I ♥ Ugly Fabrics!

I'm not gonna lie -- I love ugly fabric! What is it about it? Well, perhaps it's the challenge -- to make something beautiful out of something completely hideous. Lemons into lemonade?
Perhaps it's because I feel sorry for the poor, unloved fabrics.

No matter what it is, I love ugly. It makes me so happy!

I wanted to share a few of the "uglies" I have in my ugly stash....

Brown, purple and orange... add in the PAISLEY factor, and you have a real winner!!


Ahhh... one of my loveliest uglies. I have a couple yards of it. Beautifully ugly.

Nothing like Cheetos orange plus green plus purple -- and hideous caviar-like circles! Woo!


Then there is a completely new category I like to call "What were they THINKING??"

Waaaaaaay too much going on here, and check out those COLORS!! Hee hee!!!

Paisley +sunflowers?? Not to mention all the other hideosity going on here!
Horrid!! I love to hate this one!

Whaaaaaaaaaaa?!!
I have no earthly use for this one, but -- oh my! -- I love it!!

And last but not least a full collection of fat quarters I purchased all together for one smashingly loathsome combination! It is, of course, heavy on the Kaffe Fasset, whom I truly ADORE. But there are a few other lovely pieces in there too. I just have to come up a fantastic quilt method for these ones!

Oh, and my favorite of the bunch? The weird circly things in the center left? That one is called "Fish Lips." Win!!

To see some of my finished ugly quilts,
CLICK HERE!

Girly I-Spy Ticker Tape -- FINISHED!

It's done!

After a loooong break from working on this quilt (other obsessions crept in!), I finally revisited it and finished it night before last. Yesterday I sent it through the wash a couple times, trimmed off the extra hairy threads, and resewed the edges of a couple squares that frayed beyond the stitching.

I love the fun, girly backing and bright binding.

And THIS, my friends, is the pile of threads that came out of the wash! Amazing!

I-Spy Ticker Tape Quilt... the Girly Version!

I'm at it again! I've been sorting through my I-Spy scraps to dig out little pieces for this Ticker Tape quilt (inspired by this one). This isn't the first time! My other (boy-themed) one can be found here.

Yes, it's true, I save the most miniscule bits and pieces of my I-Spy fabrics if there is a visible object on it -- and this is the perfect project to use them in. I don't have an official tally, but when all is said and done there will be hundreds of scraps of I-Spies on this quilt -- each one from a different fabric!

I start by creating the quilt "sandwich" -- backing, batting, and white Kona on the front -- and pin-basting it together. Then I attach the scraps directly on top, which quilts it as I go. Looooooove!!


I can't wait to get this one finished up so I can give it to... well, it was going to be a secret, but if it's here I guess it's not. It's for my new sweet niece, born just a few weeks ago! I admit, it's heavy on the kitties. Hope little K-doll doesn't mind! :o)

Valentine Quilt

I know, I know... It's early to be thinking about Valentine's Day...
But I am anyway!
I am so ready. Bring on the PINK! :o)

I threw together this quilt over the weekend, and then kept forgetting to take pictures in the daylight hours. But here it is!

I started by purchasing that super soft fuzzy backing (Ultra Cuddle from JoAnn's). Then I went home and started yanking pink fabrics out of my fabric closet! I tossed candidates on the floor and then arranged and chose which ones would work. I cut a zillion tumblers and arranged again.


(Sideways view, plus my toes!)

I came up with an arrangement I liked, sewed them together, pinned it, and quilted it. I attached the binding on Sunday night, but didn't hand finish it until Wednesday, with Susan's help, because I got distracted by other pink projects -- which I will show you soon!

I love how it turned out! It is so super comfy cozy squidgy soft -- and is definitely that bright, happy pop of color I was looking for. And all STASH fabrics with the exception of the backing! YAY for stashbusting!!

Black I-Spy Quilt -- COMPLETE!

It's done! And I love it! A quilt made from 100% black background I-Spy squares!

I decided to go with a nice bright pop of color for the inner border. And get this -- it's a matching game! For every I-Spy in the border, there is one to match in the center of the quilt! Ha ha, I love it!!

I decided this quilt needed to go to my nephew for Christmas. I ended up taking out a few squares that were originally in the quilt and replaced them with some squares that would be specifically fun for him. Not too much seam ripping -- I only took out four squares on the edges.


The bright turquoise-y blue came from my stash. It's four different prints, all in the same color. I even ended up with exactly enough left over to do the binding.

