Done and done!!

Doctor Who is finished! The quilt that is.  And I'm so relieved to finally be done with this one. It's really been a labor of love. Emphasis on labor.

Here is the happy recipient!



It was quilted by none other than Christina Lane (sometimescrafter) and she did a fantastic job! Check out the custom Gallifreyan quilt pattern she designed! What a perfect finishing touch for this quilt.

More closeups of the quilting! I'm smitten can you tell?


And of course the back had to have a little extra finishing touch so I added the words and the Doctor
Who logo.
 

The kids had a hard time holding this one up because it was so big - even up there on the wall. I resorted to pinning it to the house gutters in the end and it still hit the patio on the bottom.

  

I promise those Whovian letter patterns will be up on the Craftsy site eventually.  I have to take a little break from paper piecing to focus on some other priorities and then I'll be back. 

How is your Whovian quilt coming along?  If you haven't started yet or are just now hearing about this project, you can find all the quilt block patterns for this quilt on this blog or through my pattern store on the Craftsy website.  In addition, you can find a ton of inspiration pictures of other DoctorWhoAlong participants and their quilts on the Flickr QAL site. 

Happy Sewing!

Rainbow storage solutions

Hello, hello.
 Is this thing on?
 tap. tap. tap.
 Er hmm. Yes I'm still here. Yes i'm still sewing. No i'm not blogging about it. I will admit that Instagram aka IG has taken over much of the online posting I do about my sewing. But I thought a blog post would be in order. If you don't already have instagram I highly recommend it. I prefer it over other online venues and while Bill Maher might think it's twitter for people who can't read! er hmm (I love you Bill but really you are being short-sighted!), Instagram works marvelously well for a medium which is primarily visual, like quilting or sewing or other art forms. You can't tweet about that nearly as effectively. A picture is worth a thousand words and all that.
Ok so here's what I have been working on...
I'm still trying to get my sewing room put together and really done, done! Ya know what i mean? It'll always be a work in progress but i'm trying to get a few more bits and pieces organized. To that end I've been stitching up a bunch of storage baskets. No one ever said they had too much storage. Am I right? So here are my newest sewing buckets.

I wanted a rainbow feel so i dug into my precious Henna garden stash and put these baskets together. They are big, 8"x12"x12" so they'll hold a lot. Again, the more the better right? They are deceptively easy to sew up.
And before you ask, I know you guys want a tutorial.
 As soon as I figure out how to do that effectively, I'll put one together.
 In the meantime you'll just have to appreciate the photos. The bottoms are all Essex yarn dyed linen (Kaufman) which works super well with the rainbow of henna garden.
Some of these will go to yarn storage but the rest? Who knows. They'll fill up sooner than I'ld like I'm sure. This storage ought to keep me for awhile. Let's hope.

Happy sewing!

The great sewing room reno

Right after the Christmas holidays my husband and work-for-free contractor started working on my sewing space.   I have been perching on this makeshift sewing surface for years and it wasn't really working well for me. If it was left up to me, I would've perched, makeshift-style, for decades because I'm a go-with-the-flow kind of chick. He decided that I needed a new desk.  Who was I to refuse?  I'll sacrifice.  Ha!

So I gave him my list of must-have features, and he started a design.  We decided that it sometimes needed to be a large work surface for when I'm quilting those really big quilts.  But since it's a small room we wanted it to be retractable because there isn't room for an 8 ft table most of the time.  I also wanted to stow away the machines when not in use.  I used to do a lot of garment sewing, so I have a several different kinds of machines, most of those don't get used daily, so they don't need to be around collecting dust.  So he built a huge set of drawers to contain the machines and provide storage for other things as well.

Since I was getting new furniture, I decided that a new wall color was in order. I had been wanting to update to blue anyway, so this was the motivation I needed. Change the trim out from brown to white and voila!  I love this shade of deep teal blue.


The table itself is pretty cool. The retractable desktop pulls out when needed to a full length of over 8'  but is tucked away when not in use! Handy no?



Those 2 giant drawers are actually big enough and strong enough to hold my machines when not in use.


And the upper cabinet holds all my supplies. I'm not big on clutter, so I like to have everything neatly stored away when not in used.


The new surface is fantastic to work at! I'm so pleased with my new space. The hubs is pretty handy with the tools which makes me one lucky lady indeed. He even added an handy little notions drawer for all my machine feet and oft-used notions all stowed away neatly.

 Here's an iPhone pano of the whole space. It definitely still needs some work, but it's getting there. I feel so much more productive already.


