Boxing Day Sew-In--Join the Fun!

Keep your cyber-eyes glued here. For 24 hours on December 26, 2011, Boxing Day Sew-In comes to town! I'll be posting all the information you need to play along at midnight (North American Eastern Standard Time, or UTC-5 hours) on December 26*!

The blog post will have information about give-aways, mini-challenges, other goodies. Pam of Hip to Be a Square, Tanesha of Crafty Garden Mom, Sandi of Quilt Cabana Corner, and Jaye of Artquiltmaker, will all be hosting or sponsoring giveaways as well--you'll find all the information and links here as soon as Dec 26 hits at my house.

Also--to make the fun even better--we'll be having fun on Twitter too! Not only will we be keeping one another updated on our progress via Twitter, but we'll be having special Twitter-only challenges and giveaways. Want an easy way to keep track of #BDSI on Twitter? Go to www.tweetchat.com, link it to your Twitter account, and then follow #BDSI. You'll be able to track all the #BDSI convos in one easy place! Be sure to check it frequently--some mini-challenges will have time constraints on them!

Boxing Day Sew-In will officially end again at midnight EST--as soon as December 26 ends at my house--24 hours of fun! Giveaway winners will be announced on December 27th.

To help you with the time zone math--starting at midnight at my house means that BDSI starts at:
5:00 a.m. Dec 26 in London
6:00 a.m. Dec 26 in Berlin
2:00 p.m. Dec 26 in Tokyo
4:00 p.m. Dec 26 in Sydney
And 24 hours is 24 hours no matter where on the globe you're standing. So, for some of you, BDSI will be ending on December 27th. And that's OK with me.

(Thanks to The World Clock time zone converter at www.timeanddate.com, 'cause I sure can't do that math myself!)

Spread the word--the more the merrier!

Thanks so much to Pam for the BDSI badge--we love it! Grab it here and post it to your own blog!







Winner of Blog Hop, Next Big Event, and Some Pics

First, thanks all for coming to the party, the Quilting Gallery 4th Birthday Party blog hop! I had fun reading everyone's comments and can pretty much guarantee you that it'll end up as a podcast episode coming up soon. I'm also so thrilled to announce that, with thanks to the random number generator at random.org, SassyCoconut won the drawing! Woohoo! I've picked up from reading SassyCoconut's blog that she's a young, new quilter. I'm thrilled to have the opportunity to help her along in her quiltmaking journey just a little bit more. Congrats, SC, and thanks again to everyone else!

Now, the next big event... #ABFSI (Anti-Black Friday Sew-In) was so popular--and so many people wanted to be sure we did it again next year, that I decided, why wait? Several other podcasters and bloggers have decided to join in the fun with me this time and we're hosting the Boxing Day Sew-In (#BDSI) on December 26th. Pam ("Hip to Be a Square" podcast), Sandi ("Quilt Cabana Corner" podcast and pattern designer), Jaye (www.artquiltmaker.com), and Tanesha ("Crafty Garden Mom" podcast) are all joining me in offering up great give-aways and fun ideas for the day, so plans are in the works. Eschew the crowds at the shopping centers (isn't "eschew" just a great word?) and stay at home in your jammies and sew! We'll have lots of giveaways and a variety of ways to win, so mark the date on your calendar and watch here for more details as we figure them out. We'll find a way for you to participate whether you're on Twitter, Facebook, or none of the above...so for now, just make your plans to stay home, pick out your fave pair of jammies, and get ready for a relaxing day of fun and quiltmaking!

Meanwhile, back at the ranch.... During the blog hop week, I managed to get some stuff done. Here's a picture of my son's Christmas gift...he's a student at University of Buffalo. I downloaded their logo, created it in applique, then echo-quilted around it (not worrying, obviously, about being too exact on those echoes!).

It finished around 13" x 15" or thereabouts--not very big. But I think he'll enjoy it.
Second finish of the week, my niece's quilt I'm naming "[her name]'s California Dreams." She loves visiting her cousins in California, and the fabric line is named Sausalito, hence the name.

Not that she'll ever know, since I didn't make a label. I'm not expecting any of these quilts to last until I'm no longer on this earth and will be making them much nicer quilts sometime in their future, so I wasn't sweating the labeling thing this time. I'm documenting it on my end, though.

In any case, this was the Five Yard Designs pattern--one yard each of five fabrics does the entire front, border, and binding. It requires a couple of additional yards for the backing.


I had it done by my wonderful long-armer with an allover pantograph--couldn't get too good a picture of it because of stinky lighting. Apologies.

I still have one more quilt to get bound before Christmas, so watch for more pictures by the end of the week.

And don't forget to mark the 26th on your calendar!

Quilting Gallery 4th Birthday BlogHop Party! Woot Woot!

THIS GIVEAWAY IS CLOSED as of December 17, 2011.



Blog Hop Party with Give-Aways
Special note: This drawing will officially close at midnight December 17th, Eastern Time. All comments received after that time will not be counted. Thanks!

A very happy birthday to the Quilting Gallery! And a warm welcome to all you party-goers who are celebrating with them by hopping along to some blogs. Thanks for hopping by mine!

"Quilting...for the Rest of Us" is my blog, my quilty podcast, and a community of like-minded--or somewhat obsessed, you be the judge--people of the Quilt Clan who like to think, talk, and dream about quilting. I'm glad you decided to stop by to join the QFTRU community, even if just for a couple of minutes.

One conversation we've been having lately in the QFTRU Facebook Page is: What quilt project would you absolutely love to be able to do right now, if you had everything else on your "need-to-get-done" list done? We got a lot of great responses! In fact, that's going to be my topic for this week's episode (www.quiltingfortherestofus.com or in iTunes). I've loved reading everyone's responses and I think they may inspire listeners to work on their own dream projects.

So I'm going to ask you the same thing.

Leave a comment here with your dream quilt project, and I'll draw a name randomly from the responses and send you ...


some fat quarters...








and a great book....








to help you get it done!

This giveaway, part of the Blog Hop Party, goes until December 17th. Make sure you head on back to the Blog Hop Party to get in on all the great give-aways. But I hope you'll come back to visit again soon!

Episode 71 posted--and a note about iTunes

Hey everyone--I posted episode 71 "In Which We Shop Online" earlier today. It's available at www.quiltingfortherestofus.com, like usual. It's also available in iTunes. However, if you use iTunes software to subscribe to podcasts, the new episode may not automatically download. You can either go into the iTunes store and "get" episode 71 directly from the store, or you can select the podcast in your podcast list in the iTunes software on your computer, right-click, and select "Update podcast." (In my right-click-pop-up menu list, that's the third one down.)

I've had a couple of emails back and forth with iTunes tech support to try to figure out the problem--the usual fixes haven't worked yet. I've got about a week to try to fix this problem before my next podcast. Not that I wanted to spend any time sewing or anything...nah. Much rather spend it monkeying around on my computer and making conversation with tech support!


Book Review: Women's Work: The First 20,000 Years, by Elizabeth Wayland Barber

Women's Work: The First 20,000 Years : Women, Cloth, and Society in Early TimesWomen's Work: The First 20,000 Years : Women, Cloth, and Society in Early Times by Elizabeth Wayland Barber

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


For what seems like it would be a dusty, dry, academic tome, Women's Work was really quite an enjoyable read. Reconstructing women's life and position in society from Paleolithic times to the Iron Age using advanced archeological methods as well as methods borrowed from other areas of research (linguistics, for example), Barber delves into the world of textiles--in particular, spinning and weaving--for what it reveals about the culture and society of the day. As a quiltmaker, I was interested in the development of cloth-making techniques but even more fascinated by the social and cultural connections being made. As I was reading, I was reflecting on possible connections with the textile world today--how cloth is used in fashion and in craft as a form of expression.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. Barber's writing style is engaging; her own experience as a weaver, having been taught to weave by her own mother, gives a more direct insight into exploring methods of weaving through centuries. Whether or not you choose to accept all of her conclusions, you can't walk away from this book without a far deeper understanding of the connections between textiles and society in general, and a deeper understanding of a woman's daily life in a variety of contexts over the centuries.

My one critique, although it's an understandable one, is that she focuses solely on the Western world. Clearly there is an ancient tradition of textiles in the Eastern world as well. To cover both in one book would most likely lead to either more cursory and therefore dissatisfying examinations of each, or a book so long that anyone would hesitate to crack open the front cover! I would love to see a sequel by Barber following the Eastern tradition; or by another author (as long as that author was as easy and enjoyable to read as Barber!).

If you're interested in textiles, in weaving, in women's issues, or in the exploration of culture, I do highly recommend this book.



View all my reviews

In Defense of Good China

When my husband and I were engaged, our mothers told us we had to go register for our china pattern.

We stood in the department store, in front of the display of china patterns, and giggled. Really? China? We weren't old enough for good china!

Eventually, a few weeks later, our heads more firmly wrapped around growing up, we returned and chose our china pattern.

We received a total of 8 place settings as wedding gifts.

Moving from apartment to apartment (6 times in our first 7 years of marriage), and then eventually into our first house--overwhelming jobs, two little bitty kids, no room to entertain, the china stayed in a box for most of its early years.

Once every two or three years, I'd pull it out for a holiday dinner, just us four. My little kids would help set the table, their eyes wide, their hands unusually careful.

The china is out. This must be a special meal.

Five years ago, we moved into our new house. New construction--we could choose the floor plan. I was adamant: I wanted a separate dining room.

"Really? The trend is towards open floor plans and no formal dining rooms. No one ever uses them anymore!" I was advised. As I read in magazines that mix-matched china from garage sales and using your casual everyday plates was now the modern trend, I kept picturing my china in a falling-apart box under a kitchen cabinet. "No. I want a formal dining room. I want to use my china."

Now we have a formal dining room, a dining room set that I love. We have now become one of the regular host homes for extended families at holidays. And, approaching our 25th anniversary in 2012, I just bought the remaining four place settings to fill out a complete set of 12.

My daughter still asks if she can be the one to set the table. At 18, her eyes are still just a little bit wide. She's still a little extra-careful.

The china is out. This must be a special meal.

Post-ABFSI Breather

This is it. The last official hoorah of Thanksgiving dinner at my house. My first ever homemade Turkey Pot Pie. Leftover turkey, leftover peas, leftover corn. I was going to use the turkey stock I made on Friday but forgot to take it out of the freezer and since I still had gallons of chicken broth in my pantry I went the store-bought route on that instead. (Also store-bought crusts. I'm basically pasty-lazy.)

I don't own ramekins. They'd have made this so much easier. The crust is all ugly because the innards were spilling out all over the counter and I was trying to clamp it's escape route down, aesthetics be darned.  I'll also adjust the recipe next time and play more with seasonings. My nephew (who always knows just when to call and get invited over for dinner!) loved it. I thought it needed more something. Not sure what something yet. Just more of it. And, apparently, ramekins. But still, good way to clean out the fridge. No more Thanksgiving in the Kenmore!

And this is as close as I got to fabric tonight. One of the things I had taken from Mom's stash as we were cleaning out her studio after her passing was a full-size, Cotton Theory quilt kit from The Quilt Yard. Something like $140 worth of fabric. The pattern had gotten separated, although I have a vague tickling memory that I did eventually track it down and it's lurking in my pattern files somewhere. I had kept it together for nearly three years because I had originally thought, "Sure, I'll make that." That eventually morphed into, "Well, I don't think I'll make that, but Mom would probably have a fit if I separated everything," But I don't have much interest in doing a full-sized Cotton Theory quilt, so tonight I decided I really ought to break down the kit and let the fabric pieces go live with the rest of my fabric in one big happy family, rather than sequestered off in their own little gated (or tied-with-twine) community. Mom was all about family. She'd like to see her fabric making new friends. And by now, she's probably tapping her foot in mild annoyance and saying, "Oh, would you just get on with it already? Just use the dang fabric!"

