Things are still all pear-shaped and roller-coaster wild over here at RealJob and in real life. I only get a few moments to make stuff here and there, mostly timed out by re-watching an episode of The Wire or engaging in new-to-me episodes of Homicide: Life on the Street. I feel immersed in the underbelly of Baltimore, which is kind of appropriate since I’ll be there soon. (Well, not there, not in the underbelly, I hope. But, yes, in Baltimore–for just 24 hours for work.)
Because I’ve been waking up at insane times, I found myself with a free hour before going to work last week. Wanting to practice my machine quilting, I whipped up an improvised patchwork top with my leftover Oakshott shot cottons, sandwiched, quilted, and made and attached the binding to the front–all in one hour! ONE HOUR!
Is it okay to admit that that feat made me feel like some sort of sewing BEAST?!?! Hear me roar!
ROAR!
Heh.
Then it took more than a week to do an uncharacteristically crappy job of handsewing down the binding on the back.
roar?
But during the week, I kept taking these close-up shots of the quilting, getting all up in my grill.
Gah. Cotton! I love love love the texture of cotton and the vibrancy of colors in these just slays me.
I kinda want to smooch it…again.
completely cauchy. 
That is really pretty.
gorgeous! I love those Oakshott cottons!
gosh i love this little piece. you have me wanting to make something small-scale. i think my kiddo may need a new doll quilt.
i do the same thing with the pushing and pulling with the quilting on something bigger. and yet, i am ok just letting it glide through on something smaller. i think it has to do with impatience!
I love the quilting and would love to hear how you get the stitches so even! I’m a machine-quilting novice!!
your blog is like candy to the quilter/knitter/crafter.
cant.
munch.
get.
munch munch.
enough!
munch munch munch.
Sweet….love that quilting. It’s like a Chanel bag got lost at Gee’s Bend
That is beautiful! I loved Homicide so much. So many great characters, not the least of which is Baltimore itself. Falsone made me swoony. :)
I may have to watch that again.
I love when quilted cotton goodness gets all up in my grill. Something about all those colors & vibrancy & it just calls to you…fall in love with me…it says. And, of course you do.
I’ve been playing small scale recently too – playing with paper pieced strings. I hang my littles on the wall but feel like I need more inventive things to do with them. What do you do with yours?
I agree with LauraJ, I love seeing what you are up to, and really appreciate that you take the time to share even when RealJob is kicking your butt. I was feeling down because I cut my hand and can’t knit at the moment, but no one can look at that beautiful quilt and not smile.
Beautiful! … wanna bind my quilt for me?
PS.. Adore The Wire. One of the best shows I’ve ever watched!
Roar on, girl! “Crappy handsewing” job aside (really? that’s crappy? um… ok), that mini-quilt is the BOMB.
One hour. Wow! You really are something… and inspiring! I hope your roller coaster is as much fun and excitement as it is terror, and that in the end, when it’s over and you pull back up to the turnstiles, you feel invigorated — just like a real roller coaster should make you feel! I’m keeping a good thought for you.
Sigh…….so lovely to look at. Remember that I am here for all your binding sew-down needs.
Gorgeous grillwork!
Oh smooch smooch smooch! So smooch-worthy!
Oh smoooch smooch! So smooch-worthy!!
Don’t you love the sense of accomplishment from quick projects?!? So pretty, and I finally had the brainstorm of giving the Oakshott link to my husband for a really early xmas gift idea! Hoping to have a Colourbox come December!!!
I definitely want to smooch it. And I always want to smooch your tilt-shift-ness. Love. Also, I can imagine your roar. ROAR!
I just love how you make the most of every moment you are awake. I imagine you also scheming your next great project in your sleep too ; )
Your mini quilt is gorgeous!! Such straight lines of machine quilting…I’m still striving for straightness but have embraced what is, that so far I’m not able to follow a straight line even when it is boldly in front of my face. I’m also trying to figure out how to sew the binding on so that doesn’t come out looking like a 4 year old did it. I like your hand sewing and am going to try that stitch instead of the one I’m using. Yours looks neater than mine believe me!
I love the colors and the vibrancy of your quilt. I’ve found that when quilting, one doesn’t have to be too critical of your lines. With the overall effect of the quilting, most of your errors, uneveness doesn’t show.
Also, I’ve learned to put binding on by machine, which i really like for smaller quilts. You can find a lot of web sites that have tutorials, etc.
Greate job !!!
i love that you smooched it. i like to smooch my stuff too!
Extraordinary! I love the picture of your sewing station, it looks like a miniature model.
Love the tilt shift craft room photo!
Lovely! Before I ever made my first quilt, I happened on this invisible binding stitch tutorial and never looked back: http://turningturning.com/tutorial-invisible-ladder-stitch-for-quilt-binding/
Ooh, highly contrasty machine quilting is awesome. This little top looks to me like a bright cotton menagerie contained by a chain link fence. Roar on, fierce quilter!
Oh, this is really georgous!!
P.S. It’s nice to have more than one blog post per page again ;)
I love how many of your pictures make me think I’m looking into a dollhouse or something…odd perspective! I’m thinking that whether it took you 1 hour or 20, you can still consider yourself a sewing beast and roar whenever you feel like it. And yes, those cotton colors are pretty darn incredible.
What a feeling of accomplishment! Love those quick projects. This one is especially nice with the use of scraps. And, of course, I love those shot cottons.
You’ll be in my neck of the woods when you come to Balto–I hope you get a chance to relax a little.
You are indeed a beast! A rather creative beast at that.
This little quilt is gorgeous and done by getting up early! You slay me!
That’s beautiful!
Beautiful as always!
Love the little square of happiness. It seems like it would be a nice size to use as a sit-upon outside… since it is getting nice enough to sit outside. : )
The lines of that are gorgeous. I love the diagonal quilting with the vertical patchwork, and the brightness of everything.
A truly beautiful something from nothing! That Oakshott is pretty sumptuous. Well done!
Love the quilting on this! That was definitely a ROAR. Hang it on the wall & no one will ever see the binding, well at least not in your lifetime-after that-does it matter? If it does, do it over when you need some quiet, peaceful pastime.
Love the quilting on this, as a matter of fact, I love the fabrics, the design, everything. Well, maybe not the binding job so much, but hang it on a wall & no one will ever see. This was for sure a ROAR.
Thank-you, C! What a great way to start my day. I totally hear you roar and you most definitely deserve it. The post-binding roar was also cute. As roars can be. =)
Gorgeous patchwork, gorgeous quilting and gorgeous shots.
ROAR! That is one fabulous hour’s work!
so awesomely beautiful………. you inspire me ALL the freakin time!
Loved the scrap bag donation you made to the Festival of Scrappiness and am even more delighted to find a quilter who watches ‘The Wire’….the best US series I’ve yet seen….you feel me?