"dare to be different"

Yesterday I finished another long-time work in progress (I've just been on an old WIP kick!). This one is my "dare to be different" quilt, made of several different yellow fabrics and one pop of a teal print fabric.

I quilted swirls and spirals. I was going to do something more angular, but decided that the quilt needed the addition of spiraling quilting to soften it.

I bound the quilt in two colors - a yellow and a light teal.

The back of this quilt is a light orange-on-yellow stripe. The white quilting shows up nicely on the back!

I am really pleased with how this quilt turned out. It's cheery and awesome.

Finished size: 45x60"

beads quilt

Yesterday, in a rare streak of super-productivity, I completed a second quilt.

This mod beads/garland quilt (made of snowball blocks) was another long-time work in progress. It feels good to have it done at last!

I quilted loop-de-loops across the quilt in a light green thread. It was fast and fun to quilt.

I backed the quilt in a fun green and blue and orange print, and used a "cheater binding" (folding the back of the quilt over to the front) to avoid making the quilt even busier.

I think this is a pretty cute, cheerful quilt!

Finished size: 40x50

granny superhero quilt

Yesterday, I finally finished this old work-in-progress quilt. It was even partially quilted, so I finished quilting it with wavy lines in red thread, and bound it in a navy and white polka dot print.

Ta-da!

I used a granny square pattern with Marvel superheroes at the center of each block. The background fabric is a subtle black-on-black print. One block pops with a yellow background, and solid red and orange strips of fabric surround the off-set blocks.

The back of the quilt is a red-white-and-blue polka dot print with a strip of extra squares surrounded by solid red.

I think this is a great, fun quilt for a boy (or girl!) who loves superheroes. 

Finished size: 45x60 inches, a perfect crib or small throw size.

and now for something different...

... a hot pink, lime and bright blue advent calendar!

felt advent calendar

A few days ago, I decided to make a few Christmas items. One of the first projects on my list was an advent calendar (or two...). I started with this one. I cut a piece of white felt for the background, and then eyeballed and cut a few wonky triangle shapes for the tree. I stitched the tree pieces down with a zig-zag stitch in green variegated thread (to add a little extra interest).  Then I cut and stitched down the calendar boxes. I tried out a variety of different arrangements for the boxes, but liked the checkerboard pattern the best. Then I freehanded the numbers, glued them down, added a few blue snowflakes, and made a bunch of little ornaments to go in the dated boxes. The idea is that each day you get to add another ornament to the tree (since felt sticks nicely to felt). When the tree is full, it's Christmastime!

three tiny ornaments

calendar boxes

portfolio

A few days ago, I decided to make a little portfolio with photos of my work for people to peruse at the craft show. I made a section for quilts (you can see that this section is much fatter than the others!), bags, "sewn stuff" (this section includes an advent calendar, scented sachets, and a tea cozy), and cross-stitch.

Each section has a cover page, and then both sides of each page are covered with photos and little notations (the size of a quilt, information about the quilting, etc).

I complied all these pages in a mini-binder, and used pastel-colored cardstock. I couldn't find a hole punch that fit a mini-binder, so I punched out all the holes with a handheld single hole puncher. That was not most fun, but it was worth it in the end.

Hopefully this little binder will give people a chance to see the range of work I do.

half-square triangle christmas tree mini-quilt

christmas tree

Today I finished a mini-quilt. This is the project I showed you a sneak peek of two days ago, and now it's finished!

The mini-quilt is composed of 2" finished blocks in two shades of green, bright Christmas red, yellow, and two different white-on-white prints. I love the colored designs created by the half-square triangles.

I took the creative advice of my sister and finished the top of the tree with a three-pointed star made of quarter-square triangles. I initially started quilting straight lines on the quilt, but ripped out two lines of stitched and decided to go with loopy free-motion quilting instead. I like how the free-motion quilting looks like a garland or snow falling around the tree. I did a cheater binding (using the back fabric for the binding) with a fun polka dot print.

This quilt finishes at 18x20".

diy craft show cards

front

I printed out some new craft show cards to go along with my new crafty name. I chose the "Tokyo" template in Pages, and kept the orange and dark gray colors of the template. (I love orange). I printed them out on Avery pre-punched business cards, and stamped the back with a variety of designs in black ink.

back

The "you're lovely!" is my favorite stamp. I think it's so nice and random, and I love the heart border.

I can't wait to start passing out these cards.

do these colors ring a bell?

... maybe a jingle bell or two?

half-square triangles

lots of tiny trimmings

Stay tuned to see the end of this project!

welcome

Welcome to marmalade made!

This will be my semi-professional blog documenting my crafty creations. Please stay tuned for new projects that are in the works!