Lots of fabric, by the way. More than I'd thought when it was all tightly folded and bound. Most of the ones on the upper left are 5/8 yard pieces, some a little bigger. Most of the near stack are a yard and more--one 2 1/2 yards. That one in the middle? Well, that's a wierd one. Something like 82" long by 22" wide. Basically, slightly over two yards of fabric, cut in half lengthwise. Maybe meant for borders? Not sure. Odd, but then, all families have that eccentric aunt or uncle. She fits right in.

There's something so very relaxing about folding fabric, isn't there? I love it.

I've got a fairly open weekend coming up, so I'll get back to my sewing machine then. Apparently after my super-productive mode of last weekend, I just needed a breather. So I spent an hour petting fabric. Mmm.

ABFSI Report--Anti-Black-Friday Sew-In

Got all my hexies cut...finally... (218 in total.)

Got my Christmas table runner done. 

(Well, technically, that project stretched into Saturday and Sunday but it all blurred together so I'm counting it as ABFSI.) This was the one that I started at my quilt retreat--just had to do the backing, quilt and bind it. This was a "Triangle Tablerunner" kit from Generations Quilt Shop in Pottstown, PA. It's almost 50" long, about 13" wide. I even remembered to put a little label in the corner--which will be handwritten with a sharpie where right now you can barely see my pencil markings. Nothing fancy there. The backing is something I inherited from my Mom--she'd have appreciated this particular use. Stitched in the ditch, no quilting on the border. Very, very basic. This is going to be a gift for a home with little tots so I wanted something sturdy and that wouldn't be fancy enough that it would break anyone's heart if something happens to it. A Very Practical Christmas. But aren't those pudgy birds with Santa hats just the cutest dang thing?

I was supposed to go somewhere Sunday afternoon and it got cancelled, so I made very good headway on my pinwheel wallhanging, too. It was a banner weekend for quiltmaking up in these parts!

Get 'er done...Niece's quilt on to the next steps

"Shadow Boxes" Full
I was able to get the top and the backing completed tonight--woohoo! Now I've just got to put in a call to My Fabulous Long-armer and see if I can drop it off tomorrow. The pattern is "Shadow Boxes" by Mary Danielson, #506 in the Five Yard Quilt collection from easyquilter.com. Fast pattern for a gift. The fabric is the Sausalito collection from P&B Textiles. I'll be talking about this project, the pattern, and the fabrics in my next episode--hopefully posting tomorrow...
"Shadow Boxes" Close

WIP: Niece's quilt (Take 2)

Got the center pieced yesterday (while my dogs were still in recovery mode and therefore leaving me very much alone). Today I just have to put a couple of borders on, then get the backing together so I can drop it off with the long-armer tomorrow.

Unfortunately, we've got high winds today which makes me really super-headachy (sinuses) so I'm seriously dragging. I'm doing a little self-care this morning in hopes that I can perk up this afternoon and get done what needs to get done.

In the realm of "what needs to get done" also lives grocery shopping for Thanksgiving dinner and posting a podcast episode. So here's hoping I can get a little more giddy-up in my get-along or whatever the appropriate phraseology would be!

Paint Chip Challenge...the story continues...

Kona Solids charm packs to the rescue! I ordered three charm packs of Kona Solids from Fat Quarter Shop: Brights, Pastels, and one in grays and blacks that I think was named "Silent Movie" or something like that. Even though I technically only needed three colors, I decided it wasn't such a bad idea to add some solid charms to my charm stash to help round out charm packs for projects. As I've talked about in past episodes, pre-cut packs are always way heavy in the mediums and struggle a bit with lights and darks; plus, solids in small pieces can sometimes provide a nice counterpart to a whole lot of pattern going on.

