I'm Working it Out (aka I need your help!!!) GillyWhig Quilt

It's sewn and basted!

I'm so excited by it!

Don't worry, that long edge (the hypotenuse, you could say) is not supposed to be straight.  It's for the edge, which will be trimmed into a circle.

All my huge chunks sewn together.  I decided to go for the random color wheel.  I found that when I had it in a rainbow formation, the orange/red/yellow side was really heavy.  The huge orange sun-gig in the center probably doesn't help!  So I went more random and I think it's much more balanced now.

All sewn together.  Officially a flimsy!  Also definitely more of an octagon right now.  

So how do you get a circle?  Make your own compass out of string, a safety pin and a pen.  I tied a length of string onto the end of a safety pin and pinned it to the center of the quilt (on the wrong side).

I then measured out how long I could make radius of the circle and marked it on the string.  (As you can see, I had to shorten it a few times because I started on a longer side I guess.  I had given myself extra room, so it was ok.)

I proceeded to mark lines as I slowly moved the 'compass' around the quilt.  The hardest part was maintaining consistent pull on the string (since it was embroidery floss, it had some give to it and the fabric easily pulled up off the floor).

But I finally got all the way around and ended in just about the right spot.  Not too shabby, eh?

Then just cut on the dotted line!

And you get this beauty!  It looks so awesome as a circle!!! (Can you tell I'm a little excited by it!?)  It's not a perfect circle, I'm sure, but I didn't measure, so in my heart it's perfect.

I just finished basting it (though I have a small section on the back to smooth out.)  AAAAAHH! I don't have any pictures of the back!  Next time, I promise!

So now, the quilting question.  I was thinking of doing spirals coming from all the pinwheels and overlapping a little in the blue around the center gig.  Do I use one neutral thread color or do a thread to match each whirligig?  What do you think?  HELP!!  Does the decision making ever end??   (Though I do already have the binding bought, cut and pressed, so that is one done deal.)

See you soon!

(...with some great quilting ideas?)

A Quilt Sent, a Giant Made, a Question to Ask

Here it is, my lovely lone star quilt for my niece.  I know I already showed it, but it looks better now, better lighting, better with a husband behind it!

I got up the courage and washed and dried it (I want it to be launderable, no soaking it in the tub or hanging it out to dry, I want it thrown in the wash because it gets so much love).

I know now firsthand the wrinkles everyone mentioned when you wash it for the first time (I hadn't prewashed my fabric).  I like it!  Looks cozy, ready to wrap up in.

I love how the label is camouflaged (Hey, I almost spelled that right the first time! Just forgot the 'u'). 

I can't get over the back.  It's my favorite part.  

Rolling it up to get it sent on its way to a lovely 12 year old!

From her aunt!  Me!!

I had some extra fabric and 2 extra diamonds, so I made some pillowcases to go along with the quilt.  To make the bed cohesive if she'd like to.  They're identical.  Diamond on the front, yellow on the back.

So, I need a little help from my friends.  I'm working this out, but struggling with it.  I made the giant pinwheel for the center of my GillyWhig quilt.  My question is, do I put the small pinwheels around it in a rainbow pattern...

or random pattern...

Thoughts?  Ideas?  I just want it to look the awesomest it can!

See you soon! 

(with more ideas for this quilt hopefully!)

I'm Working It Out! - Sewed Wall Picture

So I have this project... (surprise!)

And I'm stuck a little in the middle... (surprised?)

So I'm starting a re-occuring titled post (which is the wrong way to describe it, but the right way is not coming to me). 

I'm Working It Out!

I can't remember where I got the idea for this, but I wanted a way of putting a picture on the wall without actually having a picture on the wall - I'm cheap and big prints are pricey (and then you add frames and mats.  It's too much for me).  So I thought instead of doing almost a coloring book version of a picture of me and my husband dancing at our reception - meaning just black outlines, a little shading - no color or details.  And it would be on fabric because I have way more fabric than paper.

Now to get it sized big enough to put on the wall - I zoomed in on the picture in iPhoto and traced the outlines on paper and taped all the papers together. Slightly awkward but effective.

As you can see, it's 3 pages high by 2 wide, so about 33"x17".  I kind of love it.

Here's the original picture (cropped to about the same dimensions).  It was a little blurry, but I loved the light coming from behind us.  It really helped in the tracing phase.  

Side Note - I love my dress that my sister and I made together.  She did all the hard stuff as she's a professional.  Check her blog out - it's awesome.

Here it is on the wall, around where I'd put the finished product.  (I love my ties and hexagons!)  I didn't take the pictures for the intention of blogging, so quality is lacking and apologies are extended.

The next issue was how to create the image on fabric.  I traced it onto the fabric I want (a beige/cream with a little shiny diamond pattern (I think it's diamonds - I'm in another city, so I can't check))

{Haha, I had double parentheses - I feel like I'm writing math problems and you have to make sure that you match all the brackets or all the calculations will blow up in your face.}

Moving on...

I thought about drawing it on, but I thought 'It's on fabric, it should be sewed'.  I tried just sewing the lines but I was having issues with tension and it kept pulling noticeably.  So I think I might be hand sewing the lines on.  Then again, it'll take longer - maybe I'll fiddle with tension a little longer, it may save time overall.  

But I'm kind of really excited about this one.  It's a secret surprise for the husband, but he doesn't even know my blog address (unless he randomly does and in that case, surprise!!!) so hopefully the secret's safe.  I'm hoping to definitely get it done for our year anniversary (that's in 2 months.  Should be no problem, but you never know).

See you soon!

(hopefully with some finished stuff!)