My First Attempt

I finished my first disappearing nine patch quilt...finally. I had the top done for awhile, but didn't really feel like putting the backing together to get ready for quilting. Now that it is done, I'm very proud of it. This is the largest quilt I have made. It measures 84" x 81". It has soft minky backing, which makes this quilt very heavy and very warm.


(My husband was gracious enough to hold this heavy beaut up while having to stand on the ottoman.)

(The warm soft minky back)

(Rolled up all nice and yummy.)

I'm happy with the results of this project, but this quilt is in need of a name. Any ideas out there?

I am also excited to get working on new projects now that this one is done!

Orders Complete!

I have been busy with orders, personal sewing and traveling during Spring Break. In my last post I mentioned the next bag would be a little 'wild'. Well, here it is:

Outside:


Inside:


The lovely owner of this bag wanted tiger fabric because her husband is taking command of a Tiger Battalion. It always amazes me how ACU goes with practically everything!

Here are two other orders I was working on:


I'm proud to say that all of these bags have been shipped and are on their way. I am enjoying creating bags again. I think I will have a busy summer!

Here is a project that I have been working on for awhile. It is a very girlie quilt. I was able to get it quilted on the long arm, so now it just needs binding around the outside.

Quilting:


All quilted:


I think I will work on some smaller projects for a little while as well as getting back to some 'works in progress'.

Boo Hoo?

This past weekend was a long three day weekend. I spent most of it sick, sleeping and having a lack in desire of wanting to adventure out of the apartment. That left quite a bit of time to sew. At Halloween this past year I purchased some really cute Riley Blake Halloween fabric. I didn't get to using it, so I thought I should get started on a project in February and it would be done by October! Good thinking from a sickling? I also wanted to try out some wonky log cabin blocks. Here is my progress so far:


Close up:


I need to pick up some more material for the borders. I'm biased, but I'm loving it!

The Loot

I was able to slip away during my lunch hour at work today to make some purchases. The "Happy Quilt" man was set up in the on post hotel for the morning. Here is my loot!
I'm loving the availability of all the Riley Blake fabrics. I think it pink, peach, white and orange quilt may be in the mix. I'm getting spoiled. I won't know what 'real' fabric prices are like after our tour here.

Again, would you eat this?
Yes, he did eat the fish. Don't worry - not the whole fish, but still...Yummy?!

Kwik Crazy Quilt

It's finally finished!

I was able to get an appointment with the long arm to quilt my first quilt on the long arm. I chose a playful paisley quilt design.

I love that I get to learn how to use the long arm and quilt it myself. It's such a great machine...now if I only had an extra $50,000 to have one of my own!!

I also made an Easter basket for a new friend. I may be teaching a class on how to make this basket since many people at the quilting group would like to make them.

No Teaching Today

I've been busy for the first three days of this work week subbing for first grade. The teacher was feeling a bit better, so I get to sew today because I didn't get called in to work. I've been working on a Bags From The Heart order and I finished it this morning.

I love the fabric that was used for the lining, side panels and accents. It is Vera Bradley Bali Blue. One advantage to living in Korea is that I can actually buy these fabrics by the yard! In the US, I would have to scavenger hunt the web to see who would send it to me - at a much higher cost too! Here are two pictures of the inside. The inside has three slide pockets on both sides and one of the ends has three pen pockets. Isn't this fabric wonderful?

Three Slide Pockets (above) Pen Pockets (below)

I truly believe a bag needs to have pockets on the inside to keep all your stuff organized. I always find it a pain when you can't find your cell phone in your purse when it is ringing. When I design my bags I try to maintain functionality.

Finally, here is a picture of the back. I stippled all over the exterior. I love the look it gives a somewhat plain uniform. I used beautiful blue thread for the stitching.

My 26th Birthday

I celebrated a wonderful birthday yesterday. The day started out with breakfast in bed and finished with sushi for dinner and a glass of wine. After all it was Wednesday, and on Wednesdays my husband and I like to try a different wine each week. "Wine Wednesday"

After enjoying my breakfast I met up with three wonderful ladies from the quilting group to go fabric shopping in Dongdaemun. It was the perfect way to spend the day. The weather was sunny and fairly warm, so it was pleasant inside the market buildings. I bought an assortment of fabrics, notions and thread that will probably last me for a couple years. You can buy spools of thread as large as soccer balls! It is crazy the assortment of things you can find at the market. I picked up several business cards of places so I find them again. I went to lunch at a traditional Korean restaurant with the ladies. We had an assortment on things. It was all delicious.

My husband and pretty much all he military in Korea is in the middle of a large training exercise. He has been working late each night. The thought of eating dinner at 10pm wasn't too appealing, but luckily someone at work was willing to take on my husband's duties, so he was able to come home at 5pm. When he walked in the door he had a beautiful bouquet of spring colored roses in hand. They smell great and are really pretty on the dining table.

