Quilting Class Review

A few weeks ago I attended my first ever actual sewing class at Cotton and Chocolate Quilting Company in Thousand Oaks.  I am pretty fortunate to live so close, as this store is pretty well known in the surrounding areas for having a wide array of amazing fabrics and fabulous instructors.

I ended up selecting the Friendship Braid Quilt class, the pattern is from this book: Jelly Roll Quilts and the sneak peak above is my quilt in progress.

My instructor Diane was awesome!  She was not only a lot of fun, but I was impressed that she not only offered clear instructions to get us going, but was able to move fluidly around the class spending time with each of us and always seemed to be "right there" when you needed her most.

I would definitely recommend taking a class at Cotton and Chocolate if you happen to be in or live near the area.

In case you are curious the fabrics are once again Kaffee Fasett, can you tell I have a bit of a love affair going on? I have completed the vast majority of the piecing and once I decide on the border and backing fabric I will be finishing the quilt top and moving on to the sandwiching and quilting stages!

Other news, I mentioned awhile back a special surprise and here she is.......

I have finally upgraded my trusty Hello Kitty sewing machine!  After much research and a lot of thought I decided on a Bernina 330.  While this is on the lower end of Bernina models it still has heads and tails more functionality than my Hello Kitty machine and the stitch quality (which was my chief complaint about the older machine) is beautiful!

This is looking to be an exciting year for sewing!

Red Quilt

I still haven't finished my Craftsy BOM quilt, but I did find time to piece together patchwork style some 6" charm packs from Kaffe Fassett's Fire collection.  I thought these fabrics were so bold and beautiful that they could pretty much stand on their own and the simple pattern would allow them to POP!

This is probably the simplest type of quilt that you can put together.  I literally just showed the little square together with a quarter inch seam in rows.  I did use a guide I found on the internet that told me how many charm packs would equal the size quilt that I wanted. For the "quilting" portion of the quilt I did little tie tacks embroider on the corners of each square.

This quilt is a full size quilt without any overhang. It is almost perfect for just snuggling-up on the couch which was the main intention behind the quilt. To be perfect I would have liked it to be just a little wider.

For the back of the quilt I chose this cabbage and rose print from the same collection.  I wanted the back of the quilt to stand out just as much as the front in this particular case.

I included this picture so hopefull you could see the litte tie tacks.  I alternated between a pink and a red that I thought fit with the theme of the quilt.

For a first quilt - this was perfect!  Now I am looking forward to piecing together something a bit more complicated.

Craftsy Block of the Month - September

The September blocks for Craftsy Block of the Month were all about curved piecing.  I really enjoyed putting these blocks together, but it was not without its challenges. 

Sewing a curved seam is all about precision and easing your two fabric pieces into each other.  I cut a couple extra and luckily worked the kinks of the process which involved some finger pressing of the two fabrics to help with the easing and strategic pinning.  I also pulled out my dress makers pins though I mostly use extra fine pins anyways which helps if I get carried away and don't remove them as I am sewing.

The cooling thing about quilting blocks is since everything is in miniature they are a good place to practice skills you can use on garments.  I sort of struggled in the past with curved seams on dresses.  I am looking forward to some pretty awesome curved seams in the future!

Only one month of blocks left to go and then I can show off my quilt top!  It is exciting to have learned so many skills and come so far over the past year.

Craftsy Block of the Month - June

For the month of June the Craftsy Block of the Month focused on the modern 9 patch technique.

The first block pictured is the Octagon Block.  This block really just used techniques learned in past classes.  It was a slam dunk - not much to say here.

The second block is a Greek Cross.  This block had a bit more cutting and piecing together but another straight forward technique.  Despite its simplicity I am pretty impressed with the overall outcome.  I definitely could imagine doing an entire quilt based on this block.

That is it for now.  I have some great posts to get up, but the weather has been way too hot for outdoor pictures and I am not great at taking indoor pictures.

