Archive for March 2013

Happy Easter everyone! Today, I'll share a photo of my framed Tree block. I've been testing out my paper pieced patterns and making a lot of single blocks. For some of them, I don't have plans to incorporate into bigger projects yet. So, on my last trip to IKEA, I bought some plain white picture frames, and you bet they are filling up quickly! For this 5" x 6" Tree block, I added a 1" rectangle piece to make it a ground. I also embroidered a swing and some orange flowers. I haven't done a lot of embroidering in the past, but it's something I would like to practice more, for it goes so well with paper piecing. Furthermore, I know just the blog that has a picture dictionary of embroidery stitches. Check out Sarah's Hand Embroidery Tutorials if you are interested! 

My mom finished another small wall hanging quilt with my Antique Key pattern. Her color choices were a gradient of black and some pops of brown and blue for the keys. She also incorporated nine patch blocks to go with the keys, and I think it looks fantastic! 



and here are some detail shots. 

To me, the most fun part of paper piecing or quilting in general is carefully selecting the fabrics for every project. I am quite sure that many quilters feel the same way as I do. My fabric stash is slowly but surely growing since spring 2012. I have collected my fabrics mostly from 3 different sources: big chain stores such as Jo-ann and Hobby Lobby, Etsy shops, and local fabric stores that carry designer fabrics. Because honestly, collecting fabrics is an expensive hobby, I like buying fabrics on sale or with a coupon. 

Lately, I've been buying a lot of solid color fabrics from brands like Kona Cotton and Moda. Buying solid color fabrics is a great way to build your stash for you don't have to stress out about not owning so many fabrics for each colorway.

For example, let me show you two different fabric combinations of my Cactus pattern. I made the one on the right side first. From the beginning, I knew I wanted to mix the solid colors and patterned fabrics. I chose a solid honeydew for the background and a solid hot pink for the pot to make it stand out. My shortcoming of this block was selecting a white-ish flower patterned fabric for a little cactus. As my husband put it, this little cactus looks a bit dead compared to the big guy next to it. For my second try, I made some adjustments. I decided that a white background might be even better. I used a solid dark green fabric for the little cactus and a solid grey fabric for the shelf or the "concrete" floor. 

I have not bought a whole collection of designer fabrics yet, but I am waiting for the right moment to buy this one. It's called Architextures by Carolyn Friedlander. As an interior design major, I can't help but feel like this collection was designed for me. 

Another collection I can't wait to get my my hands on is City Center collection by Jay McCarroll. Especially the one with the map of Los Angeles Downtown is so beautiful!

I finished my placemat quilt over the weekend. It's about the same size as my laptop which is 17" (monitor size). You all know where the silverware pattern came from. If you are wondering about the plate, I also designed it and paper pieced it. It's made up of 8 triangles that look like a slice of pie. This plate pattern can probably be turned into a pie or a pizza based on fabric choices. I don't happen to own a fabric that has pizza toppings, so I settled with a white and blue classic plate. 





In fact, I have done a similar project as the plate pattern in the past. I took a Foundation Pieced Spider Web Pillow Series class from Stitch Lab, which is a great place to learn how to sew in Austin by the way. You can check out Stitch Lab's website if you want to take this class or learn more about it. Here is a picture of the Spider Web pillow I finished. 


I plan to share my plate pattern under free downloads. It will be there later today or tomorrow. As I suggested in the etsy listing, this silverware pattern would also go well with Dresden plate block. I know a perfect tutorial video for making Dresden plate block. 

Dresden tutorial by Missouri Quilt Co.  
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lcy_p4pryE4

and of course the other option is to applique the plate if you are going for a cleaner and rounder look. If you end up making your own placemat with my silverware pattern, please e-mail me the photos. I would love to see your work!

I am happy to display a photo of mini-quilt that my mom finished few days ago. 
She used the Camping Tent block that is free to download from my blog. 
I love that she used a different combination of fabrics for each block.
She was hesitant about doing a bias (border) with brown fabric as opposed to light green fabric, but I think brown was a great choice! 

My mom who has been a quilter for almost 20 years is truly a master at hand quilting.
She does all of piecing and quilting by hand. In fact, she didn't paper piece these blocks, but patch worked them by cutting out every shape of the pattern, tracing them onto fabrics, and sewing them together with 1/4" seams. 

You will continue to see my mom's amazing quilt works, so check back often!

I've been on Tumblr for over a year, and this is where hoarding of my inspirations all began. I started by posting interior/ furniture/ product design images when I was still in school. Now my contents are gearing towards a lot of textile art and graphic design. 

So anyways, I am happy to be doing my very first giveaway on Tumblr.
If you have a Tumblr blog, you can simply reblog my recent post about ProtoQuilt.
My Tumblr is Do What You Want (http://annikemjo.tumblr.com/).
I will choose two lucky winners on March 31st, and you can get a free pattern of choice from my Etsy shop. 

Good luck! 

I am very happy to announce that ProtoQuilt has finally launched the Etsy shop. There are 8 patterns available as of today, and I will try to add at least one new pattern per week. Each pattern only costs $2.50. I think it's a bargain, and I hope that many of you will use my patterns to learn how to paper piece and make fantastic projects with them.

If any of you do finish a project with my patterns, please e-mail me the photos, for I would love to share them on my blog. My e-mail is protoquilt@gmail.com

Screen shot of my Etsy shop

screen shot of my craftsy pattern store

Let me introduce you to my Tree Block. The Tree block is another great block for paper piecing beginners. It is only consisted of two groups (A + B) and thirteen pieces.   

I designed this silverware pattern couple weeks ago and finally got around to making it. As I anticipated, it was a pretty intense one because there are so many little pieces in this block. But I powered through it, and the final product is very satisfying to look at. I really like the contrast between dark grey and light grey. I am going to add a plate block next to it and turn it into a little place mat quilt. I probably won't actually use it as a place mat, but there will be a wall to hang it somewhere. I have never worked with laminated fabrics before, but it would be cool to do a place mat with laminated fabrics using this pattern. Another project for some day in the future. 

 (In the making)

 (Final glam shot)