Weekend Workshops! French General LA

It's time for The Art of Craft at French General, one of my favorite shop for all things crafty. This is also the group that I will be going to France with in June for a week of crafting in the countryside around Toulouse. I cannot wait!

First night we made button bracelets using mother of pearl vintage buttons, glass beads and stretch elastic. I love these cute little things. I put all mine together and tied a ribbon on them. Very satisfying, quick craft that looks sweet. I think these would be an excellent thing to make with your daughters if you have them; or, to make and give away for quick but stunning little gifts.

Today's workshop is the Sailor's Valentine which is super cute & just in time for Valentine's day gift giving.

Special thanks to my table mates who were pretty hilarious and interesting women. The best part of these workshops is getting to know like minded women who share similar life experiences openly and warmly! Amy, Julie and Julie.... so much fun!

Next up: Quilting the Neptune Quilt

I love the fabric line I used in this quilt. It's called Neptune and no longer available. I finally have got around to quilting this top - it's small enough for me to manage on my machine.

I started out with 1" apart straight lines following the larger/overall diamond shape that the rounds of triangles make. But, when I looked at my progress, I realized they just didn't add enough interesting texture. So, I'm going back and filling in with 1/2" apart lines. It's going to take longer, but it's going to look so much better.

Stay tuned for the final product. I should finish by the end of the weekend (I hope). My back is already killing me :)

Today's Project: Binding Ayve's quilt

Back in the summer, my niece Alicia requested a quilt for her new baby Penny and toddler daughter, Ayve. The color scheme was (fortunately) one of my favorites: gray, yellow and white. The first quilt out of the gate was the baby-sized quilt for Penny. I loved making the big graphic zig zag in one of my favorite lines, Aviary2 by Joel Dewberry.

Next up was a twin-size bed quilt for Ayve. This quilt is a simple, modern square design using the same fabric line. I finished that quilt top very quickly, but since it is somewhat large - quilting it in my usual way at home just wasn't an option. I love to quilt baby and toddler sized quilts, but anything larger becomes a nightmare of shoulder-wrenching wrestling between me, the quilt, the machine and the dining room table. The quilt pattern, should you need one, is from Elizabeth Hartmann's book, The Practical Guide to Patchwork, and the quilt is called "Small Plates". I'm pretty sure I adjusted it because I always do, but that's the basis.

I had this quilt quilted by Shelley Cannon, my aunt Mary's friend who lives in Oklahoma (thus providing a necessary connection to my quilting heritage since I learned how to quilt there). It's just lovely.

Today I am binding the quilt. This is one of my favorite steps in the process because despite all the tools and progress in modern quilting, binding is still done the old fashioned way by most quilters. That is, you stitch down strips of fabric to the top of the quilt and then handstitch to the reverse side. The process is very therapeutic - all that hand stitching - and gives it a satisfying homemade finish.

More photos when the project is complete!

And - COMPLETE! mailed off today!

Fabric of the week. Dolce by Tanya Whelan.

I love the varied scale of this fabric as well as color way. Not sure what I'm going to do with it yet. A quilt, of course, and clearly girly.

The first thing I thought when I saw these lovely prints was "linens!"  Tanya has them worked up in pillow cases on the banner of her site, here. 

Just visiting that site, I am reminded that one of the things that brought me back to quilting avidly was designers like Tanya who were creating modern interpretations and uses of traditional fabrics and patterns. She, Amy Butler, Anna Maria Horner, Heather Bailey and a host of others made it fun again! I have always had an ongoing need to sew and quilt, but it used to wane for a year at a time. These days, I can't wait to work with the fantastic fabrics that are available every week it seems. (My favorite online fabric shops are Fabricworm, which puts together great bundles of coordinates; hawthorne threads, which has a lovely newsletter; and Quilthome which provides great coupons.

Looking back, looking forward.

A fun mosaic maker on the web let's you pull all your flickr set photos together to make a grid. So thus are my quilt projects; this collection spans several years.

My goal in 2012 is a quilt a month. Let's see how I do! (right now I have a commission from a friend so that's the first order of business after organizing my sewing and crafting areas.)

xo, d.