The Girl Who Quilts

My Lady Grey

2012-03-07T00:15:00.000-06:00

I know I promised to blog about this last week, but I have a really good excuse. We planned a last minute trip to upstate New York to check out the area that we are moving to! Matt is taking a new job, and we are all pretty excited about this move. Lots of work to do, but we are getting tons of help with packing, moving, etc. from Matt's new company!
So, about my Lady Grey coat! I joined the sew along at Gertie's blog ~~last year~~ two years ago, but soon learned that couture sewing is not my cup of tea. I hated hand basting all of the hair canvas, so the project sat for months. Then last fall I decided that I wanted to finish all of my UFOs. I abandoned the hand basting in this coat for a fusible interfacing and then hit another bump in the road - I should have done a small bust adjustment on the pattern before I cut my fashion fabrics. I tried to tweak the pattern pieces, but wasn't having any luck. Eventually I decided to just sew the princess seams with a larger seam allowance to fit my figure better. It's still not a terrific fit, but the coat is done so I'm calling it a win!

You may recognize this picture from my profile!

A side view:

The back:

And check out that lining!

All photos are the work of Melissa McClure. Check her out, she's fabulous!

I'm really happy with how this coat turned out, despite the imperfectly fitted bust. I need to find a pair of elbow-length gloves to complete the look. I've already worn my Lady Grey a few times on warmer days without gloves, and I really love it! It's a great piece to wear with a nice dress, but it also pairs well with jeans and ballet flats.

As much as I love the styling of Colette Patterns, I'm not sure that I have the patience to tailor the patterns to fit my figure. I know that many people love these patterns because they accomodate a larger bust (I believe the patterns are drafted for a C-cup), but they don't seem to fit me very well without alterations. I do love all of the dress styles, though, so I may tackle another of these patterns in the future - armed with the knowledge that I must make a muslin to check for fit!

(Check out my Sorbetto top here.)

Innocent Crush Dress

2012-02-26T22:27:00.001-06:00

I made this dress last year for Matt's work Holiday Party. I was still living in Illinois with Addy at the time, so I flew out to Seattle for the party. I never took adequate photos of the dress, until this fall! We had our family photos taken, and I decided this dress would be perfect. So after we spent some time walking through our neighborhood for the family photos, I asked Melissa to take a few of my dress! (And my coat, I'll show that later this week!)

The front:

Pockets!

A side view:

Fashion Fabric: Anna Maria Horner, Innocent Crush Voile: Turn of Events in Indigo
Lining (not shown): Free Spirit solid voile in Powder
Pattern: Project Runway Simplicity 2922
I really like how this dress turned out. I made a muslin first, which was helpful. I took up the sleeve length a bit, because it looked a bit droopy. If I were to make it again, I would probably make the dress a bit more fitted (it is meant to be a sheath dress, though!), and I would omit the zipper. I find that sometimes zippers make it harder to wear belts with dresses, because they don't flow with the fabric. (See above photo...) And this pattern really doesn't need a zipper, it slips on quite easily.
I also added a lining to this dress. I was worried about the weight of the voile for a winter party, and I was a bit worried that the dress would be transparent, as well! It was super simple to add the lining, and I think it was worth the extra money I plopped down for matching voile. (And I may be a tiny bit anal about how I finish the insides of my garments. I did serge this, but I also love that the lining makes the inside of the dress as polished as the outside!)
I have absolutely no clue what size I sewed this dress up in. I probably graded the pattern to adjust for my small frame on top and wide hips, but even that is a guess this late in the game. ;)
This is probably my favorite handmade dress to date! I love the fabric, I love how it looks, and I love that it can be dressed up or down. (And layered! I wore a fitted turtle neck under it for the holiday party. I was toasty warm!)
*One thing I will add about the Project Runway line of patterns is that all of the design elements are mix and match. It's a very fun way to customize a garment, but it involves overestimating fabric yardage, because the pattern gives you yardage for cutting each element from a DIFFERENT fabric. I bought 4 yards of this voile (yes, I'm really that crazy), because I followed the pattern envelope yardage. When I bought the lining I only got 2 or 2.5 yards (I can't remember which!) and it was plenty.

All photos are the work of Melissa McClure. Check her out, she's fabulous!

Echo Baby

2012-02-20T22:30:00.002-06:00

I'm sure you've seen Echo pop up all over. It didn't take long for me to buy some of this line - the first time I saw it in a local shop, a little bit followed me home! I wanted several different prints but didn't want to spend a lot. So I picked my favorites and asked for small cuts-anywhere from 1/8 yd to 1/3 yard.

I paired these prints with kona in ash (probably my most favorite shade of kona-and the hardest to find lately!). Simple strips, some straight line quilting, and bias-cut binding. It made for a great baby boy quilt!

Front:

Back:

Quilting detail on front:
And on back:

In a tree:

It was so hard to give this quilt away! It was graciously accepted into it's new home, though, where it is surely keeping a baby boy snuggly warm!

P.S. Check out the snow in those pictures! I think we got 6", and school was closed for 4 days (plus the Monday before was a holiday!). Oh, Seattle! It amuses how the busy, busy city just quietly shuts down for the snow. And ramps right back up when it melts!

Habitat Challenge

2012-02-13T00:47:00.001-06:00

Last fall the modern quilt guilds had a challenge involving the Habitat fabric line created by Jay McCarroll. Each participant received a cut of six different prints from the same colorway. Our guild had the brights colorway. We decided not to place restrictions on the project type, and participants were allowed to buy more yardage of any of their prints. Solids were the only fabrics we could add that were not part of the Habitat fabric line.
I decided that the very modern style of these prints would work well with a bit of traditional piecing. I had visions of a sampler style quilt, so I started piecing blocks in some of my favorite patterns. To challenge myself a bit, I used solid white in some blocks and solid khaki in the others. Originally I planned to frame each block in a hot pink solid, but I couldn't find the right shade of pink. I had a bit of kona in chartreuse in my stash, which worked really well to frame the blocks! And then I got stuck on the border. My first instinct was to use white in the borders, but that caused the khaki blocks to look out of place. While I was chatting with some quilting friends one night, one of them suggested a dark grey border and maybe some cornerstones. I loved the grey border right away, and the bright blue cornerstones really tied the whole quilt together.

To keep the quilt modern, I quilted it densely with organic straight lines. Dark grey binding keeps the eye focused on the quilt blocks.

Several quilt blocks didn't make the cut for the quilt top. I included them on the quilt back, along with thin strips of crossweave on either side of the pieced strip and dark grey for the background. I purposely left a label off of this quilt, so that we could display the quilt front or back!

Statistics:
Size: Approximately 36" square
Fabric: Habitat by Jay McCarroll, Kona, Moda crossweave
Quilting: organic straight lines

I think it looks great with the bench that Matt made! (The pink paint was $1 in the "oops paint" section at Home Depot. I love how well it matches the Habitat fabric! Maybe one day I'll make baskets for under the bench...)

Autumn Chevrons

2012-02-09T21:55:00.003-06:00

I started this quilt a few months ago (in autumn, actually!), before the holiday rush. I began by pulling some autumn-colored fabrics from my oft-neglected fat quarter stash. I knew that I wanted to make a chevron quilt, so I cut strips in various widths and started to piece them together. I was staggering the ends of my strips (like this) so that I could trim up the edges later, but I soon realized that I wasn't staying consistent in my staggering. I was aiming for 45-degree angles on my strips, but soon decided to cut the pieced strips at (somewhat) random angles.

After I had a few strips pieced and the edges squared up, I played with layout options. I didn't intend to use a sashing between the strips, but the variation of color, print, strip width and angle resulted in a horrible eyesore when all of the pieced strips were butting up against each other. Still unwilling to admit defeat to this quilt idea, I auditioned some solids for sashing. My first instinct was to use kona snow, but it read as a fairly bright white against the darker prints. I initially pulled out the khaki simply because I had enough yardage on hand, not expecting to use it. Boy was I surprised when that ended up being my favorite!

To quilt this piece, I followed the angles of the pieced slices in the strips and formed a horizontal zig zag pattern across the quilt. The quilted lines are spaced (somewhat) randomly apart, but I did make sure that every slice within the strips had a quilting line running through it. Why? Because I'm a tiny bit obsessive compulsive like that.

I couldn't imagine binding this quilt in anything but the khaki solid. I wanted the piecing to really stand out, and I think that any other binding would have distracted from the piecing just a bit.

For the back I used a DS Quilts print from JoAnn's. The colors worked really well with the fabrics on the front.

I'm toying with the idea of re-opening an Etsy shop this fall when Addy is in school all day and and I have a bit more free time. My intent was to save this quilt for the shop, but while I was sewing the binding down I found a flaw in the material on one of the borders. So lucky me, I get to keep this one! We don't have a lot of space in our house, so Autumn Chevrons is currently hanging in the stairway leading to our basement. It's just the touch of homemade that my stairway was lacking!

Elephants!

2012-02-04T22:14:00.000-06:00

I bought some of this fabric to make some simple pillows for my parents. They were originally going to be for Christmas, but then my sister and brother had the idea to buy them each one gift from all of us. I was still able to finish up the pillows before we visited our families last week, and I gave my parents the pillows for their birthdays.
Here are the pillow covers (fabric on the back is an older Tina Givens print - I love that all of her collections work so well together!):

On the pillow fronts I quilted in a paisley pattern, and on the backs I quilted in a grid:

I also made this cute ornament from some felted wool. I found a similar ornament online and asked a friend to sketch the pieces for me. I love how it turned out, and I had just enough wool to make one for our tree as well!

The cute braided tail:

The last of the Christmas gifts!

2012-02-03T18:05:00.001-06:00

I have lots of projects that I'd like to blog about, so I'm going to wrap up the Christmas gifts in one last post.
I found this on pinterest a few weeks before Christmas and knew these would make great gifts. I found a scarf at a local thrift shop and used some scraps for the characters.

The puppy dog went to a friend down the street and I put the queen in Addy's stocking. The other 2 were for a good friend's little boys. I had them in mind from the beginning of this project, because they have a very tall staircase, perfect for parachuting!

The two boys who received the parachuters now have a baby sister! I made her a small (14" square) lovey with jumbo ric-rac trim and some cuddly Folksy Flannels on the back.

I did very little sewing for Addy this year. I made this yoga skirt from a knit remnant:

Addy has been asking for Squinkies for awhile, so I bought her a few from the Ariel set. I didn't want these tiny creatures lost around the house, so I made a drawstring pouch for them. (Fabrics are Melly and Me and Summersault.)

And lastly, Addy has been on a play-doh kick lately. Matt's favorite play-doh toy as a child was the fuzzy pumper, which I couldn't find at Target. Instead I found a small set of play-doh "tools", which also required a drawstring bag! I made this bag larger to accomodate the many tubs of play-doh, cookie cutters, and other random household objects that are perfect for playing with 'doh. (Fabrics are Sugar Pop.)

We rounded out Addy's gifts with some clothes, card games, and a new Ariel doll. With the gifts from us and our families, she has more than enough to keep her imagination busy!

Gifts for the M Family

2012-02-01T02:15:00.000-06:00

Here are a few more gifts that I sent off to friends this holiday season. This family has a big sister and a little brother.
For big sister, a tote bag! I could just see her packing a few things into this tote and heading to the park to read under a tree.

And for little brother, a travel checkers set! I thought up this checkers board when I was brainstorming boy gift ideas, and I'm really happy with how it turned out.

A bit about the checkers board, I made the board in 4 pieces and sewed them together with a wide zig zag stitch so they can be folded up like a typical board game. Peltex provided the prefect amount of structure to the board.

Here's the back of the board:

I folded 1 side:

And then the other:

And then folded the board in half:

Ta-da!

The checkers are simply wooden discs that I bought from JoAnn's. I left half of them unfinished and I painted and sealed the other half. A simple draw-string pouch for storing the game, and I think I've found a new go-to boy gift!

Starry Night Quilt

2012-01-24T01:44:00.000-06:00

Remember the 9-Patch Puzzle Quilt? As I mentioned, that quilt was for the daughter of one of my closest friends. The Starry Night Quilt is what I came up with for her son.

I loved Lizzy House's first line, Castle Peeps. I didn't think anything would top those adorable characters, and then along came 1,001 Peeps! I bought a fat quarter set of each colorway, plus some extra yardage. I decided that the blue colorway was the perfect amount of whimsical and boy for this quilt.

After deciding to use 1,001 Peeps for this quilt, I started to plan my layout. I loved the idea of wonky stars, but I knew that 1 fat quarter set wouldn't stretch far enough. I paired the prints with a bunch of solids from my lqs and some kona in ash for the background. (Sidebar: I tried 3 different JoAnn's, and no one has kona in ash! I ended up finding some at a local shop, but I'm curious what's going on with the kona selection at JoAnn's.)

OK, enough rambling. Here's Starry Night:

I wish I could have gotten some good pictures at night, but alas, my photography skills are not up to that challenge!

Some detail photos, the blocks ranged in size from the smallest being around 3" and the largest 12":

Fussy cut pieces:

I quilted this piece with meandering, in a grey thread to match the background. For the backing I found a great dot print at JoAnn's. It was one of their better quality fabrics, and it washed up great! I also recently started binding more of my quilted by machine. I still prefer the look of hand binding, but my left thumb has really been bothering me. Hand work tends to aggravate it, so I have been doing more by machine.

Starry Night finished up at about 60" x 80", perfect for laying on the couch or for use on a twin bed!

I was really worried about whether this quilt was boy enough and age-appropriate. Boys tend to grow out of the "cute" phase much earlier than girls so I tried to stay away from cute. I was beyond excited when my friend told me that her son loves the quilt, and even declared that he would "never use another blanket again"! That one statement made my entire holiday.

I'm linking up to Fabric Tuesday! Hop over to see more great projects!

Gifts for the A Family

2012-01-21T01:49:00.001-06:00

As I mentioned in my last post, I sent gifts to a few friends' families for Christmas this year. The A Family has 3 kids, a big sister, little sister and little brother.
For the big sister, I made the children's messenger bag from the Oliver + S Little Things To Sew book. This bag is one of the reasons I bought the book. I love the simple design and the pattern even includes 2 sizes. The adult size would make a great gift as well!
I used a laminate from Anna Maria Horner's Loulouthi line for the outside of the bag. The lining is a print from the DS Quilts line at JoAnn's. I was in a bit of a rush to finish all of the gifts that I planned, so I used premade bias binding and chocolate brown webbing for the strap.
I really like this pattern, and I won't hesitate to use it again. I chose my fabrics and cut them out in about an hour one night. When I actually sat down to sew up the bag, it took me less than 1.5 hours! I also love the compact size of the children's pattern, I think it would make a great purse.

