Quilts by Julie Ramsey
Archive for July, 2010
Sewing in stereo
Jul 12th
My latest project was to sew a messenger bag big enough to hold my new Street Fighter arcade stick. That’s actually been a fun art project, as I’m conspiring to swap out the original art for a design of my own. I decided I needed somewhere safe to keep my stick (as the current location on top of a cabinet attracts a TON of dust), and I’ll need a carrying vessel anyway if I ever end up taking it to play at the local arcade. Thus, a handmade messenger bag was begun.
I forgot how difficult it is to sew in three dimensions, rather than the flat creations made in quilting. I used to do a lot of apparel sewing, particularly making Renaissance faire costumes, but it’s been years since I had to read a pattern, so it took a while to get back into the swing of things. Once I figured everything out, though, I think it came together fairly nicely.
My only complaint with the pattern is that the pockets were a bit difficult to get on. I messed up the alignment of them a bit, so they look a little sloppy, but at least they’re (mostly) covered up by the flap. The inside is very neat, thanks to a snazzy lining, so overall I’m very happy with it.
Zodiac stack-and-whack
Jul 4th
Finally finished the stack-and-whack quilt! The top doesn’t quite lay flat, and there are a few triangle points that got cut off, but otherwise I’m very happy with how it turned out. I especially love the colors– I’d expected it to be a lot more gaudy, but it turned out very happy and cheerful.
Jul 1st
When I was home to visit my parents in January, my mom and I checked out a massive sale at a fabric store that was closing. I ended up bringing home a full bolt of Alexander Henry’s “Astral Works” fabric, which was VERY busy, but I thought I could do something fun with.
With all the crazy colors, I figured a stack-and-whack would be in order! I finally decided to cut into the fabric last night, and I’m really impressed with the kaleidescope effect that I’m seeing.
The finished quilt will be on a white background with dark pink (or maybe yellow, haven’t decided yet) triangles between the pinwheel blocks. I’m really excited about how this is going to turn out, and even more jazzed by the fact that there’s easily enough fabric to do a second copy of this quilt in the same style. Hooray for fabrics with long repeats!
