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I added a new photo album!  It is Making a Kool Kaleidoscope Quilt...

I really like making this quilt.  I am planning on making more in the next few months or year....   We'll see how time behaves for me...

Anyway.  I love watching the way this quilt comes together.  I think it is the coolest part of it all.  Come and take a look! 
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My friend, Susan and I cut out these snowmen to make table runners or wall hangings a really really long time ago.  They have been in my ufo box for what seems like an eternity.  I don't know why we didn't get to making them but we just didn't.

Yesterday I decided to take them out of their plastic bag and put it all together. 

What I have learned - maybe labeling the pieces would have been a good idea.  Yeah.  and reading directions. That is also a really good idea.  I had to rip out 8 seams because I didn't read the part about trimming that section by 1/4" on each side... but progress has been made.  I will finish them up maybe by the end of the weekend. We will see what happens  between now and then.  I know I need to get back to crocheting because Aug 15th is coming up soon!

Oh - the name of the pattern is Snowmen are just a bunch of Flakes and is by Pam Bono.
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I used this tutorial by the Idaho Quilter.

For the two larger ones, I changed my starting square to 8 1/2" and adjusted the lengths of the strips of course to fit that. The smaller ones I did not adjust the pattern at all.  I felt they would fit perfectly.

A tip on making this pattern... before you start sewing, draw a line down the length of the batting so that you can match up the tips of your strips with the line to keep your points on target.  Ask me how I know lol.  I also used a walking foot for the entire process except on the one I had to rip out almost completely on one side since I wasn't using the walking foot - what was I thinking??  It was even the 3rd one I did but I just had a brain lapse and said 1/4" seams, 1/4" foot.. yeah.. no, that didn't work.  The points were being dragged in one direction and my runner was making a right hand turn all by itself.  But with the walking foot, it didn't stray.  After that, I drew the lines just to keep my sanity and ya know what?  With the walking foot on, it stayed almost perfectly on target.
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The two larger ones are roughly 94x20" and the smaller ones are 51 x 16". 

I wanted them to hang over the sides and cover the top of the dressers completely.

I wish I could have gotten a picture that actually showed the colors better.  Yes, I know I could go and photo shop them but hey, life is too short and I have other things that need to be done...
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Here's hubby's side table runner on.  I love the way it came out!

My friend Stacy wants to make these for her bedroom however we will have to do a bit more math than I had to do since her dresser has a hutch on top and the side tables are not as deep as mine are.  I'm going to help her along with that next time we sew together.


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Awhile back I saw somewhere - don't ask me where right now - a quilt that used a dresden ruler and it was so fresh and new and I just fell in love with it.  It had a white background and the petals of the dresden were white on both sides with a colored strip down the center... I searched high and low and I still don't know where that tutorial is.  It was cool if you ask me.  Maybe I'm just on crack, I don't know but I could swear that I saw that tutorial somewhere online!  If you know what I'm talking about, please put me out of my misery and send me a link!!

Joann's usually stocks the EZ Dresden Ruler but the past few times quilting notions were on sale 50% off, it was out of stock.  Yesterday I popped in there after going to see Hop at the theaters (yawn, yawn.  I'm glad that is over!) but they had the ruler in stock!  Yay for me!  It makes up for that hour and a half of Hopping boredom.  Even Logan didn't like that movie.  Collin did but he's still easier to amuse than Logan... That will change as he grows up...

So I thought of doing a new tutorial links page - no surprise there, right?   So without further ado... the Dresden Tutorial Link page!
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I am working on a set of runners to go on the dressers in my bedroom.  I have started and restarted this project several times and have not been happy with the designs and color combos I came up with.  They all seemed too drab. 

A friend of mine wanted to make a runner for her bedroom dresser and I searched online and found a few runners that I thought she might like - and of course went overboard and made a new topic for my tutorial links pages..  But anyhooo... I saw this one and I figured quilt as you go?  Sure!  I'll do it!

I had to do some math as the table runner would have been too small for the dressers - perfect in depth for the night stands although I'll probably have to adjust the length of the runner for them...
I picked out my colors.  It called for 6 total and I decided to do the butterfly print + 2 blues, purples and greens.  I hemmed and hawed about doing the blues as the butterfly print didn't have a true blue in it.  It had purples, greens and browns plus a periwinkle color but adding the brown to the green and purple just looked like pucky so I opted to brighten it up a bit and do the blues.  I'm glad I did.  I personally think it looks stunning.

