Black & White Quilts with Pops of Color

And poof!  I'm back on the blog after a two-year absence.  That's how I roll!  A friend wants to make a black and white quilt with her collection of black and white fabrics.  I started to compose a big long email to her with a bazillion links to click on.  Then I remembered a thing called pinterest, and then I remembered that I had a crafty blog!  Doh!  So, I decided it was time to resurrect the blog.  I searched for "black and white quilts with pops of color" because I thought a pop of color would jazz up a black and white quilt.  Here are some of my favorites, with and without pops of color.

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No pops of color on this one, but the white backgrounds make things pop!

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Quilty Love snuck in pops of color with the backing and the binding on this one.  Clever, right?!

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Here's a Kaufman fabric designed by Emmie K that might serve as great inspiration for a black and white wonder!  It looks like a bunch of half square triangles would do the trick!

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I am smitten with this mid-century design!

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Well, I could do this for hours, but I must stop and wash my hair.  Click here and here for a LOT more inspiration.  Toodles! 

Sheep and Wool and Stuff

In 1982 there were 22 sheep per person in New Zealand.  As of March 2016 the ratio went down to six sheep per person.  My brother-in-law, who lived in New Zealand for two years, brought me a couple of mondo skeins of baby weight grey wool yarn.  By the way, Danny is the best gift giver ever.  He knew I liked to knit and brought me yarn.  What a wonderful and thoughtful surprise!

Knowing that not-easy-to-care-for scratchy wool yarn would not be the best choice for a baby sweater, I made a baby sweater.  I guess I was ready to start a new project and the sample swatch I knit up with this yarn worked out perfectly for the bobbly sweater I had been wanting to make.  I love making bobbles and it's a good thing because there were plenty of them in the pattern.  At one point, I taught myself to knit backwards so that I wouldn't have to turn the knitting three times for each of the five thousand bobbles.  Anyway, here's the sweater.

I used a pattern from Classic Knits for Kids by Debbie Bliss.  At the time, she was my all-time favorite knit designer!  A picture of the sweater is on page 29 and the directions are on pages 65-67.

I saved the sweater forever and ever - for when Danny and his future wife would have a baby girl.  Danny eventually married and he and his wife had two boys, and it seemed that their family was complete.  Then, one day when their youngest was four or five, they surprised everyone by announcing they were having another baby - a girl this time.  I was excited to finally send the "yarn" back to Danny.  That was just a few years ago - probably at least 20 years after I had made the sweater.  Surprisingly, there were no moth holes in it.  Yeah, mission accomplished!

Remembering Bill

It's hard to believe that my stepdad passed away 13 years ago.  At the time, he and mom were living in San Diego and Howard and I were living in Needham, Massachusetts.  Bill stayed in a nursing home for nine months after having a debilitating stroke.  My mom had already retired and was able to be at his side constantly.  She would visit him twice a day for several hours to make sure that he was being taken care of properly.  I never saw him alive after his stroke because we lived so far away.

Bill always called me the human loom because I was always knitting something different every time he saw me.  In Needham, I continued to knit but also started to quilt.  After Bill passed away, I helped mom go through his clothes and discovered a bunch of blue flannel pajama bottoms and thought they would make a great quilt to remember him by.  He was obsessed with flying and airplanes so I backed the quilt with some airplane fabric that I found at the Franklin Mill Store in Franklin, Massachusetts.  I can't believe that I remember that! (Confession, I remembered the location of the shop, but had to look up its name.)

I created a plane template out of a manila folder and traced it with quilter's chalk in the non nine-patch squares.  I quilted each plane separately and back stitched the heck out of each starting and stopping point - hoping that it would hold through multiple washings.  Time will tell.

Here's the plane fabric that I used for the backing.  Also, I used my favorite technique of pieced binding.  I love the "scrappiness" of it.

PS  The interface on blogger has not changed one bit in my three-year absence, which is both a blessing and very disappointing.

I'm knitting again!

I thought my knitting days were over almost five years ago, but thanks to modern medicine I'm knitting again.  I'm still s...l...o...w...l...y working on the archeological dig that I started in December.  I rediscovered all my knitting supplies, books and yarn.  I purged some books and patterns and am trying to use up my yarn stash.  Of course, I made this sweater out of a new yarn purchase.  I'll never learn, will I?

The pattern came out of this old Debbie Bliss book that I just can't part with.  Lots of the patterns look outdated, but I didn't think this one did.  Or am I wrong?  I hope not.  I wouldn't want Baby Girl Harris to be bullied by her toddler friends in a few years!

Modern Quilt Aha Moment

Do you remember those moments when you saw something differently, where you had a paradigm shift or an 'aha moment'?  That's what happened to me while I was making this wonky star quilt.

About four years ago I joined the Music City Modern Quilt Guild.  At the time, I was interested in learning more about how to make art quilts.  For some reason, I thought 'modern' meant art quilts.  I was really disappointed the day that I realized modern quilts were simple minimalistic quilts and for some reason they always seemed to have grey backgrounds.  And, there was also a lot of emphasis on negative space.  The modern quilts didn't appeal to me at all.  I didn't get it.  I felt like a fish out of water in my guild, even though my guild members make and appreciate all kinds of quilts.

