Crafty Musings

Another challenge week + pillow

2012-02-07T14:15:00.000-08:00

Amy at Amy's Creative Side announced the latest One Thing, One Week Challenge yesterday. I immediately jumped on the bandwagon!

For the last challenge, I pushed myself to get my Whimsy quilt basted.

This time, I want to get it quilted!

In other news, another birthday party = another Personalized Name Pillow:

Again, I used minkee for the back of the pillow. It has been received so well each time, I think that minkee is going to be my go-to choice for these pillows.

This is my fourth iteration of this design, and I'm finally starting to get the hang of hand stitching the open edge (if you look closely, you can see the line of hand-stitching in the picture above). I'm usually pretty good at this kind of thing, but trying to make my stitches look clean and happy with the combo of minkee and cotton has been challenging.

Seriously, this pattern rocks. So simple, and so happy!

Playtime: the bowling pins

2012-02-01T16:53:00.000-08:00

The final block of my American Jane Playtime quilt is the bowling pins:

Though I usually prefer needleturn, for this block I actually took the time to do freezer paper/starch prep on every single piece. As it is a set of pins, I wanted them to be as close to identical as possible. Doing the prep also gave me a little more confidence with the spacing of everything as it allowed me to lay it all out before I started stitching. The pattern has the pins plain, but once I finished all of the applique, the block felt like it just wasn't finished. So I went back and embroidered a face onto each pin. It just felt like the right thing to do. And I think they turned out pretty cute. Certainly, they have more personality than plain pins would have!

Once I finished the block, I could not help myself from just putting the whole dang thing together:

Woo! After having worked on this project for three years now, I do have an inkling of a quilting plan in mind, but it needs a bit more work before I'll feel comfortable taking the plunge. Regardless, it is going to be a little while before it gets quilted as there are a couple of other tops that have higher priority. So I've got some time to figure it out.

Again, I say, Woo! :)

Woo-hoo, cake!

2012-01-29T21:04:00.000-08:00

Yesterday, we had the family over for Big Bear's "official" birthday party. This year we let him chose what kind of party he wanted to have, and we were a little surprised that he decided he just wanted to invite his grandparents and his aunt and have an at-home gathering. His only hard and fast stipulation was that there had to be a birthday cake. And it had to be blue. And it had to have Toby the Tram Engine on it (who is one of Thomas the Tank Engine's friends).

On Friday afternoon, I baked the cake (a traditional white cake using a recipe from the cookbook, Baking Illustrated) and applied the white icing base. That evening, my husband and I got to work on the decorating. I mixed the icing colors, Keith drew Toby and piped him onto the top of the cake, and then I finished it off with some border work and lettering.

This was the inspiration picture (photo from here):

And this is the completed cake:

Keith did an amazing job! Big Bear was completely thrilled. And not only was Toby on top, but the inside was, as requested, blue:

It was quite pretty, really. I used food coloring paste ("sky blue") in the batter to get the color.

And then there was one last gift from Mama:

Ever since I made the name pillows a few weeks ago, Big Bear has been clamoring to get one of his own. In blue. How could I refuse? I smudged the name in the picture above so as to maintain Big Bear's secret identity, but I can tell you that the letters were all blue. And much to my joy, he LOVES it! Yay!

Big Bear turns 5!!!

2012-01-27T15:35:00.000-08:00

How the time has flown! Oh, my gosh. On Wednesday, we celebrated Big Bear's fifth birthday. Since it was in the middle of the week, it was a pretty low-key celebration, involving just Mama, Papa, Big Bear and Little Bear, and some cupcakes.

As per his request, I made blueberry cupcakes. I found the recipe at Cate's World Kitchen. And they were good-- they definitely qualify as one of the most successful cupcakes I've ever made. Shape, texture, taste-- the whole package-- YUM! And the recipe yields 6 cupcakes, which was perfect.

And, most importantly, Big Bear loved them! (Especially the one with the big "5" in the center!)

Of course, there was some present-opening as well, including a new pair of Thomas the Tank pajamas, made by Mama.

They are from Kwik Sew 3604. Both the top and the bottom are a size XS. I took 2" off the length of the pants and they are a great fit, but I probably should have made a bigger top. It fits right now, but probably won't for much longer. The pants were super simple and easy to put together. The top wasn't too bad, though the collar illustrations were a little confusing and threw me off. It took doing it wrong once to know for sure how to do it the right way, and then I had to scrap my first attempt. But the second time was the charm.

Did you notice the hat? His new favorite show is "Phineas and Ferb" which features a character named Perry the Platypus. Perry wears a hat when he is in secret agent mode. Big Bear was very excited to receive a hat of his own for his birthday. And yes, he wore it to bed that night.

Happy birthday, Big Bear!!!

A change of pace

2012-01-23T08:57:00.000-08:00

After putting all of those quarter-square triangles together for Hop to It, I decided I needed to take a break from the machine and do a little bit of handwork.

Playtime is back!

Snowed in, stalled out

2012-01-21T08:15:00.000-08:00

This week I spent a fair amount of time working on my Hop to It quilt, piecing the sashing. I finished all of the pieced sashing bits (yay!) and started to lay the quilt out on my design wall to get the placement just right.

It was then that I realized that the seemingly happy border fabric that I chose a few weeks ago just wasn't working for me. It just felt too cool and pinky for my taste.

So I moved on to plan B and shopped the stash. I found a potentially awesome candidate-- similar to the first, but in warmer colors. Maybe the best option wasn't to chop it up right away, but I was feeling confident and went ahead and did it. The warmer tones did work much better, but it still wasn't quite right.

Above is a comparison of the two border options. What do you think? A or B?

I called in my husband for another perspective. As he thought they both looked pretty much the same, he ended up being no help at all! Though, to be honest (and I do strive to be honest!), he's kind of right. They really do look remarkably similar unless one is standing very close. Hmmmm...

So then I spent awhile gazing at my wall and then at the pictures I took. Looking at them kind of shrunk-up in the computer helped me figure it out: the real problem is that they're just too dark. I need something lighter. I must find an option C.

On the down side-- I have to go shopping for the perfect fabric. Again. Which means I can't finish NOW.

On the bright side-- I get to go fabric shopping! And really, after having been snowed in for the last four days, any excuse to go out and about is a good one in my mind at this point! :)

Pumpkin pie!

2012-01-20T10:09:00.000-08:00

The October pincushion from the Shabby Fabrics Pincushion Club was from Pine Mountain Designs. The Pumpkin Pie Pin Cushion is actually the second pincushion I've completed by them. The first was the Love Pin Wheel Pastry-- the very first kit I received from Shabby Fabrics. And, once again, I love the results. Their patterns are so dang cute!

The combination of embroidery and patchwork is a happy one. I really enjoyed putting it together.

The instructions were easy to follow and I really appreciated that directions for all of the stitches used in the embroidery sections were included.

Rick-rack on the side...

...with a little yo-yo, a wool leaf, and a button on top to finish it off. I stuffed mine with crushed walnuts, so it has a nice heft to it as well.

*happy sigh* I do love me a cute pincushion!

Shabby Fabrics still has some kits available if you're in the mood for a little bit of Pumpkin Pie for yourself.

Pillow party!

2012-01-18T16:23:00.000-08:00

Recently, Stacy Sews reviewed the Personalized Name Pillow pattern from Kimberbell Kids. Hers turned out so cute that I decided to go ahead and pick up the pattern for myself.

The pattern is good-- the instructions are very clear and there are lots of photos throughout to illustrate the steps. It is true that this project is not rocket science, and I didn't really need a pattern to tell me how to go about making one. However the pattern also includes an alphabet-- capital and lower case letters, perfectly sized and already reversed for fusible applique-- making it more than worth its $6.95 price tag. (I don't even want to think about how long it would take me to accomplish the whole sizing/reversing thing... ugh!)

I've made two pillows so far, both for preschool friends of Big Bear. First up was Nathan:

The only deviation I made from the pattern on this one was to use the minkee dimple dot fabric on the back (so I also used 1/2" seam allowances when I sewed the front and back together).

It ended up about 12" high and 21" wide.

For Kyra, I got a little more creative:

I decided to go for a more square look and use diagonal letters mostly because her name is so short, it would have resulted in a pretty tiny pillow otherwise. Then I added the flowers to just fill in some of the open space.

Again, I used dimple dot micro-fleece on the back. This one ended up about 15" high and 14" wide.

Making these pillows is quick, easy, and a lot of fun (and a great way to use some scraps!)! And the kids seem to like them too!

This week in the quilt mines...

2012-01-16T14:30:00.000-08:00

...was a little on the slow side. First Little Bear got sick, followed by Big Bear and Papa. It was not a healthful week here in the Crafty Musings house!

On the bright side:

I did manage to meet my goal for this week's One Thing, One Week Challenge at Amy's Creative Side! Woo! I am very happy to report that I managed to get the basting done on my Whimsy quilt. I had hoped to maybe start quilting it, but it was not meant to be last week. Maybe this week?

If you get a chance, check out what some of the other intrepid One Weekers accomplished this week-- it is always very inspiring!

For the man who has everything...

2012-01-10T19:03:00.000-08:00

Well. My husband doesn't exactly have everything. More like, he just doesn't want anything. It makes for a serious gift-giving challenge. So this year, I didn't even try to shop. Instead, I found a super-cool fabric (the totally awesome mini robots from Caleb Gray which I purchased from Pink Chalk Fabrics) and decided to make some pajama pants for him.

I used Kwik Sew Pattern #3793. I took his favorite pair of pj pants and held them against the pattern to determine size and any other adjustments that might be needed. I ended up with a size Large and took 1.5" off the leg length. The pattern is designed for beginners and the instructions truly were very clear and easy to follow. And (bonus!) they were quick and easy-- I got them cut and sewn in one evening, no problem (well, other than the problems I had with my own brain, resulting in a massive un-sewing session). But, even with the unsewing, I got them done in one evening!

And they were a total hit when my husband opened them on Christmas! So much so that he even agreed to model them for the blog:

His only complaint about them is that the fly kind of pops open when he sits down. He thinks a button in that area would be a good idea. As that is a very do-able and easy adjustment to make, I feel like I can definitely call this gift (and pattern) a success. Yay!

One Thing, One Week Challenge returns!

2012-01-09T13:16:00.000-08:00

Amy over at Amy's Creative Side is again hosting the One Thing, One Week Challenge. Yay! I love these challenges. They work really well for me as motivation to accomplish something (especially those somethings that maybe I'm not so motivated to do otherwise).

Remember this project?

Ha! Even I only vaguely remember this project. I actually completed the top way back in June and it has been languishing on top of my needs-to-be-quilted pile ever since. The baby I'm making it for is now 7 months old, so I need to get going!

So, for this week's challenge, my goal is to get the Whimsy quilt basted and (fingers crossed) maybe even start quilting it.

This week in the quilt mines...

2012-01-06T22:32:00.000-08:00

There was a lot of cutting and a even a little bit of sewing as I started in on quarter-square triangles for the sashing in my Hop to It quilt.

I got my glue on making some fun nametags for a quilt guild event.

And I even dug out the grandmother's flower garden and built a little more of the path (with kitty in my lap!).

Variety is the spice of life!

Cute and practical!

2012-01-04T10:52:00.000-08:00

The September pincushion from the Shabby Fabrics Pincushion Club was the "Abbey Bag" from Abbey Lane Quilts (Shabby Fabrics still has some kits available if you're interested in making one).

There was a lot to this one-- the flower, the connector, the bag.

It all went pretty smoothly until I went to stuff the flower and got confused. In this one, there is a separate liner stuffed and cinched tight and then you put that inside the flower. I read it wrong and tried stuffing the flower and then spent lots of time trying to cinch it, but it just wasn't happening and was looking horrible. Whoops! Then I figured out the liner thing-- and suddenly it was working just like the instructions said it would. Sigh. Reading and following instructions is definitely not my forte. I guess the lesson is read carefully.

My biggest frustration with this pattern was the gluing involved (the flower to the connector, the connector to the bag, the top band to the bag, the shelf liner to the bottom of the flower). I'm just not a glue girl, not to mention the fact that I didn't actually have any fabric glue on hand, so it was just inconvenient. But it works and (to be fair) glue was probably easier than attempting to sew the parts together.

The best part about this pincushion project is that not only is it super cute, but it is very practical. Having the little bag right there next to my machine to toss clipped threads into is awesome, and the pincushion is nice and heavy (I stuffed it with crushed walnut shells) and does not slip or move around at all thanks to the shelf liner on the bottom.

The Abbey Bag would make a great gift for any sewist. But I'm keeping this one for me!

Bundle fun!

2012-01-03T22:08:00.000-08:00

Fat Quarter Shop recently began selling fat quarter bundles that have been put together by famous quilt/sewing bloggers. Quokka Quilts thought it would be fun to pretend to be a famous blogger and create her own "Blogger's Choice" bundle and has put together an awesome contest for all of us aspiring bundle-makers. Create a bundle (including 12 prints and 3 solids) using fabrics available at Fat Quarter Shop. Winners will actually receive 1/2-yard cuts of all the fabrics in their bundle! Pretty darn cool! Not to mention it is a fun excuse to go browse about Fat Quarter Shop (one of my favorite online stores!).

Since I have little boys, my bundle is definitely inspired by them:

Fabrics included:

Writer's Block Earth Symbols Yardage SKU# 11860-169
Espresso Petite Dots Yardage SKU# 39065-222
Sew Geared Up Golden BrownMetal Garage Flooring Yardage SKU# 0977-4
Mechanical Genius Navy Hexagon Geo Yardage SKU# C8997-NAVY
Robot Factory Brown Robot Connections Yardage SKU# 11533-16
Hall of Fame Olive Game Plaid Yardage SKU# DC5365-OLIV-D
Hall of Fame Mustard Game Turf Yardage SKU# DC5367-MUST-D
Retro Basics Retro Slender Stripe Yardage SKU# CX4844-RETR-D
Alexander Henry Brown Bumper 2 Bumper Yardage SKU# 7463-A
Little One Organic Light Green Multi Star Dots Yardage SKU# 11480-130
Hall of Fame Yellow Game Jersey Yardage SKU# DC5363-YELL-D
Coming Home Pebble Sand Barn Siding Yardage SKU# 19501-19
Michael Miller Sailor Cotton Couture Solid Yardage SKU# SC5333-SAIL-D
Kona Cotton Olive Yardage SKU# K001-1263
Kona Cotton Banana Yardage SKU# K001-1481

It is kind of a funky-looking group, but I really love all of the prints and think they make for a very interesting combination. If nothing else, I had lots of fun putting them together!

