For the Book Lover / Beauties Pageant 277

There have been many speed bumps on the way to holiday gifting this year. Most notably, my beloved sewing machine—a Janome 1600P-QC—stopped working, had to go the repair shop, quilted a small project upon its return to me, and then stopped working again. Although I have a backup, it’s not the workhorse my go-to machine is, and it is currently refusing to perform basic sewing-machine tasks like backstitching. I have persevered, though, and managed to limp across the finish line with a few finishes.

Pictured here is one of them, a little tote bag for a book lover in my life. I was tempted to draft my own tote pattern for this gift but, in a rare moment of pre-holiday clarity, opted to make Sugar Bee Crafts’ Pocket Tote Bag instead. (I was able to follow the tutorial without much hassle, but be warned: My iPad was very grumpy about the number of ads on that webpage. I ended up copying and pasting the instructions in a Word doc just so I could refer to them easily as I sewed.)

I cut into a Rifle Paper print from the company’s Wonderland collection to make this project. The blue woven behind Alice and her friends is something that’s been in my stash for many years—I finally found a good way to use some of it! The combination of the two fabrics is perfect here, and I especially appreciate how the little plus signs of the woven play off the periwinkle background of the print.

I bought a book and a Barnes & Noble gift card to complete this gift—I am sure my 8-year-old niece will love it!

Returning to the subject of my sewing machines ... I think it’s time to rehome my backup machine. In the past, I’ve donated machines to thrift stores, but this one has enough issues that I don’t feel right about passing the machine and its flaws on to someone else. Instead, I’m considering trading it in on a new Janome Memory Craft MC6700P. If you happen to sew on that machine—or its predecessor, the 6600—I would appreciate your thoughts!

Follow Me On ...  

 

* * *

The pageant rules are simple:

• Post your finish in the linky tool. (No links to your own giveaway or linky, please!)
• Point your readers back here with a text link or use the button above.
• Visit and comment on other participants’ finishes.

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

Organizing My Stash: Before and After / Beauties Pageant 276

My fabrics started out years ago in a single three-drawer chest. Over time, however, additions to my stash migrated ... to the master bedroom closet, to bins under the master bed, to the nightstands in the guest room. Earlier this fall, I decided things had reached a breaking point: It wasn’t fun to root through a stash that was squirreled away in so many disparate locations. I didn’t even have a good grasp of what fabrics I had anymore. A stash reorganization was in order!

The process was not pleasant and took longer than I anticipated, but now that it’s done, my stash and I are better for it. If you’re considering a comparable overhaul of your own (perhaps as a new year’s resolution?), here is my advice ...

1. Get everything in one place. 

At my husband’s suggestion, I consolidated everything in our finished basement, where my organized stash would live. This created a new kind of mess, which was frustrating because I was aiming to create order, but it was unavoidable: I needed to get a handle of how much fabric I had.

I knew I would need to invest in some new furniture. Originally, I was set on buying cabinets—I wanted to be able to open doors and see all my fabric options at once—but decided they would look odd in my basement. I ended up buying two of the popular and versatile Kallax cubby units from Ikea. These units come in different configurations and are customizable with everything from doors to shelves. I settled on buying drawer inserts for eight of my cubbies. (Disclaimer: I did not assemble a thing. My husband and older son took on the task and did not enjoy it.)

2. Get rid of what you don’t want, won’t use, or no longer love. 

I touched every piece of fabric I own during this process, so I made the most of that time by pruning what I could. Because you know what’s easier than organizing a huge amount of fabric? Organizing a slightly smaller amount of fabric.

I recycled weird bits that I knew I wouldn’t use. I gave away some scraps that felt more burdensome than inspiring and set aside some yardage that I will donate to my guild’s annual yard sale in January. 

In the past I’ve sold bundles and yardage on Instagram and on FeelGood Fibers. Instagram isn’t an easy place to sell anything anymore, due to algorithm changes over the years. FeelGood Fibers, however, is a marketplace I would take advantage of now if the guild yard sale weren’t on the horizon.

3. Pull fabric for a project or two.

Again, wanting to make the most of the quality time with my stash, I pulled scraps and fat quarters for a scrappy pixelated project as I sorted and pruned from the piles of fabric.

4. Forget about perfection.

I watched more than one YouTube video about folding fat quarters and other cuts in neat little squares, but I had to recalibrate my expectations. This project wasn’t about perfection; it was about getting my stash in a usable state. That meant folding everything so it could be stored and easily viewed, not so that everything could be uniform and perfect. 

5. Organize in a way that make sense to you. 

At first I balked at the idea of having to open a bunch of drawers to see my stash. (My husband accompanied me to Ikea and advocated for the drawer inserts.) Once I grouped like fabrics together, though, the cubbies and drawers were easy to navigate.

I used these categories for my drawers (almost all of which required more than one):

• Collections
• Solids
  
• Low volumes
• Novelties
• Jelly rolls and charm packs

The remaining fabrics were sorted by color and stored together in other drawers. Larger cuts of yardage were folded and placed in open cubbies. Works in progress were stored in plastic bags and put in the bins that occupy other cubbies. Scraps were sorted by color and placed in a flat bin on top of the Kallax units.

