Shot Cotton Love

Do I really need to say it? The Kaffe Fassett Shot Cottons produced by his manufacturing company Rowan are some of my favorite fabrics to work with, and certainly my favorite "solids".

What makes shot cottons so rich (besides the unique colors within Kaffe's own palette) is the combination of different colors used for the warp and weft threads in the woven fabrics. Meaning that when the cloth is woven the threads going vertically are dyed a different color than the threads going horizontally.

close-up of Rowan Shot Cotton - Blueberry

Plus they have a beautiful hand. Because of the looser weave and not going through a screen-printing process they have a softness and flow to them that most quilter's cottons do not (though the industry is changing!). 

When Cherie and I were first discussing the launch of The Creative Bungalow (even before it had a name) and deciding between potential fabric lines with which to plan projects there was a suggestion of finding something to do with shot cottons. It stayed on the back burner while we went ahead with our plans for the Art Gallery fabric combination we are so excited about, but after a visit to E.E. Schenck, a local quilting and sewing wholesale warehouse, we came across some inspiration.

As with so many other things that were put on hold this past month while I was tending the injured pup any pursuance of this project halted temporarily. But then I was able to step into my favorite fabric store again after being away for nearly a full month (this also being my job) with the exceptional selection of shot cottons that Marie carries at Cool Cottons on SE Hawthorne! My inspiration soared and I couldn't wait to put together a stunning array of colors to test with a very cool Carolyn Friedlander pattern we found, Sessoms.

Now, I am still very much in the testing stage for this project, but so far we are thinking it has some serious potential! here are a few test blocks I did earlier this week:

We'll likely be trying out another background color to compare the two, but for now this is what is going forward. Isn't that lovely?? I can't wait to see how more of the blocks turn out!

Inertia

As J has been known to say, "Inertia inerts." Yep, when the forces of momentum let up and activity slows down it often leads toward even deeper inactivity. This is just one of the basic laws of physics.

Though there are ways to combat this, sometimes it must run its course awaiting the proper energy to jump start back into action. And sometimes that just takes a while.

When it became painfully clear that I truly would be housebound for an indefinite amount of time due to Atlas' injuries, I did what I could to bring some of my sewing projects back home from the studio. Ones that don't require selecting more fabrics from the stash or too much room to spread out. I brought my portable sewing table up from the basement and set up in a corner of the guest bedroom.

A very different setting than I've become accustomed to. At least I have a couple of windows here!

And those blocks pictured above are holdovers from last August's Bliss Circle of the do. Good Stitches bee. At least they have now become a top.

No massive design wall here with neutral paint color as the backdrop. Instead it's my IKEA duvet cover that gets the honors. Transitions, I'm tellin' ya!

I also brought home all of the most recent Bliss Circle blocks to start arranging and get that top pieced in the upcoming week. That may be the first time I potentially finish a bee quilt top within a month of the host month AND with all of the blocks received. But it's not together yet, so I shouldn't count the chickens...

Using the Film in the Fridge tutorial for her Converging Corners log cabin blocks.

I have a couple of other projects at home with me... a small throw I had started to quilt before the holidays and had set aside, as well as dragging out the final details on the memory quilts (hanging sleeves on 2 of the 3).

And then of course there is the task of finishing a couple of my patterns that I will hopefully find someone to pattern-test for me soon. I'll write more on that soon! With the amount that I've been in front of the computer and the television you'd think I'd at least be doing some blogging or something, but when one has a craft related blog and one is NOT working on that craft, it's hard. So, I'll end on a positive note.

Atlas is spending a lot more time up on all fours, and having destroyed the cone collar he's actually been really good about not licking at the wounded leg much, which is wonderful. I think he learned that each time he did, the collar went back on (when it was intact). He's a smart little guy, and seems to be on the road to recovery. And oh boy does he want to go outside and romp!!

Blogging is hard...

... but sometimes life is a bit harder.

In the scheme of things, I have NOTHING to complain about. The Creative Bungalow may have its first pre-sale — to a friend who underwent her first chemo treatment just today. I've been thinking of her and am eager to read HER next blog update.

I have been able to get some quality personal sewing time in — to finish up the memory quilts I am working on for my aunt.

And I have also been able to revisit some long-abandoned UFOs that as far as I know have no negative attachments.

And this is what the last week or so has provided.

