The Upgrade

Did you know my sewing machine broke last summer? It started dropping stitches randomly. I fiddled around with something, but again, dropped stitches. Now, my sewing machine was 35 years old. Its a Viking Huqsvarna from 1975. It was the machine my mom got when she got married. And her mom convinced her to get the best. Because it would be the sewing machine she'd have for the rest of her life.

Except my mom didn't want a sewing machine! She hates to hem pants for my dad. She hates to sew on buttons. So when I asked to borrow it in college to sewing a quilt, she said to keep it.

I moved the machine to Texas and have gotten lots of use out of it. More than mom ever did. I even paid $300 in 2005 or 2006 to get the cams deep-cleaned. It was running in tip-top shape back then. But now? Dropping stitches? Ugh. I don't want to invest more money in something so old. And I couldn't even do a zig-zag stitch on this machine. Time to get over the sentimental value and upgrade!

With the advice of my comrades at the Austin Modern Quilt Guild, I invested in a Bernina Activa 220! Its their bottom of the line model, but its a major upgrade for me.

Can I just say... WOW.

Its so quiet. I'm in love.

2011 Recap

What a fun year! So many quilt projects. I attribute my involvement with the Austin Modern Quilt Guild as to why I got so much done. I can't tell you how inspiring meetings are! Plus, I attended THREE quilt retreats this year. Lots of quilt tops made... and even a few quilts finished. Oh, and I made a cake from scratch. Happy new year!



1. Postage Stamp Quilt Top 2. Fave Fabrics Quilt Top 3. Scruffily Quilt 4. Charity Quilt 3 5. Baby Boy Quilt 6. Martha Stewart Cake 7. Baby Girl Quilt 8. Charity Quilt 2 9. Charity Quilt 4 10. Charity Quilt 5 11. Charity Quilt 1 12. Block of the Month Quilt Top

Solidarity

Members of the Austin Modern Quilt Guild have collaborated on a solid block quilt to donate to Artists Against Cancer. We call it Solidarity.



Artists Against Cancer is a non-profit organization to help those who work in the arts in their battles against cancer. One of AMQG's most awesome-ist members is currently kicking cancer's ass and we want to help!

This Sunday from 5 to 8 p.m. at Thunderbird Coffee on Manor Road there will be a silent auction of incredible art, including this quilt. All proceeds raised will be given to help our quilting friend Cindy C in her battle with cancer.

This is going to be a great event! If you are in the area on Sunday, please stop by. For a preview of all the wonderful art being donated, click here!



Quilt stats:

• A large twin quilt - 66x88 inches
• Constructed in solid fabrics only
• 100% cotton fabric used on the front, back, batting, and binding
• Inspiration: 'a quilt to be' from the LA Modern Quilt Guild flickr page

A big shout out to all the AMQG members who donated one or more wonderful blocks! Cindy B, Heather G (aka Modern Day Quilts), Denise, Diana, Meghan (aka Scrambled Megs), Mitzi, Alison (aka Sew and Tell Quilts), Jessica (aka this is a splendid calm), Robin, Claire, Khanh, and Adrienne -- I couldn't have done this without you! Everyone made beautiful blocks. Not to mention that Jessica and Robin donated their time and expertise to long arm this quilt. Thanks again!

Blogger's Quilt Festival: My fourth charity quilt

Welcome to my entry to The Blogger's Quilt Festival! I'm super excited to participate this year.



This a twin sized quilt (about 70x90 inches) which I made for Modern Day Quilts' Central Texas Wildfire quilt drive. This is my fourth charity quilt I've made... and third for the Central Texas Wildfire quilt drive. I have fallen in love with making charity quilts! I love the idea that something I make helps somebody, in some way. Plus, a charity quilt doesn't have to be perfect. I am allowed to work with fun fabrics and try new methods. No one is going to criticize the imperfections. Not even my own inner perfectionist.