Craftsy Block of the Month - May

The Craftsy Block of the Month class featured log cabin style logs for the month of May.  It has been awhile since I put these together, but I am pleased to finally be posting about them.

The first log cabin block is called a floating frame block.  I really like the concept of this block, but I am not sure I had the best fabrics to feature its strong points.  I think this block would be best if you have a strong focal point for the center, something that really draws you inward and really ends up looking framed.  I also thinking going somewhat smaller scale on both the middle block and the different frames would be best. I wanted to do something large and chunky, but I don't think it translated as well as it could have.

The second block is a wonky log cabin block.  This block was creative, random and fun.  I could see doing a quilt with nothing but this block and every block still looking unique and fresh.  This is another block that is great for showcasing a focal point fabric, which I was able to do since I decided to start the middle of the block off with a smaller print.

I enjoyed the May blocks and I am looking forward to catching up on June, July and August!  After I get caught up there will only be one month of blocks left -  September.  The remaining months of the year will be spent piecing together and finishing off the quilt! 

Craftsy Block of the Month - March

If you have been following along, you know that I have been participating in the Craftsy Block of the Month Quilting class.  It takes you through 10 months of creating two different blocks each month using different techniques then the remaining months of the year the class will teach you to piece it all together for a beautiful quilt!

This months blocks shown above used the foundation piecing method. I absolutely love these blocks!  They were fun and simple to construct but really gave me a chance to play with the colors in my quilt.  I added in some smaller pieces that were in my scrap bin.  You may even notice some of the taupe and white polka dot fabric from the Minrou jacket that I have been working on!

For this type of quilting you really do not need any big pieces of fabric.  So, this would be great for collecting scraps from my sewing projects and making them into something useful!

Just a quick note, I now officially have my own sewing room!  We moved some things around and instead of sharing this space with my husband's gaming items - it is all my own.  I am so excited!  There isn't a lot of wall decorations currently as the room had gaming posters up, but I did put all of my quilt blocks on the wall!

Block of the Month Club Progress

I finally dove in and caught up with the Craftsy Block of the Month club for my 1st quilt.  Pictured at the top are the February blocks which used two different half square triangles.  I really enjoyed making these blocks and the different methods that were taught in the class.  It is interesting to think how many designs you might be able to piece together out of just these triangles.

The bottom pictures are the January blocks which featured the slash and sew method for quilting.  These were pretty easy but I wasn't really impressed with my blocks when they were done. I did vary slightly from the directions by using more than one color for my asterix block which  I actually think "saves" the block a little.  I wish I had added in more than one color for the pound sign strips as well.

I was going to do a seperate post just on the fabric choice but after making up my mind felt that wasn't necessary.  To be honest, this being my first quilt and not knowing what the finished product was going to turn out like, wether I would like it or not.  I actually just picked up some yardage from Joanne's in colors I liked.  If the end product is less than desireable I might end up with a fancy beach or picnic quilt.

The class is a lot of fun and I am looking forward to the March blocks!



My First Quilting Project

Hello Readers! I know most, if not all of you, are garment sewists but do any of you venture out into quilting? My mother-in law brought me along when she went to several quilting shoes this past year. It was so much fun to look at all the beautiful quilts and of course I picked up fabric for aprons and purses etc.

I know there are many simple and beautiful quilts, but for many reasons I just thought quilting was out side my scope of do-able projects. I have been thinking more and more of making a quilt for my bed. The duvet and down blanket we have is much to heavy for summer and it seems like the color combinations I am thinking are always out of season or style in the stores. I started searching a few months back here and there for a beginner's quilting pattern that I liked, but had not found what I was looking for.

Just last week I received a free class offer from Craftsy (and I just love Craftsy's classes). This is perfect for me! You make two blocks each month through October and then the final months of the year you do all the finishing. You end up with a throw size quilt - which is perfect for a beginner, but according to the course overview suitable for experienced quilters as well. If you are interested leave me a comment below Craftsy is allowing us to forward the FREE sign-up link to friends. I''ll update you with my fabric choice and progress as we near the end of the month!