The room used to be an office and reading space. So we had these handy drawers for CD storage.  Well let's face it, since the invention of the iPod who uses CD's anymore? We packed them off to storage and low-and-behold the drawers work perfectly for fat quarters! Woot!  Bonus! And best part is that they are out of the light and packed away when not needed. Love that.



The new space still needs some tweaks.  I need to tackle some big piles that need to be destashed and relocated.  It needs some sewing baskets, some new wall art (that poor old Matisse print is faded beyond recognition) and I need to redo my sewing chair.  All in good time. Well, I'm off to tackle that gigantic pile of knits I need to destash.

Happy Sewing!
 

And the Whovian Winner is...

…. Drumroll for …..Julianne!

Julianne, you will be receiving this lovely collection of spoonflower Doctor Who fabrics ( and a couple others when they finally arrive)




 Congrats Julianne!


Meanwhile I have been working on the back of the Doctor Who Quilt.
A sneek peek



Happy Sewing!

Doctor Who Along ~ And that's a wrap!

After 10 (sometimes) long months, and 20 blocks, the Doctor Who along is rapidly approaching the finishing line.  Some of you are probably still working on your blocks and that's totally fine.   Good for anyone who is dedicated to getting it done! It's a lot of work, believe me I know!

Soma and I thought it would be a good time to show you some layout ideas for your blocks so you can begin to think about assembling a top.

Here is my final quilt top.



Pretty basic layout. Admittedly it was so big it was hard to get a decent picture of it. Even 2 of the worlds tallest children on a wall aren't tall enough to get it off the ground.  Well ok, they aren't really that tall. And of course it was dreary and rainy outside because it's March and this is Oregon.

First off, I trimmed each and every one of my blocks to 12" square.  That allowed me to cut off some of the uneven edges and get everything nice and square.  Then I sashed each block with 1.5" white sashing to trim out the blocks and highlight them before adding the 5.5" wide blue sashing in between the blocks.

Why so large? I needed to create a Queen sized quilt as this is intended for my son who keeps getting taller and taller.  I'm planning ahead.  I like the spacing as it gives a nice showcase for each of the blocks and keeps the blocks from getting too busy and converging on one another.  I added an even wider 12" border around the edge again to get that Queen size quilt of 90x94". Yikes that's big!

I am still piecing the back, so I'll show you that one in my next post. 

Meanwhile there are some awesome layouts showing up on the Flickr group.  I particularly like this shadow-box version by Tammy, Kuseta. But there are plenty more options. Head on over to Soma's blog to see her layout.

While this quilt isn't quite done the QAL is officially over.  However, Soma and I will still maintain the Flickr group and we always love to see pictures of your finished work.  I will be posting my finished quilt back over there as well as the final quilt once it's all quilted up.  Got some fun plans for that.  I might just throw in a couple more paper-pieced block patterns from time to time. You never know!  ;) The patterns will also stay up on Craftsy for as long as they'll let us.  Hopefully forever.

Also a huge shout-out to Soma, without whom I could not have carried off this enormous QAL.  It was a lot of work to design just half the patterns and Soma's help was huge and so appreciated.  Turns out she and I have become quite good friends through this past year and hopefully one day I might be able to say thanks in person! ;)

To celebrate the end of the QAL we thought a little giveaway was in order.

So I'll be giving away a few fat-eighths of, what else, Doctor Who inspired fabric from Spoonflower.

These fabrics are also available for sale if you just can't wait.  They were not designed by me. Head on over to Spoonflower to check them out along with many other fantastic Whovian prints.
In addition, I'll throw in a free pattern from my Craftsy shop. 

Please comment here for a chance to win this little stack.  I might just throw in some Whovian-inspired Kona solids to go with.  For additional chances to win you can tweet, facebook or IG post this giveaway but be sure and come back here to comment and let me know you did. If you post on Instagram, please tag me @trilliumdesign so I can see the post and count it!  Also, if you are a no-reply blogger please leave your email address in the comments (you can use spaces and spell out the dot com to avoid the spam-bots) so I can contact you if you win. Winner will be chosen on March 12th, open to international entrants.

And for another chance to win something, head on over to Soma's blog.  She is also giving away some Doctor Who goodies.

Allons-y my fellow Whovians.

And we have a winner!

With the help of Random.org  the winner of the book
Playful Little Paper Pieced Projects has been chosen.

Drumroll Please....

It’s Karen Walters aka PeaceLoveQuilts.

Congratulations Karen.  I will be contacting you to arrange shipment.

Thanks to everyone for playing along. 

Happy Sewing!