If you're thinking that you might want to join in on the fun, there's still time! The contest runs through January 15th.

Happy 2012!

2012-01-01T19:37:00.000-08:00

The start of a new year is always an exciting time for me. New year = fresh starts in my mind. Really though, 2011 was a pretty awesome year for me, and I have no complaints-- so really, I'm just kind of hoping for more of the same. Is that weird?

My goals for last year:

Use more fabric than I buy.-- Ha!
Fabric In: 148.700
Fabric Used: 88.801
I feel like I did exercise a lot of self restraint though. So that's something, right?
Finish at least one UFO-- Only one UFO finished, but it was a biggie-- "Forest Canopy" for the win!
Put together my Jane Stickle top.-- So close on this one... I've stalled out on adding the final outside border (the narrow 2.5" one that I'll cut the scallops from after quilting). But the center is otherwise done. Woo!
Have fun with being creative and making stuff!-- This one was a total win! I have had lots of fun this year branching out from just quilting-- I did a lot more sewing and made lots of clothes, bags, and pincushions (my new addiction). I've also been pretty good about keeping up with our family scrapbook, which I'm feeling really proud about.

When I first started thinking about it, I kind of felt like maybe I didn't manage to accomplish too much. But after putting together a collage of some of my finished projects, I feel like I was actually pretty productive!

Only 5 quilts (and one of those was a little wallhanging), but lots of bags, pincushions, and even a fair amount of clothes.

My goals for 2012:

Use more fabric than I buy.-- Someday, I'm going to actually meet this goal. Maybe this is the year? :)
Get my Jane Stickle quilt basted and start quilting it!
Complete the Amy Butler Style Stitches challenge.-- The actual challenge group is seemingly retired, but I still really want to make those last two bags in the book.
Finish some UFOs-- Specifically, I'd really like to finish Hop to It, Playtime, and (highest priority!) my wedding quilt (started in 2002... as this year will be our 10th anniversary, it seems like it is time).
Keep exercising!-- Last summer I started exercising regularly (primarily running) and it is not only helping me physically (I've lost nearly 30 pounds in the last 4 months), but it is also so beneficial to my mental well-being. I feel so much more hopeful, refreshed, and energetic after I run. More energy = more crafting! I gotta make sure I keep going!

I'm looking forward to a happy and healthy 2012!

"Forest Canopy"

2011-12-29T19:59:00.000-08:00

Hello! It feels like a long time since I've blogged. As you know, this time of year tends to be on the busy side. We had a wonderful Christmas spent with friends and family (with, of course, much feasting!). I hope you have had a wonderful holiday season as well!

There was a fair amount of handmade gifting this year. I gave my mother-in-law the Blossom Bag I made, and my sister-in-law received the Fringed Hobo Bag. In addition, I made a pair of nifty pajama pants for my husband (more on those later-- I'm still hoping to get some pictures of him actually wearing them!). And, finally, completed just in time for Christmas:

Woo! It took three-and-a-half years, but my Prairie Pinwheels quilt (which has now been officially titled "Forest Canopy") is finally finished. As I technically gave it to my father-in-law two years ago (via an IOYAQ (I Owe You A Quilt) card), it was definitely time. The pattern is from the July/August 2008 issue of McCall's Quilting. It is a large quilt measuring 85 1/2" x 109 1/2" (making it very difficult to take good pictures of it-- so many thanks to my intrepid quilt-holding volunteers!).

Ahhh.... *happy sigh* I just love this pieced back. And I love how well the quilting shows all over.

Quilting it was a slow process. I started by stitching-in-the-ditch to stabilize the layers and then did all of the free-motion work. Since all of my quilting designs were independent motifs, it involved a LOT of starting and stopping. Slooow process.

I did the cream-colored areas first using a King Tut 40/3 variegated thread, "Sands of Time" (#920). I love how the weight of the thread really makes the quilting pop.

Then I completed all of the green areas, including the outside border, using Aurifil Mako Cotton 50/2 (in dark green, #4026). As much as I loved quilting with it, I'm not thrilled with how subtle it is. The lighter weight really blends in with the background and the quilting is nigh invisible. For all of the effort I put into it, I really kind of wish I had used a heavier weight thread that showed a little better.

As it was getting down to the wire, I decided on a machine binding. I'm glad I did! I've had enough practice now that it looks good and I was able to accomplish it in about two-and-a-half hours. I do my machine binding using Red Pepper Quilts' method. It took a little practice, and it maybe isn't as fast as other methods, but I love the finished look (invisible from the front, as a hand-stitched binding would be), it works for me, and it allowed me to finish the quilt in time for gift-giving. (Yay!)

On the label, I repeated the wreath quilting motif I used throughout the center and in the outside border. The motif was designed with the idea of a tree's canopy-- how you stand below and look up and see the outline of the edges of the canopy, and it all looks kind of connected and of one piece with the light filtering through it and putting the canopy itself in shadow... you don't see individual leaves, but rather the outline of it all.

Not only was the quilt completed in time to give it to my father-in-law for Christmas, but it was also kitty approved!

My round robin returns!

2011-12-16T11:40:00.000-08:00

Woo hoo!!! On Monday, I received my completed Once 'Round the Country round robin top from Kris. She wasn't able to post pictures, so I didn't know how it would look until I opened the box. Very exciting!!!

So cool!!! I absolutely love the way she echoed elements from previous rounds and really finished it off. This top just looks so modern and fresh to me.

Now I just need a quilting plan. I've got a few ideas floating around in my head, but they'll have to wait until the new year. I really think that quilting has the potential to really bring this design to life. I'm looking forward to the challenge!

Many, many thanks to all of the amazing women who worked on this quilt (and who trusted me to work on theirs!): Zonnah, Adrienne, Anne, and Kris. This round robin has been an amazing experience. You all inspire me.

Hop to It: "Garden Grace"

2011-12-13T21:57:00.001-08:00

I couldn't help myself. I've been on such a roll lately with these Hop to It blocks that I just had to keep going and finish up the last one.

Block 9, "Garden Grace":

Techniques used:

Bias bars for the stems;
Karen Kay Buckley's Perfect Circles for the berries;
Needleturn with freezer paper on top for everything else.

This one was a lot of fun and I love the way it turned out. The neutrals in this one with the sparks of bright color really appeal to me. Happy! I also can't help but feel that I found the perfect fabric in my stash for that center bud-- love it! And...

All the blocks are complete! Woo hoo!!! Now I just need to figure out sashing. Here's hoping I don't fall into my recent pattern of finishing the applique and then stalling out on putting it all together (ahem... I'm talking about you, Greenpiece!).

Hop to It: "Rose Hip Wreath"

2011-12-12T13:10:00.000-08:00

Block 12 of Edyta Sitar's Hop to It quilt, "Rose Hip Wreath":

Techniques used:

Bias bars for the stems;
Needleturn with freezer paper on top for the leaves and buds;
Freezer paper on bottom and starch for the ovals;
Karen Kay Buckley's Perfect Circles for the flower centers.

Frankly, I'm a little disappointed in this one. I think the applique itself looks great, and I love the fabrics I chose-- but they kind of blend in with the background a little too much. How is it I never notice these things until I'm already done? Sigh. Fortunately, the more I look at it, the less horrified I am. So that's good, right? And block one has a similar look, so really, it lends a certain balance to the overall quilt. Maybe. Either way, I'm not re-doing it!

A little bit of this, a little of that

2011-12-10T15:32:00.000-08:00

Last night was my first Friday Night Sew-In. Yay!

I started out my stitchin' evening around 7:00 p.m. with the September pincushion from the Shabby Fabrics Pincushion Club.

I managed to complete all of the sewing. I was a little bummed that all of the final, finishing steps involved fabric glue. As I had no fabric glue on hand, I was unable to finish it. But, it will be ready to go once I get some glue!

Next up was the October pincushion. I got the initial piecing done and traced all of the embroidery designs-- so it will be ready to go when I'm ready for some handwork. (This one is gonna be super cute, I think!)

Then I moved on to some pajamas for Big Bear for Christmas. I managed to trace the pattern and get all of the pieces cut. At the same time, I also cut out another Christmas gift item (that will have to remain a mystery for now) and even got it all sewn up.

Since I can't share a picture of the completed project just yet, here's a picture of my trusty scalpel-like seam ripper which saw way more than its fair-share of use last night. Sigh... two long stitched and serged (4-thread overlock, no less) seams. For I bit, I was feeling like I was spending more time unsewing than actual sewing. But I did finish (eventually!). That's what I get for sewing so late at night!

It was 1:45 a.m. when I finally closed up the quilt mines. I admit that I wasn't working that entire time (had to stop for some snack-and-stretch breaks!). But it was still a fun and productive evening!

Friday Night Sew-In!

2011-12-09T10:53:00.000-08:00

I've seen this button floating about the blogosphere for awhile and have finally decided to give it a go myself:

Tonight is Friday Night Sew0-In time! Once a month, Handmade by Heidi hosts a virtual get together wherein participants all set aside their Friday night to sew. So my plan is that I shall focus myself in my quilty cave with my sewing machine this evening and see how much I can get done. The husband has even agreed to take charge of boy duty! Woo!

I have lots of things to choose from in terms of stuff-to-do, but here is my kinda-sorta priority list:

Pincushion(s)-- I've got some catchin' up to do with my Pincushion Club from Shabby Fabrics;
Pajamas for Big Bear;
Quilting on the "Prairie Pinwheels" quilt (someday I will finish it!);
Other????

Those should keep me plenty busy and offer some good variety. And tomorrow I'll post about what I managed to accomplish. We'll see how it goes! :)

Another bag...

2011-12-08T17:55:00.000-08:00

...and it's NOT Amy Butler! *gasp!*

This is my version of the Trendy Faux Leather Handbag:

I found this tutorial via Stacy Sews and have had it in the back of my mind for a little while now. Then when I went to Hancock Fabrics in search of my sparkly cami fabric, I saw this pretty brown/copper-shimmery vinyl on one of their remnant tables. On sale. I snatched it up!

For the lining, I found a happy brown Laurel Burch fabric. I love me some kitty heads!

This was actually a pretty quick project. But sewing with the vinyl involved a couple of challenges for me. The main one: when I made a mistake and had do some unsewing? Holes. This vinyl had zero self-healing properties. Fortunately, the holes are not terribly visible. But I know they are there. The other big challenge was the thickness of the vinyl-- there were a couple of points when the bulk just didn't fit under my presser foot. Fortunately, having faced that challenge before with a previous project (I'm talking about you, Blossom Bag!), I knew I could take off the foot and make it work. But it is so hard to control and not the cleanest look.

My biggest frustration though was in sewing in the handles. I just couldn't get rid of that funky "bump" along the top of the bag and get it even all around. I tore out stitches a couple of times, and it just wasn't happening (and I was ending up with more and more holes!). I think it was in large part because I didn't have the small binder clips that the tutorial recommends. The vinyl-covered paperclips I was using just weren't cutting it in terms of keeping everything in position. Clearly, having the right tools makes a difference!

On the bright side, at least both sides have the same issue. So now it is a design feature!

All-in-all, a very cute bag! I think now I need to make a matching wallet.

Hop to It: "Enchanted Garden"

2011-12-06T12:50:00.000-08:00

Another Hop to It block:

This is block ten, "Enchanted Garden." I think this one turned out really beautifully. I love the background fabric; so much so that I bought some in another colorway to make a skirt (not made yet, but it's on the list!).

Techniques used:

Bias bars for the stems;
Karen Kay Buckley's Perfect Circles for the flowers;
Needleturn with freezer paper on top for everything else.

This makes ten complete and only two blocks to go!

Saturday night

2011-12-05T10:32:00.000-08:00

On Saturday I went out on the town with some of the moms from preschool. Of course, I needed something to wear! I bought some fun, sparkly knit at Hancock Fabrics and dug out McCall's 4923 (now out-of-print) from my stash.

The pattern includes six variations of cardigans plus a lined cami, which was perfect since the sparkly knit was sheer. I made a size XL and added 2" to the length (if I make it again, I might add a little more length... maybe 1/2"-1"?). I found a black polyester knit in my stash to use for the lining.

Based on the finished garment measurements listed on the pattern envelope, I didn't do an FBA. As it turns out though, I did need to make an adjustment to make it work:

When I tried it on, I found that though it fit around my bust, it also gaped significantly at the armhole. So I added darts at the armhole on each side to take in the extra fabric there. It isn't perfect, but the fabric is black-- so it's not very visible-- and it gets the job done, so I'm happy.

The pattern instructions were pretty basic and very easy to follow. The only real downside was that the method they used for the lining involved a bit of hand sewing. It wasn't bad, though it was a little time-consuming and my hand stitches with the knit were not pretty. But they're on the inside, so I'm the only one who has to look at them.

I paired the top with some new jeans. Woo! Sparkly!

Ready for a fun night on the town!

Hop to It: "Batik Beauty"

2011-12-03T09:21:00.000-08:00

October was so busy that I once again fell behind on my Hop to It project. So I've been trying to take some time for applique in the evenings and finally finished block seven, "Batik Beauty."

Techniques used:

Bias bars for the stems;
Karen Kay Buckley's Perfect Circles for the flower centers;
Needleturn with freezer paper on top for everything else.

Probably the the most challenging and time-consuming part of this block for me was choosing the fabric to use for that funky center shape. I'm not really even sure what it is supposed to be, but I kind of see it as a plume of smoke coming out of an incense burner... with flowers? I dunno. But, as it is the main focus of the block, I really wanted to find the perfect fabric. It took a long time for me to commit, but I'm definitely happy with the end result.

I'm loving this project! *happy sigh*

A little baking...

2011-12-01T21:22:00.000-08:00

I recently joined Pinterest and have been finding all sorts of fabulous inspiration there, including tasty treats like this and this. (Pinterest is really a rather dangerous place... it just kind of sucks you in and suddenly, hours have gone by and you are wondering why it is 3 a.m. and you are not in bed. Or maybe that is just me.) Anyway, the call of sugar finally had to be answered so I went to work and made up a batch:

Lofthouse-style soft sugar cookies! Mmmm... I initially found the recipe at Authentic Suburban Gourmet. But that recipe was a little confusing for me (6 cups of flour, divided, but then no explanation about the division). So I found another one at The Novice Chef which has the same basic recipe, but offers more detailed instructions.

