9/11 Firefighters Memorial Quilt

When I had the privilege of making the Fallen Soldier Quilt. Something changed in the way I approached my sewing. When I first started my blog it was due to my dear childhood toy Rachael Rabbit. This handmade toy meant so much to me. I loved it. It meant so much to me and still does. Making things filled with love and meaning means the world to me - and it is why I make things - I want to touch people in the same way that Rachael Rabbit touched me.

I have been working on this quilt for some time now. A family came to me and asked me to make a quilt for the granddaughters (4 & 2) from this Fire Marshall's t-shirts.

This man was an all American Hero. He was a loving husband, loving farther to two children. He ran marathons. He served as a Green Beret in the Vietnam War,  he was in the reserves as a paratrooper for the Army Special Forces and he was a NYC firefighter before being promoted to Fire Marshall. He was the only Fire Marshall to have lost his life in 9/11.

As we discussed ideas for the quilt it was clear that they wanted this to be a happy and colorful quilt. This quilt was to be a joyful celebration of his life for his granddaughters. A request for hearts on the quilt made me to come up with this design - a cascading rainbow of hearts. 

Problem was the t-shirts we had were dark colors tan, red, brown, grey, green & blue.

I made my templates for the hearts from old cereal packets & packing tape. They are surprisingly sturdy.

We agreed that the t-shirts would be cut into heart shapes, we would add some other colored fabrics to the quilt as well which would house all the t-shirt emblems etc. The remaining t-shirt material would be used on the back of the quilt.

I have nearly finished the quilt. I will post pictures soon.

I feel so honored and blessed to have been given these opportunity to make these memorial quilts. It is something that has touched my heart in such a way that I want to pursue making more of these quilts for families. Taking clothes or uniforms and turning them into something beautiful, practical, loved and full of memories.

Kid Painted Garden Picnic Blanket

I am very excited that this post is being featured at Make it Handmade.

My girls love anything that involves copious amounts of glue and spray bottles. This project held their attention for 1+ hours - which I think must be a record for us!

For this project I used:
- a piece of plain white muslin/cotton
- a bottle of Batik EZ (you might be able to substitute this with a liquid washable glue like Elmers) I poured the Batik-EZ onto a craft tray - but I think you could use any vessel as long as you can dip your leaves into
- cotton balls
- spray bottles
- fabric paint - I use BioColor paint with their BioColor Fabric medium - it is non toxic and certainly works!
- leaves & flowers from around the garden
- plastic sheet - I just used a large black bin liner cut down one side to protect our patio
- additional fabric for the border, backing & binding
- batting

The girls were told to dip things into the Batik EZ and then place them on the fabric. Our aim (I say 'our aim' but really is was 'my aim') was to make a sky with clouds in the middle and leaf prints and grass on the outer edges.

Putting the cotton balls apparently was boring and the girls wanted to move on to cutting leaves off plants and sticking them down asap. Once they had finished with the cotton balls I just emptied the remaining balls from the bag into the middle of the fabric - no additional Batik EZ.

There was some consideration to where every leaf or flower should be put.

Find a leaf, dip and stick. They didn't seem to tire of it. 

Everything was precisely placed.

Here is our finished fabric after the cotton balls & leaves were all stuck down and they declared the project to be 'done'.

What they didn't realize was that after lunch - once everything had dried we got to spray everything. I used four colors - two green tones & two blue tones - I also watered down the BioColor Paint & Fabric Medium combo so the paint would be lighter.

My four year old was good at following the 'blue in the middle for sky' & 'green around the outside for grass' instructions. But my 2 year old just sprayed what ever and where ever she fancied. 

Here is our fabric after the spray paint. We left it to dry in the sun & then I moved it into our boiler room where it sat for 5 days - just to make sure.

To remove all the leaves and cotton balls I just soaked the fabric in cold water. Everything came off very easily - but the waxy coated leaves (Ivy & Lillies leaves) came off the easiest. I put the fabric into the washing machine and ran it on a hot cycle & tumble dried it on a hot cycle too.

Once I had added a simple border to the fabric I layered, quilted & bound the picnic blanket.