Back to the wonky star quilt.  One day my quilt was at about the stage of Elizabeth Hartman's quilt below, minus the cat.

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I remember staring at my randomly placed wonky stars against the rectangular shape of my design wall.  And that's when I had my aha moment.  The negative space jumped out at me.  I noticed the artsy-ness of the placement of the stars.  I started imagining more negative space and wondered what would happen if I removed one of the stars in the middle of that cluster.  Or, what it I had pieces of stars wonkily placed in some of the negative space.  It was a very exciting moment for me and I felt like I finally 'got it'.

I'm really excited to create the quilt that I imagined that day when inspiration struck, and I had my modern quilting aha moment.

Sam-I-Am

I finally finished the Sam-I-Am baby quilt.  The only problem, Sam is not a baby any more.  Okay, he just turned one recently so it's not like he's in college or something.  But, I know his personality now and he is ALL boy, so this quilt seems a bit babyish for him now.  I still love it, though!

I call it the wonky star pattern.  The designer, Elizabeth Hartman, calls it the Sparkle Punch Quilt.  Go here for the tutorial on how to make the stars.  It was a lot of fun making wonky stars.  I highly recommend it!

I decided to put one star on the back in the corner and use it as the label.  Notice the 2013 date.  This quilt was sandwiched and ready to quilt back in 2013, but I froze up because I didn't know how to quilt it or what color thread to use.  I ended up using off-white, as a friend recommended, and I ended up stippling it.  Since the piecing is so sharp and pointy I thought it needed curvacious quilting.

Can you see the Sam-I-Am fabric in the star?  This could only go to a boy named Sam.

Twin Sweaters

Over two years ago I blogged about these sweaters.  Has it really been two years already?  Anyway, the twins can finally wear them.  In fact, this is an old picture and they might be close to growing out of them by now.

Aren't they cute?  The sweaters and the dresses are cute too, right?  Ann (their mom) hand-smocked (almost wrote smoked) those dresses.  I still can't figure out how she finds the time to sew with three little mischievous and energetic princesses running about the castle all day long.

These sweaters remind me of a time when I thought my knitting days were over.  My fingers would go tingly and numb while knitting them.  It was pretty scary.  I'm happy to report that after lots of different medical interventions and a long absence from knitting, I picked up my knitting needles a few months ago and was able to do it.  I had to tweak the way I do it, but I could do it.  That was a happy day.  I celebrated by having an online streaming-athon and finishing up a bunch of half-finished projects.

Cool or Granny's Parlor?

It seems like there's a fine line between reupholstered furniture that looks 'cool' and furniture that still looks like it belongs in granny's parlor.  I'm not sure if I'm capable of getting it right.  Tell me honestly, what do y'all think about...

this chenille fabric

on this chair?

Kathy's Wonky Paper-pieced House

Wonky.  Hubs says that I love that word and use it all the time.  So, when the Music City Modern Quilt Guild challenged me to create my own 12-inch block, I just had to make a wonky house.

The challenge was to use Moda Flirt fabrics.  It's not my favorite fabric (all pink and cutesy flowery), but I made it work and I'm pretty happy with how it turned out.

I would call this pattern 'intermediate level' because you have to sew it in sections.

Here's what it looked like before I trimmed it up.

When you do a pattern in sections like this, you have to remember to leave a 1/4" seam allowance on all edges of each section.  It's a good idea to leave a 3/8" or 1/2" seam allowance on the outside four edges to allow you more flexibility for squaring up your block after all the sections are sewn together.

Now it's time to tear off the paper and sew the sections together.  I find that it's easier to tear the paper off of each section in reverse numeric order.  For some reason it always works better.

And here it is again, Kathy's Wonky House.  

Here's a miniature version.  I reduced my 6-inch block pattern to 75%.  I wanted to show my fellow guild members why paper piecing is an awesome way to deal with tiny pieces and sharp angles.

No, you can't have the $20!  I took this picture so you could get some perspective on how small some of the pieces are and so I could use some fabrics that I like from my stash.

Here's the pattern if you want to give it a try. Let me know how it goes.

Aunt Kathy Went to Eagle

Last week I sent a package to my nieces and nephews.  I got to visit them in December.  I took a few pictures like I always do, but this time I decided to do something with them.  I had such a great time with them and wanted them to know all the fun memories that I made with them.  So, instead of making myself a few scrapbook pages stuffing the photos in a box, I made them a book.

I know, I should've used a Cheerios cereal box but this one was so fun and colorful.  Don't panic all you acid-free archiving scrappers.  I'm a bit OCD about that too, but it's only the cover.

It always makes me laugh to have a long list of things done by the same person.  I did that in a tortilla making video once upon a time.  I even included 'stunt hands' in the list, which were mine of course!  But, I digress.

