A Quilt Along: 9 Patch a Day

I often see sew alongs on Instagram. People all gather together and make the same quilt pattern, or bag, or follow a challenge guideline like "colorful". I love seeing them. Sometimes I even try to join in. Memorably was the log cabin block swap where every participant made a certain number of blocks out of Bonnie and Camille fabrics, sent them in, and received blocks back from other participants.

Bonnie and Camille Log Cabin quilt top. It's being sent to the quilter later this month! 

In my spare time (ha! let's be honest, I do this while breastfeeding or pumping) I've been looking at quilty things on Pinterest. And I happened on a pin that I thought, "Hey, I could do that."

And so, I propose this Quilt-Along, join me if you wish.

9 Patch a Day.

How I envision it working:

Every day for the month of March make a 9 patch block of any size you wish. You get some 'free' days, with the goal that  you will have a total of 30 blocks to assemble in a quilt. .

I don't want to give much instruction past that because quilts are like people. Each one is different and beautiful. Use scraps. Buy new fabric. Stash dive. It's all up to you!

Feel free to join in on Instagram with #9patchaday and follow me @AuntJaq

Finished Object Roll Call: May 2016

Knitting/Crocheting

Preemie Hat

A Baby Sweater! 

Sewing

The Cardinal Blanket

A custom ordered skirt and one gift fleece blanket, that I didn't get a picture of. 

If you'd like to see the FO's in progress, as they are completed, and some other random bits and pieces of life, follow me on Instagram!I also do GIVEAWAYS on Facebook.  You should go 'like' the page, be sure to be following it too! 

Finished Object Roll Call: April 2016

So, I've been slacking on the Finished Object Roll Call this year. As I look over what I've accomplished so far, well, it doesn't seem like much. According to my Ravelry page, I've only completed 3 items this year. I'm gearing up for a productive summer and hope to start showing off some great items here! 

If you ever see an item here that you would like a tutorial on, or more info about it, let me know! I have done Finished Object posts that break down things such as cost and time invested in projects, and would happily do more.  

Knitting/Crocheting

I had some high hopes for a couple of projects this month. Unfortunately I ran out of time on most, and yarn on one. Next month though. 

Sewing

I adapted the Pillowcase Tutorial found on Made Everyday

If you'd like to see the FO's in progress, as they are completed, and some other random bits and pieces of life, follow me on Instagram!I also do GIVEAWAYS on Facebook.  You should go 'like' the page, be sure to be following it too! 

#sewmystash2015 Precuts Party!

The time has come for the second #sewmystash2015 challenge. The Precuts Party! This one made me super excited and I'm really glad that Leasa did this one so early on in the year. I have a couple of pre-cut bundles that I've been meaning to use up.

Like, I actually had planned projects for them when I got them and I just never got around to using them because I have so many other things to do/that I'd rather be doing.

So, officially for this challenge I used a jelly roll and a charm pack. Just one of each. (For a primer on pre-cuts sew4home has a great one.) So I had 20 pieces of fabric to work with, in two basic colors: pink and brown. I decided on a log cabin inspired quilt top.

I had hopes to do two layers of strips around each charm square, but there wasn't enough jelly roll to go around. Sigh. I have a few scraps left over of jelly roll fabric that will go into the scrap pile for a future scrap quilt. 

It's about crib size and I am on the fence currently about finishing it into a complete quilt or just listing it as a top... I also am on the fence with if I should sell it or not. There's a lot of babies coming in my neck of the woods and I need baby shower presents! 

I had so much fun doing the Pre-cuts Party that I decided to continue it. I have another jelly roll, a pin from Pinterest, and a designated sewing room. I am ready to rock and roll! 

This summer was a summer of marriages for my family. I had two cousins get married, I got married, and my little brother got married.

When I called my mum and sister to ask if my idea for a wedding gift for my brother and sister was a good idea, they both said the same thing.

"Yeah, she's like you she's always cold. It would be perfect."

So, I went and stash dove into my fabrics. I asked Sarah what her favorite colors were. Thinking I might luck out since I had a red and white quilt partially done, and I could just finish that one off for them. Sarah told me her least favorite color was red... dangit.

