Thursday, January 8

Camara Case

Here's a little bag I made so my camera will survive in my purse (after one fatality). I just quilted two pieces of fabric and made a little pouch based on the sizing of the bubble wrap bag that came with the camera. I sewed binding, in quilting fashion, around the edges. It was very satisfying to make exactly what I needed, and not have to use an extra large black camera bag with straps and side pockets.

More Fabric Coasters

A few more fabric coasters, made from my favorite 4" Japanese fabric packs. They sell them at the counter of the quilt shop (City Quilter in NYC) where I love to go to on my lunch breaks. They are completely sealed up so one can only see two of the many fabrics contained inside. It's such a tease I always end up buying one. I'm planning on making an entire quilt from them (I have enough).

More Fabric Notebooks


Just a few more fabric cards. I made these using my favorite Moleskin notebooks, the small
3.5" x 5.5" variety. These ones have graph style paper.

Fingerless Gloves

Here is a little pair of fingerless gloves I made, using instructions found here (http://www.purlbee.com/greenaway-fingerless-gloves/). I omitted the eyelet edging near the fingers and also made them a bit longer as I had extra yarn. I used one skein of Alchemy Yarns, Hand Painted Sanctuary, a lovely wool & silk blend.

Wednesday, January 7

Fabric Notebooks


A few notebooks I made, based on the instructions in Last Minute Patchwork + Quilted Gifts by Joelle Holverson (available here: http://www.purlsoho.com/purl/our_books). For the first two, I used iron on vinyl to give them more strength. I recycled a few dead quilting ideas in the process (first: paper piecing a million purple hexagons together, third: a log cabin quilt using black & whites w/olive green centers). These measure 5.25" x 8.25".

Vintage Japanese Fabric

This fabric has lovely white sashiko style top stitching along the edges and down the center. I purchased it from Kimono Lily (http://www.chuu.com/shop/dc/home) at the Brooklyn Flea Market (http://www.brownstoner.com/brooklynflea/), which is so fabulous. It embodies everything I love about living in Brooklyn, great down to earth people living in a huge city as if it were their little neighborhood.

Embroidered Drawstring Bag

I used the instructions here : http://www.purlbee.com/lucky-gift-bags/ from Purl Bee for an embroidered bag, but altered it slightly. I omited the top stitching, and I used Microsoft Word for the font for the initials.

Golden Globe Vase

This is a small pot that I made. I love how "mistakes" can add to the creative process. The small bumps near the rim were added to cover a blemish and I ended up loving them.

Modern Crazy Quilt

This is the quilt born of scraps from the quilting class with Denise Schmidt. I added some black and white fabrics and used a few curved seams for interest. I quilted it in straight lines and the backing is an electric blue.

Tuesday, December 16

Denise Schmidt Quilting Class

I had the privilege of attending a Denise Schmidt (http://www.dsquilts.com/) quilting class last spring. It was an amazing experience, even the train ride from New York to her studio in Bridgeport, CT was delightful. I incorporated my patchwork squares from this class into a quilt, still a work in progress, so no photos yet, but it's nearly finished.

Monday, December 15

About Town

Just a few things that struck me, some in a humorous way. I have had a lovely daydream of traveling around the country photographing all the different varieties of rideable (for children that is) animals, spaceships, etc in photo #2. Perhaps someone has already done this and made a coffee table book out of their photos?

Abstract Subway Art


Unfortunately for those of us who live in New York, the subway system is not in the very best of repair. Fortunately for me, the layers of old paint mixed with rust make for beautiful abstract designs.

Lavender Quilt

Small quilt with fussy cut centers, hand quilted down center of "logs" or strips.

Blue Sky

1) Sculpture outside the Louvre in Paris
2) Trees in Manhattan
3) Row of trees on grounds of Versailles

Colors

1) Fruit stand in Paris (even fruit looks better in French!)
2) Flowers in Madison Square Park
3) Flowers on grounds of Castle in Poland

beneath my feet....

Landscape-like scenes carved into beaten sidewalks. Some of them strike me as the perfect inspiration for random square/rectangle quilts.

Twin Quilts


My cousin had twin baby boys, so I made them soft, fluffy yarn tied quilts.

Golden Yellows



1) Storefront in Paris
2) Wallpaper at Grand Trianon on Versailles Grounds
3) Marketplace in Krakow, Poland
4) Rusty barrel, NYC streets

Wedding Cake


I made my friends wedding cake! After many, many trial runs and force-feeding friends samples of frosting, it's finished! I used the book Wedding Cakes You Can Make by Dede Wilson; although in retrospect I think it was a bit too detailed for what I needed. Aka, this cake, and particularly the frosting, were built to withstand extreme temperatures, but the wedding was in the Fall in Brooklyn, so perhaps not necessary. I made white and dark chocolate leaves interspersed with the roses for decoration.

Tuesday, November 11

New York - Photos Around the City

View of the city and the Manhattan Bridge photographed from the Brooklyn Bridge. This was a glorious day for walking.
The little pond in Madison Square Park near my office.

View of the Empire State buidling

Knitting Needle Case

This is a little knitting needle case that I made, using a pattern from the book Stitch and B*tch. It allows you to customize the pockets so they fit your needles exactly. I used Japanese fabric for the interior and soft as butter, turquoise suede fabric (recycled from a dress I never wore) for the outside, so it's very durable.

Fabric Coasters


Here are a few coasters, made from Japanese fabric pack containing a gorgeous array of 4" squares, purchased at City Quilter in NYC. I used a temporary basting spray (which I adore and use for all my quilts, no more hand or pin basting for me!) to attach the batting to one side of the coasters and then simply stitched them up as you would a pillow.

Fabric Notecards


Here are a few notecards with their coordinating envelopes made from fabric scraps and paper, a variation on a project in Denise Schmidt's book Quilts. I used Claire Fontaine note paper for the card because I loved the color. The gorgeous colors helped to inspire different fabric combinations.