Hubs gave me a bookbinding kit for Christmas.  I used the instructions and tools from the kit to create this single sheet Coptic binding on this book.  This binding is useful when you have single sheets and you want them to lay flat when the book is open.

Here's a close up of the exposed braided Coptic binding stitch.  Cool, right?

Here's what the stitching looks like on each page.  I glued a strip of cereal box onto each page for extra durability and for the fun factor.  I was considering making each page out of cereal box, but that would've made it just a tad too busy and would've messed up the acid 'freeness' of the book.  See, I'm a bit of a freak when it comes to that!

Whilst in Eagle, we spent way too much time playing around with Photo Booth on my laptop.  It was hilarious!

Today's Forecast

Today will be foggy with a chance of half-square triangles.

Spain

My quilt is 'famous' in Spain.  Look!

Olivia's Sweater

My knitting projects are anchors to my memories.  There are some projects that take me right back to a specific time and place.  Some of them bring back emotions and feelings.  This is one of those sweaters.  It's odd, but it brings back feelings of love and hope and healing.

We were waiting for a baby to be born.  We were going to call her Maya.  We had met with the birth mom a couple of times and seemed to hit it off.  We had a few baby essentials ready to go in our one-bedroom apartment, the biggest being a cleaned up crib that had already cradled the three boys of our friends.  We hadn't committed to buying too many things - still not believing that we could finally be parents after such a long and frustrating journey.

About a week before Maya's due date, we received the unthinkable news that the birth mom had backed out.  Of course, we were devastated.  That coming weekend (I think it was the very weekend that Maya was due), my work colleagues would all be off chaperoning the French trip to Quebec.  They found out about our adoption disaster and in a matter of days, maybe hours, quickly arranged for hubs and I to go on the trip with them.  They booked us a room at the amazing hotel where everyone got to stay and they arranged for a sub to cover my classes.

I can never go anywhere without a knitting project, so I ran to the knit shop and quickly purchased this bright green yarn.  Although green is my favorite color, the choice in brightness was a bit out of character.  I remember knitting on the 8-hour bus ride to and from Quebec.  I don't remember if I chatted with hubs or students or colleagues.  I don't remember what I thought about.  I just remember knitting on that bus ride.  It was just what I needed - to get away and to get lost in my knitting.

I held onto that sweater for years, not because I couldn't part with it but because I was waiting to find the perfect recipient for it.  When I've come across the sweater over the years, it has brought a smile to my face.  It brings back feelings of love and hope and healing.  For nine years, almost to the month, it has been known as Maya's sweater - even though I knew Maya was never going to wear it.

And now I want it go on record that this is Olivia's sweater.  Olivia was adopted by Shannon and Ryan less than a year ago.  Shannon is one of those people who comes into your life for a brief moment, but stays in your heart for a lifetime.  I was delighted to hear that she and Ryan had finally become a family of three.  And I was so happy to send that special sweater off to someone special.  

Anna's Quilt

Pinwheel quilts are fun to make.  I just sent this one to Anna, my niece who's almost two years old now.  For some mysterious reason I already had all of these feminine girly pastel fabrics in my stash.  I really have an aversion to pastel colors, especially pink.  But, I'm pretty much in love with this quilt, especially when I imagine Anna dragging it around the house with her.  I hope that when it's all tattered with love, I can take it back and convert it into a stuffed animal or something.  That goes for all of the other baby quilts that I've sent out recently.

I took a 'Hail Mary' shot outside on my deck.  My toes are in all the shots and I decided to leave them.  So why is it that beat up chippy furniture looks cool and trendy, but beat up chippy decks just look old and beat up?

Ever since I made this quilt, I have felt compelled to name and label every quilt.  I should've made the pinwheel the darker color and the border the light green color.  I actually considered taking the label off and redoing it, after having sewn it onto the quilt.  But I didn't.  I'm kind of glad that my perfectionist tendencies are lessening as the years go by.  It's a relief actually. 

Floral Applique

It seems like I've had this book forever.  I've had it so long that there's now a new and improved version available, although I prefer the cover of my older version.  I'm in love with everything about the quilt on the cover - the color choices, the curvy design, the use of many reds for the background, and the folk art style.

So, why haven't I made it yet, you ask?  And on a related note, hubby keeps wondering why I'm making all these cool blocks and sending them away.

I've known for a long time that I'm much more productive when there are deadlines.  When I make something for myself there are no deadlines, which results in lots of UFO's.  Being a part of the Long Distance Quilting Bee (LDQB) has given me deadlines.

So, one of the gals from the LDQB requested a block with flowers.  I seized the opportunity and finally made a block from this quilt.  It was difficult to part with when it was done, but I'm now inspired to make the quilt for myself.

I modified it a bit because I didn't want to hand applique all those little berries, leaves seemed a lot easier.  I'm happy to say that I stuck with my goal to use fabrics I already owned.  The flowers and leaves were made with Kaffe Fassett fabrics, leftovers from a quilt that I made for me - that I actually finished long ago!  It probably would've been better to use a different stem color but I ran out of greenish Kaffe fabrics.  Anyway, I love how it turned out and am excited to get started on mine!