I backed the quilt with a luscious piece of fuzzy Ultra Cuddle from JoAnn. The color is a perfect match. And, get this -- when I got to the cutting counter there was EXACTLY enough left on the bolt to fit the back. And it was on sale! I even had a leftover piece of batting at home, also the exact size I needed. Serendipity!

All in all, I spent $5 for the backing -- and had everything else on hand. Not too shabby -- especially for a quilt that I absolutely ADORE!!

I-Spy Quilt -- ALL BLACK

This project tickles me!!

I have been sorting, re-sorting, and re-re-sorting my I-Spy squares. I have a few collections in the works, but this one is my current favorite!! I pulled out all the squares with black backgrounds, just for fun, and laid them all out. I love it!!! I sewed them all together last night (when I really should have been working on other projects -- hee hee!), and I just love the look of it! Having the same background really makes it cohesive, without looking too scattered and busy. Again -- I love it!!

All the fabrics are different, with the exception of that cupcake print in the top two rows. Blast! Wish I had seen that before. Oh well, I have a square I can replace one of the cupcakes with.... And does that square with the pixy sticks, second down from the right, not have enough black in it? It's kind of standing out....

Hmmm....

At this point it is a 35"x45" rectangle. It needs to be bigger, obviously, to be a usable quilt. The question is, do I start with a narrow border of a solid color, and then add black borders? Or do I go straight to a black border? Or, do I stop here and wait to collect MORE squares with black backgrounds before I continue?

Maybe I should stop, and work on some of those Christmas projects......... :o)

MY I-Spy Quilt

My obsession with 2 1/2" I-Spy squares has been renewed. Over the past year+ of more intensive I-Spy obsession (including numerous swaps I have hosted and joined!), I've been working here and there on a quilt for MY bed. I've been collecting 2 1/2" I-Spy squares for YEARS, and during 2010 I have been adding borders to them little by little.

Here is my collection so far -- 216! They are all completely different squares with completely different borders. Needless to say, this takes a lot of dedication and patience and mostly OBSESSING. The borders have come from my ridiculously full scrap bins. Did I mention each border is from a completely different fabric? :o)

I am getting closer and closer to my goal of a queen-size I-Spy quilt for my bed!

Why for my bed? Well, when I was little my parents' bed was an impromptu gathering place. My siblings and I would end up there during the day with one or both of my parents, sometimes all of us at the same time and sometimes not. I have fond memories of just hanging out there, thinking and chatting with my parents. I want my bed to be the same kind of comfortable gathering place -- a good place -- a happy place -- to chat and hang out with my kids, learn a little more about their lives and thoughts, and just BE. And wouldn't it be fun to look at all the hundreds of little I-Spies while we're at it??

Here are a few examples of my squares. Each finished I-Spy is 2", and will have a finished border of 3/4". (Small squares mean I can pack more I-Spies in there!!) I have thoughts on the layout, but haven't settled 100% on that.

Anyway, just thought I would share this week's obsession. Yesterday alone I added borders to 51 squares in my stash! :oD

Quilt Festival

I am joining in the fun again with Amy's ever-famous Quilt Festival!

This fun 40"x56" I-Spy quilt is the result of 76 different I-Spy fabrics -- ALL SCRAPS. I am obsessed with I-Spy, and have kept all the skinny little leftover bits from my swap fabrics. The result was a huge pile of strips -- I still have at least this many more!

I dove into this project without a plan. First I laid out all the strips and created two piles: boyish and girly. Then I separated the boyish ones by width. I cut matching widths from some white fabric I had on hand and sewed both ends of one 20" strip to both ends of each strip, creating a loop. Then I cut the white strip randomly so I would end up with varying lengths of white on either side of each strip.


I laid them out how I liked them, sewed them together, trimmed the excess white fabric away, and added more I-Spy borders.

I had this cute doggy print on hand, but it was just a few inches shy of being the right size for the backing. No problem -- I created a strip with more scraps for the back, bordering it with some black fabric scraps for some POP.

I had everything on hand except for that 1/4 yard of tiny doggy paw prints that I purchased for the super skinny binding -- and that only set me back about $1.50. Not bad for an entire baby quilt!

I really enjoy the process of making quilts without a pattern or a plan -- not to mention the challenge of using only what I have on hand. There's just something about it that really tickles my creative side! I can't wait to do it again!

Linoleum Quilt -- CHECK!

I'm checking a few projects off my list to make some guilt-free brain space (and of course sewing space!) for new projects. Over the weekend I finished this quilt for my cousin Cara.

I LOVE THIS QUILT!! I so want one just like it for my very own!

The colors are just so vibrant and fun and happy -- and despite the individual "ugliness" factor of each of the fabrics, it really is a pretty quilt.