I also got a new camera as my birthday gift. It is a Canon Digital SLR XSi. I love the quality of the pictures it can take. I now need to read the manual to learn about all the functions it has. I'm excited to try new things with the camera.

We went to dinner at Fuji Sushi on post. I really like the double shrimp rolls there, so that is what I ordered. It was nice being able to eat dinner with my husband because that probably won't happen again for another couple of weeks.

When we got home we tried a different Pinot Grigio that we haven't had before. It was a nice way to end a great birthday.

I'm excited to create with my new fabrics. I need to still put borders on my Krazy Quilt and then sign up to get it quilted on the long arm machine.

Introducing the Yongsan Long Arm

It's only Tuesday and I feel like is should be Friday! Phew! On the first Mondays of each month the quilt group meets at a member's home rather than at the Quilting room at the on post Chapel. The monthly meeting allows us to show and tell, discuss projects and just have some girl time. This month was my first time visiting another member's home. It was nice to just sit and chat. All of the ladies are very informative and helpful. I brought my finished Krazy Quilt blocks to share as well as my Hanbok example block to show for the exchange. Both items were well received and boosted my sewing/ quilting confidence. Some of the other ladies brought their blocks to share as well. I think they are all really cute.We were all talking so much that before we knew it, it was past 3pm. We had arrived at 9:30am!

Tuesdays at the Yongsan Quilt Shop are designated for long arm quilting Quilts of Valor. I decided to go to the shop and start training on the machine. Once/ if I get trained then I will be able to use the long arm to quilt my own quilts as well as quilts for other people. The process isn't too confusing, but is just takes practice. The machine that we have is AMAZING! The entire machine is computerized. Below is a picture of the computer screen for the quilt we quilted today. Here is the machine in action. We quilted a patriotic pattern on the quilt.
The long arm has a 14 foot bed and measures pretty much everything for you. You click the buttons on the sewing machine to designate your parameters and then you decide on pattern placement. Owning a machine like this would be crazy. Anyone have an extra $35,000 laying around?

I checked the mail center today and there was a lovely surprise there for me. My new sewing chair arrived! I've been sitting in it for only about 20 min and I'm already in love. The chair sits a little higher than a normal dining chair and the low back is great for supporting my lumbar. When I saw this chair I was in love with the funky retro looking fabric. The fabric is an Alexander Henry print, so I will check to see if Dongdaemun will carry the fabric. I was able to purchase the chair from JoAnn's for 50% off the original price, no tax and free shipping! I thought that was a great deal. The shipping was a lot faster than most of the orders I have placed too. Below is a photo of the chair from a website advertising it.
One thing I like is that there is storage under the seat too. I love things that are dual purpose. This picture is also from the advertising website.
Now that I can roll around my sewing room, I will get to work on some of the exchange blocks. I'm excited for tomorrow because I am heading to Dongdaemun with some of the ladies from the quilt group. Also tomorrow is my Birthday! I think shopping for fabric will be a great way to celebrate!

Hanbok Block

I have decided on my block for the Yongsan Quilters Spring Block Exchange. From the beginning I thought about making a Hanbok block, but I wasn't sure if I wanted to paper piece 20 blocks. After testing out the block this weekend, I decided 20 blocks wouldn't be too difficult to handle.

I used a Kimono paper pieced pattern altered into a hanbok. I think it looks very similar to the Traditional Korean Hanbok.

The unfinished block is 9 1/2 inches.

I'm finding it kind of amusing that I'm doing so much quilting right now. Less than a year ago I wouldn't have considered myself a quilter and I really had no intentions of making quilts. I think it might be because my grandmother is a magnificent quilter and I never thought I could create the things that she does. My grandmother is an expert quilter... I put myself on the novice level. With each quilt I make, my precision and techniques are improving. I have found that just being able to see doesn't make quilting any easier. I find myself concentrating more while I'm making quilt blocks because I want to make sure they are made to the correct size.

I love to see and create things will fabric, so I guess quilting is just another addition to my creative outlet. For now, I would love to know the creative outlets of other people.

Sewing in Seoul

Now that my new sewing room is set up, I've been busy. I'm loving my new space!

I've made a dozen blocks to exchange as friendship blocks for the quilting group. I still need to write my name, date, Seoul, Korea and my home state on the blocks. They will then be traded with the other members of the quilt group to be kept as a reminder of each member.

I'm also working on a Kwik Krazy Quilt. I like to make quilts that are more of a mish-mosh of fabrics and what I consider "funky." I really like how the blocks are coming together.

Here are the first 12 blocks.

Now I need to go make some more! I will continue to share as a progress with this project. I also need to get to work on my quilt exchange block. I need to create a block that reminds me of Korea. The Krazy Quilt block kinda reminds me of Korea... kinda crazy and chaotic.

