Crackpot Quilters’ Blog

by Cathy

In a fit of spontaneous genius, last week I put in for a vacation day today for no apparent reason (other than it’s been a really grueling semester for both Chris and me and we’re plum worn out, and James’s preschool is still in session). So of course I had to play with fabric!

First, I pre-washed a bunch of fabric that I’ve had hanging around for a long time — some of it maybe since last summer’s trip to The Fabric Store!  It dried in about 5 minutes on the clothesline, which was just fine.

Then I got some work done on a project I’ve been dabbling around with for a while:

It’s a string quilt, made from scraps from nearly every quilting project I’ve ever worked on!  I’m very excited about it, because there are bits and pieces of all kinds of wonderful things in there, and because it’s all scraps: even the muslin that the pieces are sewn onto!  I’ve been saving these “too small for much of anything” scraps for a long time, and finally working them into a quilt has been really fun.

At first I planned to sew the “strings” to each other directly, as the old quilts would have done, but now I’m thinking I might put sashing between each of the pieces, mostly because with all the seams, and the muslin backing, the strings are pretty thick and inflexible, and sewing them directly to each other would be pretty bulky and bumpy.   I’m about to sit down and sort though all my scraps and see if I can find an appropriate dark solid to use as sashing.

Last night I went out to dinner with friends and was able to present them with the completed quilt for their second son, who is 5 weeks old today. This might be a record in terms of quilt completion time after birth – at least for me. The pattern is pretty basic, but I like letting the animal print be the focus – after all, I did a bunch of fussy-cutting for those squares!

And here’s a detail picture with a better look at the focus fabric. Note that the solids are more crinkly post-quilt-washing than the focus fabric. This is likely due to the fact that I forgot to pre-wash the animal fabric so it shrank along with the batting (my usual cotton+rayon from bamboo) when I washed the completed quilt.

The backing is a brown plaid flannel.

The Crackpots who were consulted for advice on Big Brother gifts should know that the wheel-featuring present (a couple Little People cars) was appreciated by Adam. I can also report that baby Kyle is adorable.

by Nancy

I’m finding that doing little projects is giving me great satisfaction at the moment! There’s something to be said for a little not-so-delayed gratification every once in a while. This cute little zipper pouch was one of those quick little projects, and I’m thrilled with the results. It comes from Fat Quarter Fonts. It involves a zipper, which I was a little nervous about attempting, but since it’s just a little project, I figured it was a good place to give a zipper a try. And it wasn’t bad! I’m still not quite sure I fully understand my zipper foot and when to use which side of it, but the zipper is in and it works. I am immensely pleased with this little bag. And it got me thinking about another little project to try…

P.S. Only the zipper was purchased for this project.

by Nancy

I had so much fun making my needle case that I decided to make another one, with a few upgrades. First, I decided to piece the outside using some of my bright scraps:

Then, I decided to forgo the two decorative pockets in favor of a single, functional pocket. And I opted for felt instead of flannel for the lining. Since felt is a little thicker and stiffer than flannel, I didn’t put any batting in between the outer striped fabric and the inner felt. Here is the result:

I think it’s fabulous! It’s amazing what a sense of accomplishment I’ve gotten from such a little thing!

P.S. No purchases were made for this project (or for the first needle case).

by Nancy

There’s nothing like a visit to a quilt show for sewing inspiration. Since I’ve finished my current assignment for the secret Crackpot Quilt Project, I don’t have anything specific that I’m piecing right now. Of course, I could work on one of the Unfinished Objects in the basement. Actually, with Marty’s help last weekend, I did! I’m finishing up some hand sewing on it and then I’ll be ready to show it off here.

So, I felt like starting a very small new project – something that would provide fairly immediate gratification. I remembered a cute little needle case in my book 5-10-15+ Fat Quarters that I’ve been wanting to make, and that seemed like the perfect thing. Here is how it looks on the outside:

And on the inside:

The pockets are more decorative than functional. The inside is flannel, and there’s a thin layer of batting in between it and the flower fabric. I’m quite pleased with the result of my efforts!

by Nancy

Marty and I were able to go to the Indiana Heritage Quilt Show this past weekend. We had a great time and were remarkably restrained at the vendors’ booths. Here are two of my favorite quilts from the show: