angelab.me

This is my stop on the Handmade Holidays 2014 series! A group of sewing bloggers share their favorite themed tutorials at the ever-popular Sew Mama Sew.

Last year my theme was Gifts for Geeks.  But this year, my theme is Gifts for Baby. Really, is there anything better than sewing for baby?

Go read my full curated post and let me know what you think! Handmade Holidays: Gifts for Baby

To see all 31 themed posts, check out the 8th Annual Handmade Holidays – 2014 master list. Refer to it to make projects and gifts all year long!

I recently participated in the Disney Quilt Swap 2015, an online swap exchange of handmade mini quilts organized on Instagram by Kaitie Logsdon.  I was to make one mini quilt measuring no larger than 24 inches square, based on my secret partner’s preferences.  This is what I made for my partner, Nancy, whose favorite Disney characters are Belle and Buzz.

The front is Belle from Beauty and the Beast.  While searching online for inspiration, I found this Costume Changes in Disney Films infographic.  I was inspired by the minimalist Belle image – it translates so well to the paper-piecing technique of sewing.  I used Electric Quilt 7 software to design the paper piecing pattern, something brand new to me.

I used fabrics from my stash to make this. Feels so good to use what I have.  At this point, I was thinking “This pattern might actually work!”

So, so satisfying to make something come to life.  I really, really love paper piecing, and would like to begin designing paper piecing patterns sometime soon.

Simple, straight quilting lines look best on minimalist Belle, I think.  I started with the line in the middle of her lips, then stitched outwards from there.

There’s a little Buzz Lightyear vibe on the quilt back 🙂

The gift I received from my secret partner is a Cinderella mini quilt.  Nika Westberg made it, and she nailed it.  Blues, a silhouette, and Cinderella.  I love it.

And hello, how utterly cool is this embroidery she made, too!?  I love Elizabeth Swann from the Pirates of the Caribbean movies, and this is what she said to Captain Barbossa when he told the story of the Aztec gold medallion.

To see what the other folks in the swap made, peruse through the hashtag on Instagram #DisneyQuiltSwap2015.

I just completed my first commissioned quilt.  It’s the D&B Supply quilt, made entirely from rodeo shirts.

Here’s the front:

and here’s the back:

It all started with a shirt order gone awry.  The folks at D&B Supply know that I love sewing, so they asked if I could help make some lemonade out of lemons by making a quilt out of 16 nice black rodeo shirts and a rodeo flag.  I didn’t end up using the flag, since I wanted the quilt to be cozy and comfy, but the shirts worked out wonderfully.

To make some sort of interesting quilt design, I definitely needed more colors than just black.  So I used some bleach.  Interesting that bleaching black shirts gave brown colors: a chestnut and a sand color.  I like it!  Now I’ve got 3 colors to work with.

Dissecting shirts: cut off sleeve cuffs, collar, button  panels, and bottom hem.  Then cut all the bulky seams away…

…leaving a lot of usable fabric!  And I’m loving what the bleach did to the color – an almost shimmery, mottled champagne hue.

Shirts are all cut up!  I think it’s cool how some bleach streaks/spots make the brown have a western feel, like leather or cowhide.  So appropriate for this project!

The smallest fabric pieces were the sleeves, so I started with those.  I figured they would be great for patchwork.

So I cut them into a bunch of 5-inch squares, sewing them into half-square triangles using my tutorial: How to Sew Half-Square Triangles (HST) – 2 at a Time

Time to press all those HSTs.  It’s funny, I was really nervous about the bleach-y areas, but now I think they’re my favorite.  They give dimension.

Time to sew these HSTs together.

I sewed in some shirt fronts with logos and gave the quilt top a good press.  I love how it looks.  Rugged.  Hunter.  Cowboy.  Masculine.  Western.

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Quilting time!  I stitched some big fabric pieces together to make the quilt back, layered it with some batting and the quilt top, and quilted them together with some simple straight line stitches using a dark gray thread.

I used the brown fabric for the binding, and for the label I used some shirt leftovers 🙂

And done!  It was hard to let go of this quilt, but I know someone will enjoy the heck out of it.

I am so excited about starting my new venture: Angela Bowman Design LLC!  If you read this blog, you undoubtedly know that I’m a fan of sewing.  I just love how it makes my life better.  And I want to share the love!  I’ll be designing sewing-related products that I want to use, and that will hopefully make my customers say “this makes my life better”.

I’ve recently launched my business website, so go have a peek at angelabowmandesign.com, won’t you?

Remember the Feathers Quilt Top I made?  Well I finally quilted it!

I had a hard time deciding how to quilt this thing, and I really didn’t want to rush it.  So I stared at this thing for six months, pondering and pondering.

Time to give it a good press. Hey! A quilt-top ironing-board tent!  I was a tiny bit sad that this’ll be the last time I get to see light shining through this patchwork, but it’s so nice to finally have this thing quilted.

I used Mirage Stripe blue cotton print by Kaffe Fassett for the backing.  A perfect match with the purple and blue solids I used for the front.

For the quilting, I decided on simple straight lines to accentuate the feathers design. I used a thread I’ve never used before: Sew Fine 50wt polyester by Superior Threads, in a charcoal color (410).  Teamed up with a 12 Topstitch needle and my walking foot, stitching went smoothly.  I just had to tighten the bobbin tension slightly.

And a label completes it!  It’s what might become my standard quilt label: Kona cotton in white, framed with leftover binding strips of Kona pepper, handwritten with a permanent black pen.  I love the touch of “signing” a quilt with my own handwriting.

I have to say that this just might be my favorite thing I’ve ever made 🙂