Sewn.........Soon.

The blogging world is all abuzz with the coming launch of Sewn. You can read all about it here. Well, who wouldn't want to be a part of the blog party that is taking place in anticipation of the launch of a super cool new website? Hmmm? Well, me for one.

So, on the launch date, June 8, I will draw a name to win a Scrappin' Scottie Mini Quilt, like the one hanging here. Well, maybe not exactly like it. You'll want yours to be a bit different, I'm sure.

Leave a comment on this post and you'll be entered. Simple, simple. On June 8, I will put all of your names in my big yellow bowl and Flora, my trusty assistant, will draw out a winner.

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By the way, this is Flora! She's always up for a drawing!

Good luck, everyone!

Sewing Dummy.

Not the cute thing that stands in the corner of a sewing room wearing the latest creation. Oh, no. In this case, the sewing dummy is me.
After piecing the top of the new strip club quilt this weekend, all I had to do was to attach the borders. So, I measured and attached border one. Check. Measure and prepare to attach border 2 by inserting a pin into the right end of border 1. Check. Begin sewing border 2 to border 1. Check. Run out of border 2. What?!
Yes, I stitched border 2 to the wrong end of border 1! Twice! Why? Because not only had I cleverly placed a pin in border 1 so I would know where to attach border 2, I had left a pin in the other side of border 1 as well.

So, my friend the seam ripper and I have had lots of time to bond today.

The other thing I realized is that I have made

border 1 with the border 2 fabric and vice versa.

Wonderful.

Eye of the Beholder.

Hand a group of women each a box, inside of which are identical strips of fabric.

Have them open the box and peek inside.

The result?

Magic.


Because each set of eyes that takes that first peek sees something different,

each and every time.

You can tell a lot about someone by their quilts. Bold and sassy or soft and subtle, personalities shine through each fabric choice.

You can tell that imagination is one part of us that is never bound.



You can see the wheels turning as they create something from nothing.
What could have been discarded is now a treasure.
(Scraps from the Chain, Chain, Chain quilt now become a new quilt of their own!)



No second guessing here. Every woman experiences the same process- their eyes see, their mind melds and their heart speaks.

The result is a stamp of individuality on the paper of sameness.

Each one lovely.



Each one the same,

but different.



5
5
5
I wonder what they will do with this?


Y



*Remember the Miss Mary's Charm School post? Well, I think I have made you wait long enough for the reveal! The pattern Mary chose is called Butter Cake, a luscious layer cake pattern. (Hence the photo of the Sara Lee butter pound cake!) It is a sweet pattern with a ton of possibilities.




Here is Mary's finished top. Isn't it lovely? The colors are sublime- soft pastel paisleys melt away letting the teal butterflies fly to the front.

Soft. Simple. Perfection.


Put your stamp of individuality on something this week.

Resourcefulness.

One of my favorite things to do is to navigate through the fabric manufacturer websites. Some of my favorites- Moda, P&B Textiles, Clothworks, Michael Miller and Robert Kaufman.
All of them have the latest fabrics front and center and I am never disappointed. The other thing they have is free quilt patterns! How nice is that?

Say you wanted to make a quilt with this- Delila by Clothworks:

Well, you can click here and find a darling pattern!

Love Elanor's Picnic by P&B Textiles?

Click here and see what cuteness is in store for you!

AndaLucia one of your faves?

Find a stunning quilt here!


Does Howard Marcus' beautiful Collection for a Cause
make your heart go pitter-pat?


Then you will adore this 19th Century-inspired quilt here.

When you delve into the pattern (or project) files at these fabric houses, you will want to fill your favorites file with everything you see! There are quilts large and small, and for all levels of expertise. While you will not find all of the fabric lines at your local quilt store (because, really, where would they put them?), the patterns themselves are enough to inspire you to create your own version using something completely different!

Take a peek at these. You'll be surprised what you will discover!

