I Don't Wear Sweaters - Clothes Revamp No. 1

So I picked the article of clothing I plan to reinvent for this month.  I actually had it in mind before I even published the last post so I'm giving it a starting day of February 1st, meaning I've got until March 3rd to do something with it.  Luckily, I had it in mind because I had a plan for it already.  So here's the piece - the Roots Sweater.  Yep, see, I have a tendency to reinvent something and then not really love the final result.  In this case, I loved what I did, but I haven't worn it twice that I can remember.  I don't like turtlenecks and I rarely wear sweaters.  I'm not sure why I did this in the first place.  So.  Revamp Attempt #2!  And I'm not making it wearable.  It's going to turn into a pillow cover.  I plan to add a few more roots and extend them out to the edge of the pillow.  But then a simple (fingers crossed) cut and sew with probably an envelope backing because it requires no extra hardware and is easy! I've already pinned the new roots, so it's hand stitching time!  This is when I wish I lived in the city again.  Nothing like 45 minute train rides to give you some good forced hand craft time.

Anyways, I got off topic (and I wrote the previous paragraph last week).  I have finished sewing the extended roots and they look awesome.  I have to now figure out exactly how to do the envelope style cover.  I don't have a lot of extra fabric for the back since the bottom 6 inches of the sweater body is a knit rib, but I think I've figured out a way to actually use the ribbing to give me enough fabric to do the envelope binding, because that really is my favorite way (can it be a favorite if it's the only way you've ever done it?).  Either way, I have about a week left to finish it, though it'll only take me an hour or two from this point, so it's all dependent on when I get to it!  So excited for a crafty finish!

See you soon...

(with a new pillow cover and pictures!)

A Finished Picnic/Whirlygig Quilt!

It's done!!  The Whirlygig Quilt is done! (Except for a quick wash and dry.  That part's easy.)

I decided to keep going with the circular theme and do spirals starting at the center of each pinwheel.

I then filled in between the spirals, copying the curves and getting smaller until the space was filled.

At the edge I also mimicked the spiral to fill in the space, so it looks like little curved pyramids.

The giant center pinwheel.  It was a little tricky quilting this one, at one point I had about 3/4 of the quilt in the throat of my machine. (And I have a Bernina 1008 - not a big throat!)

The pinwheels:

Pink - I love these fabrics.  The watermelon seeds and the pink hexagons! 

Supposed to be yellow - didn't find any bright yellows I liked at the store (the binding was bought later) .  Love the darker pattern, though, circles that make diamonds.

Purple - Love the contrast with the hard lines of the darker purple and the organic lines/seeds of the lighter.

Orange - Again, very geometric lighter and more organic dark pattern

Green - love the light, the random almost scribbled cross hatch.

Red - probably my favorite fabric is the light red.  I don't know why, but red is the hardest color to shop for.  It took forever to find ones that I felt were really red (and not maroon or what not) and not just polka dot or gingham.  Why is it so hard?

But look how pretty the flowers are! I know it's mostly white.  But it's my favorite. 

Blue - The darker pattern was probably a little too large for this, but it was the best color, so it worked out just fine!

This was supposed to be a slightly greener yellow - I love the lighter pattern.

Sneak peak at the back!

TA DAH! This pattern was so cool to me, and I didn't have a lot of green on the front and it's meant to be a picnic quilt, so it's good to be green - grass stains will be slightly less noticeable!  I just think the pattern's so cool.  From far away it looks more like flowers...

But closer in it looks more like interconnected rings.  So fun!  And yes, I took a picture of where my quilting was poorly done, because I'm ok with it!  It's the trouble with doing spirals.  This is where the two spirals met and so the fabric was being pulled in opposite directions.  Live and learn!

The spiral from the back.  I just used white quilting thread on the back. 

And then it was bound - I used the same fabric as the dark orange in the giant center pin, except I did it in bright yellow.  I thought in the sea of blue the quilt needed a hard, wide binding.  It's a double folded binding that I cut at 4", so the finished width is just a little under one inch.  And it's cut on the bias as well, so it could go around the curve.

I machine stitched the binding onto the front with the lovely walking foot my husband got me for my birthday.  And then my brain exploded and I decided I wanted to hand stitch the binding on the back.  It went quicker than I thought.  A few hours on Saturday afternoon/Sunday morning while my husband was out of town.  Not bad for approximately 18 feet of bias binding. 

This is also a gift, so the H is us, the B is the recipients, because we like them a lot!

I just love the circles/flowers!  And I love that I'm done!  I hope you love this quilt.  I do.

See you soon!

(...with another quilt project?)