CRAFTED at the Port of Los Angeles

In September, I leased a booth at Crafted at the Port of Los Angeles.  http://craftedportla.com/  Crafted has been described as "Etsy live".  It is a large renovated warehouse at the Port of Los Angeles which houses booths selling handcrafted goods.  We are open Friday through Sunday from 11am to 6pm, 52 weeks per year.  I have a permanent booth A177 selling quilts (of course!) and quilted accessories.  There is live music, food trucks, beer and wine, demonstrations, etc! 

It is challenging letting go of my "quilted babies" and sewing new items to replace everything that's sold.  I am constantly and pleasantly amazed by customers' response and stories.  Quilts trigger memories and almost everyone who passes my booth stops and/or comments.  I have been photographed and interviewed.  If you are in the San Pedro area, please stop by and say hello!

I work on projects in my booth and customers love it!  One weekend I made this hand pieced and hand quilted mini:

Working on projects there lets the customers see and appreciate the work that goes into the items sold.  On another weekend, I machine quilted this baby quilt (yes, I have my sewing machine there!):

 And here is a sampling of some of the items I made this week for the Day of the Dead celebration this weekend:

I also made this adorable baby quilt and jacket.  I've always wanted to make a baby jacket from this African fabric that I bought in Senegal and love how it turned out!  Some trendy newborn is going to look adorable!

Thank you to all of my friends and family who have supported me (emotionally and financially).  I couldn't have done this crazy thing without ya'll! 

Well, back to the studio.  I have a few more small items to complete.

Love and light,
p

I'M SO OVER JULY!

Just wanted to start with a little eye candy.  Momen+ is a small patchwork shop in my neighborhood.  They specialize in Japanese fabric but you can find just about anything your little heart desires in there.  As you can probably tell, I'm attracted to Westminister Fabrics - they all play so well together.  Momen+  had a fat quarter sale a few weeks ago and I went a little crazy!  Picked up some Amy, Kaffe, Anna and some Japanese linen prints.  26 fat quarters for $26 - what a bargain!  Love a deal.

For our summer swap at the LAMQG, we were asked to bring in a item that meant something to us.  They were all placed in a bag and we randomly selected one.  I chose a photo of the rice paddies in Bali taken by one of the members during her honeymoon.  I forgot to get permission to share the photo, but it was a lush green labyinth.  The week before I had been working on curves and this gave me an opportunity to try them out on a mini quilt.  I cut freehand strips, somewhat on the bias, and ironed them into curves using a lot of stream.  The palm trees are a 2 1/2" strip that I found in my scrap box.  I quilted it like a crazy person and bound it in with the dark green Kona.  I forgot to take a photo of the completed quilt (of course!) but it finished at approximately 13" square.  I'm plotting an oceany curve project (in my head) but I want to practice this technique a bit more before taking it on.  More bias and not in the hot summer months...

My friend's mom turned 90 last month and she commissioned me to make a pillow using her parent's treasured wedding picture.  Used a Vintage Modern by Moda charm pack and RK Quilters Linen in steel grey.  I transfered the photo to pima cotton and bordered it with light grey Kona. The charm squares were cut into hsts and patched around the framed photo. 

For the back, I quilted a grid, adding 2 flowers, label and a zipper.  There were a lot of quilting stops and starts, but it was so worth it.  I love how it turned out and my friend and her mom were pleased.  Completed size approximately 24"square.

Love the idea of mixing vintage with modern.  I was given this very large piece of seersucker from a friend's mother's stash.  Seersucker always reminds me of summer, so I took it out and stared at it for a few weeks... that's hugh a part of my quilting process... staring - lol. 

Decided that a seersucker star would be interesting so I pulled out a box of solid scraps, made a plastic temple and went to work in the wee hours of the night. 

The last time I made a star, I nearly pulled my hair out trying to control the bias and match the points.  I remembered the advice from Kathy at MO - she told me that marking the corners would help and she was right - of course!  I marked every single corner and it went together smooth as "butta".  I enjoyed it so much. 

Bad photo (2am).  I really have to put a large piece of batting up on that wall - the table cloth served it's purpose, but I need a larger surface (sans flowers).  Anyway, I'm happy how it turned out.  Don't the colors remind you of QuiltCon - hmmm... 

I had a mini breakdown adding the floral insets.  I started them with another fabric choice, carefully measuring and stitching them in place.  The star wouldn't lay (lie) flat, so I ripped the insets out - twice!  I used a vintage sheet given to me by the same friend (aren't friends great!).  I washed and ironed it, plopped the star on top of it and machine appliqued that baby down.  Done!  I then cut my template in half and added triangle borders made from the remaining solid scraps.  The border has been attached and the backing is done.  The plan is to have it sandwiched and basted this afternoon.

What I love about this quilt is that it is old and new.  The design is not perfect, but it is well made.  My next challenge will be the quilting and it hasn't yet told me how it wants to be quilted (hand or machine?).  Do your quilts talk to you?

Thanks for stopping by,

p

TOTE BAG PATTERN

I've been working on a pattern for this tote bag for the past few weeks.  Details, details, details!  I can make bags, totes and pouches all day long, but breaking down all of the steps and writing a pattern has been quite a challenge. 

I love this tote!  It's fun and scrappy.  Your personality shines through simply by using fabrics that YOU love!  From this tote, you can see that I love bright colors, flowers and ballet.  I designed the original tote using scraps from past projects and leftover batting pieces.  All of the fabrics in this tote also come from my stash. 

It may look daunting, but it's really fun and simple to make.  It measures approximately 24"x16"x8".  You can make it larger or smaller - the measurements are easy to adjust.  The pattern uses a simple hst block but it can be made with any quilt block that you love, or use "cheater cloth" like I did for the sides and bottom.  The possibilities are endless!

