The past few months I've struggled with working consistently on any one project.   Bouncing from embroidering to piecing, to quilting, to knitting.  None of my works in progress are getting the attention they deserve.  It's kind of driving me crazy.  I have a couple of new projects in mind, but I dread having one join the stack. This is where I'm at with my Arabic Lattice quilt.  It's a hand piecing project that is going to be a large quilt.  Hand piecing is a one block at time process that I love, so I'm cool with how long it will take to get this from block to quilt top.  It's just that there are a lot of blocks left so I'm setting this one aside for a while.  I have another hand piecing project with paper pieced hexies.  It's so low on the list it's packed up for now.  I also tested an applique block that I'm dying to make some more of, but again, packed up for now.

These are my spider web blocks.  A spider web quilt has been on my to stitch list for a mighty long time.  I'm machine stitching the blocks and plan on hand quilting this one.  These blocks are foundation pieced on to muslin.  The stack in the back is the triangles I still need to make.  I was thinking of focusing on this quilt top but then realized I couldn't hand quilt anything until I finish my paris embroidery.

My Paris map haptic lab is on my quilting rack right now.  To be honest, it's been there for quite a while.  It's a massive embroidery project that I plan to use as a wall hanging.  I've finished up the left bank and am working my way through the right.  In order for anything else to be quilted, this has to be done.  The paper pattern on the top is fragile and starting to wear in spots so I'm officially moving it to the top of the list.

So once I have Paris done, it should be smooth sailing through the rest of my projects, right?

I think the main reason my projects don't find there way here is that I just don't stop and take pictures like I used to.  In May, I made a fabric basket for a friend's birthday.  The pattern was from Anna's book, Handmade Style.  I was so happy with how it turned out that I snapped a quick pic with my phone and delivered it right away.  Later, I thought I would write a little post about it and then realized that all I had to share was this. One lonely photo.  With this in mind, I took some time to photograph a couple of quilts I made last fall.

I could make log cabin quilts for days.  This one is a baby size quilt made from one giant log cabin block.

One half is a light weight chambray, the other half is a split of ice dyed cottons in greens and purples.

The back is a print with indigo stripes on a off-white background.

The pattern for this quilt is Vast from Jeni's book, Patchwork Essentials: The Half-Square Triangle.

It's made with some of my favorite ice dyed cottons and a mid-weight chambray.  The back is a gold and black print.

I think this quilt looks brilliant with all the lichen on the wall.

sunny days caravan tote zipper

I have added a few totes to my shop.  The weather is finally starting to cool down.  Thank goodness for cardigan weather!  It was too hot to ice dye for quite a stretch there.

Hopefully, I will be able to get some new fabric ready to go in the next few weeks.  If there is interest, I was thinking of adding some yardage and bundles of some of my dyed fabric to the shop.

School starts next week so that should free up some time for me to get to work on my project list.  As much as a dread the idea of using an alarm clock again, I'm looking forward to some uninterrupted stitching time.

go anywhere totes

I'm one of this month's featured artists over at Citizens of Textile this month.

I've made a small collection of totes, some zippered pouches, and a couple of special baby quilts.  Each piece uses some of the snow dyed cotton I made late this winter.

snow dye baby quilt

The range of shades and values created with the snow dye process are pretty inspiring.  It's made for a fun one a kind group of projects that I'm so excited to share.

detail of buckskin caravan tote

The Citizens of Textile shop is open through Sunday night 7pm CST.

Thanks!

I'm sure it will come to no surprise to you when I say I'm a big fan of Anna's patterns.  Her step by step explanations make what might be a nerve-wracking actually completely doable.  Things like strap extenders and snaps are actually kind of easy when broken down step by step.  Even the inset zipper went in like a breeze!

I used a natural linen for the exterior and some of the sugar resist cotton I dyed last summer for the flap and binding.  It's lined with Summersville which always makes me smile when I see it.

This pattern is part of the Bag of the Month Club.  There are some amazing patterns available.  You should definitely check them out.

I would say I'm looking forward to using this bag but I don't think I'll get to.  I used it one day, but lulu saw my things in it and wondered why I was using her bag.  She said that was fine for the day, but my time is up and I think it's all hers now.  I really can't blame her.

I have never been a part of a traveling quilt project before, so when Jacey invited me to be a part of her fantastic quilt voyage project I was mixed with fear and excitement.  The idea is you make one block to start your own quilt and then it's shipped around to one of the other participants, who in turn make a block and send it on to the next quilter.  Once everyone has made a block it comes home and you can put together a quilt top.  Most of us are on pinterest and we've been busy pinning all sorts of inspiration for our quilts.  Using pinterest has been a great way to really focus on what you are hoping for your own quilt and also get a feel for what would work for someone else.

Some of us are also sending along a journal/blank book of some sort for all of us to write in as we work on a block.  I ended up making a sort of a journal pack with mini copies of the pins I found for inspiration and punched ovals from paint chips for color palette matching.  There are also some fabric scraps along with a clip to hold the journal cards that people put together as they work on the project.

I used a box from Fat Quarter Shop for shipping (they always use such sturdy boxes) but I thought I should do something to make sure people knew it wasn't being sent from Fat Quarter Shop.  I didn't want anyone to walk out to the mailbox and think "did I order a big box of fabric and completely forget about it?"  It could happen, right?!  So I doodled all around the box in the hopes no one has a panic attack on their front step.

Even though it's months away, I'm already looking forward to putting together my quilt!

It's that time of year when winter starts to drag on a bit.  I thought I would brighten things up a bit with a sale.

During the month of February you can get 20% off your purchases in my etsy shop.  Just use the coupon code BIRTHDAY20.

thanks!

Last year I set myself up with a long project list.  By mid-year I had started several quilts but hadn't finished most of them so by December I was determined to cross some off the list.   

The idea for sky blue geese came from a doodle in my notebook.  It has blue and ivory cross-hatch print flying geese blocks surrounded by text prints.  I sent it as a surprise to a friend I haven't seen in years.

The back is mix of prints.  The blue and white plumes were a favorite of mine.  They've been in my stash for years so it's great to see them in a project.

I made a couple of Christmas quilts in December.  I used a scaled down version of Jeni's Giant Vintage Star Tutorial. They were also given to friends.

One was a large silver star, the other gold.

Florette turned out to be one of my favorite quilts to date.  The pattern is by Jeni Baker.

Anna, Jeni, and I took a screen printing class ages ago and while they were here they helped me pull fabrics for future projects.  It was a blast to spend hours happily geeking out over fabric with friends.  I used one of the stacks we put together for this quilt.   Then I finished the top while we were on a sewing retreat together.

The back is one part, grey and white paisley and one part, floral.  Truth be told...the floral was our old shower curtain.  I made the curtain a few years ago and saved the fabric when I made a new one.  I had intended to sell this quilt, but in the end, I surprised lulu by putting it on her bed while she was in school.  She nearly fell down the steps to thank me because she was so happy.  (that would have been an awkward ER visit!)

Golden geese was another quilt I intended to sell.  It was also a stack that Anna and Jeni helped pull together.  The pattern is of my own design. I love the fabrics, so much print on print on print.  I just couldn't part with it.  I have greedily kept it for myself.  (that's how i roll)

It's backed with some fabric from my stash.  It felt great to check all of these of my project list.

I'm looking forward to sharing more about this year's list.

In January, Dana started a scrappy bear paw quilt-along on Instagram.  I love making bear paws blocks and had a stack of fabric that I had set aside for myself ages ago.  It was a mix of old fabrics that I had been saving just for me, along with new prints that caught my eye.  Once I saw Dana's quilt a-long, I knew I had to get started right away.

I gave one paw in each block an accent paw.  In the end, it turned out to be a sampler quilt hidden in a bear paw quilt and I absolutely love it.  As soon as it was finished I had it on the bed.

The border is the Paris map print by three sisters for Moda.  It's from years ago but I squirreled away yards of it because it is one of my most favorite prints.  It was my jumping off point for the prints for the rest of the quilt.  Basically, all my favorite colors, which are mostly sort of non-colors.

One of my favorite bits is the binding.  In with one of my favorite text prints, I added sections of a black print from the first fat quarter bundle I ever purchased back in 1997.  It is a Moda print and I still love it today as much as I did back then.

The back of the quilt is a lovely black print on double wide fabric with some grey around the edges.

A friend quilted it for me on her long arm.  The quilting pattern was called bayside.  I'm sure they were going for waves, but to me it looked like thick curly bear fur so I had to try it.