Robert Kaufman (scroll down for free projects)

Moda

Studio e

Clothworks

P&B Textiles

Benartex

Michael Miller

Set aside a few hours, stock the printer with paper and have fun looking!

The fabric collections shown are available at A Scarlet Thread!

It's An Early Delivery!

Here it is, my very first quilt block design!

It's like birthing a baby, I tell ya! Well, it doesn't hurt as much.

This A Scarlet Thread Scrappy Scottie was a challenge for me in every way. From the drawing of the pattern, to calculating the cutting measurements, to execution, it pushed me to my limit. Which is a good thing. Everyone needs to be challenged every now and then!

There are still a few adjustments that need to be made, such as his nose. I think it needs to be a bit bigger. And the pieced border? Forget it! What a pain! Really, stitching together 1 1/2 inch strips and cutting them to fit the sides....um, no. Never again. But that's okay because I think a border done in four different fabrics will be just as cute.

I am working on getting this pattern* done in a PDF file so that you, our A Thread of Red readers can make one for yourselves. How cute would this be as a baby quilt? Two wide and three tall? Cute, cute. Maybe pink Scotties for a girl and the black for a boy. Actually, I can see this done a lot of different ways! Red and white would be adorable! Eek, the possibilities are endless.
I think I rather like this designing thing. :)



*As this is an original design, I would ask that you honor it and use the pattern for personal use only. Please do not sell the pattern or items made from it. Thank you for understanding.

In Process.

Before the fabrics shown in the previous post can become a something, a plan needs to be created. That is what I have been working on this weekend- a plan. The process of creating a pattern has many, many steps. What starts out as a cute idea, a sweet drawing on a slip of paper, turns into a huge monster of drawing and erasing, laying out and, even worse, math. I'm not such a fan of math.



I have put my tablet of graph paper through the mill this weekend. What began as a simple line sketch has transformed itself into a 5000-piece puzzle, right before my eyes. Laying it out, breaking it down into sections that will be easy to stitch together, assembling it over and over in my brain before it is finally put to paper, this is the stuff that creating and madness is made of.




Thank goodness I didn't decide to do something complicated for my very first pattern! I would never do one again. But this one, challenging as it has been, will turn out just dandy. A little fine-tuning and it will be ready for transfer to fabric in a day or so. Cross your fingers.

As you can see, I have given you just enough to tease and peak your curiosity. With a little courage and a whole lot of faith, I will finish it by the Friday deadline. And for the Scarlet Strippers, I'll bring it with me to strip club Saturday. Maybe. It all depends on how it turns out.

What Do.....

This and this......

And these, the scraps from my Chain, Chain, Chain quilt, make?

Tune in next Friday to find out. Until then, care to venture a guess?

Just Curious.

We had a little conversation the other night about sewing and shoes, particularly if you are a shoe-wearing sewer or not.
The general consensus, from the three out of four that were sewing, was that they wear their shoes. All the time! Once they go on their feet, they do not come off.
Here's the proof:

Then there was this gal, who kicked off her shoes and drove her machine with her socks on! Rebel.

How do you sew? With shoes or socks? Or, are you like me.............

Bravely barefoot.

Miss Mary's Charm School.

I had the privilege of attending Miss Mary's Charm School class last Friday night, from 6:00-9:00 PM. I had a wonderful time. This is Miss Mary. She looks sweet, doesn't she? Don't let appearances fool you.


The premise of the class is this: you bring your sewing machine, and any other quilting tools you feel you will need, your choice of fabric and a willingness to be led along the garden path. Why? Because the class is built layer by layer, a mystery unfolding like the cloth before you. It's devious, I tell you!

You are given the directions for cutting first.

The result is a stack of fabric squares and a tidy pile of scraps. Mmmm, I love scraps. I think they are so pretty all rumpled together. Plus, they rather spark the imagination as to how to give them a new purpose. I'm sure there is one out there for even the tiniest of pieces.

Next step in the still-unknown project is to pin, pin, pin. You know how much I love pinning! So do the Charm Girls!