The only change I made was to add velcro to the 2 front pockets shown in the photo. If I sew this bag again, I may play around with way of closing the main compartment as well.

For the little sister I made the Teddy/Baby Carrier, also from the Little Things To Sew book. The fabrics are all from Summersault by Erin McMorris.
Perfect for a front carry:
Or a back carry:

I couldn't resist, I made Addy the same carrier. :) These came together *really* quickly, and the pattern was great!
Finally, for the little brother I made a play mat that doubles as a toy sack.
I wanted to keep the design simple so that he could use his imagination. I fussy cut the buildings from a few fat quarters that I had stashed away. The rectangle of "road" in the upper left corner is a parking lot. I've been told that little boys love to park their cars when they play.
I wasn't super happy with how the toy sack looked when closed, but I ran out of ideas and didn't want to deconstruct the entire play mat. My hope is that the play mat is so well loved that it has no time to be used as a toy sack. :)

Along with the kids' gifts, I sent my friend a holiday table runner. If you want to see a pic, check out my last post.
My friend and her kids all loved their gifts, and I really enjoyed being able to surprise them with something special for Christmas. Feeling the gratitude of friends is the best gift I could ever ask for!

Personalized Pillows - Charm Pack Friendly!

2012-01-18T12:56:00.001-06:00

I'm still blogging about Christmas gifts...at this rate, it maybe be Easter before I get through them all!
There was a common theme this year, which was that I gave gifts to several friends and their families. Typically I sew gifts for my family and a few close friends, but this year I wanted to do something more. It has been a rough year for a lot of people, and I wanted to help in some small way. So a few friends received surprise packages with gifts for their families!
This is the first set of gifts that I made, which I sent to a friend who bought her first house and moved her family in right before the holidays. For the kids, I made them each a pillow with their first initial appliqued on the front. I don't expect my friend to decorate the kids' rooms around the pillows, but I thought that a little special something for their new rooms would be a fun gift.

These came together really quickly and easily. I used a charm pack for each pillow and did a tiny bit of quilting on the pillow fronts and backs. The M pillow is made from Pure by Sweetwater and the E pillow is made from Love by Amy Butler.

For the M pillow I quilted random straight lines. I love the look of this quilting, and I think it's especially nice on boy quilts and pillows.

I quilted the E pillow with straight lines as well, but this time I quilted 1/4" from the seams. I never tire of this quilting style either!

I had a bit of yardage for the back of the M pillow, and I used more charms for the back of the E pillow. I finished these off with simple envelope closures.
Along with the pillows, I sent my friend a Christmas table runner. With the move so close to the holidays, she did minimal decorating at her new house. The table runner was the perfect little festive touch!

Personalized Zip Pouches

2012-01-14T23:33:00.000-06:00

When I needed a break from the bigger Christmas projects (like the 9-Patch Puzzle quilt), I started sewing up a few zip pouches. I had used the Heat 'n Bond Iron-On Vinyl on one of the Denyse Schmidt fabrics from Jo Ann's, so I used that for the pouch interiors and coordinating prints for the exteriors.

The exteriors seemed a bit plain, so I added a hexagon and hand embroidered some friends' first initials!

Once the pouches were sewn up, I stuffed them with candy and other goodies personalized for each friend.

For one lucky friend I even dug into my Anna Maria Horner voile and made an infinity scarf:

I actually really loved all of these gifts, and wanted to keep them for myself. But in the end I stood firm and gifted them all. I do have some of the voile left, though.... ;)

Just Pin It

2012-01-11T19:23:00.000-06:00

My lqs has this very fun round, flat-ish pin cushion that I admire each time I'm having fabric cut. Their pin cushion is probably about 6" in diameter with a grandma's flower garden pattern appliqued on top. I've never reached out and touched it, but I'm guessing that it's full of sand.

I have wanted to make a similar pin cushion for awhile, so I whipped up a few in time for Christmas - one for me and 3 for friends!

I'm on a bit of a wonky star kick (more about that in another post), and I thought they would be the perfect piecing for a round pin cushion.
I kept this one for myself (center fabric is from a swap with Kristie!):

The back:

These are the first pin cushions that I have stuffed with crushed walnut shells, and I really like the resulting weight and feel. Good thing, since I have a huge bag of walnut shells to use up!

In case you're looking to make something similar, I started with 2.5" squares to piece the stars. To create the circles, I simply traced around the base of a cylindrical vase. My circles ended up about 5" in diameter after stitching the pin cushion together. I was worried about the tiny bits of walnut shell making their way out of the pin cushion, so I added a layer of muslin on both the top and bottom.
It took me just a few minutes to make each of these, and I love how they turned out!

Market Bags!

2012-01-09T20:50:00.000-06:00

Market bags were my go-to gift this Christmas. I love the Keyka Lou Grocery Bag pattern, and as a bonus, if you already own the pattern she has provided alternate cutting instructions for a mini size! (I highly recommend following her blog, she gives really great sewing tips plus some freebie patterns!)

The mini size bag was too cute to pass up, and comes in quite handy for quick trips to the store. I made several of these, for Addy's 5 teachers and a few friends. (The bag in the bottom row, far left was for Matt!)

I made all 8 bags slightly different by varying the outside, handle and lining fabrics:

The middle bag in the above picture has a fun pintuck fabric for lining! Want to see it up close? :)

This picture should give you an idea of the relative size of the mini bag:

Of course I couldn't make these cute mini bags for all of my friends, and not make one for myself! So I used some Ruby that I had *just* picked up:

And finally, I made a matching set of bags for the mom with whom we carpool. This time I made a regular size bag and a matching mini from Amy Butler's Lark.

The mini:

The regular size bag:

And the matching set:

The best part about these bags is that I sewed almost all of them from my stash! I did have to buy a bit more of each of the Lark prints for the bag handles, but that was it. I hope these are all put to great use, I've already used mine several times. ;)

9-Patch Puzzle

2011-12-29T00:18:00.000-06:00

Wow, it's been quiet around here! I have lots of fun Christmas gifts to share now that they are safely with their respective owners! To start off, I'm going to share one of my favorites.

I'm sooo excited to finally share this quilt! One of my most bestest friends has had a very rough year, and I wanted to do something special for her and her two kids for Christmas. I decided to make each of the kids a quilt, and this is what I came up with for her daughter!
I started off with a layer cake of Sherbet Pips, which I was holding on to for a very special project. I was planning to make a Disappearing 9-Patch using the 10" layer cake slices as a base, but decided that I wanted to cut the prints into smaller chunks. That's when I got the idea to create my own sort of "disappearing" 9-patch, which I'm now calling the 9-Patch Puzzle!

I began by making 40 blocks using a method similar to the Crazy Nine-Patch at Oh Fransson!. (In the photo above, the pink solid border surrounds 1 9-patch puzzle block.) Then, to keep with the theme of "9's", I grouped the 9-patch puzzle blocks into 9 units that fit together much like a puzzle. I wanted to highlight those 9 different units, so I added a thin solid border around each unit. Not paying close attention to my design, I ended up with a few gaps between the units. I used the scarf print from Sherbet Pips to fill those gaps, which I love!

A 2x1 layout with grey solid border:

A 3x3 layout with a light pink border and a 1x3 layout with a red border:

Assembling the units and "filler" pieces required some patience and lots of y-seams, but I actually enjoyed the puzzle aspect of this project. Plus, sewing y-seams is really easy and looks so striking!
I knew pretty much from the beginning that I wanted to quilt this piece using square meandering. It is very time consuming, but I LOVE the effect that it has. Plus I think that it plays up the puzzle theme really well!

9-Patch Puzzle!

I really love this quilt, but I was also very excited to give it away. I know it will be well loved by a sweet little girl, and that's the very best compliment a quilter could ever ask for!

Versatile Blogger Award!

2011-11-29T07:00:00.000-06:00

A few weeks back not one, but TWO lovely ladies gave me the Versatile Blogger Award!

A huge thank you to Chelsea at pins & bobbins,

and Jenny at Sew Kind Of Wonderful!

Make sure to check out their blogs, they are both WONDERFUL! Chelsea has ordered a long arm, and I'm anxiously waiting to see what she creates with it. Jenny also has a long arm, and her quilts are amazing.

Now, let's see, I'm supposed to share 7 things about myself:

1. I ran my first marathon Sunday, November 27. Yes, 2 days ago. Not too sore, thanks to the torturous post-run ice bath...

2. I applied for graduate school on Monday, November 28. As in yesterday.

3. Within 5 minutes of submitting my application to grad school, I realized that I had messed up part of it. (No redo's. Whoops.)

4. I didn't fall madly in love with Seattle the way that I thought I would. I like it here, but it's quite different from the midwest. Chicago will always be "home".

5. I never, ever crave popcorn. In fact, I will tell people that I don't like popcorn. But if Matt makes some and I have a little bit, I can't stop eating it.

6. I am totally and completely addicted to Red Mango fro-yo. I eat it almost once a week. (At some point it would probably be cheaper for me to just buy an industrial fro-yo machine!)

7. My biggest pet peeve is when people talk politics and get angry, blaming everything on the other side (whichever side that is). I'm not sure why they think that angry will change people's minds, but as a middle-of-the-road thinker such as myself, it's just a giant turn off. (Lather, rinse, repeat when it comes to religion.)

Wow, I think I hit on all of the hot topics in this post, who would've thunk it?? :)

And now, I'd like to award the following with the Versatile Blogger Award:

1. Michelle at CityHouseStudio

2. Sarah at BlueSusan Makes

3. Linh Vu at Elvy Crafts

4. Felicity at Felicity Quilts

5. Cindy at Live a Colorful Life

6. Kirsten at Gemini Stitches

7. Kristie at OCD: Obsessive Crafting Disorder

8. Val at PinkPlease!

9. Heather at Crafting...

10. Gail at Probably Actually

Make sure to check out all of their wonderful blogs! And thanks again to Chelsea and Jenny!

A Mendocino Bedroom!

2011-11-10T08:00:00.000-06:00

I finally have a few images of Addy's big girl room to share!

First up, her big bed with coordinating pillows:

Another shot (this is from the doorway):

The fun wave mirrors we found at IKEA on clearance! (The white door leads to the bathroom, the stained door leads to the kitchen. Confusing, I know.)

If you're standing where I was when I shot the above photo, the closet door is to your left. And next to the closet door is this awesome toy box. My mom's friend hand painted it as a gift before I was born. LOVE IT.

And there you have it! A small room with a giant bed for a cute little girl. :)

Potholders and pillow cases!

2011-11-07T08:00:00.000-06:00

A few weeks ago I was wandering through a fabric store when I found one of those Alexander Henry prints. If you've seen then, you know what I'm talking about: the prints featuring shirtless men. Yeah, *those* prints.
There happened to be a print with firemen on it, which made me think of my mother in law. No, she's not a man, nor is she a fire fighter. But, my father in law is the mechanic for their fire department, and a few years back he was part of the yearly calendar. For the entire month of May, many calendars were open to a pic of my father in law, shirtless, posing with his toolbox, fire engine in the background. Having three boys, I don't think my father in law will ever live that down. But my sweet mother in law insisted on having the calendar set to May for the entire year. (It may still be up at their house, I haven't checked recently!)
So anyway, I decided that my mother in law needed a pillow case made from this fireman fabric. And being the equal opportunity shop that it was, I was able to find an equally awkward print suitable for my father in law.

Who wouldn't want to receive these awesome pillow cases from their daughter in law? Well, a lot of people, I guess. Luck for me, my in laws have a great sense of humor and they seem to appreciate my quirky gifts!
Now you're probably wondering how this could possibly relate to potholders. Or maybe you've already forgotten the title of this post. Well, in truth the two have little to do with each other. See, I included a Halloween picture from Addy in with the pillow cases. We had another picture to send to my parents, and I wanted to include something hand made. I haven't made potholders in a looong time, so I thought I'd use some of the fun fruit fabric that popped up at the quilt shops recently!

The strawberry potholder is a square in a square in a square. The orange potholder is my first try at a wonky star!

A fun batik on the back, quilted with organic lines.

Random straight line quilting, another of my favs! (The back of this one is the lime green print used in the border.)

I used insul-brite for batting in these potholders.

Finished size 9" square.

So there you have it, 1 blog post encompassing innocent potholders and scandalous pillow cases. I'm happy to report that the gifts were loved by all. Do I know my audience, or what? :)

An Aviary Mini

2011-11-03T08:00:00.000-05:00

I had some Aviary 2 scraps left over from this quilt, and I wasn't sure what to do with them. Then I had an impromptu sew-in at a friend's where I was admiring all of the mini quilts she has made. So the next time I was staring down the pile of Aviary 2 scraps, I knew just what to do!

I tried to go with the flow and do some improv piecing. I also went with an organic straight line quilting style, which I LOVE! It was so easy and fun to do, and I think it goes great with the piecing in this quilt.

For the back I used a large chunk of the only print that I had left, along with some solids.

Finished size is 20"x20"

Fabrics are Aviary 2 and Free Spirit solids

I think there are lots more minis in my future! In fact, I have a fabulous idea to incorporate some mini quilts into the photo wall that I'm creating in our dining room.

Oh, speaking of mini quilts, I was thinking of setting up a swap. Would anyone be interested in that? We can wait until after the rush of the holidays, if that works best. Leave me a comment if you'd be interested!

Another Update!

2011-10-31T15:12:00.000-05:00

I have a habit of writing up blog posts and scheduling them to post later, sometimes weeks later! So by the time my last FWQAL and LBS update posted, I had more to share! Here is what I have done now:

Farmer's Wife Quilt Along:

12 New Blocks

The whole group! 30 so far!

The group is at week 22, so that's 44 blocks. I'm behind by 14, yikes! Unfortunately I think this project may just continue to lag behind, because it's going to take a back seat to my holiday sewing. Hopefully I can get a few done along the way. We'll see how that goes!

Little Birdie Stitches:

I'm all caught up with this group! 2 blocks to go, I'm hoping to finish the quilt up before Christmas!

Prince Charming for a Princess

2011-10-29T14:11:00.000-05:00

It's time for Blogger's Quilt Festival again! This is my second round participating, and I have a really special quilt to share. I made this quilt recently for one of my closest friends.