I scoffed when I read, "Let cookies sit overnight before serving to allow the flavors to develop." I mean, really? But it is TRUE! They really were more tasty the following day. The recipe also makes a ton of cookies, so I went ahead and froze some (pre-frosting) to see how that would work. Verdict: success! I took them out, let them thaw, and then frosted them. And they were just as tasty.

And they really do taste as good as the ones at the grocery store. Maybe even better, because I know exactly what's in them. Yum!!

Style Stitches Monthly Bag Challenge: Everything Wristlet

2011-11-30T20:06:00.000-08:00

The October Style Stitches Monthly Bag Challenge was the Everything Wristlet. I actually finished it mid-October, but somehow managed to fail in blogging about it. So here goes...

I chose to make the small version and used some fabrics that have been in my stash for quite some time.

I love that taupe-y medallion print and wish I had taken time to center the design. But when I was cutting, I didn't even think of that. Doh!

This bag is in the "Experienced" (read: advanced) section of the book. And it really earns that moniker.

There were a number of challenges in making this bag, almost all of which had to do with the lining elements.

For one thing, there was some crazy thickness going on because the design called for sewing through multiple layers of Peltex. Fortunately, my machine worked it like a champ. But it caused for some stress.

And, as always seems the case for me and these bags, the zipper instructions were very challenging. The lining is made up of two parts: the card slot/center pocket and the main body. The main body starts as one long rectangular piece of fabric. The zipper is laid on top then the lining is folded over on top of itself and laid on top of the bottom half of the zipper to create the pocket. So when stitching the bottom half of the zipper, one has to be careful not to accidentally stitch the whole pocket closed. Because the pocket is so narrow, the only way to avoid stitching through it is to sew it in 3 steps (illustrated above): 1. from the outer edge to the head of the zipper; then take it out of the machine and open the zipper and reposition the foot on the edge of where the stitching started and 2. sew to the end of the zipper, at which point you have to remove it from the machine and then 3. sew from the other outside edge to the end of the zipper.

In fact, the whole time I was working on it, I was sure I must be doing it incorrectly, because none of this was detailed in the instructions at all. All it said was: "Note: Do not stitch through the back of the pocket." But it actually worked. I was shocked. Really. I probably wouldn't have even used her technique (being as I swore off A.B. zipper instructions), except that the lining is a single piece that is folded accordian-style to create the inside of the bag. It is actually a clever design, but the execution involved to make it happen is challenging.

Inserting the lining was interesting as well (but it definitely went more smoothly than the zipper!). Essentially, you drop it inside of the bag body, fold the edges of each to the inside, and then edgestitch all around the perimeter. In theory this is simple. In practice it is challenging because you need to deal with crazy thickness on the sides, the barrier of the center pocket section, and with lining up the stitching with the outside flap seam (which you can't see at all). It took lots of pins, going very slowly, and then a little bit of handstitching to finish it all off-- but it worked.

It turned out to be a cute little bag. I like it, but I think I would like the larger version better. I'm not sure I'll ever go back and make another of this bag though, as it was a lot of effort for a style that is just okay for me. But you never know.

I didn't manage to finish the November bag, but it seems that JemJam, the challenge host, is taking a little break too. She says she'll jump back in again soon, but until she does, I probably won't start on the final two bags. I've got so much else going on with the upcoming holidays, I think it will be good to take a little break.

The Last Round

2011-11-26T21:43:00.000-08:00

November 1st was the send-off date for completing the last round of the fabulous Once 'Round the Country round robin. Whoops! I didn't manage to make that date, but Zonnah was wonderfully understanding and let me know it was okay if I was a little late. Nearly a month later (what happened to November???), I finally finished. Yay!

This is how it looked once Kris finished her round:

I spent a lot of time ~~being stuck~~ thinking about options. In my ideal world, I would have done some kind of awesome applique something. But I couldn't think of anything that really fit with what came before and there really wasn't enough fabric to create a cohesive background for the applique. So I started looking about the interwebs for inspiration and fell in love with the idea of a sort of "braided" border. I felt like it would sort of echo the style of the border around the center star without being the same.

I got out my graph paper and got to work. My husband helped me with some of the math (there was a lot of Pythagorean theorem going on in this one) and I eventually got brave enough to start cutting fabric and sewing. I actually created the four sides first and then figured out the corner blocks (because, despite all of my math, I didn't want to commit to a size until I knew exactly how wide the borders would end up being). I went with Dresden plates because I liked the idea of a little bit of curve on the outside, and I also thought they would echo the center star points as well as the spiky flowers in Anne's border. And I had always wanted to do Dresden plates (I just love the look of them, and now I definitely want to do a whole quilt of them!).

The finished border:

Oops! Someone sneaked in on that shot. Let's try again...

Once 'Round the Country has been so much fun! I've gotten to really work my creative muscles, try some techniques that I otherwise may not have (like a braided border and Dresden plates), and shared in the creation of some amazing quilts with an awesome group of ladies. It has been such a great experience!

Bear Paw!

2011-11-11T09:20:00.000-08:00

What with Halloween and preparing for Quilt Festival, I managed to completely forget about completing my guild block exchange block. Doh! Yesterday, I took some time to get it done.

It is gorgeous! But, wow, she really made an interesting choice... all those pieces and points definitely made for difficulty far beyond any other block I've done in this group so far. A good part of the challenge was in the directions themselves-- they were nearly all written, with just a couple of small illustrations penciled in (I'm not even sure she drew them... I think someone else may have added them later).

Even though the putting-together of the block wasn't tough for me, following along with the instructions was, particularly when it came to the "paws" of the block. She explained a technique that was new to me, and that I found really interesting. So I took some pictures as I went along, and thought I'd share them here. I have no idea if they will be useful to anyone, but, as I said, the technique was interesting to me.

For a pair of "paws" cut (1) rectangle 5-1/2" x 4-1/2", (2) rectangles 3-1/2" x 2-1/2", and (2) squares 2-1/2" x 2-1/2". You will need two identical small rectangles and two different squares for each unit.

Pair a 2 ½” square with a 2 ½” x 3 ½” rectangle.

You will need to sew 2 sets of these pairs.

Put the units together with the rectangles on the opposite ends and sew on the long edge.

After sewing, fold the unit along the inside edge of one of the 2 ½” squares and clip the seam allowance to the seam at the fold.

Press the seams to the rectangles. This step re-distributes the bulk of the seam so the piece lays flatter and gives better visibility for the next step.

Position the piece so that the squares are in the lower left and upper right corners when the wrong side is facing up. Draw a line from the outer corner of the rectangle through the stitching line of the square at a 45 degree angle. Use a 45 degree angle; otherwise you will get a “kite” shape.

Draw a second line from the opposite corner.

These lines should be approximately ½” apart.

Pair each of these units with a 5 ½” x 4 ½” rectangle.

Sew with right sides together along the drawn lines.

These lines should be approximately ½” to 5/8" apart.

Cut down the center between the two lines.

Now you have two pieces.

Press to the large triangles.

Trim the block to 4 ½”.

And now you have two paws!

Maybe I thought this was interesting only because I so rarely ever use the degree lines on my ruler? I dunno. But I thought it was a pretty neat technique!

Quilt Fest: a little bit of eye candy!

2011-11-08T01:28:00.000-08:00

Mikki and I spent a good five hours last Friday wandering through exhibits and vendors at the International Quilt Festival in Houston, just taking it all in (we spent a few hours on other days too... but the bulk was on Friday). Though I had my camera, I didn't take too many pictures (and that was only partly because I was chastised for taking a picture in a no-photo zone... oops!-- but I deleted that one right away). There is just so much to look at that pictures tend to be an afterthought. And it is often very crowded, so getting a decent shot can be very challenging. But I do have a little bit of eye candy to share (I've also included the artist information in each photo):

Bouquet by Keiko Morihiro-- all those tiny little bricks in the border? Each and every one was hand appliqued. Gorgeous, meticulous work. Truly.

An Unexpected Pleasure by Nancy Arseneault-- not sure what to do with those orphan blocks you have laying about? Well, this quilter found inspiration in many places and then took hers to the next level. Gorgeous!

Happy Birthday by Harumi Asada-- sappy mama that I am, this quilt actually brought tears to my eyes. Such a beautiful tribute to her granddaughter (I just love how the quilter integrated the photos through the design). And look-- there's Mikki! Hi, Mikki!

Alpha Quilt by Becky A. Grover-- how fun is this quilt? I just love the quilting in this. Such an awesome idea and beautifully executed.

B.S. I Love You by Janet Stone-- the look of this quilt really appealed to me. The applique is gorgeous. And that checkered background? Pieced. Lots and lots of little squares. Totally awesome.

Portland Reflection by Gay Ousley-- this is one I could just look at all day. Peaceful, harmonious, beautiful... I love it.

Sometimes we were in awe, sometimes we felt woefully inadequate-- but at all times, we were inspired. It was fabulous! We didn't see everything, but I think we both felt like we got a great view of much of what was available. And, best of all, I got to reconnect with my friend. It was an awesome adventure.

Escape to Quilt Festival!

2011-11-07T21:52:00.000-08:00

Because of my wonderful friend Mikki (who proposed the adventure) and my incredibly wonderful husband (who willingly took three days off from work to watch the boys), I had the opportunity to attend the annual International Quilt Festival in Houston. Holy cow!!! How insanely lucky am I???

I arrived in Houston on Wednesday afternoon, just in time for a few Mexican Martinis with Mikki followed by Preview Night (when class enrollees are allowed a sneak peek at festival exhibits and shopping before it is open to the public).

Our self portrait:

On Thursday, I attended two classes. The morning class was "A Fine Line: Creating the Quilting Design" with Melody Crust. It was kind of a brainstorming class wherein participants hung their quilts on the wall and Melody led discussion on quilting options and various design considerations. I'm kind of kicking myself that I didn't have a top to hang too! (But I opted to have a less full suitcase that I could fill with goodies on the way home.) Then in the afternoon I attended another class with Melody, "Borders: The Final Chapter." It was another collaborative discussion class where people brought their projects and Melody led discussion on border options and considerations. Again, it was a great class (and, again, I was kicking myself for not having a top to hang on the wall!). Having those real-life examples and hearing so many perspectives was great for fueling my own creativity. It is funny-- I kind of justified the classes I took with the thought that Festival would allow me to take classes with teachers who I would never otherwise have an opportunity to see. Imagine my surprise when I learned that the teacher for both classes happens to be from Seattle. Ha! Still, I'm so glad I had the chance to take them, because they really were great. After classes ended on Thursday, we only had a couple of hours to wander around Festival-- but we took full advantage of it!

My last class was on Friday morning, "Wool Felt Applique" with Cynthia Regone. It was AWESOME! All of my questions about working with wool (and wool felt) were answered, the class included a super cute project, and it was just plain fun. Immediately after class, I went downstairs and bought some wool. And a few other things as well...

I didn't go too crazy-- some fun patterns, some gorgeous wool and wool felt, a new thimble. My biggest splurge was on those cones of King Tut thread (I love quilting with that stuff!).

There were also many amazing quilt exhibits. This post is getting long, so I'll share those tomorrow to split it up a little. Suffice it to say, there was an overwhelming amount of eye candy.

On Saturday morning I returned home to my boys. Homecoming is a lovely thing. I think we were all very happy to see one another!

The Little Merboy

2011-10-31T15:30:00.000-07:00

A very rare species, indeed...

Recently, Big Bear read the story of the Little Mermaid and watched the Disney movie and declared that was what he wanted to be for Halloween. Then one of his preschool buddies pointed out that mermaids are girls. Uh-oh. Big Bear was not happy to hear this. But he thought about it for a bit and decided he could be a mer-boy instead. Phew! Crisis averted... (well, other than the fact that then I actually had to figure out how to make a merboy costume...).

For the bottom half, I used McCall's 4964, a pattern for fleece pants that included side seams. I then drafted a fin shape to insert into the side seam. I used fleece for the pants and overlaid each piece with the fancy fish-scale looking fabric. The fins were made of felt overlaid with the same scale material. I was worried about the weight of the fins, so I added in the gathered tulle on the backside of each to help support them so they wouldn't just flip backward.

The shirt is from Burda 9537, a basic t-shirt design. I changed it up a little by adding a center back seam and seams along the top of each sleeve so that I could insert some fins. Again, I used the scale fabric overlaid onto felt and used gathered tulle to help support either side of each fin (and to help tie in with the look of the tail fin). I cut the shirt extra long in the torso and sleeves to allow me to cut a jagged edge (in lieu of hems).

And then we finished it all up with some fun merboy face stripes, a little bit of blue hairspray, and some shell necklaces.

Now Merboy is ready for some Halloween fun!

Fierce!

2011-10-30T21:19:00.000-07:00

Oh, my...

Have you ever seen such ~~cuteness~~ ferocity???

Watch out! He's on the prowl...

For cookies!!! (Tigers love cookies, you know.)

The costume is from Kwik Sew 3099. I made a size small (12 months), and it fits pretty well on Little Bear (he's 21 pounds and about 31 inches tall... I probably could have shortened it a little, but it is fine when he is wearing shoes). The body is fleece and then I used "bunny fur" for the belly and ear contrasts. The paws are just white fleece with some black faux suede that I found in my stash. This is actually the second time I've used this pattern, so it went pretty smoothly (other than sewing the hood on inside-out... thank goodness for seam rippers!).

I'm so thrilled with how it turned out. Super cute, nice and toasty warm (perfect for chilly night of trick-or-treatin'), and he actually seems to enjoy wearing it. Yay!

A little nail art

2011-10-29T15:33:00.001-07:00

I've got a little something different to share today. For the last couple of years, I've been getting into nail polish. Love it. There's something about looking down and seeing happy color on my nails that just makes me feel good. Usually, I just pick a color and paint my nails and that's that. But last night, while the husband was out with his friends and the boys were in bed asleep, I decided to get a little crafty with my nails and attempted my first-ever water-marbled manicure.

Using My Simple Little Pleasures's fabulous video tutorials as a guide, I managed to successfully do all 10 of my nails. I started with a base coat of Nubar Faded Putty and then did the marbling with Nubar Edgy Umber, Zoya Dove, and O.P.I. Mermaid Tears. It wasn't hard, but it was definitely time consuming.

It was a lot of fun to try something new!

