sew very right

I've been kinda swept up and busy juggling several projects at once over here. This change of season always does that to me - kicks me into high gear and causes me to want to make all of the things. One project that I have been enjoying immensely is this quilt top I just finished for a modern baby quilt class I'll be teaching at Gather Here starting Tuesday, October 11th. It's a 2-part class. The first session, we work on the top - how to make a Drunkard's Path block, how to layout your top. The second session, we work on quilting and binding. I'm really looking forward to this class. This quilt has been on the top of my must-make list for a while, ever since I saw this piece of graphic design on pinterest.

Drunkard's Path blocks are super-easy to make, and I was able to blast through these pretty quickly. It's also the type of block that easily lends itself to a plethora of design options, which is great because hey, options are a good thing, right? Once you know how to make one of these blocks, you have the ability to make any of dozens and dozens different designs or just invent your own. I think that will be my next exercise/project for myself.  I want to experiment with these quarter circles and see what I end up with. That is, if I can tear myself away from triangles for long enough, but that's another story for another day....

jammin'

I had to do it. Thanks to Adrian and Sarah and their many delicious-sounding jams and jellies, I bought a humongous pot that's almost too big for our wee stove and some jars and got to it. I couldn't resist! The inspiration these two ladies have been steadily providing has been tremendous what with their prolific canning of the most mouth-watering recipes. My first couple of attempts were tasty but not quite the consistency I was aiming for, like the raspberry jelly that was somewhere between a syrup and a jelly. Next, there was the blueberry chile jam. That came out wonderfully, but that was more of a fluke than my actually knowing what I was doing. Then, there was a massive fail - the lavender blueberry butter that I burnt so badly it tasted like death in a jar. I gag just thinking about it. Anyway, there was some redemption in the form of a blackberry jam that was a little runny, but at least it wasn't death in a jar. All of my batches have been small, producing only 2 or 3 of the larger 8 ounce jelly jars at most in one go, but I've been enjoying the process and the more successful results.

When Adrian and Sarah posted/tweeted about tomato jam, I had to make some because it sounded amazing and you know, why not? So far, this sweet and spicy tomato jam has been my most successful attempt at canning. Granted, I went a little heavy with the cinnamon. I always forget that the particular container I used lacks the wee holes and when I went to shake some out, I accidentally poured it instead. I tried to temper it with some extra lemon and some crushed up sage that I had dried from our garden, and that seemed to do the trick. The texture and consistency are more or less what I wanted them to be. And good god, it is scrumptious! Adrian was right. My grilled cheese sandwich this afternoon thanked me tons for it. I think I may need to make more of this soon before the tomatoes are totally done for the season.

what I did on my summer vacation - pt. 2

I joined the Boston Modern Quilt Guild. I had been to a couple of meetings before, but this summer I officially joined. Granted I haven't been able to make it to all the meetings and sew-ins, partly because I don't drive and partly because I sometimes get overwhelmed by big groups. However, I have enjoyed the few I've been to - these are some talented, funny, and wicked smart women.

When Laurie announced the Modern Quilt Guild Challenge using prints from Jay McCarroll's Habitat line, I just had to participate. I had been meaning to get my hands on some of these prints for a while, and this was such a perfect opportunity to play with them. I decided to do a pretty traditional design playing with the colors in the prints. I was super-grateful that we were able to use as many solids as we wanted for this challenge because that allowed me some more options in playing with the design and layout of the pieces.

I toyed with the idea of making a crib quilt, but I wasn't happy with how it looked sashed. I like the triangles butting up right next to the binding. It doesn't freeze the movement the way that a wider border would. And can I tell you how happy I am with this binding? I love a skinny ass binding. I almost want to make all my future bindings this thin.

So measuring 24 x 33 inches, I'm calling it a miniquilt and have titled it "flying to modern habitats." I unfortunately will not be able to make it to the next meeting where everyone will share their challenge projects, but I have been thoroughly enjoying people's entries on the flickr group. 

If you're interested in trying your hand at some flying geese, the purl bee has an excellent tutorial on how to make 'em.

what I did on my summer vacation - pt.1

I rarely spent any time indoors this summer. Save for some some ridiculously hot days where I couldn't stand the thought of leaving the air-conditioning, most of my time was spent either at various playgrounds or in the backyard, with a few out of town trips thrown in here and there. Suffice it to say, I appreciate a good picnic blanket. When Virginia at gather here asked me to put together a nine-patch picnic quilt, I was delighted. She picked out the fabrics, and I got to work.

Nine-patch quilts are so basic but beautiful. I whipped up the top over a weekend, taught the class, hand-tied the quilt, attached the binding as part of the class demo, then just kind of forgot about it. Two weeks later I was hanging out in the backyard and decided to start stitching a little section of the binding down every day. So there it is. Easy-going, easy as pie. The perfect project for lazy summer days.

bits and bobs of bats

I've been meaning to blog, but you know how that goes sometimes. There is so much awesome stuff going on right now, and I've been enthusiastically making stuff again (I'm happy to report). I am finally getting around to executing some ideas I have had for far too long, and it feels great. I've been meaning to make a bat mobile since shortly before the kid was born. That's what? Well over 16 months at least. While coming up with a project for a Halloween-themed class at gather here, I already had what I thought was a great idea to begin with, so I ran with it. Now to figure out where I can get a spinny little music box type attachment that plays Ozzy's Mr Crowley....