Sewing Scientist: 2023

Week ending December 10, 2023

I got a few things done this week some I can't share for a bit. I made a block using the French Quarter Quilt Pattern from Maywood Studio.

I received a box of wideback 1 yard cuts from Jaftex.

They also sent a 2.5 yard cut of dimple minky. It was perfect for my Karnak Quilt so I immediately put it on my longarm and finished it.

I made a wonky hexagon log cabin block.

I received my fabrics for January to sew for Jaftex.

I got started right away.

I have surgery coming up and I'll be traveling for work in January. I need to get ahead while I can.

I took a break and pulled out a wip bin and put it on the design wall. I got this unfinished quilt from a lady along with a bunch of other fabrics.

I finished it - mostly. The pattern calls for two borders. I need to see if I have enough fabric for them.

This week I plan to continue working on my January project and then I might work on more wips. I have surgery this coming week and won't be able to do much for a few days.

I'm really happy with what I was able to get done in my sewing room this week. I finished a throw sized Karnak Quilt - Pattern by Tessellate Textiles. I had all my columns pieced last week and I just had to sew them together this week. I need to decide on a backing and get this one quilted.

I finished sewing all my scrappy HSTs for a pattern I tested for Rachelle Handmade.

I got my binding cut and prepared for this quilt I made for the FreeSpirit Fabrics Influencer tour.

Here are the scrappy blocks I made with all those HSTs.

During the Black Friday sales, I bought some charm packs and label pieces from Mami Wata for my Black History Month Quilt for 2024. I found a pattern I liked that takes 5" charms and had some solid black charms that I could use with them for a quick but beautiful quilt. I'm hoping that I can find the time to make at least 2 quilts to auction in February.

I received fabric from Minerva. The floral print is a cotton lawn by Dashwood Studios. The green is a sheeting that I will use for a quilt backing.

I finally made the Minerva Victoria Blouse and used this plaid also from Minerva.

On Sunday I finished making a blouse using the Dashwood Studios Cotton Lawn. Modeled photos of both will be done when I am no longer wearing a boot on my foot.

I ended my Sunday playing with fabrics to make a few quilt blocks. This one is not sewn together yet and just sitting on my design wall. This pattern is called the Friendship Star. I thought it would be fun to fussy cut this Tula Pink fabric.

This week I'm hoping to be able to lose the walking boot and get some things photographed that I have finished recently. I also want to get my FreeSpirit Quilt bound so it is finished and I can find a fun location to take photos. I'll be revealing the finished project in January. Then, I'm hoping to go through my WIPs (works in progress) and see if I can get any finished before my next surgery on December 15th.

Crushed Velvet Nusle Joggers

I've had the idea to make a pair of velvet joggers for a bit. I needed the right fabric for them. When I saw the Tranquil Moment crushed velvet at Minerva, I knew it was the perfect choice.

The photos of this print really do not show the colors well. The background if a lovely dark plum and the print has a beautiful light green and taupe.

The velvet has a very light crushed texture. I took care to ensure all my pieces were cut with the nap going in the same direction.

The velvet has 60% horizontal stretch and very little vertical stretch. It met the requirements for the Itch to Stitch Nusle Joggers. These joggers have a great fit and are easy to make. I also made a tee with an oatmeal colored french terry to pair with my joggers. These will be nice to wear into fall.

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Minerva Toweling

The Minerva Core Range Luxury Cotton Toweling is simply amazing! I made hand towels for the kitchen last year with the grey color and my whole family loves these towels. I decided it was time to make new hand towels for the master bathroom and the guest suite. The Minerva Core Range Luxury Toweling was a must. Picking a color was extremely difficult and I finally decided on the Flax color since it felt very neutral.

This toweling is nice and thick and super absorbent. It is nicer than any store bought towel I own. I really love making my own hand towels as I can make them any size I want. While you could finish the edged by simply folding the edge under twice and stitching down, I prefer finishing my towel edges with a cotton binding. I find this holds up better and longer, plus - it gives me a chance to add a little bit of flair to my towels.

Both my master bathroom and the guest suite have free standing towel holders on the counter by the sink. I have had a difficult time finding towels that are just the right size for these holders. I measured the distance between the ring of the towel stand and the counter and set that as the maximum height of my towels. Since I had previously made towels for these stands, I used the current towels for a guide for the width. Toweling shrinks after being washed the first time and I did not prewash my toweling. I wanted to cut my new towels slightly larger so they would shrink to fit.

My master bath is mostly a cream colored marble with teak wood accents. I decided to use cotton binding that had shades of blue-green for a pop of color. My guest suite is mostly a black marble, with some natural travertine and a teak wood wall. I used some cotton binding that was mostly black for these towels. These towels will last me many years.

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Week ending November 26, 2023

I took some time off this week and while I took it fairly easy, I did get a few things done in my sewing room. I also got in some sewing related mail. I got in this amazing assortment of fabric from the Quilty Wishes event. I had 3 wishes - fabric to make quilts to auction off for Black History Month, Earth Day, and Hispanic Heritage Month. I will need to get to work soon on my quilt (hopefully quilts) for Black History Month which is in February.

When I can't sew, I tend to browse online shops. I purchased these items from Gotham Quilts as they had a great sale as they close their physical store. I might have placed a second order when they made final markdowns right after I got this package.

We put up our Christmas tree and that meant the Christmas quilt was hung as well. The quilt is New Mercy by Fieldstone Fabrics.

I pressed all my pieces and trimmed the wings off my HSTs for a Karnak Quilt (Pattern by Tessellate Textiles).

I managed to put a few blocks up on the design wall to figure out which way I wanted them to go.

I received a second Quilty Wish - this time a gorgeous Alexander Henry Dia de Los Muertos print.

I cut out my Victoria Blouse pattern and hope to make this soon.

Here's a sneak peek of my project for FreeSpirit Fabrics. I was sent the Rising Jungle Collection by Catalina Estrada. It is a beautiful collection and I have made the Victory Block Quilt (Pattern by Victoria Findlay Wolfe). I was able to get it on my longarm and quilt it this week.

I also put binding on three quilts that had been finished for awhile. No photos of them at the moment. I am hoping to make the Victoria Blouse this week and continue working on my Karnak Quilt. I actually have 2 Karnak quilts to make. I misread the directions and cut out twice as many pieces as I needed. So I decided to add in another color to one of them to make it a little different.

Midnight Rendezvous Harmony Quilt

I received the Midnight Rendezvous Collection by Raquel Maciel for Blank Quilting for my September sew for Jaftex. I feel in love with this collection immediately and envisioned not one, but two quilts.

This quilt is my darkness quilt and was inspired by the darkness of the night sky. I used the Harmony Quilt pattern by Villa Rosa Designs for this quilt. I picked this pattern because it had squares that matched the size of the panels from this collection.

I selected all the dark purple prints from the collection for this quilt. To balance all the dark prints, I added in some solids from my scrap bin for a punch of color.

I used the panels for half of the large squares in the quilt and I used the large scale dark purple print with the moon and flowers for the rest of the large squares. I think this shows off the beautiful panels and the large scale print perfectly.

The remaining dark purple prints were cut into rectangles. I also used the border pieces from the panel piece for the rectangles.

My solid scraps were all cut into squares and I tried to mix them up so that they were evenly distributed across the quilt.

I quilted the quilt on my longarm using a fast feathers pantograph. The backing is a solid pink 60" wide fabric I picked up at the thrift store.

I really love both quilts that I made with this collection. This was one of my favorite collections to sew for Jaftex.

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The Lady by Villa Rosa Designs

The collection could be divided in a lightness and a darkness. I felt that they needed to be two different quilts. The light prints made me think of the full moon and its bright glow. I added a few solid colors from my scrap bin in shades of green and a greyish blue to make the Villa Rosa Designs The Lady Quilt.

This quilt pattern was quick and easy to make. I think it shows off the prints in this collection beautifully. The background is the Ivory print and it features gold crescent moons and stars.

I also used the Ivory moths, light purple crescent moons and flowers, light purple full moons with flowers, and the green leaves prints from the collection.

The colors of these prints were all very light and subdued.

I tried my best to mix up the prints and solids so that I didn't have the same prints touching. I quilted the quilt on my longarm, and used a moon flower pantograph.

For the backing, I used a flat sheet I had in my stash that matched the light purple prints. I love how this quilt turned out.

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Week ending November 19, 2023

Well, this past week didn't quite go as planned. I was in DC for work and came home Tuesday to these new Simply Tidy cabinets from Michael's that my husband bought and assembled for me.

On Wednesday I saw the podiatrist and he said it was time to schedule surgery for tarsal tunnel decompression. They happened to have an opening for Friday, so I took it.

I had to stay off my feet over the weekend and was able to get caught up on some blog posts. The photo below is a Blick from the Plus 5 quilt pattern I tested for Thread to Thread that released this past week.

I also spent time taking out the hems on this thrifted fabric so I can reuse it.

I worked on my Lucy Boston blocks.

I finally took the Exhausted Octopus Sea Glass quilt class.

I've become good friends with a knee scooter and can't wait to get this bandage off my foot. I'll be using a walking boot beginning tomorrow and will see the doctor for my post op appointment on Wednesday.

Hopefully I'll be able to spend more time in my sewing room with the walking boot on.