The Great Apron Debacle

My quilt guild has a optional homemade gift item exchange each year.  This year they choose a apron as the project.  The guidelines were that you make an apron (any style, your choice) and bring it to the Christmas Party, wrapped.  

I am not a pattern user and honestly, I've never made anything except straight-line quilts.  This was quite a challenge for me.  I spent 3 days (2 with my quilting friend and 1 own my own) working on this.  I generally don't work on crafty stuff during the day because my kids often get in trouble while I am working.  But I ignored them in the name of a deadline.  I even went out and bought fabric just for this project because I was sure that no one would like the stuff from my stash.  I have different tastes than the older ladies in my guild.  It was a learning experience but overall I was pleased with my project.   The below photo was the product of my efforts.

The apron I made for the quilt guild's Christmas Party gift exchange item.

Upon arrival at the Christmas party, you received a number and the same number was put on your package. We then drew a number based on the order we arrived.  Mine was # 33 because I was the last to arrive.   The group began drawing numbers and there were some beautiful aprons coming around... it  was amazing to see how talented our guild members are.  As the last person, I didn't draw a number.  I got what ever hadn't been picked.  I was so excited, I'd seen some great aprons.  There wasn't one I wouldn't have loved to have.  So when I got my bag, I eagerly ripped into it and found an apron that was not per the guidelines.  In fact, it was the only one of the night where someone "bought" the apron.  It was a kid-sized canvas apron with a Maxine comic iron-ed on and a ribbon stitched around the comic.   It is the photo below.

The apron I got at the guild's Christmas Party gift exchange.

I was gracious and acted excited but I was hurt and angry. Why would someone participate in a optional gift exchange if they didn't have time to properly do the project?!  The card inside said nothing about who made it; why would they when they did such a dismal job?  Normally, I am not phased by getting the "bad" gift in an exchange but this just it irritated me.  This person put in next to no effort and in turn got a amazing, homemade apron. That's just not fair.

I stewed on this for days and finally decided that I wasn't going to take this laying down.  So I decide to make a 2nd apron and this time for myself.  I pulled some fabric out of my stash that I love but didn't know what to do with.  I was not particularly happy with the first pattern I'd used... it was too difficult for me and I am not a fan of ruffles.  So I trolled the internet and found a free pattern on Joann.com for The Josephine Apron.  I decided to make this one for myself.  It took me several days over a few weeks (because we were getting ready for Christmas) but I got it done.  It is below and I LOVE how it turned out.  My one complaint is that the top is too wide and bunches a bit but I can deal with that. 

The apron I made for myself after what will forever be known as The Great Apron Debacle.

So what happened to the apron I got at the exchange?  I brought it to a White Elephant party and re-gifted it with some Joanns coupons.  Maybe someone else will have the motivation to re-do it but I can not stand to look at it because it makes me mad every time I see it.

EC Trainer Tutorial

Today I moved my quilting projects aside to make some EC Trainers for my 16 month old daughter.  I haven't been able to find potty training pants to fit her but she's using the potty so I need something easy to get on and off.  I found a great FREE pattern at Do-it-yourself EC: Non-waterproof training pants.  The pattern is super easy... I only had two "accidents" and for me, that's unbelievable.

EC Trainer for Baby Girl

1.  Line up the patterns on the fabric fold as indicated on the pattern printout and pin throughout.

For the underpants portion, I used a cute frog print (pictured left)  The fabric is a 100% cotton interlock found at Joann Fabrics.

The waist and leg bands were made of a rib knit
(pictured below) also found at Joann Fabrics.  This fabric is the stuff that sweatshirt cuffs are made of.

2. Cut out the patterns.  The photo to the left is what the underwear portion looks like after being cut out.

The photo to the right shows what the cut out waist and leg bands look like.  Be sure to cut out 2 leg bands.

3.  Cut out four inserts.  I used flannel as it is super absorbent and cheap but you can use anything you want.  I found it easiest to fold the fabric to make four layers.  Then cut out using a rotary cutter.  Go slow and hold it steady to avoid problems shifting or over-cutting. 

4.  The pattern recommends gluing and basting the inserts rather than serging them together.  I always have issues with shifting so I decided to sew them together.  I don't have a serger so I decided to use a overcasting stitch around the edge, which worked very well.

5. As per the pattern instructions, use a small zigzag stitch along the top and bottom of the insert to attach it to the non-printed side of the underwear piece. In the photos to the left and right, I am pointing to where I sewed the pieces together. 

The above photo shows what the right side of the underwear portion should look like after the insert is sewn in.

6. Fold the underwear portion, and the bands, right sides together.  Line up the sides of the underwear and pin together.  Pin the ends of the bands together.  Sew along the pinned edges using a overcasting stitch.  Be super careful when starting at the edges, my machine ate the edges.  I ended up starting half way down the side to the end then flipping it over and starting again from the middle down the unfinished end.  The photo above is what you should end up with.

7. Turn the underwear right side out.  Take the waist band and pin it, raw edge to raw edge with the underwear portion.  Pin at the back, front, sides and an additional one between each of these points.  You will have to pull the waist band taunt to get it to match up with the underwear.  I found that doing this as I sewed (rather than loading the whole thing with pins) worked best.  Sew the raw edges together using a overcasting stitch.  Be sure to catch all three edges.  The above photos show how I pinned the waist band. 

The waist band and underwear portion connected using a overcasting stitch.

8. Once you've completed overstitching the waist bandd, do the same with the leg bands.  

8. Stand back and marvel at the great job you did.

The above picture is the pair of trainers featured in this tutorial.  They are a large and too loose on my 22 lbs, 16 month old.  I ended up making a second pair in the medium size.  Photos to come of the medium size trainers for comparison.  Keep this sizing in mind when choosing which size to make for your little one.

Special thanks to Green Mommy for sharing her FREE EC Trainer pattern.

Donation quilt, quilted and binding

The Donation quilt (aka UFO) is finished being quilt by yours truly.  It looks pretty rough, as in the quilting does but it was a learning experience. Below is the quilting I did on the borders, I really like the way I pictured it and it didn't turn out too bad.  But it definitely could have been better.

Quilting on borders.

I also put on the binding strips.  I don't know what the heck I was thinking when I cut them... but they are REALLY small.  I have about a half an inch to wrap around to the back for hand-sticking.  I haven't attempted to hand-stick it yet and I am really nervous that it won't work.  I don't really have any extra fabric to re cut binding strips so at this point, if it doesn't work, I may just toss the stupid thing in the trash.

Small bindings on quilt top.

Small bindings on quilt bottom.

I hope to get the binding finished in the next week.  I don't mind hand sticking but it is time consuming and I am just not sure how long it's going to take me or if I will have enough momma time to do it.

Red, White and Blue Block Swap

After spending hours working on my Donation quilt... I ran out of quilting thread. I am a bit broke so I decided to put it away for a bit and work on something else that I have everything for.

At the guild meeting in July, I won the Block of the Month contest. It was a 7.5 inch Four-Patch Star. The requirements were that it be red, white and blue.

Four-Patch Star BOM

These new blocks are perfect to help me finish my Red, White and Blue Block Swap quilt. I had envisioned this RWB Block Swap to be LARGE so I could take it to sit on while watching fireworks on the 4th of July. I wasn't sure how I would finish the block swap quilt because they are a mixture of bolds/brights and reproductions. I typically would not use reproduction fabrics because I like bright colors but that's the beauty of swaps is it forces you out of your comfort zone.

Blocks I received from Red, White and Blue Block Swap.

I decided to put the swap blocks together with a white lattice to help separate the blocks that were of different tones.  I added cornerstones to break-up the overwhelming amount of white and I like how it spaced out the blocks giving the quilt more size.

Block swap with lattice.

I got two blocks (1 from each event) that really didn't fit with the others.  I've decided to include them on the back of the quilt.  They are below.

Odd ducks.

I am planning to use the BOM stars as a border around the swap blocks with some red or blue borders.  Stay tuned to see how it turns out.

The New Quilt Room

So we've moved again (it was actually 8 months ago) and I finally have my quilting room put together.  It is in a den area on the 1st floor.  While it doesn't have a closet, it has doors.  I like that I can work while my kids play in the next room but I can close the doors to keep them out of my stuff.  It doubles as one of our guest rooms but also a bed I can sleep in when I am up working too late.  So here it is->

North wall

Along the North wall, I have my ironing board, the family filing cabinet, twin bed, and my boxes of batting.

South wall

The East wall has nothing on it but a window.  My current quilting table is in the center of the room (foreground in the photo).  The South wall has my 4 project bins (UFOs) and my design wall (under construction in this photo).  My design wall will be 6 feet squared, covered in white flannel, and mounted on the wall between my project bins.  The West wall is the double doors.

I look forward to getting to work in my new quilting room soon :D

UFO-Donation Quilt

Awhile back, I posted a log of all of my UFO's. It's really been bugging me that I have so many unfinished projects and I refuse to start new ones until the only ones are done. So when my quilt guild issued a UFO challenge where you provide a list of your UFO's then get an entry for a prize pack for each UFO you finish this year... I jumped on it.

Because of the requirements, only some of the projects on my UFO log qualified. Those that did are 1) The Little Gem (currently missing after move) 2) Donation Quilt 3) Log Cabin Star 4) Dan's Airplane Quilt 5) Scrappy Happy 6) Christmas Lone Star 7) Country Americana 8) Galaxy Quest BOM 9) Black, White and Bright Block Swap 10) Red, White and Blue Block Swap and 11) Mariska's Tulip Pinwheel Quilt (started since UFO log post).

When I started looking through the UFO's to find a beginning point (since The Little Gem is missing), I wanted something that would be fairly easy to finish so I would feel a sense of accomplishment and be motivated to keep working. I landed on the Donation Quilt. It just needs quilting... I have previously machine quilted this quilt but when I turned it over, the quilting looked like swastikas. That was not acceptable to me so I ripped the whole thing out and that's how it landed in the UFO pile. Seems simple enough right?! So that's where I started. It took a few days but I decided on a quilting design that is pattern but not like the stars in the quilt. I found it on Quilting-Tidbits.com. I ended up marking the quilt incorrectly as I worked from the center down the quilt. The result is not noticeable and I have decided to leave it as this quilt is no longer a donation, the event passed. I will hold on to it and pass it to someone who would appreciate it, I just don't have anyone in mind at the moment. It's not quite done because I had to stop and work on something else more pressing (see Dyson's Weighted Blanket post) but will return to it soon. I am determined to finish this quilt.

Continuous quilting as it appears on the back of the quilt.

Up close look at the quilting on the front of the quilt.

I hopefully will have this done by the end of June and will be able to mark another UFO off the list.

Quilters Guild

I am so excited, I finally found and joined a quilters guild! Every place we've lived, the guilds have not been near my home or were not accepting new members. So this is a first for me.

After moving to Morgan Hill, I met a mom through my mom's group who quilts. She invited me to visit her guild, Piece by Piece Quilters Guild, for the March meeting where they held a member's showcase. I really enjoyed the meeting so I turned in all my paperwork and fees at the next meeting. I was named a guild member in May 2012.

The April speaker was a gentleman from the local sewing and vacuum store about machine care. I learned a lot about what not to do with my machine... I do a lot of bad things to it. I really enjoyed hearing neat little tips and hints on how to keep my machine healthy to minimize trips for service, which I will take advantage of as it can get costly to take your machine in every 30K miles.

The May speaker was very impressive! We had a visit from Mary Mashuta; she spoke about color. Some of her quilt examples and inspirational photos (of Berkeley area houses and cars) left me speechless. I immediately went home and looked up some quilt patterns that I could use to play with different color craziness. She is such a creative lady.

I've been participating in the guild's block of the month. Basically, we make a block based on the pattern chosen for that month and for each block we submit, we get one entry to win all the blocks made that month. The April block was a buttercup for which I made two. I really wanted to win that month as I loved the pattern but so many people participated that the odds were stacked against me. The lady who won got some AMAZING blocks.

My Buttercup blocks for April BOM drawing.

May's block was a Pinwheel in a box of which I made only one with a yellow with medium white polka dots and a white on white. The entries were very colorful and it would have been nice to win them but alas, I missed out again. June's block was a Floral Wheel and I just wasn't interested in winning, so I didn't make one.

I finally got around to making my quilt guild name tag. I am quite proud of the color combinations as it was made completely of scraps. The embroidery letters were done on my machine. I used a stabilizer but it still went a little crooked but I've never really messed with this function before. So for a first time, it's not too bad. Especially since the machine is a quilting machine, not a embroidery machine.

My quilt guild name tag.

