CHICKPEA SEWING STUDIO

one pillowcase

what's this? 196 squares!

The things I do to myself...  just to pass the time (what time?). This little blue quilt (inspired by this blog) is meant to be part of a set of oversized quilted pillowcases. Now that I am done with the first it seems doubtful I will subject myself to this kind of piecing again. I think the second will be made of hourglass orange blocks a la Sometimes Crafter.

Here is a closer look at some of my favorite little ones:

 

edit: the squares are 2.5"x2.5" when cut and 2" finished.

a quilted pillowcase

Before I forget, I want to thank all of you, nice readers for leaving so many, so detailed, so good comments on the traveling post bellow. We learned so much from you and made a few adjustment to our plans, such as ditching the car seat idea. I have  been shopping with a completely new list, made from your suggestions. In that spirit I decided to sew Finn a travel pillow. So far I only have the top of the pillow case, but it's quilted and squared, so most of the work is done. I am going to add a large zipper on the side, because I can see Finn wasting time away opening and closing it. I could even hang a toy from the zipper pull.
Quilting pebbles is not very intuitive, but the result is certainly rewarding. Using the Bernina Stitch Regulator (BSR) has made the process a cinch, the tension and stitch length remaining perfectly balanced. My favorite part is that I don't have to use my foot pedal at all, when I move my quilt the foot starts sewing on it's own. A small scale project like this one lets you use the foot to its full potential and I will be very sad when I have to give it back. The Sewing Republic might have to bear with me for a while longer!

Peaches and Black Cherries

This is the second to last block (for me) I had to sew for the Busy Little Quilting Bee. I added the batiks because they went so well with the provided fabrics.  I must say I will be so relieved when it's all done, and promise myself never to enter another quilting bee ever again! It's nothing wrong with the other quilters, it's just me. Having to make completely different blocks with a deadline, following somebody's instructions all the while worrying that they won't like it was paralyzing. Consequently I was almost always late and felt terrible all of the time... One to go, better get to work!

 

All done ( hands twirling in the air above my head)!

D.O.N.E.

"Parquet" is finished, in record time too. I didn't really think it possible, but I neglected to consider the fun this pattern would turn out to be. The colors on the picture above are pretty bad because I had to use a flash, but still you get the idea.
I have a week off quilting before I start another batik quilt in chocolate browns and denim blues, this one from Blue Underground studios. The picture below is from their web gallery.

Taking advantage of the recess, I have started working on the Vogue dress, making a muslin first. Joann's has some excellent quality Robert Kaufman muslin in various width, I discovered this weekend.

A Visit.

Birthday card by Syko

Fellow sewer and blogger Lisa came last Friday to give the BSR ( Bernina's solution to quilting on a home sewing machine) a try. She told me that she owns four sewing machines but her favorite for quilting quit on her ten inches into the work. The quilt was a throw size and she really just wanted it done, finished. She simply went around circles with the BSR and then used a walking foot for the strait lines. She got a good feel for the Aurora and told me she likes it. Lisa does a lot of complicated art quilts and a stitch regulated foot like this could really be cool. On a smaller quilt it's easy to grab the fabric well and have good control over the design, on a larger one, bed size even throw size all I can do is meander, any thing else is less than stellar regardless of the machine, but that is not absolutely true for everyone.
I invited her to come back for more quilting, chatting and considering the many ways to say 'peony'.

Since the machine stayed on the living room table, I got a start on the batik quilt and discovered another trick to combat a meddling baby. It's possible to sew without a pedal, with the stop/start button and the speed slider. Eureka! nothing on the floor for Finn to wrestle with and four blocks done! There is a slight learning curve though mostly because I felt that I had nothing to do and stoppped paying attention hence unpicking.... But still I felt pretty smug about finding this to be so convinient, and getting some blocks done.

So far 48-12= 36 blocks to go, makes me a little ill thinking about it.

36 Fat-Quarters!

You are looking at 288 strips of batiks soon (how soon?) to become an Aardvark Quilt. The pattern is called Parquet (AQ828), and this is the only link I could find. The size of the quilt on the pattern is a little odd, but I know was told at the shop that if I add just two fat quarters the quilt can be made much larger with virtually no waste. I hope that's true! Cutting the strips was already grueling, but it's behind me now and I shouldn't dwell on it any longer, especially since the strips must be cut down again many many times.... Why do I start those things? Why?

