London Tube Quilt – update

Bet you thought I forgot about this project right?

Looks like the last time I blogged about the LTQ was back in February. I set aside the quilt blocks when I found out I would be moving in the summer and then spent months settling into the new place and taking my sweet time unpacking/cleaning/organizing. The craft room was my ground zero for all the boxes to sort through so using it was off limits until I had gone through over 15 years of accumulated ‘stuff’.

Realizing that the end of the year was rapidly approaching and I had barely finished 9 of the 48 blocks to make up the top I knuckled down and reacquainted myself with the trusty sewing machine.

What you see there are 48 finished blocks. Yup I worked my way through the remaining 39 blocks in 10 days.

Now I just need to assemble the blocks into a finished top and figure out how I am going to tackle the backing.

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The London Tube Quilt Begins

High off the completion of the Bento Box quilt I jumped right into starting the London Tube quilt. The fact that I had set myself a goal of finishing it by Jan 1st 2012 and being able to reward myself with a new machine has absolutely nothing to do with it. 🙂

First step was printing up the design (one I created based on the Zone 1 map) and making sure I could keep all the blocks straight. There are a total of 48 10.5″ finished blocks and only 5 of them are solid white, the remaining 43 are unique so being able to keep them organized was vital. A color printout of each block glued to an envelope means I can grab one and have a placement guide for the squares without having to pull out the master design.

The quilt has so much white I chose to pre-wash all the fabrics even though I typically don’t do this for any sewing projects anymore unless it is clothing. Even tossed in some of those laundry colorcatcher sheets and was surprised at how little color transferred to them. I think I would have been safe not pre-washing but wasn’t willing to take the risk. Since each square is only 2.25″x2.25″ I am also trying out some homemade starch spray. From everything I’m reading online it should make my piecing a little easier and more accurate considering how small of a fabric piece I’m working with. I noticed right off the bat that cutting the starched fabric was much easier than the non-starched, I got sharper lines and less fraying.

Incidentally I seriously underestimated how long it would take to cut 1700+ squares, I honestly thought it might take a couple hours tops. Turns out it took about 4 days of working a couple hours at a time so I wasn’t even close. This is something I will tuck away to remember the next time I come up with a “brilliant” quilt idea.

I have 8 months left in the year and am only now getting started. If I want to give myself a decent buffer for work/life/other hobbies that means I have to aim for completing 2 blocks a week. Aggressive yes but hopefully with all my organization at the beginning it won’t be too painful. I’ve decided that every time I blog (regardless of topic) I will post a little tally of how many of the London Tube Quilt blocks I have left to piece together.

LTQ: 48 of 48 blocks left to do.

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Bento Box Quilt is finished!

Holy crap I had no idea when starting on my first fullsized ‘real’ quilt just how long it would take me. According to my notes I started the Bento Box quilt back in Nov 2010. It took almost 6 months to finish everything and while I know my actual active time on the project wasn’t that much it was still a big undertaking.

Back in Nov I had this pile of fabric to cut and piece together.

By early 2011 I had 20 completed blocks to cut up and rearrange.

Then in early April I finally tackled the border dilemma and knocked out the backing in 2 days.

Mid-April I bucked up and powered through the quilting. I may have spent some time cursing my ancient Singer and resisting the temptation to run to the nearest Bernina dealer to sooth my frustrations. Turns out that writing a huge tax check to the govt on a day when all you want to do is shop is AMAZING at killing that desire 🙂

It’s done!

I attached the binding in one evening and only had to go back on a few sections to make sure the binding was attached in the back. I used the handy binding tutorial from Heather Bailey. The binding was a great way to use up some of my scraps from the quilt top and I still have plenty leftover for another project. This was my 3rd or 4th attempt at this method of attaching the binding and the 1st time it even looked remotely close to good.

I opted to go with a simple quilting design for each block and quilted 2 squares in the center and the outside round in each block. The borders were quilted 1/4″ off seam. Very simple and yet with my machine at times a serious hardship. At one point I took a break to relax with some popcorn only to come back and find a cat cozied up on the half finished quilt. I can only describe the look she gave me as ‘oh like anyone would believe you didn’t make this for me’.

The colors are crazy, the prints are chaotic, the learning curve was steep and considering that Nicki refused to move from the bed the moment I put it on for photos I think it meets his approval. It was totally worth it. I already have the Tube Quilt fabric prepped and ready for action. I’m on a roll.

Quilt Details:
Pattern: Bento Box Quilt (I didn’t buy the pattern but made up my own sizes based on flickr photos and available fabric)
Fabrics: Kaffe Fassett Zinnia (Aqua), Fandango Sarabande (Azul and Ole), Michael Miller Emmaline (Teal), Happy Go Lucky Trefoil (White), Fandango Valencia (Sand), Michael Miller Peeking Polka Dot (Lime and Aqua ),Amy Butler Daisy Chain Wildflowers (Navy), Michael Miller Poppy Skinny Stripes (Aqua and Spice), Kaufman Kona (White) plus two fabrics I picked up at the LQS and never made a note of the fabric name (the green with red leaves and  the white with multicolored flowers and leaves).

