KCQuilts Blog

Changes to the Blog

2011-03-14T19:49:23Z

The blog is returning! Also, it is moving. The relevant information is below. Please update your bookmarks and feedreaders!

Blog address: http://www.kcquilts.com/blog/
Feed address: http://www.kcquilts.com/blog/feed/

Motivation: Documentation

2011-03-14T00:56:19Z

I’ve had an idea for a sampler quilt in my head for a while now. It’s been brewing around, trying to take hold for months and months. Finally, at the start of the new year, I decided to give in and let it happen. I used some of my Christmas money to buy new fabric (which I had previously forbidden myself to do, unless it was for a special gift) and gave myself a goal of creating TWO sampler crib quilts by this summer. The process has been so inspiring, that it has brought me back to this blog. I have this need to document the process.

I like to improvise, and I’m a HUGE fan of rotary cutting and short-cuts, but some of these blocks have required actual planning. AND, for some of them I even had to break down and make templates. I haven’t used templates since I first learned how to quilt, because the rotary cutter is awesome and I love to find a way to avoid the templates. However, given the choice between a so-so quilt block and the look I actually want to achieve, I went with templates, and lots of graph paper. Maybe it’s the engineer in me trying to get out, but I just love graph paper, pencils, ruler and compass. They have been my friends lately as I plan these quilt blocks.

My children have also been my quilting friends as I plan quilt blocks. They often insist on having their own graph paper, but their favorite is when I make a copy of a quilt block for them to color in themselves. It’s like a quilting coloring book:

The next logical step from here, is to coach them in designing their own quilts. But we are a long way from there right now. I think we’ll stick to coloring and wait and see if anybody expresses an interest in design. I’ll keep you posted.

One Year Birthday

2009-06-24T18:54:00Z

My biggest challenge isn’t finding time to sew. It’s finding time to take pictures, and then process and post them. These are presents for my one-year-old. I still need to take a picture of her baby quilt. Or mention her on this here blog. Well, at least that’s done.

The jumper is Simplicity 5936 and the doll is Molly Monkey from mmmcrafts.

Fun With Machine Applique

2009-02-20T19:28:00Z

There is a class offered in March at my local quilt shop that I am considering taking. It’s about machine applique. Specifically, it’s about doing machine applique that looks like it is done by hand. I am skeptical that this is possible, but am interested in learning how. The class is for beginners and I am not a beginner at hand applique, but I certainly am with the machine.

Here is my attempt at some fun, little appliques done by machine. They are certainly not meant to look like they are done by hand. Nevertheless, I love the way they look. The are fun and whimsical. The snail and apple have some embroidery on them that I did by hand. I’m wondering if that’s a little silly: machine applique and hand embroidery. Shouldn’t it be all or nothing?

I don’t follow rules. I just do what I like.

Make It Do, Or Do Without

2009-02-17T01:51:00Z

Do you know what’s really hard??? Taking a picture of your pants while you are still wearing them.

Anyway, I always seem to get a hole in the left knee of my blue jeans. Always the left. And I’m always patching them, although I’m constantly on the lookout for new and better ways to patch. This method comes from a book I got at the Thrift Store: Creative Activities …Program (Sewing). I got it for my kids, when they’re old enough. But it turns out, I’m not too old for it myself.

Happy Valentine’s Day!

2009-02-14T15:00:00Z

Simon and I made these Valentine “flowers” by painting heart cutouts from some cereal boxes. We then used some masking tape to attach them to some sticks we gathered outside. Now they are in a pretty vase on our kitchen table.

Little Bears

2009-02-12T18:54:00Z

OK, I am going to attempt to resurrect the blog. The key, I think, is going to be to keep it short and simple.

Simon got a subscription to High Five Magazine from my mother-in-law and he LOVES it. This bear bread was a project in the magazine. He is a big fan of both cooking and eating, and he insisted he make this right away. The magazine calls for some store-bought bread dough, but we made some cranberry-wheat dough in the bread machine. Yum!

Test Post

2008-04-30T03:01:00Z

And… we’re back, after some technical difficulties. Hooray! I have a post started that I need to finish, but it will have to wait until there isn’t a 2.5-year-old underfoot and hopped up on antibiotics that make him Crazy mood … Continue reading →

Curved Piecing

2008-04-16T01:32:00Z

I am currently working on a very large quilt and I’m trying a bunch of different techniques that I haven’t really done before. The most obvious one is curved piecing and, I do not like it Sam I am. I do not like the templates, and the wonky way you have to manipulate the fabric, and how long it takes. But, mostly, I do not like the end result. It’s just not crisp. Maybe that’s because I lack skills and practice and this kind of thing, but I’m just not loving it.

The block doesn’t want to lay flat and the edges aren’t straight (although you can’t see that with my crop). I guess I’m just a bit of a perfectionist and am unsatisfied with the lack of perfection. Not that my work is usually perfect, but I can at least usually expect consistent results. Behold the crispness of the straight seams:

Ah… that’s better.

They’re Breeding!

2008-04-05T13:02:00Z

It wasn’t the best light for taking pictures this morning, but I just couldn’t wait. We now have a grand total of five buggy guys (with no plans to make more, because I am so done with curved piecing!).

I haven’t done any research yet on bean bag games we can play with them, but Simon has made up a few of his own. First is “Throw Them in a Bowl”. This involves tossing them into a plastic mixing bowl. He walks right up to it, drops the bug in, and then wriggles with glee. The even more popular variant on this game is to place the bowl far, far away and then make Daddy toss the buggy guys in the bowl. Crafty kid. The other favorite game is called “Zoom… weeee!”. This involves placing the bean bag on top of the coffee table and sliding it off with as much force as possible. While it is flying through the air, he yells, “Zoom! Weee!”