Black and White and Red all Over

What is black and white and red all over??? (Or should I say 'read' all over). The newspaper! Hahaha - this is the first joke I remember telling and actually 'GETTING' as a child!

Hello pretty 

And on to other news...

Yay me!!! The K Quilt is complete - isn't that just the best feeling??!!! I began this quilt in February. It is for a friend's birthday at the end of this month. I have previously shared my creative process here and a progress report about this quilt here. This quilt makes me happy (I seriously CANNOT stop touching it) because I have learned so much from it.

Favourite block

This quilt has taught me more about myself as a quilter than any other quilt!
Here are some of the things I have learned while making this quilt:

1. That I can push my creative process until I am in love with what I see, I really need to FEEL what I see on my design wall.

2. That the *CLICK* will come - I will eventually create a design that speaks to me. 

These first two points are really important for me - I noticed that as I went through the design process on this quilt and then the next quilt I designed (this is new for me, as I have always followed patterns before) each time there was a period of fret and worry like - 'OMGOODNESS I have ruined all this fabric and don't like what I see' - and when I continue and really challenge myself, I have been able to realize a design that I truly love.

3. That the following quote (that I discovered while trying to sew very precise seams on this quilt) gives me confidence as a quilter - "It does not have to be correct the first time you sew it, only the last time" (Sally Collins). RIGHT??!!! So true! Hello seam ripper! 

And even better - for some reason this quote makes me feel less frustrated (as in 'OMG I made a mistake') when I am changing a seam and more like - I am choosing to improve upon my quilt. Which I see as a good thing!

4. How to fix skipped stitches - thank you so much for the suggestions ladies - your help really did help!

5. That I have finally perfected my 'Perfect for Me' binding. I am super duper happy about this. I have been documenting my binding technique on paper for quite a few quilts now. When I liked how a certain aspect of my binding turned out, I make a note of it and when I didn't like the way something turned out, I made a note of what to try next time. I was really searching for a way to make my binding look pretty to me each and every time - I wanted a PREDICTABLE sequence, so that I can follow the steps and get the same results for every quilt. Very demanding, I know haha!

I say 'perfect for me' binding because I had a very specific set of criteria - I like a skinny binding (2.25 in strips) and I really do like the look of machine sewn binding AND true to my 'organized, everything must be the same' kind of self - I wanted BOTH sides of the binding to be sewn so it looks the same. Phew! I did take pics of my process and have my notes - tutorial to come!!! My first!!!

So not only is this quilt for a special to me friend - it is also a very special to me quilt, for teaching me so much about the art that I love. Kind of fitting I think!!!

Happy Friday all! Linking up with 'Finish it up Friday' at Crazy Mom Quilts and 'Let's get Acquainted' Monday link up party hosted by Charm About You.

~Lisa

Progress

Aaaahhhhhh...the sweet, sweet sound of progress. Back at the K quilt.

Though, I have been having some troubles with skipped stitches. It's a first for me. I have fiddled and I have faddled and the skips will go away for awhile and then reappear. Have you had this problem? Any suggestions? A magical cure? Please share your spell! I would love some help.

Happy weekend all.

~Lisa

K Quilt Revisited

Alas, it is time to return to the coveted K Quilt. I shared my creative process here when originally planning this quilt. I packed the K Quilt up into numbered baggies when I needed my design wall to plan and complete my Night of Hope Quilt. The K Quilt is for a friend's B-day at the end of June - so it is not a finish I need to rush. I can just pull out a  little baggie anytime I feel the need and sew up one of these:

3 down, 9 to go. Been having fun with it. I sure am looking forward to seeing it all stitched together. I decided on a small, evenly laid out polka dot for the corners of each block. Gives the quilt a nice overall cohesive look.

Happy sewing all. Hope you each have a wonderful week. I have some new life plans on the horizon and a girls trip coming up next week, so life is pretty exciting around here! Linking up with the 'Let's Get Acquainted' party hosted by Kirsten at Gemini Stitches.


~Lisa

Playing Around

I wanted to make a red, white, grey and black quilt for someone who loves red. This quilt included many many many HST's. I had an idea and I drew it out...

Then I made HST's and HST's and more HST's. I don't mind the repetitiveness of this activity as it is systematic and organized and produces a lovely pile of pretty little squares when complete. As I may have mentioned before, this type of activity fits well with my personality!

I used many different gorgeous print fabrics and did not plan for which went together. I was really trying to let myself go for the scrappiness of it all (Ha ha, I say now in retrospect).

I was super duper excited to begin playing with my squares. I popped them up onto my design wall into the pattern from my sketch and went 'ohhhhhh'. I went 'ohhhhhh', not in a good way. Boring. Messy - definitely not organized. I felt like my eyes had no where to rest. Man o man - I really have a hard time with scrappy. Why is it that I LOVE and ADORE so many scrappy quilts out there - yet I cannot feel it when it's mine??!!! I took it down so fast I actually did not even think to take a picture to share!

I did enjoy the play the ensued though. It's amazing how many designs these HST's can be rearranged into. I had no idea! I played and I played...

And I played...

I liked this diamond one, but felt it still did not offer enough rest for my eyes. I realized here, during this stage, that I liked the diamonds - especially with the backgrounds of each diamond using the same fabrics. I was getting somewhere.

Go bigger. I decided that bigger might help with the busyness of all the different patterns in the fabrics. I liked these new, bigger diamonds a lot.

Then I put my 2 ideas together, bigger diamonds - with fabrics in the center and backgrounds that match and YES! This makes my eyes and heart happy. This is the design I am going with. It has meant there has been some (MUCH!) stitch ripping and re-sewing to make enough HST's with the same fabrics for each block, but it is by far worth it as I see the design grow and I know it is the 'right' one.

I love how the design process is dynamic and flowing. It is interesting to me to see what I start with and what I end up with. I love that I can keep going when something doesn't please my eye - until I find just the design that does. These steps in the design of this quilt have been a great learning process for me. Now that I am settled on the design, I have begun to think about the quilting - always my fave part!


Hope you are all having a fabulous week in sewing and such! Linking up with Work in Progress Wednesday at Freshly Pieced.

~Lisa