And then we had a little emergency with the new pup. It can be so hard to keep the "professional" stuff from the personal stuff sometimes. If you've taken a look at this blog during this year (and I mean calendar year) you are hopefully familiar with our dear Atlas. He is such a sweet guy! But this weekend he had a traumatic experience, as did I. At the off-leash dog park a friendly meeting turned very quickly into an aggressive battle. We don't know who started the aggression, both dogs had jaws around the other, we got in and separated them as soon as physically possible, but it was Atlas who ended up with several injuries including a severely broken leg. 

And here I have to give props to the couple who was there, whose dog was also involved. They responded with heart, graciousness and helped us in the best way possible. Atlas and I had walked to the park, had no car, and my being a bit in shock they tracked down open veterinary emergency rooms on a Sunday afternoon, called ahead, and one of them drove Atlas and me to the hospital across town while the other stayed at the park in the waning light with their dog.

And after almost 2 days, MUCH stress, many calls with the vet hospital, we have dear Atlas home with all 4 limbs intact. Okay, so one is being held together with a couple of surgical pins and stuff, but that's better than many alternatives!! And here's our sweet boy back at home and resting calmly in his crate at home for the first time since we first tried crating him:

The little conehead all groggy on pain meds...

So that's the silver lining... he's home with his new family, resting "comfortably", and making no fuss about being in the crate! We're also hoping to use this opportunity to introduce the back stairwell out to the back yard (the stairwell he has not ventured on at all in the 2 months he's lived here) while we are literally carrying him down stairs for a few days to a couple of weeks.

So, while Atlas is crate-bound for a few weeks, I may be homebound during that time and have to make adjustments to my workspaces. Something tells me that there may be a sewing machine back on the dining room table before too long! If only!

Much love and peace to you all.

Introducing "The Creative Bungalow" Quilt Studio

It's not as if I have loads of free time that I have no idea what to do. To be fair I do have more free time than many, but there's always something I COULD be working on for Surrounded by Scraps. But several months ago a friend approached me and asked if I'd be interested in joining her in a little venture.

We had met a few years back while working at the same quilt shop (after both having worked at different places in the region, overlapping several coworkers along the way) and managed to stay in touch to an extent after leaving. In the last year or so we started connecting more often to have sew days and work on projects and meet for drinks and/or shopping adventures. Along the way we seem to have learned that our tastes are similar enough to bounce ideas off of one another, but not so much that we don't each bring a slightly different perspective to the table.

Cherie had the idea of working toward a kitting business. Quilters know that kits come in all shapes and sizes, styles and combinations, fully fleshed out and just the hint of a suggestion. We both happen to love to put together our own fabrics so therefore are not terribly inclined to actually purchase kits, but in our retail experiences have put together quilt kits for other companies. And we both love the process! And if I do say so myself, we're pretty darn good at it, too! Or so I've been told.

We each have established business entities for our own quilting and design endeavors. We've both been working in retail for several years, mostly within the quilting and fabric industries and are perpetually inspired by what is out there and available to design with.

But I think we also are both looking at the kits on the market and thinking, "is this something that I (or someone in my quilt group/guild) would purchase?" I would guess, and I stress that this is truly just a guess, that about 90% of the quilt kits available fall into at least one of 3 categories: 1.) traditional, 2.) all-batik / applique, 3.) pulling from one single fabric collection. We are hoping to fill a hole in this market... unique kits geared toward more modern patterns that combine fabrics by several different designers in a still cohesive group.

For our first run we are getting the opportunity to work with Art Gallery Fabrics. For those of you who are not familiar, it is a relatively young fabric manufacturing company helmed by Pat and Walter Bravo that uses the most luxuriant greige goods (the base fabric after weaving before printing/dying) among quilter's cottons. Pat Bravo is one of the original in house designers for the company, but they are currently working with a number of talented designers, many of whose names are well-known in the blogging and sewing world (Jeni Baker - In Color Order; Angela Walters - Quilting is my Therapy; Bari J. Ackerman).

Cherie and I selected 20 fabrics to start with, most of which have arrived on our doorstep.

They are being arranged and rearranged to go with the patterns we've selected to begin kitting (sneak peek above), and we are also putting together some fat quarter bundles while we await the balance of our fabric order to complete the kits. The Fat Quarter bundles are currently available in our NEW ETSY SHOP, also titled The Creative Bungalow.

There will be much more to the reveal in upcoming weeks. Cherie is putting the finishing touches on our first quilt sample, I am doing some further edits on an original pattern and the creation of a logo is underway. We are excited about what is ahead and hope to see many of you on the road along the way!

