AuraQuilts.com

One of the online courses (at QuiltUniversity.com -great place!) I am taking is Hawaiian quilting!  Here is the beginning of my Ulu flower quilt!

     The size is approximately 24″ x 24″.  This could be made into a pillow cover or combined with other blocks into a large quilt.  I plan on making this into a wall hanging.  I’m still debating if I want to use the scrap fabric from the cutout to make a designed border.  We shall see…

     The Hawaiian appliqué technique is done by folding the applique fabric (shown in red here) into fourths and then folding that fourth by 1/2 into a triangle.  The pattern in then placed, traced and cut out.  It is then carefully placed/centered onto the background fabric (shown blue here) and pinned.  The design is then basted onto the background fabric to secure the design while the appliqué process is completed. 

     Currently I am about halfway through completeing the appliqué of the design.  Once completed I will post more photos. 

     I intend to quilt this in red thread so that it blends with the red design but shows contrast on the blue background.  I will also be adding some beading to this wall hanging even though Hawaiian quilts don’t traditionally have beading on them.     I warned you that I was addicted!!

Tomorrow I’ll be posting photos of yet another new addiction…. fabric dying!!!!

Thanks for reading and Happy Sewing!

-Audra at AuraQuilts.com

     I had promised my mother a bag for Christmas also but after the long and drawn out work on my sister’s bag I decided not to make my mother a bag but to make her a purse.  My mother doesn’t really carry much so I thought a small size would be much more appropriate.  I also thought that creating a shape similar to my sister’s Birdie Bag but shorter and smaller would be appropriate.   

     I skyped my mother to show her the fabrics and let her choose which she wanted.  By the way… Skype is AWESOME!  It’s wonderful when you have family living away from you.  It makes you feel as if they are in the room with you.  It was a wonderful tool to use over Christmas so that I could see my family opening their gifts.  I highly recommend it!

     Ok, back to sewing -  so I finally got a decision from mom.  She chose:

I wasn’t quite sure how to go about the closure of the purse but I knew that I did not want to add any bulky snaps or handles so I decided to add some of my new addiction…beading!!!

Here is the final result:

(Pictures 2,4 and 5 are with the purse turned inside out)

     I added the beaded pullover with a heavy glass bead at the end so that it would act as a closure.  They show a tri-colored ribbon I appliqued (does anyone know how to make the asteric -is that how you spell asteric? haha  above the “e” in applique???  Please post a comment if you do.  I’d appreciate it! ******UPDATE***THANKS Krystle Brown!  here it is!  :     appliqué   !!!!!!!! )  onto the lining in order to hide the beading stitches inside the bag.   I could have done the beading before sewing the lining on but I like the way the beading stitches anchor the lining and outer layers together. 

     I must admit…my second addiction is applique!  Oh how I love it! I could do it all day long.  There is something so relaxing about tactile handwork.  Sewing machines are great and get the job done fast but I find it very calming to have a project in my lap and working away as I watch a good movie.

     Anway,  I found the ribbon at M&J trimming on 6th Ave in Manhattan in the upper 30′s.  They have been in business since 1939 and I know why…because they are FANTASTIC!!!  I could spend days in that store.  So many ribbons and findings that it creates a dreamland for anyone with an itch to create!!  That is also a great area for bead shopping!  They have store after store lined along the street.  Great sales all the time and a nice selection of beads and charms and trinkets (oh my!)

     In case you were wondering…the teal block you see in picture 5 is a label stating my name, location and date it was completed with a personal note to my mother.

I hope she enjoys it as much as I enjoyed making it for her!

Thanks for reading and Happy Sewing!

-Audra at Aura Quilts

This was the first quilt block that I hand pieced for my mother’s quilt.  I hated the fabrics combined so I set it aside for over three years thinking I would never use it, throw it out or use it as scraps at some point.  I’m glad I kept it.  One day I came across it and thought it would be a great scrap piece to practice free motion quilting!  I added a layer of batting and a bottom layer of white muslin, basted it with safety pins and started free motion quilting. 