In any case, I matched my paint chips pretty dang closely, don't you think?

I also got another fabric to go with this too--but can't show a picture of it because it would completely give-away what my plans are for the challenge project. And I want to keep that a surprise...at least, until I know if I can actually pull it off!

By the way, don't forget to leave your own thoughts about what you'd make from these colors on the first post on this topic to have your name entered for a give-away. (Please do leave it on that first post--can't guarantee I'll catch your name for the drawing if you leave it on a different post!) Thanks to everyone who has already commented--I've really enjoyed reading them!

WIP: Niece's quilt


IMAG1042.jpg
Originally uploaded by sandyquiltz
A quick update on my goings-on, as I've been going-around. I was out of town for a few days again this week...last trip until February! Woohoo! But that meant I had to do a little radio silence again as I had very little Internet access while I was gone. I did manage to knock out some more blocks on my niece's Christmas quilt on Sunday afternoon, though, so here's a sneak preview of what we're aiming for.

I hope to get the center pieced tonight, and then borders on tomorrow, so I can get it to Andrea (my fabulous long-arm quilter) early next week.


What Would (a) Quilter Do?


Paint Chip Challenge Chips
Originally uploaded by sandyquiltz
My guild is doing another paint chip challenge--one of my faves! We draw three paint chips at random from a jar. We then have to use fabrics in those colors, add a black and a white, and make it work. We're not supposed to use fabrics that have any other colors in them--and no shades or tints. It has to be as close to that actual color as we can manage to get. I'm thinking it would be virtually impossible to avoid having any other colors at all in our projects unless we all only use solids--I'm trying to remember what I did last time we did this a few years back. However, our guild can be quite forgiving, shall we say. And there's really nothing at stake--it's just for fun. So although I'm interpreting it pretty darn closely (yes, I am using predominantly solids), I may veer just a hair off the path.

I know what I'm doing--I immediately saw it in my mind when I looked at these three colors in my hand. I just went online this morning and bought the fabric I'll be using; although I've got plenty of black and white in my stash, I didn't have anything distinctly any of these colors.

I'm curious: What would you do with these? What do they say to you? (Leave your own response by November 27th and I'll draw one lucky commenter's name for a fabricy gift! *Editor--I've extended the deadline a few days because of a glitch in my podcast that meant I couldn't give listeners as much lead-time as I'd like. So you have a few more days to respond!)

Yes, it's another WIP


IMAG1037.jpg
Originally uploaded by sandyquiltz
I just can't seem to stop myself. Yet another project in progress. This is the Sausalito line from P&B Textiles--very purdy. The quilt should come together pretty quickly...a girl can dream, anyway.

I'll keep you posted!

Working on this week's podcast episode--should go live tomorrow...

Hand-dyeing Fun

Like my last post, this one is also related to episode 66, "In Which We Go on Retreat," of my podcast series. In that episode I described the class we had in dyeing fabric. What a hoot!

The first example is my least favorite, which is why I'm starting out with it. Maybe seeing the others below will blank this one out of your memory.

That being said, parts of the stripes look like a reflection on a calm lake...so I can easily see some fussy-cut-utility here.



I heart this one. Blues, greens, and lots of white space.


My first attempt at the Shibori technique. (For a great blog post about Shibori, visit here.)

Didn't work so well because my fabric really wanted to come unwrapped when I scrunched it down the PVC pipe. I like the colors and it's still a very usable result, but I wanted a more distinct pattern...
...and so I tried it again. Got a much better pattern this time, but traded off the heavy orange at the end of the last one with a lot of white at the end of this one. This technique takes some practice.
I had no idea the blue was going to turn out this brilliant...and no, no photo-editing involved! The other color is raspberry, which also came out pretty intense, but I did dunk the hey out of it so I suppose it's no surprise. Digging the results.

I believe I just wadded this one up randomly and wrapped rubber bands around it at a variety of angles.

