Tuesday, October 30, 2012

WIP Wednesday, 10/31/12

Ordinarily I would complain that it is Halloween and supposed to be 79 degrees tonight. However, that is just a temperature, of no consequence whatsoever. My thoughts and prayers go out to everyone even remotely touched by Superstorm Sandy.

It seems like I am still consumed by DIY projects, some of which will be revealed tomorrow, because they are kind of random (and also include an epic fail).

Other than that, I have been knitting, and all my Azekura knitted log cabin blocks are done. Now to figure out how to sash them and turn them into an afghan.

And I'm nearly done with the wedding present for two dear friends, full reveal on Friday.
I'm linking to Lee at Freshly Pieced.

Thursday, October 25, 2012

Blogger's Quilt Festival: One in Every (Kona) Color

It's always fun when Blogger's Quilt Festival rolls around. Amy puts a lot of time into it, so thanks, Amy!

I know a lot of you have already seen this, but honestly, One in Every (Kona) Color is my favorite finish of 2012 so far.
I was trying to duplicate the Kona color card, since I just adore working with solids, and used the iconic Pantone color blocks as my inspiration.
It started with trimming lots of charm pack squares,
printing out lots of labels that included the color number and name,
and then meticulously matching them up to reproduce the Kona color card.
 All of their 243 colors is represented. I had some spaces to fill so I added some other information from the color card, including washing instructions. This turned out to be a good idea, because not only did it fill the space that needed to be filled, it gave the eye a place to rest in all that sea of color.
I thought and thought about how to quilt it. While not a fan of stitch-in-the-ditch, except for a line of quilting through the white labels, everything else is stitched in the ditch. There were so many colors to take into consideration and I also didn't want anything to detract from all the color.

I used the wonky alphabet by Kelby Sews for the back,

black and white striped binding a la Red Pepper Quilts,
and ended with a tribute to Pantone, the initial inspiration for the quilt, a label using the color of the year, Tangerine Tango.
This was such a fun quilt to make. Thanks for stopping by, and enjoy the rest of the Quilt Festival--there is so much to see!
Quilt Stats:
Size: 63x72 inches
Quilted by: Me
Best Category: Throw, ROYGBIV

Really Random Thursday, 10/25/12

Do you have weeks where you are spending your time creating and not blogging? Or blog reading and not creating? For some reason I can't seem to do both at the same time.....the key word being "time," as in not enough time to do both.

And also I got a jury summons for this week, so every day seems like a countdown until 5 p.m. where I find out if I'm on call for the next day or actually have to trek downtown. That seems to be affecting my frame of mind as I keep checking the clock to see how long until I can make the dreaded phone call at 5 p.m. to find out my fate for the next day. Have any of you been on a jury?

So anyway...to keep my mind off things I have been cleaning up, clearing out, and doing some DIY projects around the house. Last week I posted a picture of the new shelf in our entryway. The picture on the left was my inspiration photo.
I really had my heart set on the vase in the magazine photo, and I actually found that vase at Pier 1. Thankfully I had my tape measure with me because the base is 14" and my shelf is only 12". So I stopped by World Market and found an even better vase. Project completed.

Next I attempted some modern art. My friend, Vicki, did the most awesome painting (on the left in the picture below) by just dripping paint down a canvas and then spraying it with water as it dribbled down. So I went to Joann's and got a 30x40 inch canvas (50% off) and bottles of acrylic paint (only 59 cents each).
I was attempting "planned chaos," and posted that phrase on Instagram. Ken Kaufman (CEO of Robert Kaufman fabrics--gasp!) commented on the photo and said he liked the phrase "controlled spontaneity." I think I like that one better too. Of course there is no way mine would be just like Vicki's and I like her drips halfway down. But I'm pretty happy with mine. And Mark likes it. So that's a big plus.
Next up--recovering our two kitchen chairs. It only took a yard of home dec fabric (50% off from Hancock's).
I had enough fabric to have that big flower match on each chair, but I used a different flower on the second chair.
 This was actually Mark's idea. He said, "Why would you match them? You love things that are mismatched." True enough.
So now I need an opinion. I painted this perpetual calendar in 1976 when I was in my tole painting phase. 
I have enjoyed it all these years but now it just looks so dated. I thought about painting the whole thing black, covering all the daisies. But then I got kind of nostalgic about it. I think I'll just pack it away for now. Would you keep it on the wall as is? Pack it away? Paint over the flowers?

I repurposed this shelf. It used to be in the hallway displaying a collection of angels. It has a new life as thread storage.
I'll end with a little orangey goodness. Amanda Jean is a cover girl. Such a fun orange quilt.
A friend was going through some of her quilting magazines and sent this picture to me.
And today Deborah gave me an early birthday present, wrapped in orange tissue and tied with a (very usable) strip of fun orange fabric.
Of course it's fun to close with a picture of my craft partner. We made these cute little paper cone people with Halloween costumes (if you have small children, this is a really fun project.) So when we lined them all up and I asked him to give me a funny face, he was more than happy to oblige.
It's your turn. Feel free to be chatty. 



Friday, October 19, 2012

Friday Misc.

First of all, the winner of the Chevron Accent Throw quilt pattern is Judi, who said:

I've never made a chevron quilt, but it's on my list of things to do. I agree with you - I love that it's an uneven chevron. How fun would it be to do this in Charlie Brown colors :)

I think this quilt done in Charlie Brown colors is a genius idea!  Judi, I have forwarded your contact information and you should receive your quilt pattern shortly.