I even made a matching pillowcase -- French seams, and everything!


Next project to check off my list: One of the most guilt-ridden projects of the past 2+ years. Yes, that's TWO PLUS years!! The guilt quilt!!

Completed I-Spy Strip Quilt

It's done!
I actually finished it last Friday night. I got all obsessed and put together the back, quilted, and bound it all that evening! It was a late night -- but so worth it!

After counting there is a total of 76 DIFFERENT I-Spy fabrics in this quilt -- ALL SCRAPS!


After staring at the photos from my last post multiple times and reading all your comments and suggestions (thank you!) I ultimately decided I liked it ending with the colorful I-Spy borders.


For the back I dug out a few options for fabrics I had on hand. There were three "I-Spy-ish" options, but I liked this funny dog print best for theme and for color. I had 1 1/2 yards of it, and needed just a few more inches -- so HOORAY, I got to paw through more of my I-Spy scraps! :o) I created a long strip to set in, and laid it on top of the backing to see how it looked. All those spies got lost in the print! So, I looked around and found I had a couple strips of black scrap fabric sitting on my cutting table. It was destiny! They frame the strip of spies just right, and give them some POP.

I really wanted to have a nice crisp finished edge, but I still wanted to stay with the I-Spy theme. Black fabric with tiny white paw prints! It's a very narrow binding (had to squeeze it out of the fabric), and I love how it finishes the quilt.

This quilt has been SO MUCH FUN to make! I truly enjoy embarking on projects without a finished product in mind; it really tickles and stretches the creative part of my brain in a way that starting with a plan just can't!

I counted carefully, and there is a total of 76 DIFFERENT I-Spy fabrics in this quilt -- ALL SCRAPS! I had everything on hand -- with the exception of that binding, which cost about $1.50 (a necessary expense; it's too perfect!). Even the batting was a leftover scrap.
TRIUMPH! :o)

I-Spy Strip Quilt Progress

I've been ignoring a few "ought to finish" projects in favor of this one, and this is what I have so far:

Yes, I know it appears that the center is, well, off-center. It's not. Let's just say, WE'RE GOING WITH IT. :o) I do need some input on the next step, though....

I have enough I-Spy strips with white backgrounds to do a border. Shall I? I do think I need to have a white border before the binding... Does this count, or will I still need a solid white border beyond it? Or, do I skip the I-Spy strips with a white background and go straight to a solid white border? Or do I call it finished where it sits now? The current size is 40" x 56", sans the white background strips.

Help!

The Linoleum Quilt

Okay, so it's not actually made out of linoleum... The colors are just so reminiscent of one specific familiar linoleum!

First, some background. My beautiful and talented cousin Cara is starting college in a few weeks. For her high school graduation/start of college present I decided I want to make her a quilt. Now, lucky me, she has moved from several states away to MY state -- and is living and attending school only an hour or so away from me! Yay!

Since she is now so close, I spoiled my quilt surprise and told her my plan. We agreed that it would be much more fun to shop for fabrics and plan the quilt together!

Yesterday the timing finally worked out such that we had a decent chunk of time to hit a few quilt shops. Here is what we came up with!

We started with the fabric that is fourth from the left. So fantastic and linoleum-y! Luckily we both seem to have an affinity for -- how shall we say -- "ugly" fabrics, so grouping them while together was extra fun!
(If you're interested, you can see more of my "ugly" quilts here, here, here, and here!)

We wandered and grouped and re-grouped. Three different times we considered adding orange, but it changed the overall look to much for our liking. Three quilt shops and a couple hours later, we had our fabrics!

We ended up with fabrics from SIX different lines/designers!

I've already started cutting -- and I cannot wait to start putting this baby together! :o)

My First Quilt Ever

Today I'd like to introduce a little series I've been planning for quite some time, called -- of course you know by now -- "1st Quilt Ever." I've had readers here and there contact me saying they'd like to learn how to make a quilt, or comment saying they really want to do it but are nervous about getting started. But when Susan from Darling Petunia (whose blog I have been following for quite some time) contacted me saying SHE wanted to make HER "1st Quilt Ever" and chronicle her journey on her blog, I knew this series just HAD to happen! So, we are working together -- me as the "expert" and Susan as the "guinea pig" (I mean "student!") -- to show you that YOU really CAN do this!!

* * * * *

To start off, I would like you show you MY First Quilt Ever!