A 2014 finish

I can't promise that this will be my last post about this behemoth, but it is my attempt to tie it all together.

I finally sent this off to NYC earlier today. Phew! Even those of you who may have been keeping abreast of the journey probably don't remember when I first started working on this. I'd say I started the design process some time in March of last year (2013), the first mention of it, veiled as it was, was in this post from last April. And though I got it back from the quilter in late November, the finishing details got dragged out for another month plus so I can't claim the finish until this new year. And let me tell you, this is FAR from being the most dragged out project. Just one of the more dragged out that I actually was working on consistently throughout the whole period of time.

But what a project to sit atop the list for 2014!! I do have to say I'm rather proud of it. The inspiration for the overall design was a combination of two different quilts I've done in the past:

Made in 2011 in response to a design challenge presented by The Modern Quilt Guild

Made in 2009 or 2010. One of my all-time favorites, which now belongs to my almost sorta-mother-in-law-in-law.

The request was to design something close to the monochromatic color wash but with deeper pockets of jewel tones. At least that's how I remember it and how I ended up interpreting the final design. I've gone into much detail about my design and process while constructing this quilt, so I won't repeat myself too much, but if you're interested in checking some of the older posts you can find them at these links: 5/12/13, 6/4/13, and 9/16/13.

That September post shows the finished quilt top before it was left with the oh-so-talented local long arm quilter Nancy Stovall, Just Quilting PDX. And let me tell you, she did a phenomenal job! I am not sure how we managed to choose the ONLY quilting design I could imagine working as well as this one does. I went into her studio with next to no idea how the quilt should be quilted, we bounced a couple of ideas off of one another, looked at some of the designs on her computer and somehow worked out this beautiful, large-scale wave.

Something about those gentle undulating waves manages to encompass the fluidity of the color wash while leaving the geometric elements intact and without tensions. That says quilting success to me!

My friend Cherie was generous enough to allow me to use her washer and dryer for this 104" square quilt, and on top of that, she and her MIL held it over the stairwell banister so I could get my first full photo of it outside of the sterile environment of my studio. Too bad I didn't really know how to use the fancy digital camera I borrowed from J. Please excuse the poor out-of-focus photos!

AND I got to see it spread on a bed... my house can't provide a big enough bed in a big enough room to test this one out. 

One thing I have not yet addressed is the special binding on the quilt. You may have noticed that the inspiration quilt for this has serrated edges due to the diamond construction, and this quilt top also had serrated edges that ultimately got trimmed after it was quilted. However the perfectionist in me who hides deep in my unconscious reared up and instructed me to match the color/value of the binding all the way around the perimeter. Yikes.

And just a few more photos of me hanging the final product in the studio so that J could take some proper portfolio photos...

I guess I can no longer claim to have a pet-free studio... it's a small sacrifice to make, let me tell you!

And the final touch:

A WIP Wed. post - Oh my!

Well, it's only been about, oh I don't know, 8 months or so since I last did a WIP Wed post. I'm excited to be back to it! Now, this is no promise that I'll continue in a consistent manner... who knows what next week will bring!

I've actually been doing some sewing and sewing-related activities this last week. Here's a look:

Memory quilt #3

The 3rd of 3 memory quilt tops

After a too-long hiatus (which to be fair was probably only about 3 weeks) I returned to the memory quilts and got the blocks for the last of the quilt tops put together. It has now been pin basted and is ready for quilting (the other two have yet to reach that step, but I'm happy to have the ball rolling again). And here's what all 3 of the pieces look like pre-quilting:

These will ultimately be going to each of my late uncle's kids after making a stop with my aunt. They are made using his shirts and ties and I was inspired by this tutorial by Little Miss Shabby, previously blogged about here and here.

do. Good Stitches blocks for January

For The Bliss Circle of do. Good Stitches - using Ashley's tutorial for her Converging Corners block

And did I say something about getting Patterns going??

There are still edits and tweaks to be done before it's ready to release, but I have to admit it feels good to finally be getting somewhere with this!

And my one big finish... which lingered and lingered, but the finish actually came this past week — The Aqua Value Wash Quilt

The initial wash... with a whole box of Color Catchers thrown in!

I'll have to do a follow-up post with a photo of the quilt after being washed. I haven't taken any yet, but it will have to happen soon so I can send this thing off finally!

And I think that about sums it up. It's not an impressive list, but it's a list all the same!