A few weeks ago I participated in Lindsay's Craft Book Month series, making a selvage bucket from Sunday Morning Quilts. Lindsay is featured on the Stash Books blog today, along with a recap of the projects made from Stash Books.

I have many Stash books in my craft library. What about you? Do you have a lot of books? Do you just read them, or do you make projects from them?

I hope you have a wonderful weekend. It's supposed to cool down here in the Central Valley of California. That can't happen soon enough for me!

Thursday, October 18, 2012

Really Random Thursday: 10/18/12

Highly recommended reading:
I know it's inching toward the holiday season, but our temperature is inching upward to 95 tomorrow! That's just wrong...
I've been in a bit of house updating mode lately. That happens every five to seven years. I used to love my "red licorice" wall in the bedroom. No longer. It is scheduled for repainting in November.
 So Mark made sure I read this article which was in the paper on Monday.
I told him I was a trendsetter--ahead of my time...

Inspiration from a magazine for our entryway:
Before:
After:
I actually found the vase in the inspiration picture at Pier 1 but I'm not sure I want to spend the $30. What do you think?

Another before picture:
And after:
Yes, go ahead and say it. She is adorable!

My father and our grandson, separated by nearly 84 years. Love this picture!
What's been happening in your world?

Monday, October 15, 2012

The Name Game: Creating At Home, a pattern review and a giveaway!


Several months ago (much longer than I would like to admit), Cindy from Creating At Home asked me to do a pattern test of her Chevron Accent Throw quilt pattern. I was really excited, because for a long time I had been wanting to do a chevron quilt based on a favorite sweater.
She sent me the pattern and I took it along when I spent a weekend in June quilting at a friend's cabin. I finished the top, and although I planned on reviewing the pattern in summer, somehow it ended up folded and living in a stack of other quilt tops.
A couple of weeks ago,I realized I had been completely remiss in reviewing the pattern. So the first part of today's triple play will be a pattern review of the Chevron Accent Throw.
First of all, Cindy states that the skill level for making this quilt is beginner. I would agree. It is very well written, including great instructions and photographs  to walk you through sewing and trimming half-square triangles.

As written in the pattern, there are three block configurations, which are then sewn together in four rows of four blocks each. The cool thing is that you make a total of eight Block 1 (and four each of the other two block configurations), and then in four spots, you just turn Block 1 around end for end to continue the chevron pattern--easy peasy.

It is written as a two-color quilt. Of course, I added to the degree of difficulty by making it with seven different colors, which meant I had to follow the diagram, but instead of sewing it together block by block, I sewed it together row by row. That took a little bit longer, and is a complete deviation away from the pattern as it is written, but it adds to the pattern's versatility. The other thing I really like is that is an uneven chevron.
I'm so happy with this quilt. I love how it was just the right size and number of rows to mimic my sweater.
After using no. 8 perle cotton on my Amish quilt, I wanted to do something similar with this one. I still have some bugs to work out with quilting with the thick thread, and then I noticed some Sulky brand100 percent cotton, size no. 12, in my LQS. It might be the answer--a little thinner than the no. 8, but still thick enough to make a big impact.
So, now more about Cindy and her blog.

How did you choose the name for your blog?


When I started my blog in 2006 (http://www.creatingathome.com/2006/09/new-ribbon.html) I was a Stampin' Up! Demonstrator and wanted to have a blog to share my cards and scrapbooking pages with other stampers. I also needed a name for my growing downline group. At that time I chose "imagine. dream. create." as my blog name and I loved it/lived with it for several years. Once I gave up stamping and turned my pursuits more towards quilting, sewing and diy I decided my blog needed a fresh new look and a new name, too. I wanted the name to encompass all of my hobbies and not be too specific. At first I thought of "Creating a Home", but it was already taken and then I thought "Creating at Home" was the perfect name for my blog! Now I go back and forth on it and think I could've come up with something better, but I'll stick with this. It was a bit of a pain to switch everything over to the new name and domain and I am sure I lost some blog readers during the switch!



Were there other names you considered, and can you share any of them with us?


Sure, it may be embarrassing, but that's ok! lol Some others I considered were Ruffles and Rosettes, Keefers Cabin no. 73 (which is the name I decided to give my new Etsy shop and pattern designs), Sew Much, Creative Pursuits, and I even considered naming it Cindy Keery, after myself. 'Glad I didn't go with that last one cuz that would just be weird.









Now that you are recognized by your blog name, are you happy with it, or do you wish you could change it to something else?

I'm happy with the name overall. Just recently I was introduced in person as "Cindy from Creating at Home" to a group of enthusiastic women. It was a little surreal that I'd be known by my blog name, but it made me so happy.
You might have noticed that not only are there pictures of quilts, but also some yummy food. I hope you will head over to Creating at Home, because there are hints on painting furniture, slip covering, recipes, really such a broad spectrum of wonderful things to help you create a warm and inviting home.

Cindy has also generously offered to give away one Chevron Accent Throw pattern. So, let's see. Have you ever made a chevron quilt?
I'll choose a winner on Wednesday, October 17, at 6 p.m. PDT.

Thanks for playing The Name Game this week, Cindy. I'll be working my way through your archives to pick up some ideas for doing some creating here in my home!