Now that the pattern is done, I have to get it printed and figure out how to make it "downloadable".  Any feedback out there is blogland would be most appreciated.   I have a few prototypes from testing that I will sell as well.  I hope that you all will give it a try and thanks for stopping by,

p

MAY 2012

I have a love/hate relationship with the month of May.  It has rewarded California with the most beautiful weather!  It feels like summer on a tropical island.  Of course, intense wanderlust has set in and unfortunately (or maybe fortunately) I have no money to hop on a plane.  Mothers' Day is in May and I miss my mom.  It's my birthday month and I love/hate getting older! 

Been working on many sewing and quilty projects but a strange thing has happened... I haven't completed some of my earlier projects.  Usually I complete a project before starting a new one, or I work on 2 projects and complete them together, but I have 3 incomplete quilts!  Trying not to over analyze my behavior but I'm a bit uncomfortable with too many works in progress (WIPs):

1. Hexie quilt to be quilted.
2. Rainy day quilt to be quilted.
3. Paper pieced star quilt to be quilted.

The common denominator is "...to be quilted."  Hmmm.  Will have to work that out, get over it, and get them done!  They are all way too beautiful to sit in boxes. 

Here is what I'm working on now:

My scrap box was overflowing so I made a few log cabin and cross blocks.  Added squares of some of my favorites and sashed them all together with some incredible Confucius fabric.  Used wool batting for the first time and I'm hand quilting it with perle cotton.  There is a lot of chaos going on but the Confucius sayings add calm and focus.  I am going to complete it so that I have a completed project for the month of May!

Enjoy the remainder of this beautiful month,
p
 

The IT Tote

I've been busy designing and constructing a new tote.  I was tired of (and sometimes embarrassed) carting my quilts around in plastic bags, grocery bags, and anything else that I could find large enough to hold them.  I wanted a tote that reflected my creativity and here it is.  It is 25"x18"x8" and there are 8 quilts in it in the above photo.

It started with the Japanese x and + block.  I was attracted to the complexity of the block so I pulled out my scrap bins and made a few of them.  They were tedious - 7 different fabrics per block!  After putting them on my design wall I realized that there was way too much chaos to make them into a quilt, but a tote - YES! 

 

                                                                     

For the back, I used various floral scraps from my stash.  To break it up, I added a Kaffe Fassett stripe left over from a old designer roll.  The zippered pocket is from a linen fat quarter purchased from Momen+ a fantastic local fabric shop specializing in Japanese fabrics.  I love ballet, flowers and stripes so it works for me!  When it's not full, I can use the inside ties to make it smaller.  Perfect!

Sometimes members of my quilting guild share fabric with me.  I love it because it stretches my imagination by giving me the opportunity to use fabrics I wouldn't normally buy.  It also reminds me of my amazing, generous community.  That tote carries sooooo many memories!!!  Last Monday at our monthly LAMQG meeting one of the members gave me a handful of batik strips.  They were beautiful!  This is what I made with them:



Don't cha love it!!!  The animal print was my sister Roz's idea.  Sassy, just like her.  The side and bottom panels are made with the brown and tan animal print used in the front.  Not only did I make another amazing tote, but I also solved my dilemma with the Japanese x and + block!  The blocks are still complex and vibrant - but calmer.  This could work as a quilt. 

I'm off to work on a quilt that has been challenging me for quite some time.  I trying to combine traditional with modern, neutral tones with lots of color, large with ...   I dunno - I'll blog about it later. 

Thanks for stopping by,

p

Color Magic

I love color - the bolder the better!  This a one of my earlier quilts made with Westminster scraps and a hodge podge of solids.  It is a free form log cabin design inspired by the Gees Bend quilters.  This kind of color really inspires me and I actually lost track of time when I put this top together.  I made the top in one day (and night) because I couldn't sleep until it was "done".  It took about a week to hand quilt.    

I had a similar experience when I saw this fabric line.  It is Malka Dubrawksy's line "A Stitch in Dye" through Moda.  I had planned to order a fat quarter kit containing every print in the line, but by the time I got around to placing an order it was sold out (I blinked and it was gone)!  I really wanted to see this line, so I scrambled around online and located charm packs.  I ordered two and when they arrived I opened the package and gasped!  This fabric is unbelievable.  I immediately opened the package and lined up all of the squares on my design wall (forgot to take photos).  Wow - color magic!

At the time I was working on two other projects but I couldn't focus with all of this color going on behind me on the wall.  Since there wasn't enough fabric to do anything intricate, I put this simple pattern together.  Four-patched the 5" squares and the center stripes were made from the remaining squares cut into strips and mixed with solid scraps.  I made this quilt top in one day.  I just couldn't stop until it was "done".  The black background and sashing expanded it to approximately 70"x 60 and the backing is bright yellow.  Originally I hand quilted it with black perle cotton but halfway through I changed my mind and ripped it all out.  All it needed was light channel machine quilting.  I like it!



This line is organic and global.  It reminds me of Africa, India, Morocco, Greece - everywhere!  Who dyes and creates fabric like this?  Malka D you are a color genius!  Hopefully more stock will come in so that I can purchase some of my favorites.  This line is definitely stash worthy.

Sweet Sixteen

This cute little girl (and handsome little guy)...

Grew up (where does the time go!) and became this beauty...

Her generous parents gave her a swanky Sweet Sixteen party at a studio loft in West Hollywood where friends and family signed Kona squares with birthday wishes.  I took them home and made this...

Mailed the completed quilt to her and this was her response...

and

I think she likes it!!! 

Happy Sweet Sixteen (and Valentines Day!) Shannon from Auntie Pat!