Two meetings ago, I signed up to participate in the Breast Cancer Quilt. I've done a number of blocks before for various Breast Cancer Donation events. I am looking forward to participating in this event with my new guild. It is all that more special since it is a cause that is so close to my heart. Stay tuned for more on this.

Help me find this fabric.

Pinwheel Tutorial

PINWHEEL CONSTRUCTION

1. On the wrong side of your fabric, line up the 45 degree diagonal line on your ruler along one side of your 4x4 square. Match the opposite corners along the ruler’s edge.

2. Mark a line across the square using a Mark-B-Gone pen making two triangles.

3. Mark a line ¼ of an inch above and below the center line.

4. The center line is your cut line and the two lines above and below this line are your sewing line.

5. Match together the right sides of your fabrics and pin.

6. Sew each sew line previously marked.

7. Using a ruler, cut along the center cut line. If your Mark-B-Gone pen recommends it, lightly spritz the lines with water until the line disappears. Often times, heat sets the color and you won’t want that on your finished piece.

8. Set your seam by pressing the seam on the wrong side of the fabric before opening the triangle.

9. Open the triangle to make a square and finger press lightly making sure the seam on the back will be hidden behind the darker fabric.

10. Press the center of the open square on the right side of the fabric.

11. After pressing, make sure that the seam is opened tightly but don’t tug on it so it doesn’t stretch.

12. Flip over to the wrong side to make sure that the seams are laying down evenly.

13. On the cutting mat, line up your ruler along the edge and trim off the little pig ears.

14. To trim up each triangle to a 3.5” x 3.5” square, line up the ruler from corner to corner using the center seam as your guide.

15. Mark a small center line with a pencil.

16. Find the center point on your ruler for ½ of your final desired measurement and line it up on your pencil line. In this case, the ½ point is 1 ¾ inches.

17. With your ruler lined up, trim the edge around your ruler.

18. Spin the square around and do the same to the other side. It is easier to use the little yellow L along the 45 degree line to line your square up. Make sure you are lining it up for the right measurement (3.5” x 3.5” in this case).

19. Set out your newly formed triangles into your pinwheel pattern.

20. Fold over the squares on the right onto the ones on the left, right sides together.

21. Nest the seams. Line up each square by matching the center seams together. If snugly placed together, the seams should form a little pocket.

22. PHOTO NOT CORRECT: Place a straight pin through the seams of each triangle. Then run a 1/4 inch seam along the joining side. Pin multiples at a time then chain piece to reduce your sewing time.

23. After joining the two triangles, press as before: 1. Set seam, 2. Finger press the squares open to the dark and 3. press with hot iron.

24. Flip rectangles and ensure seams are pressed flat and appropriately.

25. Again, lay out your pinwheel and this time, fold the top rectangle down onto the bottom rectangle.


NESTING PINWHEEL CENTERS

Method #1 (pin nesting): Nest as you did for the triangles by snugly fitting the two center seams together and pinning. Then run a ¼ inch seam along the joining side.

Method #2 (machine nesting): Line up the top edges of each triangle and start a ¼ inch seam.

After 3-4 stitches, stop. Grasp the bottom rectangle and push it up against the presser foot.

Slide the top rectangle toward the bottom rectangle until the two center seams stop (or lock) into one another.

Finger pin (or hold tightly without pushing/pulling the fabric) and resume sewing the ¼ inch seam. Once the center seam is under the needle, stop and readjust the bottom portion of the rectangle to line up along the right edge without pulling. Then finish the seam.

26. Open and check to make sure your center seams line up BEFORE pressing.


PRESSING THE CENTER OF A PINWHEEL
The center of the pinwheel will be really bunched and won’t lay down evenly no matter how much you try to iron it into submission {picture coming}. In the end, it will make your quilt top unevenly bunched. I recommend using the following Eleanor Burns Technique.

27. Prior to pressing, pull out the last 3-4 stitches at the end of each pinwheel center. Essentially back to the ¼ inch seam on each triangle (see steps 6-8 on http://www.quiltinaday.com/freepattern/patterns/MerryGoRound_12.pdf).

28. Finger press the center open by pushing one side of the pinwheel up and the other side down.

The center will make a little pinwheel of the edges.

29. Press from the wrong side of the fabric first, then flip and press the right side of the fabric from the