Unraveled

Catch up...

Once again, I let my swap obligations pile up. I took the opportunity this weekend to catch up, and I feel so much better. These are all off to their recipients, yay!

Labels: "birthday block swap", Quilting, sew connected 2

I have always loved the multi-colored oval and rectangle print from American Jane, but did you know these come in monochromatic colorways as well? Maybe I should say "came," because I can't seem to find these anywhere! They were part of the "Building Blocks" collection, but there must not have been much of these produced because they are nowhere to be found. Anyone have some they want to trade?

New Quilt: Hop on Spot

All the blocks are done... These look way more complicated than they really are. I was inspired by Dioramamama's tutorial for easy curved piecing. Her tutorial was easy to follow, and these blocks came together very easily. I pieced one giant, long strip from all the orange, yellow, and aqua fabrics that I had in my stash. I then followed the tutorial, using pieces of the long strip for the center of the circle. The only trouble I had was removing the freezer paper, but eventually I realized that I was probably using too much glue. I can't wait to see this one come together.

Show Your Sewing Space and Stash

A few weeks ago, when my sewing room was actually clean, I took a few pictures of my sewing room. This coincided with Sew Mama Sew's Show Your Stash, so I figured I would post my answers to the questions along with the pictures of my room. Here is my sewing room (the pics on flickr are annotated): Here are my stash answers... What do you usually sew? I almost always sew quilts, but occasionally I will also sew clothing for my daughters. When you shop for fabric, what size cuts do you usually buy? (i.e. If you see something beautiful, but you don’t have a use for it right away, how much do you buy?) I used to buy a lot of fat quarters, but now the smallest I will buy is 1/2 yard cuts of prints, and 1-2 yards of solids. With fat quarters, I often find that I run out of a favorite print much too quickly. Do you buy on impulse or do you go out looking for something you need? Both. I build my stash on impulse, then fill in the holes with desperately needed solids, tonal fabrics, or monochromatic prints. Are you a pre-washer? If you are, do you wash your fabric before you need it, or only when you’re ready to use it? I always pre-wash red prints and solids. I have had solid fabric bleed on me more than once, and it just isn't worth the risk to me. With prints, I think there is a little more leeway, but I still try to prewash. Do you iron it? Yes. How can people not iron??? How do you sort it? (color, print size, collection, etc.) Color, but also by size. I keep larger cuts of prints in a separate stack. I also separate out non-cotton fabrics, such as linen cotton blends and upholstery weight fabrics. Do you have any special folding techniques? No, I prefer not to have raw edges sticking out. How do you store your fabric? On a shelf. What tips do you have for building up a well-rounded stash? Buy the colors that you aren't drawn too. Keeping my stash sorted by color allows me to instantly know what colors I need. Also, don't buy fabric that you aren't in love with. Because of my impatience I have spent way too much money on fabric from JoAnns that I don't even really like. I wish I had bought quality fabric online, and just waited for it to come in. When do you say enough is enough? When my paypal is empty :-( What are some of your favorite stash-busting projects? Scrappy quilts. Do you have a current favorite print in your stash? I am really obsessed with early Amy Butler right now, especially Belle and Lotus lines. What’s your definition of the perfect stash? Bigger!!!

Labels: sew mama sew, stash

Giveaway Winners...

Hello everyone, Thank you so much for entering! I can't believe how many people entered. Using random.org, the following winners were picked: Malabrigo: AuntyM, who said she would "Love the Malabrigo" Liberty: Allison, who said she would love either, but would "extra love" the fabric Winners, please e-mail me your addresses, so I can get these goodies in the mail. There is still more yarn for sale, so e-mail me if you are interested! Make me an offer... all prices are negotiable. kristenunraveled AT gmail.com

Fabric & Yarn Giveaway and YARN SALE!!!!