This quilt is for Stephanie, one of my best friends, who is expecting her third baby and her first girl! I had a rough time starting this project because I wanted it to be perfect. I have been itching to create a zig zag quilt for awhile, so I decided to start there. The directional prints in the Prince Charming line were a challenge, but I love how this quilt turned out!
I have had this zig zag quilt pinned on my pinterest board, and I love how the white zig zags are narrower than the colored zig zags. I found a really great Pat Bravo teal solid that matched the Prince Charming line, and decided to use the solid for the narrower zig zag. As I pieced the quilt together, I decided that I didn't like keeping the prints organized in the zig zags, though. The directionality of the prints was a lot more distracting in that layout, so I mixed up the prints and kept the solid zig zags consistent.
Once the top was pieced, I struggled with the quilting. The perle cotton hand quilting craze inspired me, but the perle cotton that I bought was too heavy. I tried to hand quilt a few zig zags, and it was just impossible to pull the thread through the quilt layers without straining my hands a ton! I started bouncing some ideas off of my running/quilting/chatting/drinking friend, and she suggested quilting diagonal lines contrary to the diagonal pattern of the zig zags. I chose to quilt the lines sparingly, because Stephanie recently told me that she liked the softness that is lost in dense quilting.

So, here's the quilt!

Do you see the binding in the upper righthand corner? I was short by 1 binding strip, and the shop was sold out of the teal solid when I went back. I decided to use one of the darker prints from the top, even though it wasn't my favorite. I think the dark print was a great choice, though, because it seems to blend in well!

For the backing I used part of a thrifted bed sheet. It was so nice to not have to piece together a backing!

A pumpkin and a quilt. Can you spot the garden gnome?

I sent this quilt off with some cute little girlie summer clothes (for next year) and a pair of newborn longies. After 5 years of dinosaurs and firetrucks, I'm sure this package was just the beginning of the pink!

As soon as the package arrive Steph let me know that she loves the quilt and her boys had a great time digging through the baby things and admiring the tiny girl clothes. I can't wait to see them love on their baby sister!

A cheerful little runner

2011-10-27T08:30:00.000-05:00

Right now our dining room table and kitchen island are sporting festive Halloween runners, I blogged about them here and here last year. So, while we are currently all decked out for the autumn holidays, I decided to sew up a bright, cheerful runner for our kitchen island. I figure we will need something pretty to look at as the dreary winter sets in. ;)
I started with a Dream On charm pack, and sewed the charms into rows. To offset the rows, I cut 2 charms in half and sewed the halves to alternating ends of the long rows of charms. I quilted the runner in a loop pattern that I've been seeing a lot lately. I changed my loops slightly by alternating their size, and I opted for light quilting, with just 1 loop in each charm. It was really easy to create these loops, and I can't wait to try this on a bigger quilt! To finish off the runner, I used kona in bahama blue for binding, with a tiny piece of kona in bone when I ran out of blue. ;)

If you look closely at this pic, you can see the loop quilting:

It really brightens up the kitchen!

For the backing I used a piece from a vintage sheet:

This was a fun, quick project. I have a few more charm packs that would coordinate well with the colors we already have in the kitchen, so next time I need a fast finish I may make a few more of these! (Besides, I will need a few to rotate through between laundry days!)

Ballet Bag

2011-10-24T08:15:00.000-05:00

A few weeks after school started, Addy also started ballet classes! She loves the classes, and her only complaint is that she only has class once a week.

The first day was a bit hectic with getting her ready, finding the building, parking, and rushing her inside. On my way out the door, I grabbed my purse, tote bag and a book to read when she was in class. I think I had more "stuff" with me than the mom with 4 kids trailing behind her!

So, in an effort to streamline our ballet class rush, I decided to make Addy a little bag for her things. It's so much easier to remind her to grab her coat and ballet bag!

I used the lunch bag tutorial from Pink Penguin and a Japanese print that I picked up a few months ago at a local shop. This bag is the perfect size for Addy's ballet shoes and a few other small things. During the week I'm trying to remember to store her clean leotard and tights in there with her shoes, and during class I stuff her yoga pants in the bag.

Here is the back of the bag:

A detail shot of the drawstring closure:

I love the size and shape of this bag, plus the drawstring top is so convenient. It also sewed up really fast-I picked out the fabric, cut, and sewed the whole bag in less than 2 hours! I worked on it one morning while Addy was at school, and all I had left to do after I picked her up was to insert the drawstring cord. I highly recommend this tutorial, it was a really quick project with great instructions. I'd really like to make one of these for myself as a project bag!

A raincoat for Addy

2011-10-20T08:00:00.000-05:00

Now that we live in land of drizzly rain, I decided that Addy should have a raincoat! I pulled out my go-to coat pattern (used here for a winter coat and here for a lighter weight coat) and asked Addy to pick out a laminate at the lqs.
Surprisingly, Addy chose a print without pink in it! And it was nearly a miracle that I had a matching fabric in my stash to use for lining! But not quite a miracle, because I forgot to cut out the sleeves. And then didn't have enough fabric for them - so I used a coordinating print! :)

Here's the coat:

Front details:

Velcro closure:

Lining - raindrops, of course!

Toggles on elastic cord to tighten the hood. I added this detail because last year her hood didn't stay up very well:

This is the coordinate that I used for the sleeves:

Coat back:

Happy girl!

I really love how this turned out. I wish I had a good pattern for an adult rain coat, but I'm not sure if I could pull off the big flower print. Maybe a simpler print for the exterior with raindrop lining? ;)

Details:

Laminate is from Sunny Daze

Lining is Summersault by Erin McMorris

Pattern is Uptown Girl by Make It Perfect

I sewed this coat up in a size 5, maybe we'll get 2 years out of it!

A quick Quilt Along update

2011-10-17T08:00:00.000-05:00

Right now I have 2 quilt alongs on my plate:
Little Birdie Stitches and
Farmer's Wife Quilt Along

I've managed to keep up with the LBS, which is a really good thing! A few times now I've gotten behind by a month or two, but I find it hard to carve out time to hand embroider. So that is really motivating me to stay on schedule!
I finished up the August and September blocks:

Only 3 months left to go! I'm excited to see the next 3 blocks, and I can't wait to finish this up because I'm going to gift this quilt!

The other quilt along has had less progress. I honestly don't even now how many blocks the group has completed at this point, but I've only finished 4 more since the last time I blogged about it!
Here are my newest 4:

And here's a group shot! I really love all of these blocks together. I think it's looking really cohesive, which it exactly what I wanted.

Maybe in a few more weeks I'll have a few more blocks to show!

Custom Diaper Bag in Heirloom

2011-10-15T08:00:00.000-05:00

I was pleasantly surprised by how many people love my new Echino tote bag! So many great comments!
One person mentioned that it would make a great diaper bag, and asked if I would take a custom order. I love sewing customs, and she was such a great customer to work with.
I made two small modifications to the original bag - I added 2 bottle pockets to the inside of the bag and a detachable shoulder strap on the outside of the bag.
All of the fabric is Heirloom by Joel Dewberry. The amber colored blockprint is a laminate - we chose to use the laminate on the bag interior as well as the bottom of the exterior. Finished dimensions: 12" tall, 15" wide and 5" deep. The shoulder strap is extendable so the bag can be worn cross-body style on a tall dad or a petite mom.

Bag front:

Front detail with the divided exterior pocket:

Side with removable shoulder strap:

All packed up! I stuffed the bag with 2 bottles, 3 cloth diapers, 2 burp pads, 3 bibs, and a change of clothes. I could have fit nearly twice as much in the bag! And the bag held it's shape really nicely when full:

Here is one of the bottle pockets. I used nylon for these pockets to reduce the amount of bulk:

(Not shown on the interior, I included a zip pocket just as in my Echino tote.)
Bag back:

My label!

I had a bit of fabric left over, so I sewed up this little zip pouch to send off with the bag. I try to add little extras to my customs when I have the chance. In this case, I thought a small zip pouch would come in handy for storing some cash, ID, keys, and maybe a cell phone. The zip pouch measures 5" x 7".

It was fun to make up another bag customized for someone else, and in their fabric choices! This bag is so versatile, and I hope it meets the needs of a diaper bag!

First Day of School Dress

2011-10-13T08:00:00.000-05:00

Addy started preschool a few weeks ago. It was a bit hectic in the beginning, because we switched preschools the day before she started. Earlier in the summer I called our first choice, and they had a long wait list. We finally found another program with availability, and then our first choice had a few kids move out of the area! So far she likes it, and the kids and parents are very friendly.
For her first day of school, I made Addy the Puppet Show Dress (pattern includes tunic and dress length!) by Oliver + S. I knew that I had to use fabric with pink in it, or I would run the risk of her not wearing the dress. I decided to give the pretty Pat Bravo prints a try, and I love them! The colors are vibrant and the fabric is so soft! I feels sort of like a poplin, but a bit lighter weight. This fabric is from an older collection, Naturella.

Dress front with the peter pan collar:

Bodice detail:

Sleeve detail:

Buttons running down the back!

Button at the sleeve:

Love those buttons!

I couldn't get any great shots of the dress on Addy, but here's one that I love:

One of Addy's teachers complimented her on her dress the first day, and Addy actually said, "My mom made it!" Her teacher even asked me after school if I really did make the dress - it got rave reviews!

A Gumdrop for the dogs!

2011-10-10T08:00:00.000-05:00

Remember this pillow? Well, laminate was on sale at the lqs....

And now I have 2 happy dogs!

The laminate was really easy to work with. For most of the piecing, I was working with the laminate sides together so I had no issues with the fabric feeding well. When needed, I used a special foot with a roller on it to help feed the fabric.

I made a lining for this bag, because I wanted to use the little styrofoam balls from bean bag chairs. I inserted the lining, filled it with beans, closed the lining, and zipped the laminate layer closed! I thought this would make it easier to add beans if these compress a bit, too.

One bit of warning-the ladies at my lqs mentioned that the laminate is a bit thin, so this wouldn't work well for pets with sharp nails.

I love this pillow! I think it looks great with the other fabrics in our living room and at night we often drag it into our room for the one of the dogs to curl up in!

(Oh, fabric is Heirloom and Loulouthi!)

The Funky Artichoke

2011-10-06T08:00:00.000-05:00

Does anyone else envision some crazy dance move when they hear "Funky Artichoke"? I can't get that image out of my head!
The idea for this quilt came from a facebook comment earlier this year. I committed to a Pay It Forward-I would make a handmade gift for the first 5 people to comment on my facebook, and they in turn had to commit to doing the same. The gifts could be anything handmade, and you can see the other items that I made here.
My college roomie, Emily, was one of the 5 commenters, and she jokingly suggested an artichoke quilt. To say that she loves artichokes would be an understatement. Last winter the midwest was pummeled with snow (seriously, people, Lakeshore Drive was a PARKING LOT!), and Emily's then-boyfriend trekked through the snowstorm, artichokes in hand, to spend the snowstorm with her. So I knew that I had to try my hardest to actually produce an artichoke quilt.
I started out by google searching for images of artichokes, hoping to find inspiration. Somehow in my searching, I came across an image of Sugar Pop by Liz Scott. I think the photo owner had described one of the greens as "artichoke", which was how it ended up in my search.
I wasn't making much headway with the other photos, and I happened to have a charm pack of this line, so I pulled it out and started to thumb through the prints. I sketched a bit, and thought I had an idea. I started to piece all of the charms into half square triangles, using an ivory kona for the other half of the HST. My intent was to piece the HSTs into concentric diamonds, which I would offset in the quilt top. The offset diamond would result in a large corner of the ivory kona, where I envisioned an artichoke-like image appliqued. Have I lost you yet? Imagine this quilt, but with a large area of background fabric in the lower righthand corner.
I had all of the HSTs pieced when I started to play with the layout. Before sewing the top together, I decided that I should try a few different ideas. I sort of stumbled onto this layout, but once I did I couldn't get it out of my head. It wasn't a literal translation, but it was *so* perfect for Emily:

To emphasize the round shape of the piecing, I stitched 1/4" away from the seam allowances following the lines in the piecing. I was stumped when I got to the corners, until a friend suggested leaves. I went back to google images, where I found photos of the flowers on artichoke plants!

The flowers were really quite easy to quilt, and I think they add just the right amount of whimsy to the quilt.

I had a few HSTs left over, so I sewed them into a pinwheel and added them to the back.

The ivory areas of the pinwheel made the perfect place to label the quilt! (You can also see the straight line quilting a bit better in this next pic):

At around 42" square, I think this quilt will make a great accent piece somewhere in Emily's apartment. She let me know that she received her package, and she loves the quilt! I'm so glad, that's always the best ending to a project!

Quilted Bathmats!

2011-10-03T08:00:00.000-05:00

I wanted to add a little color to our bathroom, I just hadn't thought of the right project yet. And then I realized that we have a TON of bath towels. I think we have about 20 bath towels for 2 adults and 1 child! We seem to cycle through the same 5 or 6 towels, and we never touch the others.
So I pulled out 2 matching teal towels (that I've had since college!) and some coordinating charm packs.

Here's a before shot of my bathroom. Lots of neutrals: small neutral rugs at the toilet and the sink, and a blue bathmat that we only put out when we needed it.

My original idea was to make a bathmat and 2 small quilted rugs to replace the off-white rugs that we had. But I decided that I didn't want everyone who used our bathroom to step all over my pretty rugs! So I decided to make 2 bathmats from the It's a Hoot and Just Wing It. That way we always have a clean bathmat!

I pieced the charms in a 5x7 layout, basted it to the towel, and did some quilting to keep the layers from shifting when I washed the bathmats. I used a zig zag stitch to apply the binding.

Here's one of the bathmats, tossed over the side of the tub (where it resides when not in use):

Ready for use!

A close-up:

The back and binding:

We've been using the new bathmats for a few weeks now, and I really like them! The old towels are so soft and absorbant. Plus they provide a great pop of color in the bathroom. And we haven't missed those towels at all! ;)

P.S. I'm linking up to Sew Modern Monday at Canoe Ridge Creations and Fabric Tuesday at QuiltStory!

Baby Bubbles

2011-09-29T07:38:00.000-05:00

This spring I picked up a charm pack of Wee Wonderland and 1 yard of a coordinating Moda cross weave with no real plans or recipient in mind. Then one evening when I was low on inspiration and needed a fun, simple project to work on, I pulled these fabrics out.
I started by sewing the charms into pairs and then squared the prints up by adding cross weave to either side. This layout really seems to appeal to me, it's a similar process that I used to create the Big Blocks quilt last year. I think I like to try to create a floating effect with the prints in this layout.
Here's my Wee Wonderlands quilt:

Binding is Pearl Bracelet in brown by Lizzy House.

