AeroStitcher Blogs

Another Top Done!

2009-05-17T05:58:00.000-07:00

I just finished this top this weekend! It was a free pattern called "Chelsea Manor" by Bunny Hill Designs that I found here at Henry Glass Fabrics. There is a brown and a red version of this quilt pattern available for free download. It was a lot of fun to make and I am so please with how it turned out. It took me about a month of casual sewing while waiting for the kids at sports practices etc. There is a little bit of everything...applique, redwork embroidery and piecing. I used the exact Chelsea Manor fabrics that the pattern called for and for the cream background I used 5573--7-Eggshell Fusions by Robert Kaufman. The only thing I did note about the pattern was I came up a little short on the fabric for the outer borders. I would recommend buying a full yard instead of 3/4 yd as per the pattern just to be safe. I don't think the pattern took into account that the borders might be pieced on the diagonal ( as I usually do it) as opposed to straight across.

Pillowcase Swap

2009-04-16T13:36:00.000-07:00

I received the most beautiful handmade pillowcases from Laurie E. in the mail today. I recently participated in an online pillowcase swap where everyone made two pillowcases and sent them to a randomly assigned person in the swap. I think Laurie could read my mind as the fabrics she chose are just perfect! I also love the lace she used along the cuff. They are very beautifully done. Here is a link to a free pattern on how to make a basic pillowcase.

Costume Sewing

2009-04-11T09:45:00.000-07:00

I like to sew clothing....especially those fancy dance and gymnastics costumes. Here is a photo of a gymnastics leotard I just finished for my daughter. I freehand sketched the design, made templates of the final shapes and top stitched on all the appliques. It is constructed with black and silver Mystique Lycra fabric and and embellished with hot fix Swarovski crystals. The design motif extends around to the backside of the leotard as well. It was really fun to make.

Autumn Houses BOM Progress

2009-03-20T14:29:00.000-07:00

Here is the another Bunny Hill Designs project I am also working on this year as a BOM. The pattern is called "Autumn Houses". Here are my completed blocks #1 and #2...

12 Months of Baskets #3

2009-03-20T13:55:00.000-07:00

Done! Here's my block #3!

12 Months of Baskets #2

2009-03-01T11:54:00.000-08:00

So far so good! I am keeping up with these blocks. Here is my completed block #2! You can join in on this free BOM by clicking the logo in my right sidebar.

New Life for Old Chairs and Boo-Boo Blocks

2009-03-01T08:50:00.000-08:00

I needed new chairs for my sewing room desperately. The old office chair no longer rolled from years of thread getting caught up in the wheels. Seemed no matter how often I cut the thread out of the wheels they would be choked up again in no time. Finally, I decided I needed a chair without wheels in my sewing room. I had these old mission style dining chairs in my garage. They were dirty and the cushions were dingy so I thought I would clean them up and cover them with my favorite fabric...when suddenly I noticed that a couple of my rejected boo-boo blocks fit the seats perfectly! Now, there is nothing really wrong with these blocks...they just came out to be 14" instead of the intended 12" because I printed off the wrong page from my Triangulations patterns so off to the boo-boo pile they went (yes, I did say pile). Anyhow, I cleaned up those old chairs and I grabbed my new second favorite quilting tool (a staple gun) and got to work. I finished them off with some clear plastic covering to protect them from my cats fur. I am really pleased with how they turned out.

A tisket, a tasket...

2009-01-12T08:59:00.000-08:00

... 12 Months of Baskets is a block of the month project that I decided to make this year. This BOM is offered free from Bunny Hill Designs. You can join in on this project by clicking the image in my right sidebar. Below is my completed January Block #1. The pattern also calls for button embellishments, but I will add those after the quilting is completed at the end of the project.

Coloring Book Therapy

2009-01-01T12:28:00.000-08:00

I found these neat coloring books at Michael's yesterday in the $1.00 bin! I have heard that coloring is one of the best forms of relaxation (besides quilting, of course), that I just could not resist buying these fun quilt themed books. Maybe they will spark some creative ideas for some quilt projects in the new year.

Cupcake Pincushions

2008-12-28T13:31:00.000-08:00

I just love sweets! When I saw this adorable pincushion pattern at one of my local quilt shops (Wine Country Quilting in Paso Robles, CA), I could not resist. The pattern is called "Cupcake Pincushion" by Cindy Taylor Oates. These cute little cupcakes were just about as fast to whip up as a batch of real ones. I used weighted poly-pellets instead of sand as per the pattern to stuff them with. The poly-pellets are a lot let messy to work with and provide a nice weight to the finished pincushion. Best of all, unlike sand, they are washable. I made up this batch of cupcakes as surprises to send to some friends I am swapping blocks from the Bunny Hill Designs "Party Cakes" pattern below with.