New: 1

In Progress: 2

Finishes: 1 (plus bee blocks)

Thanks for stopping by! If you came here from Lee's blog Freshly Pieced, thanks, and if you haven't yet been over there for the WIP Wed. post, do check it out!

Starting a new year

Now seems to be the time that many a quilter blogger is cataloging his or her past year's accomplishments. I am not going to do that this year. For one, I feel that my roster of projects is much slimmer than I would have liked, especially for the last quarter of 2013. But mostly because I don't feel like looking BACK at this point.

My momentum wavered and to get it back in gear I think it's best that I simply look FORWARD.

An assortment of fabrics from Art Gallery

There's going to be something fun and exciting happening with that little stack up there! And maybe a little outside of the box for me. Or perhaps it's what my last 7 years have been leading up to - we'll see. For now all I can say is that I am looking forward to a new adventure partnered with a talented friend, Pieced by Cherie. I think we'll keep each other motivated and in check and heading in the same direction. And so far we seem to be having fun in the process!

This is still a work in progress and may be discarded entirely, but I've been working with my brother-in-law-to-be to redesign my logo. It's difficult to do from over 3000 miles apart, but we'll figure something out soon!

This may look slightly familiar to anyone who's been following me for a little while... New color way for Lock 'n' Bolt.

And I know I've been saying it for a couple of years now, but there WILL be patterns rolling out this year. They might have to be analog-only unless I can find someone with technical savvy to show me how to deal with PDF uploads and such, but I prefer the physical paper stuff anyhow. I've set myself more than just a goal, but an actual commitment! 

So, there's a small taste of what's ahead. And I just have to share a pic or two of what has REALLY been occupying my energies over the last month or so, which may explain why very little sewing has been happening:

Meet the sweet Atlas!

Fine Craftsmanship

This phrase can apply to just about any endeavor (done impeccably, that is). Being a fine craftsman isn't necessarily limited to the scope of making "crafts". It's about how one makes anything... a meal, a painting, an essay, an electronic gadget or even a piece of software. 

And when one is looking for a product, it always pays off to wait until finding the piece that is crafted well. In this particular case I AM talking about something that falls into the traditional definition of "craft." For a couple of years now I've been keeping my eye open for a nice quilt rack to display quilts at my home or studio, instead of keeping them folded up in the basement or layered unseen on the guest bed. I would pop my head into antique shops on the rare occasions I found myself near any, troll on Etsy and even see what I might find in more mundane home goods stores. But nothing I found seemed to fit both my ideal aesthetic AND quality makemanship (sure that's a word, right?). And for those of you who don't know me so well, by "ideal aesthetic" I really mean anything in between (but not including) country primitive and futuristic minimalist. My house is west coast craftsman style, and the things in it are a hodge-podge of furnishings gathered over many years and by various members of my family, so you can see I am really not striving for magazine-ready design.

As luck would have it this year's International Quilt Market and Festival in Houston fell right around my birthday and my mom invited me to join her for a birthday celebration weekend. How could a girl resist?? Mom time AND quilts?? Also, being aware of my ongoing search for a worthy quilt rack/ladder, my mom suggested we might see some at the vendors' mall at the show. Well, we sure did see some. Not many, but some. Mostly antiques, which though beautiful (in some cases), were not sturdy enough for my needs. And then there was Booth #1629 - DWR Custom Woodworking. I kind of wish I had taken a picture of his booth right now, but honestly it wasn't all dressed up or anything — just packed with samples of his work in the forms of quilt racks, wall-mounts and quilt ladders. Simple and striking and beautifully constructed from what we could tell. Enough to make me want to swing back the following day and commit.

The 4-run Apple Ladder

About a day or two before Christmas, among their mad dash with holiday gifts, A Fed-Ex truck stopped in front of my house and deposited a 6 or 7 foot by 6" square package. MY QUILT LADDER! And it is everything I had hoped:

Beautiful finish that blends perfectly with my floor and other wood furniture.

Attention to details, making sure the various elements fit together just so.

And it all adds up to a piece that I will be proud to display in my home, and have actually made room for in my little house, assuming our new dog doesn't mess around with the quilts too much (he's more interested with the quilts actually on the couch, though I haven't given him too much opportunity to play with this set-up).

I consider myself pretty conservative with my product endorsements, but I will gladly recommend this craftsman, David W. Reiner in New Britain, PA, to anyone in search of a handmade wood displays for quilts and other fiber arts! This truly embodies Fine Craftsmanship in my book!

Happy 2013 to all!!