Sunday Stash – WERQing it

Posted on May 19, 2013 by Pam the Head Rhombus

One quilt and a couple small gifts finished this week so there’s been steady progress.  In addition I’ve finished the setting and corner triangles for my Easy Street Redux quilt, and have everything ready to sew the blocks.  It’s a toss up whether I want to work on Beachwalk or Easy Street, though, so I guess we’ll see which mood strikes me!

  • Used this Week: 7 yards
    • 5.5 yd for WERQ that Swoon
    • 0.5 yd for baby stuff
    • 1.5 yd for gift for a friend
  • Used year to Date: 172 yards
  • Added this Week: 0.5 yards
    • 0.5 yd for 2 FQs
  • Net Used for 2013: 94 yards
  • YTD Used for Charity: 78 yards (45% of total used)

See more stash reports at Patchwork Times!

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WERQ that Swoon – Finished!

Posted on May 17, 2013 by Pam the Head Rhombus

WERQ

In my podcast today I mentioned the Swoon quilt I had made for a friend this week.

Most of the fabric comes from the Sophie line from Moda, which is a couple years old.  I know she likes retro prints, so it was a perfect fit (plus I had made her other things from the line which she liked).

Rather than do the straight sashing, I added some cornerstones to help me keep the blocks lined up, and added some star points to the center one to make a little tiny Hunter’s star.

WERQ

I used the waste triangles from the flying geese for top/bottom borders, as well as a row on the pieced back.  I’m happy with how it turned out, and hope it helps her feel a little better.  The name comes from RuPaul’s Drag Race, which is a common interest of ours (and is honestly the tamest of the phrases I could use!).

WERQ

Posted in Finished Projects | Tagged | 4 Comments

HtbaS – Episode 130

Posted on May 17, 2013 by Pam the Head Rhombus

I talk about making a quilt for my friend Alison, and how it was my week to make people happy through quilting.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

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Denim Quilt and Other Finishes

Posted on May 15, 2013 by Pam the Head Rhombus

Denim QuiltHaving resolved the Camerapocalypse, here’s what caused the Lintpocalypse in my machine last week.

When Quilting Jenny had her blogaversary giveaways, I won the one on the last day, which was a kit for a denim quilt.  The finished quilt measures 60×60″.  To make it you, pair a denim square with a flannel square (wrong sides today) and stitch them together with an “x” on each block.  Then you piece the individual squares together into blocks that measure 12″ and then stitch them into chunks and then voila! you end up with a quilty-blanket sort of thing (with no batting since it’s rather heavy already).

Denim QuiltI used some red flannel for mine, mostly since that’s the flannel that I had on hand.  I had thought I would finish it last week to use for the finals of baseball, but wouldn’t you know that the weather over the weekend was warm enough not need it. So there’s that.

(everyone go buy a fat quarter! I used one of my catch phrases!)

Also, in her instructions, Jenny said you could speed the “fringing” of the seams by clipping the seam allowances. I found that wasn’t necessary since a good wash and dry cycle fringed it up nicely.

Mixer cover

KitchenAid Mixer Cover

My mom was nice enough to send me pictures of the covers I made for her for Mother’s Day since I forgot to take pictures before I mailed them.

The fabric I used was the leftovers from her kitchen curtains, which I had previously used for her Pineapple quilt, Iz. I’m sure my mom has already figured out that, given the opportunity, cats will enjoy using those covers as forts.

Food processor cover

Food Processor Cover

Posted in Finished Projects | Tagged | 1 Comment

WIP Wednesday: Lintpocalypse

Posted on May 15, 2013 by Pam the Head Rhombus

LintpocalypseBefore sharing what I sewed this week, I wanted to share what happened after I sewed last week.  This what my bobbin case looked like after sewing the denim quilt.  The denim itself wasn’t too bad, but the red flannel was pretty heinous, and the thread I was using (not Aurifil, which is my usual piecing thread, but a thicker cotton) took a big linty dump all over my machine.

LintpocalypseAlso, I got a new camera and I’m liking it very much. And I don’t even have to use Velcro and SuperGlue to keep the battery door closed!

Here’s the Lintpocalypse after.  I used my LED light to really spotlight the horror. My machine felt much better afterwards, and was back to its normal quiet self.

Bunnywind DownsAnywho, this also has been a WIP for the house – the fence to enclose the new Bunnywind Downs!  We need to put in a gate on our wrap-around porch so Fred can’t escape that way, and then he’ll be free to explore the backyard to his heart’s content. The human kids are also excited they have a new place to “explore” this summer since we didn’t really encourage exploration of the woods behind our house before, and now there’s lots of secret tree stands and forts to build.

HelperingAnd now actual sewing, which is sort of a secret since it’s a quilt for a friend.

I’m sure you all can imagine that of the 30 pictures I’ve taken with the new camera, about 25 of them have cats in them.

WIP Wednesday at Freshly Pieced

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Sunday Stash: One Bad Mother

Posted on May 12, 2013 by Pam the Head Rhombus

This week I had a couple small projects and the denim quilt finish, so racked up a little bit of yardage usage.  The blender and mixer covers (which I forgot to take pictures of) were the Mother’s Day presents for my mom. Semi-related, my MIL really loved the pie pan cozies that I made her and I think we’re getting a pie out of the deal next weekend!

Rather than dive in on the Beachwalk quilt, I’m making a small detour for some gifts for friends this week, so I’ll probably get back to that by the end of this week.

  • Used this Week: 8.5 yards
    • 6 yd for denim quilt
    • 1.25 yd for mixer cover
    • 1.5 yd for blender cover
  • Used year to Date: 165 yards
  • Added this Week: 0 yards
    • Wahoo!
  • Net Used for 2013: 87.5 yards
  • YTD Used for Charity: 78 yards (47% of total used)

See more stash reports at Patchwork Times!

Posted in Sunday Stash | 3 Comments

Happy Birthday Nina!

Posted on May 10, 2013 by Pam the Head Rhombus

Here's my gorgeous Nina girl.Dear Nina,

I can’t believe that you are a year old! You are a petite beauty that combines the best of both Zoom and Zapper; tt might be a disservice to compare you to other cats, but I can’t help it. I have a hunch you will be eternally kittenish like Zoom, not just because of your slight build as you’ve topped out at 7 1/2 pounds, but also because you are a consummate player-of-things. Because your brothers are in a love affair with each other, you frequently turn to me when it’s time to snuggle by standing on whatever is close and reaching your paws up to my left shoulder until I cup your butt in my hand and you fall asleep on my shoulder.  This is a very Zapper-like trait.

The Ninavore in her natural habitatYou seem to be at your best self in the middle of the night, when you slip into your Unbearable Cuteness of Being routine. You have slept, snuggled at my hip, until 1 or 2 am, and then decide that 1 or 2am is the proper time for belly rubs. So you stretch to an impossible length, belly up, and then wave your paws in the air as if you just don’t care. Except you do care, quite a bit, and will gently nip if said belly rubs are not forthcoming. Then you bounce up and sproing off for a midnight snack.

Nina is an interior decoratorSproinging seems to be your primary method of conveyance. This is delightful to me, yet slightly maddening to Fred.  The grown-ups in the house think you and Fred would get to be BFFs if only a) Fred was a little bored of you and 2) you didn’t try to stare him down like malevolent pigeon every time you saw him. Neither of you seem to be backing down on your respective stances, though, so it’s all hot dog bribes and time-outs for a while yet.

I call you The Ninavore the most often, but have also referred to you as Precious Puddin, Orange Purrbert, and HEY QUIT THAT.  So far, you have not quit That Thing You Were Doing, which usually consists of the following:

Nina: “You like this thing?” *points to thing on edge of counter/couch arm/table/etc.*

Me: “Yes, I like that thing.”

Nina: “Oh, this thing?” *pokes the thing in question*

Me: …

Nina: “Well… FORGET THIS THING!” *knocks thing on floor*

fin

So Happy Birthday, precious girl! Don’t stop doing Your Thing.

Posted in Community | Tagged | 6 Comments

HtbaS – Episode 129

Posted on May 10, 2013 by Pam the Head Rhombus

I talk about the Signature Quilt and give a TON of book reviews.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Posted in Podcast | Tagged | 3 Comments

Signature Quilt – Finished!

Posted on May 8, 2013 by Pam the Head Rhombus

On the advice of AJ Dub, I took some time to heat set the writing on the blocks before washing the quilt. Then it took a couple extra days to get this washed/dried because I was in the middle of the regular laundry day, and clean unmentionables wait for no quilt!  And then it rained. And rained. And rained some more.

Signature Quilt

So after we got off the ark and back on dry land, I managed to get some pictures of the finished quilt!

It measures 72×72″ square, which is a nice couch size.  I stuck with jewel tones and saturated colors to contrast with the cream of the signature areas, and I’m happy with the color combination.

Signature Quilt

Here’s what a single block looks like- 6″ finished with two corner triangles. As you can tell, I straight line quilted in the signature area, and then free motion quilted some hearts in a clover-leaf pattern where the corner triangles meet.  I mirrored the 3-line straight-line quilting in the inner border, and then ye olde stipple in the HST border.

Signature QuiltI still have to stitch the label on, but it’s tucked safely inside a pillowcase to avoid cat hair, although Jett did lay directly on the covered quilt today. Sigh. I’ll present the quilt to her next week!

Posted in Finished Projects | Tagged | 9 Comments

WIP Wednesday: WIP It Good.

Posted on May 8, 2013 by Pam the Head Rhombus

Now you, too, have that Devo song stuck in your head. You’re welcome.

This week I’ve been plotting the layout for Going Coastal since I finished the last block. I’m going with the simpler layout of the two versions at Tiny Stitches (the $30 one!), but will be adding small hunter stars in the cornerstones (and adding cornerstones for that matter!).  It’s the same layout used as in the Layer Cake Quilt Along so I can cut the tiny hunter star points out of the scraps from the blocks over the last year.

I also got a touch of the Quilter’s ADD and went all “SQUIRREL!” when I got my denim quilt kit from Jenny this weekend.  I’ve had some red flannel from JoAnn’s, in which the color still runs after FOUR washings, that I cut up for the backing of the denim blocks.  It’s helping kill two bird with one pink-stained stone because I can use up some yardage that I had no previous purpose for and make a quick quilt for the very end of baseball season because apparently Georgia is refusing to take calls from Spring and it’s still rather chilly in May.  Anywho, I’m stitching that too, is what I’m saying.

If she only had thumbs...And because my camera is acting up and I don’t have a picture of what I’m sewing, here’s an old picture of Nina, who turns one on Friday.

WIP Wednesday at Freshly Pieced

Posted in WIP Wednesdays | Tagged | 3 Comments