Sew sew modern / a little bit retro

This weekend I finished up my items for round 3 of the Sew Sew Modern swap.  My partner this round is very very talented - I was looking through her flickr photostream this week and realised I would definitely have to bring my A game!

I'm really pleased with how my items turned out and I hope my partner likes the slightly retro vibe.

I used the Beyond Measure pattern from Bloom and Blossom to make this sewing machine cover.  I thought it might be quite tricky since it looks so fancy with the piping and everything, but I found it remarkably easy to put together.  I think this is partly down to a really well designed pattern, and partly because I have been sewing quite a few 3 dimensional items lately.

I altered the measurements of the sewing machine cover slightly to fit my partner's sewing machine - I always think the mark of a good pattern is that it's pretty easy to customise to suit your requirements.  I also deviated from the pattern in my use of interfacing etc.  The pattern calls for fusible fleece and one layer of heavy weight interfacing - I had medium weight interfacing on hand so I interfaced both the exterior and the lining instead.  I also omitted the fusible fleece - I just really don't like working with it!  If I were to make this again, I would probably include a layer of cotton batting (I always have odd shaped pieces lying around), but it certainly has enough body without it - in these photos it is standing up by itself.

For the co-ordinating small item I made another 7" fabric bowl using the nesting fabric bowl pattern from a cuppa and a catch up.  I was inspired to add the binding around the top edge by these ones amy/badskirt made.

 

I'll be sending these lovelies off to my partner this week - can't wait for them to arrive!

Linking up with:

    

and with Finish it up Friday at crazy mom quilts.

Caturday Wisdom #35

Be aware, things are not always what they seem. 

A simple mouth inspection can be turned into this soppy crap. Ivy

As always, if you would like to send me adorable animal photos then get them to adrianneonthewindyside at gmail dot com. Have a great weekend!

The Jeanie Quilt

Ok, I hope you're in the mood for a long post. There are lots of lovely quilts for you to look at so you won't get bored, but feel free to grab a cuppa before you start!

Earlier this year a group of my friends and I took a class through Capital Quilter's guild, taught by fellow guild member Jeanie O'Sullivan.  Jeanie is a very talented quilter who combines a flair for colour with incredible technical skills and a level of attention to detail that I really admire.  Jeanie's quilts often have a traditional vibe with a playful touch that makes them really appealing, plus they are always beautifully beautifully made.

Jeanie was teaching us to make her Majoring in Botany quilt, the pattern for which has been featured in NZ Quilter magazine.  Majoring in Botany is a great name, but it's a bit of a mouthful, so we ended up calling this the Jeanie quilt (as in "how is your Jeanie quilt coming along?"). 

The general idea of Jeanie's Majoring in Botany quilt is to choose a feature fabric that is a large scale print with lots of colours in it.  Then you pull other large scale print fabrics in those colours to create the large borders, and choose a contrasting print for the narrow borders.  One of my favourite things about this pattern is how different the quilt can look depending on your fabric choices - it really lends itself perfectly to personalisation.  Happily, I've got photos of lots of different versions of this quilt to show you so you can see what I mean!

Jeanie O'Sullivan's original Majoring in Botany Quilt

Jeanie was kind enough to give me photos of her Majoring in Botany quilts and answer a few questions for the blog.  My questions are in bold and her answers are below.

How long have you been quilting?
I have been quilting for about 15 years but have always sewn (clothing, furnishings, embroidery).

How did you come up with the idea for your Majoring in Botany quilt?
One of the themes in my work is using big pieces of large scale patterned fabric in medallion style quilts. These are usually antiquey looking but I decided to try a more modern look as I had a lovely collection of large scale modern fabrics. Botany came out of this and was quite a restrained colour mix to suit the tastes of the recipient. I had so much fun making it that I soon made the second quilt in a much more exuberant colour mix. What I love about this quilt style is that you get to play extensively with colour and pattern without worrying about a detailed construction.

How many different versions have you made?
I have only made the two Botany style quilts but they are related to a number of my other medallion quilts. I am currently planning a red themed one.

What's your favourite part of quilting?
Its a bit hard to pick the best part... but probably that point where you have made part of the quilt and start to play with the blocks/sections - often I find at this bit that the quilt will start to tell me what it wants to do!



I totally relate to what Jeanie says about the quilt telling her what it wants to do!  I've definitely had that experience before.

I think the second version of this quilt that Jeanie made really shows the versatility of this pattern. It's so different to the original but still works with the same idea.

Jeanie's second quilt

My friend Anne made a version of Jeanie's quilt a couple of years ago.  This version is called A Rose in Grandma's Garden and was given to Anne's mother when she became a grandma.  I really really love the Anna Maria Horner print in the centre (I am hoarding some of this fabric) and the grey polka dot borders are very Anne (grey is her signature colour!).

A Rose in Grandma's Garden by Anne

Anne made a second version of this quilt in the class this year.  I really adore this version - it manages to be soft and punchy in a way that is very beautiful.  I think the central fabric was an excellent choice because it gives so many colours to work with in the borders.  Plus Anne's (very) extensive stash means she has been able to incorporate lots of absolutely gorgeous fabrics.