Bloggers' Quilt Festival, Fall 2011: A Quilt for Finn

2011-10-28T09:46:00.000-07:00

I'm excited to have something new to share for this fall's Bloggers' Quilt Festival! I call this quilt "Gone Fishin'":

The design is adapted from "Sea Views" by Kate Conklin Designs. The print fabrics are all from the "Storyboek" collection by Jay-Cyn Designs for Birch Fabrics, and then I also chose a few coordinating Kona solids.

I really love the design with all of it's wonderful, flowy curves. But I really wanted to take advantage of the larger panel prints of the fabric. So I mixed in some of those as "plain" blocks. And then I embroidered the recipient's name in one of them.

As much as I love the design, the pattern was a little bit challenging. Cutting it all was easy-peasy. But sewing all those curves back together again resulted in some serious wonkiness. To get them to work, I ended up having to trim my blocks smaller than her suggested sizes. And almost none of them laid flat (despite repeated attacks with the full-on steam iron). But all ended up working in the end once everything was quilted. Yay!

The pieced back is fun too, I think.

And the finishing touch. I love making labels for my quilts. Not only can I easily personalize them for the recipient, but I can include some care instructions and information about the making of the quilt. I think of it as more than just a label-- it's also a sort of memory.

This quilt is for a baby boy named Finn. Hopefully he'll have lots of fun snuggling in it!

Style Stitches Monthly Bag Challenge: Blossom Bag

2011-10-18T22:15:00.000-07:00

The Blossom Bag was the September project for Jem Jam's Style Stitches Monthly Bag Challenge.

This is a bag I've been looking forward to making. My mother-in-law (who gave me my copy of Style Stitches last year for Christmas) pointed to this bag as being her favorite in the book. So I knew right then that I needed to make it for her! I even picked out fabric for it a few months ago (extra notable because this is also the first project in the book that I've gone out and bought fabric for-- everything else I've made using my stash).

However, despite all of my enthusiasm, September was just not much of a crafty month for me (as my dearth of blog posts attests). But last week, I was finally ready! The preparations were mighty-- I think I spent nearly two hours just cutting out all of the pieces. Then I spent nearly two hours applying all of the interfacing. Then I spent about five hours putting it all together.

I chose to do the handbag style, with the shorter handle length. I also chose to use a regular quilting-weight cotton instead of the recommended decorator-weight. Following Natalie's advice, I decided to go ahead and double interface all of my exterior and lining fabrics in order to simulate the heft of a dec-weight. It was a lot of interfacing. But it really seems to have worked.

Natalie also said that though she loved her bag, she was finding that it was already showing signs of wear on some spots, probably due to the lighter-weight fabric. With this in mind, I went ahead and added some purse feet to at least help with that on the bottom. Also based on her recommendation, I plan to Scotch-guard the bag.

And here's the back of the bag. I love the handle details in this bag. They weren't too complicated to make, but measuring to ensure even placement is definitely something I would recommend taking the time to do.

This is a view of the side. It was a little tricky sewing the side in, due to the thickness and inflexibility of the Peltex. But lots of pins and just taking it slow got me through it just fine.

In putting the bag together, I ran into two main challenges. The first one: the zipper pouch. If ever a section needed an illustration, it was this one. I swear those instructions were on crack. She approached this zipper differently than every other one she has presented in the book thus far. But, similar to the other methods she has offered up thus far, this one is convoluted and far more difficult than it needs to be. Frankly, even after having done it, I am still wondering if I actually did it correctly. But it does work. If you decide to make this bag, I would highly recommend using a different zipper approach (this one, from Bree of My Crafty Crap, looks pretty promising-- I definitely plan to try it!). I think I'm officially declaring myself DONE with Amy Butler zipper instructions.

The other major challenge? The last step wherein one is supposed to bartack through the side panels in order to hold the dividers in place. So THICK! Ugh. My machine managed it, but I had to take off the foot and go super slow to make it happen (many thanks to Tori at James Family Blog for sharing that fabulous tip!). Thank goodness-- because hand stitching that would have been painful (literally, I think).

And here I am with the bag. Should I decide to make one for me at some point, I'll definitely do the longer straps. I'm a shoulder-bag kind of girl.

This view gives a little better perspective on the actual size of the bag. It really is a great size.

If you want to make one of your own, or even just get a taste of what an Amy Butler pattern is like, Sew, Mama, Sew! has a FREE Blossom Bag pattern download.

Lucky September!

2011-10-17T13:09:00.000-07:00

September really was a lucky month for me. I won two different giveaways-- woo hoo!

First, I was one of the winners for August's Style Stitches Monthly Bag Challenge (my entry was this Fringed Hobo Bag). I received a gift certificate to the Fat Quarter Shop. And then I immediately used it to buy this:

Happy and fall and Aneela Hoey... I don't do kits very often, but this one just spoke to me. Of course, now I need to actually make it. More hours in the day, please!

My second win was from Laundry Basket Quilts in their giveaway for the Moda County Fair blog hop:

Wow!!! Winning this one was such a treat because I am a big fan of Edyta Sitar and her designs (I'm currently having a ton of fun working on her Hop to It design). Such a wonderful array of treats, including her beautiful new book, Reasons for Quilts, which is full of inspiration and eye candy. I need to start finishing some things, because I really want to jump in and make that Wagon Wheel quilt (she even sent the templates to go with it!).

Many, many thanks to Jemellia and the Fat Quarter Shop for hosting and sponsoring the Style Stitches challenges, and to Laundry Basket Quilts for the wonderful treats!

Safari Happy!

2011-10-16T16:31:00.000-07:00

I made something! Lately, crafting really has been my oasis. Recovering from our busy daytime routine results in me focusing my precious evening-times on crafting. So I've actually made a few things, even if I haven't found the energy to blog about it. Here's hoping that this post will help me turn a new leaf and start getting into a blogging routine again.

Anyway, I've been making stuff-- even quilts! This one is for Leander, the new baby brother of one of our preschool friends.

I used the "Storytime Squares Quilt" tutorial from made by Rae. It was super simple and very quick to put together!

The print fabrics were leftover from a quilt I made a couple of years ago. The solids were in my stash. No new fabric was purchased in the making of this quilt. YAY!

Being as it is a small quilt, I went ahead and practiced my quilting by doing some leafy vines and some simple curves in the blocks. I think it turned out pretty nice (though it is maybe a bit much design-wise considering the simplicity of the pattern).

The baby's name is Leander, which is Greek for "Man of Lions." It inspired my fabric choices, and my label.

And look! I even had a special helper during my photo shoot. Big Bear loves getting involved whenever I get out the camera.

I hope baby Leander enjoys his new blankie!

Block exchange catch-up

2011-10-06T13:43:00.000-07:00

Oh, my... again, blogging fell by the wayside. However, I think I'm finally starting to adapt to our new schedule. (Yay! ) Hopefully, this will allow for more crafting energy and blogging time. My to-do list is growing-- so I really need to start making time to visit the quilt mines!

But, I'll start with something small: my guild block exchange! I haven't shared for awhile, so I have four months worth of blocks to show you.

For July:

This is Julie's block. Halloween!!! It's definitely gonna be a fun quilt.

For August:

Pat's blocks were super-easy to put together, and have a great look. She requested that we sign our blocks.

For September:

This is Sue's block. Simple and happy. I love the bright colors in the Laurel Burch fabrics she chose.

For October:

This is Tammi's block. The block design is called "Card Trick"-- I've never made one before. It is pretty darn cool, I think! It probably helps that I love her fabrics.

Here's to a productive October!

Hop to It: "Buds in Bloom"

2011-09-16T20:02:00.000-07:00

Oh, my! Long time, no post. Time just slipped away. It has been a busy couple of weeks, what with the boys (yes, both of them!) starting preschool and getting used to the new routine. Crafting has slid a little by the wayside, but I've managed to eek out a little bit of applique in the evenings and have another Hop to It block completed. Yay! This is block six, "Buds in Bloom."

It feels kind of mellow to me. But I do like the purple/yellow combo. I used a variety of techniques on this one:

Bias bars for the stems
Needleturn with freezer paper on top for the leaves
Freezer paper on bottom and starch for the ovals (I don't use this technique very often-- but I really wanted my ovals to be consistently oval-shaped, so I thought the additional prep this required was worth it)
Karen Kay Buckley's Perfect Circles for the flower centers

I think it is going to fit in with the other blocks quite nicely. I'm getting excited enough about how it is looking that I might have to put together a virtual progress chart so you can see how they all look together so far. Maybe I'll find some energy this weekend.

Round Robin: Organized Chaos

2011-08-31T22:23:00.000-07:00

For this round of Once 'Round the Country, the round robin quilt bee in which I am participating, I worked on Adrienne's quilt. I actually went into this one with a "vision," thinking I knew exactly what I wanted to do. (I bet you know what's coming...) Unfortunately, the fabric allotment was not enough for me to confidently execute my idea and still leave enough for the next round. So, I sucked it up, took a picture, and started working on a new (improved!) plan:

The colors were really distracting to my eye and made it hard for me to focus on design, so I switched my photo to greyscale to "see" it better.

At the beginning, Adrienne told us that her vision for this quilt was "Organized Chaos"-- she really wanted to focus primarily on the prints, using the solids as just accents. The subsequent borders by Anne and Kris did a beautiful job doing just that, so I really wanted to follow their lead by keeping to straight piecing, using as many of the included prints as possible while still having a sense of some sort of organization. I got the idea for flying geese from the center block. It didn't use flying geese, but the outside edges of the block had that kind of flavor. I ran with it.

My border ended up being less "organized" than Kris's (the next one in-- if you look closely, you can see how wonderfully deliberate her use of color is), but maybe a slightly more organized than Anne's (the gorgeous fractured border surrounding the center block). Like Anne, I used every print available. Like Kris, I used very regular shapes throughout. I also tried to echo the center block (and Kris's border) by repeating the solid elements.

Overthink much, Robin? :P

I felt so out of my element with this one, wrapping my brain around it was a serious challenge. It was fabulous.

Style Stitches Monthly Bag Challenge: Fringed Hobo Bag

2011-08-30T15:02:00.000-07:00

Another month, another project from Amy Butler's fabulous book, Style Stitches!

For this month's Style Stitches Monthly Bag Challenge, I made the Fringed Hobo Bag.

Going into it, this was the one project in the book I was seriously considering skipping. It just seemed a little too over-the-top. So, I never thought I'd say this, but it really turned out to be such a fun bag!

I decided on the small version because I liked the slightly longer strap that can be worn over the shoulder. The bag is listed as an "Advanced" project, and I definitely concur. Dealing with the curves, the trim, and the sheer bulk of all the interfacing and fleece involved all make for a bit of a challenge. So much interfacing. I think I probably spent more time fusing all of it on than I did actually sewing. And I nearly lost it when it came to the topstitching through it all at the end. Ugh. But once I switched to my 90/14 Topstitching needle, I got through it. Thank goodness I had one of those on hand (because the 80/12 quilting needle I usually have in my machine was an epic FAIL)!

I decided to go ahead and add a zipper pocket to the inside. This was a little more challenging than normal because of the bulk of the fleece that had been fused to the lining panel. But I got it to work.

Inspired by cottage revolution's version, I went out and found some wooden disc trim at Hancock Fabrics. It felt like a great match for my woodsy-themed fabric (a gorgeous Julie Paschkis print from In the Beginning fabrics).

Here I am modeling it. You can see exactly just how "small" it is. Ha!

Overall, I'm really pleased with the bag. It is a gift for my sister-in-law. Hopefully, she'll enjoy it!

ETA: I nearly forgot! There was some trim drama on this one. The pattern for the small bag calls for 2-3/4 yards of trim. That was about 9" too short. I ran back to the store and was able (thankfully!) to get another 1-1/2 yards, and that fit exactly. So the small bag definitely requires at least 3 yards (I'd probably err on a little extra, like 3-1/8 yards).

More pincushion-y goodness!

2011-08-28T20:29:00.000-07:00

July's selection from the Shabby Fabrics Pincushion Club was from Bareroots. The pattern is #200, "Wrist Pin Cushions", a happy little trio of pincushions.

They were a lot of fun to put together. The kits came with everything but the stuffing, making it super easy.

And here's one on my wrist, so you can get an idea of the size.

So happy!

A new skirt...

2011-08-22T19:51:00.001-07:00

Last week I made a skirt. And it fits! And I feel good when I wear it! The pattern is Simplicity 3754. I made view E.

I pretty much just followed the instructions to the letter. They were clear and easy to follow (I was a little surprised that even the zipper instructions made sense to me, and worked like a charm).

I did make a couple of minimal changes, including shortening the skirt by 2 inches, doing a button instead of a hook closure, and using a different fabric for the pocket facings (shown in the picture above). For the facings, I wanted something a little lighter-weight than the stretch twill, and the leftover fabric from my shirt was perfect for the job.

If I were to make this one again (and I think I will-- I really like the simple, straight-skirt style and the pockets), I would probably:

Omit the pocket binding. It is heavy and pulls some, and I think it would look cleaner if I instead turned the pocket facing and topstitched.
Add a couple more belt loops. I think having another on either side, placed between the side seam and the back carriers, would make belt-wearing a little more practical.

I am already planning to make another version for fall from a black corduroy that I have sitting in my stash. This pattern is a keeper!

Style Stitches Monthly Bag Challenge 2011-August's Bag

2011-08-19T13:30:00.001-07:00

I've picked out some fabrics for my August Style Stitches project, the Fringed Hobo Bag.

Initially, I was not very excited about this design. But now that I have my fabrics picked out, I'm starting to get psyched!

Hopefully, I can start work on it this weekend.

Hop to It: "Spring Breezes"

2011-08-14T19:58:00.001-07:00

Since I'm not really going in any order, I skipped along to block 11 for this month. This might be my favorite Hop to It block thus far:

I just love the weaving vines and leaves, the flowing design, the lovely background, and the colors... oh, the colors! Somehow, I just lucked out on this one in picking fabrics. Happy!

All of the usual techniques prevailed in this one... bias bars for the stems, Perfect Circles for the berries, and needleturn with freezer paper on top for everything else. I had a few problems with placement of the dark green leaves (they should have been placed a little further down on their respective stems), but I managed to make it work without having to tear anything out. So I count that as a success.

I'm now caught back up to where I'm supposed to be block-wise on this project. Woo hoo!

