Sewing Scientist: March 2022

Perfect Place Quilt by Lifting Limits Quilting

I love the Perfect Place Quilt Pattern by Lifting Limits Quilting. When I test a quilt pattern I typically choose to test the option with the most colors.

Carrie, the pattern designer, already had several testers making scrappy and multicolor versions, so I said that I could make the limited color version.

I needed four prints (or solids) and a background. I had a few one yard cuts of a few of my designs from Spoonflower and decided was about time to make a quilt with only my fabrics, plus a solid background.

Two of my prints are rocks - Variscite and Parrot Wing chrysacolla. Two of the prints are a wood grain of a Sequoia tree. One I colorized in blue as the grain pattern reminded me of ocean waves. I picked a cotton and poly blend twill for the background.

The pattern is beginner friendly and only involves making flying geese and snowballed blocks. These simple shapes are combined to make a visually interesting pattern.

I made the throw size and love the finished size. I have a minky backing for it that is the Sequoia wood grain print to match the quilt.

I'm not sure I will let this quilt go. It's so beautiful and these fabrics are so special to me. Thankfully I can always buy more fabric.

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Week ending March 27, 2022

It's been one heck of a week. I did post a blog about the First Bloom Quilt Pattern by Kelly Renay.

It's a gorgeous Pattern that had be dreaming of spring in January when I was testing the pattern.

I did a fabric swap with two sewing friends at lunch one day. It was a lot of fun and I got some quilting cottons in trade.

My sewing machine went in for repair. It started randomly sewing backwards on me. Not fun! Stitchhouse had me back in business quick.

I prepped some fabric for English paper piecing (EPP). Can you spy my template? I'm going to make some Lucy Boston blocks.

I worked on my pattern test for Mix Measure Make and packed up my things to go stay with my mom for a bit.

I got to my moms house on Sunday at noon and got my blocks assembled. They look so fun. I did a scrappy version.

We were treated to dinner at my cousins house. My mom's birthday was yesterday. She fell and broke her wrist and will be having surgery tomorrow. That's why I'm staying with her.

I packed up my EPP things and some cross stitch stuff and will work on them while she has surgery. I also think I'll work on those hand crafting items at night when we relax and watch TV.

First Bloom Quilt Pattern by Kelly Renay

I am so happy that Spring is here! I think Spring is my favorite season, followed very closely by Summer. I can do completely without Winter. I was so excited to work on the pattern test for the First Bloom Quilt by Kelly Renay in the middle of Winter. I think I started on it in January.

I selected some fabrics from my favorite designer - Anna Maria Horner to make the throw sized First Bloom. Three of the prints I selected have flowers on them.

I knew I wanted to use a bright green in my quilt to signify the first leaves on a seedling. They are often such a bright vivid green against the bare soil. I also wanted some blue for the clear blue skies of Spring. I also needed the Coral to signify the color of many blooming plants.

I bought an aqua speckled quilt backing for this throw and need to set aside some time to quilt it.

Before I made the throw size First Bloom, I made the pillow size which is a 20" square. I was inspired to make this size as a mini quilt for a tiny quilt rack I picked up at a thrift store. I need to make a second mini size quilt in an 18" size for the lower rung of the mini quilt rack, then I'll put them on display in my sewing room. Until then, my cat Smaug has been using this has his blankie.

I made this version using scraps and I think it is my favorite - don't tell my throw version. Since it is finally Spring and my Daffodils are putting on quite a show this year, I had to get a photo of my First Bloom with them.

I should have probably have taken these photos a week ago - before we had our first Spring thunderstorm which kinda knocked my daffodils down a bit.

The First Bloom Quilt is a quick and easy sew. It is beginner friendly and I can assure you the pillow size is super fun to make with scraps.

Week ending March 20, 2022

I had a busy week! I had 2 "normal" blog posts this week. This coming week is going to be extremely busy as well. The Blue Grotto Quilt by Lifting Limits Quilting was released and I was so excited to finally share my version. See that Blog Post HERE.

I am loving being an ambassador for Jaftex Fabrics and I got a package in the mail from them for a challenge we have coming up. They sent a variety of "blender" fabrics for me to have on hand to use as they send me future collections to work on. The card that was enclosed was so cute. I think I will frame the front and hang it in my sewing room.

We will be doing a challenge this Spring using the Creative Grids 6" Scrap Crazy templates and got a booklet on pattern idea by Karen Montgomery. I'm excited for the challenge and already have an idea in mind. Now I just have to wait and see what fabrics I am sent.

I ordered myself a rotating cutting mat! As I work on my pattern test for Mix Measure Make, I thought it might make life easier when trimming blocks.

Just working away on some four at a time flying geese.

Finally have all my flying geese made!

I also had a blog post for a t-shirt pattern that released - The Bondi 22 and Add-on Sleeve pack from Sinclair Patterns. Read that post HERE.

On Friday I went to Stitchhouse for Fun Friday! They had 35% off all fabric and it was definitely a good time for me to buy a few wide quilt backs. I eyed those gorgeous Melody Miller floral ones but couldn't decide which one to get! But I'm going back this coming week to take my machine in for a repair and they will still be on sale so I will grab one then.

After ironing all my flying geese I had to snap a few photos.

I laid out my pieces to start making units and realized that I had not made all the half square triangle that I needed. I had the fabrics already cut. I just hadn't sewn them. And I'm not sure why....