"Party Cakes" by Bunny Hill Designs

2008 Annual Christmas Stocking Exchange

2008-12-23T09:11:00.001-08:00

Each year I try to participate in a stocking exchange through one of my online quilting groups. These exchanges a loads of fun. Basically, you are assigned a secret sister and given a few details about them and then you go ahead and make a unique stocking, fill it with goodies and send it in time for Christmas. I have received some of the most beautiful stockings over the years that I just treasure. The stocking above is one that I made this year for my secret sister "Brenda" who lives in New Hampshire. She loves dark colors and primitive quilt designs so I decided to use homespun plaids and wool for the tree along with country button embellishments.

Below are two more stockings I received this year. It is interesting how we all used the diagonal stripe base pattern. This is a very versatile, fast and easy pattern that can be found for free from Eleanor Burn's Quilt in a Day website here.

Stocking made for me by Kate for the "BHD Quilting Friends" group exchange.

Stocking made for me by Carol L. for the "Scrappy Quilts" group exchange.

Happy Hollow Yo-Yo Santa

2008-11-25T10:35:00.001-08:00

This is one of my favorite holiday projects ever. I had so much fun making this cute Santa wall hanging by Happy Hollow designs. I think next year I will definitely be making the matching tree skirt. This pattern works up quick too. I spent one night in front of the TV making the yo-yos and I put it all together in an hour the next day.

California Midstate Fair 2008 Quilt Challenge

2008-11-23T05:25:00.000-08:00

"Barn Dance Tonight"

I had such a fun time on this project. It was inspired by a photo of a quilt named "20th and Freya - A Five-Year-Old's View of Her Mother" from the book Quilted Memories by Mary Lou Weidman. This year, I won two fair awards - "Best Use of Color" and "Best Interpretation of Theme".

Another block done!

2008-02-13T08:55:00.000-08:00

OK...I must admit that my posts have been few and far between but I am busy stitching away (on several projects). I'll post updates with what I have been doing over the next few days. In the meantime, here is my Baltimore Bunnies Block #6...

Happy Thanksgiving & Baltimore Bunnies #5!

2007-11-22T13:55:00.000-08:00

Well, another block has been completed. I am now onto the next #6. Slowly but surely I am working my way through this project and really enjoying it.

Block #5

Baltimore Bunnies Block #3

2007-08-22T05:55:00.000-07:00

My Bunnies block #3 has finally been completed! This one has been the most work of them all so far. I enjoyed making it, but I am happy to have it all stitched. I will be skipping ahead to Block #7 next.

Baltimore Bunnies Block #3

California Midstate Fair 2007 Quilt Challenge

2007-07-26T08:53:00.000-07:00

I had a nice day at the fair yesterday. I entered the quilt challenge for the first time this year and had lots of fun working on my quilt. I had no idea what to expect and I was thrilled to see I won a ribbon for "Best Use of Challenge Fabric". I also received a 1st award. All the other quilts were wonderful too. Everyone did something so very unique. The challenge fabric is the black and pink dot print and the theme was "Country Days Rock'n Nights". My quilt is entirely pieced. I went a bit crazy with embellishing with novelty buttons, but it seems to have worked out.

My 2007 California Midstate Fair Challenge Quilt.

Theme - "Country Days Rock'n Nights"

2nd Annual Templeton Outdoor Quilt Show

2007-06-21T09:23:00.000-07:00

I had a fun time this past weekend at the Templeton Outdoor Quilt show. Hundreds of quilts from all over the state and country were on display from the roofs, balconies, fences and porches of historic Templeton Main Street. I live locally so after learning about the show at a local shop recently I decided to submit a few quilts into the show. This was the first time I have ever entered any of my work anywhere for display. It was quite exciting. Below are some photos from the show. Here is the link to the Templeton quilt show website if you want to read more about it. http://www.templetonquiltshow.com/

My quilt is the brown one just to the right of the lady in the center of the photo.

Close-up view. I made this quilt as mystery project with a Kansas Troubles Quilters yahoo group during one of our online camps.

This quilt I made during a local quilt shop event. It is a pattern called "Tile Tango" by Atkinson Designs.

Also on display was this cat wallhanging pattern I designed myself. I named the pattern "Sitting Pretty Kitty" because it was inspired by my cats who love to sit and stare at me when I am quilting.

Baltimore Bunnies Block #4

2007-05-31T18:46:00.000-07:00

Here is my block #4 all finished! This has been my favorite one to do so far. I never knew how to do a stem stitch until tackling the embroidery on this block. Well, actually, I am not sure I know how to do one still but it looks OK to me and I am happy with that. Next, it's backwards to block #3.

