Tag: Becca Babb-Brott

Turkey Tracks: January Thaw 2018 and Update

Turkey Tracks:  January 14, 2018

January Thaw 2018 and Update

Hi folks!

This post will be a mish-mash of updates.

First, we had a brief but very welcome thaw.  At one point over the past two days we had temps in the low 50s, with a lot of rain accompanying the warmer temps.  Most of the snow has melted away, so we are ready for more snow to make everything look clean and white again.  The temps have dipped again, so we are back to winter.

Penny dog began begging for a walk as soon as the rain stopped.  She would not leave me alone until I dragged on boots and got out our coats.  The walking produced a “walking haiku.”

18.

January 13, 2018

That dog loves her walks
A January thaw called
Her joy filled my heart

Coastal Quilters had their monthly Sit and Sew at the Lion’s Club on Wednesday.  Becca Babb-Brott brought her spider web quilt and worked on the binding.  The spider webs are made with selvages:

I love this quilt.  (Becca’s Etsy store “Sew Me A Song” carries some really interesting Japanese fabrics that are hard to get here in the USA.)

She quilted it with diagonal lines that vary in width.

I finished all the blocks for the “Big Star” quilt, started in an Amy Friend workshop last year about improv paper piecing, the subject of her new book:  IMPROV PAPER PIECING.  The fabrics are Cotton+Steel, except for the charcoal solid.  Who knew I could make my own design?  I didn’t, but I really like it–though I recognize that it did not create any new territory.  I am sewing it together now.

I am on my THIRD Brother inexpensive serger.  I’ve sent two back as they had serious problems.  I am going to try out the one that came this week later this afternoon.  There is not doubt that a working serger makes sewing clothes really fast–especially with knits.  If this one doesn’t work, I’m giving up and will look for a more expensive serger.

I bought this yummy cotton knit fabric to make a sweatshirt on the serger this week–in my Wednesday class with Cheryl Rodriguez, whose studio is located at Waterfall Arts in Belfast.  Cheryl is AWESOME, and has gotten me feeling competent on the serger.  Now if the new one works…

And I finished the corduroy skirt that will go with the fleece top I made earlier:

It’s Simplicity 2058, and it fits after some major measuring and altering of the pattern.  I am back hippy and low waisted in the back, so a skirt without a waist band works best for me.  Thanks Cheryl for helping me figure out how to sew for my body.

I like the flare that develops AFTER my hips are fitted–the flare makes a swirly fullness at the hem.

Friend Gus Bruns dropped by and brought me this cowl that she made for me.  I love it!  She didn’t know that I love snowdrops and that I have them planted all over the yard.  The white on the navy feels like the essence of spring, doesn’t it.  The knit came from Alewives Quilt Shop in Damariscotta, Maine, and it is a sweatshirt knit.  Well!  I’ll have to slow down and go down for a visit as I’m looking for a knit in which to to make the Simplicity skirt, now that I’ve got the pattern “just right.”  The cowl fits “just right” too, and I really like it.

I took this picture Friday at a friend’s because it shows the sailcloth bag the kiddos gave me this summer–bought from a local store that specializes in sailcloth products.  I wanted them to see it gets used all the time.  AND, this picture shows how a mudroom functions in Maine–I love to see all the winter clothes hanging.  that’s my black coat and turquoise scarf just above the bag.

Lunch is ready (a lamb stew) and “that dog” is begging for a walk.  We’ll probably do it, though it is colder.  The bracing air may help clear out my head and chest as I’m fighting a simmering cold.  I haven’t had one in some years now, so it probably is time for my body to cleanse itself immune wise.

Hugs to you all…

Turkey Tracks: Annie Rolfe Needle Case Project

Turkey Tracks:  april 27, 2017

Annie Rolfe Needle Case Project

Friend Becca Babb-Brott recently took a trip–and she wanted a needle case that would fit inside the small, travel-sized bag she had just made to hold her current English Paper Piecing Project.

Since I am constantly juggling needles–and often have more than one loaded with different colored threads–I thought I’d make one too.

I used Annie Rolfe’s tutorial, which you can see below.

It’s simple:  a fun project with a fun and practical outcome–assuming you have the ingredients on hand.  Be sure to sew the snap on BEFORE putting in the insides–per instructions.  I used some temtex I had around instead of cardboard.  The cutting directions are on the right sidebar of the tutorial I think.  She tells you in the intro.

Here’s mine–from a beloved fabric.

The inside is already filled with needles and pins.

I want to make another one that will just hold two or three needles and fit into a small bag when I don’t need my bigger one.

The tutorial:

Turkey Tracks: July 2016 Quilty Update

Turkey Tracks:  July 19, 2016

July 2016 Quilty Update

The design wall craziness is getting bigger–which means some projects are close to being finished.

I still have not quilted the blue/neutral quilt on the long arm.

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Amy Friend’s design–“Tell Me A Story” quilt–is ready to have the block papers removed, the blocks sewn together, and the border attached.

You can find this pattern in Amy’s book INTENTIONAL PIECING.

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The block count that four of us are making for a fall “improvisational” quilt that will include blocks from all of us is growing.  Here are some of my recent blocks.  We are each making four blocks of anything–one to keep and three to give away.