My quest for fabric has reached new low. I am stooping to selling off my yarn stash to fund purchases of fabric! In honor of this debauchery, I am going to be giving away a set of luscious Liberty print fat quarters and two skeins of Malabrigo. The Winner's choice. First, the Goods... 1. For Sale- 5 Vintage Knitting Books, 2. For Sale- Vintage Metal Knitting Needles, 3. For Sale- 3 balls cashmere luxury aran, 4. For Sale- 6 Balls Cashmere Luxury Aran, 5. For Sale- 4 balls cashmere luxury chunky, 6. For Sale- 16 balls Debbie Bliss alpaca silk, 7. Swatch of Chunky Blue Yarn, 8. For Sale- Over 1000 yards of Chunky Blue wool yarn, 9. 3 Balls Koigu KPPPM, 10. For Sale- Cherry Tree Hill Merino lace, 11. For Sale- 10 balls Debbie Bliss Aran Tweed, 12. For Sale- 10 balls Debbie Bliss Aran Tweed, 13. For Sale- 4 balls Rowan Linen Drape, 14. For Sale- Recycled Cream Wool Blend, 15. For Sale- 6 balls Takhi Baby, 16. For Sale- Over 1000 yards of handyed worsted yard Here's whats for sale: - 5 vintage knitting books, most using chunky or heavy worsted yarns. Very cool designs, especially that capelet! $12 (including shipping) - SOLD Over 40 pairs of vintage metal knitting needles in a large variety of sizes from teeny to large! Gorgeous colors and in great shape. Looks great in a vase! ($25 (including shipping) - 3 balls of soft cashmere blend yarn in a lovely wine color. $12 (including shipping) - SOLD Supersoft Cashmere blend yarn in a bright, springy green. Aran weight. $22 (including shipping) - Luxurious chunky cashmere blend yarn in a beautiful bluish purple. $15 (including shipping) - 16 balls of Debbie Bliss alpaca silk in a stunning wine color. Incredibly soft. $100 $85 (including shipping) (retail over $165!) - SOLD Over 1000 yards of a chunky/heavy worsted blue yarn. This was purchased at the famous School Products in NYC. It has a high twist to it, and a very springy quality to the yarn. The color is a greyish slate blue. I have wound three skeins, and one center pull ball. The rest of the yarn is on the cone still. If you've never knitted off a cone, you're missing out! $40 (including shipping) - 3 coordinating balls of Koigu Painter's Palette Premium Merino Wool. Full skeins, handrolled into balls. I've done all the work for you! $22 (including shipping) -Cherry Tree Hill laceweigh merino, in a brown/purple/green colorway. Very lovely, I think it may be the peacock colorway, but I can't be sure. $24 including shipping (retails for $40) -10 balls of Debbie Bliss Aran Tweed, Red with flecks of blue, grey, and yellow. All ball bands intact, I just took these out of the bag for the picture. Soft, almost felted yarn. $40 (including shipping) -4 balls Rowan linen drape. 2 balls cream, 2 balls sage green. The cream balls have lost their bands, but are unused. $18 including shipping (retails for $8/ball) -3 very large skeins of recycled cream wool blend yarn. Chunky weight, very soft hand. Probably a wool/nylon/angora blend, but I don't know the exact content. $25 including shipping -SOLD 6 balls Takhi Baby, 4 have already been wound into center pull balls. Pale lavendar/pink. $45 including shipping. (retails for $15/ball) -Over 1000 yards of very pretty handdyed worsted wool, wound into six large skeins. Purple, green, and blue color scheme. No two skeins are exactly alike. Purchased from an artisan dyer at a sheep & wool festival. $40 (including shipping) For more info & bigger pics check out the flickr set: http://flickr.com/photos/kirbylou/sets/72157614238557925/ E-mail me to purchase: kristenunraveled@gmail.com Now, drumroll please.....THE GIVEAWAY!!!! I will be giving away 3 Liberty Print fat quarters as well as two skeins Malabrigo: To enter, either: (1) Post a comment below, gets you one entry! Pick your poison... tell me whether you would like the yarn or the fabric. (2) Link to this page on your blog, twitter, ravelry, wherever! Let me know where you've linked to in the comments and I will give you five entries. (3) e-mail your knitting friends! cc me and get five more entries. Enter a comment or link before Friday. I will pick a winner this weekend, and post the winner on Monday. Fabric here I come!!!

Labels: destash 2009

Swap of sorts...

I am planning on making a set of scrappy baby quilts for the shower of a good friend of mine, who is having twins! (gah, two babies??) I've sorted through my scraps, and I have come to the conclusion that I simply do not have enough variety for my vision, especially not for two scrappy quilts. I haven't decided exactly what I will be doing, but I am looking for scraps that are at least 3 inches by 3 inches. Do you have any you can spare? What?? You have a whole bunch? I love you! If you do have some scraps you are willing to part with, I will, in return, send you a pair of fat quarters from my stash. Something lovely, I promise. Let me know if you are interested in the comments, or via email. xoxox Kristen

Labels: swap?

fear not

I am still crafting away, but... work is crazy computer is broken just returned from vacation. will post new craft pictures soon. i promise.

Whew....

I may have bit off more than I can chew. I am now involved in THREE quilting bees/block swaps. This may not sound like much, but two of them require two blocks each, so that's a minimum of five blocks a month. Even thought this is a little bit crazy, I love the bees. They give me a chance to use fabric I had not yet tried, learn new techniques, and work in other styles. Plus, I know that no matter how busy I am, I have to make time for a little bit of quilting. Unfortunately, the holidays really threw me off. Plus, in DC, the inauguration made everything crazy until only a week ago. Then, add in a new job, a barely sleeping baby, and a crazy crazy toddler, um, yeah. I was a little behind. Fear not. I am caught up. They will all be going out on Monday. Here they are, in all their glory. First up, Alissa's blocks for Block Party. If you want to hear more about these blocks, check out the Block Party blog. Next up, the January block for Sew Connected 2 Now the December blocks for the About.com Birthday Block Swap Finally, the About.com swap January Blocks What a relief to be all caught up!

Labels: "birthday block swap", block party, Quilting, sew connected 2

First quilt of 2009...

I made this quilt, called "Traffic Jam," for two dear friends of ours who are about to have a baby boy. The mom-to-be had her shower last Saturday, and the poor thing has definitely reached the "get this baby out of me!" stage. I was hoping that this quilt might brighten her day and help them feel ready for the new baby. This is my first "boy" quilt and I am very happy with the result. The quilt features a mid-tone solid grey, probably Kona, and pieced strips containing various primary colored prints, along with a few focal car prints. Some of the car prints are from purl soho and some are from pink chalk studio. As for the quilting, I quilted straight parallel lines in the grey "road" sections, and stipple quilted the patterned sections. My stippling is starting to improve, although I find that because I have to set my tension fairly high to keep the back looking neat, my thread often breaks while free motion quilting. This can be very frustrating, and often leads to a string of expletives on my part. Has anyone else experienced this? My machine has a scale from 0 to 9, and I have to keep it at about a 7 in order for the back not to look loopy. What do you keep your machine's tension on when free motion quilting? I bordered the quilt in a solid yellow, which I like, but do not love. It makes the quilt look a little less sophisticated that I wanted, maybe because the grey/yellow combo screams construction site. The back is pieced from a large piece of rocketship printed fabric from Purl, along with some other pieces from my stash. The white/red check is from Joelle Hoverson's Cake Rock Beach line.

Labels: boy quilt, Quilting