Tag: shot cotton

Studio

Petite Pillow Power!

tierneycreates: a fusion of textiles and smiles

Last post I shared this photo of semi-simultaneous unfinished crafting project work:

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I recently finished #2 (see post I hurried); and this weekend I finished up #1 – little pillows made from scrap shot cottons, previously discussed in these posts:

Finishing out the Challenge Bag of shot cottons

Originally I had planned to hand quilt all the little pillows tops:

In reality, I only ended up hand quilting the paper pieced one (I finished this up a couple weeks ago while watching TV in the evening):

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Hand quilted (basic, basic, basic hand quilting!)

The rest of the little pillows I machine quilted this weekend:

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Petite Pillow Power Photoshoot!

When I remembered, I added in a tierneycreates label which I shared in post Embracing Orange. My tierneycreates Etsy shop is closed but I still have all these labels I might as well use them!

Except for the paper pieced pillow which has a solid light tan back, here is the fabric I used on the back of the pillows:

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This petite pillow for some reason is my favorite –  I stuck it in my bookcase:

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Tierney loves me best

Petite Pillow Power!

What’s next? Well I am going to start on #4 (Revisiting Traditional Piecing: The Blocks Part III) – I finally…9 months later…figured out the layout/setting for the blocks!

Postscript

Thank you so much for all the suggestions on my post  The Photoshoot Shed: Please Give Me Your Ideas– so many of you came through with some fantastic ideas!

It has been very warm in Central Oregon, and once it drops below skin-searing temperatures, I am going to fiddle around the back of the shed and decide which idea to implement.

I have a bunch of these from a failed small curtain hanging experiment and I am thinking of using these with some type of rod or heavy tension wire:

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Photo credit – Home Depot

Additionally, I appreciate the great photo tips provided in the comments!

What's on the Design Wall

What’s on the “Design Bed”

tierneycreates: a fusion of textiles and smiles

The Happy Ending quilt top is done!

I first introduced this project in the post Diving into a quilt (and other stuff) and What’s on the Design Wall. As I mentioned in my prior post, I had to move it from the “design wall” to the “design bed” (a concept I borrowed from Claire @ knitNkwilt) as it grew (and grew) in length.

I am not sure what I was thinking. I have no twin beds in the house, but the quilt top (pattern by Lesley Chaisson, from the book Perfect Quilts for Precut Fabrics by Patchwork Place, 2014) measures 81.5 in. x 105.5 in. !!!

Yikes!

So Many Precuts…

I was going to photograph my entire fabric precut collection (jelly rolls, fat quarters, charm squares, layer cakes) but I am not ready to share my dirty little secret.

I will share that I was able to decrease this basket of charm squares (5 inch precut squares) by 2+ packages of 42 charm squares to make the Happy Ending quilt:

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It Started on the Design Wall

I have a giant design wall in my hallway (the one hallway in my little house) and I thought I could layout the entire quilt on the design wall.

Building the quilt top:

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Um…it is now dragging on the floor:

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So I had to abandon the design wall for the “design bed”.

On the Design Bed

Here are photos of the quilt top completed and laid out on the “design bed”:

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I used two Moda Fabrics charm packs (Basic Grey line) to make the half-square triangles. Everything is set in Peppered Cottons by Pepper Cory fabric (color PC44-45 – Ink).

Shot Cotton Challenges

Peppered Cottons are shot cottons are fabrics woven with two slightly different colors creating a shimmering effect (source: Purl Solo). Many shot cottons are lightweight and some are rather sheer. They can be challenging to work with and if not cut correctly can had friable and fraying edges.

As shown in my personal example below:

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I was discussing this challenge with my friend Susan who is a masterfully precise technical sewer/quilter, and she advised that if I carefully cut the fabric along the straight line of the threads, I would have less fraying.

I also found these tips (which I should have searched for prior to beginning a project that involved a large amount of shot cotton yardage):

HOW TO WORK WITH PEPPERED COTTONS BY PEPPER CORY

Next Steps

I am putting together the backing (yardage from the Moda Fabrics Basic Grey line):

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Then it is time to connect with Cindy of A Quilter’s Corner with Cindy Anderson (inastitchquilting.com) on shipping the quilt top and quilt backing to her. She is my longtime blogging buddy and this will be our first collaboration on a quilt!

NEXT POST: Saturday I took my sewing machine in for service and visited the new Sew Many Quilts quilt shop location. Photos and musing to come.

Follow the musings of Sassy the Highly Opinionated Schnauzer at her Schnauzer Snips blog.