She did an amazing job and I'm thrilled with how it turned out.

I had a etsy shop years ago under the name bricole.  Back then, my shop was bricole, my blog was bricole at home and my tumblr was mybricole. (remember tumblr??  I still use it, true story)

At that time, you couldn't change your etsy shop name so once I settled on mybricole, I set up a second empty shop to hold the name.  Then etsy decided you could change your name, but only once and I would have to delete the other shop first and hope I timed everything right to be able to then change the name and to be perfectly honest I just didn't trust the internet enough to go through all of that.  I closed my first shop and now I'm using mybricole on etsy as my online shop.

A few people have been asking when I would be making totes for sale again and I'm pleased to finally be able to say, now.

I have a bunch of new bags listed and will hopefully be adding more in a month or two.  They are made with a mix of cottons and linens in all my favorite prints. Including a few hard to find prints that were painful for me to cut in to.  Through the results were worth it.  The fabrics really stand out on these bags.  I used several of Anna's patterns to make them.

Be sure to check out all the new listings!

This was one of the those quick projects that took me ages to finish.  The colors are not ones I usually work with so I had a difficult time deciding how the blocks should work together.  I shuffled them around so many times.  I kind of hated it and then I loved it.

The heart of each log cabin block was part of a panel that I cut up and then edged with wonky bands of tone on tone orange, green, blue, and gold.  The orange is a cross hatch print, while the others are silhouettes of leaves.

The extra spaces around the blocks and the binding are a coordinating brown print that I think looks like little bees buzzing around, but is actually tiny airplanes.  I quilted it with gold thread in vertical straight lines.

The back is big, wide bands of the coordinating colors that I used on the front. 

I think it makes for a great baby quilt.  I'm happy that in the end I powered through and kept working on this one.  It would have been a shame to let it sit on a shelf unfinished simply because it was bit frustrating in the middle of making it.

It will be listed soon.

When I started this post I was going to link back to the tote I made with cotton I dyed last year with indigo.  Then I realized I never shared it here, only on instagram.

It's the Luxe Tote pattern.  The handles and corners are buckskin.  The tote went together quickly and I will be making another one at some point, I'm sure.

I also wanted to take another try at indigo dying.  I love the shibori technique of long running stitches pulled tight and knotted.  That was how I created the fabric that was used for the tote.  I did a couple of pieces like that again.

I love the random shapes created by the tightening of the stitches.

I used some wooden drawer knobs and rubber bands for these.

I can't decide if I like the front or the back better with this pattern.   I also did a slow dip on a skein of wool.

I'm anxious to start knitting with this.

I won a copy of Visual Texture on Fabric a couple of years ago.  It's filled with great DIY ways to create texture on fabrics, many with things you probably already have on hand.

I used the sugar syrup method for these.  I scattered a lot of syrup at first in an attempt to create layers of color.  The longer the syrup sets, the more it will resist in the dying process.  My syrup was also thin, so it spread a bit leaving shadow lines around the white patterns.  I let the syrup set on the fabric for about an hour the first round and then used an old paint brush to apply the indigo.  Once the indigo oxidized, I rinsed it and scattered more syrup, waited, and rinsed.  I kept going with this process until I was happy with the color.  It was difficult to get that true indigo with the brush application, so I did a quick dip in the vat on a couple of yards.

I love the richness of color that appears after the dip.  I'm looking forward to cutting into these for more totes and maybe even a quilt.

Big quilts are tough to photograph.  I have used this spot in the past for big quilts.  The steps are a big help, but the wind can be a big problem.  I love the small feet trying to hold the corner from blowing back on this one.

Thankfully, just when we thought all hope was lost, we stopped at the park.

This quilt was two years in the making.  The calicoes are from Liberty Lifestyle's Bloomsbury collection.  I fell in love with them the first moment I saw them.  As a child of the 70's, I was raised on calico.  My mom made dresses with pinafores for me that were a blend of Little House on the Prairie meets 1970's bold.

calico dress

Once I picked out the fabrics, the pattern was an easy decision.  I love log cabin quilts.  From traditional to wonky, they let simple blocks shine with all the different options for layouts.  Plus they are a part of my history.  Around the time that picture of me, along with my brother, in our finest 70's looks, our new log house was being built.  I grew up in a log house.  It's an L-shaped ranch style, but it's still a log house.

