Mi's Blog & Costumes
Continuing my backlog, AJ already blogged about these (much more timely I might add) and so I just ganked her pictures (thanks!).
We did three co quilts for friends’ babies, it was a pretty efficient system! I did the piecing and she did all applique and embroidery, we’d pin/spray them together and took turns quilting then I’d do the binding (I’ve bound dozens of my gramma’s quilts so, experience!).
Getting the blog incorporated into my site has made me want to blog again! Thankfully, I have a lot of back log.
So anyway, just gonna do some simple posts for the time being with some recaps, and first up is quilts!
I’ve co-made quite a few quilts, done lots of odds and ends for my gramma, but it wasn’t until 2016 that I completed my first 100% self made quilt!
Okay! So, I said I would document this process better the next time it came around so here goes! This is how my gramma pins her quilts.
We start with a pool table.. well, my grandpa said pool table, but there’s a hinge in the centre (which, actually, is rather annoying) so I think it’s a ping-pong table.
Then the quilt back goes down, right side against the table, and we put binder clips on the edge and make it as taut as possible without stretching it.
More photos and process to follow~
On the edges where it doesn’t reach we masking tape it down:
Then I skipped taking a picture, but you lay the batting down and binder clip and tape it as well.
Then the top!
And theeeen, the tools!
My grandpa made these, I don’t really know what they’re called if you wanted to buy one, but I know quilt stores have them… you can also use a spoon! But I found these easier.
Tin of safety pins (and spoon!)
I was trying to take pics to show how that tool is used, but I couldn’t really capture it.
So video!
Soooo many pins!
Here you can see the other type of safety pin, I don’t know what they’re called but they’re sold in quilt stores. They’re in a bit of a U-bend to supposedly make it easier to pin, but I don’t notice any difference between them and a normal safety pin, when using the tool anyway.
I like the way the pins look 8D
And all done!
This is a… queen? I think. And I want to say it took 2.5 hours from start to finish.
The end!
These are the tops I took pictures of just two weeks ago! She’s way more productive than I am.
This is a baby quilt for a Japanese tole painting friend of my gramma’s.
This is a pattern I was considering for a baby quilt for a friend.
This one is another quilt for Butterfly Sister (those of you who follow my travel exploits, this is E!).
See the butterflies?
This quilt is quite large, so I didn’t bother ironing it, which should be pretty obvious!
This pattern is actually the same as the SouthWest styled one I posted before, with the fussy cutting making the kaleidoscope-esque look.
It was the scrap from the main body of this that I supplemented into that lunch bag I made E.
This one I’m not sure why she made it originally, but one of my brothers had told my gramma how his GF liked his quilt and always used it. So she took pics of the quilt tops she had on hand and said he could choose. He went with this one.
I think it’s a pretty standard quilting design?
Anyway, she finished the whole thing but…
Oh noooooo. This is what happens when you don’t get your quilt stretched and pinned nicely. I believe this was a case of too many cooks, since I was there trying to help my gramma with this one, as well as two of my sisters. My gramma actually told me to stop helping, saying I was being “too particular” and it doesn’t have to be perfect! But also it’s a king sized quilt, and was very cumbersome, and my two sisters had never done this before. So. Next time will be better!
I’m really trying to use up scraps… and just make STUFF. Like I’m at that point where I don’t even care, I just want to use up fabric (but not quite at the stage where I want to actually purge the fabric XD). So, bags. That’s what’s been happening.
Though! My latest costume, Black Canary, was all scrap! I feel a little accomplished for that.
Anyway.
I made a bag in between the owl one I posted earlier and this one, from the same really cute tutorial. I was going to post that bag now, but I didn’t take very good pictures so I’ll need to take some more.
The one step I wasn’t keen on for that lunch bag tutorial is that in order to catch all the seam allowance and create an enclosed seam the top stitching is wider below the brim than it is above it. So for the second bag I left a gap and did the whole flipping it inside out thing, and then top stitched… this will make more sense when I post those pics. Well for the 3rd one I decided to do that again, only this time to also catch the cover in the topstitch, because I like that look better (for all the time anyone spends looking at the inside…).