I had to wash a pillow size version of a quilt to take photos. Smaug loves sleeping with this little mini quilt. The post for it will be live on March 22. But the pattern is already available in a sneaky early release here.

I really hope I can say that I'm done (or almost done) with my pattern test for Mix Measure Make next Sunday. I'm going to put away laundry and work on it a bit more before this Sunday ends.

Have a great week everyone!

Sinclair Patterns Bondi 22 and Add-on Sleeve Pack

It is no secret that I love Sinclair Patterns. They are one of the few pattern companies that makes a petite, regular, and tall version of every pattern. At 5' tall I am under the height range for the petite size, but it still fits me way better than other designers patterns - most of which are drafted for a 5' 5" - 5' 7" height. When I saw the tester call for the updated Bondi (Now Bondi 22) I was all in! Since I have been working from home, I find myself wear t-shirts frequently and store bought never fit my short curvy frame.

When the pandemic started in 2020 I actually tested a t-shirt pattern for another designer. At the time I thought I'd be back to work in a few months and wouldn't get much wear of the t-shirt. I used some knit fabric that was kind of ugly - because why would I waste my "good" fabric on something I won't ever wear? Well, I have worn the crap out of that ugly tee. This time, I was not making that mistake. I grabbed for my favorite 1 yard cuts of cotton spandex knits immediately.

I love plants and love Coleus. When I found this print at Jumping June Textiles - I had to have it! It makes me so happy to have a t-shirt now made with it. This was the first version made in testing and even though the fit isn't perfect - I'll still wear this - a lot. It still fits way better than store bought. For this one I made a size 8 bust graded to 14 hips based on my measurements.

I then quickly made another Bondi, but this time I used a size 10 for my bust. I hoped that this would help with the fit between the armscye and the neck. Sizing up did help a bit, but still not perfect. What was perfect was my v-neck.

This print gave me all the Spring vibes and I will be wearing it so much as we enter Spring. I got this from EBS fabrics many years ago. The shop is no longer in business.

It's hard to see, but the print is a floral filled with butterflies and caterpillars.

Then version 2 came out and I tried the size 8 again graded to 14 hips. Fit did not improve as the sleeves and armscye were made smaller.

Not a perfect fit, but I still have a perfect v-neck. I might fix this one to the final version, but I might just leave it. I've worn it and it was comfortable and didn't bother me.

Then the Sleeve Pack was released to testers. I decided to size up to the size 10 bust and hope to get a better fit in the armscye. It was better than the size 8, but it was still tight. I chose the 3/4 length bishop sleeves and made the scoop neck Bondi.

The sleeves were a little too long and needed to be revised. I love this butterfly print. It makes me think of my grandmother and spring. Can you tell I have Spring fever?

I then decided to go rouge. I printed the size 14 armscye and traced it onto my size 10 Bondi and printed out the new 3/4 length bishop sleeve. *Disclaimer - there was one other version I made with 3/4 length bishop sleeves, but the sleeves were too long and I didn't photograph it.

This time I got a Great fit! For this final version I used athletic brushed poly from Zenith and Quasar. I love reading and have been enjoying audiobooks non-stop during the pandemic and now have my husband hooked. We now enjoy chatting about books after we have both listened to them.

I absolutely love the 3/4 length bishop sleeve. I find that this is a sleeve length that I wear often from September through May. It is truly trans-seasonal where I live. From June - August I wear tanks almost non-stop. Well at least as long as I am working from home, that is how I dress.

The Bondi 22 had a few revisions to the fit after I made my final version and I have not tried the final version that is available for purchase. From the sound of the changes, I think my fit issues have been addressed. I will make a point to try to make another Bondi tee within the next few weeks and will update my blog post - but I'll probably post on IG before I get around to posting an update here,. The Sleeve add-on pack has several other fun options and I hope to try them later. A few are short sleeve and I might try one this season, but the longer sleeve versions are the ones that appeal to me most and will definitely be on my sewing list for fall. Both patterns are on sale for a limited time.

Blue Grotto Quilt by Lifting Limits Quilting

Testing the Blue Grotto Quilt for Carrie of Lifting Limits Quilting really pushed my limits - but in a good way. This was the first quilt I had made using a template. My quilt didn't turn out perfect. Carrie tells me it isn't my fault. Either way - I still love my quilt and I'm determined to make another one to prove to myself that I can make it perfect. Okay - maybe not perfect, but better.

The Blue Grotto Quilt pattern has some great instructions for selecting fabrics. It tells you how many to should match each other and how many you can have that don't need to match anything. I loved having that kind of direction, but it didn't make it any easier for me to decide on my fabrics. I think I changed out fabrics at least 5 times before I started to cut them out.

I went into my stash of Anna Maria Horner fabrics for the Blue Grotto Quilt. For some reason I was really drawn to the warm colors I saw - especially golden yellow and coral pink. Since there is "blue" in the name, I did select a few prints that feature blue.

This quilt goes together pretty quick. I had to be careful keeping the number straight for each row. Besides using a template for some rows, the other rows are either solid strips or strips made of flying geese. I really loved putting this quilt together and have picked out a honey colored backing. I'm contemplating on how I want to quilt it and haven't decided yet. I'm tempted to have this be the first quilt that I completely free motion quilt and to do a simple wavy pattern.

I enjoyed testing for Carrie so much! This quilt was great to make with remnants and yardage. You can get by with less fabric when you don't use directional fabrics. I rarely use solids, but saw a few Blue Grotto Quilts made in solids during testing and they were stunning!