Log cabins have become my comfort block.  As soon as I finish one, I want to make another one.  Which is good because it took a whole lot of blocks to make this quilt.  The back is pieced with brown florals and paisley medallions.

I used flannel instead of batting for a lighter weight, but with as much fabric as is used in a quilt of this size, there's not a lot about this quilt that is light weight.  I used a heavy weight pearl cotton in ivory to tie the layers together.  It's already on the bed and I should add, over the bed.  It pools onto the floor around our full-sized bed.

This is one of those projects that I thought might never be finished.

I am so happy that it finally is after all this time.

black and color block of the month quilt

I started writing this post in my head this morning while I was taking these pictures in the back yard.  It was sort of a sad post, dwelling on how disappointed I was with how the color transferred in the dryer.  I'm still bummed about it, but in between then and now, I had a visit with my new massage therapist.  When she heard I did a lot of sewing she did some extra work on my arms.  As someone who spends a lot of time holding projects and stitching with my hands, I shouldn't be surprised to feel how much tension she worked out of my forearms, but I was.  Turns out I don't just hold my tension in my neck and upper back.  Needless to say, I'm feeling relaxed and much more at peace with this project.

It's the Craftsy Block of the Month from 2012.  YES, 2012.  I started working on Amy's class in January of 2012 and just finished it this week.  More proof of how far behind I am on my works in progress list. I used Gee's Bend Solids for the entire quilt top. It's a group of cottons with the softest hand.  They are hand dyed solids, which, while it creates a gorgeous variation in color, also creates a less stable one. I treated a stack of the fabrics with Retayne and Synthrapol to help them hold their color. Unfortunately, because I took so long to finish the blocks some untreated black ended up in a couple of the blocks. (note to self...treat fabric as soon as it enters the house)

I was nervous to wash it knowing there were some rogue untreated pieces of the black fabric in the mix so I threw in 3 color catchers and crossed my fingers. I ran down to the washer when I heard the end of cycle buzz and was thrilled to see all the bright colors were still holding their own. Woohoo! I tossed it in the dryer and away I went.  Then the dryer buzzed and I ran down.  I was crushed.  When I pulled it out of the dryer I found the yellows and pinks where now smudged with black. As the quilt tumbled, the black spread itself all over. I had this happen with another quilt, and with washings it diminished, so I tossed this one in with 3 three more color catchers and here's where it stands.

Still smudged.

From a distance it looks great. It's like a fellow student once said of my work during a critique in a university drawing class, "if you step back and half close your eyes, it is perfect". (I wasn't insulted, he was British so his accent allowed him to get away with even the most thinly veiled insults.  Plus, he said it was "perfect", right?!)

So it is our new family quilt. You know the one that gets thrown in the back of the car and used to for anything and everything.   And it will be the coolest car quilt around!  I love the feel of the fabric, so soft and smooth.  Plus aside from the smudges, it's a pretty awesome set of blocks!  It's backed with a black and blue print so grass stains won't  a problem.

Bring on the picnics!  We are ready!

Way back when in January 2011, lulu and I went shopping for fabric for a quilt for her bed.  She chose a fun mix of pinks with a bit of green mixed in.  We set them aside until we came up with a pattern.

That fall, while I was on the Sewing Summit shop hop I picked up the Swoon pattern and started cutting into the stacks.  By sometime in 2012, I had finished two of the blocks and she had decided she didn't love pink the way she used to.

She loved blue and green and I was so happy I had not made any more than two of those giant blocks at this point.

We sorted through my stash and came up with a new stack.  I spent some more time cutting, stitching, quilting and finally last fall (just before the Thanksgiving deadline she gave me) her quilt was finished.

At some point in this whole process, she asked me to hand quilt it.  Since she's on the short list of people I have a more difficult time saying no to, I agreed.  I machine quilted the sashing with some quick matchstick quilting not only because it looks cool, but also to hold the quilt together nicely while I spent the hours it took to hand quilt the blocks.

I took advantage of the left over blocks to fill some space in the back along with a mix of prints.

I also took a huge sigh of relief when I finally finished it and she loved it.

It's the season of late starts at school, kids home with sniffles and coughs, snow days, and yet another blizzard so I'm stealing some time to show you my Parks quilt.