I practiced bubble quilting a bit:

For the back, I used a print from the Wee Wonderlands line and more of the Pearl Bracelet.

Details:
Prints are Wee Wonderlands by Keiki for Moda.
Solid is a Moda cross weave.
Binding (and backing) is Pearl Bracelet in brown by Lizzy House for Westminster.
Machine pieced and quilted with an all over bubble pattern.
Size: 35" x 44"

To be honest, when I first finished this quilt I wasn't really happy with it. The top felt too plain and I wasn't confident in my bubble quilting. I also didn't have anyone in mind to give this quilt to, which often makes it hard for me to give everything I have on a project. But after a trip through the washer and drier, the personality of this quilt really started to shine! The dense bubble quilting gives the quilt a really great texture, and helps the top sparkle. I've added it to a stack of quilts that I'm planning to donate this fall where I'm sure it will find an owner to use it and love it.
If you haven't done so already, head over to Sew, Bike, Quilt and check out her 100 Quilts for Kids. I have a small stack of quilts ready to go, now I just need to find a local organization to give them to!

When voile and double gauze meet

2011-09-26T08:44:00.000-05:00

I found some fun nani IRO at a lqs and splurged on 5/8 yard, hoping to make a skirt. I mistakenly thought that the fabric was 54" wide, when in fact it was 45". That changed my plans a bit, and sent me to another lqs in search of some voile. I loosely followed the Flirting the Issue skirt pattern (an Anna Maria Horner freebie!), and here's how it turned out:

At first I was unhappy with the way the skirt poofs a bit where the voile and double gauze meet. Then I decided to try wearing the skirt at my natural waist, and it seemed to work! I do wish I had the option of wearing the skirt lower for a more casual look, but a little bit of modern trend is just what my closet needed!

1/4" Bias Binding Tutorial

2011-09-22T07:53:00.000-05:00

On Monday I posted about my Sorbetto Top with bias binding to finish the neck and arm holes. When I sew clothes, I strive to make them look as professional as possible. Bias binding was always something that I struggled with, until now! So, let's get started.
Supplies:
garment to bind
1/4" double fold bias binding (If you are binding a straight edge, you can use straight-of-grain binding)
binding foot (the foot for my Janome was $11, and well worth it!)

The binding foot:

Cut a piece of binding a few inches longer than needed:

Open the first fold of the binding as shown:

Slide the binding into the cone on the binding foot. (Do not unfold the binding completely, just open it up as shown above.):

If you have trouble sliding the binding down in the cone, try trimming the binding end at an angle and using a straight pin to push the binding through:

Using the pin:

Pull the binding through the cone and down to the foot:

Now pull the binding under and past the foot by a few inches:

Before you begin sewing, you may want to change your needle position slightly. I like to move my needle a bit to the left, but don't move the needle over too far or you'll risk sewing off the binding.

You want to begin sewing a few inches down from the beginning of the binding strip (see the binding tail under the presser foot in the above photo). Chose a spot on your garment to begin applying the binding and insert the garment fabric between the folds of the binding, under the presser foot. I like to sew with the right side of the garment up:

To keep the garment fabric tucked nicely in the binding while I stitch, I like to nudge the fabric into the fold as shown below. I sew slowly and continue to feed the fabric while at the same time gently nudging the fabric to the right, into the fold of the binding:

If you're stitching a neckline or armscye, stop with about 4" left to sew. Pull the garment out of the machine, and switch to a regular presser foot. Measure, trim, and join the ends of the bias binding (just like you would for quilt binding). Then carefully stitch the binding down along the remainder of the neckline or armscye.

Your bias trim should be neatly and evenly sewn down on the top and bottom, like so:

Front!

Back!

Now that I know how to use my binding foot and create such perfect binding, I think I will enjoy garment sewing a bit more!

My Sorbetto

2011-09-19T07:52:00.000-05:00

A few weeks ago we had a friend from Matt's work over for dinner. After dinner, they started on a work project and I decided to start a small sewing project. The Sorbetto Top, a free pattern from Colette Patterns, was the perfect choice!

This top has only 2 pattern pieces, a pleat down the front, simple bust darts, and bias binding around the neck and arm holes.

I used a voile from Anna Maria Horner's Little Folks, which is very lightweight. The simple seams and lightweight fabric were the perfect combination for french seams.

I used premade 1/4" bias binding for the neck and arm holes. I also learned a few great tips for sewing binding on, I'll share those in a tutorial on Thursday.

First, let's see my Sorbetto!

The front (excuse the dirty mirror!)

Front details

The back

For the most part, I like the fit of this top. I did take out the shoulder seam by about 3/8" because the bust dart was way too high and the arm holes were too tight. I'm still not thrilled with the placement of the bust dart, but I don't think it's too noticeable.

Even with the shoulder seam adjustment, I took about 3/4" off the bottom of the armscye. I'm really sensitive to how my tops fit under my arms, so I knew that if the armscye was too tight, I wouldn't wear the top.

I wore my top out to dinner with a yellow cardigan, and I think it looked pretty cute! Next time I will alter the pattern to fit the bust darts properly and enlarge the armscye, but all in all this first version is very wearable.

Now for a sneak peek of my bias binding!

The front

The back

Check back on Thursday for a tutorial on applying bias binding!

The Seattle Dining Room

2011-09-15T07:11:00.000-05:00

For some reason I thought I had blogged about this weeks ago. But apparently not!
I wanted to share a few photos of our dining room in Seattle. We started off by painting the walls a bright yellow. It's perhaps a bit too bright, but I've gotten used to it.
Next I recovered an upholstered chest with some Denyse Schmidt from JoAnn's. (The chest is full of clean linens-these are the things you do when you live in a small house!)

Next I made lots of cloth napkins:

And then I created a new table cloth to match!

It's reversible!

All fabric is from the Denyse Schmidt line at JoAnn's. The white is kona pfd (prepared for dyeing-that's what my JoAnn's had at the time). I sewed the table cloth with a reversible log cabin, quilt as you go technique (there's no batting involved). I especially love that technique for table clothes because they get washed a lot, and the quilt as you go method keeps the layers from shifting around!

What happened to Friday? Giveaway Winner!

2011-09-12T22:19:00.004-05:00

Wow, I totally flaked out on the giveaway last week! I had a bit of a hectic weekend, plus Matt is literally on the other side of the world for work. Thankfully we have awesome friends who are always willing to help out when we need it! If only one of them could keep track of my blog for me... ;)

Anyway, on to the winner!

Congrats, Deanna! I will send you an email shortly! Thanks to everyone who is playing along. It's fun to hear from commenters through the giveaways who are typically a bit more quiet around here. I feel like I'm getting to know all of you a bit better!

New hobby high

2011-09-12T07:04:00.000-05:00

There's nothing like an endorphin rush from a new hobby, am I right? Judging by the amount of "stuff" that I purged before we moved across the country, I'd say that I'm pretty much addicted to the rush. In fact, Matt may have told me a time or two that a drug habit would be cheaper than my crafting habits... ;)
And that's why I couldn't stay away from the metal frame pouch craze for long! I showed two of these recently in my Pretty {Little} Pouch swap post and my Make Mine Modern swap post. The third pouch was one of my practice pouches, which I gave to my running partner. (It's ok, she's sciency too, so she can appreciate the need for experimentation.)

The linings (sorry about the blurry picture!):

There was a fourth pouch. Well, actually it was the first pouch that I made. But Addy laid claim to it, so it's no doubt buried in one of her 500 purses at this point!
These were really fun to make, and I still have a few more frames left. Not only did I buy these 3" round frames, but I also got a few rectangular frames to play with. I think these will make great Christmas gifts!
I bought my frames from this etsy shop.
And I highly recommend this glue (and that etsy shop. I bought from them-free shipping and I had the glue in less than a week! From the UK!).
In case I haven't succeeded in pushing the metal frame pouch ~~drug~~ trend on you, check out these. And this. And this.
Go ahead, you know you want to.

Featured on QuiltStory!

2011-09-07T09:00:00.000-05:00

Today QuiltStory is featuring my "What Lies Ahead" quilt. Go check it out!

While you're over there, spend some time reading the other quilt stories, visit their Etsy shop, and join the Fabric Tuesday fun!

And if you haven't already, hop over to my Monday post for the giveaway!

Pin Catcher Tutorial and Giveaway!

2011-09-05T07:18:00.000-05:00

I missed the August Pay It Forward giveaway, but I've got something cool for September! I can't remember where I saw the idea for a magnetic pin bowl, but it's been in the back of my mind for awhile now. Every time I stroll through a second hand shop, I'm on the look out for a specific style of bowl. Finally a few weeks ago I ran across some!
(Edit: a reader kindly pointed me to this post by Diary of a Quilter. I believe that is where I first read about this idea!)

Supplies:

Bowl with recessed bottom

Strong magnet (I found mine in a 3-pack at JoAnn Fabrics)

E6000 or other very strong glue

A close up of the bowl bottom:

First up, squeeze a nice size puddle of glue onto the bottom of the bowl:

Now smoosh the magnet into the glue:

Let the glue dry, turn the bowl over, and ta-da!

I found that this even works for plastic bowls! This one is for Addy:

The bottom of the plastic bowl:

I got a bit carried away with these, I was just so excited to find the right type of bowls at a local store. I'm going to give away 2 of these bowls to one of you!

Just leave me a comment below, and I will announce the winner on Friday, Sept. 9th.

Pretty {Little} Pouch Swap-Sent!

2011-09-05T07:00:00.000-05:00

I had a lot of fun in this swap! I decided not to share a full pic of my partner's pouch until after it was received. So here it is, with a few little extras tossed in!
First, the pouch front:

Want to get a closer peek?

Fabric is Innocent Crush, by the amazing Anna Maria Horner!
I started with a center hexagon and built out in a log cabin style. Every other row of logs is actually a folded log. It's a bit hard to explain, but it gives the pouch some fun dimension! The rows that aren't folded are the ones with hand quilting in them. Finished size is about 7"x9".
And for the back:

My partner's name was Michelle, so I thought I'd personalize her pouch a little bit! (Fabric is quilter's linen in straw.)

And of course the inside, lined with some Good Folks.

I also made a metal frame coin purse:

Here's the whole lot, including a small pin cushion that I made from some munki-munki, a little stash of Heather Ross goodness, and a local greeting card and post card:

What, you want a better picture of the Heather Ross goodies? Ok...

I had a lot of fun with this swap, and Michelle was really happy with her pouch. I'm so glad that she likes it so much!

Make Mine Modern Swap-Sent!

2011-09-01T07:03:00.000-05:00

You had to know this post was coming, right? :)

I took some risks with this swap. My partner described her decorating style as country, but her inspiration mosaic was very modern. She also listed her favorite color as blue, but in her mosaic she mentioned her current love of bright greens and yellows, and contrast.

I decided that playing it safe isn't nearly as fun as standing under fluorescent lighting while Michael Kors, Heidi Klum, and Nina Garcia pick apart every little part of your design. And so I took a risk.

Here is the sewing machine cover that I came up with (and yes, my partner did ask for a sewing machine cover. See, I do listen, sometimes!):

I made the machine cover as 1 long piece, and added velcro tabs on the sides to hold the front and back together:

Here's a better picture of the machine cover laid out like a table runner. I am totally in love with the piecing on this! If it fit my machine, I might have been tempted to keep it!

The back side:

Because I was nervous about the style and colors of the sewing machine cover, I decided to make a pin cushion and thread catcher to match. At least that way they match each other, right? :)
Pattern is a freebie from Oh Fransson!

A closer peek at the super fun button that the thread catcher hangs from:

I also made a metal frame coin purse from some Lantern Bloom (oh, yeah, my partner likes earth tones. This fits, right?):

Lastly, here's the fabric that I sent along. Three half-yard cuts of The Ghastlies, and a charm pack of Botany just because!

Here's the whole lot of it before I packed it up (including a postcard of a gnome in Seattle!):

I had a great time with this swap. I stretched myself by doing some improv piecing, and I took some risks with my choices. Now the question is, do I have immunity for the next challenge? ;)
I'm happy to report that my ideas were very well received! My partner loves her gifts, which makes me *so* happy!

Flourish!

2011-08-30T02:36:00.000-05:00

Have you been reading Lee's blog at Freshly Pieced? She shares lots of inspiring projects, and she recently hosted the Supernova quilt along. Along with her awesome quilting talent, Lee is a graphic designer! (Can't you tell by her amazing blog design??)
Lee has a really big project going on right now, she entered a design contest over at Connecting Threads. There are only two days left to vote, so if you haven't done so already, hop over here and vote for Lee's fabulous design, Flourish!

(It's in the fourth row down, far right!)

Go Anywhere Bag by Anna at Noodle Head!

2011-08-29T07:14:00.001-05:00

A few weeks ago Anna contacted me and asked me to test a new bag pattern. I love Anna's style, and I jumped at the idea! Here's my version of the Go Anywhere Bag, sewn up in 1,001 Peeps by Lizzy House.

Bag Front:

Detail shot, I used piping at the top of the pockets:

Pocket Pleating on the bag front:

Bag Back:

Detail:

Back pocket with magnet closure:

Bag interior, held closed with a sew-in magnet!

Interior Pocket:

I added a zip pocket:

I love my bag so much, I made a zippy wallet to match!

Wallet back:

This bag was really fast and easy to sew up. I love the large exterior pocket on the back (perfect for my Jo-Ann's flier and grocery store coupons!). The 3 pockets on the front give the bag some fun personality, and they are a great place for a cell phone, sunglasses, and keys! The interior pocket keeps little things like chapstick from floating around in the bottom of the bag. The bonus to all of these pockets is the extra fabric combo possibilities! I was able to use all of my favorite 1.001 Peeps prints in this bag.

The wallet was a really fast finish, and I like it's simplicity. (And did you know that it's a free tutorial on noodlehead??)

After a few weeks of using them, I still love my bag and wallet. What a great combo of fun and functional. :) If you'd like to make a Go Anywhere Bag of your own, head over here!

Mendocino Pillows!

2011-08-25T07:39:00.000-05:00

I've had 2 of these pillows stored away for over a year now. Wow, time flies! Now that are all settled in Seattle and ready for Addy to move into a big girl room, I found some motivation to create a third and final (for now?) pillow. So, here goes!
First, I created this strip pieced pillow:

Pin tucking!

Some ric-rac and quilting details:

Pillow back:

Piping!

