Today was beautiful in Austin, so I took advantage of the nice weather and hung out on my back porch for several hours, while my pups kept me safe from the squirrels and birds. I’ve yet to setup an outdoor sewing station, so I decided to get to work on some quilty items on my laptop.

First up, I have finally added a WIP 2015 page here. I didn’t think my WIP list was that bad until I saw it laid out on this page, yikes! I’ve only been quilting since fall 2012, and as you can see, I’m very good at starting new projects. The problem is that I set it on a shelf when I get uninspired or more inspired by another project. I’d beat myself up about it more if I never finished quilts, but I do, so for now I’m letting myself get away with it. Sadly, there are other projects I started that aren’t on the WIP list because I have no intention of ever finishing them. When I don’t feel a quilt anymore I just can’t bring myself to waste time on it. There are too many other projects out there I want to work on!

I also got started on my personal quilt book. I have a basic design concept in InDesign, and I started filling out basic info for quilts I’ve finished. I don’t want to go into too much detail on the labels I’m going to make for my quilts, so I’m using this book as a way to remember the how and why to quilts I make. Here is a sample of the pages. You can click on the image to view it larger (still going to tweak the design and info, but you get the idea).

I finally got the binding on this heart quilt this weekend as well, so I’ll be updating the photos with the quilted quilt once hand-bound. Once I have all the info filled out, with the dates I finished quilts I’m going to start numbering them. For now that part is blank.

My other project this week was ordering Quiltcon pins for the pin swap. Here are my designs:

I would probably be more prepared for Quiltcon if I didn’t live in Austin. Last time the convention was here I was a newbie quilter, so it should be a different experience this time around. I hadn’t really explored blogs or blogging yet last time, and I still didn’t have many quilty friends. I’m excited about volunteering and meeting all the impressive quilters who are coming. I am very lucky to have three quilts in the show, and on top of that my Mom is coming into town from Virginia for the show, so that makes it extra exciting.

Anyone else out there coming into town for Quiltcon? What are you most looking forward to?

Piece Out!

Corinne

People who know me know I’m not afraid of a challenge when it comes to quilts, and I’m always looking to learn something new. Two years ago, when I was very new to quilting, I decided to start a needle-turn applique quilt. I made about 6 blocks and became distracted by all of the other projects swirling around in my mind that I’d be able to finish MUCH faster than any needle-turn applique project. I love hand-sewing, but I just haven’t made it a priority.

This past summer I visited my “aunt” in the Outer Banks of North Carolina. My aunt is not really my aunt. She is one of my mom’s good friends that we visited often throughout my childhood. After college I continued the visits and always have the best time because she is one of a kind in the best ways possible. She grew up in the hills of Kentucky and isn’t shy about letting you know her opinion. I absolutely love sitting and talking with her and miss those long weekends now that I live so far away in Texas. She was a quilter back in the 70’s and 80’s and used to do ALL HER WORK BY HAND. I’m talking piecing and quilting. I’m sure I saw her quilts at some point when I was younger, but it wasn’t until the trip this past summer that I was able to share my love of quilting with her. She doesn’t have the internet so I took my iPad with several photos of my quilts and made sure we took time to look at her quilts before I left. Sadly, she has terrible arthritis and can no longer quilt, but we had a lot of fun going through her quilt chests looking at her work.

I love the feel of a hand quilted quilt. After going through my aunt’s lovely hand-pieced and hand quilted quilts, I knew it was something I had to do at least once. Here are a few of my favorites from her collection (We went through more than a dozen queen sized quilts. She made 3 or 4 double wedding rings, several grandmother’s fans, among others):

After much deliberation, I finally decided on a pattern over Christmas break that would be my first attempt at hand piecing. My goal is to piece 15 minutes a day, at least 5 days a week. I have absolutely no clue how much I can get done in that timeframe, so this project could indeed take 100 years. After I finish the queen size quilt my new goal will be to hand-quilt at least 15 minutes a day. The pattern I decided on is called a golden wedding ring. I had come across some vintage examples on Pinterest and  fell in love. I scoured Ebay and Etsy for the pattern and realized it was included in a set of Spinning Spools patterns my mom had given me a year earlier. It comes with templates and everything! I ordered my fabric, which came last week, and I’m in the process of pre-washing. My mom is visiting for Quiltcon, so I’m going to wait until she arrives to start the actual piecing. She knows how to hand-piece and I’d rather learn from her versus the internet. Okay, here is a quick mock-up of the quilt, in my colors, that I did in Illustrator over the holidays:

I hope to post my progress as I go along, and perhaps some tips and tutorials for what I learn about hand-piecing. When I first started quilting I had NO desire to hand-piece, but now I think it will be a fun way thing to learn. 15 minutes a day seems pretty doable. 🙂

This post is a bit late, considering it’s almost February already, but I feel the need to post it in order to make it real versus just something floating around in my head. I have several Quilty goals for 2015, and my hope is that I keep up with them via this blog.