Yeah okay, that wasn’t explained that well, for my next bag I’ll take pic of the process.
This bag was made for my sister using scraps leftover from a quilt my gramma made her.
So the theme of this quilt was butterflies!
My sister and I both really like butterflies, so my gramma is always giving her butterfly things and sometimes I take them >.>
I didn’t take the quilt though XD Just saying.
Anyway, this is a quilt my gramma sent out to be quilted, because she wanted this pattern.
These are shots from the back, so it’s a bit more obvious.
These are the scraps I chose to use for the main body.
None of the pieces were big enough for the cover, so I supplemented these two from my scrap stash. The far right is actually from a quilt for E that my gramma’s working on now (note the butterflies in the black part XD).
None of the pieces were quite big enough, so I pieced the body.
So this is the body of the bag, before you sew up the sides and put the corners in.
I must have miscut something ‘cause everything lined up perfectly except one -_-
And that’s the last progress pic I took.
Finished bag!
If I do another pieced version, I’m going to try to reproportion the width of the strips so it aligns with the corners. Hindsight.
This is what I meant about the inside, having the cover stitched down a bit looks cleaner I think. I used a dark purple thread for all of this, but on the lighter fabrics it looks black ;_;
The inside! I had to piece that as well, but I used all the same fabric.
And then Pippin got curious XD She was too curious though and kept moving :/
… she’s actually in the end of a yawn here, but I like it ‘cause it’s the killer cat face.
Oh this is the outside of that same topstitching.
Matchy matchy!
Sometimes I think I post too many pictures at once, what do you think? Break it down some?
I keep meaning to post these. Soooo, my gramma quilts, as you may know. Most of my crafty projects are made from scraps of those quilts.
Anyway, I’m trying to take pics of all her quilts, well, it’s far too late to catch them all but at the very least going forward!
Here are some quilts and quilt top pics I took in January when visiting. She’s been working on some since then, but they’re not done yet. I’m really hoping she didn’t send off a particular quilt already, so I can take pics on Sat!
This is a top she’s had around for a bit now, a year? She’s not sure what she wants to do with it, so isn’t in any rush to do the quilting.
This is a fussy cutting technique I forget the name of, here it’s just four squares but I have one with more.
Those, and the starting image, were my favourite squares.
Another southwest print top, she really likes that motif.
Obviously I have no clue how to take a good quilt pic, but I’ll be getting some good practice in!
Detaaaail, that black crackly looking fabric has made a few appearances as the underside of my lady bug hotpads 8D
This was a “block of the month” quilt she did with no real purpose, so it was claimed by a relative.
I think she still has the pattern, or I hope so anyway ‘cause I quite like some of these blocks.
I reeeeally like the “sky” fabric, so I took home the leftovers of that… and now I have to think of something to use it on!
I think she was telling me all these blocks have names, but I don’t know them 8D
Sometimes I’m not sure if it’s the pattern I like, or the fabric 8D;;
I think this is probably a pretty standard pattern? But I like it.
Iris! I like Irises, not totally sold on this design though.
Baby quilt for a family friend!
I think the animals are a bit… freaky. But it’s not for me so, hopefully they thought it was cute.
I do like this style of pinwheel though!
This was a really big quilt, and I couldn’t find any space to lay it completely out. Also I didn’t feel like ironing it.
This was another block of the month project.
I’m not super fond of civil war prints, but these were my favourite blocks and patterns (conveniently located together for easy picture taking XD)
My gramma!
And a quilt 8D
Well, a top.
This one is for my mum, who likes this pattern.
My gramma kept saying it was a secret for her birthday (in July), so I’ve known about it for months and not said anything but I was really excited ‘cause it’s so pretty and I think she’ll really like it. Well then my mom visits in… March or April, and she tells her. And when I said “you told me it was a surprise!” she said… “Oh yeah! I forgot.”
Anyway, I took all of these scraps home.
So normally she quilts them herself, but she wanted a certain pattern for that quilt so sent it off. I thiiiink she’s got it back now, and has to do the binding. I remember she said the binding will be a pain, and since she sometimes has me do that part… I won’t at all be surprised if that’s what my next visit turns into 8D<