Advice from quilters needed!

I live in an apartment. It's fairly large, but ALL CARPET. I loathe carpet as it is, but it means that I don't have a hard surface for basting a quilt. We bought 2 pieces of 4'x8' MDF, put a hinge in the middle of each sheet so that it would store smaller, but they are HUGE and HEAVY to pull out & put away. It also means that I have to clear out the living room to use. Not a great solution.

Then I went and used a long arm machine & saw the roller system. Genius!! Also, fun. I kept thinking that the long arm can't do straight lines well though (I tried), and can't follow seams like I could on my machine with a walking foot. But I wanted to take my quilts there for basting purposes...

So, maybe I can buy my own roller quilting frame? I'm considering a few options and need help.

1) $10 plans to build my own frame. No clue how hard to source the gears would be, or how expensive the the supplies would be. But I am very handy, so the idea of building isn't an issue. Does it fold flat for storage?

2) $69 kit to build a frame. This look like it has plans for the above frame, but include some parts, like the gears. I would still have to source lumber & a few other parts. Does it fold flat for storage?

3) $199 pre-made stand. Folds flat, adjustable width. I could use this for basting, or for hand quilting. Seems pretty nice. The reviews I've read say that the only negatives are assembly, which isn't a problem for me. And from the Grace website, it looks like you can fold it up with a quilt still on it. I also found it on Ebay with free shipping.

4) Fan Frame. I don't know how easy it would be to use, but it looks fairly straight-forward. And it definitely stores flat! $132, so it's a little less than the previous option.

5) Save up for a more professional stand that can accommodate a long arm machine. This is a 2-parter, since I need to save up for the machine AND the stand, so we're talking thousands of dollars and years. And I don't think those store flat. So maybe I just convinced myself out of this option?

What should I do?!?! The basting/sandwich is my main issue. My machine is more than adequate for quilting purposes at this time. Please, ask around if you know someone who has knowledge about this. Thank you!

**All photos are taken from the linked website**

Feeling funky

I FINALLY finished my July bee blocks. I realize it's not really late, but I got the fabric in June, so I've had it for a while.


Full disclosure: I had NO desire to make these blocks. The idea seemed fussy and not my style. I don't have a house, I have an apartment, and I hate it. My biggest wish is that I had a house of my own, so this block kinda rubbed in my face that I didn't have a house of my own to base the block off of. Also, I went to school to be an architect, so I have very rigid ideas about how drawing, models, and sewn models (?) should be. It was very hard to translate my sketches into fabric. Also, I was short fabric. Well, I had leftover, but the designs I wanted to use the most were the small pieces. :( Lots of extra piecing to make the fabric stretch.


Ok, b*tching over. I sucked it up this morning and just made a go of it.


And you know what? It wasn't as bad as I had built it up to be in my head. My house block is based off of the house I grew up in. And while it isn't perfect, I think it came out pretty good. And my person block - LOVE. I don't want to send it off!! I had no idea how much fun the person block would be! I want to make more. Maybe one of me & the boy holding hands? LOVE the person block. Who knew it would be so much fun? I added yellow from my stash since I didn't get any in my packet, but it wouldn't be me without yellow.


Oh, you want to see the blocks? Of course!

Pattern Maker

Has everyone seen this?!

You can use this website to turn a picture into a quilt pattern!! I think I might do this with a picture from our wedding or honeymoon. Wouldn't that be a cute keepsake?


You can choose how many colors and how complex the pattern is too! Big squares, little squares, or squares & triangles.

!!!

I went back to Hip Stitch today to take picture of my handiwork. All nicely organized by weight and color. 

Anyway, Suzanne (the owner) had a surprise for me...

Are you ready??

And lest you think that I spend all my time in fabric stores, here is my Pixel Quilt progress (on the design wall).

Pink Orange Quilts

Here's the finished quilt top for my Pink Orange Grey quilt. Measure about 60" square

Josh suggested backing it with a creamy orange. Maybe a grey corner. I'll have to play around this weekend.


I had so many 2.5" strips cut from my original design and the border, that I decided to cut them into 2.5" squares. I used my rotary PAPER cutter with a new blade. It was awesome.


So here's my design for Pink Orange V2.0 (because each square will the 2" finished!). Josh says the middle should be a cream color, so I'm thinking a natural muslin (I already have some). I've already made some changes in my mind (the cream should creep up like the colors fall down). I estimate that I'll need about 250 colored blocks, 125 pinks, 125 oranges. I'm just going to cut a few cream squares (maybe 15?), and leave the rest in strips and cut them once I figure out exactly where the pieces will go. I wish I had a design wall (no room :(  ). Planned size is 40" x 42"

The Process

I had a BRILLIANT idea for a quilt last Thursday night. 


Friday I cut all the fabrics together and got to work. 


Saturday it was going well. 


Sunday I decided that I hated where it was going and I stuffed it in a box.


Wednesday is when I had an epiphany and things started coming together. I cut apart what I had already made and turned it into a border. Then I did what I should have done first: I drew a picture. I figured out what I needed, in which colors, and selected a few different fabrics. 

Now things are coming together nicely. I have made a few more modifications as I sew, but I like it. It has the right amount of planned irregularity. Not wonky though.


Hopefully I'll finish the quilt top this weekend.

Bad timing

Don't you hate it when, you're lying in bed, trying to fall asleep, and an idea so good comes to you that you have to get up and do something about it?


Me too.


But now I have 2 awesome quilt ideas that I will be hard at work on this weekend.


And yes, I am completely failing at the Spring to Finish challenge.