First, a little history: When I was little we lived near the Morey Boogie factory. (Anyone remember the Morey Boogie clothing line??) We could go to the outlet at the factory and purchase fabric scraps by the pound. One afternoon, when I was about 10 years old, my mom dragged all us kids to the outlet to pick up a bunch of scraps so she could make some FABULOUS clothes for her sister's baby boy. Looking at all those scraps just about made my eyes pop out of my head! I immediately knew I NEEDED some of those scraps for some sewing projects, and with Mom's permission started picking out some fabrics. I only had a few pieces -- but then the clerk at the register picked up a bag and started STUFFING it full of fabric for me! (...and the fabric obsession was ALL DOWNHILL from there!)

I decided to make myself a quilt using some of my haul. I picked some of my fluorescent-colored scraps, then proceeded to start digging through my mom's enormous storage can filled with scraps leftover from her multiple sewing projects. (The can was big enough to hold 50 lbs of flour -- there were a lot of scraps in there!) Once I had made my fabric selections, I cut them into squares and started laying out a design for my quilt.

Mom says she tried to give me a little input here and a little advice there, but that I just wouldn't have it -- I had my idea and my design and was going to make it happen my way. I guess I still do things that way! :o)


The inner border and center square are fabric from my factory stash. The southwestern-style bandana squares were leftovers from a project we did with my grandma at the family cabin the previous summer. The blue border and matching backing came from some yard sale fabric my mom had picked up. The rest were from Mom's scrap barrel.

When it came time to tie my quilt, I went through Mom's oodles of yarn and picked out a pinky-orange yarn to match my Morey Boogie border.


My favorite square? The center -- with the (now-faded) fluorescent FLY!!

* * * * *

Over the course of this little series I hope to share enough tips, tricks, ideas, and information to help you feel comfortable enough to make YOUR 1st Quilt Ever!

Check back tomorrow for an introduction to Susan and a checklist of what you need to get started!

Dot Quilt -- COMPLETE!

It's done! And I love it!!

Kelly commented in my previous post about a quilt she's currently making that is similar to mine. She gave me a link so I could see how she had done her borders. Immediate LOVE! I love how hers is turning out -- so I decided to do my borders similar to hers!

I used bits and pieces of different lengths for the first border, then since I didn't have any more of that polka dot background fabric (I looked at four different quilt shops for something similar!), I used a plain cream Kona cotton. I was concerned it would be distracting for it to be a different fabric, but it works just fine!

The quilting was SO fun to do! I started by quilting little flowers (they look like dahlias to me!) in the circles, then quilted larger ones in between. I love love love the texture -- and the flowers just add to the charm!

I used the same cream Kona cotton on the back -- with a strip of scraps too, of course! I'm always hesitant to put white fabric on the back of a quilt, but -- it NEEDED it!

And then a scrappy binding to finish it off!

I ~LOVE~ my finished quilt -- and this one is for MEEEEE!!!! :o)

Update: I've had lots of questions about what machine I use for quilting -- I just use my regular machine with my free-motion foot! It can be a bit cumbersome to cram larger quilts through, but generally speaking it really isn't all that difficult!

Green Pinwheels -- FINISHED!

(Okay, so I took this photo before I finished quilting the border, but you get the idea...)

I picked the top apart far enough to add in one orange pinwheel. I looked at it once -- or maybe twice -- and decided it was HORRID! (Yes, thank you Melissa for being so honest -- "Ewww!" was the correct reaction in your comment!) I immediately picked it apart AGAIN, and the green pinwheel was placed back in his home. Oh well! At least I won't always wonder if I would have liked it better!

I spent a long time deliberating about the quilting. I started quilting spirals on each pinwheel -- like they were spinning. AWFUL. Luckily I only did about eight before I decided to spread it out and have a look. More unpicking! I thought I was doomed to quilting straight lines, and was about to start -- but then came up with the curvy plan! I love the motion it gives the pinwheels!

Lucky me, I still had bits and pieces of some of the pinwheel fabrics in my stash -- which made for a fabulous pieced binding!

I'm SO HAPPY with how it turned out! Thank you everyone who put in their two cents about my orange pinwheel dilemma -- I appreciate the input! :o)


As for my other WIP quilt.... The borders are ON, it's pinned together, and I've begun quilting -- and I even have the pieced binding ready to go!

A little sneak peak photo:

This one's going to require a lot of thread, and a LOT of patience... but I am LOVING the way it is turning out!

Hope everyone has a great weekend!

Green Pinwheels -- Yes or No?

Thanks to the magic of Photoshop (and Jessica -- why didn't I think of it?? Thanks!), here's what I've come up with:

What do you think?? Shall I be brave and go for it, or shall I stick with all green? Is the placement of the orange pinwheel okay?