Doctor Who Along Block 20 Tardis in Flight

PLEASE NOTE – these patterns have been removed are no longer available This is it! This is the last block in the Doctor Who along. It's hard to believe we have been doing this since last April and we are already at block 20.  Thanks for joining us!  We really enjoyed bringing you this Quilt along.

And of course, we just had to do another T.A.R.D.I.S didn't we? Yes we did. So here you go, Soma's block is the 'Tardis in flight'

Hope you like it!

Pattern can be found here or on Craftsy.

The Doctor Who Along blocks are done but the Quilt Along is not over! Tune in the first Tuesday of March for a fun giveaway and we'll show you our finished quilt tops. Plus I'll have some really exciting quilting to unveil to you in the next couple months.

Allons-y!

Riley Blake Challenge and the MQG

 Back in September?(i think it was) the MQG announced the basics Riley Blake Challenge which you can participate in if you are an MQG member.  This is my first challenge quilt and it was an interesting experience.

I debated about what to make with this collection of fabrics for quite a long time.  Fortunately for me they extended the deadline to February which meant I could put this off until after the holidays.

Finally I settled on this abstract design which is foundation pieced and about 24x36" inches in size.

I started and finished up my Riley Blake Challenge quilt thanks to a bizarre snowstorm that dumped 18" of powder on us in the course of about 2 days and shut down the entire town.  Now followed by a rapid thaw and heavy rain that is currently threatening to flood things around here. The weather excitement never ends.  But all of that is a good reason to stay inside and sew.

My quilt is called "Views" and it's going to the Corvallis MQG guild meeting tonight for a little show and tell.  I decided on some spiral quilting which I hadn't done before but I quite like how it turned out.

You still have a few days left if you want to participate.

Happy Sewing!

'Views' in the snow

Some news and a Giveaway

Back in the fall I mentioned that his little book was coming out from CT Publishing. Well it’s out and I keep forgetting to blog about it!

Playful Little Paper-pieced Projects was complied by

Tacha Bruecher, one of the editors of the Fat Quarterly, and it’s currently available at Amazon and probably also at your local book store.  

 
 

My project was this sewing machine cover which ties on the sides so it should fit just about any machine regardless it’s length and width.  I sewed this up over a year and half ago, seems like forever. 

Pattern and instructions are in the book along with a CD of all the patterns in digital format! Yay for that.  Digital is always nice if you need to resize or reprint.

As part of the launch for this book I am giving away a copy of it.  Simply comment here to be entered into the giveaway. You’ll get extra entries if you tweet, post on facebook or Instagram this giveaway. Comment back here so I know you’ve done so.   Winner will be chosen on Feb. 19th. When you comment be sure that your account isn't set to no-reply otherwise leave your email in your comment or I will have no way to track you down if you win.

If you are local and you want an extra chance to win, you can attend this Wednesday’s Corvallis Modern Quilt guild meeting where I will be presenting a talk on Foundation piecing and  also raffling off a copy of the book.  

Doctor Who Along Block 19 Power of Three

Hello Whovians!
 

Today we have on tap the 19^th block of the Doctor Who Along.  Those bewildering little black boxes were completely benign ~  until they weren’t.  That’s the Power of Three! They also make nice paperweights.

This block is one of the easiest in the QAL.  So you get a little break before our last block. 

You can download the pattern here or on Craftsy.

The background fabric is once again Constellations from Lizzie House along with some solid shades of gray, black and royal blue.  Perfect for this little black box.

Happy Sewing!

Doctor Who Along block 18 Chamelon Arch

PLEASE NOTE – these patterns have been removed are no longer available

Welcome Whovians! Are you ready for block 18 of the Doctor Who Along?

I can't believe we're at block 18 already. It's going by fast.

Here is the Chameleon Arch, designed by Soma Acharya.



You can find the pattern on her website here:
I was lucky enough to have some leftover Doctor Who fabric from Spoonflower that worked well for the watch.

Don't forget to share your finished blocks on the Flickr group site.

Cheers and Happy Sewing!

Doctor Who Along Block 17 A crack in time

Ah the space-time continuum.  Always something interesting going on there.  Where would we be without it? I'll leave this question to you to ponder.

While you are pondering, you can sew up the 17th block of the Doctor Who Along ~ A crack in time.
Download the pattern instructions here.

One note: There are a couple of errors on the numbering scheme in the pattern pieces. I'll get this fixed in a few days, but for now, follow the numbering on the piecing guide and you won't go astray.


Careful you don't get sucked in and end up in another dimension!



One note, you might actually need a bit more than a fat quarter of background fabric for this block.  Just a head's up so you don't run out.




Happy Sewing!