Modern Quilts, How to hang them.

Yesterday I had Thomas hang a quilt in our bedroom. Since we moved about two years ago the wall have been very slowly decorated and a quilt is large enough to make a big impression, very convenient!

There is however the question of how to hang it up. I tried the traditional wood holders, that clamp the quilt between two long rectangles, but I didn't like them much. They are very visually bulky and leave behind huge holes in the wall. Ikea has a good alternative (I think). It's called Dignitet, and is used to hang drapes. It's a wire with little metal clamps that grip the quilt wherever you want.

Like every Ikea product, it's cheap but a bit tricky to put up. Here is a picture of my bedroom to illustrate. I am feeling all self-conscious showing my bedroom by the way... 

The quilt is called Modern thinking from a pattern by Blue Underground Studio, I love their quilts and might get some inspiration to use up all the Heather Ross fabrics recently accumulated.

Coin Quilt: Finished!

On Friday I finished my Coin Quilt, for the piece along with Karin. I cannot believe that more than 200 people joined the Flickr group, so much inspiration! I especially like the scrappy X here. I really agonized about fabric choices, leaving all my strips aside for weeks not daring to sew anything in fear of ruining all that precious Heather Ross fabric. But last week I just threw my arms in the air and started sewing the strips together. The quilt was going to be smaller than expected but it was getting made and with whatever solid fabric I had on hand... I am just so grateful for this sudden burst of energy, there is a great rush that comes with a finished quilt top. The back is made too! now to the quilting... That could take a while...

Here is a full view.

Busy little quilting bee, taking shape.

Most of the blocks from the quilting swap have made their way to our mailbox, I say most because some got lost in the way which bugs. (Correction: I just checked out the Flickr group and more blocks are definitely on their way...)
The swappers made fairly small blocks, this way it leaves some wiggle room when resizing them. I am now adding 'borders' of the same linen as the one used in the blocks to make them all 10"x10". The borders do not center the block but make it float somewhere in the 10" square, I hope the effect will be very asymmetrical in the end. It's an experiment so it could really backfire!

Take a look at the first four:

and two more:

Fashion re-make

Meet my strapless-dress-no-more. It's from the after Christmas sale rack at the Gap. Blue silk and all ruffly. Love at first sight. Unfortunately I was mistaken once again ( this has happened before) in thinking I can pull it off, wearing something strapless. I have the shoulders for it but lack the most important detail, the things between the neck and the belly button. So here you have it, it wasn't staying up and frustration ensued.
I had been thinking about Fashion Remake a lot, without acting on it. But after this great success (I think) I am looking at everything I own with scissors in my eyes, dangerous times!

In short, I removed a row of ruffles, cut through both the dress and the lining. With the dress/skirt right side facing and the lining on top wrong side facing I sewed a 1/2" seam at the top. I flipped the lining back inside. Ironed the new waist neatly and sewed a 3/4" from it creating a casing. You have to leave an opening for the elastic (woven 1/2"). Once the elastic is in place sew it ( no knots please!). Hand stitch the opening shut and voila!

The ruffle I took out became a flower for the waist and the two remaining ruffles on the top will definitely be picked out soon! Here is a vintag-ed picture of the skirt on the animal:

Forgive me for the grimy white Tee, it was late and very poorly lit in the room.

On the Coin Quilt front, I am overjoyed that so many of you want to join us, this is going to be wonderful! For the quilting newbies this is the ideal project, don't be scared and maybe use that tutorial from Moda I talked about yesterday.
I have been changing my mind on the colorway for the quilt many time over. I am staying with the original idea of the Last minute patchwork quilt, but with straight coins. Instead of Mendocino in blue and brown I switched to pinks and consequently had to order a lot more from Etsy this morning, poor me. This seller and this seller.

Ok I know this is the longest post ever but I must add that this book is terrific! I just can't put it down. It's french, we really made endless cakes like those with my mom growing up.

Finally, I promise, did you know The Fray has a new album out. Which I am ashamed to say I have been listening to on youtube. Tonight I will go to a coinstar and exchange our stash of coins for an Itunes voucher, best thing those coins ever did for me.