Studio Tour

I've been cleaning up in the studio.  I've organized.  I've purged.  I've re-organized and now I have a couple pictures to show you.  I showed you the space right after we first moved, a little over a year ago.  Wanna see the progress???

My favorite spot is the inspiration wall behind my sewing desk.  I have all sorts of things on that wall.  Small Quilts, my favorite painting from college, an owl clock- just like the one my grandma had as I was growing up, scissors cutting on an electrical tape cutting line, sketches, market badges- really all sorts of things.  I also have some "blank" wall space... so I totally need to get sewing/swapping to add more to my wall.  (Yes, the picture below is spliced together, so you could see the whole wall, edge to edge.)

I also have the design wall opposite the inspiration wall.  Its blank-ish right now.  I'm looking to pick up a large piece of foam insulation board from the home improvement store and wrap it with flannel.  That will be later.  For now, I generally just staple straight into my wall.  (GASP)  And I still have my fabric stash sorted by color, on the right hand side of the picture.

In my studio I have a custom built table.  My friend Debbie (Hi Debbie!) had this huge awesome cutting mat in her sewing studio and I instantly had cutting mat envy.  I did buy the mat about a year later, but it was much larger than my plastic costco table.  This table, below, has a huge workspace, and ironing board on the left hand side and storage for 8 rubbermaids underneath.  The best part about an MDF + 2-by-4 table is that it never shakes when I start stitching fast.

So that is a little peek inside the studio.  I've managed to keep it clean for about 14 hours.  I'd say times up on that!!!!

Studio Tour

Doll Quilt Swap 10, the thrid

 

I had this fun idea for a Doll Quilt Swap Quilt.  Its little, its hexagons, and its bright blue + Art Gallery Fabrics + USAF uniform. It was just a matter of time before I got those fun USAF hexagons into a modern design.

I think making these small quilted items are just so fast and quick.  (Once those crazy hexagons are prepared.) They use up fabric scraps, let you try different quilting methods and finish up quickly.  This doll quilt is very jen-centric.  It has Art Gallery Fabrics + USAF hexies + pale blue.  I might keep this one, too.

Man, I'm not a very good swapper if I want to keep everything!  HA!  Ok, but honestly, the blue background in this doll quilt is broadcloth (50% poly/50% cotton) so that means I'm not allowed to swap it since it's not 100% cotton.  Shame.... 

Get your own 1 1/2" hexagon paper for English Paper Piecing, here.

Doll Quilt Swap 10, the thrid

Doll Quilt Swap 10, again

Ok, my second run at the doll quilt swap- which might still not be the one that I mail.  Who knows...

My partner really likes the colors blue and orange together.  (just like me!)  So as luck would have it, I have some Blue and Orange fabric.  The quilt is backed in -old- orange Heather Ross fabric.

The applique shapes are all stitched down by machine, but NOT raw-edge appliqued.  Every edge is folded under and stitched using a unique "facing" technique.  The machine stitching through each shape is ALSO the quilting lines of the project.  {{two birds, one stone, you know.}}

I added in "ghost" shapes using grey embroidery floss.  The floss is quilted through the three layers, too.

I really like this one.  I might have to keep it.

*Fabric used in this project are designed by Jen Eskridge and are for sale over on Spoonflower.com and SOON will be available on the ReannaLily Designs website.

Doll Quilt Swap 10, again

Doll Quilt Swap 10

 

Ok, this is my first brain storm for the Doll Quilt Swap 10 going on over on flickr.  I have a grand plan for the quilting, which will make the white space, not soooooooo white.  I'm not sure that this is the quilt that will make it to my partner.  My secret partner has some very specific requests, so I think if I post the final design- she'll totally figure out its hers.  But for now, lets just take a look at this little one.

Unfortunately, this quilt busts the size requirements by 1".  Its 18" x 25".  ((Hey Partner, is that a deal breaker???))  The color blocks are from a Kona Solids Charm pack.  Well, they are some scant leftovers from a charm pack- which I used for something else.  Each square is 2" square.  The white fabric is linen.

 With a little help from some of the ladies in the Wichita Modern Quilt Guild, I ended up machine quilting straight lines onto the design, and adding matching color DMC floss for additional hand quilting.  It has a neat effect.

 Last step is the binding- which I think will be white linen.  Stay tuned.

Doll Quilt Swap 10

Doll Swap 10

I can't tell you how excited I am about getting into the Doll Swap 10.  I know, that is probably a crazy thing to be excited about.... but who cares!  I'll show the progress and share the stories as I go.  Stay tuned!