I started with a 8 1/2" square in the center which brought me to 20" finished at the end of the day.  It is about 94" long which sounds ludicrous but I wanted the ends to fold over and hang off the edge.  Id didn't want him to be able to put anything on the top of the dresser unless there was fabric under it :D  Oh and the only time I pinned was when I sewed on that inner border.  I'm glad I did. It was a life saver

The colors are REALLY off in the picture I'm embarrassed to say.  I will get better pictures when I'm done with them all. 

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So David's runner would be the longest of the 4 I need to make. 

My friend, Stacy, came over about 7am I sewed until 5pm - she had to leave for a baseball game about 1 but came back all bummed that they lost about 3ish.

I had to rip - A LOT.  I don't know anyone who enjoys ripping.  It just isn't fun.  I sewed the wrong color orders, the wrong piece lengths then in the end  I ripped out a butterfly piece in the very end of it all since it would have been ridiculously long on the dresser. 

It just needs to be bound now which isn't that big of a deal.  I do think I might wait and bind them all one right after the other.  I'm excited to get the piecing done while David is home with the kids this weekend...

So yup.  I'll be back in the craft room today.. and will hopefully have more of the set ready for binding.

Here is a link to the tutorial I used... It is relatively quick and easy.  I do suggest laying out your colors in the order you need to sew them - and only doing one side at at time so you have less fiddling with it under the machine's throat.  I was doing both sides at the same time for a bit and then opted to just work on it one side at time - wise move.

The tutorial is well written although I don't know why I printed out all the pictures especially since the colors that were used in the tutorial were gradient and didn't really show up in my cheap choice of printing in b&w... a bit of overkill for me but others might need the extra photos.  It's all good though in the end. 

Okay.  I best get to quilting.  Sun is up.  The dog wants to be fed and the kids are itching to start playing video games...
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I had seen this Lazy and Lovin' It Book by Joan Hawley demonstrated online a few months back and had to have it...

I can't seem to locate the link for the video.  It was a Kaye Woods show segment but here is a link to the general gist of the idea for the book... You have A and B pieces and pretty much everything you make is comprised of those pieces except for companion blocks which are pinwheels and whatnot. 

I just now finally - FINALLY! - got to try it out... I have to tell you a few things.  The book is pretty darn cool.  I was mesmerized by the whole idea behind it. 

I have to tell you this...  you can NOT be lazy to make these blocks.  You work hard for them.  I thought that matching them up to sew was a pain.  About half of the ones I did I had to redo because they didn't match up and both blocks I made ended up with blocks that where a hair off and I don't know why.  I'll have to reread the section on making 3 part blocks again to see what I messed up on.
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Here are the two blocks that I made... They came out pretty cool.  I did miss a few points, went back, couldn't fix them, got frustrated and then figured I better just walk away and pick a different battle.  These blocks were being made for a NEA Modern Quilt Guild block swap and I'm frustrated that I messed up on them.  I might go back and give them another tweak tomorrow after a good night's sleep. We'll see.... They're pretty close, just not perfect and I do like perfect....

So I can honestly say that it took me about 2 1/2 hours to make 2 blocks.  I am not sure if that is good or not... but if I were making an entire quilt out of these things I would have pulled out my hair and been shopping for a wig.  Life is too short to mess around so much.

Next project?  One of my nieces just graduated college and moved out to Wisconsin to live with her boyfriend.  She likes trees... I'm going to make her a set of placemats maybe and a wall hanging to decorate her new room.  She had to leave most of her stuff behind so maybe something special will cheer her up.  I'll be starting on that later on this week...

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I get thrilled if I notice new quilt books at our library... especially if they have the word "modern" in them.   I do not care for old fashioned prints, civil war prints and please don't ask me to make a Sunbonnet Sue - please?!So I checked out two books - Quilts Made Modern and Modern Log Cabin Quilting by Weeks Ringle and Bill Kerr.

Of the two, I liked Quilts Made Modern the best.  Having said that, there was only one pattern in there that I think I would have made - and even that was pretty doubtful.  The patterns in this book were pretty plain to say the least.  The actually quilting is what made them special.  I think had they just shown unfinished quilts they would have been pretty ho hum - that is in my personal opinion of course.  There is nothing wrong with this book, It just didn't make me want to run to the craft room and grab some fabric and a rotary cutter to get to work.
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Then there was the Modern Log Cabin Quilting by Susan Beal...  Again, a nicely photographed quilt but I didn't see a single project in it that I would personally make.  I don't know what I was expecting but it just wasn't in this one at all sad to say.

