triangle squared (part 1)

Around The Craft Table

er... I mean dining room table.









I've been feeling the itch to sew a new quilt for several months now. I waited and waited and waited though. Don't ask me why I waited, I couldn't tell ya. Then, this spring, my favorite fabric designer released a new collection that had me completely swooning. Check out Anna Maria Horner's new Lou Lou Thi line. As soon as it was available I ordered up 1/4 yard cuts of almost every single one of them. Yeah, I am kinda psycho like that. I love her viberant colors and bold patterns. They remind me so much of the colors I choose for my beads. At the time this fabric became available, I was up to my eyeballs in the end stages of Rustic Wrappings and seeings these prints arrive in the mail give me a lift I don't even think I knew I was lacking.

Even though I had all the delicious fabric on hand, I still couldn't start a project. I had to finish the book first.

Waiting was kinda a good thing. I couldn't for the life of me decide what I was actually going to make with them. What kinda quilt would do these prints justice? So, I washed 'em... and waited. Then, I ironed 'em... and waited. I kept sorting them into different arrangements of color groupings and I noticed something... half the fabrics had a strong red/pink/burgundy color to them and the others were very yellow/light green/blue. I had half and half!!

And some how that led to triangles. And the triangle idea some how lead me to cut out 1296 triangles over the past week or so.

Over the next few summer weeks, these 1296 triangles will become 648 small squares. Which will then become 72 quilt blocks. Which will then become either A) the front and back of the quilt, or 2) the fronts of two matching quilts (one for home and one for the studio). The jury is still out on choice one or choice two. The jury is also still deciding if I'm insane because I am actually considering making every one of the 72 quilt blocks completely unique.

I'll be sure to let you know when the verdict comes in.

Low Fat Picnic Quilt

Way way back in August of 2009, I bought myself a couple of Anna Maria Horner's Fabric Stack Palette Piles. Instantly, I knew I couldn't bring myself to cut up those lovely fat quarters. So, I spent an afternoon piecing fat quarters together building a sweet and colorful facing for a new family quilt. You might remember the couple of photos I posted on Flickr here and here. I took that nicely ironed facing and tucked it away in my yarn stash suitcase where it sat through the start of the school year, the 2009 Fine Craft Show prep, the holidays, a blustery winter that saw the release of my book (Totally Twisted, of course!), my first experience teaching nationally, and one of the warmest springs on record. This week, prompted by the word "Picnic" from the Creativity Boot Camp, I finally pulled that facing back out to finish it up. The plan in mind being it will be our family picnic quilt.


Monday morning I was feeling different about cutting the fat quarters. Time didn't make my heart grow fonder, LOL... I still love love love every pattern, but I was okay with cutting them this time around. I took each one, and this time, cut it in half. LOL... now it is a "low fat", half a fat quarter, get it? Hee, hee, I kill me. Anywho, I laid them all out and sewed them up. I was giddy about how they were all coming together. When I squint at this picture, I see orange, yellow, and seafoam green. Doesn't that combo sound delish?




Yesterday was a rainy cold nasty day, and I am fighting this nasty head cold, so I didn't have a whole lot of energy to "work". But, I didn't mind sitting at my sewing machine and stitching a few straight lines. Now, this beautiful diddy will be folded up and tucked in the back of my van ready to serve as the best-ever-color-butt-kicking-coolest family picnic blanket. I am looking forward to spotting it in the background of photos from trips to the park, sitting on the sidelines at the kids' sports, and finding warmth under it when outside adventures get a little chilly.

Do you and yours have a favorite family picnic quilt/blanket? Maybe you ought to make one...

Mission Accomplished

EEEEKKKKKKKK!!! I did it!!! I finished Jacob's Christmas quilt and with time to spare. I am so so excited about this and I can't wait to give it to him Friday morning. I ended up making it much smaller then I thought I would. It is just a bit smaller then twin size. Perfect for keeping him warm while playing video games or reading a book. EEEEKKKKKKKK!!! Did I mention I am excited about it?!?

More Than I Can Chew?

In yesterday's post I mentioned that I would talk more next week about Jacob's Momma-made Christmas gift. That was the plan anyway... I was going to start it next week and thus blog about it. However, last night, I started doing the math for his gift and had a mild panic attack. I may have bitten off more than I can chew with this one. Let me tell ya about what's going on...


If you have been reading for a while now, you might remember that Lauren and Andrew both received quilts for their birthdays this year. You might also have noticed that I didn't get around to making one for Jacob. I had way to much on my plate when his birthday rolled round, and although I had terrible guilt over it, I promised myself that he would get one for Christmas. Well, obviously, it's Christmas and the boy needs his quilt.


