creams. I chuckled with Becca "was it exciting that I had enough fabric to make a queen-size quilt in my stash or scary." Then Sunday rolled around and horrible ice. Church was cancelled and the kids were happy in their pjs. I transformed the dining room into my cutting center so the girls could play around me and I could keep a watchful eye on them. The wooden bowl in the center of the table quickly became the garbage bowl.
Cutting and Piecing
The rest of the week I used my own best advice to others. Just do things in small steps, 10 minutes here, 10 minutes there, and before you know it you'll have a whole quilt done. Nap time is key in my house for using the sewing machine and iron. Sew together strips, sub-cut, press.
Pinning
Pinning in bed, as long as you don't drop any, is a great way to unwind while your spouse watches Star Wars, the trilogy, or something. I just like to see Harrison Ford looking so young. And, he's only in one.
Color Composition
The design does not call for all fo the units to be side-by-side, but I like to look through my camera and get a feel of the balance of colors. I love scrappy, and the more prints the better. But, sometimes you get a better idea if you have too much of one color or another. My determination from this photo was that the next batch of blocks should be more blues, especially the darker blues. I had enough of the accent colors.
The Block Plans
After a call to my mother to measure her new queen-size matress and some quick calculations, I've determined I'll be three pieced blocks short. This is why when you really love a fabric buy 4-5 yards! One night this week as I sat cuddled under a blanket watching TV, I came up with a solution for those three extra blocks. I think it's going to be really cool. More on that in a different post.
The 16-Patch Blocks
A week later I'm happy to report that I'm well on the way to getting the 46 blocks pieced. I've also had to make the shopping list of what I need on my next trip to Quilting Connection. Despite the extensive pieces of navy fabric that I have for sashing (one 2-yard piece, 2 1-yard pieces and several fat quarters), I felt that it would be best to have just one print to bring everything together. If I piece the outborders I need 5 yards and if I cut lengthwise I'll need a little over six yards.
Back to the sewing room. The girls are still sleeping.
Selecting the Fabric
I did find the perfect blue fabric for the quilt I'm working on. On Saturday, I got the graph paper and pencils and started penciling out my plan. The bride-to-be, Liz, had commented on liking the wedding quilt that my Grandma Moore had given Jeff and I, so I'm going with that for inspiration. I kept pulling out coordinating blues, reds, greens, golds, and creams. I chuckled with Becca "was it exciting that I had enough fabric to make a queen-size quilt in my stash or scary." Then Sunday rolled around and horrible ice. Church was cancelled and the kids were happy in their pjs. I transformed the dining room into my cutting center so the girls could play around me and I could keep a watchful eye on them. The wooden bowl in the center of the table quickly became the garbage bowl.
Cutting and Piecing
The rest of the week I used my own best advice to others. Just do things in small steps, 10 minutes here, 10 minutes there, and before you know it you'll have a whole quilt done. Nap time is key in my house for using the sewing machine and iron. Sew together strips, sub-cut, press.
Pinning
Pinning in bed, as long as you don't drop any, is a great way to unwind while your spouse watches Star Wars, the trilogy, or something. I just like to see Harrison Ford looking so young. And, he's only in one.
Color Composition
The design does not call for all fo the units to be side-by-side, but I like to look through my camera and get a feel of the balance of colors. I love scrappy, and the more prints the better. But, sometimes you get a better idea if you have too much of one color or another. My determination from this photo was that the next batch of blocks should be more blues, especially the darker blues. I had enough of the accent colors.
The Block Plans
After a call to my mother to measure her new queen-size matress and some quick calculations, I've determined I'll be three pieced blocks short. This is why when you really love a fabric buy 4-5 yards! One night this week as I sat cuddled under a blanket watching TV, I came up with a solution for those three extra blocks. I think it's going to be really cool. More on that in a different post.
The 16-Patch Blocks
A week later I'm happy to report that I'm well on the way to getting the 46 blocks pieced. I've also had to make the shopping list of what I need on my next trip to Quilting Connection. Despite the extensive pieces of navy fabric that I have for sashing (one 2-yard piece, 2 1-yard pieces and several fat quarters), I felt that it would be best to have just one print to bring everything together. If I piece the outborders I need 5 yards and if I cut lengthwise I'll need a little over six yards.
Back to the sewing room. The girls are still sleeping.
A little bit at a time ~ that is definitely the best way to get a big project done. I had to laugh while I was looking at your shelves of fabric and your blocks/pieces because I kept spying fabrics and thinking... "oooh, I have that one... and that one... oh, wish I had some of that..."
I also love the way you use your camera to get a sense of the color and value in your scrap quilts. I've used my digital camera to record setting options and block placement but I hadn't thought of using it this way too. Thank you for a great idea!
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I love your "fabric wall"! I have most of my fabric on shelves, too. My husband bought me clear plastic totes when we moved and that made it easy to see what is in boxes. But for practical, day-to-day use I need to have the fabric on a shelf where I can see it. We found interior closet shelving in a a faux cherry finish on clearance at Menard's and he installed that in one end of my sewing room. We bought two of the shoe organizer things and that's where I keep my rolls of wool and woolfelt pieces. Works great! I took "before" pictures of my chaotic sewing room a few weeks ago and when I get it organized and can post the "after" pics, I'll leave a comment for you to see the end result.
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Love that you first went to your stash! I sometimes think "oh I'll just buy a kit" but the quilt looks awesome, they will love it!
Nadine
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I keep my stash the same way. I have a bookcase in the closet, with the closet doors off, and I can see it all the time. Although, My stash is not as big as yours!!!
Nice quilt!!!
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I have my stash on shelves on the wall also. At one time I kept them in Rubbermaid tubs, oh my it was difficult to find what I wanted when I had to work at it so hard. Like you, if it gets dusty or fades, I can handle it.
Your quilting looks all organized. It really pays off.
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thanks for sharing, love the look.
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I'm impressed with all you get done with 3 small children and a job! I've had alot of time off with school closings, but my husband got me hooked on a new book series and I've been huddling under a quilt instead of sewing!
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Gorgeous quilt! My fabric wall looks alot like yours - I store my fabric on bookcases too, sorted by color or theme.
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