Overall, a sad trip to the library that left me not wanting to clear off the sewing room table.

I am really wondering why if you slap some color here or there on a white background a quilt can be called Modern.  Maybe I am expecting too much from my interpretation and I can't really put in to words what my interpretation would be - maybe something that feels fresh and not old fashioned?  Something that has the finger on the pulse of a new crafting generation.  I just don't know.  Neither of these books had that feel for me.  It is what it is.  Like I said though, they were both "nice" books.  Maybe great for a beginner but I would not personally add either of these to my collection.
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I recently spent a long time perusing the local library's quilting books via their online search tool... I found this book and had to check it out.

It's  boo Boo Davis and it is an adorable book!  This is one that if the library didn't have it, I would probably add it to my book shelf. There are a few projects in it that I'd like to make - starting with the tote bag and the robot quilt and the dachshund quilt and the skull quilt and the city block pillows and the and the and the.. yeah, it's just stinking adorable.  Super easy too since everything is in squares.  I will say that from looking at the directions very quickly for the tote bag it looks shortcuts can be had... seriously?  173 pieces?  If you strip piece them and then cut it would go by sooo much faster.. so you know what I'm going to do when I make it.

I wish I had seen that tote bag pattern sooner.. my swap partner in the Crafty Detective Swap on Crafster might have actually gotten it in her package - and she still might if what I attempt doesn't pan out.....  We'll see...

So in a nutshell - two happy thumbs up for Dare to be Square.  It's sooo much better than the other two quilting books that followed me home from the library...
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Here is a preview of my latest Quip - Quilt in Progress.  It is Ricky Tim's Kool Kaleidoscope quilt.  I don't get to take quilt workshop/classes often but when I saw this one I figured I would have to come out from the comfort of my craft closet and take this class... not that I need to take a class but I think that sewing and quilting classes can be a lot of fun :D 

anyhoooo... The class was at Quilter's Combo in Madison - today.  I'll post more progress pictures tomorrow.  Sadly it isn't fully completed yet but I'm going to work on it a bit more maybe next week.  I will say that I let Logan pick out the colors and order of the fabrics and I don't think I'll do that again without some assistance... it seriously looks like a paint store threw up on it.  It isn't ME but someone will love it and hopefully that someone will not be living in my house since I don't want it hanging here... I do have plans for another one or two or three since it is a cool technique but fabric choice is really crucial here  big time.  The other student in the class (only two of us today) picked all oriental prints that would have been fabulous had she also picked some solids to go with them - it was busy but interesting as well....

Sooo.  I'll post more pics tomorrow.  I swear I will.  I need to get them off my phone first!
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Last week I decided to take a quilt workshop on Ricky Tim's Kool Kaleidoscope quilt - not that I couldn't figure it out on my own through a book but because I feel that quilting can be a very fun social thing to do.  I really enjoy sewing with others.  It makes a day go by quickly, you get to talk to grown ups (and working from home means that you don't get to talk to too many people) and you get to make some cool stuff that you probably would not have done if you were sitting at home, dilly dallying and finding all sorts of excuses to not craft...

Soooo.  I signed up to take the class at Quilter's Combo on April 16th.  I'm really looking forward to it... I needed to either get the video or the book so I opted to get the book... It was cheaper than the $25 minimum for free shipping so I just HAD to find something else to throw in to the cart...  So I chose Flying Colors by Gail Garber.
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I was able to flip through both books this afternoon when I *should* have been working...

My first thoughts... I really don't like the examples in the Ricky Tim's book.  I found them to be mostly irritating to look at - sometimes too much color just looks like a paint store threw up on it or if they are just plain boring it looks like someone was just bought one of each shade of a few different colors and it is tedious to look at.  There are only a few in that book that would make me want to create this quilt...

The Flying Colors book is really kind of cool.  I'm glad that I got this book.  I know that originally I was not going to since I saw somewhere online a how to do this and didn't think I needed the book but hey, Amazon Dollars (from credit card) and needing that minimum for the free shipping, what the hay. Might as well.  I am really glad I got it.  This book is really pretty darn cool if I do say so myself.  I'm really looking forward to making something from this book...

So, add a few more to the to do list.  That list will never get finished if I don't get to the sewing machine! 

Next up on the sewing machine?  I have a few things that I need to whip up for a swap I am participating in on Craftster... and a few things that I want to kick out for myself including digging in to the UFO boxes to finish up a few things.  I'll take out those boxes and share what has been hiding in my unfinished objects boxes....
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