I bought the fabric a while back, so I am all set there. I am using an Anna Maria Horner Palette Pile with lots of yellows, greens, and blues, with some browns too. I hemmed and hawed for a while over the pattern I would use and finally settled on a String Quilt with help from a tutorial on Film In The Fridge. I started drawing a little diagram, and running the numbers... I need to make NINETY SIX squares to get the size I want!! OH MY STARS!! Those 96 squares become 24 larger squares that make up a really cool diamond pattern... but dang, it is going to be a ton of work.


So I am scrapping the mental timeline I initially had set for this project and making it my top priority. I cut all the fabric this morning and started piecing the facing together. I am about 20% of the way done with that. I may decrease the number of total squares so that it is 20 total blocks instead of 24, but we'll see. I won't be able to work on it again until Monday, since Jacob will be home all weekend. I hope, hope, hope to be able to finish the facing by Monday... or lunch time on Tuesday at the latest. Then, I will make the quilt sandwich on Tuesday.


Then... I gotta spend Wednesday and Thursday doing book club stuff. You know, the cleaning and the cooking. Eeekkk!! Friday, I can start the actually quilting and hope to have it done by next Monday (the Monday before Christmas). I am getting tired just thinking about it. Good thing I have most of my other handmade gifts finished already!!

Something New For The Living Room

First... really weird things are happening with my email. I am not getting any at the moment. Well, I am getting it, just not how I am supposed to and I can't respond normally. My hosting peps are trying to figure out why Yahoo is suddenly blocking their servers, but it seems slow going. So, give me a few days to catch up on replies! (and blog posts, it was a several hour troubleshooting session yesterday)

I started a new little project this week, a fresh quilt for the living room. Y'all know how in love I am with Anna Maria Horner's fabrics. Well, the other day I discovered she started offering Palette Piles!! I was instantly clicking "add to cart". My living room is going to be sporting a lovely "Floating Branches" quilt this fall. I don't have to heart to cut up all that fat quarter fabricy goodness, so for this quilt, it is kinda like a "charm" quilt, only big squares of color. I think the brown base with all the pops of blues and yellow and bits of orange are going to be perfect for cuddling under on the couch near the fireplace.

Oh yes, Fall is on the way. I can feel it in my bones. Leaves are going to be changing in no time...

One of *THOSE* Days

Yesterday was one of *those* days. The kind of day that erases all thoughts, wants, and wishes of thankfulness for the life I have. Monday I was all calm and peaceful, feeling so good about things and Wednesday just pulled the rug out from under me. Forty seven days, people. Forty SEVEN days and school will be back in session.

I can't even say what was so bad about it. The days blend together so much this time of year. I think it was the constant bickering centered around the middle child that had my jaw clenched. The new meds don't seem to be doing much good for him. In fact, we are seeing a new symptom now, annoyance. Everything, right down to Lauren breathing, gets on his nerves if he isn't being allowed to do exactly what he wants in a moment. I limit his computer playing to two hours a day, 1 in the morning 1 in the afternoon. He could play for hours on end if I let him, and some days I think I should. It sure as hell would be a lot easier. But, I think it is wrong. I think it is neglectful. And I don't think my kids should be parented by a computer screen. They need to get off their bums and go outside. Use their imaginations... play catch... explore the woods... ride their bikes... anything but sit in the computer room on a beautiful day zapping orks.

And all day, all I wanted to do was work on something special for HIM! Andrew's 10th birthday is next week and I am trying to get his quilt done in time. I finished the facing and the back throughout the day yesterday and even got to start some of the stippling.

I refuse to wake up to a new day hopeless though. Today is a different day. Today can be different. Even if it is as bad as yesterday... it has a chance to be a good day. That is my motto. It is pouring out which means I think a movie day is in order. We haven't seen Night At The Museum 2 yet. It also means I didn't get to run this morning in the thunder and lightning. (Maybe it will dry up enough to be able to run this afternoon.)

For those of you having *those* kinds of days too... misery loves company. Feel free to gripe in the comments. Get it off your chest and face the day with the power that you aren't alone. That sounds so corny, LOL.

I Hurt My Finger

There is a little boy's birthday right around the corner. And while the little boy is away during the day at baseball camp this week, I started working on his birthday quilt. You might remember the birthday quilt I made for Lauren a few months back. Turns out everyone wants one this year. I am happy to oblige actually... this designing a quilt thing is really fun.