Another detail shot of the front, I did some wave quilting in the yellow seahorse strip:

Next, I made a bolster pillow. This was so much easier than I thought it would be! I started by piecing a rectangle with my selvedges and leftover strips of fabric:

I did some dense, straight line quilting:

Then I sewed the piece into a tube with a zipper running down it. Once the fabric tube was done, I stitched on the circular ends. It sounds a bit complicated, but it really was simple and easy!

You may have already seen pics of the third pillow in this scrap tutorial. Here are a few pics of it:

The back:

Now we just need to finish putting together Addy's room! I will show more pics when we are done - I think it's going to be my favorite room in the house!

Featured!

2011-08-24T18:36:00.000-05:00

Today my blog was featured in the Best of the Web section of Be@Home!
Check out all of the great bloggers that they are featuring today. And while you're over there, be sure to check out some of the fun tutorials and ideas that Be@Home has to offer, such as the Quilted Flashcard Tutorial. Perfect timing, with all of the little ones heading back to school right now!

A Tote for me!

2011-08-22T07:53:00.000-05:00

We are well beyond the diaper bag phase, but I still like to have a tote with me when we are walking around the city. My purses are either too small or uncomfortable to carry for very long, so I starting dreaming up a new tote.
I wanted something simple and fun, but most importantly I wanted a tote that was *mine*! I needed a bag that I could use when I'm out with the family, and also a bag that I could toss my stuff into as I head out to meet my running partner.
After a little bit of window shopping at my favorite (overpriced) stores and some careful investigation of the totes on display at the local quilt shops, I came up with this:

It's a simple tote, 12" tall, 15" wide and 5" deep. I used a laminate for the interior, the bottom of the bag, and the exterior pocket (all fabric is Echino). It was tough to decide how to use the laminate: to protect the bag exterior from dirt and the elements, or to protect the interior for my sweaty running clothes. Protection from sweaty clothes ultimately won out, and I was able to cut carefully so that I had enough laminate for the exterior bag bottom as well!

The exterior pocket is 7.5" tall by 11" wide, divided into 2 compartments.

Inside the bag I added a zippered pocket and a tab closure with a magnetic snap.
The straps are just shy of 30" long. I made the straps by covering some 1" webbing with Echino. I was hoping to have enough laminate for the straps, which wasn't the case. I think the fabric straps will still hold up well, though.

I added my label to one side of the tote.
I toyed with the idea of using a binding to finish off the top edge of this tote. I think it would have made the bag look more polished, but I worried about how to neatly finish the bag straps. It's much easier to cleanly tuck the straps into the top seam and add some topstitching for durability!
I've used this bag for a trip downtown on the bus and several running "dates" now. It seems to fit my needs really well!

A Gum Drop Pillow

2011-08-15T07:34:00.000-05:00

A few weeks ago I stopped at a new-to-me quilt shop for some thread, and found a few Gum Drop Pillows made up. I picked up this pattern for a dollar when a lqs was closing a few years ago, but never saw the pillows in real life. Well, after one look at them, I was full of ideas for fabric combinations!
We could use some sort of ottoman/extra seating in our living room, and I thought one of these would be fun in some Summersault. First I wanted to make a prototype, so I pulled out my Castle Peeps stash and sewing up this fun pillow for Addy!

I found the pattern really easy to work with, though I did make 1 small alteration. I added a zipper in one of the seams, which is really handy for stuffing the pillow...and restuffing if it flattens a bit! I also thought I could pull the stuffing out and wash the cover if need be.

I'm hoping to start on the pillow for the living room soon, but first I'm going to research my stuffing options. Fiberfil is not dense enough for the pillow to be used as a seat or a footrest, yet the bean bag chair filler is really pricey!
A bonus to the pattern: if you don't stuff it full, it makes a great bean bag chair! My dog enjoyed the half-stuffed pillow for several days before I had a chance to buy more fiberfil. I'm thinking about making the dogs their own pillow out of a laminate. Easy wipe down and dog hair won't stick to it!

Editing to add: I hated how the poly-fil made the pillow lumpy with use, so I made a liner for the pillow and filled the liner with styrofoam bean bag filler. The pillow is much more comfy and visually appealing now! (I used a liner so that if the pillow outer happens to come unzipped, I won't have a mess of tiny styrofoam balls all over my house!)

Don't Scrap Your Scraps! Project 5: Using Charms and Other Large Scraps

2011-08-13T08:27:00.004-05:00

For the 5th and final scrap project, I have another quilt to share! I made this quilt from a charm pack, but it could easily be made from any large scraps. My scraps are conveniently cut into 5" squares, so I may use this as a scrap buster in the future!
I began by piecing my scraps/charms into long strips. I used 4 strips for this quilt, 3 on the front and 1 on the back. With my strips pieced, I chose a coordinating solid for the front and back. On the front I used a quilter's linen in straw, and on the back I used a similarly colored kona.
With my fabrics chosen, I played around with arranging the pieced strips until I was happy with the design. I only had a yard of my quilter's linen, so that limited my size and layout (not to mention I think I cut my quilter's linen wrong 3 times. There's a reason I included 3 strips in the quilt top!)
When I had the top pieced I felt that something was missing, so I grabbed a few coordinating charms and appliqued the recipient's name in the lower righthand corner. (Ignore the goofy sun spot over the name!)

The back is a kona solid, I quilted straight lines about 1" apart, and used a green print for the binding:

This quilt finished at 36.5" x 39.5".
Fabric is Plume by Tula Pink.
Quilter's linen for the top and Kona for the back.

Thanks for following along as I sewed through some of my scraps! I still haven't quite been overcome by the scrap-saving bug, but it is fun to see these ideas sewn up. I think my favorite projects were the improv blocks from the first quilt and the mendocino pillow, and I can see myself sewing more of those from some of my favorite scraps!

P.S. Zoe was also the recipient of Addy's first quilt!

Don't Scrap Your Scraps! Project 4: Raw Edge Patchwork Pillow

2011-08-10T07:45:00.091-05:00

I think this is my favorite scrap project so far! I came up with this pillow as I was brainstorming for small project ideas, and we also happened to be working on Addy's big girl room.
If you've been following along on my blog since last summer, you'll remember the mendocino quilt that I made for Addy. You also might remember me babbling about some mendo pillows....which I promised to share and never did! Well, with the addition of this pillow I think I'm ready to share the set of 3.
But not today. ;) Today I'll just share this one, along with a tutorial. I'll share the others soon, and once we manage to acknowledge that our little girl is growing up and needs a full size bed, I will do a full reveal of her room!

Supplies:
Neutral background fabric, 1/2 yd should be enough for a pillow. If you want to quilt the pillow front and back, allow for up to a yard.
Scraps, trimmed to size. I cut all of my scraps to 3" sq with the except of one 6" sq piece.
Pillowform - you choose the size!
Basting spray or pins (I used spray)
Batting (optional)
Zipper (optional)

Note: My inspiration for this project came largely from Amanda Jean (Crazy Mom Quilts) and her ticker tape quilt. If you don't already read her blog, check it out. She's amazing!

To start, cut a piece of your neutral background to the size of the pillowform. Don't allow for seam allowances-this ensures that your pillow looks nicely stuffed when finished:

Next draw a grid on your fabric, depending on the size of your scraps. I drew a 3" grid, b/c my scraps were cut to 3" square (with the except of 1 piece that I cut to 6" sq.) It's a bit hard to see the grid in this pic, I drew it on with light blue chalk pencil. Click to enlarge the pic:

Take your background square outside and give it a good spray with basting spray (or skip this step if you don't want to use basting spray). Also, ignore my very dirty patio. (Ewww!) I placed 1 square down in this pic, to help you see the grid that I drew:

Now take your sticky background piece inside and place your scrap squares however you'd like (if you're not using basting spray, simply pin your scraps into place):

I like to quilt my pillows, so I layered my pillow top with a piece of batting and some backing. Pin basting works well for small pieces like this:

Now let's sew down those scraps! I just sewed 1/4" in from the raw edges. You can sew around each piece individually, or sew down the columns and across the rows. I chose to do the later:

Now you can finish your pillow however you'd like. I quilted the back pieces and added an exposed zipper. For a simple pillow, try an envelope style back.
When your pillow is finished, toss it in the washer and dryer to fluff up the raw edges.
Ta-da!

Look at those soft, fluffy edges (you can also get a better idea of how I sewed my pieces down in this pic)! Love it!

Katie Jump Rope by Denyse Schmidt goes really well with the colors in Mendocino (by the most fabulous Heather Ross)! My pillow back, including some wavy quilting lines like I did on the mendo quilt:

Now go play with your scraps! And I promise, I'll do a full reveal of the mendo pillows soon. ;)

Don't Scrap Your Scraps! Project 3: Using Extra Blocks

2011-08-07T07:35:00.004-05:00

This project is another quilt, but this time I used some left over blocks for part of my top. I had a few blocks left from my Central Park quilt, and I didn't know what to do with them. I wanted to use the animal print from the fabric line, but my lqs didn't have the right colorway.
I started off by sewing all of my blocks into 1 row and added a small strip of the yellow kona from my postage stamp blocks along either long edge. (Each block was 10" finished to start, I sewed 5 blocks together and later trimmed that to about 42".) Then I headed to the lqs to find something that would play well with the yellow in my pieced strip. I bought about 1.25 yards of a Central Park print, added a large chunk to the bottom of my pieced row and a slim strip to the top, and I had a quilt top!

For the backing, I went back to the animal print that I had wanted to use on the front. I pieced a few charm squares into 4-patches, set them off with strips of white (just like I did for the back of my Central Park postage stamp quilt), and added that to the bottom of the animal print.

I finished the quilt with meander quilting and the most perfect orange pin dot binding.

I hand stitched one of my larger labels on this quilt. I think I like how it looks!

Finished size just shy of square, at 41" x 42".

Don't Scrap Your Scraps! Project 2: Scrap Art

2011-08-03T07:11:00.016-05:00

This is the easiest scrap project. Ever.

Supplies:
Itty bitty scraps that you can't bear to part with
Glass jar with lid

How to:
Open jar.
Insert scraps.
Close jar.
Stand back and admire!

I got this idea when I was working on my City Weekend Baby Boy quilt. I've never been so attached to a little pile of scraps, but for some reason I just couldn't toss these! The bigger scraps became improv blocks, and the little bits are now art!

Don't Scrap Your Scraps! Project 1: Improv blocks

2011-08-01T08:42:00.006-05:00

Welcome to "Don't Scrap Your Scraps"! I had a few projects lined up to blog about when I realized that they all had something in common - scraps! I thought I'd blog about them in series. I'm not going to post full tutorials for most of the projects, because these are more improv in nature. But feel free to ask any questions along the way. Here we go with the first project!

If you've been following along since earlier this year, you probably saw my City Weekend baby boy quilt. When I finished this quilt top I had a small stack of scraps that I couldn't part with-which is a big deal for me! Typically I chop my scraps into 5" squares and anything smaller is set aside to donate.

I pulled out my City Weekend scraps and decided to try some improv piecing. I had enough fabric for 3 8.5" (finished) blocks. Once I finished the blocks, I headed to my stash for a background fabric. I found some quilter's linen in grey, which paired with the City Weekend really well.

Using 1 yard of quilter's linen as a starting point, I pieced the top with the 3 blocks running down one side.

For backing I kept it simple with Kona charcoal.

The quilting is simple straight lines, which I achieved by sticking a large strip of masking tape down on the quilt sandwich and stitching with the edge of my quilting foot next to the tape. (I do not recommend sewing on the tape!)

I don't know if I love the improv blocks or the binding more! I used a print from the Make Life collection by SweetWater. Such a perfect print for a baby quilt! Finished size is 36" x 39".

Stay tuned for more scrap ideas!

Addy's Quilt!

2011-07-31T01:43:00.002-05:00

Last week I was packing up a quilt to send off for a college friend's new baby. Addy wanted to know who the quilt was for, if she'd ever met the baby, etc. After a few minutes of discussion, she told me that she wanted to make the baby a quilt, too. I wasn't sure where we would end up.
This spring Addy made my brother a pillow for his birthday, and while it turned out really cute, making it was less cute. She didn't want to work on it for more than a few minutes at a time, and we almost didn't finish it when she lost interest before we were even half done.
But this time, she was determined! She chose fabrics from my stash before I even had time to get downstairs to help her. Then she told me which order she wanted them in, sewed them together (with some help and seam ripping to keep her seams straight-ish), chose her backing, and finished the quilt without any prodding! (We left out the batting and finished the quilt pillowcase style.) It did take us 2 days, but I only had to ask once and she was eager to start the project the second day.

For a tag, I wrote Addy's name and the year on a piece of selvedge, which we tucked into a side seam on the quilt.

Addy was so proud of herself, and she insisted that we add her quilt to the package for my friend's baby even after I asked if she's like to keep the quilt for herself. I'm happy to say that the gift was very well received, and Addy's already talking about her next quilt!

Mail Organizer

2011-07-29T07:51:00.000-05:00

I know I've linked to her before, but do you follow Anna at Noodlehead?
She has some really great tutorials, which I find myself browsing just about every time I need inspiration!
This time, I wanted to clean up the clutter in our house, so I made this mail organizer-from Anna's tutorial, of course!
I had some great fabric (Verna by Kate Spain) in my stash that plays well with the Posh (Moda) that is already in the kitchen. And now we are a tiny bit more organized!

I forgot to check that the fabric played well with the wall color, so now I'm wondering if I can learn to like the green fabric next to the (different) green wall. Hmmmm.

Swap progress...

2011-07-28T08:20:00.001-05:00

First up, the Make Mine Modern Swap:
I picked up some fabric for my partner-I decided to play it safe and buy something off of her wish list.
I also started working on the sewing machine cover for my partner. For this piece, I'm taking a risk. Her home dec style isn't as modern as her quilting style, but I know that she likes bright colors and contrast.
I'm going to make a few of these improv blocks and then lay them out and fill in the gaps with more white. I have a couple more ideas for items to coordinate with this piece. More to come. ;)

Pretty {Little} Pouch Swap:

I went back to the drawing board on this one. I still love the Echino pouch that I showed last week, but it didn't seem to catch my partner's eye on Flickr. I'm not sure if she's busy, or a polite commenter who steers clear of the items that she doesn't care for. Either way, I went back to the info that I know about my partner, and Anna Maria Horner is her favorite designer. So I cut into my Innocent Crush stash!

I'm only going to give a sneak peak of this pouch for now-I'll do a full reveal of the pouch and it's contents once it has made it's way to my partner. I hope she loves it!

The details:

Fabric is Innocent Crush.

Lining is from Good Folks.