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Bento Box progress

I have to admit after I decided to keep the “crazy” print theme going with my Bento Box quilt I folded the top up and put it back in the box with my backing and border fabrics.
It took several months for it to reemerge and eventually a finished top was made.
I opted to continue the chaotic look and put a 5″ border of the striped lime and blue fabric only to find out it was still a hair too small for my bed. “Thankfully” I now have a healthy fabric stash and I pulled out the white Kona to add those precious few inches needed.

I actually think the trim of white works well to balance out the chaos of the blocks but isn’t so wide that the striped fabric looks out of place. Then again I could be fooling myself since I originally thought these fabrics would not look insane next to each other.

I had 5yds total of these fabrics that I had set aside for the backing and since I also had plenty of strips leftover from the block fabrics I decided to add even more color to the back. Nicki was nice enough to make sure the quilt didn’t run away while I took photos.

The layers have all been basted together and are ready to be quilted. The plan is to go with a simple straight line quilting to mimic the Bento design for 2 very important reasons.

1: Straight line quilting is all I know how to do right now.
2: My old cranky Singer doesn’t “do” free-motion quilting. I’ve tried many times. My machine quilting instructor even tried. If I want to stipple a quilt I have to go as slow as molasses uphill and even then my thread shreds after a minute or two (vs the 30 seconds at normal speed).

Nicki is looking forward to his new blanket being finished.

 

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The year long quilt project

I was barely a few days into my first proper quilt (the Bento Box quilt) when I started brainstorming my next one.

Inspiration hit in the form of the Tokyo underground map quiltalong by Film in the Fridge. Since Seattle has barely taken the first baby steps towards a proper mass transit system I couldn’t use anything local for my version. I looked at maps of the Hong Kong MTR and while the system has grown since I lived there it is still simplistic due to the geography of the region. While I would love to make an MTR design it sadly would be primarily blank space with only a few lines of color.

Finally I hit upon the mass transit that would not only have special meaning to me but also pose one heck of a challenge.

The London Underground aka the Tube.

Given the size of the Tube there is no way I want to tackle the entire map so my initial plans are to aim for only those lines in Zone 1. It houses some of the oldest stations in Central London and during all my visits to the London area that zone is also where I spent most of my time traveling around.

Thanks to my Kona cotton colorcard from PinkChalkFabrics I had a great guide for picking all my colors and when FabricDepot.com posted a sale I jumped on it.

I now have all the fabric for my Tube quilt waiting patiently for me to finalize my design and start cutting over 1900 2 inch squares of fabric.

Given the amount of planning and piecing that will be going into this quilt I am giving myself a whole year to finish it. This may be the crafting project that drives me to insanity. Only time will tell.

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Bento Box….quilt top progress

Piecing the 80 smaller blocks back into the original 20 large blocks was surprisingly a much faster process than I anticipated. By chain piecing 4 large blocks together in one go I managed to save a lot of time by not starting and stopping. Pressing seams and making the final seams of each large block was done assembly line style and took maybe 1 evening.

Some blocks were practically spot on with my seam allowances.

Some not so much… Luckily due to my choice of 10 very different printed fabrics you have to get pretty close on most of the blocks to notice how far off some of the seams are.

The large blocks spent a day hanging up on my design wall so I could keep looking at it and move blocks around as needed before I settled on the final layout. Luckily the flannel sheet hangs up in front of my bedroom closet so I spent a good portion of the day lounging in bed reading and occasionally looking at the blocks.

Once my blocks were together I had to make a decision. I originally planned on using more printed fabrics for borders and backing however I hadn’t realized just how colorful the blocks would look on their own.

Does the original fabric choice make it too busy or continues the chaotic theme?

Or would solid white help calm down the crazy?

Decisions decisions.

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Nook cover

The Sis and parents were good to me this year and joined forces to get me a Nook Color 🙂

Of course I needed to figure out a cover for it and after checking out what was available from BN (really boring)  and other options online both at aftermarket vendors and Etsy I decided to try and make my own.

The outside is Kaufman 21 Wale white corduroy with owls (looks like it is only available now in blue) that I bought on a whim a few months ago. I couldn’t resist the cute owls. The lining is Kaufman Kona cotton in Azure and the snaps came from Cowgirl Snaps on Etsy.

I failed to take photos of the sewing progress mostly because I was making up the pattern as I went (I need to write it up so I have a record for next time). I ended up with 2 layers of Peltex and 1 layer of fusible fleece on the back and 1 layer of Peltex and 3 layers of fusible fleece on the front side. The whole thing is still flexible but has some nice structure to it at the same time.

