Caught in a Spiderweb

Coming Together

Stictching Sections

Raw Edges

Exact Edges

Falling Into Line

Back to the Beginning

I've been fooling around with the wacky web quilt ruler template and paper pieces from Missouri Star Quilt Company (they have the best online tutorials!) so I can make a spiderweb quilt, hurrah! It's taken a couple of months for me to finish of sixteen of these suckers. Really it took only two afternoons, separated by a couple of months, to be more specific.

I wanted to go for dark edges grading into a bright sunny center but I wasn't sure how this was going to go until I trimmed out 16 triangle blocks and put them together...and I love it! Enough that I think I've motivated myself to make three more sections like this so I can make a throw.  Stay tuned. At the rate I'm going I'll be done next February, but that's just fine.

XO Terez

Disappearing 9 Patch

Disappearing 9 Patch Draft

This year I was certain I would make Christmas gifts for most folks on my list. It seemed like a good idea in September, but not such a good idea on December 23 when I was sewing the wrong-side-to-the-right-side of some complicated items. I had to walk away, fly home, and finish the little guys on my parents' Pfaff at the last minute:

Pin Cushion Cut-astrophe

They are darling pin cushion caddies from Anna Maria Horner's Seams To Me book. In the end I was able to save them, and give them, but for now perhaps should stick to straight lines and two dimensions. You'll notice on the lower right of the photo above a half-finished pin cushion that I was making for my sister-in-law, Michele. I loved the red-white-blue combo and started playing around with some fabric I had left at my parents' house combined with pin cushion scraps. I started sewing random 16-1/2 inch 9 patch blocks and came up with this:

9 Patch-Patch

I knew all along while sewing these delights that I was going to put them under the knife, like this:

Split Patch

I also knew I'd be doing this:

Cut Into Corners

Which let me do this:

After walking away from it, and packing it up, and hauling it back to Boston, I still love it. I need to add some more darks and I have a few more patterns and solid to blend, but I'm off to a good start. I'll keep you posted.

XO! TEREZ

Anna Maria Horner Out of Print Jackpot

Out of Print Anna Maria Horner Jackpot!

Before I left for the great Cape Escape with Angela-Girl, I did something I'd been putting off:
Cataloged all of my fabric.

Making a List, Checking It Twice

After two years of collecting I now know that there are two lines that are my favorites (and why, oh why didn't I know this when they were in print and easier to come by?). Anyone who's been to my home or read this blog for a while can guess what they are: Anna Maria Horner's Garden Party and Good Folks.

Garden Party and Good Folks Rainbow Pre-Cape

I cataloged all of my fabric...not just those two lines, but also my AMH Little Folks Voile, Folksy Flannels, Sandi Henderson's Meadowsweet, Sandy Gervais, scraps, etc., etc. Gave me a hand cramp and made me realize with all the time I spend at a computer keyboard, my handwriting is really going downhill. I filled my red Moleskin with chicken scratches and notations in preparation of my much anticipated visit to Tumbleweed Quilts in West Barsnstable on Cape Cod!

Poor Angela-Girl isn't a fabric gal, so she relaxed in the air-conditioned rental car with the latest New Yorker while I oohed and ahhed inside the adorable (and huge) shop.

The staff was incredibly helpful, and when they told me they didn't have too much Anna Maria Horner, mostly older bits and some in the clearance room, I could hardly contain my glee! Filed in with the other Freespirit designers and stacked in the back clearance area, I found my own personal jack pot:

AMH Festival in Tangerine, Fortune in Chocolate,
Table Cloth in Brown, Mingling in Rose,
Dance Floor in Burgundy

The Table Cloth and Mingling were on clearance, $5 a yard, so I had to buy four of each, of course. And when I found the Festival in Tangerine, I could have cried: I have been coveting that print for months and have been unable to find it anywhere--Etsy, eBay, etc. I snagged what was left on the bolt: just over four yards. I'm thinking of trying my hand at garment sewing--I think the pattern would make a cute summer sun dress or skirt.