Doll Swap 10

The Placemat Swap 4

Ok, this swap ended in early November and I'm just now realizing I forgot to share it with you. (I'm certain you were losing sleep over the whole deal.)

If you don't know about the Placemat Swap, it was hosted over on flickr. You were paired with someone with like interests and then the two of you swapped ideas. My partner and I agreed that we'd likely not be using our placemats as placemats. That gave us a free pass to make our items at bit more unique, I think. If I were to make a "real" set of placemats, I would NOT have used white.

I sent an easy curved piece, scrappy modern-esque placemat which featured vintage sheets + white. I have one quilting line in pink and one quilting line in yellow. For me, that was a stretch.


My swap partner, Kendra, sent me this very cool, very vibrant placemat. Its on black! I've never used black as a background. Its lovely and totally outside my comfort box, which is wonderful.


Placemat 4 Swap complete. Thank you thank you.

The Placemat Swap 4

WMQG Swap

We had about 50% of the group participate in the small quilt swap. Man, that was fun! I can show you my finished mini quilt now.


Its Amy Butler and Michael Miller (I think the green is Michael Miller) And the requirement was to applique a circle. So I added 3 circles, sort-of. The one is cut in half. My favorite part of my design is the quilting though. I made pebbles in the green section and lines through the blue section.

Now let me show you the awesome little beauty that I got to take home!

LOVE the colors. Its about 15" square. Echo quilting and everything. Its just perfect! Thanks KERRI!!!!

WMQG Swap

The Placemat Swap 4

Well, Flickr has unleashed a small can of worms... SWAPS!!! They are so fun. I told you about the whole Mug Rug experience- which was awesome. In fact, it inspired me to go up a size. I joined the Placemat Quilt Swap.


I wanted to show a little sneak peek of the placemat I'm working on for my partner, in Tennessee. She and I seem to have A LOT of the same tastes, so hopefully she'll like this one as much as I do.

Its all vintage sheets and wonky strips and curved edges. That's all I can tell you for now. Stay tuned. I'll have the full reveal when the swap ends in mid November.

The Placemat Swap 4

Mug Rug Swap RECEIVED and SENT

My official Sent and Received post for the fabulous MUG RUG swap hosted on flickr.

Ok, first let me just say that the surprise of getting something tiny and handmade from a stranger was WAY more exciting than I thought it'd be. I had a good time doing that little swap over on flickr.

So without further ado, let me show you what I received from my partner KatieMade

A wonderful bag to hold my goodies and perfect little rug- and get this- the rug is reversible!!! I got two. That's right- TWO... sorta...

So I've got orange- I've got circles- I've got grey and I've got poor English skills because I think the I "have got" is not good sentence structure. =)

And what did I send.... The fall inspired Mug Rug with the Hooked On Feathers quilting.



And the second rug I sent. My partner had a very specific request of "The Wizard of Oz and maybe something with the ruby slippers." So I thought if I posted it early that would give it away.

So now QuiltinKimmie can kill the witch with every morning cup of Joe- or hot chocolate. Pretty funny, right? Who knew hot chocolate or coffee would prove to be so dangerous?! I even added blue gingham for the sky. I think it works for the theme.

And so ends my first every flickr swap.

Mug Rug Swap RECEIVED and SENT

Wichita Modern Quilt Guild- SWAP

As you may or may not know, I'm in the Wichita Modern Quilt Guild. I actually contacted the main group about starting up our modest little Wichita Chapter back in May.

Spring market came and went. Summer came and went, and in August we had our first ever meeting. It was wonderful! In September we had our second meeting, with structure and plan and a small peer-led program. I'm loving the WMQG!!! I'm sure I'll be posting more about it here on the design blog.


We also had our first SWAP issued. Our Swap Chairperson came up with the plan and the guidelines for our items, which we are to bring back to the October meeting. Its a small quilted item that must include circles. (that is the super short version. you can click on the link to see the actual guidelines, if you are curious.)

The swap is a secret- so we are not supposed to show what we've made. We get a random "blind" swap. Kinda exciting, right?

BUT.... I had to share. Wait- don't get too excited. I'm going to share the "mess-up" ones. I'll show you the one I'm taking to the swap, AFTER the meeting.

Mess-up #1: The "Ugly Not-Snowman"

I knew this one was on the wrong path, pretty early on. As you can see, I didn't even quilt it. Its ok looking and I do really like the reverse applique technique to make the stacked circles- but this just did NOT work at all for me.