Thankfully I had some blues, grays, and purples on hand. (Blues and grays are my go to colors, I love them.) Armed with my quilting book, I chose a quilt I liked and embarked on my first quilting for someone else without their input adventure.

I lucked out and found a local quilter who said she
could get it quilted in time for the wedding for me. She even made a label for me to put on it.  Unfortunately, I had to pick it up during my honeymoon. I called my friend who was kind enough to go pick it up for me. I then worked like a crazy lady to get the binding done.

I could hardly wait to give it to them. At this point my brother knew what the gift was, he just hadn't seen it, and it made me nervous because he was acting excited about it but you never really know...


So, here they are with their new quilt. It's only throw size because I didn't have the fabric (or time) to do a bigger one. They seem to like it ;)

Maybe I can keep up this stash dive quilt for a special person/purpose/occasion up.

At the very least I can keep up the stash diving part. That stash is getting out of control...

Call For Help

I'm trying to decide which direction to take the business in the next year (yes, I still think in terms of school semesters...), and NEED YOUR HELP! 


Would you rather buy a completely finished quilt (like this one:https://www.etsy.com/listing/175768848/twin-size-quilt-colorful-quilt-blue?ref=listing-1), 

a kit (like this one:https://www.etsy.com/listing/177546440/diy-quilt-kit-baby-quilt-rainbow-colors?ref=listing-0)

or just a quilt top (like this one:https://www.etsy.com/listing/167819171/blue-and-white-calico-country-style?ref=listing-2).

As many of you know, or at least I hope know by now, I rely heavily on the feedback and opinions of my potential customers and my 'fans'. I have some new color combos going on in the kitchen item department thanks to feedback. And I'm working on some fun stuffed animals as well after getting some initial reactions on Facebook. 

But when it comes to the quilts, I love making them, the piecing part is so fun to me, but they don't get much attention. I need to know if it's going to be worthwhile to keep churning them out and trying to sell them (especially now that I've finally found a person to help me with the quilting part of quilts).


Let me know! 

Update on 'Quilts or No?' Post

So, a couple months back I posted this: Quilts or No?. It was a genuine question, and I was really appreciative of the feedback from Melissa. She's great like that, she's one of my regulars when I ask questions about business-y things like that.

I got to thinking, and settling in to the new apartment and finally got around to going through what made it across the country with me. Unfortunately, my quilting frames did not make the journey. I had a quilt, ready to be tied tucked away in the box of.... quilty stuff. And I remember Melissa's comment.

I decided to go for it and posted it on Etsy.

Quilt Kit on Etsy

While I'm still getting the hang of this Etsy thing, all the tags and pricing and stuff just makes my eyes cross and my brain ooze out of my ears. I'm glad I got it up. It's a start right?

As always, your feedback and ideas are welcome! I love them and really enjoy the creativity that comes from all of you!

Oh, the Possibilities

Now that I'm finally settled in my new place, I have things unpacked, and ready to go. The sewing machine is out and waiting. The knitting basket is in it's rightful place next to the couch. And the stashes are tucked neatly away in the closets.

I cannot wait to get sewing! I've been wanting to learn to make some quilts, which is a pretty big deal. If you're from my childhood neighborhood, you know what a high standard was set by the likes of Linda Hansen. One day, perhaps in my dreams, I will be near her level of artistry.

I've got a pretty decent amount of fabric ready to go. I also have a book with some simple quilt patterns on it. But the quilting thing that I am most excited about is the Jimmy Beans Wool "Mystery Sew Red Sew Along" found on their blog. They're doing it as a campaign to raise awareness for heart disease, thus the red colored theme. (You'll have to scroll a bit to get to the post... sorry for that.)

Now, yes I am aware that Jimmy Beans Wool is a yarn shop. But they've recently started carrying fabrics and are all sorts of excited about fabric[y things such as quilting. They've already posted the first block, and it's simple enough for me to get. Although they've said some of the blocks are kind of 'advanced', I'm hoping my clothing construction skills will help me out with this wonderful endeavor.

I've already got some simple 9 patch squares in red and white, so I'll stick to that theme for the rest of the blocks. I'll be sure to keep you guys up to date and post pictures of the finished product when May rolls around!

And feel free to join in the fun!