1) Whip my WIPS – I have an absurd amount of WIP’s for someone who has only been quilting for 3ish years. My goal in the next month or so is to add a section on my blog with various WIPs I plan to finish and what the status is. I’ve already started on this goal, having quilted a quilt top this past weekend that had been sitting on my shelf, pieced, for two years. Tommorow I’m turning the quilt top pictured below (I need a bigger design wall!) in to my long-armer to finish, that has also been sitting around since the last Quiltcon. I finally got the queen size top together and the back pieced last night. Those two projects are just the tip of the ice berg! (Linking up to Freshly Pieced for WIP Wednesday!)

2) Sew my Stash – Late last year I decided I need to come up with quilt patterns for the fabric I have, versus picking quilt patterns first and fabric second. I have so many lovely collections and it just makes no sense to just let them sit there. I don’t have enough will power to not buy more fabric, but I’ll feel less guilty if I also start using some of what I’ve got!

3) Learn how to hand-piece a quilt – This is a big one. I’ll post more about my inspiration and plans later. Ultimately, I want to spend 15 minutes a day hand sewing. I started an applique quilt two years ago that quickly got put aside for other quilty endeavors. In addition to continuing work on that quilt, my hope is to start a hand-pieced quilt that I will eventually hand-quilt. Wish me luck.

4) Document my Quilting Journey – I never really understood the need for labeling a quilt. I never considered my quilts heirloom quality, and I can’t imagine anyone caring 50 years from now who made a quilt of mine they might come across. Recently, the great Karen Kay Buckley visited the Austin Area Quilt Guild and one of her biggest regrets was not numbering her quilts. That’s when it hit me. Duh, label them and keep a record for ME. In 40 years I’m not going to be able to remember what order or year I made quilts, wouldn’t it be nice to have that on the quilt and perhaps in a book? So, this year I plan on making some custom labels on Spoonflower for all the quitls I’ve made, and start a book with details about the quilts. I figure I can get custom labels printed a couple times a year. Originally I thought of my blog as the way I’d keep track, but with all the custom printing out there, I just think it would be super fun to have a book with all the details.

Ok, those are my goals! Now for some photos. In line with goal #2: sewing my stash, here are a few photos of a Koala block I designed. I whipped up a few practice blocks in various sizes, and then set my sights on my solids stash to make a larger quilt. The blocks are all pieced, but I’m debating sashing. I’m planning on using buttons for eyes once it is all quilted. Koalas are my favorite animal, so it seemed only natural that I’d design a block displaying their cuteness. When I was a kid, there was nothing more offensive to me than when someone called a koala a bear. I would matter-of-factly point out to the person who made the egregious error, “Koalas are NOT bears, they are marsupials.” Whether or not you call them bears, I hope you like my block.

Piece Out~

Corinne

Quick Post today, just wanted to finally share a couple quilts I gifted to my parents for Christmas.

First up is the airplane quilt I made for my dad. He was in the Air Force for 35 years, so I thought this quilt would be perfect for him! He is retired now, so he has plenty of time to put this quilt to good use. I drafted a paper piecing pattern based on a vintage red and white plane quilt. I needle-turn appliqued the propellors, but they could easily be raw-edge appliqued. There has been a bit of interest in the pattern, so I might try and put the paper piecing template on Craftsy once I find a little time to format it so that it makes sense. This was my first time paper piecing, and its my own pattern, so I want to run it by a few friends first to make sure it makes sense to people other than myself. PATTERN NOW AVAILABLE HERE 🙂

I don’t have a great picture of this sucker yet, but its a charm pack quilt I made for my mom. I used a bunch of Scrumptious Charm Packs and it fits a queen size bed.

That’s all for now! Happy New Year everyone. 🙂

Piece Out!

Corinne

I don’t know about you, but Christmas is on my mind! This week is the Austin Modern Quilt Guild Holiday Party, which should be super fun. The theme this year is sewing accessories, so I made the zipper pouch below. I had drawn some kitty faces and thought they’d be cute to applique onto the bag, and I think it’s pretty cute!

Anyone else  making handmade gifts this year? I mocked up a quick gift tag printable you are welcome to use. Just click on the image and print from your browser! Easy as that. Hope everyone is enjoying their holiday so far.

For those of you who don’t know, Sew Mama Sew is doing their bi-annual Giveaway Day! I decided to offer a free copy of my Modern Trellis pattern to 5 winners. Winners will be sent a pdf copy of the pattern, so international folks are welcome to enter.

To Enter:

Just leave a comment below. Comments will be closed on December 12th at 5pm Pacific. I will use a random number generator on the 13th to choose the winner. If you follow my blog go ahead and comment twice for an extra chance to win. That’s it!

Hop on over to Sew Mama Sew to check out all the other awesome giveaways. There is some awesome stuff on there, and lots of awesome bloggers, so go make new friends. 🙂

Piece Out!

Corinne

With Quiltcon just months away, I recently tried putting on my modern hat. I sadly didn’t finish my Michael Miller Challenge quilt (the aqua won and the top is done and spray basted, but I just didn’t have time to quilt it). I unfortunately had to travel for work this past month and got sick immediately upon my return, so my quilting hours were severely limited. I decided to focus my efforts on a different design that I came up with earlier this month. My initial source of inspiration was this card I found advertising a type of coffee you can get at Starbucks. I am totally in love with the angles, lines and triangles, so I challenged myself to use these elements to come up with my own design.