Baltimore Bunnies Block #2

2007-05-04T09:47:00.000-07:00

I am moving right along at snails pace! Here is a photo of my B. Bunnies block #2. I really enjoyed this block. For my next block I will be skipping ahead to block #4. I am worried about lining up all those leaves in block #3 so I think I am going to have to teach myself another technique for those using starch and glue baste before tackling that block. I also started a yahoo group for those working specifically on this quilt. Everyone is posting photos of their progress and sharing tips and ideas. It really helps to keep me motivated and on track and I love to see all the photos of the blocks with different fabrics. Here is the link... http://groups.yahoo.com/group/BaltimoreBunnies/ .

I have completely neglected my Feathered Stars project as I try to keep up with these bunnies but I hope to prep those last 2 applique blocks so I can work them too this month. Once those are done things should be much faster as the rest of the quilt is pieced and I am much quicker at piecing.

Here is a photo of my Baltimore Bunnies Block #2...

Baltimore Bunnies Block #1

2007-04-02T11:41:00.000-07:00

I've finally finished my Baltimore Bunnies Block #1. There were a lot of leaves on this block. 52 to be exact. It took me awhile to get through them all but it was good practice. I am having a problem with the freezer paper peeling off the top of my pieces before I am finished appliqueing them on. I am not sure what is causing that to happen. I fell behind on my Feathered Stars this month as all my attention was on this Baltimore Bunnies BOM. Block #2 of the Baltimore Bunnies looks like it will go much faster than #1 so I will start on that and then turn my attention back to my Feathered Stars project. Here is a picture of my completed Baltimore Bunnies block #1.

Feathered Star Progress

2007-03-08T10:27:00.000-08:00

I finally have the second row completed on my feathered stars quilt. All went well except I had to switch machines when piecing the blocks in this row and I discovered that there must be a variation in the 1/4" seam allowance between my Brother ULT and Janome 9000. The row 2 blocks were slightly larger than row 1's and getting those points just right when sewing row 2 to row 1 and matching all the seams was a bit of a pain. It took a bit of manipulation but I am not going to worry about it too much. It is probably good advice not to switch machines in the middle of a project unless absolutely necessary. Here is a photo of how my Feathered Stars Top is coming along...

Speaking of machines, today I woke up to an email in my inbox announcing a great deal on a Brother 2340CV cover stitch serger. Since my current serger (also a Brother) did not have a cover stitch, and I often wished it did, I could not resist. I can't wait until it gets here. I have recently started making clothing and this machine will provide a more professional looking finish on the things I make. It also seems nice to have two separate machines. I will be able to jump from the serger to the cover stitch machine without having to convert the machines set-up like I hear you have to do for the all-in-one machines. Now, I just need to find a place in my already crowded sewing room to put it.

Progress Update

2007-02-08T09:54:00.000-08:00

Well, I am stitching steadily along on my February applique assignments. You can see in my photo that my Feathered Stars center block is beginning to take shape and I have just begun the Baltimore Bunnies Block #1 by stitching the bias strip heart on. I used 30wt sulky cotton thread on the heart because I did not know any better. Fortunately, I did not get too far before the ladies in the group straightened me out. It does not seem obvious (to me anyway). I have since purchased some 50wt Mettler silk finish thread in all the colors I'll need for this Bunnies Project. I should be in good shape from this point forward. You can also catch a glimpse of one one my Dear Jane quilts in progress (yes, I said one of them). I have three going at once. Can you see my problem? This one is the product of my brilliant idea to make the quilt entirely of embroidered blocks...but that is a whole other story I can get into later.

Baltimore Bunnies

2007-01-31T10:08:00.000-08:00

This year I signed up for my very first BOM (Block of the Month). I choose "Baltimore Bunnies" by Bunny Hill Designs. The first block arrived just the other day! I chose this particular BOM for two reasons. One, because I absolutely fell in love with it at first sight and second, because I knew if I subscribed to a BOM I would really be determined and work hard to learn applique. Here is a photo. As you can see I have already begun preparing my pieces. My applique goals for this month are to complete this BOM Block #1 and the Second Row of the "Feathered Stars" top.

2007 Projects

2007-01-28T16:55:00.000-08:00

This year I am working on my very first hand applique project. A pattern called "Feathered Stars" by Kim Diehl. I am doing this project with a group online. The technique I am using is needleturn applique with freezer paper pressed to the top of the fabric pieces.

Here is the book that contains the pattern. I had mine spiral bound at Staples for $3.21. It lays open nice and flat now. I can trace the templates onto my freezer paper without the book constantly trying to pop closed on me.

For Janurary our group assignment was to complete the the top row of the quilt. Here's mine!

Here is a a close-up of one of my applique blocks.