The Nook itself is held in place with 3 triangular tabs and a small snap that fits through the loop on the lower left of the reader. The 3 tabs are actually quite snug on their own but since BN was nice enough to put a loop on the Nook color (honestly I’m not really sure what it is there for) I decided a little insurance with the snap wasn’t a bad idea. It was my first time working with snaps and I love the look of the Cowgirl Snaps. I only cracked 1 of the pearl buttons and it was because I put it into the snap tool upside-down. I had bought a multi-pack a few months ago and now I want to put snaps on everything. There is a small pocket on the left side of the cover and I mostly added it as extra padding and just in case I want to add paper notes to carry around.

While my cover won’t protect my new Nook from being dropped it should do well to keep it safe in a bag and for normal use. I’ve already found I like keeping it in the cover while I read since I love the feel of the fabric and it feels more like a real book to me rather than a piece of metal/plastic.

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Bento Box..the next step

Assembling the first Bento Box blocks was not only faster but also easier than I expected however the stack of 20 blocks was then put away while I tackled some gift sewing. Eventually those projects were finished and it was time to figure out the step I was dreading the most.

My nice neat stack of blocks needed to be cut up into quarters, jumbled and then re-assembled.

The design wall was put back up and I had 80 squares to arrange. It was obvious very quickly just how busy the final quilt is going to be. So many prints and colors I really don’t know what I was thinking when I put them all together. However I’m forging ahead and who knows perhaps I won’t have nightmares sleeping under such a chaotic blanket 🙂

There are some Bento Box quilts out there that use 4 unique squares to make up the larger finished blocks however the prospect of arranging 80 squares so no single fabric was repeated in each block was too daunting for my brain. Plus I’m kind of lazy and the top row of my makeshift design wall requires constant climbing of the step ladder.

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Bento Box Beginnings

A few months ago I started collecting stacks of fabric for my next quilt and tried to focus on a range of colors and patterns. I wanted to see if I could pull together fabrics from different lines to come together cohesively. Only time will tell but hopefully I’ve picked a pattern that will play well with everything I have sitting on the sewing table.

The Bento Box pattern has been making the rounds in the last few months both on flickr and quilting blogs and it was exactly what I was looking for.

The cutting was done quickly thanks to a handy tip I found online about using my paper trimmer for easier cutting. I had 10 fabrics to cut into 2.5″ strips so being able to use the trimmer made it not only faster but more accurate. I also got a chance to try out my new design wall. I don’t have the space to set up a permanent design wall to plan my quilts so I invested a whopping $15 on a king sized flannel sheet set and pinned the flat sheet up on my wall. The flannel is a great surface since it has just enough cling to temporarily hold the quilting cotton while you decide on the final layout.

I suddenly have a lot more free time available and this first serious foray into a full sized quilt will definitely be putting my sewing and quilting skills to the test.

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1st quilt.

I would like to point out before I show you any pictures that this is my first quilt. I’ve never even come close to attempting a quilt before and this was a half-baked attempt to use up some impulse buy fat quarters in the fabric stash* In fact before I even show you a single photo I’m going to make you go through my entire lackadaisical approach to this quilt.

Before I even started sewing I bought 5 bundled fabrics in varying shades of purples and greens with 1 plum/red tossed into the mix from the local Big Box craft store. I’m not sure what drew me to this little bundle but it came home and then I realized that there wasn’t a lot I could do with 5 fat quarters without adding in some other fabrics. After attempting to find a coordinating color that worked well with all 5 prints I settled on cream. It was boring but it would work.

To keep things simple I stuck with a basic 9 square block, each made up of 4.5″ squares. Once again it was boring but it would work. Then I pieced them all together 3 blocks by 4 blocks and added on a 5″ cream border to make the quilt large enough to work as a lap blanket. At this point the quilt top was folded up and was claimed as a cat bed (and later a barf mat). It was washed again and eventually I went looking for a green backing fabric to no avail. This is where my laziness and overall lackluster feeling towards the quilt came in and took over. I decided against a batting with a nice backing and instead picked up some cream (again) fleece on sale. I was going to just skip the whole batting part and make this a lightweight blanket instead.

My one concession to all these shortcuts was to attempt a meandering vertical quilting of the top and fleece before putting on the binding. I found a light green thread and went at it. Given that my machine is an entry level Singer from 1973 I don’t have the option to drop my feed-dogs and it wasn’t until the next day when I mentioned the struggle I had with the quilting to a friend that I realized that was the whole reason I bought a walking foot. It is a piece of information I will hopefully remember for next time.

Specs: 45″ by 54″ 9 block quilt made with fat quarter bundles, cream quilting cotton, fleece and binding from the local Big Box craft store. (photo only shows 3 of the 4 vertical blocks)

Looks crappy but it works.

The quilt is destined to be a couch blanket for anyone who needs just a little bit of warmth while watching TV, or a cat bed depending on who claims it first. In my house any couch blanket is never just for people and in fact Nicki prefers to wait until you are settled under the blanket before deciding if he wants to join you. In his mind if you get under the blanket you must be planning on staying a while which makes you a perfect napping surface.

*I’ve progressed beyond just stash. I now have to specify Yarn Stash, Fiber Stash, Fabric Stash. Don’t judge me.

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