Le Quilt

The front

I don't want to blow my own horn, or ring my own bell, but I made a fucking quilt. BOO-YAH! Sorry for the language, but I am deep in a 6th month of pregnancy hormone nesting rush, and I think I CAN FLYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY! Ok, not really, I'm just stoked that I was able to follow a pattern like a person who can you know, read.

The back

I DID IT! For those of you who just tuned in, I followed the Kate Conklin Under The Sea quilt pattern. I couldn't have finished it without the help of dear dear Pickel of Swimming in Brine, lots of Googling, the Heather Bailey how to bind a quilt tutorial, (I hand sewed the binding to the back. it was very therapeutic and only took one night) and the love of my family. Hey Nipper Knapp "pins and needles, pins and needles>"

The tag, which you can't read very well in this picture, but it says: Created for The Sunny Seaside Winter Retreat of Wally and Kary Herrala January 2011 By Their Loving Daughter Marija. (awwww) I got the idea for the tags from Pickel as well. She is a quilting master!

What do you think? Kare it's going in the mail tomorrow.

Hand sewing the binding last night. 

this foot was made for walking

Stage make-up is stupid. 

You all know by now that I don't have a clue. It's like I have life ADD. I routinely undertake projects that are way over my head. Get pregnant and have a kid? Sure. Shoot a tv pilot with a new camera? No problem! R2D2 cake? I'm your girl. 

One time in college, I needed 3 credits to keep on schedule for graduation. I was doing the play Iphigenia at Aulis at the school theater. I told the Director that I had EXTENSIVE make-up experience, and had done make-up when I performed The Nutcracker with the Pittsburgh Ballet. Never mind I was 11 years old, tops, and I'm pretty sure all I was allowed to wear was some blush from the grocery store that came with it's own brush. "Maybe she's born with it!". 

I "researched" period make-up, bought stage make-up from Ben Nye, which if you've never used, is something straight from HELL, and showed all the actors what their faces should looks like. Spoiler alert: Agamemnon sacrifices their daughter Iphegenia so that the soldiers can go kill people, Clytemnestra her mother loses her shit. Everyone looked SUPER Greek. Actually I'm pretty sure everyone looked like they had 10lbs of Ben Nye grease paint in a vague Cleopatra theme. The theater was about as big as my living room, so I'm sure the effect was profound. I got my 3 credits. So I didn't go to Harvard (shut-up Nipper Knapp)

THIS is a walking foot and it's SCARY!

So I'm following this pattern to make the sea view quilt, and I get to the quilting part, and realize I don't have a "walking foot", whatever that is. I call around a few sewing places here in town. No one has one. Finally some ancient lady at International Silks and Woolens tells me, I have to go to the Pasadena Sewing and Vacuum Center. They have everything. She's right. They have the foot I need. 

However, the guy who showed me how to put it on my machine was from Norfolk Virginia, the fact that I was in the store 7 minutes, and know that, should tell you everything you need to know. His demonstration, was folksy and brief. There was something about unscrewing my chassis, or nut, or something, and latching the prong. I've had it for 2 days, and haven't had the courage to try to put it on the machine yet. When I asked if they had one that just clips on, like the other feet I have, he just laughed at me, like I had asked for a 3 legged table. "Well there's no such thing little lady!" Ok, so he didn't say "little lady" but it was implied. 

80 degree January beach day. I HEART LA!

Today, rather than clean my office, attach that foot, quilt my quilt, answer emails, or do anything productive at all, Jack and I went to the beach. I got lots of wet sandy hugs, and I love you momma's in between fighting the waves, shouting at my baby belly like a drill sargeant "YOU COME OUT HERE RIGHT NOW BABY BROTHER AND PLAY WITH ME!", and snacks where Jack kept saying "good friends" and then insisting I say "good food" in a scooby doo voice. Perfect underachiever Sunday. 

Under the sea quilt is over my head

Happy New Year! Or as Jack has been telling everyone, "Happy New You!" I'm typing (and sewing) without the use of my pinkie finger, because I jammed it last night. Did I mention I dropped my laptop on my toe in the airport on the way to Seattle and it was all bloody and bruised and mangled? Pregnancy is making me CLUMSY. 