Fruity goodness

2011-08-11T19:55:00.000-07:00

These fresh-picked little cuties are Miss Rosie's Quilt Co. "Fruit Salad Pincushions." The pattern was the June selection for the Shabby Fabrics Pincushion Club (kits appear to be available still).

At first glance, they look sweet enough. But both of these pincushions were pretty darn involved. Creating the checkered look required making mini-bargello quilts for each-- including quilting!

Bargello is a style of quilt piecing in which fabric strips are first sewn into horizontal strata, and then are cut and arranged in vertical steps. It is a pretty labor intensive process. (At least for me it is... I am obsessed with making sure all my seams match.)

After those were complete, then I used the pattern pieces to cut out the required shapes, did all of the french knots (there were a lot of them-- especially on the strawberry), sewed them, stuffed them, and did the final finishing touches by hand (like the wool cap on the strawberry and the embroidery on the watermelon).

But, boy, aren't they happy?

More pinchusions! Woo hoo!

Hop to It: Lily Dreams

2011-08-08T09:20:00.000-07:00

Slowly but surely, I'm getting caught up on my Edyta Sitar Hop to It blocks. Here is block 8, "Lily Dreams":

The big challenges in this one were getting the overlapping designs placed correctly as well as appliqueing the skinny stems that had leaves at the end (the dark stems). On those stems, I initially tried using the bias bars on the long part, leaving a larger piece of fabric for the leaves which I thought I could needleturn. But that approach just didn't work at all. It ended up being a wonky mess. So I just did plain ol' needleturn with freezer paper on top for the entirety of those pieces, stem to leaf. Frankly, I was a little surprised when it worked. But I'll take it!

Overall, another happy block. I'm really enjoying this project so far.

Frilly Ribbons pincushion

2011-08-05T13:52:00.000-07:00

The May kit from the Shabby Fabrics Pincushion Club (they still have some kits available if you are interested) was the Frilly Ribbons basket pincushion from Crabapple Hill Studio.

There was a lot of handwork in this one. In fact, the only time I used my machine was in basting the ribbons to the main basket piece. Everything else was by hand. The kit didn't actually come with quite enough beads, so I went out and purchased the little glass fluted flower head beads to use around the top edge of the basket. I think they are a nice addition with all of the pearly pink seed beads.

I think it looks so fancy! So much so, that I felt the need to procure some pretty pins to go with it. (Is it weird that I feel like my regular pins aren't pretty enough for my pincushion?) I found these beautiful pins on Etsy, from Whimsical Wool. It is true that they aren't exactly practical-- but aren't they perfect with this pincushion? Love.

Vacation shop hopping

2011-08-01T15:03:00.000-07:00

When we went on our vacation to the peninsula a couple weeks ago, we stopped at a few quilt shops along the way. It was like a mini shop hop! We visited four different shops:

The Kingston Quilt Shop,in Kingston, WA, is a friendly store right next to the ferry terminal.
The Quilted Strait, in Port Gamble, WA, offered a beautiful array of contemporary designers and Japanese import fabrics.
Karen's Sewing Center, in Sequim, WA, is a Bernina dealer and has a nice selection of popular fabric lines. The owner was super friendly and welcoming, too!
Sleepy Valley Quilt Company, in Port Angeles, WA, was my favorite of the bunch. They offer a range of fabric styles, from reproduction to modern, as well as a lovely selection of stitcheries and wool.

It was a ton of fun seeing some new-to-me quilt shops, and of course I managed to come away with some fun new stuff:

Pretty fabric, a book, a pattern, and a wool pincushion kit (I'm addicted!). Yay!

And, lest you think it was all about the quilting, we also managed to take some fun hikes in the area, including a visit to Hurricane Ridge in the Olympic National Park. GORGEOUS!!! Holy cow. Truly, it was mind-blowing. A friendly couple even offered to take a picture of us:

Big Bear loved the snow!

It was a fun getaway for everyone. I can't wait until we can do it again!

Style Stitches Monthly Bag Challenge: Key Keeper Coin Purse

2011-07-31T19:47:00.000-07:00

I'm thinking this little bag could make for some fun holiday gift-giving.

It is the Key Keeper Coin Purse, the seventh project featured in Amy Butler's book, Style Stitches. I chose fabric to coordinate with my Beautiful Balance Checkbook Cover.

It's a cute little bag, about 6" x 6", perfect for coins, cards, my cell phone, and a lip balm.

It is pretty much a mini-version of last month's full-size Teardrop Bag, so the instructions were very easy to follow.

The only change I made was to use Noodlehead's method for inserting the zipper (which she details in her gathered clutch tutorial).

And I completed mine just in time to enter this month's Style Stitches Monthly Bag Challenge!

Next month's project is the Fringed Hobo Bag-- the one bag in the book that I am considering skipping. I mean, it's big, it's round, and it has crazy trim. On the other hand, I have a sort of bohemian sister-in-law who might really enjoy such a unique bag. So I may still give it a go if I can find the perfect fabric. We'll see!

Hop to It: "Spring Reel"

2011-07-27T23:16:00.000-07:00

It has been a busy couple of weeks! My husband had three weeks off from work and so we've been getting to spend lots of family time together. We did some hiking, took a family vacation to the peninsula (visiting the beautiful town of Sequim), celebrated my husband's birthday, and generally just had a great time being together. The boys have been in heaven getting to spend so much time with papa!

There hasn't been much crafting during this time, but I'm starting to get back into some evening stitching and I finally have another Hop to It block to share. Yay!

This is block four, "Spring Reel":

It was pretty straightforward. I needleturned everything but the little circle in the center (go, go Perfect Circles-- LOVE that tool!). It's taken a couple of years, but I'm finally feeling more confident about my pointy-points. I'm definitely managing to make them more consistent and more pointy these days. Just so long as they don't need to be too pointy-- then they kind of stress me out still.

It feels good to be getting back into the saddle on this project and do a little bit of catch up. With this block is complete, I'm now only two behind schedule.

Success!

2011-07-11T21:12:00.000-07:00

Yay! All the time spent fitting paid off. I have a happy new top now:

This is view F of Simplicity 3697. The biggest change I made from my third muslin was to go from the two outside pleats to a single inverted box pleat in the center (I used this tutorial at BurdaStyle as a guide). I think it looks very clean and is more figure-flattering than the pair of pleats. I also chopped 3" from the bottom to shorten it up a little bit and added a modesty panel (because that V was just a little too low).

The pattern instructions were very easy to follow and seemed pretty well written. No head-scratching moments at all. But I did make a change to the band facing. The method described in the instructions would result in an exposed seam between the band and the bodice (as shown in the diagram above). Since there is a facing there, doing that made no sense to me. So I enclosed the upper seam in the facing as well. So much cleaner.

The fit still isn't perfect. I think I spent so much time focused on the front, I kind of failed to address the back. It isn't bad, but I think it could fit better. I think I may need a broad back adjustment. I'll have to experiment and see what I can do to loosen it up a little back there. I definitely plan to make this top again (it has been suggested to me that it could also be a very cute dress as well with some added length), so the time spent fitting is certainly worth it to me.

I've always wanted to have a top like this, but have never been able to find a ready-to-wear one that even comes close to fitting (they are either tents or boob-crushers or a bit of both...). So I'm thrilled that I was able to make this pattern work for me.

Yay!

I'm still feeling the sewing mojo... now to decide what to do next!

Third time is the charm...

2011-07-07T22:59:00.000-07:00

I think that may indeed be the case here. I finished up muslin #3 of Simplicity 3697.

Here's what I changed from muslin #2:

Kept the version 2 bodice as is (with the FBA from version 1 and the added length from version 2) except I tried spreading out the underbust gathers more.
Went back to the original band (the one I used in the first muslin).
Pleated the skirt instead of doing gathers.

I posted pictures of my previous muslins in the forums at PatternReview.com and received some awesome advice that really helped me move forward on this project and led to good improvements. I'm actually feeling pretty good about this version! When I look at myself, I'm so much happier with how I look in the top. My concerns at this point are:

The pleats in the skirt. I'm not sure which direction my pleats should be going... in toward the center or out away from the center? And should they be closer to the center?
I wish the band was a little smoother below my bust. But there are also ties that will be added at the side seams in line with the band which I think will mitigate the wrinkles there.

In fact, I'm actually feeling like I can take this version and move on to my actual fabric. Woo hoo!!!! Hopefully, I'll be able to get to that this weekend. I'm really excited!

Simplicity 3697-- muslin #2

2011-07-06T10:53:00.000-07:00

For my second muslin of Simplicity 3697, I went ahead and lengthened the bodice front top and the front band.

Frankly, I'm not sure if it is an improvement or not.

My initial response (after trying it on at 1 a.m. last night) was definite fail. But looking at it this morning, I'm not sure. It seems to look a little droopier in the cup area and I'm wondering if I should go back to version 1 and experiment first with just doing a bigger FBA on the top. I may still want to lengthen, but version 2 makes me think I may not need to if I make the bust area in the top section more roomy.

Any thoughts?

I think my next step will be to go back to version one and do a bigger FBA on top and see how that looks.

Lots of trial and error... hopefully it pays off!

Learning about fit

2011-07-05T23:08:00.000-07:00

Lately, I've been in the mood to sew for me. Yay! I recently read a quote that said something to the effect of: "Sew for the woman you are now, rather than wait for the woman you want to be." That kind of inspired me. It seems so simple, but reading it really reminded me that no matter what size one is, having clothes that fit is a good thing. So why wait? Why not have good-fitting clothes now? And if I happen to lose weight (ahem... we're not going to talk about the other possibility), and they're too big-- well, that is hardly a bad thing... heck, that would be a rather excellent excuse for new clothes!

Anyway, with all of this newfound inspiration, I decided I wanted to make a shirt. I have a hard time finding shirts that fit in stores, so it seems like a very worthwhile project candidate. I chose Simplicity 3697.

I love the lines in this top, and I think it could be very flattering on me. And I have a beautiful cotton that I think would be lovely for it.

So tonight I jumped in and attempted my first muslin. My first step was to figure out how to do a full-bust adjustment (FBA). Using Debbie Cook's tutorial for doing an FBA on a dolman-sleeved top, I came up with this:

Then I went to make a muslin so I could see how it fit.

It needs a lot of work still, I think, including a bigger FBA, lengthening to fully cover my bust, and a modesty panel. Frankly, I'm a little bit stuck at this point. I'm not exactly sure how to go about adding length in that area. In fact, I had this feeling that I needed to add length when I did the initial FBA, but chickened out because of my cluelessness. Add to that, I'm not even sure about this top. I *think* it will look super-cute if I can get it to fit my chest right. But I'm not sure. Just getting this far took me all evening. (And then I needed a break, so I'm writing this.)

What do you think? Ditch it and try something different? Or keep on truckin'?

Applique adventure!

2011-07-04T11:04:00.000-07:00

For the latest round of Once 'Round the Country, the online round robin bee I'm participating in, I had the privilege to work on Anne's quilt. I knew almost as soon as I saw her center block that I wanted to do some applique.

I don't have the earliest design drawings, but these were the last ones. My goals:

Echo the organic symmetry of the print fabric (which was also captured so beautifully by Kris in her flying geese border).
Use the designs of the print fabrics to inspire the shapes that I would use.
Utilize some of the open space left in Kris's border to help create a sense of flow from hers to mine.
Make it look cool.

Once I felt I was in a good place design-wise, I went ahead and made a full-size template.

I did it on freezer paper since that was the only paper I had that was big enough. Once I had it all drawn out, I used it to trace freezer paper templates for all of the leaf and flower shapes. I also created lots of bias tape to use for the vines. This was my first time trying out a continuous bias creation technique (I used a tutorial from Make It Modern and a video tutorial at Erin Compton Design as my guides-- both were super-helpful). It was a little bit labor-intensive, but it worked really well and I didn't have to cut a large diagonal swath from Anne's fabric-- I only had to cut off a small chunk (I think I used 1/3 yard). And there is a ton of bias left over (whoops!). So I guess if anyone else decides they want to do vines, some will be ready for them!

I started by reverse appliqueing the centers of the bulb-flowers.

Then I needleturned all of the leaves and the other flowers to the background. Next I added the vines. Lastly, I added the base of the white flower and the bulb-flowers at the ends of each vine.

This was my first time designing and executing an applique border and I definitely learned a couple things.

Don't use so many points! There were a lot of pointy-points in my design-- the leaves, the ends of the bulb-flowers, the petals on the white flowers... I'm not sure what I was thinking there as I'm not very good at executing pointy points. But, they got done (albeit, they maybe aren't as pointy as I'd originally intended).

Create the border wider than needed and then trim down after completing the applique. I didn't do that, and my border is a little wavy because I pulled the fabric a little tight at some spots as I worked. It shouldn't cause a problem for Zonnah (who is adding the next border and has mad skillz), but I'll definitely keep it in mind for future projects.

And the big reveal:

Yay! I think it turned out pretty cool. Hopefully, Anne will like it too.

Style Stitches Monthly Bag Challenge: The Teardrop Bag

2011-07-03T21:13:00.000-07:00

It was a close call, but I managed to get my Teardrop Bag made in time to enter it in the June Style Stitches Monthly Bag Challenge.

When I first browsed through the book, the Teardrop Bag was definitely the design that appealed to me most. I love me a long strap, and the teardrop shape with the pleat just looked classic. So this is the bag that I was probably most looking forward to making. It didn't disappoint!

I made the small version and in the self-portrait above you can get a better idea of the scale of the bag. I went with the smaller version because I have been wanting something to just toss my keys and wallet into for quick outings. Not to mention that as I am usually hauling around a big ol' diaper bag, the thought of carrying something small and petite really appealed to me.

The inside is finished nicely, and has a divider pocket. I followed all of the instructions as written and the bag went together with no problems. Again, I find myself a little flummoxed that this bag is rated "Intermediate" when the Cosmo Bag (the first project in the book) is"Beginner"-- because I found the Teardrop Bag to be much more straightforward and far quicker to make. Go figure.

I took inspiration from 1PrettyBag's completed bag and decided to do some decorative stitching across the top bands on the outside. I'm really pleased with the result!

After six months, the Style Stitches challenge is officially at the halfway point. This challenge has been really motivating for me! I'm pretty excited that I've managed to keep up with the monthly projects. I am truly thrilled with the book thus far and am really looking forward to making more bags.

Miscellany

2011-06-24T11:38:00.000-07:00

It has been kind of a slow week crafting-wise. My stitching efforts have been focused on my Once 'Round the Country commitment and getting that done in time for the July 1st send-off. I'd show you my progress, but (frankly) it's not very exciting looking at this point. It's going to be a close call, but I'm hopeful that I'll get it done on time.

I'm also hopeful that I'll somehow be able to squeeze in another project: the Teardrop Bag for this month's Style Stitches challenge. I've only gotten so far as picking fabrics, but for me that's nearly half the battle!

This project is my personal favorite in the book, so I'm really excited about working on it.

Also going on right now is the 2011 Western Washington Shop Hop. This year, instead of attempting a family shop hop adventure with my 14-month-old and 4-year-old sons, I opted for taking a bus tour with 40 other quilt-obsessed ladies. We hopped on the bus bright and early on Wednesday morning and visited 12 shops over the course of the day. I made some new friends, actually got time to browse in every shop, and had a really good time. I even came home with a few goodies:

I have plans for most of the fabric, but not all. Considering all of the enabling going on, I feel like I stayed fairly strong and curbed the majority of my fabric-acquisition impulses.

And then last night...

I got a new 'do! It's pretty different for me-- but I'm diggin' the purple. Fun!

Hope y'all have some happy and crafty weekends!

Hop to It: "Rose of Sharon Wreath"

2011-06-16T12:16:00.000-07:00

I'm a little bit behind on my Hop to It project, so it feels extra good to actually finish a block. Hopefully next month I'll have time to make two blocks and get myself caught up again.

It's so strange... whenever I'm picking fabrics for my blocks, I feel like I'm picking a nice array (varying scales, a range of light to dark, different colors)-- but then I finish the blocks and they end up feeling kind of dark. Don't get me wrong. I still think they are very pretty, just darker than I expected. That's okay though. At least I'm consistent so the blocks all go well together. It was just a kind of weird realization.

Anyway, this was a fun block to work on. I was a little worried about getting the curves to all work together and look similar, but tracing a very light line on my background fabric in pencil to use as a placement guide worked well.

I also came to a decision on this block. This quilt has a number of blocks wherein there are a number of symmetrical elements. This block kind of had that in the repeating motif around the wreath, but in other blocks it is even more pronounced. With this in mind, I was kind of thinking it would be good to do some prep work to make sure all of the like pieces stayed exactly alike. This put me in a dilemma because what I really enjoy doing is needleturn, which I've learned, for me, is not conducive to exactitude. Then while working on this block, it occurred to me that there is nothing wrong with imperfect symmetry. It is okay to have a more organic look to my blocks if that's what I'm into. And I am into that. So that's what I'm going to do.

It's cheesy, but I kind of felt like a little weight had been lifted off my shoulders concerning this project and that made working on this block even more fun. Now I'm really looking forward to tackling the next block and seeing how it comes together.

A couple of blocks...

2011-06-14T18:44:00.001-07:00

I just realized I haven't posted my most recent guild block exchange efforts.

This was my assignment for May. She included a plethora of different batiks to choose from, and I really enjoyed getting to pick out which ones to use.

This was my block exchange assignment for June. Easy peasy flannel nine patches (she even had all of the fabrics pre-cut). Her plan is to use the blocks to create a baby quilt or two for Eastside Baby Corner.

Baby shower!

2011-06-10T11:41:00.001-07:00

Last night I attended a quadruple baby shower for four pregnant mamas in Big Bear's preschool class. Our hostess provided a big basket for each expectant mama and the guests filled them up with gifts. I decided to make little tag blankets for the new babies:

Super quick and easy, and nice little stashbusters.

They gave me a fun excuse to go out and buy lots of ribbons!

Each blanket is about 18" square-- just right for a little hands.

Three of the mamas are expecting boys, and one is a surprise (fun!).

It was a lot of fun getting to watch the mamas unwrap the blankets and see their big smiles. Hopefully, the babies will like their new blankets too!

Fresh picked!

2011-06-08T11:08:00.000-07:00

I'm still catching up with my Shabby Fabrics Pincushion Club offerings. In April, they sent a super cute kit that included the "Picked Daily" pattern from Susie C. Shore Designs and enough fabric to make three pincushions.

These were quick and easy, so I made all three! Nothing tricky with these at all-- the pattern was clear and straightforward. Though it instructs you to use a glue gun at a couple of points (which I did), the project is definitely do-able without any special tools. A needle and thread would work just as well as glue (though it would go more slowly).

The kit only included what was needed for three regular pincushions. But since I had the additional supplies (a bit of elastic and a 2-1/2" strip of fabric) in my stash, I went ahead and turned one of the flowers into a wrist pincushion.

If you're interested, I noticed that Shabby Fabrics still has some kits available.

Meet Bitty Bunny

2011-06-02T15:11:00.000-07:00

This last weekend was a really productive one for me. Somehow I found myself getting lots of time in the quilt mines. Yay! One of the things I worked on was getting caught up on my Shabby Fabrics Pincushion Club kits.

Meet Bitty Bunny:

This cute little fellow is from Bunny Hill Designs.

Shabby Fabrics put together a great little kit that included everything but the stuffing (they even included the little thimble). The pattern instructions were clear and easy to follow and he was surprisingly quick to put together. Though I will say that turning those tiny little limbs right-side-out and stuffing them was kind of challenging. Sewing the limbs on was kind of hard too. Since I didn't have any long doll needles, I had to make due with my short, stumpy ones, which involved lots of finger jabbing (and a couple of broken needles)... not so fun. I also got to refamiliarize myself with my hot glue gun to attach the fabric to the thimble and then the thimble to the bunny paws. Glue is messy. But-- Bitty Bunny seems to have survived the process.

So cute!

Style Stitches Monthly Bag Challenge: Perfectly Pleated Clutch

2011-05-31T14:50:00.000-07:00

I can't believe it is already the 31st. What happened to May??? My goodness.

This month's bag in the Amy Butler's Style Stitches challenge was the Perfectly Pleated Clutch. The book includes three size options for this design; I decided to go with the medium.

The instructions call for 1-7/8 yard of fabric for the medium clutch. From that, there are only 2 pieces to cut, each 9" x 64". This would result in a lot of leftover fabric. So I decided to go ahead and piece mine since I figured I could hide the seam in the pleats. From 1 yard of fabric, I cut four pieces 9" x 36" and then pieced them together to create two pieces, each 9" x 72". Then I pleated... and pleated... and pleated some more.

There were many pleats.

Here you can see my 72" piece of fabric pleated to measure close to 16" (the width of the pattern piece). And there's that seam-- but it is completely invisible on the front side.

I pleated the heck out of it! I didn't measure my pleats (in fact, the book even suggests varying the pleat widths)-- but I did as suggested and made them small, between 1/4" and 5/8". Now, I've read a number of people say that the amount of fabric is excessive, that you don't need that much to get the cool pleated look. That may be true. But I'm really glad I did it as instructed because not only does it look super cool, but it also really helped to create a very sturdy exterior. Fewer or wider pleats would likely result in a wibbly-wobbly bag and would definitely warrant extra structural support.

In addition to piecing my fabric, I made a couple of other changes in my bag.

One was to add an interior zipper pocket. For that I used the same technique as described in the Jenna Lou Designs Mabel Messenger bag pattern (which I made last year)-- very easy!

I also decided to try a different zipper technique for the bag closure. This design offers the same method as was used in the Origami Bag Set, and I was not thrilled with the results. This time I tried a technique shared by Noodlehead in her gathered clutch tutorial that uses tabs to close off the ends of the zipper. My measurements were a little off, so I ended up sewing over most of my tabs-- but you can see the contrasting orange peeking out at either end in the picture above. Even though I haven't mastered the technique, it was definitely an improvement over the Style Stitches method and creates a much nicer finish. With practice (and better measurements), I'm certain it will be a winner.

Lastly, I used a tutorial I found over at Alphamom to create the fabric flower that I pinned to the front. Super quick and easy and I love the way it looks. It adds that little extra somethin', I think.

I'll be honest here: I'm not a clutch kinda gal. I love me a good shoulder bag. But after finishing this one, my tune has changed. This bag is great: fun design, the perfect size for just tossing in a couple of things and going, and I love that it has a little handle. I'm also diggin' the pretty orange print I used. It is so happy! So much so that I think I'm going to gift it to the friend who inspired me to buy it. Hopefully she'll love it too!

Of course, this means I have to make another one for me. LOL! I'll just add that to the list.

Book sling!

2011-05-29T20:30:00.000-07:00

Big Bear loves books and reading. When he started sleeping in his big boy twin-size bed, we set up a bed rail. He started using it as a place to store all of his books-- he'd stand them up between the rail and the mattress, making them very convenient for bedtime reading.

Last week we took the bed rail down, and ran into a problem: what to do about all of BB's nighttime reading? He was still keeping the books in bed with him, and getting slept on every night was definitely taking a toll on the books (particularly the paperbacks). Then I found the perfect solution:

Tutorial: hanging book display at Penny Carnival.

We went fabric shopping and BB helped me pick out this fun home dec weight cotton. After a quick trip to the hardware store for hangers and dowels, it was about an hour of work getting everything sewn and hardware installed. (Many thanks to my handy husband who did all non-sewing stuff!)

Super quick and easy, inexpensive, and exactly what we needed. Perfect!

This week in the quilt mines...

2011-05-27T11:26:00.000-07:00

My husband calls my sewing room the "quilt mines" (*crack!*) <-- sound of cracking whip. Ha! Anyway, Little Bear is finally starting to sleep through the night. Huzzah! The only downside is that he now wakes up at 6 am, so my late night crafting has really slowed down (I'm just too sleepy!). But I do have some projects moving along, slowly but surely.

Some handwork:

Embroidery complete! Now I need to work on getting all of my sashing sewn for my Whimsy quilt.

Some machine work:

I've started on my next Amy Butler project for the Style Stitches Monthly Bag Challenge: the Perfectly Pleated Clutch. I've decided that pleating is definitely NOT my favorite thing to do. But boy, does it look cool!

And another bucket hat:

This one is for baby Sarah. Her mama made a super cute crocheted hat for Little Bear. I had to reciprocate. Once again, I used the ever-fabulous Betz White Reversible Bucket Hat pattern. I added a little ric-rac trim to the brim just for a little extra cuteness.

It is too small to fit my boys, so here it is on another bear:

Hopefully, I'll get to spend some more time in the quilt mines over the weekend. *crack!*

Stitch Home Alabama

2011-05-24T14:08:00.000-07:00

Over the weekend I heard about this wonderful venture from the ladies at Stumbles & Stitches to help support The Salvation Army Emergency Disaster Services in our tornado-ravaged southern states.

It seems as if I'm hearing of new devastation every week. Just this last weekend over 117 people were killed in Joplin, Missouri by a tornado. My heart goes out to all those in the Midwest and South who have been affected by the horrible storms this year.

Stitch Home Alabama offers an easy way to help, and there's a chance to get a little prize to boot. How cool is that?

If you have the means, I encourage you to donate. :)

A little something

2011-05-19T09:55:00.000-07:00

I've had a little bit of time to start working on my Criss Cross Quilt and ran into an unexpected, but fun, challenge. The Whimsy charm packs included 4 squares of a creamy near-solid print that I had to figure out how deal with. I decided that they would be perfect for a little bit of embroidery.

I went ahead and pieced the blocks first (a la Little Miss Shabby).

Then I looked to the fabric for inspiration for my designs.

Initially, I was thinking that I'd just grab a couple of the designs and embroider them. But then I noticed this print:

The words that are colored are the ones that are featured in the fabric drawings. But then there are all of those other words... why not use them to inspire my own drawings? So I looked to the Internet for some visual inspiration to get me going, did some sketching (LOTS of trial and error was involved for each... I was trying really hard to kind of keep the vintage flavor of the drawings in the fabric) and now I have my designs all set:

I'm excited because I think these will really add a little something to the quilt and make it special.

Time to do some embroidery!

A fresh start

2011-05-17T10:58:00.000-07:00

Because I don't have enough other projects to keep me entertained (ha!), I've started up a new one. Really though, I'm feeling weighed down by my surplus of large, complicated projects, and want something smaller and more manageable (and, dare I say it: finishable!). Besides, I have a friend with a baby on the way who's gonna need a quilt!

The project:
Criss Cross Quilt by Lisnaweary Quilts for Moda Bake Shop.

The fabric:
Whimsy by Fig Tree Quilts for Moda + Kona cotton Snow.

Progress:
It is all cut out and ready to be stitched. This is my first attempt at using a Moda Bake Shop "recipe" and I've already experienced some frustration. My preference is to do all of my major cutting up front, and then stitch. I like doing it this way because it feels more efficient and because my cutting space and my sewing space are not one and the same (meaning I have to get up and go somewhere else whenever I want to do any big cutting). Anyway-- because of this, I really prefer my instructions to have cutting directions grouped together in one section so I can do it all at once. In this particular set of instructions they are not.

It's a small thing and truly a matter of personal preference, but having been sleep deprived for more than a year, parsing out the cutting stuffs actually ended up being kind of a pain for me and resulted in a couple of (fortunately not irreparable) mistakes. Hopefully I'll do better with the stitching part! :)

Some stylin' pants!

2011-05-16T10:50:00.000-07:00

Frustrated by my seeming inability to spend any large chunks of time at my sewing machine (i.e., no time to really sit down and quilt), I have been focusing on small projects that I can get done quickly. These pants I recently made up for Little Bear are a good example. They only took about 2 hours to put together.

I made these using Kwik Sew 3374. The details attracted me to this design: lots of topstitching, the little coin pocket, the front fly look, the back yoke, and the fact that they are simple, pull-on pants. I also really appreciate Kwik Sew sizing-- the patterns I've tried by them always seem to be roomier in the bum, making them great for cloth diapers.

As always, the Kwik Sew instructions were great. But it wasn't all smooth sewing on these pants. My machine did NOT like the topstitching thread. At all. I had the worst tension problems. And it was extra frustrating because I have used the thick topstitching thread in the past, but I've never had problems before. In the end I had to use my extra bobbin case so that I could really mess with the tension screw, I cranked up my top tension to 7, and I needed a longer stitch length (I used a 3). The needle definitely made a difference too-- I used a 90/14 topstitch needle (though if I had had a 100/14 on hand, I would have used that). I think I probably spent more than an hour messing with just the thread. I actually went through a whole spool just trying to get it to work. Ugh! In the end, though the stitch still wasn't perfectly balanced, at least it looked good from the top.