I don't think you need to quilt your picnic blanket like I did - you could tie it if that is easier. If your children are older you could also get them to outline the leaf shapes with a fabric marker. There are many ways you could take this idea.



The girls LOVED having a fairy tea party in the garden with their new picnic mat.

You can tell these kids are somewhat English by their tea party skills!

After the tea party was over the girls set about inspecting the clouds & leaves on the blanket.

Our other kid painted fabric projects this summer have included:

Kid painted Teepee

Kid painted Quilt #1 - Blotter Art

Kid painted Quilt #2 - Throwing Paint

Kid painted Quilt #3 - Spraying Paint

Kid painted Quilt #4 - Shaving Foam Rainbow Paint

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Please do not forget about the charity I Spy quilt - we are still looking for scrap fabric donations.  

Princess Shoe Box

We have a birthday party coming up and I was trying to think of a original way to present the all important princess dress up shoes.

Luckily (because I'm neurotic about saving anything made of cardboard) we have a few children's sized shoe boxes knocking around - they are great for all sorts of kid craft projects. I love repurposing things - have I said that before?

My eldest took a great deal of time painting on glue and dipping the box & lid in copius amounts of pink glitter. After the glitter and glue had dried I added a glue wash on top (1 part glue 1 part water) to try and encourage the glitter not to shed everywhere immediately. There is SO much glitter on this box - my eldest bunny is slowly convincing me that when it comes to young girls - there is never enough glitter in your life!



After the glitter had been added I lined the inside of the box with some scrap quilt batting and a piece of purple velour left over from our Princess Tea Party. I stuck them all lightly down and together - adding more glue to the top edge - I favor Aleene's tacky glue for fabric sticking.

The inside of the top of the box is painted pink. We decorated the top of the box with an old broken purple butterfly necklace (yes I save that sort of thing too) and with the name of the birthday girl. I cut the name out of white felt which had some silver lamé stuck on top.

I suspect the pink glittery box might be just as exciting to this 4 year old as the dress up shoes will be.

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Please do not forget about the charity I Spy quilt - we are still looking for scrap fabric donations. 

Free Motion Quilt Feathers

As I mentioned before I have been taking some quilting lessons. My lessons so far have mostly consisted of Teri telling me not to worry so much, believe in myself more and please would I drop my shoulders from down around my ears ....

One of our conversations went a little like this.

T:    You should practice quilting using a color.
Me: But I like using the invisible thread - it hides all your mistakes.
T:    Exactly. You should practice quilting using a color.

After my first lesson I was left some homework. Feathers. Ugh. Feathers? Really?

At first I couldn't even draw them with a pen - let alone quilt one.

While I was drawing feathers madly I came up with an idea of quilting a Peacock - lots of feathers on those. And so I created this little chap.

Now I know by using multiple colors and repeating the lines so many times I'm actually masking all my whoopsies. I will be told off for saying this as another part of my homework seems to be not immediately (if ever) pointing out every single flaw in a piece of work!

I still can't nail a traditional free motion feather - I'm still making dodgy banana shapes. But with practice I'm hoping to nail the basic feather soon.

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Please do not forget about the charity I Spy quilt - we are still looking for scrap fabric donations. 

Learning to Free Motion Quilt

 Image from TerifiCreations (Teri Lucas)

I am currently taking some free motion quilting lessons with Teri Lucas. Teri is lovely and she is cheering me on.

Despite the projects I seem to take on these days - I have not been free motion quilting for very long.  Here is my complete history of free motion quilting. And Teri - I'm scared you might be reading this - I really haven't quilted very much at all!

I took my first lesson in 2007 which in truth freaked me out and I didn't go back to it before stippling a small makeup case in 2009.

At the time I was extremely pleased with myself - but I have to admit I had trouble posting this picture at all!

I then began popping out babies and concentrate largely on my knitting skills (I just love to knit!) Any quilts I made I just opted to sew in the ditch or tie. I was still very scared of free motion quilting.

Then in 2012 (yes it took me 3 years to try this again) I took a leap of faith and made a playmat for a cousin and quilted it by stippling.

 

Then later in 2012 I made a memory quilt for a 90th birthday celebration. This was a monster sized quilt - I must have been crazy to take it on.