This whole quilt was put together a bit spur of the moment.  I loved the national parks print (by Wilmington) the moment I saw it and thought it would be fun to try something different.  I pulled together a quick stack of fabric, stitched and slashed and built up two log cabin blocks.  One for the front and one for the back.

Once it was pieced, I started in with the quilting.  I ran one zig zag line down the middle and followed those angles out to the edges.

Someone I know is working on visiting every national park.  She's also someone who lives life a bit spur of the moment so I'm thinking this might be a perfect treat for her.

No camping today, though, it's raining, there's thunder and hail, closely followed by freezing rain, it's supposed to start snowing later today with 50mph winds tonight.  All those precipitation types in one day.  Iowa is totally overachieving today.

Most of this week's sewing focused on my bear paw.  I stitched together all the accent blocks so now I can assembly line the blocks together.  

Here they are along with the log cabin accent I already put into a block.

It turned into a fun sampler project.  I pulled most of the blocks from Barbara Brackman's, Encyclopedia of Pieced Quilt Patterns.  

Here's a block I'm working on today.

My center square, along with the claws are 2 1/2" unfinished.  The accent block and 4 square scrappy blocks are 4 1/2" unfinished.  In the end, I have a block the will be 14" finished.  

Here's another block I shared on Instagram yesterday.

A bear paw quilt has to have bear, doesn't it?

I managed to ignore a good portion of the housework this week in favor of some fun sewing projects. I've started a new quilt for our bed.  I've had a fabric stack set aside to make a bear paw quilt for our bed for over a year now.

Then Dana from Old Red Barn started up a little scrappy bear paw quilt along over on instagram.  It was just the kickstart I needed.

I'm planning to do one special accent paw in each block so I spent some time this week working on some of those.

Lulu's friend has a birthday coming up so she chose the fabric and I did the stitching on this very dear deer.  The pattern is from Issue 2 of Love Patchwork and Quilting.  (one of the cutest quilting and stitching magazines around)

I was also lucky enough to get a request from Anna of Noodlehead to try out her new road trip case pattern.  I'm already thinking about what fabrics I will use on my next one.

I love the button and loop closure.

There are two pocket options.  I chose the four pocket version with flaps.

I'm filling mine with some of my hand piecing supplies.

It was my first time working with vinyl.  I was nervous because I have heard so much over the years about how it can get stuck on presser feet while you are stitching, but I used my walking foot and it was a breeze!  I have to admit, I did get over confident and think that I could machine finish the binding.  A skill I've never been able to master and managed to get some stitches on the vinyl.  In the end, I couldn't take the sloppy stitching lines so I picked them out and finished it by hand.  I was left with some tiny holes in the vinyl, but I think they are less distracting than the line of stitching so I'm happy.

Thankfully this one wasn't a gift so I was able to accept my mistake and stitch on.  Well, again I have to admit first I ate a handful of chocolate covered almonds and then I stitched on.  I think those tiny holes might be a little reminder of how important it is to slow down and finish a project the right way.

Sometimes stubbornness just gets in the way doesn't it?

This was another one of those unfinished projects that has been hanging around waiting so patiently for me to finish it.

My starting point for this quilt was the grey background print.  I loved the concrete look of the speckled grey print and wanted to let it shine.  I was hoping that adding just a hint of vibrant color would let that happen.

And did it ever!  I love how they bring out the best in each other.

The speckled concrete grey print was something that I found at JoAnn.  The brights are from Amy Butler's line Lark.  The whites are a mix of low volumes from my stash.

I quilted it along the white diagonals in white for a subtle emphasis on the chain pattern.

I pieced the back with a mix of prints.

Mostly grey and white, but I couldn't resist adding some more color with the firework print.

It was a chilly day for a photo shoot, but thankfully my helper was able to keep warm.

p.s. this quilt is listed for sale in my shop

A downside of quilting is at a certain point you have more quilts than you can use in one house.

I give lots away each year, as gifts and also if there is a charity auction in need of items, but they still pile up.

I have posted several for sale in my shop, along with a bunch of tooth fairy pockets I found in with the quilts when I was cleaning.  (You can also click to my shop on the link over on the right sidebar where you see my cool new logo)

Happy Weekend!!