Even stinky baby cousins like the quilt!

I decided it's time for me to learn how to sew for realz. I sort of fake sew, like Nipper Knapp fake plays the piano. That's what he calls it. If you walked into a room and heard him playing you'd think "that guy can play the piano". But no, he insists he's only faking it. I'm the same way with sewing. I sort of muddle through and figure stuff out, but I don't know any rules, or tricks, or how to follow directions. Unless of course those directions are written by one Ms. Pickel of Swimming In Brine. More on her later. 

The doll's quilt is kind of hard to see. Like quilt camouflage.

I gave sweet sweet Anoushka her quilt and matching doll's quilt for Christmas. She loved them. My stepmother loved it too, but all I could see was the flaws. I really wanted to learn how to make a proper quilt, from a proper pattern, using the proper terminology. But I didn't want to make some musty old amish looking thing. So I googled "mod quilt". Dudes, there is so much good stuff out there. The first thing that comes up is this genius site called Oh Frannson!. The next site I stumbled on was Kate Conklin Designs. Perfect!

Kate Conklin Sea Views Quilt

My stepmother really liked Anoushka's quilt, so I thought I'd make one for her and my dad for their new camper. They camp in the Florida Keys for the winter. I asked about colors, and she said she'd have to think about it, but my dad said her favorite color is turquoise. I started looking through the fabrics I have and found I actually have a whole bunch of the Heather Ross Mendocino in blue left. I went to Michael Levine downtown and bought a few more yards of similar colored fabric and my quilt theme was born. UNDER THE SEA!!! Perfect for camping by the ocean under a palm tree. Lucky me, lucky me, Kate Conklin happens to have a pattern called "Sea Views". Looked simple enough so I downloaded it. Uhm...

The fabrics I chose. Some Heather Ross Mendocino, and some of her Far Far Away 2 Cats and fiddles in sailboats. So cute! 

Yeah, I don't know how to sew wavy lines, and This Conklin lady SAYS it's easy as pie, but she is a liar, or at the very least a very bad explainer. (just kidding, I heart her for making this great pattern, I'm just not smart) She's Aussie so maybe there's a language barrier. When she says things like take the top piece and wiggle it, that means nothing to me. It's also entirely possible, that you know, I'm in over my head, sewing a project not meant for a FAKE SEAMSTRESS. 

No worries. I have backup. I email Nicole over at Swimming in Brine. I'm telling you this woman should start a school or an online tutorial service, or a pattern making business. She is not only an amazing seamstress and designer, she is a great teacher! She thoroughly explained to me, how to sew the inside lining of my Christmas stockings to that there would be no seams showing. And now, she showed me how to sew a wavy line. Genius.  


I'm including her full explanation and PHOTOS that she sent 1/2 after I emailed begging for help. She sat down, and actually sewed something and took pictures. I'm telling you, the girl is a mensch. Once she gave me her explanation, the whole thing IS in fact easy as pie, and now I plan to be sewing up a storm, so get ready for quilt city Grandma Kare. 

My post Pickel tutorial wavy lines on test fabric. Perfecto! 

In the meantime, here is the tutorial for anyone that wants to make the Kate Conklin Sea Views quilt, and is a dumb dumb like me.


1) cut a piece of fabric in half with wavy line. 2) flip one half so right sides are together...seams do not match - don't panic. 3) make the first part of seam match and start sewing with a small seam allowance (i use 1/8"). if you use a bigger seam allowance, you will need to do a lot more snipping (see step 7) and/or trim the entire seam allowance with pinking shears, so that the seam allowance fabric can "bend" around the curves. 4,5) as you sew, keep moving the top layer so that the edges stay together. make sure the needle is in the down position any time you do any wiggling. 6) you should end up with a semi-ugly seam. 7) iron the seam (i ironed it open), cutting little slices into the seam allowance in any hard curves where one side of the seam doesn't want to lay flat. 8) spray with starch and iron from the top...it should be golden. 

starch is your friend. use it GENEROUSLY, because it not only makes things iron pretty and flat, it helps them stay the way you intended, AND it is sizing, so the fabric won't stretch and buckle when you do lots of piecing. i have never actually measured, but i wouldn't be surprised if i use a half a bottle of starch per quilt.