Mess-up #2: The "I loved it before it was quilted"

It was linen. It was Art Gallery Fabrics. It has chunky hand stitching lines. It had blank space. It was just wonderful. :::: Then I got kinda ansy. "Oh man, what do I do with all that blank space?" Well, the short answer is: Do NOT quilt the crap out of it. That makes it look kinda funky and WAY less modern, to me. So although this one is finished and bound, it also, did not make the cut. I do think I'll save this if I ever need an example of every quilting style I can think of... because yeh- its a mess. ...shame...

The #3- winner of the "what Jen will actually take for a swap" turned out much nicer than both of these, has a much more modern aesthetic and has some Amy Butler fabrics + white.

So you'll have to stay tuned for the big swap reveal, Oct 19th. Or if you are local, come by and check us out. We are a pretty casual bunch of ladies. Feel free to jump right into the swap, too. For more details, you can go to the WMQG site.

And speaking of swaps- I should receive my MugRug swap in the mail any day now. Cannot wait to share those.

Wichita Modern Quilt Guild- SWAP

Woah- More Mug Rugs!

Y'all, its getting bad. I made this Mug Rug and I don't even have a MUG that matches!

I really wanted to try out a reverse applique technique I'm working on and some free motion swirls.

I suppose at the very least, I'll have my own collection of mini's to display in a group somewhere in my home. That's fun.

Woah- More Mug Rugs!

Mug Rug Swap 2 point OH

I made the my first draft of the mug rug a few days ago. Man, this swap is strangely inspiring. How fun would it be to have an entire quilt based on some tableware inspiration?

I decided to make another mug rug to match my orange cup. But after thinking about it a bit, I wanted my rug to have a spoon rest. I included quilter's vinyl (distributed by C&T Publishing) to cover one of my fabric squares. This will work as the spoon rest. I'm not too concerned about staining, overall, since I'll probably be mixing mostly hot chocolates. I took the picture below, with the glare, on purpose so you could see the vinyl.

Then I went to my cabinet and found another graphic mug to work from. Its a mug I picked up at the 1000Won store in Korea. (1000Won Store is our Dollar Store) I used Steam-a-Seam and fabric scraps for the rug.


Y'all know I have an aversion to quilting in colored thread, but I'm looking to branch out. In both samples, I quilted in colored thread. Orange in the first rug and black (GASP!) in the second rug. I think it looks pretty cool. Baby steps...

And a third... or wait.. fourth... {{Someone stop me!}} ... A snowman mug and a rug with green snowflakes.


The Snowman Mug is from the thrift store. Yes, I went to the thrift store with the express purpose of picking up some interesting mugs. You don't want to know how many I found for $.29/ea...

Update: Each rug of mine, measures about 6" x 10".

Mug Rug Swap 2 point OH

Mug Rug Swap

Y'all I just joined the Mug Rug swap! It looks like a super quick, super fun project and you swap with someone- anywhere in the world. I don't have my swap partner's name yet. Sign ups for the swap are through your active flickr account and are open until Sept 1st. This is just what my mug needs... a nice rug for the cookies to rest. Very smart indeed.

The picture below is the image that inspired me to check out the whole group and swap. Look how great the two match- Love it.

This Mug Rug was made by Carol, mamacjt over on flickr.

Mug Rug Swap

Sewing by Hand

The water soluble pen is kinda hard to see in the photo, but looks fine in person.

I wanted to get some hand-sewing projects ready in case I have some extra time on my hands. (HAHAHA!) But seriously, I've got this grand idea to have flowers, embroidered in a rainbow of colors, to be used as the corner stones in my Rainbow Quilt Sampler top. Yes, the swap ended months ago and I still haven't assembled my sections yet. I think I cut up 42 or so 7" white squares and spent yesterday leisurely marking them all. The flower design can be downloaded in a pdf form here. Or you can find it at www.reannalilydesigns.com click on the patterns link and scroll down. Lets see how many I get finished!

Sewing by Hand

Section 4

The swap blocks have all officially been received. Turns out one package of blocks got misguided in the postal system and the quilter of those blocks graciously offered to remake her 9. Still, almost a month later, I still have not seen the original set of blocks. So, without further ado; I give you SECTION 4 of the Spring 2009 Quilt Block Swap:

I'll be adding this to our flickr pool shortly. There are so many blocks over there in the pool. Its a nice afternoon of inspiration. Once you've got your blocks all sewn up, please add them to the pool, we'd all love to see how they turned out.