I’m constantly striving to be more creative, so it important to me that I find inspiration in elements of design, rather than taking another person’s art and making it in textile format. While that in and of itself is a challenge, I want the design to be 100% mine, and the only way to do that is to take in all of the creativity surrounding you, and giving it your own voice. I ended up experimenting in Illustrator with intersecting lines at 60 degree angles, and came up with this.

November is a busy month for deadline sewing for me. I have to finish up my Michael Miller Fabric Challenge, and I’m working on a small challenge quilt for a traditional group of quilters that I unfortunately can’t share just yet. On top of that I’ve been feverishly working on some Christmas presents that I hope to actually have done before my flight home in December.

I’ve said before, I tend to sway more traditional than modern, despite enjoying modern quilting. I decided to use the new Michael Miller Challenge to do just that, challenge me. I wanted to step outside my comfort zone and design something more modern, with more negative space, that I in no way would consider traditional. I started playing around straight lines and bars in Illustrator and eventually came up with the design below. I love plus quilts, so it’s a happy accident this is a more modern interpretation of the plus quilt.

Pastels are not my thing. I love bright happy colors, and if I choose pastels they are always an accent to brighter colors. When I see 3 or more pastels together I can’t help but think of children’s Easter decorations. I decided to go with an off-white neutral for the main part of my quilt rather than white, and originally wanted very subtle white lines to go up along the left side of the quilt. After putting it together, I saw some aqua fabric laying nearby and instantly knew I’d LOVE the aqua in place of the white. I took a photo and went into Photoshop to alter the white to aqua, just to see if I’d like it better. It wasn’t a matter of liking the white, I did  like it a lot, but a matter of knowing I’d love the aqua. I went onto facebook and instagram to confirm my instinct, and this weekend I’ll be ripping out more seams to replace the white with aqua, once my additional cream fabric arrives.

Once the top is done I get to start quilting. I’m actually looking forward to this part on this one, because I want to play with the negative space. I don’t free motion on my domestic, so I’ve been trying to come up with fun ways to play with straight lines. So far I have what you see below. Still thinking about what to do with the left side.  What do y’all think?

Piece Out! (Linking up to WIP Wednesday over at Freshly Pieced)

Corinne

My second entry for the Bloggers Quilt Festival Fall 2014 hosted by Amy’s Creative Side is my Modern Trellis Quilt. To start, I want to seriously thank everyone out there who has bought the pattern from my shop or commented on one of my previous posts. I’ve been overwhelmed by the support from the quilt community regarding this quilt and it means SO much to me.

This quilt was designed as part of the Modern Quilt Guild’s Michael Miller Challenge. The fabrics and colors were so “me” so it was fun sketching out ideas and narrowing it down to one that really inspired me. The ultimate quilt was inspired by the garden trellis/lattices you see out and about. There happens to be one in my neighbors yard that I can see out of the window in my quilting room. To modernize it a bit I decided to extend several of the color pieces to make a spiral or pinwheel shape. Lastly, I added the fading colors, because no matter how often that look is used, I love it just the same.

This quilt has really helped me to understand my journey as a quilter. I often find I’m not “modern” enough for the modern world, but I also don’t fit into the traditional world. Everyone likes to talk about branding, and signature looks/styles, and  I understand the value in both. At the end of the day though, I want to make pretty things that I love. I always thought my quilts would get more modern as I stepped deeper into the quilting pool, but I find myself more and more drawn to traditional patterns in fresh fabrics. I’m looking forward to Quiltcon this upcoming winter to see how much that sways me back in the modern direction. Regardless, I’m going to just keep quilting.

Piece Out!

Corinne

Hello again everyone! I am so excited to be participating in the Bloggers Quilt Festival Fall 2014 hosted by Amy’s Creative Side. I’ve never joined up with something like this before, and after looking through the posts, it sure is inspiring! What a great way for people around the world to share some of their favorite work. 🙂

Both my entries are ones my current blog followers have seen before. First up, my Texas HST quilt. I designed this quilt many months ago, when I was obsessed with triangles and state shapes. I moved to Texas 3.5 years ago, and I just love how it turned out! I wanted it to be abstract, but true to the shape of Texas. The pattern is available in my shop, and I’m hoping to get a few Texas Quilt Shops to carry the pattern in their stores. That alone is crazy exciting to me, since it initially was just a labor of love for my years in Texas so far.

This baby measures just under 50″ and sadly it is STILL sitting in my dining room waiting to be on the wall. Naturally, all the quilting is straight lines done on my domestic. I think despite the simple quilting it still looks pretty fun!

Speaking of Texas and Quilting, I’m excited to be heading to Houston tomorrow for my first ever International Quilt Festival experience! I hope to post some good pictures when I return. Happy Halloween everyone!

Piece Out!

Corinne