Picking the fabric for these is always interesting. I called it "I have Points" because ladies were losing the points on their stars in the sewing process. I have mine! (Except for where the binding on the edge seems to have snipped them...oops) I was told fabric A (my yellow) will touch all other fabrics except E (tie dye). A is the background B, C and D will be main fabrics (pink, green and blue/pink). From that you need to pink your colors, and she gives a sample of the colors she used. I started my color choice by picking the pink/green batik that I had just picked up at a sale. I also had the green in my stash. From there we grabbed the others I needed to make this quilt work!
Now, just like picking the colors, the instructions are just a odd. You need to be able to keep the clues straight, in order to remember what you are doing :) So for instance, I had to cut A into 3.5 inch strips and sub-cut into other sizes. In later clues, you have to take 'clue 2 and place it to the left of clue 12 and sew together'. It is always interesting to see what comes of it and to see how everyone's can be so different all because of their color choices!
I really love this one, and I opted to put 'minky' on the back Minky is just a very soft fabric. My plan is to have this here for little ones when they visit as a comfort blanket, or for a play blanket for the super young ones :) I quilted it together via the 'free motion' technique on my own machine. The minky is a pain in the bum to do this with, as it likes to stick to the surface under the weight of your hands and the rest of the quilt. I think it was well worth the fight though! I also used a new type of thread, 'Invisiline'. That despite the color of the thread, or the color of the fabric, it blends in nicely and isn't that fishing line quality 'invisible' thread.
For a while now, I have been wanting a good gym bag. Tired of the boring ones, but too cheap to pay for a fancy one, just because it is pretty and brand name. So....Why not attempt to make one?! 4 broken needles later, and more time logged at the machine than I can remember. I bought the fabric at a sale in my shop, knowing I wanted it for something fun. I am happy with my final product and can't wait to show it off at the gym Tuesday :D I will admit, I wont be jumping at the chance to make another anytime soon. So much work, loads of cutting but worth all of that fooling around!
So, I started this project at 1:30 and I was done at 5pm (roughly). The only thing that was left was to wash it and see what magic unfolds during that process! I made an amazing floor mat with a process called Chenilling. Essentially, I had to layer 3 goes of the print on top of each other. I had to be sure the flowers were line up on top of each other, so that the image stays sharp in the final project. It is then sew down in rows to a background and backing. Everyone else in the course used panels, I didn't like any of the panels, so I picked a nice fabric!
After that, you take this lovely little cutter meant for this, and slice your fabric! Just don't cut the background our backing, it could ruin the whole thing :( Slicing the thing up was rather easy and quick to do! I threw on the binding and popped it in the wash.
I know it has been a while since my last post, but I have been super busy with the start of the school year. I promise, I have been working on stuff, just not finishing any of it, oops!
This however I have finished :) Everyone else in the class bought the kit. I thought it was a little boring! You know the old Christmas colors with the tacky poinsettia print and the likes. Makes me think of K-mart Christmas! I thought I would go with the more cheerful jewel toned Christmas and see how it goes. Well, this is what I ended up with. I think it's pretty cool. 