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Here’s one of Becca Babb-Brott’s set of blocks.  (She has an Etsy store, “Sew Me A Song.”)  She made these when we sewed on Monday at her house.

How fun are these!!!

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The summer is going by sooooooo fast!!

But I’m SEW HAPPY.

Turkey Tracks: Becca’s Feed Sack Bags: Reuse, Repurpose, Recycle

Turkey Tracks:  May 16, 2016

Becca’s Feed Sack Bags:  Reuse, Repurpose, Recycle

Becca hit the tri-fecta with this project.

She’s Reusing, Repurposing, and Recycling Feed Bags.

The bags came from Susan McBride and Chris Richmond’s Golden Brook Farm, which is just above me on “the hill.”

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Becca came to the Coastal Quilter’s Monthly All-Day Sit and Sew with feed bags in hand.

“I’m going to make bags,” she said.  What? I thought.  Cool…

And make bags she did:

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Soon she had this one done:

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And I went home with this one:

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Thank you Becca!!

 

PS:  Coastal Quilters:  save your bird food bags for Becca?

 

 

 

Turkey Tracks: Coastal Quilters Monthly All-Day Sit and Sew

Turkey Tracks:  April 18, 2016

Coastal Quilters’ Monthly All-Day Sit and Sew

My favorite day of the month may be the Coastal Quilters’ monthly all-day Sit and Sew.

We start at 9 a.m., and many of us bring our sewing machines.  We sit and sew, but also we share, we talk, we laugh, we eat lunch, we make coffee and drink it.  The day flies by every month.

Here’s Becca Babb Brott’s ongoing project–the big central English Paper Piecing medallion designed by Katja Marek for her millefiore project–which is her 2015 challenge.  As I’ve been discussing in other blog posts, this information is under “projects” at the paperpiecing.com web site AND on Marek’s web site.  Marek’s blocks are bigger than other millefiore project–so lend themselves to seeing bigger pieces of great fabric. Becca’s fabric choices are modern and…FUN!  (Becca has an Etsy store online:  SEW ME A SONG.)

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Becca trades blocks and ideas online with other modern quilters, and during this Sit and Sew session, she brought them all along to try to figure out innovative and creative things to do with them.

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I have been in love with house blocks for about 20 years now.  Aren’t these funky, modern versions fun?

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I especially like the one with squares along the right side.  I like that star just below the house block as well.

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Megan Bruns worked on her millefiori quilt, which has very tiny pieces for the most part.  Here fussy cutting is the name of the game, and Megan does it so so well.  Megan is working on “La Passacaglia Quilt” from Dutch quilt designer Willyne Hammerstein’s book MILLEFIORI QUILTS.  (That’s my machine to the right of Megan, and I worked on Bonnie Hunter’s “Wild and Goosey” block with my scrap bag.  You can see more of Megan’s project on Instagram.

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Maggie Schwamb worked on quilting a GORGEOUS string quilt–which I need to see better as I’m now seeing a pieced border.

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Linda Satkowski layered a lap-size quilt–using the new foam roller system a recent speaker taught us.  Very ingenious.  Then Linda worked on a low-volume hexie project that is going to be a table top for, I think, a bedroom chest of drawers.

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Mary Bishop and Margaret Elaine worked on Foundation Paper Piecing blocks from Laurie Aaron Hird’s THE FARMER’S WIFE 1930 SAMPLER QUILT book.  Mary was trying out the Foundation Piecing and thought it very slow.  Margaret Elaine has at least 34 blocks completed (we are doing 8 a month) and every single one of them is so, so pretty.  April’s blocks were intricate, slower to make as such, and often tedious. That’s how intricate Foundation Paper piecing goes though.  You like it, tolerate it, or…don’t.

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Jan Kelsey was working on prepping a backing fabric when I took this picture, but she had other projects with her as well.

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Other people came and went during the day as well.

That Becca has gotten me hooked on the French and Brawn Italian sub sandwich–half for lunch/half for the next day–with potato chips!!!   I start thinking about eating it again as soon as the Sit and Sew Day is over.

Quilting Information: Sew Me A Song, Etsy store

Quilting Information:  January 4, 2014

Sew Me A Song

Becca Babb-Brott’s Etsy Store

I love the connections in a small community.

Neighbor Susan McBride of Golden Brook Farm told me her friend Becca Babb-Brott, who lives on a nearby street where other people I know live, has an Etsy Store of quilting fabrics.

Here’s the url she sent:   http://www.etsy.com/shop/sewmeasong.  (I can’t get this url to “take,” so you may have to copy and paste it into your search engine.)

I took a look at it and loved how Becca is putting together fabrics.  In particular, I loved her unusual neutrals–which can be hard to find.  I, for instance, have looked for neutrals in five (aren’t we lucky) of our local quilt shops.

As an official  Bonnie Hunter groupie, I need lots of neutrals–especially for the quilts I have planned for this year.  Bonnie’s world divides quilting fabrics into neutrals (nothing darker than a brown paper bag) and colors.

What’s also interesting about Sew Me A Song is Becca’s collection of contemporary and Japanese fabrics.  And she has since told me that she is a “modern” quilter. 

Take a look?

Becca is putting together a collection of neutrals for me.  And I look forward to meeting her next week some time.

Thanks, Becca!