Grandpa's quilt

Again I'm interrupting my blogging about my trip to bring you a craft project that I finally finished!  This one has been in the works for a little less than a year.  Which is practically no time in Bryn crafting time.  This quilt I started in California, finished in Kansas, and is going to reside in California.  This one is for my Grandpa.

I was inspired by fall.  The colors are a little less bright than normal but still fitting of the season.  I made the back with the leftovers from the front plus more of the charcoal that I love.

The back is a quilt in itself.  I really like both sides.

Well that's it for now.  I'll be back on the blog in about a week or so.  I have another vacation to go on.  This time it is California, my home for the past 3 years.

Valentines day pillow

The day after breaking off the relationship I couldn't just sit around.  I had to do something.  And something that comes naturally to me is working on crafts. 

Valentine's day is around the corner so it would be the easiest crafts to make.  After breaking up hearts are not quite the items you want to be working with but I did it anyways.

I found a piece in my parents house that inspired me to make a patchwork pillow for Valentine's day.

 Blogger decided to change all my pictures sideways, oh well.  I went to my fabric stash after buying some fabric from one of my favorite fabric shop in Lawrence, KS, Sarah's and starting cutting the ever popular 2 1/2 in squares. 

 I started to draw out some different patterns.  I originally planned to use diamonds as a pattern for the pillow but the different angles of the heart precluded that idea.  I decided to go pretty simple and go from there.

I took a good amount of time laying out the initial shape of the heart with one fabric of the four that I had chosen.  

To continue tomorrow.  Crafting make the heart grow stronger!

- Bryn

Over Half way done

Wow, this quilt is so different than most that I have made lately.  So dark!  But I love it, graphic colors and patterns are what I love the most.  

Two halves about about to become one!  Just like Sean and I later this year (haha... barf!)

The end result.  Awesome.  

The easy part for me is now done.  I always make the tops of quilts very quickly but finishing one is a different story.

This quilt is going to have a home at the home I'm living at now.  I've been living with my grandfather in California for two and a half years and he has always been easygoing with my crafts taking over the house.  He seemed to like this quilt far more than the others, so it will stay here with him as a thank you gift for everything that he has done for me.  It's probably not even enough for all that he has done but at least it is a start.  

Love you G-pa!

- Bryn

1/8 of the project done, if that

Making progress right?  Slowly but surely the quilt is coming along.  

It starts in stack, goes to rows, rows to sections, sections to a whole quilt.  So many more rows to sew

 This is week is the busiest week at work and I'm sick to boot.  I won't get a chance to do much more today but hopefully in the next couple of days the quilt will come along.

- Bryn

Fall is coming - in about 9 months

Winter is officially here about a week ago, time to continue work on a fall project.  

Lots of colors and many hours later I came up with all my blocks completed.  Its always good to know how many of each color you have so I label mine

 Next step way laying them all out!  I didn't want to turn my computer back on to see what size to make so I used the quilt from my bed as a template.

And a couple of hours later this is what you get!  Looks pretty good.  It looks random but it is not.  It takes a lot of planning.   

I put everything together and decided there were a couple colors that didn't quite match everything else.  I left one or two of each colors in the quilt.  I plan on re-purposing the grey to use on the second quilt.

Now that the major work is out of the way I should really finish my brother and wife's wedding quilt.  It was in September which may be considered fall so it is only apt that it be finished now, or by their first anniversary!

- Bryn

Fall quilt continued

After my initial buying and cutting spree I found out that 8 different fabrics were not enough.  As I wrote in my last post I ended up with about 25 colors.  More shopping was the key!  I went to JoAnns with a gift card from my aunt and bought a couple more colors.  

I spent an afternoon cutting all my fabrics apart to sew them back together.  Each block ended up being a little smaller than 4 1/2 inches square.  

My goal is to make a throw quilt that could also be used as a quilt for a twin size bed.  After adding more colors from M&L I probably made too many blocks.  My back pain for another person gain.  Someone might be getting a cool fall quilt in probably 2-3 years at the rate I finish things!

Do these colors say fall?   I think so.  Maybe not the teal but I can't make a quilt without using at least a little bit of teal.

-Bryn

It's been too long!

Wow, it's been over a month since my last post.  Needless to say, the holidays have been crazy!  My mom visited from KC, my aunt and uncle visited from Idaho and Colorado and it is the busiest time at work of the entire year.  And now I'm sick!
My projects got a little mixed up for the holiday season.  The quilt I wanted to make in the fall is my project now and my Christmas presents I did in the fall.  But I suppose, better late than never!  A while ago I found a picture online of a quilt made of solids and triangles.

I thought it was beautiful so I decided to give it a try.  I bought a whole bunch of solid colors from this crazy store in Anaheim.  I have never seen so many fabrics in one place in my entire life!  But I digress.

Opposite all colored pieces I bought a charcoal solid.  I really wanted to challenge myself to make something different than I usually do.  Most of my projects lately have had a light muslin or white as the background color but for fall charcoal seemed to suit the season better.  

I made five inch squares and cut them diagonally.  I used four yards  I found a little trick earlier this year of not separating the pieces until I had sewn thirty to fifty together and then cutting them apart.  Seems to work well and saves me a lot of thread.

I ended up with about 25 different colors.  Some of the colors ended up a bit too bright so I didn't use them.      More cutting, ironing, and sewing to come.  Feels good to start another project.  More to come soon!
- Bryn