I'm also excited to say I made this quilt on a budget! Most of the fabrics were donated by The Quilt Haus, who collects fabrics for Project Linus and donated them to the Austin Modern Quilt Guild. I only had to add a few fabrics from my stash, some which I had bought on Black Friday at the Crate and Barrel outlet. Yes, Crate and Barrel! Did you know they were selling fabric for a dollar a pound that day? I scored big time. I added a vintage pink sheet, purchased at Savers, and batting purchased on clearance. Besides thread and wear & tear on my machine, I have at most $20 invested in this quilt.



I took all the photos for this quilt at the top of Mount Bonnell on a gorgeous fall day. My dog Chauncey and I had just gone hiking at Turkey Creek and stopped at Mount Bonnell afterwards. This is a must-stop for any visit to Austin. There are great views of downtown and Lake Austin.



Thanks for stopping by! Make sure to visit all the other quilts at the Fall 2011 Blogger's Quilt Festival.

Pretty In Pink: A Baby Shower

In July I co-hosted a baby shower in my home with two wonderful ladies. Our little ranch house is less than 1000 square feet, so with 20 guests, food, drinks, and gifts, it was cozy! We still had tons of fun and got to shower a great friend with lots of pink baby gifts.

For decorations, I made ruffled streamers in pink, white, and black, hung up a photo collage of the parents-to-be when they were wee little ones, and added bunting to the cake.

For the cake, I followed these Martha Stewart chocolate cupcake and cream cheese frosting recipes. All I have to say is... delicious! It wasn't that much more effort to make the cake from scratch and its 1000 times better than a box! I still need to work on my food coloring skills, though. I heard investing in gel coloring is worth it!









By the way, I apologize for the quality of the photos! Most were taken with my iPhone because halfway through the party I lost my camera... I went to the fun room to show a party guest my quilting projects. While we were in there, I set down my camera and forgot where I put it! You get me talking about quilting and I lose focus on all other things!

AMQG: Year Long Quilt-a-long - Block 12

Its the last block of the Austin Modern Quilt Guild quilt-a-long! This block is choose your own adventure. Anything you want. Repeat something we've done so far. Make up your own block. Or... give one of these blocks a try!

Wavy Seams Block

Dare to curve? Check out the Wavy Seams Block, courtesy of Kathy Mack at Pink Chalk Studio. I love Kathy Mack's blog AND her online shop, Pink Chalk Fabrics! Her blog has some great categories: quilting, sewing tips, embroidery, photography 101, craftiness, and inspiration.


Wavy Seams Block by Pink Chalk Studio

Wonky Bento Box Block

Got lots of scraps? Try a Wonky Bento Box Block, courtesy of John Cary at Quilt Dad. Quilt Dad writes for the Fat Quarterly. This Wonky Bento Box block is part of a Old Red Barn Quilt-a-long he hosted back in 2009.


Wonky Bento Box Block by Quilt Dad

The Sky's the Limit!

And if you still don't know what to make, have you seen Quilting Bee Blocks? Oh my goodness... quilt block heaven!

Or you could check out the 2011 Summer Sampler Quilt Along... More gorgeous blocks.

Hope you had fun with the AMQG quilt-a-long! And don't forget to bring your finished block to the October meeting!

My third charity quilt

I'm on a charity quilt roll this summer! One, two, and now three! This a twin sized quilt (about 72x90 inches) which I made for Modern Day Quilts' Central Texas Wildfire quilt drive. The front was made from Kona Grey and small fat quarter pieces that the Quilt Haus donated to the Austin Modern Quilt Guild. On the back I used an extra long twin sheet and leftover scraps from the front.





Since this is a charity quilt and I wanted to get it finished quickly, I quilted in wide, straight, vertical, horizontal, and diagonal lines. I love how the quilting is prominent in the back.

For binding I found a green, 1960s flowered fabric at Hancock Fabrics. In the Puppy Dog charity quilt, I machine-sewed the binding to the back. This time, I started off machine sewing the binding to the back and then did a heavy zig-zag stitch to the front, suggested by Heather from Fiberosity. Can I saw it looks awesome? It totally goes with the industrial look of the grey on the front! Last, but not least, I added a rainylakechick designs label to the back!




Chauncey approves!



If you would like to make one of these quilts for the quilt drive, I wrote a tutorial! If you use the tutorial, please let me know via a comment here. I'd love to see photos of your creations.