Wednesday, February 8, 2012

New Swap, Old Quilt! iPad Cover, too, and one bitty...


 So I'm part of a new swap at Flickr called the Fab Little Quilt Swap, or FLiQS for short.  It's an invitation only swap of experienced, quality quilters who are proven to make consistently really good items and are known to follow all the rules of the swaps they've been in.  I got a really good partner who has a lot of similar likes and dislikes as I have, which always makes it easy and fun, so I decided to resurrect the quilt from last year that I made for my buddy, Dena Wayne, only this time I'd do it in a rainbow of colors. 

 Last time- The Wheel of Fortune Quilt in pinks and reds.


 This time- I had to go bigger to accommodate all the colors...

I started out with a sketch that was going to have me subtly changing the colors,
but that didn't look as good in real life.


 This is laid out like the sketch- I hated the lines between the yellow/green 
and the green/blue, so I needed another plan.  See the first rainbow photo.  :) 
The wheels spin better in the first photo, too.


It took me about a day to cut out all these fabrics, then another one to prewash them all 
and press them flat.  (All my fabrics are already prewashed, but because I'll be using so much white, 
I was afraid that something might bleed anyway and ruin it, so I took the extra time to 
wash a dozen bowls of fabric scraps and then rinse, rinse, rinse and then press. 
I was AMAZED at how much color bled out into the soapy water, it was horrifying.)


 Gravey is wondering how long it would take to rearrange all these for me.  :)

 A very dear friend of mine got an iPad for Christmas and was worried about dropping it, so she commissioned me to make her a case for toting it around.  She really likes red so I thought she'd like this. 
I used the Moda Bakeshop Bookkeeper pattern to start me off, changing dimensions as I needed to.  Added a hair elastic closure and a short handle for carrying, too.  


 Inside- just a pocket for it to slide into.


 The back-


Because I don't have an iPad, I was working with dimensions only and that makes it harder to fit something.  After I squared up the quilted piece, I got scared that the iPad wouldn't fit in it easily so I added an extra piece of batting, exterior fabric and lining fabric, then extended the existing quilting so it would be invisible.  That was a little tricky but I learned something doing it and it came out so well that I wouldn't hesitate to do that again.  (I used a tiny zigzag stitch and butted up another few inches of batting to the quilted piece.  Then I laid the black and white X fabric on top, RST, and sewed it to the exterior of the piece right next to the batting seam. Then I did the same on the lining side, being sure to not catch the added piece from the other side, but following that same line of stitching.  Trim those seams, then press both extra pieces over the batting.  Then I added more quilting, stitching in the ditch to hide it where I needed to.  My friends says she can't find the spot where I did all this, so yay, success!
 And here's a possible bitty block for our theme- movies.  :)  I have everything I need to make a different one and because I don't have enough of the dinosaur fabric, I can't make enough of this one for everyone. 


I really like him, though.  Wish I wouldn't have to buy a whole yard of this extinct (ha!) fabric 
to make 4 more bitties!

I hope everyone is doing well, I'm battling with my husband's cold right now, so not being too productive, unless you want to count mucous.  lol  Sorry, TMI, gross!


8 comments:

  1. Ok you know I love that quilt you are making :) And your partner is going to love it also! I want to try just one block of that pattern, but MUCH bigger than the itty bitty ones you make! :)

    You cut your fabrics then wash/press them? What about shrinkage? You know I'm not a prewasher - but I'm thinking about changing that...Will take forever to wash what I have and arrange it. Do you even prewash fq's?

    And great idea on the ipad cover! We have them here - and I might have to just make me and Kacie one :D

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  2. Kandra, I'm paper-piecing these triangles, so the fabrics I pre-cut were not to size, they were just chunks, more than big enough to do the job so shrinkage wasn't a worry. And since they were already prewashed and dried, they wouldn't have shrunk much anyway, but no, you're right- if they were cut to size, I wouldn't be washing and pressing them again.

    I prewash everything because the stuff that is in new fabric makes the skin on my hands go bad. Yes, even fat quarters. And there's a certain comfort in knowing/hoping that things won't bleed later. :)

    People laugh- anything that sits still at my house is liable to have a cover or cozy made for it. Even wine boxes have covers. LOL

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  3. And I must say I LOVE my iPad tote....I like to keep it in there even when I'm not carrying it around, keeps it protected from the cats!!!!

    I still have no clue where you pieced it, lol

    Love ya girl!!!!!!

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  4. Prewashing a second time?! Yet a perfect example of why everything you do turns out meticulously perfect... (I so wish I had it in me.)

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  5. I prewash everything by hand so I know first time around if bleeding is going to be a problem. It's so worth the effort. Those spinners are just fabulous! The iPad case too is awesome! I love your design for it. And what an adorable bitty!

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  6. Colorful designs are look so wonderful.I like this different fabrics designs it look so extra ordinary work in it.

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  7. Howdy! I wanted to tell how much I really enjoy reading your blog. You are sew very talented and I am honoring you with the Versatile Blogger award!

    http://sarahdidit.blogspot.com/2012/02/versatile-blogger.html

    ReplyDelete

I LOVE comments, I appreciate you taking the time to leave me one but I also understand if you don't. Sometimes, there just aren't enough hours in the day, I know! I try to respond by email to comments and questions. You can reach me at flossieblossoms at yahoo dot com