I started a few weeks ago with a sketch of what I wanted to make for him. I love "stacked coin" style quilt designs. Those are the ones with lots of stripes sewn together, usually with a solid color field for them to float on. Check it out, there is a whole Flickr Pool dedicated to stacked coin quilts. For my design, I decided on something a little different. Leave it to me to find a way to not follow design rules, right? HA! Anyway, I decided to turn the coins on their sides. Maybe there is a name for this out there already, but as I am not an avid quilter, I know not what it is. I also decided that there would be no sashing, and I want big fields of a print. A big block of sorts in the rows of stacking. I can see it in my head, and I think it is loverly.



I asked my little boy what color he wants his quilt. Yes, he knows I am making it. There is no way I could work on something of this size without him knowing. His request was for orange and black. Hmmm... interesting combination. However, not likely, sorry. I did find as much orange as I could, and there is several black and white prints too. But, the color artist in me wanted blues too and some browns. Though not exactly what he requested, I think he is gonna love it. It is so bright and cheerful... wild and crazy... how could you not love it?

Monday, I started cutting the strips according to my directions I came up with and although I breezed through pre-calc my senior year of high school, my math leaves much to be desired. My brain doesn't work that way. It is much more visual. Just hand me a block of fabric and I will get the pieces out of it that I need... don't make me plan ahead. I was able to figure out though that I need 100 strips that are 9x3.5, 70 at 9x2.5, and 40 at 9x1.5, plus 10 pieces 9x18 to get ten rows that are about 68inches long each. Did that just make your brain hurt? It did mine.

Speaking of hurting!! Ugh and grrrrr.... I cut my cutting short on Monday (LOL, yes, pun intended) because the blade in my rotary cutter was dull and it was eating my fabric. Tuesday I set finishing the cutting with a fresh blade and... damn it... I sliced my finger. I sliced it good. It bled for about 9 hours, through at least 6 bandage changes. "Kerry, you need stitches..." you say. Ah, if only there was a skin flap to stitch back on!! Ugh. I called my best friend in VA and emailed her photos of my sorry pathetic left index finger, she is surgical nurse, and she told me how to bandage it and said there wouldn't be much a doctor could do. So, now I sit and type with my finger perched in the air and a giant q-tip like bandage protecting my poor hurt finger. It is both comical and painful.



I persevered though, and got 7 out of 10 rows sewn yesterday. I hope to finish the other three today and start the backing. My goal is to start the stippling by Friday. His birthday isn't until the 29th, but I want it done before then. July 29th already? Where did the summer go?

And for those of you who can't get enough of me... pop into Watch Me Create for a new post on something I have spent the past few weeks working on.

Weekend Sewing

A big thanks to everyone to stopped by this weekend! The trunk show was slow most of the time, but did have a steady drip-drip-drip of people. I ended up taking a total of 42 pieces to the show (I made extra Mod Dots & the Gallery had two bracelets on hand). Of those, 10 pieces sold and the gallery kept another 7. A few people had "dibs" on designs that didn't sell... and that leaves me with 21 pieces to list on the website. Imagine that! A website update!! I haven't posted new designs in ages. I will be working on posting things later this afternoon. Keep an eye out for all the pretties.

I got out of the gallery at 4pm on Saturday with just enough time to run over to the fabric store. I bought a copy of Heather Ross's Weekend Sewing last week and I have been itching to make the "Yard Sale Skirt". The shop closed at 5pm, so I had to speed just a little bit. LOL. But I got there in time. I wanted to find a fabric that was light and soft, and something that would match my new Buttercup top that I am working on knitting. I was looking for a yellow-gray color combo and thought I had seen one the other day when I was getting Andrew's Birthday Quilt fat quarters, but apparently I was wrong. I settled instead on this yellow and green one. And hey, not only will they match Buttercup, but it matches my "Pucker" top too.

I shimmed up into one of the apple trees in our backyard to get a photo like the one on the cover of the book, but this just didn't quite cut it, lol. I think my skirt turned out like camouflage for my backyard. I really love it. It is just the right length. It is soft and swingy. And both Jacob and Ron told me I looked pretty yesterday. That makes me smile. There are a few other patterns I can't wait to try from the book too!

In other news: I have a post today over at Watch Me Create! I had a light bulb moment about how my desk reflects my state of mind. You can read more about it over there.

Something else happened when I had the light bulb go off about the desk thing... I realized that I have tons of "stuff" that I don't use... beads mostly. And more beads... and components too. From my days before glass and wire. We are going to have a big De-Stash Bash!! Mark your calenders!! On July 1st I am loading up my Bead Box with rock bottom prices. I want this stuff outta here. You know if I bought it once, it was because I thought it was awesome and would use it. Things are still awesome, I just have to admit I am not gonna use it. LOL.