I used a quilter's linen on the back.

There are some hand quilting and hand embroidery details.

I'll post pics of the details soon!

Max and Whiskers for Max and Buster

2011-07-27T07:47:00.001-05:00

The first time I saw the Max and Whiskers fabric was online. It was cute, but not something that I had to have right away. Then when I saw the line in person, I couldn't help but buy a charm pack! I thought it would make a great little quilt for my dogs, Max and Buster, to lay on, so one night I pulled it out and started sewing the charms together into pairs. I thought about sewing the pairs into 4-patches and including the last pair of charms on the quilt back, but I wanted to try out some new layouts. After a little playing, I had this:

I really love this layout. I think I'll be using this in the future to make a quick baby quilt using a charm pack!

I've been drawn to dense, straight line quilting lately. I also machine stitched the binding. Hopefully the dogs won't notice. ;)

Such cute prints in this line!

This is my favorite print, which I used for the backing. I didn't have quite enough, so I added a strip of the dark grey (kona, medium grey) at the bottom of the quilt. I had a picture of the back, but it turned out blurry. Now that the quilt has been in use for a few days, it's too full of dog hair to try getting another picture!

Max and Buster are enjoying the quilt-it makes for a comfy alternative to the hard wood floors. And we've been using it to protect the seat of our new leather chair, as well!

Some more Little Birdie Stitches!

2011-07-25T07:44:00.000-05:00

As usual, I haven't been keeping up well with these blocks. I just finished June and July, and the calendar is about ready to flip to August!
When I first started this block of the month, I stitched my blocks exactly as Little Miss Shabby stitched the samples. But as time has gone on, I'm getting brave about altering the designs slightly. Sometimes I simply omit details to keep the design simple (and quicker to hand stitch!), and in the case of the June block I did quite a bit of personalizing for this quilt's future recipient! I'm going to keep my June block under wraps for awhile longer, just in case the recipient stops by my blog.
I can still show my July block, though!

Details!

(Click any photo to enlarge.)
And now, I will sit back and wait for August. :)

Farmer's Wife Blocks

2011-07-24T08:10:00.000-05:00

I know I haven't blogged about these recently, but I'm still sewing away! I have 14 blocks finished right now, so I think I'm pretty close to caught up with the group. I've decided to work on them at my own pace, rather than feel pressured to keep up. I also decided to work through the solids and fq set that I have, without stressing over how I will have enough fabric for all of the blocks. I may end up with a table topper, a lap quilt, or a bed quilt. Only time will tell. ;)
So, about those blocks! Here's what I've got finished at this point:

Blocks, left to right:
Row 1: Attic Windows, Autumn Tints, Basket, Basket Weave (I used an alternate layout from what's in the book)
Row 2: Bat Wing, Big Dipper, Birds in the Air
Row 3: Broken Sugar Bowl, Bow Tie, Box, Butterfly at the Crossing
Row 4: Buckwheat, Bouquet, Broken Dishes

Details:
Fabric is Holiday Happy by Monica Solorio-Snow (Happy Zombie!)
Solids are from the lqs, various manufacturers
Flickr group for Farmer's Wife Quilt Along

I'm really happy with how these blocks look when they are all together!

Pretty {Little} Pouch Swap - finished?

2011-07-22T01:33:00.000-05:00

It took me awhile to get going on this pouch, because I was worried about what my partner would like to receive. But as soon as I got started, the pouch came together quickly! It looks a lot like I imagined, and I hope it's something that my partner likes. I'm anxious to see what the swap members say about the photos!
The pouch front, with zig zags!

Zig zag details:

The back:

Detail on the back:

Lined with sun spots:

The main print is Echino.
I used scraps of Amy Butler, Valorie Wells, and Erin McMorris for the details. The blue/green print is a cross weave by Moda.
Finished size is 7" tall x 12" wide.
I have my fingers crossed that the swap members, and most importantly my partner, like what I've made! In the mean time, I have a few other ideas. And I think I'll sew up a little something extra to put in the pouch. :)

Pretty {Little} Pouch Swap!

2011-07-20T01:33:00.000-05:00

My partner for this swap reminds me a lot of myself. Her mosaic is full of images that I adore, and she seems to love so many fabrics and styles! I pulled these fabrics based on a few things from her mosaic, and I have a couple of design ideas. What do you see when you look at this stack?

I thought some colorful zig zags would be fun, paired with some chunks of Echino and maybe a bit of hand quilting?

MMM Swap

2011-07-19T01:25:00.001-05:00

The Make Mine Modern swap includes a fabric swap AND a handmade item swap-the best of both worlds!

I pulled these fabrics for my partner's handmade item. Paired with a white background, I think they could make a fun sewing machine cover. What do you think?
(Grey and black prints are "WordPlay" by Michele DAmore. Green print is "Summer Dayz" by RJR Fabrics.)

I also have this stack. My partner seems to favor bright, springy prints right now. I think these fit the bill! I held off on prewashing these, because most people like to receive their fabric unwashed. But if my partner doesn't seem crazy about these, I'll just have to head back to the lqs. ;)

Summer Swaps!

2011-07-17T01:24:00.000-05:00

In the past, I never felt that I could join in a swap. We were so busy moving, unpacking, repacking, moving, etc. So I was really excited to catch a few swaps when they were still open for participants!

I was lucky enough to score a spot in the 2nd round of the Pretty {Little} Pouch swap and the Make Mine Modern swap!

Here's my inspiration mosaic for the Pretty {Little} Pouch swap:

See this link for photo credits.

And my Make Mine Modern swap mosaic:

Photo credits here.

I have some fabrics pulled as possibilities for my end of the swaps, and I think I have some good ideas of what to make. More soon!

A castle for the unicorn

2011-07-13T07:54:00.000-05:00

For Addy's birthday, she received a cute unicorn pillow pet pee-wee (like the originals, but smaller!) from a good friend. Addy has wanted a pillow pet ever since they popped up everywhere last year, so this was a really special surprise for her.
Soon after the party Addy tried to explain to me that her unicorn needed a castle. I think she might have been confused by another brand of stuffed toy that was a unicorn that folded up into a castle? Either way, I thought it made sense for the unicorn to have a castle. If only I had the ambition to create a castle pattern. ;)
Instead, I remembered this min-tent pattern that I had bookmarked a few months ago. Plus I had some castle fabric....so with a little imagination, we have a castle-tent!

I added a "drawbridge" which closed with the help of a little velcro.

I over-estimated the size of the mini-tent (emphasis on the mini!), but unicorn does fit. We'll just have to keep her away from the powdered sugar donuts. ;)

I added my label to the back.

Here's the tent all closed up, with unicorn safely tucked inside!

Fabric is Castle Peeps by Lizzy House. (Did you catch the castle people inside the tent? You can see them best in the first picture.) The finished tent measures about 11" square at the base.
The tutorial calls for faucet connectors to use as tent poles. I sent Matt for those, and he came back with something slightly different. It seems to be working well, though!

Birthday party in a weekend!

2011-07-11T07:08:00.000-05:00

Having just moved here, Addy doesn't have any little friends yet. But she really wanted a birthday party, and how do you say know to that?!? So in less than 3 days I made some quick decisions about what to make, buy, cook, etc. and had everything ready just in time for a few guests (yay for Matt's work friends and neighbors!).
Addy's favorite color is pink, and we found some pink and purple tissue paper to decorate with. So I spent the night before the party making this tablerunner:

Matt helped out my making all of the tissue paper pom-poms:

They make the room so festive!

Then I whipped up a few goodie bags for the kids. (No pink here! Boy bags were made from an Echino print with airplanes and girl bags were made from a FFAII print.)

Inside the bags I put a pencil, a snack bag, and a "kiddie portfolio" that holds crayons, paper, chalk, and a small chalk board:

I also picked up some beads and string for the big kids, and a safe toy for the little ones.
Toss in a little bit of grilling, some store-bought cupcakes, and some new toys to open, and we had a great party!
Happy 4th Birthday, Addy!

I spy winner!

2011-07-08T03:11:00.000-05:00

According to random.org, the winner is....

Commenter #16, If Toys Could Talk!

I've sent you an email! Please get back to me with your shipping address.

Thanks to everyone for joining in, I'm not sure how to top the interest from this giveaway next month, but I'll try!

I guess I love a challenge!

2011-07-06T07:28:00.001-05:00

Don't forget to head over here for the July giveaway!

When we moved to Seattle, we sold our living room furniture. Shortly after we got here, we started searching for a couch. We told ourselves that we'd buy something cheap, but we should have known better. We ended up at a really nice furniture store down by Pike Place, where we were drooling over a new leather couch. We've had 2 leather couches in the past, and we love them because they are so comfy and easy to clean! But we didn't really want to spend a fortune on a new couch when we just spent so much on the move.
The sales woman told us about a lavender couch that they had in the outlet store, so with nothing to lose we headed over there. The couch was most definitely lavender. But also oh-so-comfy! And such nice leather. So we bought it. Yep, we bought a lavender couch. I talked myself into it by claiming that I could beat this home dec challenge!
I decided to sort of ignore the color of the couch and treat it like a neutral. I went to my stash and found some Sugar Pop, which was perfect with it's subtle purple elements.
I started off planning to make very simple pillows with a flange, like this one (minus the awesome hexagons). So I headed to the basement around 11pm to "whip up" a few simple pillows. But I couldn't leave good enough alone! So I added some ruffles, a bound edge, and a hidden zipper. Several hours later, I had 2 pretty pillows!

(I love how my Central Park quilt looks on the couch, too!)

For this pillow, I sewed a tube of the coordinating print, turned it right side out, and ruffled it with my ruffler foot before adding it to the pillow front.

To make the accent on the second pillow, I cut a wide piece of the coordinating print, pressed the long edges under about 1/4", then ruffled each long edge with my ruffler foot. I sewed the ruffled piece down on the pillow along each long edge, and then went back and sewed a few lines down the middle, alternating the direction that I sewed to create more texture.

Simple ruffle:

Textured panel:

Label!

I used an invisible zipper, which I also hid under a 3/4" flap to protect the couch from the metal zipper pull.

This last weekend we decided to head back to the same furniture store to catch the tail end of their anniversary sale. We found a grey chair and couldn't pass it up! It's so comfy, it was a great price, and it was the last one so we got to take it home that day! It even looks great with the pillows.

A few details about the room... The walls are a very light blue. We have a few cream accent pieces, so I didn't want white or cream walls.
The coffee table is from the same store, below there's a better picture of it. The two ends are upholstered in leather, and they flip up to store things. The center area is wooden. It's the perfect ottoman/coffee table combo!

I just ordered some cute new Erin McMorris fabric from here to make one of these fun gum drop pillows. I'll update with some pics when I have the pillow done! I'm trying to mix a few fabric lines so that the living room doesn't look too matchy matchy. :)

I Spy....the July Pay It Forward giveaway!

2011-07-04T07:29:00.001-05:00

Thanks to everyone who entered, this giveaway is now closed! Stop back in August for another Pay It Forward giveaway.

Did I ever mention that I hate odd shaped fabric scraps? I cut all of my scraps into 5" squares. Anything smaller than that is put in a bag, which I usually pass along to a scrap-loving friend.
For the July giveaway, I sorted through my scrap charms and chose 2 sets of 25 charm squares. I focused on pieces that would work well for an I Spy quilt:

The two sets are identical, and I tried to chose an equal amount of boy and girl prints. Keep one and share one with a friend!
To enter the giveaway, just leave me a comment! I will leave comments open until Thursday, July 7th. Winner will be announced on Friday, July 8th!
International peeps are welcome to enter!

Thanks, Moda!

2011-06-30T07:19:00.000-05:00

When I bought my jelly roll for the Postage Stamp Quilt Along, I found 2 bad strips in the bunch. One of them looked to have come from the end of the bolt, so 1 long edge was jagged and clearly not 2.5" wide. The other strip had several folds in it, so the width varied along the strip.
It just happened the the jelly roll I chose had 42 strips in it, and I only needed 40. So I set the 2 bad strips aside and got sewing. One day I remembered to take a picture of the strips, and I sent it on to Moda customer service. I didn't expect anything to come of it, but I wanted to tell them about the issue.
Well, within hours I had a rely to my email, with an offer to send me a complimentary jelly roll!
A few days later my package arrived, and I was SO excited to find this inside:

I *adore* this fabric line. I even have a charm pack tucked away, waiting for an idea to strike me. So now it looks like I will have even more to play with!
I was really impressed with the customer service at Moda, and I felt that they went above and beyond. Thank You, Moda!

Oh the places you'll go!

2011-06-29T13:13:00.001-05:00

A few weeks ago I found out that a really close friend was moving so that she and her kids could be closer to her family. I was really frustrated to be stuck so far away from her, and I wanted to find a way to help her out. She has a lot of local support with packing, childcare, etc. so I knew people looking out for her. I decided that I would send her a fun package, because she and the kids could definitely use a little pick-me-up.
First I ran to Jimmy John's and got a gift card, so she could splurge on some yummy sandwiches when she didn't feel like eating at home.
Then Addy and I went to Target to browse the toy section. My goal was to find a few things for the kids to play with while my friend was busy packing, making phone calls, etc.
We ended up with sidewalk chalk, playdough and accessories, and a few other random little things.
I was all ready to head straight to the post office, but something happened and we didn't make it that day. Then Addy started to feel sick, so the trip was pushed off a few more days. One of those days Addy took a mid-day nap, so I snuck down to my sewing area and whipped up these bags. I made a small bag for the chalk and a larger bag for the playdough and accessories. The bag fronts have clear plastic windows so you can see what's in the bag, and the top is a draw string. They are perfect for little hands!

(Fabric is Dr. Seuss)
I hope the kids enjoy the toys, and they bring a little fun into the stressful mess of packing and moving!

To the library we go!

2011-06-27T08:05:00.002-05:00

Seattle has some really great libraries, and they are tucked in the middle of neighborhoods which just makes them more fun and convenient to visit! After just 1 visit I knew that Addy needed a library bag-somewhere to store her library books, the receipt with the due date, and her library card. So I filed that in the back of my mind.
The a few days later we were wandering through JoAnn's and I found a cute mermaid iron-on. I had no idea what I'd do with it, but I knew Addy would love it.
Later when I was perusing my fabric stash for bag options, I remembered a cute pirate/hula girl print that I had been saving. Luckily Addy loved the print, too! I got to work finding some coordinates, and ultimately decided to pick up the pink polka dot from JoAnn's. Pattern is a freebie tutorial from Anna at Noodlehead!

For the outside pocket, I added the mermaid patch and some jumbo ric-rac along the top. I thought this would make a great place to store the receipt that includes the book titles and their due dates.

I added an inside pocket that has a velcro closure.

It's just the right size for a library card, and the velcro keeps the card nice and secure!

One of the things that drew me to this bag pattern was the binding on the outside of the bag. Typically I would machine sew 1 side of the binding, and then turn the binding to hand stitch the other side. But I decided to experiment with machine stitching using a zig zag this time. I was able to attach the binding all in 1 step, and the zig zag turned out really well on both sides! I think I'll be doing this more often! (Although I will stick with hand sewing my quilt binding. :) )

The only other alteration I made, which isn't really evident in these photos, is that I used a webbing for my handles. I cut a strip of fabric about 3 times the width of the webbing, iron one long edge under about 1/2", wrap the fabric around the webbing and sew down along the turned under edge. It makes a really sturdy handle, and the handle still matches the rest of the bag!
Now we're all ready for our next library trip! We have 6 books to go in the summer reading program, and Addy is pretty excited about that!

FWQAL - My first few blocks!

2011-06-25T13:27:00.001-05:00

If you're just hoping over, check out this post for an explanation of how I prepare my paper templates and use them to cut my fabric.

I wanted to get started on a few blocks, but I don't yet have the solids that I plan to use. My plan is to work through the blocks in numberical order beginning with #1, but I chose #1 and #3 as my first two blocks because I wasn't using solids in either of them.
Left: #1, Attic Windows
Right: #3, Basket Weave (I arranged my fabrics in a different order than in the book)

It was really fun to make these little guys (6.5" unfinished), and I love, love, love this fabric line. I'm hoping to stretch the 25 fat quarters along with solids to make the queen size quilt for our bed. The idea of a Christmas bed quilt just makes me so happy!

Fabric is Holiday Happy by Monica Solorio-Snow (Happy Zombie) for Lecien.

Farmer's Wife QAL - Using templates!

2011-06-24T13:01:00.004-05:00

I seriously considered ditching the templates and working out the math for each block as I go along. I love math, and I know that my work is more accurate when I rotary cut my pieces. But I wanted to keep in the spirit of this project, so I'm using the templates from the book. I hand pieced and quilted my first quilt using templates, so this process isn't new to me.

This time around, I am using my rotary cutter to cut around the templates and I'm machine piecing my blocks. I thought I'd share the process that I use, first I will go through how I prep my templates:

Supplies:

Thin Cardboard (i.e. cereal boxes)

Spray Adhesive

Templates*

Rotary Cutter - it's best to use a separate blade for paper

Ruler

*A member of the FWQAL flickr group graciously combined all of the book templates onto 15 pages. I used these templates printed at 100% and they are measuring up great! If you need help finding the template document in flickr, let me know. This is not meant to be a substitute for purchasing the book, however. :)

Start by spraying one side of the cardboard with the spray adhesive (I think the templates stick best to the unprinted side of the cardboard). I did this outside. Some people spray the templates and stick them down. I hate getting the adhesive on my fingers, b/c it is tough to get off. So I spray the cardboard!
Take the cardboard inside and lay your templates out. I don't like to lay any of my templates over the folds in the cardboard. As you lay each piece down, smooth it over with your finger. If there are bumps or wrinkles, you can pull the piece back up and try again. I find it pretty easy to smooth out the bumps without pulling the pieces back up, though.

Wait a few minutes before cutting the templates with your rotary cutter, that will minimize the adhesive that sticks to your ruler. (Adversely, it's best to stick your templates down immediately. Typically spray adhesive is permanent only right after it's sprayed.)
When I cut my templates, I line up the solid SEWING line on each template with the 1/4" line on my ruler. That ensures that I have an accurate seam allowance, regardless of the dashed/cutting lines. (See the red arrows below pointing to the solid SEWING lines.)

In the pic below, you can see where my ruler is with respect to the dashed/cutting line. Trim all sides of the template the same way. To trim the funky corners like you see on the triangles, I just eyeballed it. You can use a ruler, though.

This is how the edges of my templates looked after trimming.

Continue until you have a stack of pretty templates! (I cut all of the templates for my first 8 blocks to get me caught up with the group, and in the future I'm planning on cutting my templates as I need them each week.)

Now that the templates are ready, I will go through how I cut my pieces using the templates and a rotary cutter and ruler.

Supplies:

Templates

Masking Tape

Rotary Cutter and Mat - switch out your "paper" blade at this point

Ruler

Fabric

For reference, I chose the Big Dipper block for this tutorial. It only requires one template!

To start, make a loop with masking tape and stick the loop to the back of the template.

Now stick the template onto the fabric. I cut 4 layers at a time here.

Line your ruler up along one edge of the template. I line up the solid SEWING line on the template with the 1/4" mark on my ruler.

And trim!

Repeat on all remaining sides (don't trim those funky corners yet!).

Now to trim the corners, I don't use a ruler. I just set my rotary cutter on the edge of the corner and press down. I try not to roll my cutter around a lot, because I want a small, clean cut.

Here's my triangle with 1 part of the corner trimmed.

Repeat with the little bit that is remaining. Line up the rotary cutter, and press down.

Ta-Da!

Repeat until all of your pieces are cut, and piece as desired! You may need to use a fresh piece of masking tape after a few templates. If the template isn't staying put on the fabric, use fresh tape. You don't want the templates moving around!

I've seen a few blog posts now where people are questioning the funky corners on the pieces. Fussy Cut explains it really well in this post, scroll down for the picture and explanation. They really do improve accuracy in piecing!

Up next, my first few blocks!

I caved...

2011-06-23T08:30:00.002-05:00

Have you seen all of the excitement in blogland over the Farmer's Wife Quilt Along? The hosts are mrsmcporkchop and fussy cut, and here's the flickr group.

I'm using my stash of Holiday Happy by Monica Solorio-Snow for Lecien (along with some solids to stretch this pretty stack for 111 blocks!). This line came out 2 Christmases ago, and I fell in love with it instantly. I was lucky enough to win the fq bundle from Monica's blog, Happy Zombie. I'm so excited to finally find just the right project for these pretties!

Some of my favorites:

I'll post my blocks as I go along, and I'll try to include tips that I find helpful. If you're planning on quilting along but have a fear of templates, come back tomorrow because I going to take you through the process that I use for creating templates, prepping them, and cutting the fabric.

Now what do ya say, are you gonna quilt along too? :)

What's old is new again - the master bedroom!

2011-06-22T08:18:00.001-05:00

A few weeks ago I was changing the sheets on our bed when Matt happened to come in the room. I wanted to take our bed quilt down to the dryer to "fluff" it in an attempt to remove some of the dog hair (yes, it really does work, sort of). As I was walking out of the room, Matt suggested that I pull out one of the other queen size quilts that we have. I was ready for a change, and I wanted to try to envision the room in a way that would work for any of the bed quilts that we have. So I pulled out the quilt that I made for the guest room in our last house.

Our "new" bed:

A better shot of the quilt:

My favorite pillow! I used texture magic for the center section:

A log cabin pillow:

Detailed shot of one of the ruffled logs:

A selvedge pillow:

Back of the selvedge pillow (all pillows are envelope style with button closures):

In the above picture you can also see the straight line quilting that I did on the quilt. I quilted this on a frame, and I think the quilting may have actually taken longer than it would have on a regular machine! I estimated about 8 hours of quilting total.

I originally posted about this quilt here!

Fabric is Santorini by Lila Tueller and Piccadilly by Pam Mostek.

What's old is new again - the kitchen!

2011-06-20T07:39:00.000-05:00

Two houses ago now I used the Posh fabric line by Chez Moi for Moda to redecorate our kitchen. When we sold the house, I left most of the window valances, but I still had a table topper and a small quilt that I kept on the island.

In our next house, I thought I'd use those pieces in our guest room, but then another fabric line caught my eye. So the table topper and mini quilt were stored away.

Which brings us to this house! Our kitchen in Seattle was a pale minty green color when we moved in. I like the color, but we were planning on painting it something different. And then I noticed that the 3 light fixtures in the kitchen have the same green accent color in them. We are renting, so painting the fixtures was out of the question. And buying new fixtures while storing the originals seemed like a silly idea. So I decided to work with the green...and that's when I remembered that I had a few totes of quilts and table toppers in the basement.

Most of what I found was seasonal, but I also found the perfect accents for the green kitchen!

The island and Addy's table:

Addy's little table with the mini quilt:

The island again:

The other side of the table topper:

A few notes: the mini quilt was made from a single charm pack. I used a pattern, but I can't remember the name (I thought it was Charm School but a quick google didn't bring up the right pattern). I included batting in the mini, quilted SID, and stitched yellow buttons down all over the top.

The table topper was done in a flip and sew technique*. I pieced it in 4 log cabin style blocks (no batting) and then stitched the 4 blocks together, added borders with the flip and sew technique, and bound the raw edges off. This particular piece required some hand stitching because I pieced 4 flip and sew blocks together to create the center of the piece. (The pattern came from a class that I took at a lqs, sorry no link!.) I love the weight of the table topper without batting, and the flip and sew technique is perfect for something that is washed often because the layers don't shift around.

I'm really glad that I can use a few of my older pieces again! As I was packing up for us to move to Seattle, I realized that I have lots of quilty things that aren't being used all of the time. Lots of them are seasonal or are very specific colors/styles and I wasn't sure that I wanted to store so much. I think I may still donate a few very gently used quilts, but I'm also going to hold onto some of the things that I'm not sure about parting with, because I may find uses for them in the future!

*I love the flip and sew technique so much that I just finished up a table cloth this way! I'll show that one as soon as we have a sunny day so I can take a few pictures.*

Oops, it's June!

2011-06-16T11:02:00.000-05:00

The time is really flying by! I spent April packing, so I didn't do much sewing. When I packed up my luggage for the move, I took my Little Birdie Stitches block with me in hopes that I'd (start and) finish it in those few remaining days of April. Then the May block was available and I still hadn't started the April block. I really hate falling behind, so I pushed through and in the last few days of May I started and finished both blocks. Just in time for the June block!

Here's April:

And May:

Hopefully I'll be back relatively soon with my June block (which I still haven't started!).

Giveaway Winner!

2011-06-15T13:28:00.000-05:00

The winner of the Amy Butler camera strap covers is #12, Deb!

True Random Number GeneratorMin: Max: Result:12Powered by RANDOM.ORG

Deb said...

I was just looking at camera straps the other night on an Etsy shop. I'd love to win yours! I never thought of having a strap for the camera bag itself. Looks like fun to have a colorful strap.

I'll send you an email shortly, Deb. Everyone else, be sure to hop over to Deb's blog. She has some beautiful pictures and stories about the fun things her family is up to, plus some sewing thrown into the mix!

Baby's got BACK!

2011-06-13T23:02:00.000-05:00

Chasing Cottons is hosting a really fun link party this week with quilt backs being the theme!

I used to dig through the sale fabric at my lqs for backing fabric. In fact, I worked at the lqs and couldn't bring myself to buy the perfect backing fabric even with my discount! And then at some point I started to realize that while others might not see the back, *I* would! I still go digging through sale fabric, but I also spend more time looking, and I like to use up my scraps from the quilt top in the backing.

Here are a few of my favorites:

City Weekend Boy Quilt

Tilted Tweets

Big Blocks

Mendocino

New York, New York 10022

Quick Trick Brick Stack

Now hop over to the link party and join in the fun! It's so inspiring to see all of the great quilt backs!

How 'bout a giveaway?

2011-06-09T23:20:00.001-05:00

Life seems to have gotten the better of me! I was hoping to do a giveaway each month this year, but April was a whirlwind with packing and moving. Addy and I ended the month in Illinois, and then drove to Milwaukee, WI to spend a few days with a good friend. Soon we were off to Arizona, where the weather was CRAZY hot. Matt met up with us in Pheonix for my step-brother's wedding and a few days with my family. Then we flew on to Seattle, where the unpacking began!
We are all settled in, and we've even started to paint a few rooms. My sewing time was consumed with quilting a few t-shirt quilts that my mom and I were commissioned to make. Once I finished those, I started on some house stuff. Hopefully I will have some pics of the house projects soon. I'd like to have a few projects finished up in the next few days!
So, about that giveaway!

I've got 2 camera straps up for grabs. Both are made from Amy Butler prints with a layer of batting for extra comfort. I made these to fit a standard dSLR strap, measurements are 2" wide by 24" long. My aunt also tells me that they work great slipped over the strap of a camera bag, too. ;)
As usual, the winner will receive BOTH straps. You choose which one to keep, and which one to "pay it forward"!

To enter the giveaway, just leave me a comment. Feel free to let me know what you think of these giveaways. If you have any suggestions or ideas, I'd love to hear them! Or just share whatever is on your mind. What's inspiring you right now? What fabric line is begging to live in your stash (ehem, 1001 peeps, anyone???)?
Giveaway ends some time Tuesday, June 14.
Good luck!

The giveaway has ended. Thanks to all who participated!

Tilted Tweets

2011-05-26T13:50:00.000-05:00

I finally get to share this quilt! I made this quilt for our very sweet friend Maureen, who let Matt stay with her in Seattle for nearly a year while we tried to sell our house in Illinois. As much as I love this quilt, it still doesn't feel like "enough" of a thank you for what she did for our family.

I used Tufted Tweets by Laurie Wisburn as the focal point for this quilt, and all of the solids are Kona (charcoal, white, chartreuse, dark violet, tangerine, papaya, and bahama blue). The blocks were all pieced improv style, which I'm starting to like more and more. I started with a not-quite-square piece of one of the TT prints, and built around it log cabin style, trimming to not-quite-square as I went along. I wanted the prints to appear to be floating, so I included a white border between the print and solid, along with a white border on the outside. When all of the blocks were pieced together, the outer white borders looked like white sashing! I wanted to frame the blocks, so I used chunks of the prints and solids to create a 3" border. Finished size is about 55" x 70", I think.

For the back, I used predominantly kona in charcoal with some printed pieces thrown in. I started to worry that the front was too bright, so I figured Maureen could always turn it over and use the back!

I got the idea for the quilting from Oh Fransson! I just love how inspiring she is in her piecing AND quilting! I am always looking for new fmq ideas, so I was excited to find some new ideas. I think square-ish meandering is my new favorite quilting design! I've also been trying out some different quilting threads, and Aurifil is my new favorite. I love how it looks, and my machine loves to sew with it. For this quilt, I used Aurifil 50wt. Mako in white (100% cotton, of course!).