During this process, my husband kept checking in with me and asking whether all the fabric would fit into the furniture and drawers we had purchased. I explained that wasn’t really my objective. I have a little more than what I can fit in this furniture, but I wasn’t interested in buying a third Kallax unit. I think, moving forward, my ideal stash size is what fits here. That will encourage me to stop purchasing fabric and whittle away at what I already have. After a few months, everything should fit just right.

Is you stash in a state of chaos or order right now? What insight can you add to the list I’ve compiled here?

Follow Me On ...  

 

* * *

The pageant rules are simple:

• Post your finish in the linky tool. (No links to your own giveaway or linky, please!)
• Point your readers back here with a text link or use the button above.
• Visit and comment on other participants’ finishes.

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

My Favorite Holiday Quilts / Beauties Pageant 275

As a kid, I loved seeing all the Christmas trinkets my grandmother would unearth every December, from her vintage reindeer candles to her manger scene. Those items were as much a part of the celebration as the tree or the desserts she contributed to the holiday spread.

Although I appreciated the familiarity of my grandmother’s holiday decor and enjoyed revisiting those objects year after year, it took me decades to realize that I’m not much of a seasonal decorator. And I have tried! I have bought some beautiful and meaningful objects over the years, most of which are still (even on December 13) in boxes in my attic. A few years ago, though, I started making quilts with Christmas and winter themes. Finally, I found my way of celebrating the season.

What you see here are the wintry quilts that live at From Bolt to Beauty world headquarters. It’s worth noting that I enjoyed making them so much that I sewed three of these four patterns twice (the twins were gifted years ago).

All of these patterns have their strengths. From top to bottom, the Christmas trees are a great stash buster, Kate Spain’s Chalet pattern makes the most of fat quarters, Camille Roskelley’s Norway design features big, bold blocks, and Gingiber’s Merrily quilt is an interesting way to use panels of a certain size. To read more about these projects—and to see some of their backs—click on the links below.

• Christmas trees (Amy Smart)
  
• Chalet (Kate Spain)
• Merrily (Gingiber)
• Norway (Camille Roskelley)

If you’ve encountered a winter-themed quilt pattern that you’ve loved enough to make twice, I’d love to hear about it!

Follow Me On ...  

 

* * *

The pageant rules are simple:

• Post your finish in the linky tool. (No links to your own giveaway or linky, please!)
• Point your readers back here with a text link or use the button above.
• Visit and comment on other participants’ finishes.

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

My QuiltCon Submission (and Rejection!) / Beauties Pageant 274

I am a sucker for a good quilt challenge. There are projects I never would have developed without a formal challenge encouraging me to focus on a particular palette, block, or theme. My favorite such events are those hosted by the Modern Quilt Guild for display at QuiltCon.

The MQG usually releases the details of two challenges during the summer, when my creativity and productivity are low, low, low. The result is a harried fall, when I try to get a project or two over the finish line before QuiltCon submissions close. It’s not an ideal schedule, and because of that, there are many years I don’t sew anything for submission.

What you see pictured here is Folk Heart, the quilt I made for this year’s Ruby and Bee challenge. Tara Faughnan chose the six colors, and participants had to use at least three of them in a quilt top.

I spent a long time spinning my wheels with these fabrics. At one point, I was determined to work with applique, figured out how I could create a particular design, and then abandoned the idea. 

For me, the key was to stop thinking about shape and home in on the palette. Once I decided to place red hearts on a black background, it was easy to imagine them in off-set columns of chunky half log cabins with misplaced cornerstones.

I quilted Folk Heart with a big X and then echoed the quilting lines in each quadrant of that X. I finished by hand quilting one color in each block. The picture below shows some orchid cross-stitches and blue running stitches. Elsewhere in the quilt, there are little Vs on some of the red hearts and diagonal running stitches on some of the black backgrounds, among other embroidery motifs.

Although I didn’t set out to create a project that reflects my Pennsylvania upbringing, I think Folk Heart does just that. The juxtaposition of so much blue and black reminds me of Amish attire, and the hearts are reminiscent of Pennsylvania Dutch folk art. 

Unfortunately, Folk Heart was not juried into the show. I know a lot of people were discouraged by their rejection emails. Honestly, I would have been more surprised if Folk Heart had been accepted. There’s a QuiltCon aesthetic, and this isn’t it!

I realize that, as time goes on and I delve deeper into pattern design and sales, the less modern I’ve become. I still love big blocks, negative space, new takes on old classics, but it’s a spectrum and I’ve inched away from the modern design that initially captured my quilty heart all those years ago.

I usually encourage people whose projects aren’t accepted to submit the next year, but I’m convinced QuiltCon isn’t the right venue for Folk Heart and will save myself the application fee. : )

Do you ever submit to shows? It’s not really my thing, but it sure is fun to attend an event and see my work on display!

Follow Me On ...

 

* * *

The pageant rules are simple:

• Post your finish in the linky tool. (No links to your own giveaway or linky, please!)
• Point your readers back here with a text link or use the button above.
• Visit and comment on other participants’ finishes.

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter