Quilty Goals for 2015

Hope you had a great holiday season! As the end of the year is fast approaching, and I recently read a post by Quilting Jetgirl that outlined her quilting goals for 2015, I thought I'd jump on the bandwagon. I tend to be more accountable when I write down my goals, anyway.

1. Join a quilt guild. I feel as though I've made some bloggy friends, but I'd like to get to know some people who sew in real life!

2. Enter a quilt in a competition. I like sharing my work, and I feel like it would be fun to enter a competition for the experience. I've never really done juried work, and I'd like to learn more about it.

Broken Umbrellas quilt. If it wasn't so small I would have tried entering it somewhere!

3. Make a quilt pattern. The majority of the quilts I make are inspired by older designs, but are all unique to me. I think it would be fun to make up a pattern for distribution (even if it's only on Craftsy), so that this hobby could start supporting itself.

4. Submit a pattern for a magazine. Like the previous goal, although this one would probably hit a wider audience.

5. Play around more. After all those serious goals, I thought I needed to lighten up! I love the creative process, but have recently been sucked into a few obligations, and/or don't have time to sew for myself. I want the chance to just look at a bundle of fabric and sew whatever it's telling me it should be sewn into!

Part of my RTQ center. 

6. Work on my photography. I love taking pictures and editing the quilty stuff I make almost as much as I like sewing. I think I'd like to improve that skill set though, because many times I just get an OK picture when I could have gotten a great one!

7. Segregate my work from the animals. That is a weird goal, but as my dog is digging through my quilt pile to create a nest I feel as though I should treat my work with a little more respect. I want them to be used and loved, but maybe not shredded. Plus, I always feel bad when I send a bee item or a gift and it's covered in cat hair - after I've lint rolled it for 10 minutes!

8. Sew every day. Right now I only sew a couple times a week, but in marathon sessions. I think if I broke it up more I would enjoy the process a bit more. My old clunker is so loud, sometimes I get a headache after a day of sewing.

The last project that was for me.
It's been basted and waiting for months!

9. New machine! I hesitate to buy a new machine when my old one is decent, but I think I've finally progressed to the point where I can justify a new machine. It would help me with my piecing accuracy, and I'd be able to start learning to free motion quilt.

10. Learn how to serge. My mom gave me her old serger, now I need to sit down and take advantage of it. I'd have the best finished seams in town! Plus, my new obsession with sewing knits would become much easier. 

Lapped and Lined Pillow - A Tutorial

I've discussed my affinity for lining pillows. It may seem silly (I mean who even looks inside after the pillow's in there?) but for me it's worth it. And I figured, maybe you'd be interested too, so here's a tutorial of how I did it. It's basically like a large boxy pouch, just without the boxed corners. I also like adding a lap to cover up the zipper. Makes for a nice, neat finished product.

Check out that lining!

Look at the lap on that pillow back! (right side)

So, you'll need a pillow cover, and some fabric for the backing pieces and the lining, as well as the lap. In addition you'll need a zipper. I'm including the measurements I used for my 18" finished pillow cover. 

[1] 18.5" square pillow front. Mine is layered with batting and quilted. 

[1] 6.5"x18.5" rectangle, [1] 11.5"x18.5" rectangle.
Mine are layered with batting and quilted.

Lining. [1] 18.5" square, [1] 6.5"x18.5" rectangle, [1] 11.5"x18.5" rectangle.  

Fabric for the lap. Mine are 2.5"x18.5"

So, first thing, fold the fabric for the lap in half lengthwise.

Folded in half, lengthwise. 

Next, you want to layer the smaller backing piece (face up), your folded lap fabric (open side facing out), and your zipper (top down).

Pillow, lap, zipper. 

Lay your smaller back lining fabric down next, right side down. Notice how the zipper ends about half an inch before the end of the pillow. You're going to want to mark a line on the lining fabric 1/2" from each end. These lines are marking your sewing starting and stopping points.

all the layers together. Note the marked line. 

Sew along your zipper, making sure you don't cross beyond those lines. If you need to, zip or unzip the zipper so the slider doesn't get in the way.

sewing to the line. 

Open up the zipper and press the fabric back. You just want to make sure you don't sew over the lap when sewing the other side. Now, repeat the process you just did on the other side, using the larger back piece and larger lining piece.

Next you're going to open up the respective sides and topstitch. Topstitch along the larger half of the pillow back first. Next, press the lap in the correct direction (over the zipper), and topstitch along that side. (no picture, whoops!)

Now that we've got the back panel completed with the zipper, you're going to cut it to the right length. Measure to make it 18.5" square, and you will need to trim a little off the larger back panel and lining.

Place the pillow top face down on the pillow back (so that they are right sides together). Do the same with the lining sides.

Here's the front and back of the pillow, right sides together.
This is right before I trimmed it. 

And here's the front lining and back linings right sides together. 

Next we're going to sew around the pillow. I like to start with the quilted sides. I also like to pin while I sew around the perimeter to avoid shifting fabric. Make sure the zipper is open halfway. Also, make sure that the lap is folded in the correct direction (over the zipper) when you pin. You want to make sure you are only pinning the quilt top and back pieces, not the lining. Don't forget to make sure the zipper is open!

Lap is covering the zipper. Only pinning the front and back. 

Start sewing around the perimeter of the pillow. When you get to either side of the zipper make sure to pull the lining fabric back so you only sew over the outer pillow and zipper ends.

note my fingers holding back the lining fabrics so I
only sew over the zipper and pillow backs/tops.

When you finish the outside you're going to repeat the process with the lining. The only difference with the lining is you will want to leave a gap several inches long to turn the pillow cover through. If you haven't done it yet, make sure the zipper is open!!

You're going to want to make sure to avoid the outsides of the pillow at the zipper, like you avoided sewing over the lining before. With the lining pieces you'll note a gap between the fabrics, that's fine. Just be sure to pull the zipper and outer fabrics away so that you are only sewing over the lining fabrics.

Same deal on this side at the zippers. 

Once you're done (remember to leave that gap!), clip the corners of the outside. If you want, clip the corners of the lining as well, although I tend to not do that.

Clipped corners. 

Turn everything out through the gap in the lining and the opened zipper. To close the lining I just fold the edges in 1/4 inch and topstitch over them, about 1/8th of an inch from the edge.

Edges turned in 1/4 inch and pinned. 

Topstitched. 

Tuck the now closed lining into the pillow and you're done! You've got a lovely pillow cover with a hidden zipper!

Look how nice and polished that is!

Peek-a-boo!

Hope you enjoyed the tutorial. It might be a bit of extra work, but I like the end results. No stray threads anywhere!

Fabrics for pillow top: Mustang by Cotton + Steel, Botanics metalic modern floral, herringbone for Modern Home by Monaluna, Wood Grain by Joel Dewberry (true colors collection), and Bluebird Park bunnies. 

Fabric for the lining: Tulips by Joel Dewberry for the lining, 

Hexie Heaven

I'm at AGU - that's the American Geophysical Union's annual conference - and I knew I'd need a project to keep me busy during down time. Solution: the travelling hexies.

Hexagons! and cat hair...

I got one panel completed a couple months ago, and now I've got enough for the second panel. Guess I should get to work on connecting them.

The completed panel. 

I'm using Arizona fabric by April Rhodes. The hexies are 3/4 inch, so they're pretty tiny. I like seeing the geometric qualities of the print broken down in these smaller shapes.

The conference is in San Francisco, so I also got to do a little shopping!

Britex Fabrics! A San Francisco institution!

Not many quilting cottons, but it sure is fun to browse all the fabrics and notions. They even had the cotton tape that I ran out of!

I'm curious: what kind of do you bring when you travel? Or do you just enjoy the trip?

Linking up for WiP Wednesday with Lee from Freshly Pieced