In these 3 widely spaced projects I could already see a vast improvement in my stippling. This year I have completed the following projects.

Valentine Quilt with quilted swirls.

Mother's Day Pillows with quilted swirls & Teacher Appreciation Pillows with quilted echoed hearts.

Fallen Soldier Quilt - stippled.

and our first in a series of Kid Painted Quilts quilted with swirly flowers.

That's it. Not too much experience really. And this was a good post for me to write as it reminds me that I have come a long way with not so much experience. So tomorrow when I sit down to fight with an amazing project I am honored to be working .... I will remind myself. I am getting better - but it takes practice. Hours and Hours of practice .... and I am on a total mission to conquer this free motion quilting!

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Please do not forget about the charity I Spy quilt - we are still looking for scrap fabric donations. 

Review: The Ultimate Sweater Machine

Have you seen these machines advertised? Have you seen the cost of them?

 

I've wanted to try a machine knitting for the longest time - but the sheer cost and complexity of one has put me off. After much research and talking to lots of people - I decided to give this machine a chance. My Bernia cost a pretty penny and I haven't regretted any moment of that investment (in fact I would recommend a Bernia to anyone) but I was very worried about throwing away $ on this purchase (a birthday present from my husband.)

It took me about 3hrs to set up and figure this little beast out. If you are considering this machine I would only recommend it if a) you know how to knit b) you are patient and relatively calm and c) machines do not intimate you.

The knit is surprisingly good. Here is the test patch I first made with the yarn they provided in the box.

I have to say - so far it has won me over. It is plastic and it is not finely engineered - but for the $'s it is pretty amazing. Here are my tips ...

• don't bother with the wax they give you reach straight for the silicone spray
• keeping the tension on the edges of the hanging knitting is key (invest in some knitting machine weights asap)
• slower is better - don't rush - check each row for dropped stitches before starting the next- ignore their advertised speed - slower is better
• don't force the carriage - or press down too hard - you should be able to move it side to side with one hand
• watch every video on You Tube you can find  BEFORE buying or setting up to learn about its quirks and limitations
• keeping practicing, breath lots and have chocolate/diet coke on hand

I would say that I am a pretty avid fan of handing knitting. I find the process incredibly peaceful and soothing and I love making big projects and designs that my friends and family look at me as though I am crazy to take on. So why get a machine? I'm so horribly time bound these days with the little kids - I'm desperate to knit again - but I want to spend my time doing the fiddlier bits of cables and corners and all that fun stuff - I want to be able to produce large plain stockinette stitched areas.

I just knitted 60 rows of 130 stitches each in about 40 mins - which is much slower than their advertized rate - but I was being ultra careful.

Stay posted for some projects I have planned with this little machine.

Quilting Batik (well kind of)

I remember doing batik as a young school girl and I wanted to try the wax version for this experiment - but I have very little time available to me, the fact that hot wax and little people didn't seem a good idea - I decided to try Batik-EZ to see how this idea would turn out.

This idea came to me and for the purpose of my experiment I used a coloring page that bunny#1 had got from her ballet class.

I placed a piece of white fabric over my finished design (minorly added & adjusted with a sharpie) and I set to work with my batik-ez tube of goodness.

I used a toothpick dipped in the goop to trace the line. A paint brush was just too thick. The Batik-EZ spreads across the fabric quite a bit.

After I had traced all the lines and left them to dry I used fabric paint (Jacquard Products Textile-Color Exciter Pack) to color in my picture. This paint was so easy to use - it was like water color for fabric - add more water to make lighter colors - I just thought it was a very flexible and easy to use product.

Once the paint had dried I washed & dried the fabric & went to work practicing my free motion quilting with my new BSR foot. We are still not firm friends - but our relationship is slowly getting more friendly.

I used a heart/vine quilting pattern.

My eldest bunny LOVES this so I think I will have to finish it off into a cushion in fabrics to complement her own painted quilt or make her a special bag for her ballet gear.

I also tried a brighter ocean picture out - which was cute too. Beach bag perhaps?

 

I have way too many ideas for making a full sized quilts in this way.