Doctor Who Along Block 16 Vashta Nerada

PLEASE NOTE – these patterns have been removed are no longer available

Ah yes! The library episode where we first get to meet River Song.  That was a creepy episode(s) ~ for me anyway.

Here is Doctor Who Along block 16 ~Vashta Nerada

Soma has designed her version to let you chose just how creepy (skully) you want to make it.
Download your pattern

Don't forget to post your finished block pics in the Flickr pool.

This is the last Doctor Who Block of the year. We will resume our Whovian sewing adventure in January.  In the meantime, I wish you all a happy holiday season and a happy new year!

Happy  Sewing!

Sewing in a winter wonderland

Yes it's snowy and white around here in the central Willamette Valley. Snow isn't really all that much of a surprise, but the staying power of it sure is! Not to mention the super low temps. As a result, we have had several snow days and that translates directly into sew days for yours truly.

I've been working away on some xmas gifts - can't show you those here just yet. But I've also been doing a little Christmas decorating.

Case in point.  When it was finally time to pull out the Christmas tablecloths it became woefully apparent that the old napkin basket was clashing horribly.  I could've just put it away for the season, but I had time so I whipped up a new one with a Christmas theme. The new one uses one of my all time favorite holiday fabrics from Alexander Henry called "retro Christmas". Sadly, I think it’s out of print now.  I fussy cut the side panels to show off the retro art work and paired it with a basic dot from Riley Blake.

Fabric baskets are super easy to construct. One of these days, I’ll even put together a little tutorial for all of you.  For now you can find a myriad of tutorials for them on the web.

Next up was a Christmas table runner.  I don’t have one yet and I thought it was high time I fixed that.  This one was exceedingly simple – I know it looks complicated but it was really wasn't.  The whole thing was could out with my Silhouette Cameo. Easy peasy.

Yes you can cut fabric with a die-cutter, you just need to iron on the double-sided fusible interfacing first and you need a fabric blade.  Otherwise, if you have a Silhouette already, you know the rest is simple.   Just iron the letters on and you are practically done.  You could (and should if it’s applique) sew around each of the letters to secure them). But I cheated and skipped that step since it really won’t get much wear or need much washing where it lives and I was in a hurry.  They are topstiched in place by the quilting as well.

That's all my holiday sewing for now. I still desperately need a tree skirt, but who knows if I'll get that done this year.

In the meantime, happy sewing!

 

Doctor Who Along block 15 River Song's diary

Welcome back Whovians!  Did everyone in the US have a nice thanksgiving weekend?

It's time for Block 15 of the Doctor Who Along.  I'm happy to say that this weeks block is one of the easiest of the quilt along.  Breathe a sigh of relief!

Download the pattern file here or on Craftsy.

Happy Sewing!

Doctor Who Along Block 14 - Hello Sweetie!

PLEASE NOTE – these patterns have been removed are no longer available

Can you believe we are already at block 14 of the Doctor Who Along? I can't.  It has sure flown by quickly.

Here is this weeks update.  From the design studio of Soma Acharya~ Whims and Fancies.

Hello Sweetie!

What Doctor Who quilt would be complete without a little of River Song's influence?

You can find the pattern here.

Happy Sewing!

Modern Maples in time for fall

Fresh out of the dryer and promptly put to use.  Here is my modern Maples quilt all done up.


I really wanted a quilt with fall-ish colors which are typically not the colors that I gravitate towards.  I do like to have fall decorations around the house this time of year, so it seemed appropriate to add in a fall quilt.

 Modern Maples seem to be all the rage this fall. Seems like everyone is making one of these and I was holding out for awhile until I came up with the fall colors idea.  So then I was off in search of the perfect background fabric which was pretty tough to find.

I ended up choosing a Kaufman Essex yarn-dyed linen in Olive of all colors.  I was really looking for more of a yarn-dyed brown linen which it turns out is exactly what the olive looks like in real life although the pictures make it look a little grey from the distance. So it was the perfect background fabric to pair with my fall colored leaves.  I used various FQs from my stash and assembled the leaf blocks. They are quite large, and since there is so much negative space in this quilt the whole thing ends up being quite large in the end. Which I would’ve known if I’ld read the directions, but you know me, I just dove in and paid no heed for directions.  So, in short, it’s a big quilt but that’s good for snuggling under right?  Case in point…

I also used up some stash fabric for the back, so it was a nice stash buster for me.

My quilting was sort of a freeform waves and spirals in sections. Doesn't really show up well on the pictures though. I used a gray-variegated thread which blended in nicely in most places.

Modern Maples was designed by the awesome Amanda Woodward-Jennings and can be found in the book Pretty in Patchwork Holidays.

That's it for today. Happy Sewing!