Anne's second version of this quilt

My friend Helen also took the class this year and she has created this beautiful quilt top (it's not quilted yet because it's waiting in the queue of...well, let's just say many, quilt tops in Helen's closet).  I love how Helen really made the most of all the subtle colour variations in her feature fabric.  It's very fresh and light but looks totally at home in this warm and almost mediterranean feeling quilt.  Helen also did an amazing job of bringing in fabrics from both sides of her stash - both modern and traditional.

Helen's quilt

This is my version of the quilt.  When I came to pick fabrics for this quilt, I realised that I am very inclined to buy smaller scale prints with a small number of colours in them.  Of course, this meant shopping, and I actually think this quilt helped balance my stash out a bit better.  Blenders are very useful but sometimes you want the larger scale prints for interest.  Anyway, my feature fabric is a Valori Wells print on a cotton/linen blend fabric - I really like it and I have more so it will definitely be making another appearance.  This quilt did take me a bit out of my comfort zone in the sense that it is super bright and very high contrast with the black and white polka dot borders, but I love it.

 

A great part of making this quilt in a class was getting to swap fabrics with other people, and all three of the quilts Anne, Helen and I made have fabrics from the other two in them.

Now, I have to show you the back of my quilt for two reasons.  One, it's minky!  I used batting as well so this is a lovely heavy soft snuggly quilt.  Two, I had to show you the quilting.  I'm not insane enough to try and quilt a large minky-backed quilt on my machine so Sue Burnett did the quilting on this one as well.  I can't remember was the quilting design is called, but it's lovely.

I really had a lot of fun making this quilt and I can definitely see myself making another version (or more!).  I just need to collect a few more fabrics that could work for the centre.

Quilt Stats
Pattern: Jeanie O'Sullivan's Majoring in Botany pattern

Finished Size: Approximately 70" square

Fabric: too many to name - ask me if you want to know what anything is! 

Backing: orange polka dot minky from Spotlight

Binding: Riley Blake Medium Dots in Black

Pieced by: me
Quilted by: Sue Burnett.

Linking up with finish it up friday at crazy mom quilts.

This quilt is the fifth of my third quarter goals that I've finished - yay!  I'll be linking up with Leanne at she can quilt at the end of September as part of the 2013 Finish Along.

Thoughts on blog sponsorship - a follow up

I thought it would be good to follow up on my post from last week when I was thinking about blog sponsorship.

I was a bit nervous about putting the post out there, but I'm so glad I did.  Thank you so much to everyone who commented - I really appreciated your insights and you provided me with some valuable perspective.  It was awesome to have a really honest, friendly and constructive conversation about quite a tricky subject.

Ralph's getting some perspective too!

I wanted to give a little summary of what I learned from the people who commented and where my thinking is at now.  So, from the comments I learned that most of you follow blogs for inspiration and enjoy seeing and reading about projects with originality and creativity.  Me too, so no surprises there!

Most readers said they find too much sponsored content a turn-off, especially if it replaces what used to be interesting and creative content.  People also find it disappointing when they feel like a blogger has compromised his or her integrity by promoting something he or she doesn't totally believe in.  I completely agree with this, and I'd even take it a step further and say that when a blogger engages in too much marketing activity it's hard to feel that blogger always genuinely means what they are saying.

That said, most readers didn't think that blog sponsorship was necessarily a bad thing, and most commenters thought it was possible to strike the right balance and do sponsorship well.  That was incredibly encouraging to me, and when I thought about it, I realised that there are plenty of blogs out there which incorporate sponsorship in a way that (to me) doesn't detract from their high quality content.  Several people advised me to start off slow and regularly re-assess, and that made me realise that I can try sponsorship out, but if I find it doesn't work for me, I'm not tied to it for the long term.

So where to from here?  I've decided to approach a small number of sponsors I know and love to see if they want to work together.  I'm going to restrict both the number of sponsors and the number of sponsored posts on my blog to make sure it doesn't feel like marketing is taking over.  And I'm going to keep doing exactly what I've been doing for the last year or so - making projects I'm excited about and sharing them with you.

Ivy's so excited about this project she can't even keep her tongue in her mouth!

Thank you again to everyone who commented on my post last week, and if you didn't get a chance to comment then, or you've had further thoughts, I'd love to hear from you!

Fresh Sewing Day

With the new month, it's time for Fresh Sewing Day over at Lily's Quilts.  The spring flowers are coming out here, and the days are getting longer.  I'm enjoying the slightly warmer weather and I don't mind that spring is usually pretty rainy - it's just more sewing time for me.

1. Low Volume Crosses Quilt, 2. Sewing Room Swap Baskets, 3. Pistols at Dawn Quilt, 4. Planes, Cars and Bikes Quilt, 5. My stash, 6. Fabric basket, 7. Neutral Modern Baby Quilt, 8. 9" thank you block, 9. Bright Modern Baby Quilt

I'm thinking some really bright fresh springy quilts will be in order this month.  I'll be making my first baby girl quilt of the year and I'm really excited about that.  I also can't wait to see some lovely autumn quilts from my northern hemisphere friends.  What are your plans for this month?