I didn’t really have an intention of making anything of it but just to practice and have fun on the machine with free motion.  One section I stippled, two others I made long spiral loops and the fourth I made an ocean wave with loops. 

After binding the block I thought it looked very empty!  I had never done beading before in my life so I got out my very first beading video and beading book, studied them thoroughly and finally went to town on that baby!  

I discovered that I LOVE BEADING!!!!   WOW IS IT FUN!  It’s actually scary how much I like beading because now I am afraid that every single project I complete from this point forward will be encrusted with beads! haha!

Here’s some photos of the block.  It is 12″x12″.

I used two different types of beads - a small green glass bugle bead and a clear blue seed bead.  I have no idea how many I used but it was alot.  Maybe I should have a contest to guess how many beads there are on it!  Sadly, I’d have to have my mother count them and I wouldn’t torture her like that.  haha  But it’s certainly a good idea for my next project! 

I made two loops at each top corner so she can hang it on the wall easily.  I thought that I may have to re-enforce the backing due to the weight of the beads but it seems pretty stable with the batting.  If my mother calls to say that the beaded loops broke and it fell to the floor, then I will fix it but until then, I am not worried. 

If I had the patience I would encrust my mother’s entire Queen sized quilt like this but I think it would take me 20 years to complete it!!  I spent three weeks beading this baby after work and on weekends and it was non-stop work at that.  But to me, there is nothing better than putting on a good movie and beading away!

I could have put another backing on the block to hide all the bead stitches but I liked showing them off.  It may be “ugly” or “not neat” but I think it shows the hard work and true character of the piece!

I have it posted on QuiltingArts.com for voting:

http://www.quiltingarts.com/forums/p/3116/16541.aspx#16541

Thank you for reading and Happy Sewing!!

-Audra at AuraQuilts.com

     Ok…  a few things about this one…   Mia requested a larger quilt to lay-eth upon-eth her queenlyness-eth.  I used white muslin on the back and pieced the top with kitty fabric and purple. 

     Mia is a very elegent kitty so I decided to make a central medallion to improve the quilt to her level since the fabric had cartoonish cats on it.  I traced the center medallion design onto Golden Threads paper, pinned it and attempted to quilt it.  The paper tore and shifted badly.  Ugh!  It took me hours to go over the design with a satin stich while pulling out the prior threads as I went.  I was NOT a happy camper.  In the end, I fugured “Hey, a CAT is going to use this.  Who cares, right??!”    A lesson I learned from this is:  Have fun with quilting, it’s not the end of the world if something doesn’t work out!  Just learn from it and move on! 

     I finished off the quilt by free motion-ing loopdy loops around the edge of the quilt and hand quilting a kitty paw smack in the middle.  This quilt (like the smaller pink one) had two layers of Thermore in it to make it nice and poofy/comfy for Mia to lay upon.  I hope she enjoys it. 

Here’s the photos:

Thank you for reading and Happy Quilting!

-Audra at AuraQuilts.com

Ok..  this is my first completed Cat Quilt.  My sister requested one for her cat, Mia.  Mia prefers white quilts.  I do not.    (No offense, Mia)

The other request was that it fit the size of the top of my sister’s television.  Mia loves to nap there.

I originally started making this quilt with the idea that the white would be the top of the quilt and I would use some colorful fabric for the bottom.  That didn’t quite work out.  Once I began piecing the bottom of the quilt I found it difficult to to think of it as something that wouldn’t be looked at (or laid upon in this case).   I chose to quilt it as if the colorful fabric were the top and the white the bottom as Mia would have no clue that she was napping on the wrong side of the quilt.  Here it is:

     In November, 2006 I designed a quilt for my mother.  I call it “The Stingray Quilt”.  She went on a tropical cruise years ago and had a photo taken while she was petting a stingray.  She lives in Florida and has always loved the ocean and the color turquoise so I decided I needed to design a quilt with these elements in mind. 

Here is a photo of my Sting Ray Quilt design I created on EQ5 (quilt design software). 

Please take a moment to view  to see some of my Photo Gallery of the Sting Ray quilt as it progresses and other project that I am working on.

Stingray Quilt design by Audra Kearney November 2006