No idea how I did this. Wish I could remember because it's a look I'd love to replicate in other colors. It's a mix of teal and plum. (The center looks bright white in this picture--it's actually more of a very, very soft teal.)



And my other fave. Looks like a frosty windowpane, doesn't it? Super cool. Too bad I have no idea how I did that one either.

I had a blast dying fabric. So much so that I've promised myself I'm not going to buy any of the supplies to do more until I've used at least a few of these pieces in a project.

So I guess that means I have to get to work!

Retreat Progress


In episode 66, I give an overview of my quilt guild retreat a couple of weeks ago, with some product reviews and project updates. I promised pics...here they be!


One of the only two blocks I got done for the Jelly Roll Sampler quilt, "Tulip" block. (From Jelly Roll Sampler Quilts by Pam and Nicky Lintott. I think this is the Fig & Plum jelly roll by Fig Tree Quilts for Moda.)

Because of the way the dark strip gets cuts, some of the print makes certain pieces blend a lot with the background. Fussy-cutting isn't really an option when you're trying to stick with just using a single jelly roll with no additions for the project. Oh well. C'est la vie.






"Rocky Road" block (from same).
I really like the blue in this fabric line. Nice cross between beachy and cottage-y.

"Triangle Tablerunner" kit from Generations Quilt Shop.
(I talk about Generations in episode 64.)

Not hard to put together as long as (as they suggest) you keep track of where the straight-of-grain edge is on each of the triangles and make sure they're on the outside edge--keeps the strip a lot more stable. I like the red sashing.










Close-up of part of "Triangle Tablerunner" kit to show fabrics.

I'm bumming I can't see more of my fat little birdies with Santa caps. They're dang cute, aren't they?
...And finally, the "stack n' slash" using flannel fat quarters. I didn't do too much variation in this. When I've done others in the past, I've divided into two or three different piles so I'd have different looking blocks. Rotated throughout, in some cases it's hard to tell where the blocks are. In this, all the blocks are the same so there are definite visual lines.

But it's still a nice cuddle quilt for a rainy day.

Of course, now that I'm looking at it again, I'm seeing blocks I'd like to swap around. Random. Pshaw.

Stay tuned for another blog post in a couple of days with hand-dyed goodness!

Fabric Mysteriously Appearing on My Shelves

I have nothing to do with this...really...it just keeps showing up, somehow.

The first few pics are from my most recent purchase at The Quilter's Daughter during my quilt retreat weekend. (They don't have a website yet but this link gives you their info.)

Picked these out as rough coordinates but may not keep them together. A couple are from the "Swanky" line by Chez Moi for Moda. It's a couple of years old now so I couldn't find any good links to use--sorry! (Yellow dots is from Deb Strain's "LoveU" line for Moda. The green floral had no selvedge on it to label it.)
 General blender fat quarters. Always helpful!

 Another collection of bright, fun fat quarters. One of these (the trees) is from "Summer Song" by My Mind's Eye for Moda; the print with flowers and butterflies is from Deb Strain's "LoveU" line for Moda. Neither of the other two had selvedges so I can't identify them for you. Apologies!





This was my souvenir from Stitch, the fabric and yarn shop I found in Jordan, Ontario. I got two identical charm packs from the Modal "Little Apples" line, and then bought a half yard of the fantastic dog fabric--it coordinates with the Little Apples line but it's from a previous line. My family-of-birth raised English Springer Spaniels when I was growing up so these little spaniel-esque doggies are very nostalgic for me.
 And this grouping was my souvenir from Ye Olde Fabric Shoppe in Stratford, Ontario--I talked about that in episode 60. I love the fact that these are holiday fabrics without being overtly traditional Christmas colors of green and red. I put some green and red in there with the coordinates I chose, but they're still more muted than typical. And I love the neutrals and gray-blues.

I have more Christmas fabric than I know what to do with. Some year I'll just have to do a year-long holiday project challenge to clean out my collection!