Another item crossed off my list: starting a stash of Kona Cotton Solids:

Kona Cottons: Grass Green, Kiwi, Jade Green, Emerald,
Eggplant, Rich Red, Bright Pink, Pomegranate, Orange,
Corn Yellow

I did jot down the colors as they were cut but I'm not entirely sure which is which so please don't count on my caption above to make any certain purchases. I had a sample of scraps from my AMH collection that I used to figure out which colors I wanted to start with. I've been looking on the web for recommendations on Kona Cottons to pick up to use as blenders for Garden Party  and Good Folks and haven't seen any lists, so here's mine for any who are interested:

~*Grass Green
~*Kiwi
~*Jade Green
~*Emerald
~*Eggplant
~*Rich Red
~*Bright Pink
~*Pomegranate
~*Orange
~*Corn Yellow

I'm learning the power of solids and neutral blenders--I have some Fat Quarters coming in next week from the Michael Miller Ta Dot line~I'll keep you posted on how that works. I'm off to the cutting table and the Lady Singer...more to come!

XO Terez

Go Big or Go Home Dresden Plate

Dresden Blades

Ever since I started fiddling around with fabric I've wanted to make a Dresden Plate quilt but it was always in the "someday" column of my wish list...until today.

Dresden plates are made up of 20 individual "blades" that form a flower around a circle center. Most folks make them small enough to applique on to a 12 or 15 inch quilt block and then sew a quilt of many blocks, many plates. I am not most people.

I found a terrific template for the beginning quilter at a tiny shop in Wakefield, Mass. I've seen small wedges you can purchase to make the standard size block, but I wanted something spectacular, and I found it, in this Trace'N Create Quilt template from Clover:

Trace 'n Create Quilt Dresden Wedge

Yahoo! This thing is game changing, even magical. Simply pick out the size of Dresden plate you want to make, trace out the easy pattern on to fabric, rotary cut, pin, sew and go! Sizes range from 12" blocks to 40" blocks! Start to finish this 40 inch wonder took about 6 hours. That includes cutting a lot of other fabric for pending niece and nephew quilts and ripping apart the Singer 301 five times due to feed dogs/bobbin case/throat plate issues--so I could probably do it again in three. But I prevailed, and now have this to show for it:

Go Big or Go Home Dresden Plate

You can see my BlackBerry in the lower right corner--I tossed that on the full-sized bed to show the scale. Now I just need to pick out a center and figure out what in the heck I am going to applique this to! I'm thinking either white canvas or flannel to make a nice opaque window treatment for my kitchen, or heading to Marshall's to find a twin-sized simple white cotton quilt or throw and then applique right on it.

I'll keep you posted.

Until then, try strawberries, They are just coming into season and taste amazing right now:

Summer Supper

Also, here's a hint of what's to come:

Tangerine Dream

XO Terez

Winter Bloom

Winter Bloom

Well, it's cold outside, and we're under Winter Storm Watch 2011 {10-14 more inches Tuesday night!}, but I will say this: today it was clear, crisp and sunny. I'm so happy my poinsettias are hanging in there. Wishful thinking but I hope they can see me through to daffodil season, which is in May in Boston, by the way ;).

XO TEREZ

Stained Glass Curtain

Stained Glass Bathroom Curtain

Well, sad news in my electronic universe. Just when I thought my curse was over with electronics (modem, wireless, BlackBerry, ipod all killed in one week in December) I received more bad news: trusty Cannon PowerShot A720IS is dead. Kaput. Gone. It's served a faithful four years but I dropped it one time too many and...lesson learned: always use a camera strap. While I'm saving up for a Cannon PowerShot SX130IS to replace it I have to rely on the old camera phone. Which isn't the end of the world but... sigh. It was a good camera.

On to better news! The doll quilt was a success, little niecy loved it and I sewed up the leftovers to make a stained glass curtain for my bathroom, just like I wanted. Hurrah! My seams are crooked and you can see where the piecing is off and the colors are much better than what translates up there--but now the bathroom is my new favorite room.



XO Terez

Bless you!

Chez Terez tissue cozies from AMH Folksy Flannels collection

Achoo!

Bless you!

And bless my soul, aren't these the cutest little tissue cozies you have ever laid eyes on? 

Last week I decided to take my shears to my beloved Anna Maria Horner Folksy Flannel fat quarters and to start cutting. Once I started in to the butter soft fabric, I couldn't stop.

Before I knew it, I had cut 16 fat quarters into 6 pieces each and after a few hours of ironing and folding, came to this:

Chez Terez State of Affairs II

 32 down, 64 to go! All the hard work is done--the measure/cut/fold/ironing. I just have to stitch the sides up and pop in the tissue packs. Consistent with my wanting one of everything in ever color, I want to keep 16 for myself (greedy girl). But instead I will show poise and inner calm and have them available at the Holiday Bazaar in one week. One week! Oh how time flies!
 