The other challenge for me on this project was the waistband. The instructions have you create a casing around the elastic all in one step. It made sense, and appeared easy enough. But I kept sewing through the elastic instead of creating a casing for it. So I ended up having to scrap the instructions and create the casing first and insert the elastic as a separate step. I think it might have been partly due to the denim I was using-- I just couldn't feel where the elastic was through the thickness of the fabric. I took the long way around, but it worked out just fine.

And Little Bear definitely seems fine with his new pants:

Now it's time to do some sewing for Big Bear!

Angry Birds fierceness!

2011-05-09T20:30:00.000-07:00

Last week wasn't a very productive blogging week for me. A long-time friend came cross-country to visit, so I spent my week focused on that. However, there was still some crafting fun!

Inspired both by Big Bear's passion for the video game Angry Birds, as well as the incredibly creative work of Kristan at Confessions of a Cookbook Queen, I really wanted to make some Angry Bird cupcakes. Normally, I would never venture to try something as elaborate as this, but my visiting friend, Jarred, has mad cake decorating skillz. I knew we could do it!

So we baked some cupcakes (Yellow Spiced Cupcakes from the Fannie Farmer Baking Book... yummy!), bought some doughnut holes, and shopped for a variety of candy. Then we got to decorating.

Using Kristan's cupcakes as a starting point, we created our versions of the red birds, green piggies (known as "Penny Pigs" at my house), and yellow birds (known as "Nerb Gobs" at my house). The Nerb Gobs were definitely the most challenging as they are triangular-shaped. So instead of using a doughnut hole, we carved some extra cupcakes to size. It worked really well!

Behold the Angry Bird cupcake army!

And that's Jarred and I smiling in the background (I'll spare you our embarrassingly bad attempts at trying to look fierce like angry birds.)

The next morning, Big Bear enjoyed a Nerb Gob for breakfast.

He was definitely a happy customer!

Blocks for Margaret's Hope Chest

2011-05-03T11:17:00.000-07:00

Carin, founder of the charity organization Margaret's Hope Chest, decided to put together a quilting bee. If you haven't read the story behind MHC, I recommend you check it out. The way they have been able to create something so positive and good from such a tragic event is very inspiring.

Not only was the bee for a great cause, but Carin also made it very easy to participate: just make two blocks and send them in. Easy peasy! So I signed myself up to help in making blocks for two different quilts.

For Jordan's quilt:

These were made using Cluck Cluck Sew’s Stack and Whack Block tutorial.

For Frankee's quilt:

Glittery, sparkly goodness! These were made using Crazy Mom Quilt’s Hourglass Block tutorial (but starting with a 9" square instead of a 6").

Contributing was such a simple thing, and fun to do too!

Style Stitches Monthly Bag Challenge: Beautiful Balance Checkbook Cover

2011-04-30T12:01:00.001-07:00

This month's Style Stitches challenge project was the Beautiful Balance Checkbook Cover. It is actually one of the projects in the book I was most looking forward to making.

I spent a lot of time trying to decide what fabrics to use, and am pleased with how well my choices came together. I just love that leaf print! Though the book suggests using home dec weight fabric for the project, I used regular quilting cotton. I am very thankful I made that choice! There was a lot of bulk to stitch through at some points (particularly with the flap), and my machine was a little ornery about it. I don't think home dec fabric would have worked for me.

The instructions on this were straightforward for the most part. The illustrations were also pretty helpful, though I got a little confused about Figure 2, wherein topstitching on either side of the center seam is illustrated, but is not mentioned in the instructions anywhere in the lining instructions. So I went ahead and did the topstitching after creating my lining. As it turns out, that topstitching actually is the last step of the pattern, completed after the entire cover is put together. Ooops. So, mine has four lines of topstitching on the inside instead of two. It was a good lesson in making sure to read through all of the directions before starting! But I still say that topstitching shouldn't have been represented in the Figure 2 illustration.

Other than that little hiccup, it was smooth sewing.

I was really hoping to use this as more of a wallet. But the snap placement suggested in the pattern results in a tight close such that not much more than one's checkbook can fit in there. You can see how tight it is by the way the flap is pulling up in the profile picture above. If I were to do it again (and I might at some point), I would wait to put the flap snap in until the after whole wallet was constructed (between steps 8d. and e.), so I could better control the fit of the finished piece . It will be kind of a pain to insert it after turning, but I think it would yield better results. I also would probably add some additional pockets to hold cards (as I've seen done in a few other versions of this project).

This was a quick project to put together. I was able to get it done in a single evening. Overall, I'm really happy with it. Though it is not a perfect wallet, it is a very functional (and stylish!) checkbook cover, and already has a home in my purse.

Some Denyse Schmidt lovin'

2011-04-28T14:44:00.000-07:00

In the first round of the Once 'Round the Country round robin bee, I got to work on this lovely block by Kris:

Along with the block, she sent a beautiful stack of fabric, all cuts from Denyse Schmidt's recent Hope Valley line of fabrics. GORGEOUS!!!! Kris also offered a little bit of direction, requesting "simple shapes and white space."

The block was kind of on the small side, only 8" square, and I was having a hard time envisioning it as a central focus for a quilt. So my approach became one of enhancement: I wanted to make the block stronger and even more of a focal point.

I printed a picture of the block and started drawing. The look I was happiest with was the one that sort of worked as an extension of the original block, echoing the shapes along the outside. My drawing was a little on the busy side, so I simplified it to create:

I am so pleased with how it turned out. Hopefully, Kris will be too!

Birthday Bear!

2011-04-26T12:54:00.001-07:00

Today is Little Bear's first birthday!!!

To celebrate, we had a little family party on Saturday.

There were cupcakes, of course.

These are vanilla cupcakes with chocolate buttercream, ala Joy the Baker. Yum! (Especially the buttercream... mmmm....)

Little Bear seemed to enjoy them as well. Nom nom nom...

And there was also a special birthday hat, made by mama:

It's another Reversible Bucket Hat by Betz White. I used a cute zoo animal print on one side, and a poly/cotton denim on the reverse. This is my third version of this hat. I love this design!

I can hardly believe how quickly the time has flown.

Happy Birthday, Little Bear!!!

With love,
Mama

Hoppy Spring!

2011-04-24T10:45:00.000-07:00

Just in time for Easter, I finished a festive little wallhanging. I call it Hoppy Spring!

I picked up the pattern and fabric kit last from Tangled Threads in Lynden, Washington, during last year's Tri-County Shop Hop. The All Ears pattern is by Castilleja Cotton. The kit included all of the batiks; I added the black bead eyes, the little button noses (only 1/8"-- itty bitty!), and the fleece tails.

It was a quick and easy fusible applique project. I love the little egg-shaped bunnies. So cute.

I even attempted some feathery quilting!

And, for once, I thought to attach the label before I did the quilting-- so now it is nice and secure.

And now it's time for a little bit of egg hunting.

Happy Easter! :)

Hop to It: "Fleur Delight"

2011-04-20T12:15:00.000-07:00

It took a couple weeks, but I finally finished appliqueing my next block in Edyta Sitar's Hop to It quilt.

Block 2: Fleur Delight

Notes on this block:

The background I used in this one is actually the wrong side of a printed fabric. I loved the look of the basket-weave, but didn't like how dark the design was on the right side of the fabric. So I flipped it over and it ended up being just what I wanted. Woo hoo! I flipped down the upper right corner of my block in the picture above so you can see what the right side looks like.

I used plastic bias bars to create the stems.

Karen Kay Buckley's Perfect Circles were employed for the pink "flowers."

Needleturn applique with freezer paper on top was used for everything else.

Now I have to figure out what block I want to do next!

Cupcake-y goodness

2011-04-19T10:56:00.000-07:00

For their February Pincushion Club kit, Shabby Fabrics sent the pattern and fabrics to make the "Frosted Cupcake Pincushion" from Maw Bell Designs. Right away, I was all excited about it. Then I read the instructions and found that the pattern also required "1 small (2-1/2" high x 3-1/2" wise) plastic margarine container." Unfortunately, I'm not a margarine eater and it is pretty rare that I buy anything in a container that size. Determined not to run out and buy margarine just for the sake of getting the little plastic tub, I waited. It took a couple of months, but I finally got two containers roughly that size-- one from the aforementioned Greek yogurt and one that actually held paper baking cups (it seems I had to make real cupcakes before I could make pretend ones! Ha!). Finally, I was ready to make my cupcakes!

Overall, the instructions were pretty good-- straightforward, with helpful illustrations throughout, and everything made sense. I do have a couple of comments/hints though for anyone who decides to give the pattern a whirl.

After putting the cupcake body together and turning it all right side out, the instruction is to "stuff firmly with fiberfill." I did this and (as Big Bear so kindly pointed out to me) my cupcake looked like an egg. I found that I needed to take out a bunch of the stuffing before it could fit in the little plastic tub and look cupcake-like.

When trying to gather the bias strips to make the "frosting," I kept pulling out my basting threads by accident. Gah! On the third time, I figured out that if I took a few normal-length stitches at the beginning, before switching to the longer basting stitch, it anchored the thread just enough so I didn't have that problem.

My cupcakes kept slipping out of their plastic tub bases. In order to keep my cupcakes held together, I went ahead and hand stitched the top edge of the completed "baking cup" to the side of the cupcake, thus keeping everything in place.

All-in-all, this was a fun and easy pattern (and pretty quick to make, too!). And now I have a couple of very cute little cupcakes!

Romper boy!

2011-04-18T15:22:00.000-07:00

Woot! I'm on a sewing roll right now. Last weekend, it was some cute tiger overalls. This weekend it was a new romper.

Inspired by Christina's review, I immediately procured a copy of the Spring 2011 issue of Ottobre Design. Ottobre is a magazine focused on kids' fashion and includes patterns to make all of the featured clothes. A single issue usually includes 30-40 different designs. It is an amazing value! The downside: the patterns have to be traced (because there are multiple designs printed on a page, and they all overlap one another), and the instructions are generally minimal. But I was feeling brave, and loved the idea of having a bodysuit that actually covers Little Bear's cloth diaper-clad bum. So I went for it.

The design is called the "New Star Bodysuit," and I made it in a size 74 cm (which seems to be about equivalent to a 9 months size). LB is 11 months old and about 20 pounds, and it fits great. The romper has a little bit of length to the legs, which allows for full coverage of the diaper area. It's a pretty cute look, too.

The fabric is an organic cotton knit I bought from Near Sea Naturals, back when Big Bear was a baby. Ahem. It has been sitting in my stash for quite awhile now. I'm glad I am finally using it.

My one previous attempt at an Ottobre pattern didn't go so well, so I was initially worried. However, I ended up being pleasantly surprised at how easy the instructions were to follow on this one. I especially appreciated the directions on how to do an edge finish with knit binding-- they worked like a charm!

I even broke out the dreaded coverstitch machine to do the double topstitching at the neck, legs, crotch, and arms. It's horrible, I know, but I really do feel trepidation whenever I even think about using it. I think I need to find a shop that can offer me a lesson or two on it, build up my confidence some. My stitches aren't perfect on this project, but at least they don't look bad on the outside and I'm definitely happy that I gave it a go.

And look! I remembered to do a label (with size information written on the back). Yay!

I used my SnapSetter tool to attach the snaps and it worked really well. (And it was much easier than snap tape!)

This crawling action shot really shows the great, full bum coverage. Really, I think this is just a fabulous design. I need to make more!

Happy romper boy!

Tiger boy!

2011-04-12T21:03:00.000-07:00

Folktales is a fabulous quilt/stitchery shop in Lynden, Washington. On a recent visit there, I saw a store sample of Jackie Clark Designs Baby Overalls pattern. Frankly, it is not a pattern I would have otherwise given a second glance. But the sample garment was so cute and nicely made that I ended up purchasing the pattern, fabric (flannel for both the overall and the lining), and even the snap tape so I could make a pair for Little Bear. I got them stitched up this weekend!

It is a pretty basic overalls design, fully lined with button tabs at the shoulders and snap-tape leg closure. The pattern includes options for either a ruffle bottom or patch pockets, offering options both girls and boys. Little Bear is 11 months old now(!) and weighs about 19 pounds, so I made a Large (18-22 lbs.). It fits him pretty well.

I love the fact that the overalls are fully lined. It means that I can roll up the hems and still have a pretty, finished look. Not to mention they are nice and cozy with the soft flannel inside and out.

The instructions were very basic (as in minimal, not easy). For anyone with sewing experience, I don't think this would cause much of a problem, as it is a simple design. However, the pattern seems to be marketed toward quilters (I've only seen it for sale at quilt shops), and most of the quilters I know are not sewists. I really think beginners would have a tough time with the lack of clarity and detail in the written instructions and supporting illustrations. I feel like I have a fair amount of sewing experience under my belt, and even I had some head scratching moments as I went through them.

Head scratcher #1: The interfacing. The cutting instructions have you cut 4 for use on the tabs. It is a shaped piece that only fits with tabs on the overall/lining front pieces. However the illustration shows interfacing on both the front and back pieces. I spent more time than I should have trying to decide what to do. In the end I decided to use the shape of the piece as my guide and only apply it to the front overall and lining tabs. If I had it to do again, I'd probably cut additional interfacing for the back tabs as well to better support the buttons.

Head scratcher #2: The snap tape. OMG. The snap tape. I've been kicking myself that I didn't take pictures of the shop sample I saw, because I'm really curious how they did it. The instructions offer very little in the way of guidance on this step. I even spent some time looking about on the internet, hoping to find some tutorial or something to help me know if I was going about it the right way or not. I'm still not sure if I did it right, but it worked, even if it isn't pretty.

Here you can kind of see how I ended up doing it. As per the instructions, I pressed back the crotch/leg seam allowances (to the inside on the front, and to the outside on the back) and laid the snap tape over the pressed edges. On the back, I used my zipper foot to stitch on either side of the snaps, enclosing the seam allowance. On the front, I used my zipper foot and stitched one edge, but then hand sewed the other edge down (because I didn't want two lines of stitching visible on the outside).

When LB sits down, you can see the snap tape peeking out at the hems. Next time, I'll definitely think to finish the ends of the snap tape better (I just used fray check on mine), and I'll work to get snaps positioned at the bottom of each of the hems. On these, the snaps ended up a little above the hem and there's some gaposis and a good inch of unsightly snap tape.

