I am working on a joint project with my friend Mickey Depre ---I get to do the scrappy happy background to showcase her wonderful pieced hexies! I had a great time last night pulling fabrics to go with the hexie rosettes she sent me. We are hoping to include this in her next book ---and this will also be the retreat project when we get that pulled together.
((Stay tuned on the retreat idea ---the first venue of Montreat, NC was not cooperating and Karen and Lisa are hard at working finding us another suitable venue! When we know more, I will post it here!))
What does kitting-up mean? I’ve had many questions of what I do to kit.
For me it means more than pulling together a bunch of fat quarters and yardage and leaving all the cutting for later.
Kitting up means I pre-cut everything I can, pinning things together in sets.
These are the fabrics I am using! Ooh…love that chartreuse against the darker green and pinks!
I have pre-cut and matched together things that will be strip pieced and sub-cut later, pinning them to their corresponding block parts. Stacks of squares are also counted out and pinned together so that I don’t have loose pieces getting shuffled all over. Small sets of triangles are already matched with right sides together and cut…and those are in a sandwich baggie to keep them together until it is time to sew them as well.
I honestly don’t know how I could live without zip lock bags!
The entire quilt is cut and ready to go here ---amazing how it all fits in a one gallon zip lock bag! I’ll squeeze all the air out and it won’t take up any space in my suitcase at all! I did include a few “extra” strips of each fabric just in case I run into a snafu….but it’s all in the bag!
The BEST part about having everything pre-cut as much as possible is that when I have a few moments to sew a block….the pieces are ready to go. There is no fumbling with having to iron a wrinkled fat quarter or find a place in a hotel room to use as a cutting surface. Instant sew-ability!
SO yummy together!
A sweet friend, Allison – is loaning me her Featherweight, Lola while I am in Texas! I have another loaner featherweight waiting for me in Arizona.
This year I’m going to see how it goes borrowing a machine at each destination I fly to, rather than trying to fly with one. We will see how it goes. I will be able to travel with a machine on driving trips, but for flying –I’m not wanting to risk a machine again. I’m gun-shy after what happened last July.
And with that – I better get that trunk show packed up!
My OWN hexie project awaits in my busy bag for airport/airplane stitching today too…..
Best not forget my thimble!
Much love, everyone! It’s been so great to be home the past 5 weeks ----
27 comments:
I love kitting up things before I go on retreats. It's so satisfying and helps me organize so I don't spend retreat time trying to figure out what I want to do.
Beautiful color combination, Bonnie! Makes me want to attend the retreat even more. I'm hoping the new venue isn't further away from me in Florida or at least close enough to get there by car; I will not fly anymore. Hope your travels over the next few weeks is safe and enjoyable.
You've chosen yummy colors to play with for your project. Can't wait to see the final outcome. Borrowing a machine sounds like a great idea. Happy travels! Enjoy!!!
You are right, it has been great having you home for 5 weeks. On to Texas!!!
I don't like to cut quilt tops. One of our sons or a daughter-in-law will precut for me. I've got 10 new quilt tops ready to sew together.
I'm sure you'll have a loaner machine at all the places you've got to fly too! I'd loan you a featherweight without hesitation.
Safe travels Ms Bonnie!
We're heading to the cabin today, so I spent yesterday afternoon kitting up clues #3 - 6 of Easy Street! I plan to spend some quality time with my Featherweight up in the north woods ;-)
. . . . and it has been so nice to have you home!! Wishing you safe travels. You will meet so many folks excited to see you and learn from you. All caught up on Easy Street here and eagerly awaiting New Year's Eve! It will be a Happy New Year spent sewing for sure!
Safe travels Bonnie -- Lola is ready to sew with you. I'm so excited about the mystery on Monday at Fabric Fanatics. Everything is packed and ready to go. Take care, Allison
What a great idea! Maybe I would finish more if I made up a kit-duh! I really like the pieced hexies. Eagerly anticipating the finished joint project!!! Have safe travels.
I love these colors together and can't wait to see the finished collaboration! Have fun on the road - see you on QuiltCam in mid-January!
Liz in KY
You know how restaurants have a booth with a sign, "President Bill Clinton ate here," or old hotels with room, "Lincoln slept here"? Well now lucky quilters across the country who loan a machine to Bonnie during her stay can emblazon their machine with "Bonnie sewed here!" Now that's a vintage machine that would be fun to acquire.
I really don't like cutting, either, just like Luann. It's one reason the mystery quilt has been fun for me - I can only have to cut in limited amounts each week! Have a safe trip and keep us posted, as you always do.
There will probably be some fighting over who will loan you their machine!Enjoy your travels.
The group could always hold a drawing - maybe the price of a ticket could be a stack of a certain number of pre-cut pieces in one of your favorite sizes - just think of a happy way to add to your stash!!!
Good Morning - Thank you for the update on the Bonnie/Mickey class - I have been checking and checking on this - the sneak peek will keep me checking! - I LOVE the combination of scrappy and hexie. I have SO enjoyed easy street. Thank you for all the hard work that goes into creating this quilting adventure for us. I have named mine - the road is paved with CHEDDAR. I hope to have a blog up and going over this long weekend so that I can post on the 7th. Save travels to you.
Wishing you safe travels in the coming year. I'm so excited about the retreat, where ever they find to have it. Love the idea of decals for people "Bonnie sewed on this machine" Much safer than trusting the airlines every again.
Love love love the colour combo. Chartreuse is my new favourite colour! Have a fantastic trip.
Kitting up.....GREAT idea. I think I'll use that idea for the next retreat or maybe even our monthly sew days. I LOVE pinks and greens together! Safe travels!
love kitting up ... have lots of kits stashed in gallon bags and .pizza boxes. i love the cutting process! and love your colorful kit! ejoy your travels ... we do!
has it really been 5 weeks?! time flies when we're having fun! you will be off doing your quilty thing, and i will be home, working on easy street, but waiting for quilt cam to come back!
I love kitting up blocks! And, even more, I love pulling one out to sew when I want to get straight to sewing. I use pizza boxes and ziploc bags too.
Safe journey Bonnie. Whilst sorting out all my craft materials I am trying to make up kits for quilts. Getting on top of my scraps very slowly but surely. Determined to buy only thread and batting. I bought some zip lock bags yesterday.
Happy travels Bonnie. When you get to St. Louis you are more than welcome to borrow any of my Featherweights to sew on - even a different one each day!~! I'm a big fan of ziplock bags, pizza boxes and a few Artbins for my ongoing projects. Trying to scale down to less than 10 instead of 50+.
That's a hoot!...and a grand idea!
What a great idea! And those are my colors! Can't wait to see it all together!
I can't live without ziploc bags either. They are so great for quilting projects especially when travelling. Thanks to you Bonnie I started a hexie project on my train trip to Seattle for the holidays. It is a perfect travelling project.
Bonnie, can you explain to me what you keep in your "busy bag?" Does this change with your project, and what do you keep in there all of the time?
What kind of container do you use? Just trying to revamp a little, and need some suggestions.
Thank you
Vida
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