"Dancing" deer

I love the above little guy--it reminds me of home. Little houses printed on dawn colored solid with, wait, look closely, little white deer. Precious!
 

Diamond Mine print in pink

They'll be at the sale, $3.50 each or three for $10. Be prepared to be bowled over but cuteness at this sweet stocking stuffer (or keeper) idea.

Can't wait.

XO Terez

Rainbow of happiness

Rainbow of happiness

I bought this Anna Maria Horner "Good Folks" fabric when I first learned to sew. It's what made me want  to learn to sew. The colors, the Art  Nouveau influences, the retro color pop...delicious.

But I couldn't decide what to make.

I didn't have the heart to cut into the fabric, now going out of print ([I think!] It seems like everyone is replacing their stock with Innocent Crush, which is very lovely, too!).

Life is short. Use the good fabric.

"Good Folks" by AHM

So I did.

And no, they aren't perfectly square, or polished, and if you flip them over you'll see the envelope opening is a little to scant for proper coverage, but: I don't care.

I love them!  Stacked on my bed, they remind me of the Princess and the Pea.

Princess and the Pea stack

And now I'm off for a nap.

XO Terez

Re-upholstery

 Reupholstering!

After!

My home is filled with to-do projects. They are waiting on my shelves, waiting in my closet, waiting to be cut out of fabric, waiting to be baked, waiting to be downloaded, waiting for better weather, waiting for worse weather, waiting for more energy, waiting for more time, waiting for the house to be clean...waiting...waiting. You know what I mean. Today, I decided to tackle something I've never done and have done no research on: reupholstering. Here is the top of my Singer 301 sewing stool before:

Before

Ick! Crumbly vinyl, crumbly filling. It had to go.

Pull out old cushion

The guts of the old stool--so fragile it crumbled into dust at the slightest provacation!

Pull out old staples

 There were tons of old staples holding the vinyl in place. I had to pry, pry, pry away.

Cut batting to fit stool (many layers!)

I decided to use cotton quilt batting for new padding. Many, many layers. I just used my rotary cutter and kept trimming until I got the right size.

Measure from side under to other side including batting

I wasn't quite sure how to figure out how much fabric to use--and I think Anna Maria Horner's Drawing Room home dec fabrics may be retiring soon, so I didn't want to waste any. I wrapped a tape measure around the stool with the batting to figure out how much fabric to cut.

Anna Maria Horner's Drawing Room Fabric in Trellis

I wanted to center the rose on the stool so I divided the length and width by half to get the right placement of the flower.

Staple fabric side to side, corner to corner

Staple! Alternating sides, alternating corners. I tried mitering the corners--kind of how you make a bed when you fold in the flat sheet. It worked...sort of [first time, so I get a pass]!

Voila! New sewing stool!

Voila! New stool! I love, love, love the bright colors against my turquoise walls. Now if I could just find some time to work on my Secret Sewing Project!

XO TEREZ

Rear window

The view from my work table

Today I was up with the birds. What is with them lately? 

In the summer they are so boisterous in their singing that I can hear them over the air conditioner's chug chug chug. But that's the summer. It's cold now. I have pumpkin bread in the oven and I am drinking cocoa. Shouldn't they be flying south about now?

Today they were outdoing one another in full force.

I was so excited to work on the projects that I have been too busy to touch that I popped out of bed when I heard them warming up at 5 a.m. All day while I working in the back room (pairs of earrings created and photographed: 23. Good News Bears sewn and cut out: 18. Secret baby projects started: 3.) they were at it.

Look close at the photo below--this little guy hung out and watched me for about 20 minutes. He didn't mind having his picture snapped:

My little buddy

Living in the treetops has its advantages. The birds are my neighbors and the greenery is gorgeous and doesn't need any ladscaping. The sunsets have been spectacular from this room lately.

Speaking of sunsets, check out this palette that I am working with from Anna Maria Horner's Folksy Flannels collection. There are some nephews or nieces in my future so I need to get cracking. Stay tuned to see what I make with this buttery soft fabric, I'm almost done with Secret Project 1.

Anna Maria Horner's Folksy Flannels

Also be sure to check out the Etsy shop--I'm in the middle of loading some of the many new pairs of earrings, hurrah!

XO TEREZ