Another note on instructions-- they don't tell you to make buttonholes or attach buttons (and the pattern pieces don't even have them marked). I found an addendum on the designer's Web site that illustrates the button/buttonhole placement.

I pretty much followed the pattern as written, with only a couple of exceptions. First, I added topstitching to the top edge of all of the pockets. I just thought that helped give the pockets a more finished look. And second, I overcast the edges of the leg openings. I found it a little strange that the instructions had me finishing all of the other edges (the ones that wouldn't be showing because they were all encased between the overall and lining), but the legs were not addressed. Maybe it was because they're supposed to be hidden in the snap tape? I dunno. But I went ahead and overcast mine before applying the snap tape.

The pattern comes with a little puppy outline that one can embroider on the front pocket. I decided to design and use a little tiger embroidery instead.

I'm also pretty proud of myself that I thought to put a label in them! I never did this when I sewed baby clothes for BB, and now that those items are getting handed down to LB, I'm finding that I can't remember what size they are. This time I got it written on the label so it is easy to tell. Yay!

When I posted a review of these to PatternReview.com, I gave the pattern a "Mediocre Pattern" rating. I feel like that is a little harsh, but it was the best fit of the options they listed. I mean, the design is super cute, but the instructions leave a lot to be desired.

Though the pattern directions were sorely lacking, I am definitely happy with the finished overalls. Super cute!

Easily distracted...

2011-04-09T11:12:00.000-07:00

...or what I've been working on this week:

My next Hop to It block:

I got it all prepped and have started appliqueing.

A little bit of embroidery:

This is going to be the front pocket on some overalls for Little Bear.

A spring wallhanging:

Now I'm waiting on some buttons before I can go on to the next step. Maybe I'll even finish it before Easter!

Block exchange blocks:

Nice and simple... she even had the strips pre-cut and ready to sew.

Sometimes, I feel like I must have crafting A.D.D.

Playtime: the tricycle

2011-04-06T11:12:00.000-07:00

Woo hoo! Another block for my American Jane "Playtime" quilt complete!

I really enjoyed working on this block, and I'm very happy with how it came together. I was nervous because of all of the curves and ovals (because the oval shapes meant I couldn't use Perfect Circles!). I ended up doing needleturn on just about everything (except for the one little yellow circle on the front wheel, where I did use the Perfect Circles technique). Basting well and just taking it slow and steady allowed for some smooth needleturning. I did cheat a little and embroidered the black circles on the wheels instead of appliqueing them, because they were just too tiny.

If I didn't think my cat would eat them, I would add some hanging ribbons up on those handlebars. How cute would that be? But yeah. I would definitely be tempting fate there.

Progress so far:

Only one block to go!

Tracing up a storm!

2011-04-05T11:04:00.001-07:00

You remember all of those fabrics I bought on shop hop a couple weeks ago? The ones I said I had a plan for? Well, most of them are for sewing projects (as opposed to quilting). So I spent some time this weekend tracing all the patterns I want to use.

Since I was tracing one, it seemed to just make sense to trace a whole bunch. I wasn't looking forward to it initially, but it ended up being a pretty calm and relaxing process. Of course, now I have to actually use all those patterns and start cutting fabric. Ugh. That is definitely NOT my favorite process. But the sooner I do it, the sooner I can get to the fun part: sewing!

Style Stitches Monthly Bag Challenge: Origami Bag Set

2011-03-31T15:47:00.000-07:00

Phew! I finished these just in time for the Style Stitches Monthly Bag Challenge.

This month was dedicated to the Origami Bag Set, project 3 in the book, Amy Butler's Style Stitches. It is a set of 6 bags, from extra small to extra large.

Happily, I was able to find some fabrics (and zippers!) in my stash for the project, though only one of them was a home dec fabric; the rest were quilting-weight cottons. Even though the majority of the bags were made from the lighter-weight material, I think they all turned out just fine-- they are still plenty sturdy and hold their shape well.

The pattern itself was pretty simple. I'll admit though, there was some serious head scratching going on as I made my first bag. The pattern instructions are minimally illustrated, and it was difficult to visualize exactly what was supposed to be happening at each step. Steps 4 and 6 (the zipper installation and attaching the exterior and lining panels, respectively) were the most befuddling for me. But, with careful reading and the assistance of JemJam's sew along (with pictures-- yay!!!), I got through it fine. Subsequent bags were much quicker to go together.

The pattern includes a nice variety of sizes (here they are nested all nicely together). I only have a plan for one bag so far, but I'm sure I'll find a purpose for the others soon enough. I can also easily envision making a few of these for gifts in the future.

Tri County Quilt Tour 2011

2011-03-29T19:21:00.000-07:00

Last week was the annual Western Washington Tri County Quilt Shop Tour. Over the course of three days, I managed to visit all of the participating shops (14 this year!). This year's theme for the tour was "Birds of a Feather" and each shop designed both a block and a quilt that featured all of the shop blocks.

This is the fourth year of the hop, and my fourth year participating. I have to say, this year I saw more creativity than ever in the shop quilts. Truly, each one was totally unique. A couple of the shops really went out of the box and created some awesome displays (Two Thimbles in Bellingham actually asked local fiber artists to create their blocks). And, of course, there were some wonderful traditional-style versions as well. I took pictures of all of the quilts to share:

If you go to the album, I've posted comments with a little bit of additional information. The pictures really do not do some of these quilts justice.

And, of course, what is a shop hop without happy loot?

I splurged a bit this year. But, I actually have a plan for all but one of these fabrics. So only one is actually going directly into "stash." Now I just have to get sewing and put those plans into action.

I love me a happy shop hop!

Playtime: the car

2011-03-28T11:26:00.000-07:00

Set aside, but definitely not forgotten! Working on my "Hop to It" blocks really reminded me how much I love applique, and has motivated me to get going again on my American Jane "Playtime" quilt. For those of you unfamiliar with this project, the quilt is by designer Sandy Klop of American Jane Patterns. It was designed for fusible applique, but I have been doing it all by hand. I started the project in January 2009.

Looking back at my posts, I was shocked to see that the previous block was completed last March. Whoa. Time really does fly!

The car:

This one took me a couple of weeks to complete. I think my biggest hangup was the size of the pieces. I'm really just not into appliqueing large chunks. From rear to front, the car measures 20.5" and is 9.5" tall. The steering wheel and grille were also pretty challenging because of the narrow sections on each.

Techniques used:

Vinyl overlay (for positioning pieces on the background)
Needleturn with freezer paper on top
Freezer paper + starch (for the large wheel pieces)
Karen Kay Buckley's Perfect Cirlces (for the smaller wheel pieces)
Backstitch embroidery (I'm kind of wishing I had used the stem stitch because I'm better at that and think it would have looked smoother... oh, well.)

And here's a look at my progress so far:

The top two thirds are fully assembled now (though I still need to applique a couple more floaty balls and the pull for the elephant's wagon). Only two more blocks to go!

A couple of small projects

2011-03-27T12:20:00.001-07:00

Over the last week, I completed a couple of small projects.

First up was a pillow for a wonderful friend. She watches Little Bear for me for a couple of hours each week on my workday at Big Bear's preschool. She found a pillow at Target that she really liked and I took inspiration from it to create this:

The prints are both from Lakehouse Dry Goods. I especially love the ric-rac trim:

I think it turned out pretty cute, and my friend really seemed to like it!

The other project this week was a Betz White Reversible Bucket Hat for Big Bear.

Denim on one side and cotton on the other (a cute print from the Toy Poodle collection by Kinkame). I actually cut it out last summer, and only just now got to putting it together-- just in time for this summer! I don't know why it took me so long to get around to it as it was super quick and easy to put together (especially since I've done it before). I really like this pattern (and still plan on making one for me someday!).

Both of these projects were in the queue for quite awhile, and it feels good to have finally completed them!

Style Stitches Monthly Bag Challenge 2011-March's Bag(s)

2011-03-22T11:22:00.000-07:00

We're up to Chapter 3 in Amy Butler's book for the Style Stitches Monthly Bag Challenge. That means it's time for the Origami Bag Set-- six bags in varying sizes, from mini to extra large.

I'm getting a little bit of a late start this month, but I've finally found my bag-sewing mojo and figured out what fabrics I plan to use:

All from the stash. Yay!

I've even managed to cut out the multitude of pieces:

As suggested in the book, I labeled each piece with blue painter's tape so I can keep track of what's what. The real trick though will be getting all of these sewn up before the end of the month. Hopefully, they'll go together quickly!

Cranes for Hope

2011-03-21T13:20:00.000-07:00

The president of my local quilt guild, Laurie Gustafson, is creating a quilt to raise funds for disaster relief in Japan. Late last week, she put out a call for help in creating blocks for the quilt. She got permission to use a paper pieced crane design by Margaret Rolfe and provided background fabric with the pattern. She asked volunteers to use those to create the blocks using Asian fabrics from their own stash.

Such a simple thing. I decided that I really wanted to be a part of it. Last night I made two blocks:

The blocks will be made into a quilt this weekend (at the guild's spring retreat). I think this quilt is going to be amazing!

And by donating to Red Cross or World Vision, you can earn a chance to win this quilt!!! Here's how (in Laurie's own words):

Now for the fundraising portion of the project, in lieu of selling actual tickets, people can either send me checks made out to the Red Cross, or World Vision (Laurie Gustafson c/o Stray Threads PO Box 881, Woodinville, WA 98072), I will forward them to the charities, and for every $5 donated their name will be added to the drawing. For those that would prefer to donate online, just forward the confirmation of the donation to this address lauriescranesforhope@gmail.com and again for every $5 their name will be added to the drawing.

I'm just in awe of how quickly she put all of this together. A project like this is no small thing.

Whether is it through this fundraiser or one of the myriad of other opportunities out there right now, I encourage you to help aid in Japan's recovery efforts. We really can make a difference!

Under the Sea

2011-03-20T16:41:00.000-07:00

Spring is finally here-- and so is the sun! Yay! So I was able to go outside and take a couple of pictures of my latest finish, Under the Sea.

A few reasons why this quilt was so fun to make:

Super quick and easy,

Tried out a new applique technique,

Super soft minkee on the back, and

It is my own design!

My initial inspiration came from a charm pack of MoMo's Odyssea. I wanted to figure out a way to use the charm pack and make baby quilt for my neighbor's new baby (well, new-ish... he's nearly 7 months old now). The initial design came to me pretty quickly, but then the applique concepts had to spend awhile percolating.

I think the main hang-up was that I kept looking to other sources for inspiration, when really, what I needed was to just do my own thing. In the end, I found myself drawing my own little applique sea creatures. Once I managed that, the design just fell into place. I think it turned out pretty cute!

It was fun trying out Natalia's starch method for applique, and I definitely learned a couple of things. One is that I really like this technique-- it makes stitching a breeze, no fusibile products are used, and the resulting applique is truly nice and soft and pliable. The starch also came out just fine after washing, leaving the blocks nice and soft. But it was kind of a pain to quilt through-- I had to use a bigger needle than I wanted because the 70/10 sharp kept skipping stitches. The 80/12 quilting needle worked okay, but the holes it left in the super-stiff starch areas were big enough that I had some bearding from the minkee on the back. After washing, the bearding wasn't evident at all and the holes all shrunk-up, but next time I'll try and rinse some of the starch out before quilting and see how that works.

Also, should I use this technique again in the future, I'll definitely make sure to quilt over the applique. After I washed the quilt, there were a couple of spots where the edge of the applique shape frayed a little more than I would have liked (as pointed out in the picture above). Not dangerously so, I don't think, but I would definitely feel better if the shapes had the extra security of some quilting. I've also determined I'm not a huge fan of machine blanket stitch. In addition to just preferring the look of the buttonhole satin stitch, I think that stitch would also make me feel better about the security of the applique.

I was really happy with the results of my quilting plan for this quilt. I love how soft the minkee is, and I like that the back is stabilized without being too heavily stitched. It worked out really well.

And here's the label.

Hopefully, baby Kenji will enjoy his new quilt!

Edited to add:

Here is the back of the quilt, so you can see the stabilizing stitches. I quilted around the applique shapes and the path.

Testing the waters...

2011-03-15T20:24:00.000-07:00

Do you ever have one of those days when things just seem to go smoothly and happily along? Today has been one of those days for me. I'm blogging with a smile. I'm even getting a little time to work on my little undersea-themed baby quilt.

For this quilt, I'm doing something a little different than the norm. A couple of years ago, I made a quilt using Elizabeth Hartman's "Simple Modern Baby Quilt" pattern (I don't think it is available anymore). She created that pattern with minkee/cuddle/chenille fabric in mind for use as the backing. She posits that in order to keep the backing super soft (and maybe also to avoid having to deal with the stretch that often goes with those specialty fabrics), it is better to do all of the quilting on just the top two layers, and then add the back at the point when one is ready to put on the binding.

I followed all of her instructions for my version and it turned out just fine. Even so, I couldn't help but wonder about the potential for "tenting" when one doesn't in some way attach the back to the front except at the sides. But I also really get that if you invest in something super cuddly for the back, you want it to stay super cuddly and not get all flattened out and stiff from quilting all over it. So for this quilt, I'm trying to see if I can find a happy medium between the two.

After completing my top, I basted it to just the batting and did the majority of my quilting. (Forgive my pictures today... there was thunder, lightning, rain and hail going on outside, so the light was definitely not on my side.)

Here you can see my mostly-quilted octopus. A note about the starch applique technique I used-- holy cow, was it weird to quilt through! I wonder if I'm supposed to somehow try and remove the starch before quilting? But then, couldn't that potentially cause a lot of distortion? I don't know. But it was weird quilting it. I guess we'll see how it does once it's complete and all washed up.

Anyway-- now I've taken my mostly-quilted top/batting and have basted it to my minkee backing. I used safety pins in the center, using them only to stabilize the areas in which I plan to do some additional quilting. Then I went back to Elizabeth Hartman's instructions, pinning and hand basting along all of the edges in order to stabilize them. Initially I was concerned about how much effort/time it would take to hand baste those edges, but it turned out to be no big deal and went very quickly.

Now I'm ready to do my last bit of quilting. My hope is that just doing a minimal amount with all three layers will help keep the back nice and soft while at the same time stabilizing it and preventing it from tenting. So I'm just going to quilt around my applique shapes and a few straight lines. The goal is nice and flat but still soft and cuddly. I'll let you know how it goes!