ATC Holder

Day 9: 31 Day Blog Challenge. Random picture of the day: Crazy quilt square

I have a new camera.  I needed another, easily transportable, camera because the battery cover of the old one broke off. Apparently, you can buy battery covers, which is all I need, but my camera is too old to get such a thing. Anyway, it is a good excuse to get a new one. It's a Canon Powershot.  I tested it out. Zeus likes it.

Since I am working on a binding for the Droid quilt, it has made me think of my next project I want to start.  There are so many, but I think I should do something that has been on my list for a long time. I do not know if people still make ATCs, but I've been wanting to make a holder for it since they were popular.

An ATC is an Artist Trading Card. It is a tiny art piece, exactly 2 1/2" x 3 1/2".  It can be made out of fabric or paper.  It is always gifted and not sold.

I made a prototype of an ATC holder.  I want to make a quilt with folded corners that will hold ATCs.    Something like Kate's Advent Calendar, which I also want to make, but I picture this one to be bigger. Right now I am thinking 100 or so spaces, even though I don't have 100 or so ATCs. Here is my sample. This is using fabric that is already out, but the plan is to use neutral fabrics so that the ATCs can shine on their own. I did think about keeping the inside fabric slightly patterned, so that it wouldn't look too empty if it isn't filled up all the way.

Here it is with an ATC inside it.  It is a little big for the ATC, but I worry that making it too tight to fit in the ATCs. The corners would hide too much of the ATC and there wouldn't be a lot of room to maneuver or deal with slightly mis-sized ATCs.

The sashing is too big and is overwhelming for the ATC. Maybe the inside fabric should be very plain, like black or white since it makes a frame for the ATC. I can fill in blank spaces with quotes on paper or some such other things.

 15 Minutes to Stitch

This week,  I found fabric and pieced the backing for the drunkard path quilt. I also pressed the top and the backing, as well as the binding fabric for the Droid quilt.  I sewed the binding on (still have to handsew the other part, and made the sample block I showed on this post.  My progress as of Sunday was:

15 Minute sessions of stitching this week:  7 out of 7
15 Minute sessions of stitching this year:  290 out of 343 sessions
Success rate: 85%

Linked to:
 15 Minutes to Stitch 
Oh Scrap! - I used scraps to make the sample
ScrapHappy

Day 8: 31 Day Blog Challenge

Random picture of the day: French mints book

It's Saturday! Yesterday, the sun finally came out, and I walked downstairs to this scene. I can't tell you how happy it makes me to come down the stairs and see all these beautiful textiles.  At the front is the Droid quilt. I was sewing on the binding, and came up short so wasn't finished.  It does explain why the leftover fabric was still with the quilt.

The quilt on the wall is the Simple Squares quilt. I really like all the happy fall colors. Even though at first, I was regretting not working harder on the placement of the fabrics, now I really like the fact that it makes your eyes move from fabric to fabric around the quilt.

On the couch is the Colonial Bricks quilt.  This one was supposed to be another quick and easy quilt, but I keep getting interrupted and distracted, and have to re-think how the rows are arranged.  I didn't worry too much about fabric placement on it either, but I do want to make sure all of one type of color doesn't wind up being on one side of the quilt.

One the table is an Indian Kantha quilt I got from Tuesday morning. It makes me happy to see it.

And of course, there is Zeus who was barking like he does every morning because he is excited that it is time to go on a walk. It's his favorite time of the day.

To see the other bloggers who are also doing the 31 day blog-writing challenge, click here.

Day 7: 31 Day Blog Challenge

Random picture of the day: swap quilts from February. Good thing I made two because one of them had an extended stay at the post office in California.

I don't normally show my fabric purchases on my blog.  I don't want to encourage people to buy things they don't need and I don't want my family to tell me I don't need the things I just bought.  But since it is a daily post challenge, I figure I can make an exception.

Let's see what do they all have in common? Oh I know! They were all bought in the wintertime, when fabric is on sale.  And anyone who has the insatiable need to tell me it isn't winter yet can just back away from my blog. You are not my friend.

Day 6: 31 Day Blog Challenge

Random photo of the day: The snow on the branches look like a chicken foot. It is also not from this winter.

In quilting news, I've been ironing the blues, but I don't have the ironing blues.  I pressed the backing for the drunkard path quilt and the binding for the Droid quilt.  I also pressed the Drunkard's path quilt top for good measure.  I need to come up with a better name for that quilt. The picture is from 2008, back when the walls weren't lime green. I've moved the ironing table farther to the left, away from the window now. I made new curtains for all the windows. And those longstanding WIPS have been put away and been replaced by new WIPs.

This picture is from before I pressed the fabric. No post-pressing pictures will be shown because then you will judge my ironing skills, and lack thereof.

I know I just showed you this picture, but it reminds me of a story.  Back around the time I was making this quilt, I was shopping at Joann's and this old lady and her husband were gathering bolts of fabric to take to the cutting counter. The store was having a sale, and I wanted to be helpful and run after this old lady to tell her that ALL of the fabric was on sale, and not just the ugly, older fabrics. She could buy pretty, modern fabric for the same price. The fabrics she was choosing looked like the purple fabric at the top of this picture. I only used it in my quilt because I was trying to use it up the stash.

Now, of course, I am probably the same age as the "old lady" and I just bought this backing fabric this year that looks like it fits perfectly with the blue and red fabric in the quilt. It's a good thing I didn't run after her because then it would be irony or something.

Linked to:
Let's Bee Social

Day 5: 31 Day Blog Challenge

Random picture of the day: Adinkra binding.

I found my WIP pile. I had placed it on the floor right by the door of my sewing room so I wouldn't have to hunt for it. Giggle. When I opened the door, the door swept the pile to the wall and hid it.

Day 4: 31 Day Blog Challenge

Random picture of the day: Pointless Puddle.

To give you some current quilt I progress, I went to find the projects I was working on before the big holiday gathering cleanup.  I apparently put it in a very safe place where I could easily pick up where I left off.  At this point, I have determined that Safe Spot is not in my sewing machine table drawers, and not in my sewing room.  But the good news is that the sewing room does look a little bit cleaner!

The end of the year is making me think about my annual goals, which leads me to my quilting spreadsheet. The one that tells me how long it takes for me to make a quilt (2 years on average).  I was looking at it the other day, and there is a quilt top on it that just needs to be quilted.   It's my oldest unfinished quilt. I know that finishing it will mess up my average, but it isn't getting any younger and even though I still don't know how I want to quilt it, I think I should just get it done.  Those calico fabrics aren't getting any younger!

It's a drunkard's path quilt, and it is so old, all my photos of it are in physical form! Looks like I was trying out different settings. It is dark now and there is no way I can get a good picture of it. At least it leaves you something to look forward to. The picture of the finished drunkard's path quilt shown earlier in this post is a child of this one, even though it was "born" earlier.

These blurry photos were also in with the drunkard path photos.  In duplicate, no less! So you can see how far I have come with my photo taking!

This blue at the front is what I got for the backing. I bought it this year. I think the  mottled fabric fits perfectly with the other mottled fabrics in the quilt. It is a backing fabric that was on clearance. When I checked it to see whether I needed to piece it, I saw that it was cut into two pieces. It was cut specifically for a certain quilt, but it works fine for my quilt.  It doesn't have as much excess around the width as I usually use, but I tend to use a lot and there is enough if I am careful.

Day 3: 31 Day Blog Challenge

Random picture of the day: Some texture and pattern picture from January 2018.