stash

I should just put it out there that I’m horrible at keeping secrets.  HORRIBLE!  The Indy Modern Quilt Guild hosted a Sneaky Santa swap this year.  We went through an automated service that randomly assigns you to people.  The system matched me with one of my best friends Rachael.  I knew almost immediately what I wanted to make, but had to be extra sneaky about it.

A little about Rachael

Rachael wanted something supporting feminism as she helps run a global non profit focused on the needs of women.  Have you heard of Support the Girls?  My wonderful friend had a goal a couple of years ago to collect 3500 bras to celebrate her 35th birthday.  She exceeded that goal in first few months.  She is helping to lead the change on how women can have access to undergarments and menstrual products.  Here basement is usually stuffed with bras, tampons, and pads.  Okay, she usually have bras all over her house.  I am proud of the work she is doing and the lives she is impacting.

You can read about more about her story here, here, and here.

There is no stopping this woman.

I wanted to make her a bra pot holder.  I was almost certain she didn’t have bras in her kitchen.  Over the weekend she informed me she did actually have some in her kitchen right now.  Of course!  In my research I found this paper piece pattern for a bra.  Thank goodness for secret boards on Pinterest.  We follow each other on social media, Pinterest, and usually ride to guild meetings together.  Plus we live around a mile from each other, it’s not unusual for us to pop over to each other’s houses.  I had it worked out with another member to run the package over to her house before the meeting so she could bring it.

The bra took no time to make.  I backed it in a bold print and shared this photo on Instagram of the back.

Sneak peek of my Santa Swap item for the #imqgsecretsanta. I can show you the rest on Sunday.

A post shared by tisha nagel (@quiltytherapy) on Dec 1, 2017 at 4:58pm PST

The finished product

Rachael guessed it was a house and immediately thought it was for her.  She had part of it correct.  When she opened it Sunday she saw the back and was excited.  She turned it over and saw this.

She loves it!!!  It was perfect for her.  So glad I got her and kept the secret to surprise her.

Sometimes your friend just gets you. #miniquilt #braquilt #imqg @quiltytherapy

A post shared by Rachael Adele Heger (@rachaelheger) on Dec 3, 2017 at 2:56pm PST

Watching everyone open their gift and guess the maker was fun.  It’s a great way to learn about other’s in your guild and be creative.  Has your guild done anything similar?

Link ups

Flamingo Toes Show & Tell 

Scrap management is topic of discussion for quilters.  The smallest scrap I keep is 1.5 inch square.  Some keep smaller and create wonderful pieces with these micro scraps.  I just can’t fathom keeping them smaller than 1.5 inch square.

A request for a baby girl quilt came in recently.  The customer asked for girly after I had found my forgotten stash of Amy Butler Cameo and some other scraps.  These will do the job.  However, they are 1.5 inch square scraps.  Where do I go with these?

Right now, I’m not entirely sure what the overall design will end up being.  The fabric and some coordinating solids will guide me in this process.  Do you remember this quilt?  As I’m designing I keep seeing something like this.

Hello Luscious Baby Girl Quilt used 2.5 inch squares as the center of the blocks.  My Amy Butler Cameo scraps seem so tiny in comparison, see below.

Hoping this weekend to have some time to figure out the design.  For now I have a little stack of squares ready for something great.  I’m open to feedback and ideas too.

I’m truly at a loss for words to talk about this quilt.  All I want to do is play this video when I think about it.  This song will probably get stuck in your head.

Apparently, that is a dark song.  I was just thinking more of the Sail Away with me part.  A customer asked for a nautical themed baby quilt.  The vision of the quilt immediately came to me.  Deep in my scraps were some leftover triangles from a previous quilt in red, gray and navy.

Design

My vision had these triangles looking like pendants or flags along with a minimal design.  The design challenge came when trying to find the right background fabric.  I wanted a light blue polka dot on white and just couldn’t find what I truly wanted.  Do you ever have that challenge?  Luckily, I did find a print that worked with my vision.

Laying out the fabrics beside the coordinating prints was really helpful.  Plus, the ladies at the quilt store gave me some valuable feedback.  The polka dot is great, but it would drown out the white prints sprinkled in.  The lighter blue print still showed off the navy and the white prints.  Done!  Designing the rest of the top was pretty easy.

The backing is a Lotta Jansdotter print I stocked up on a few months ago.  Doesn’t it look like fish scales?

Adding the sailboat was the customer’s idea and it really pulls simple quilt together.  I was able to complete the top, put the sailboat on, press the back, baste the quilt, and start quilting quickly with this project.  For the quilting I went with waves.  I marked the quilt on the edges every couple of inches.  This trick really helped keep my wavy lines straight across the quilt.  Then I filled in more lines along the way.

The texture the wavy lines created is perfect.  For the binding, I went with the remainder of the top print.  Doesn’t provide a frame of the quilt, but gives and infinity edge.

My smaller Brother machine decided to have electrical issues right before making this quilt.  The sailboat is just sewn on with straight stitches, I would have preferred zig zag.  The quilt is currently at it’s new home enjoying snuggles.