And just a note, with the swap officially closed and complete, I'll be removing the links for the swap players on the right hand side. If you'd like to bookmark the friends in your section or if you'd like to subscribe to someone, do it now. They'll be gone soon.

Don't forget to sign up for the $10 gift card give-away. I'm drawing a winner Tuesday the 21st.

Have a good one! And thanks to all the ladies in my local guild and on the fabulous internet for playing along with my Rainbow Sampler quilt block swap. You guys rock and roll! ~jen

Section 4

Section 3

Ok ok ok- Ladies- I've got Section 3 from the Spring 2009 Quilt Block swap all swapped out and back in the mail this morning. Wanna sneak peek??? A spoiler before you get yours in the mail???

I'm waiting on just one more block set from Section 4 and then that last one will get swapped and mailed out as well. Very exciting stuff.

If you'd like to add your tops and blocks to the flickr group, we'd all love to see how you're putting yours together. Also, the swap is being offered over at Jane's Fabric and Quilts, so her players are adding the blocks into the flickr group as well. We are going to be flowing over with inspiration and ideas for these little babies.

If you're wanting to host [a version of] this swap on your blog or in your guild, please email me.

Thanks again for playing along! I hope you are loving the blocks as much as I am. ~jen~

Section 3

The Swap Out has begun!

*******Swap Spoiler Pictures in this post!******

Oh my goodness. Yesterday, I received 5 packages of blocks in the mail and in those 5- Sect 1 and Sect 2 were completely received. (WhooHOOOOO!) So started swapping about a half second after the mail man left my doorstep.

I have a system to {hopefully} not have any blocks mixed up and going the wrong way to the wrong person/group. So first I sort all the bags by section (which I do as they arrive) and I add a little X by your name on the "received" column of the spreadsheet. Now, once I have all the 9 envelopes for any given section, I lay them out in a 3 x 3 grid.

Next, I work from the color sorted stack of blocks to "deal" a block to each envelope. Oh, you see that blank wood space on my floor there- those 2 spots for blocks are for me and for my mom (no envelopes). Here's the tidy stack I'm dealin from:


And I know what you are really waiting for- I bet you want to see all the block, together, for each of the two complete sections, don't you?

Here's SECTION 1

And Here's SECTION 2

Oh man, the look excellent. Thank you so much for playing along. Do you love a certain block or two? Wanna know who made them? Check out the swap players blogs over on the side bar. Each quilter, section & color is listed.

Don't worry, Sect 3 & 4 only have a couple people to go before I get those all swapped.

I was able to mail out all of the Sect 1 & 2 this morning. If you are a flickr'ing, please do add your tops and designs over to the flickr pool. We'd love to see how they all go together. I bet they'll be so very different.

Stay tuned for the pictures of the next two sections! ~jen~

The Swap Out has begun!

The Wonky Name Banner

Ok, I wanted to hop on the blog real quick before it lights up with swap block pictures, later this week, and tell you about this name banner I've made. Much like my attempt at the doll quilt, this is not the best thing I've ever posted, but its still meaningful to me.

I started out admiring Tonya's work over on the Lazy Gal Quilting site. I figured I'd give it a go. I read through the "how to make letters" bit... but I didn't memorize the method, nor did I print out the directions for each of my 7 letters. {whoops} I went into the sewing studio and decided to wing it. The S has the most noticable "whoops" going on, but I'm ok with it. It looks very... um... rustic. I'm sure its still nice enough to display somewhere in the house. We shall see.

My favorite part of this 40" x 10" name banner is the quilting. My MIL taught me a few design motifs while I was over at her place during the Christmas break. She taught me how to move the amazing longarm to draw free motion designs. Start with a long windy ribbon and every so often, break into a 5 pointed flower. These designs will make "stripes" along the quilt. It was super fun. It did take a bit of effort to translate those movements to my regular home sewing machine. I think it went well. Who can resist yellow springy flowers? The flowers aren't all 5 pointed though- sometimes I made the petals too big or just lost count with the "loop right, loop left, crazy 8 shape, oh, whoops, one more loopy" heh. The image is actually quite large, so if you click on it, it should grow.

Thats what I have to share today. The great Spring 2009 Quilt Block Swap is officially closed with everything set to be in the mail Monday, March 23rd. That means, today or Thursday or maybe even Friday, I'm going to have ALOT more mail in my box. AND many more pictures to share.

Thanks for following along!

The Wonky Name Banner