Then the sewing begins, and the Charm Girls are still in the dark as to what they are creating, other than it is a quilt top. All the while conversation is flowing, laughter is bubbling and the curiosity level would have killed a cat within a mile of the shop.


These tops were being made for sons, grandsons, daughters and friends. I love seeing what everyone puts together. It inspires me to make bold choices that I normally would not make when choosing fabrics.

For this project, the Charm Girls could choose between a precut layer cake stack or cutting their own. The above is Mary Engelbreit's Recipe for Friendship, one of my favorite lines. Totally cute stuff. Once the stitching is done, it's time to lay out the blocks in order. Miss Mary kindly gives a guide for laying out the pieces. Not everything can be a mystery! Aren't these tiny frogs from Lakehouse Dry Goods adorable?

Sometimes the layout process can prove to be a bigger challenge than first thought. Directionality of the pattern on the blocks makes assembly a bit like putting together a 5000 piece puzzle in fifteen minutes.

But, it can be done!

Wendy finally conquered her Taxi blocks to make her quilt top fit snug as a bug in a rug.

Finally it is time to sew the blocks and rows together, press the seams and magically the quilt top comes together right before your eyes.

What? You didn't think I was going to spoil the surprise did you? I will give you a hint- the name of the pattern has something to do with this buttery, delicious treat.

And lest you think that all the Charm Girls came to quilt, I give you Evelyn's hands, knitting furiously to make a sweater with some lovely terra cotta colored yarn. Creativity knows no boundaries and Miss Mary's Charm School encourages it on all levels.

If you get the chance to attend a class with Miss Mary, you will be guaranteed to be surprised, entertained, encouraged and fed emotionally and physically. But most of all, you will be surrounded by a group of women who you will grow to love. I think that is the best thing of all.

To see what projects are scheduled for Miss Mary's Charm School, please visit the A Scarlet Thread website. There is bound to be something there just for you.

Feed Sack Frenzy.

Well, I did it. I made another quilt top using Chain, Chain, Chain. I love it to bits, I tell ya!
I used some of the reproduction feed sack prints from A Scarlet Thead, as well as some that I picked up from other sources. I thought the more varied the prints, the better.


To give the quilt a more modern edge, I used black as the dark accent fabric. I love the graphic pop it gives this top. I also chose to make the sashings from the prints as opposed to using a light solid. This pulls the sashings into the blocks themselves, making the lines blur a bit and allows the chains to really stand out. The white squares are the wrong side of a pillow ticking with tiny pink flowers. I did use it on the right side for a few sashing strips.



While I love the top, there are a few places where it could be improved upon. I learned a few things while making this, like never set your sashings at midnight when you are tired and your eyes are blurry. There are quite a few places where, in this scrappy-pieced quilt, like patterns happen to be very close to each other, but I think that the overall look is pleasant enough.
I like the fact that this top is strictly my point of view. It just goes to show that, while you have a pattern in front of you, you can take liberties with it and make some of your own rules. Be a rebel! It also gives a pattern much more versatility, more bang for your imagination buck. It makes me want to go through my other patterns and see how they can be reinterpreted.
I believe that the possibilities are endless.

Step Right Up!

I've been making my strip club quilt this week. Each day I would make a block or two and today I have the top nearly completed. All it lacks are its borders. It was a very fast quilt to put together, but I would not say it was easy. Matching up corners of the blocks made for some tense moments I tell you. I felt a bit as though I was making tiny stair steps, leading to a small garden maze created by the blocks. And you don't want to make a wrong turn in a maze!

I'm rather liking how it is turning out. The red is not an exact match, but it gives the whole quilt a rather vintage feel to it. As I am a fan of vintage things, that is a-ok by me.

It's a good feeling to have this one tucked under my belt so early in the month. I am usually up until the wee hours of the night trying to complete my top which renders me useless the next morning when we meet to show our quilts. This time I will be fresh as a daisy!

Now, can't you just see this quilt done in these reproduction feed sack prints?

I think I may see another one in my future. ;)