I love taking pictures of the corners of the quilt. Why? I have no idea.

I also discovered that our new back yard is perfect for photographing quilts!

If I haven't said it enough, a HUGE thank you to Maureen for giving Matt a home away from home.

(P.S. Sorry about the picture quality. I realized late in the photo shoot that I had my iso settings wrong!)

Bloggers' Quilt Festival

2011-05-14T23:08:00.000-05:00

For the last few years, I have been enjoying the beautiful quilts that pop up during Bloggers' Quilt Festival. Finally this year I have the time to participate!

This is a new finish, and one that I'm especially proud of. My step brother recently got married in Phoenix, AZ. As soon as I found out that he was engaged, I starting thinking about quilt designs. I initially thought of using some cute camper fabric to make him and his (now) wife a quilt to keep in their vintage Streamline camper. But it seemed too kitschy for them, so at the last minute I decided on a color stack of Aviary 2 by Joel Dewberry.

I had less than a month to make the quilt, plus pack up our house for a cross-country move! So I quickly got started on the design, even before the fabric arrived.

My first thought was to make a square-in-a-square quilt, as the set of solids and prints work well for that design. But then my mind drifted to a brick layout. Soon I had combined the two ideas, only to realize that 10 fat quarters were not going to stretch very far. That's when I started to envision a brick path, with solid on either side. What better style for a wedding quilt, than a path?!?

And that is how "What Lies Ahead" was born!
(The quilt is wrinkled and wonky in the photos because it was packed in my luggage for nearly a week before I shot these pics.)

The solids are Free Spirit solids. Having only worked with Kona solids in the past, I was excited to give these a try. I really liked working with them! I love the almost dusty appearance in the coloring, and they are very soft.

I intended to use the cream solid for the background, but I couldn't find enough yardage online. I ended up using the Camel color, and I'm really glad that I did.

For quilting, I went with simple straight lines using a thread that matched the Camel solid almost perfectly. (Total coincidence, that's what I had on hand!)

Gifting a quilt always makes me nervous, and this was no exception. I had never been to Phoenix before the wedding, nor did I know what my step brother's town home was like. Had I known much about the culture or his home, I don't think I would have considered gifting a quilt! The Phoenix area doesn't seem to have embraced handmade goodness like other parts of the country, and my step brother's house is very modern.

I'm happy to say that they loved the quilt, though! They even commented that it looked like something straight out of Anthropologie. That I will take as a compliment. ;)
(For those of you who follow my blog regularly, we are officially moved to Seattle! I apologize for missing the April "Pay It Forward" giveaway, but I do have something in the works for May. Stay tuned!)

A Pure Pillow

2011-04-25T01:27:00.005-05:00

My brother's birthday was last week. So when I started thinking of gift ideas, I asked Addy if she'd like to make him a pillow. I happened to have an extra charm pack of Pure, which is perfect for a guy!

She chose her favorite charm squares and we sewed the top in a simple 9-patch:

The back has a simple envelope closure made up of 2 flaps, each made up of 6 charms:

And in the upper right corner on the back I added a little label. Usually I would program my machine to stitch out the words, but Addy was really antsy to finish the pillow. So we hurried through the final steps and I added the label later:

The front of the pillow is quilted in a random straight line style. You can see the quilting details in the first picture.
Addy really loves giving her handmade gifts, and my brother loved the colors! Maybe we will use up the rest of that charm pack making him a few more pillows to coordinate. :)
Happy (slightly late now) birthday, Robbie!

PS Over the next few weeks we will be traveling about and settling down in Seattle (which is also why I've been extra quiet around here recently). After we settle down, I have TWO new quilts to share! I love them both, which is making it very hard to gift them. :)

Happy Easter!

2011-04-24T06:23:00.003-05:00

I made this cute little Easter buckets from the March label crew over at Sweetwater. They came together fast, and I just love the flag garland that runs around the bucket.

I filled 2 of them with a little bit of candy and gave them to my mom and mother in law. The 3rd one was meant for me, but I put Addy's Easter treats in it.

I hope you have a great holiday!

More birds

2011-04-14T18:00:00.000-05:00

Lots of packing (and complaining) around here lately. I've packed most of my sewing room, and I'm waiting on more fabric for the quilt that I need to finish before we move.
So at night I've been crocheting! I still have 2 sets of these left to finish, but they are coming together a bit faster now.

These guys are smaller than the first set that I made, because I did a better job of keeping a tighter tension on my yarn. I like them better this way.
And now these are off to a friend. She's gifting them to her Angry Bird-loving guy for his birthday!

Quilt Race

2011-04-09T09:55:00.000-05:00

I have a finished quilt that I'm dying to share. But I haven't taken good pics yet, and I think I'm going to wait until after the move. That will ensure that it's safely in the arms of it's new owner without ruining the surprise. I did some new-to-me piecing and quilting on this one, and boy do I love it!

Now about that quilt race... A few days ago I ordered some fabric from Pink Chalk Fabrics, and it arrived at my doorstep on Friday.

Aviary 2 by Joel Dewberry

I've been playing with layout ideas in my head ever since I ordered this fabric. I need to have the quilt pieced, quilted, and partially bound by the end of April. Once my house is packed we will be staying with a friend for a few days, so I should have a little bit of time to hand sew the binding. Did I mention that in addition to working on this quilt, I need to finish packing up my house? And then load it into those moving cube thingies? Stay tuned for more details on the quilt. Maybe I'll even post about my "design" process for this quilt. Hmm....

This fabric found it's way into my shopping cart, too. I love those dots, they scream 1989 to me. And since I can never limit myself to buying just one fabric in a line, I went with my second favorite print as a coordinate. For now, these guys are "look but don't touch". After the move I think they are destined to be a grocery bag. Fabric line is Sugar Pop by Liz Scott.

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2011-04-08T18:55:00.000-05:00

I actually squealed when I opened a package from Spoonflower this week.

It's no surprise that I love everything that Heather Ross creates, but I think this might be my favorite. The colors, the little girls in overalls, the freckles...

The only thing I would change about it is the manufacturer. I love the concept of spoonflower, but I haven't been thrilled with the quality. A friend and I have been splitting 1 yard cuts of these cute prints because while I love them, the quality of the fabric isn't worth buying yards and yards. But hey, half a yard is fun to play with. :)

Custom Multitasker

2011-04-07T03:57:00.000-05:00

A friend of mine asked me to make her a custom diaper bag. She came over to shift through my patterns, and ultimately decided on the Multi Tasker Tote by Anna Maria Hoerner. Last year I made her a small clutch from a few Love prints, and she wanted this bag to match.

I love sewing this pattern, because it has such a unique construction to it. It's not hard at all, and the result is a fun, unique tote!

The 4 exterior pockets are great for things like sippy cups, keys, cell phone, etc.

A detail shot, including the flower pin that she requested.

Interior pockets. One side is larger than the other, to accommodate her son's epipen kit.

On the opposite side, she requested a large pocket with an elastic top. I experimented with some fold over elastic, and I think it did just the trick! To counteract the gathered top of the pocket, I included small pleats at the bottom of the pocket. Lots of room for the little stuff that you always need to have on hand!

This was my friend's birthday gift, and her hubby even came to pick it up so that she wouldn't see it before the big day! I hope she loves it, I had a lot of fun working on it!

Happy Birthday, Deanna!

For the market, the park, and anywhere in between!

2011-03-31T17:39:00.000-05:00

I love bags. Having everything neatly organized in it's own bag is just so satisfying! So I cut into my Macaroni Love Story and made these little zip-top bags. I think they will be great for when I want to travel with my projects!

I made the purple bag to hold my current knitting project. I tend to only knit 1 thing at a time, and I've been using a ziplock bag. I hand embroidered "KNIT" on a scrap, then cut the scrap using pinking shears before machine appliquing it to the bag front. The main print is from Macaroni Love Story by Heather Ross (through Spoonflower, no longer available) and the coordinates are Sunkissed by Sweetwater. Lined with a grey kona. Finished bag is 11" wide x 13" high.

The second bag is for my hand sewing supplies. My mom made me a carrying case several years ago, which I used for a really long time. The only thing that I didn't like about it was that it had a flap closure, and I occasionally found that some of my supplies had fallen out of the case.

Again I hand embroidered on a fabric scrap, pinked the edges, and machine appliqued it on the bag front. The main print is from Macaroni Love Story by Heather Ross (through Spoonflower, no longer available). The bag handle is from the same line, and the lining plus the scrap on the front is from Sunkissed by Sweetwater Finished size: 8.5" square.

The other bags that I sewed up are market bags! I was getting tired of the ugly grocery store brand bags, and these turned out so cute that they make me want to go out and shop!

Fabric is Hideaway by Lauren and Jessi Jung.

Pattern is by Keyka Lou.

(Colors are actually more muted, as shown in the first picture.)

I just love these prints, and I've already used my bags a few times. The pattern was very easy to follow, and had a neat trick for creating a flat bottom that didn't involve boxing the corners out (I don't know why, but I *hate* boxing corners. Weird, I know.)

Ahh, it feels good to be organized. :)

And now I'm off to tackle that to do list! We found renters for our house in IL, so I need to finish a bunch of projects and get packing! We need to be out by the end of April, and then it's on to Seattle! If it's quieter than usual around here, that's why. And hopefully by mid-May I will have some new stuff to share.

Someone thinks I'm cool!

2011-03-28T04:07:00.001-05:00

Have you seen the fun awards floating around blogland lately? Awhile back I received the Liebster Award, and now Kristen at K*D Quilts has given me the Stylish Blogger Award! (Don't forget to check out Kristen's blog, she even has a Blythe doll which I'm totally jealous of!)

Now, that award stuff...here's what I'm supposed to do:
1. Thank and link back to the person who gave you the award.
2. Share seven things about yourself.
3. Award 6 recently discovered great bloggers.
4. Contact the bloggers and tell them about the award.

I'm not sure that I can think of 7 things about myself that I haven't already blabbered about on here, but I'll try:

1. In my previous life, I worked in a microbiology/molecular biology lab. I also have experience culturing human kidney cells (different job). Creepy, huh?

2. I love junk food.

3. I run. I don't love it as much as junk food, but I've found that if I love junk food I need to moderately like running. Cute running clothes help, too.

4. I have an almost 4-year old daughter. She likes to pretend that she has sisters and brothers, and any time I ask their names, she makes something up. Like Dillawie. That's her brother, apparently.

5. I started quilting in 2002 when my mom wanted to learn. I thought I'd make one quilt with her, and then slowly back away while she kept sewing along.

6. I'm not psychic (see #5 above).

7. I like math, and I hate history. Math makes sense, and it works the brain. History is boring.

And here are the 6 blogs that I would like to award:

blueSusan makes

Greenleaf Goods

PinkPlease!

Blue Elephant Stitches

Canoe Ridge Creations

Elvy Crafts

I hope you take a few minutes to check out all of the fun blogs above! There's lots of inspiration to be had. ;)

Some fun gifts!

2011-03-24T14:30:00.000-05:00

At the beginning of the year I committed to making handmade gifts for the first 5 facebook friends who commented on my status. They in turn posted a similar message!
Even though it's only March, I wanted to finish these gifts up before I forgot. And it's nice to have something crossed off my list!

I'm working away at a quilt with Tufted Tweets right now. When I needed a break from the quilt, I worked with some of the scraps. I came up with this table runner:

I tried out the squarish meandering fmq pattern that I ran across on Oh Fransson!. I think I like it! Next time I will try to quilt more densely, though. It seems to look better that way.

I also decided to try a table topper in ticker tape fashion. To add my own signature to the idea, I fussy cut the pieces with perfectly square corners. Who's surprised?

Lastly, I whipped up a few market bags using this tutorial. I feel sort of silly for not making these for everyone, since they seem very useful. Oh well, table runners are useful, too. Right?

I love these bags, and I think I see a few more in my future. If I wasn't so anxious to fulfill my commitment, I might keep them for myself. ;)

I still have 1 project to go. I have the idea planned out, now I just need to find a chunk of time to work on it! I hope everyone enjoys their goodies!

The Girl Who Quilts

My Lady Grey

Innocent Crush Dress

Echo Baby

Habitat Challenge

Autumn Chevrons

Elephants!

The last of the Christmas gifts!

Gifts for the M Family

Starry Night Quilt

Gifts for the A Family

Personalized Pillows - Charm Pack Friendly!

Personalized Zip Pouches

Just Pin It

Market Bags!

9-Patch Puzzle

Versatile Blogger Award!

A Mendocino Bedroom!

Potholders and pillow cases!

An Aviary Mini

Another Update!

Prince Charming for a Princess

A cheerful little runner

Ballet Bag

A raincoat for Addy

A quick Quilt Along update

Custom Diaper Bag in Heirloom

First Day of School Dress

A Gumdrop for the dogs!

The Funky Artichoke

Quilted Bathmats!

Baby Bubbles

When voile and double gauze meet

1/4" Bias Binding Tutorial

My Sorbetto

The Seattle Dining Room

What happened to Friday? *Giveaway Winner!*

New hobby high

Featured on QuiltStory!

Pin Catcher Tutorial and Giveaway!

Pretty {Little} Pouch Swap-Sent!

Make Mine Modern Swap-Sent!

Flourish!

Go Anywhere Bag by Anna at Noodle Head!

Mendocino Pillows!

Featured!

A Tote for me!

A Gum Drop Pillow

Don't Scrap Your Scraps! Project 5: Using Charms and Other Large Scraps

Don't Scrap Your Scraps! Project 4: Raw Edge Patchwork Pillow

Don't Scrap Your Scraps! Project 3: Using Extra Blocks

Don't Scrap Your Scraps! Project 2: Scrap Art

Don't Scrap Your Scraps! Project 1: Improv blocks

Addy's Quilt!

Mail Organizer

Swap progress...

Max and Whiskers for Max and Buster

Some more Little Birdie Stitches!

Farmer's Wife Blocks

Pretty {Little} Pouch Swap - finished?

Pretty {Little} Pouch Swap!

MMM Swap

Summer Swaps!

A castle for the unicorn

Birthday party in a weekend!

I spy winner!

I guess I love a challenge!

I Spy....the July Pay It Forward giveaway!

Thanks, Moda!

Oh the places you'll go!

To the library we go!

FWQAL - My first few blocks!

Farmer's Wife QAL - Using templates!

I caved...

What's old is new again - the master bedroom!

What's old is new again - the kitchen!

Oops, it's June!

Giveaway Winner!

Baby's got BACK!

How 'bout a giveaway?

What happened to Friday? Giveaway Winner!

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