New Workspace

Our stuff has finally arrived in Korea which has me bouncing with excitement because this means I can SEW! I've been in fabric heaven, but with little outlet. Tomorrow, I will be sewing! I have turned into one of those military spouses that can unpack and set-up house in what seems like a flash. Friday at 5 pm we were in a heap of boxes and packing paper. Saturday at 5 pm we were headed out for dinner with a fully intact apartment, all boxes gone and pretty much everything set-up. I need to purchase a few odds and ends, and as we live here I would like to purchase some furniture; but, for now I'm most excited for my NEW WORKSPACE!

I started with this blank room.
My work table is set-up so that I can cut fabric from 3 sides. I love have the cutting mat as my table. It makes my life a lot easier when trying to make things precise. The mat has cutting measured for 58" x 33". It is a nice size work table. The white cubes are from Target. They store sewing and scrapbooking supplies.Look at all the beautiful storage under the table and the large workspace.

This picture is standing behind the work table looking back at the other wall. My cubes for fabric storage are almost full. I Think I will probably have to think about more storage solutions for fabric soon. I like to fold my fabric so all the pieces are the same size. This makes storage MUCH easier!The last part is the AWESOME closet. I did give my husband one section of the closet for his Army gear, but I'm more than happy to share. The white drawers in the first cabinet store scrapbook paper and thread. The grey bins have 1. batting, 2. parts of uniforms that have been cut up for Bags From The Heart and 3. Finished items to sell/ give away & works in progress. I like that I have space to store all of my sewing machines, so that if I want to just scrapbook, my sewing stuff can be out of the way and vice versa.
I can't wait to start creating in this awesome new work space.

Happy Quilt Warehouse

I met up early this morning with six ladies from the quilt group. We loaded up into Poncie's "houpde" and headed south to visit Happy Quilt's Warehouse. The warehouse is about 1-1.5 hours away depending on traffic. We were lucky to have more than 6 passengers in the van because we could take the bus lane. This was a great thing because there was a lot of traffic! So on with the post...I think today's adventure may best be described with lots of pictures.

This image is looking in to the right side of the warehouse. There are piles and piles of bolts of fabulous fabrics. Down the middle there are rows of 2 yard pre cut packets. Each packet has 2 yards in it. 44" wide yards are 3,000 won or about $2.60 per yard, and 60" wide yards are 4,000 won or about $3.50 per yard.

This next photo was taken standing in the back of the warehouse. If you look carefully out the door you will see a second warehouse. Yes, that smaller warehouse was filled with bolts too! You can pick any fabric you want and they will cut it in 1 yard increments.

They had a couple sewing machines there as well. I'm not really sure why they are there. There were some samples of things made with the warehouse fabrics, but that was all.

I wonder where you may have seen this fabric before?

Here are some pieces that I bought today to coordinate with the brown swirly piece I bought 2

weeks ago. I am really loving Riley Blake fabric designs.

On the shopping trip to Dongdaemun last week I bout the two Vera Bradley prints. This week I found the border that goes with the prints. I also bought the border to Bali Blue because I have the fabric matching that border as well.

Bali Blue Boarder for Vera Bradley

I don't think I can live in asia and not acquire some Asian fabrics. I really like the lanterns, so I found some other Asian inspired fabrics to coordinate. I think I will need Ideas on what to make with this.

I also bought some almost comic book like fabric. I thought it was really cool. I think a quilt made with this should possibly be titled "Hip."

The quilting group is going to do a block exchange. The blocks won't have to be done for a few months, which is good considering

my sewing machine isn't even here yet. The group picked out yellow and blue to use for the blocks. We can supplement with other fabrics as needed. I really like the yellow and blue fabric. It has metallic in it and almost ribbon-like patterns. It is very asian-eske. The block theme is meant to be "Memories of Korea."

I found this funny cow print fabric that I couldn't pass up. I thought it was hilarious. I'm not sure what I will do with it, but seriously, could you pass this by with a straight face?

Mr. Han, the owner of Happy Quilt is such a pleasant man. He will pull out bolts of fabric for you and is happy to have our business. It may be because all of the Americans go crazy and buy a ton of fabric like there is no tomorrow, but he is still a wonderful man. Depending on how much you buy, he always throws in some fabric for free. Usually it is 1-2 free fabric packets per purchase. That's 2-4 free yards of fabric that would be $10 in the US, so for me that's a great deal. Today, however Mr. Han was VERY generous and gave our whole group a box of "freebies." We didn't know what was in the box until we got back to base, but when we opened it we were amazed. Usually is is just scraps, but this box had yards and yards of fabric. No Scraps.

I picked out this dress model print for 1 of my free packets and the matching solid was found in the "freebie" box.

Also in the box were some large flower panels. I got a couple of them. They would make great Euro-Shams of lounging pillows.

The fabrics below obviously don't coordinate, but they were my other free picks. I can't complain with free!

So we have been in Korea a month today...look at all the glorious fabric I have collected in a month. Just to think I have 35 more months that I can accumulate more! Did I mention, I love Korea?

That was a pretty long post, but aren't you glad there are so many pictures of fabric! Now if just for my sewing machines to arrived, I would be set.